Eleison

Haha, I meant that real guys (who are as awful in real life as some MLs in old Kdramas) won't grow that much. 😉 There is no such thing as a guy who's nice "deep down" while treating everyone around him like crap.

I also think it's possible for someone that awful to change, but I don't think it's done. Can they change? Yes. Will they? No. I would love it if they did, but a sweet girl loving them certainly won't do the trick. That's the part that I keep in mind is fantasy. And the part that's dangerous if not taken as fantasy (what I meant by "should not" be replicated in reality) is a girl thinking she can be the one "who changes him."

Kdramas (unless they're made by Netflix or other streaming platforms) are still WAY more conservative than anything else you'll see in media unless it's Hallmark or something media adjacent. 😅

And for your last point, I see what you mean, but Kdramas do manage to make unconventional or "scandalous" scenarios work with conservative values (e.g. Fated To Love You), and people who are used to Kdramas doing this will expect it to some extent. I'm just saying that for nonconservative viewers (who think abortion is a medical procedure on tissue), a story like this wouldn't be very compelling. Whether or not a foetus should be kept after a woman gets pregnant with a complete stranger would be a moot point. Drama, crisis, guilt, angst and scandal around such an event would not exist because there would be no baby these strangers would have to find a way to build into their lives. And it's not like people with conservative values don't engage in one night stands. They would just be more likely to see them as accidents or mistakes, not normal behavior to engage in with strangers you got drunk with/went out with. And the way they would deal with the aftermath would potentially be different (if pregnancy was the outcome) than someone who who did not have conservative values. I think Kdramas like this, by nature of even having a premise like this, establish their more conservative starting points. Hopefully that makes sense.

I think if you curate some Cdrama choices carefully, you might be surprised. I was!

Yes, Kdramas are definitely improving in some way! I'm a sucker for those massive character arcs of male leads in old Kdramas but only when I keep in mind that such stories are pure fantasy which could not (and should not) be replicated in reality.

Law and the City? Reply 1988?

Well, you're running into pro-lifers because pro-lifers tend to be politically or personally conservative, and many people with conservative values like Kdramas because they show restraint in ways other western media does not. So, if you're coming to a place where all these people hang... you're mostly likely gonna run into them. Being surprised by that is kind of like being surprised to find people in bathing suits at the beach. 😉

Try costume Cdrama Flourished Peony and its second part In The Name Of Blossom. It surprised me in this area in the portrayal of the FL.

There are some pretty decent costume Cdramas that are way more progressive than Kdramas in their portrayal of women. Not so much the modern dramas (though some are getting better), but oddly the costume Cdramas are sometimes featuring some really awesome FLs.

Haha, this is funny! Yes, so true.

Haha, you're probably right. After the first time she enters the mechanics of the VR component is never mentioned again. 😅 The level of VR immersion portrayed in this is still highly fantastical.

There's also kind of a pre-dating breakup when the FL gets tired of the ML showing interest but not acting definitively on his interest, so she creates some distant between them to show him she's displeased. They mostly play it up for comedic purposes to show the ML getting increasingly jealous and concerned about her to the point where he can't deal with the distance and takes the plunge. 😅

Well, par for the course with Asian dramas, haha. If you plan on watching more, then avoid rom-coms or melodramaa. This is almost always a plot point.

Adjacent to your point: I find the trope in Asian dramas about the parent of a lead doing some despicable (or apparently despicable) thing and then angst amongst the children because they somehow feel responsible for what the parent did. Why couldn't the FL date the son of the guy responsible for her father's accident? He had nothing to do with it, so it shouldn't create this much of a hullabaloo. But such things always do create angst in dramas, and I guess it's just a bigger deal in Asian cultures (or made out to be a big deal in Asian dramas specifically, like the throwing water at people's faces trope which I'm sure REAL Koreans and Chinese never do, haha).

