Eleison

Still very cute and fluffy, and all the characters are so endearing! I find the teacher/student interactions quite unrealistic (lots of stuff that could get you fired, honestly; like Yul shutting the blind in the room they're alone in (schools advise teachers to never be alone with a student in a room without a window or an open door), not to mention all the other off-campus interactions between Yul and Hae Na). Despite the lack of realism, I like the parts with them interacting while at school the best!

I loved Cha Hak Yeon in Bad and Crazy! He was fantastic in that drama and kind of stole the show for me. :) I also really liked Chae Jong Hyeop in Unlock My Boss, too.

I noticed that, too! He's quite endearing, but I'm still glad/hopeful Bo Geol is endgame. Woo Hak is totally channeling the adorable younger sibling you can't help but like, but after the perceptive thoughtfulness displayed by Ki Ho even as a teenager, I have higher hopes and expectations from our leading man!

So far it has had a really strong start! A lot of mystery and unanswered questions, though, as of the end of Episode 2. :)

I think that's the big mystery. At least it is for me! If Bo Geol's Ki Ho, he's definitely waited for this to happen for a long time and hoped for it, so his nonchalance is so puzzling. So I'm thoroughly intrigued and can't wait to see what we're missing.

I am not completely convinced it's Eun Bin who sang... I looked up what I could find of her voice and it sounds less strident than the voice you hear in this drama. Or maybe it sounds better in the drama because she got some help from technology? I've noticed that some actors and idols "can" sing they just are often helped out to sound better than they would if they sang acapella or live (for instance, I've noticed you can rarely find good videos or recordings of idols/singers in Korea singing live without backtracks, and when some don't have that help they're not always fully on pitch 😬 Hopefully I don't get murdered for saying this 😂). I think live singing (without backtrack) or acapella performances show what a person can really do, so I feel like in shows like this it's really hard to say since the singing is pre-recorded.

Yes, if you like fantasy and sageuks, then you'll probably like this. It's not perfect but very enjoyable! I describe it as Harry Potter meets Lord of the Rings meets Avatar the Last Airbender meets fantasy historical Korean drama (it might have some Chinese Wuxia or Xianxia elements but I know nothing about them so can't tell you if it's much like those genres, I just feel like I remember people dropping those terms when describing this drama when it was airing). First part is more action heavy/coming of age with a brighter tone and second part is more subdued, romance-focused and heavier in tone and slower paced; though the ending of the first part IS quite intense and sad. I personally think they were both great (not perfect!), but very different from each other. Just don't have expectations going into the second part beyond the main leads surviving and ending up together. 😅

Interesting!

Also, the subdued air of the ML feels very similar to the child actor for Ki Ho. Just like Eun Bin and her child actress obviously worked on creating a seamless transition between their demeanors, I see a resemblance in the acting of the ML and Ki Ho. Does your personality change when you have amnesia? Most likely not? (BUT, in dramaland, again, anything is possible (except the SML ending up with the FL, of course; that rule cannot be broken 🤣)).

I hadn't considered this option of Bo Geol being this way to protect the real Ki Ho (aka Woo Hak), and it's definitely not impossible in dramaland (though even the first shot of Woo Hak passed out on the bed in the messy room... a sharp contrast to Ki Ho's spotless bedroom as a child). I just think it would be too many levels of red herrings and that in that case the screenwriter tried way too hard to mislead us; I love her stuff so I want to think better of her than that but she did make things tough in Start-Up, though I think that was in large part due to Seon Ho's acting and less her writing (i.e. that everyone preferred him to the ML). I hope she's not THAT set on a big twist in this drama that she'd subvert everyone's expectations quite this much when she obviously gave strong hints to the contrary. 😭

I think it's MA due to the child abuse and scenes with smoking? I'm not sure if it's Korea that sets the rating or the U.S., but it makes more sense if it's Korea's rating since they rarely show smoking in non-MA dramas, even though there's more smoking in Korea in general than here in the U.S. (when I visited SK I was shocked by how much smoking there was).

Is that the name of one of the news agencies? I had forgotten that!

All this screenwriter's past dramas had romance, so I think it's more likely than not.

I'm confused as to why there's no young Woo Hak (or Bo Geol) listed in the cast list. If they are going to show flashbacks to explain how Ki Ho became a part of the Kang family, why don't they have a young actor for the "other" brother? 🤔 They're definitely going to show more of the young actor for Ki Ho because he is listed as a support role while Mok ha's young actress is a guest role...?

They'll probably explain it as the episodes progress?

Every drama this screenwriter has done has had some romance, minus Page Turner maybe? The romance in that drama and Dream High were VERY subtle, but still hinted at. I think the romance in her dramas has always been a large part of the story, and spread evenly across the story with other plot points, but never the whole point like in a lot of other melodramas or rom-coms. It's a part of the characters' growth which I would say is really the main focal point of all of her dramas: watching the main leads become better versions of themselves and grow through their struggles, quandaries and relationships with each other.

I like Woo Hak, but I agree, I want it to Bo Geol, too. Woo Hak feels too young and naive to be someone who went through what Ki Ho experienced, and a little too... oblivious? Clueless? Well-intentioned and sensitive but not someone who seems to act from deep emotion and a past of pain and struggle (though, to be fair, he apparently has amnesia?). Bo Geol reminds me of Ki Ho before he warmed up to Mok Ha; aloof and prickly at first glance, but deeply thoughtful and caring on closer inspection.

True! There will definitely be a reason, but still, his unexpected lack of reaction is definitely piquing my curiosity!!

I mean, the ML and SML for Start-Up were rough because they BOTH lied repeatedly to the FL, so that made it hard to root for either of them as much as the two male leads in this drama.

But telling Mok Ha doesn't mean he's telling the world?