I'm not clear on the divorce situation. Wanqing had the divorce papers prepared and told Liu Qing she was serious about divorcing him, but do we know if she's actually filed for divorce yet? Or are they still married on paper?
This is a truly unique kdrama that was obviously made with a lot of love and conviction, Hyun Bin gives maybe…
The two unnecessary subplots were Yang Soo-kyung’s pursuit of Joon-young, which was disappointing for many reasons—YSK being an insufferable pest/absolutely worthless as a love interest, having previously sexually harassed JJY, and yet having his obsession with her and his refusal to get a clue treated with sympathy by the drama, JJY encouraging his advances despite the fact that she hurt three people by doing so, including herself (although her self-sabotage and bad decision-making here were pretty realistic, I wanted her to be better than that), etc.—and Jung Ji-oh’s glaucoma subplot, which felt unnecessary and was resolved as if by magic. Him dumping JJY in a fit of stupid pridefulness/insecurity was also realistic, but the way the drama extended their romantic conflict after that could have been done better IMO.
Finally, Song Gyu-ho was an interesting character, but the love interest they gave him was too simple to make his subplot compelling. 'Cynical older man won over by persistent young ingenue' is such a relic of the 2000s and early 2010s in terms of romantic dynamics. I hated it in A Gentleman's Dignity and I hated it here. He would have been more interesting with someone closer to his age and emotional maturity, like Writer Lee, IMO.
Anyway. As I said, not a flawless drama, but a great one nevertheless.
This is a truly unique kdrama that was obviously made with a lot of love and conviction, Hyun Bin gives maybe his best performance ever, the first 11-12 episodes serve phenomenal slice-of-life with a side order of romance for grownups, and the characters and dialogue are great... That said, there are two subplots in the final third that were unnecessary and frustrating for me to sit through. Still, the drama kept my attention and admiration throughout. The World That They Live In is not flawless, but the characters and relationships it portrays are so much more complex and lifelike than you usually see in kdramas that it more than makes up for the occasional frustration. Very underrated!
This is a really solid drama that should probably be rated higher than it is. It's a nice romcom that executes a few familiar tropes in a way that feels light and fun instead of annoying. There's a second female lead who refuses to accept that her past relationship with the ML is over and a second male lead who's in love with his older brother's girlfriend, fake marriage, a soul-searching retreat to Jeju Island, etc., but none of that gets grating because the focus remains on the main couple throughout. They get plenty of interactions in every episode, develop feelings for each other early on and remain committed to each other throughout the drama. There's not quite enough plot to sustain 16 episodes, so the drama starts to drag a bit in the second half, but fortunately it doesn't resort to nonsensical breakups, misunderstandings and time skips to fill the time, so it's draggy in a pleasant way instead of infuriating the viewer with absurd plot twists. The secondary love interests keep their interference in the main couple's relationship to a minimum and bow out early and with grace, and once the main couple get together, they stay together.
Basically, I rate this drama highly in large part because it didn't do anything stupid and unnecessary to annoy me, which is very rare in romantic kdramas--and also because the main couple's relationship dynamic is pretty fun and both actors give charming performances.
I'm the clown for believing to the end that Tae-seo's mother saved him after he was stabbed and faked his death so he could leave Joseon and start a new life abroad. I kept expecting a reveal scene to show he was alive, but they really just killed off the best character in the drama!!!
Terrible drama. Irredeemable, infuriating, tyrannical and small-minded parents on both sides, mediocre main couple, draggy plot, doormat FL, and the only interesting side couple didn't end up together because apparently it's unacceptable for Korean family dramas to show a single mother choosing a hot younger bachelor over the selfish and unreliable biological father of her child, if he's gracious enough to show an interest in her years after abandoning her. Conservative "family values" propaganda with no upshot from start to finish.
Based on the preview for ep. 3, I think there will be multiple couples and his romantic interest is going to be…
I also hope there will be no love triangle, but we’ll see. I think the crown prince will get another love interest besides the FL, but he also seems interested in her so far, so it may start out as a love triangle/square.
is byeon woo seok the sml here or are there gonna be two couples?
Based on the preview for ep. 3, I think there will be multiple couples and his romantic interest is going to be the hairpin thief girl. He is still the second male lead, though? You don’t need a love triangle to have second leads.