I meant they are really drawing out the reveal. 😉

I'm also identical! People usually use twins in entertainment as a plot device or for comedic relief, so I found this portrayal (i.e. built in bestie and confidant) to be really sweet and a more accurate portrayal of the special sweetness that comes with having a twin. ☺️

I would love that, too!

When Hu Xiu snuck backstage and into the game to alert Zhi Yo about Pei Zhen, did anyone else notice she never had any VR gear on, but she could see and interact with everyone normally? I guess we were to assume she filched a VR headset somewhere before dashing on set?

I really enjoyed this!

Nice to see CXX in a drama that does well, as I really came to enjoy his acting in Fall In Love and Starry Love and I think he's really talented. He has kind of a goofy (but cute) grin when he smiles, but it worked here because he full-on smiles rarely. And LYX was lovely, too. She's obviously gorgeous but also a very good actress. I never once wondered why the ML would fall in love with her character. 😉 She's a lot less "young" feeling than the FL in Love Me, Love My Voice which was one of my biggest gripes with that drama, so I like that, too. (The actress really reminds me of two Korean actresses, Jung Chae Yeon (Family By Choice) and Kim Hye Yoon (Lovely Runner) who are really lovely).

The VR parts were kind of confusing to follow, but the setting, costumes and interpersonal dynamics were what made those parts fun for me. I liked seeing the leads' blossoming relationship shift each time they played the game and the way more and more of their real selves crept into their VR roles until it culminated in the second of the 27 kisses. 😅

It was a creative concept, and I was a little sad when it got featured less as the drama went on (e.g. I felt a little jipped never getting to see the dungeon that GHC kept teasing. 😭 I liked the post credits clip, though. And just know the mechanics of the VR world do not bear close scrutiny 😉).

The leads had fabulous chemistry (some of their banter and playing off of each other was exquisite, chemistry-wise) and while this was chock full of almost ALL the romance cliches and tropes (I saw the ML's plot points and beats for the discovery of his backgroumd coming a mile away--seen too many dramas!), it was still executed well and the characters were interesting, so it worked for me. As usual, the first half was the strongest, but they offset that by including a lot more lovey-dovey stuff in the second half (more like the last 1/3) so people here for romance probably won't mind the slower pacing later on one bit. 😉

All the VR sets/scenes were featured in Fall In Love and of course the era was the same or similar, so the costumes felt reminiscent, too. CXX basically wore his Fall In Love costume whenever he was Qin Xiao Yi. 😅 Actually, the old era sets worked better in this drama because it's 100% obvious they're sets (in Fall In Love it felt like the drama was shot as a massive stage play--I'm not sure if the Chinese production companies can't quite nail Western architecture as sets in a convincing manner or what (I assume Hengdian period Chinese sets feel more realistic?), but never once did it look realistic enough to be fully immersive, so having it be the backdrop of a VR game worked perfectly; the anachronistic hair and makeul worked better in this setting, too). I also thought it was weird that the longtang was a set; no actual longtangs they could use to film near/around? I thought her longtang apartment was really cozy (I preferred the scenes of them together there over his glitzy apartment), but the rest of the building and street was obviously not a real place. 🤷‍♀️

Overall, a fun watch! An interesting premise pretty well-executed as the backdrop of a meet-cute for our leads. It feels a lot more grounded than some other rom-coms, so while it has a fluffiness to it, it doesn't feel like it overpowers the story so much that it pulls you fully out of realism into fantasy.

I did have one question:

The old poster is back!

I wish I knew how to add recommendations because if I could I would add Love Me, Love My Voice to this page (there are some similarities in the premise!). I'm preferring this already, though!

Definitely steals some tropes from Superman. 😉

Rewatching, and forgot how many times Ju Gyeong trips or falls in the first two episodes alone.🤦‍♀️😅

I agree with you here! Nice take. ☺️

I would have thought you'd say the FL is mean (espesially at the beginning). 😅 Mean is not how I'd describe the ML based on what I remember (at least not compared to the behavior he's facing from the FL early on).