Can anyone summarize or explain the backstory of the crown prince ? ( Which was shown when 2 common man were talking…
The rumour is that the crown prince’s mother poisoned the previous crown prince in order to help her own son and had the previous crown prince’s mother OR the king’s favourite concubine—not sure if they’re the same person—killed.
The crown prince is angry when he hears people spreading this rumour, but his cold behaviour toward his mother when she comes to see him at the shooting range and the dreams he has about his dead half-brother seem to indicate he feels responsible for his half-brother’s death and deep down also believes his mother killed him.
I hope this drama happens. It sounds fun and ridiculous in an old-school kdrama way and I like both main leads. Fingers crossed they don’t shelve it in favour of another rich housewife makjang/‘healing romance’ or whatever.
So I check screenwriter and he wrote police university too " shudder". Now I'm scared lol.
Screenwriters can have very diverse resumes... but I will say if they pull the timeskip-in-the-final-episode stunt once, you can't trust them ever, so I too am concerned.
Umm, why is Dilraba acting in a similar role again?
Everyone saying it's not a similar role like doing a bunch of pseudo-historical romances about girlbosses falling in love with princes while pursuing revenge for their dead families can be spun as pushing the envelope just because the girlbosses in question have "different personalities" lol.
I did enjoy The Long Ballad and think I'll like Legend of Anle even more because the male lead is a better actor, but Dilraba is absolutely getting typecast at this point. "Different" means doing e.g. a modern crime drama, not having "a completely different end goal for revenge" or whatever.
Gao Bingzhu and Wu Siyue’s scenes together have gotten even more intense and angsty since he joined the Intelligence Service. I want more interactions between them—and they need to have an honest conversation about their feelings! I really want them to get a happy ending.
The Yao Niang/16th Night reveal was awesome. A total shock, and the dramatic showdown with GBZ was well done. As someone else said, though, I still find An Beitan suspicious… Frankly, I also find the prince in charge of the Intelligence Service a little sus. I don’t think he’s part of the Four Seasons Divine, but I think he may be revealed to have his own goals separate from the Empress at some point.
I hate sad endings, but I love good romantic melos... and Kim Kyung-nam and Ahn Eun-jin are serving Just Between Lovers sexy sad vibes in the teaser and promos... so I'm ready to be hurt...
I'm 7 episodes in and I'm really liking this drama. Gotta say, though... the Baili Hongyi/Liu Ran and Yuehua/Gao Bingzhu dynamics definitely have romantic undertones. (Not complaining at all, just pointing it out since it's not in the tags.)
Is this actually that good, or is the rating inflated by hardcore Yibo fans? Don't get me wrong, I like him just…
It's a very good drama, kind of like a cross between The Longest Day in Chang'an and Rise of Phoenixes or something. (The Longest Day in Chang'an is clearly a big inspiration here and that's probably my favourite historical cdrama and massively underrated on MDL.) Beautiful shots, suspenseful plot, interesting/intelligent characters and mystery.
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Finally, Song Gyu-ho was an interesting character, but the love interest they gave him was too simple to make his subplot compelling. 'Cynical older man won over by persistent young ingenue' is such a relic of the 2000s and early 2010s in terms of romantic dynamics. I hated it in A Gentleman's Dignity and I hated it here. He would have been more interesting with someone closer to his age and emotional maturity, like Writer Lee, IMO.
Anyway. As I said, not a flawless drama, but a great one nevertheless.
Basically, I rate this drama highly in large part because it didn't do anything stupid and unnecessary to annoy me, which is very rare in romantic kdramas--and also because the main couple's relationship dynamic is pretty fun and both actors give charming performances.
The crown prince is angry when he hears people spreading this rumour, but his cold behaviour toward his mother when she comes to see him at the shooting range and the dreams he has about his dead half-brother seem to indicate he feels responsible for his half-brother’s death and deep down also believes his mother killed him.
I did enjoy The Long Ballad and think I'll like Legend of Anle even more because the male lead is a better actor, but Dilraba is absolutely getting typecast at this point. "Different" means doing e.g. a modern crime drama, not having "a completely different end goal for revenge" or whatever.
The Yao Niang/16th Night reveal was awesome. A total shock, and the dramatic showdown with GBZ was well done. As someone else said, though, I still find An Beitan suspicious… Frankly, I also find the prince in charge of the Intelligence Service a little sus. I don’t think he’s part of the Four Seasons Divine, but I think he may be revealed to have his own goals separate from the Empress at some point.