Emma

I adore and absolutely love Move To Heaven, D.P & The Glory. I really liked Squid Game as well (before all the hype). I thought Kingdom was just okay.

I also watch non-Netflix made kdramas that are thrillers / horror / revenge stories. And I'm of course a huge romance lover as well.

I personally do think the content Netflix is creating (their original made kdramas) isn't as good as it used to be. The quality is really declining for me. A lot of the dramas are now hit or miss for me while I used to adore everything they put out. I also feel like they are actually becoming more westernised, based on the certain increase in nudity etc.

But I do think it's hilarious that people think kdramas used to be innocent because looool Koreans love some dark shit in their movies and dramas.

But yeah I don't think mask girl was that good tbh

I mean marrying your cousin in a lot of countries isn't considered as incest. Some countries even allow marriage between cousins (The Netherlands is one of them). I still can't fathom how anyone could fall in love with their cousin, so weird to me but I dunno if I would call it incest.

It's not based on the webtoon, rather on the web novel. The webtoon is however again based on the web novel (slightly imo)

It's not based on the actual webtoon but the web novel (the webtoon is based on the web novel though). Because I was surprised how different the story is.

I don't think her marriage will be a secret, just that she would like to keep her partner out of the spotlife. A lot of celebrities in SK reveal that if they're marrying a non-celebrity that they would like to keep the partner out of the spotlight. Just to respect privacy.

A 4 year age gap is pretty normal though so I wouldn't even reconsider the no longer song song couple as a noona romance

Not really, they've been dating for almost 2 years now but they only announced it to the public in April

I completely agree with everything you've just said

It is truly no problem though. We absolutely adore kind people like you that stick up for others. You are a real trooper as well

I was just being dramatic and therefore made sure that Enny knew I did not actually think her taste is shit. Taste is of course subjective and critiquing a drama (in this case one of my all time favorites) is totally fine. I just thought it was funny that she disliked some dramas I personally disliked while also loving some of the dramas I have absolutely adored. So I did not actually say her taste was awful or that taste is measurable. So I am not sure if you fully read what I said since I did state some things like that. It is okay if you did or did not. Also it is quite nice of you to stick up for Enny even though I was not (at least my attention) was nowhere near to attack her.

Omg this just proves I was right. Biggest uwu energy that made me so soft. I basically melted by your sweet words as well.

And yeah the diversity and preferences what everyone likes to watch is always so interesting to see. I personally always like to see what other people enjoy and like to watch because sometimes you find such hidden gems or might watch shows you normally would not watch.

Now I am also even more excited to watch my brother´s husband. You´re really good at hyping a drama up.

Also thank you for making the Jackpot Japan list. Best title ever. You´re a real trooper.

Omg that would be funny if you would scream it in my face, I´ll probably cry because honestly I cry whenever I talk about CLOY, lol. But that is totally okay. Also, I have no real measurable taste because I enjoy the majority of things I watch. Only a few dramas have made me angry like some gremlin I secretly am.

But Enny (maybe your taste is not foul proof god tier level but then I am nowehere neeeeear god tier taste so who am I to even say this) your personality is100000000% god tier level. We all love you hear (and if they don´t I´ll scream in their face xD)

I´ll definitely let you know how I feel about HSL. Especially the leading man is an actor I really enjoy watching. He is really good. And I also do not think that it is your average kind of drama that is very beloved. You made me very excited now.

(also you´re taste is not bad by the way, I was just joking since you obviously like some real masterpieces as well)

This was such a cute article and really entertaining to read. I loved the format and the way you guys wrote it. Haha the personality of you guys was screaming at me. The idea is also so cool. I now wanna do this with my friends.

Also Enny YOU HAVE HORRIBLE TASTE♡ rating my all time favourite kdrama (Crash Landing On You) as one of the worst dramas you've seen is a crime against humanity. You crossed the line again by saying kill it was bad as well. My heart definitely died when I read CLOY xD But then you did say that The Uncanny Counter is one of the best dramas you've seen. I mean TASTE.

(I was obviously joking because of course taste is subjective and it's totally okay to dislike something. No shame in that. I thought it was just very funny that CLOY received your label of bad while the uncanny counter received good. Lol, they're both two of my all time favourite dramas. Definitely excited to watch hot stove league though. )

Btw Aehsassy you're the cutest cupcake on this planet & I love your love for Japanese content. I definitely need to watch some more Japanese movies and dramas. (Haha lowkey your chance to recommend me some since I definitely need all the recommendations I can get. I guess I'm tooooo picky when it comes to non-Korean dramas. Also love your love for my brother's husband. I'm currently reading the manga & liking it so that one is def on my list)

I actually didn't fail the challenge, which is quite a ahock to me as well, but I did fail at updating it loooool. I probably won't join this year's challenge since I just know that the same thing will happen all over again whoops.

Btw I really enjoyed your article and welcomd to the we failed the MDL challenge squad. We have cookies

Yeah, everyone had there moments that almost made me throw a pillow at my tv. So you're definitely right about that. I personally thought the ex boyfriend of the FL was the worst (even though the husband of the FL's sister should have won that position). I really loved OSN as well but damn did I rage at times (it also made me sob like a baby).

Btw great article as usual and I can't wait to see (& read) what you'll write next. Keep em going♡♡

I didn't know it meant gone my first love that's really interesting. I think that a lot of time the titles of Japanese shows or kdramas have different titles in English than what they actually mean in the native language of that drama. Thanks for telling me though.

Honestly all dramas are vague on what love vs. crush is.

Also I liked how we could discuss our opinions without getting angry or anything like that. I initially also was like wooaw boy switched fast but as I continued on with my binge watching I was like: it actually makes sense. At first it does seem a bit fast

One spring night was truly infuriating at times to watch. I truly hated almost every men in that show (Jung Hae In's character is of course an exception since he was such a precious puppy)

I personally think there's no real definition of first love since I don't think there's a clear distinction between what is your first love and the first person you liked (as in your first crush). For instance, the first person I liked is completely different from the first person I fell in love with. Both do hold a somewhat special place in my memory, but I have to say that the feelings I had for my first crush were not that significant compared to those of my actual first love. So whenever someone asks me who is your first love I would actually go with the first person I loved/fell in love with than the first person I crushed on.

Also, as a person who watches a lot of kdramas I've noticed that they don't even have a clear idea of what someone's first love is. In there it can mean the first person they liked (often a crush or they had feelings for someone but never confessed it, just held it in) or the first person they loved (which is often someone they were in a relationship with).

So I personally don't think there's a clear/straightforward definition of first love. I personally see Hashimoto as Aoki's first crush while I see Ida as Aoki's first love for all the reasons I previously stated. I still think my point stands that Hashimoto herself hinted at Aoki liking Ida a lot more than her.

Also, it truly depends on which title of tge show you're referring to. I know that the Emish title of the manga, which this show is based on/an adaptation of, is my love mix up. This is also the English title I'm most familiar with and I translated 消えた初恋 (Kieta Hatsukoi) through google translate which also gave that exact definition. I personally interpret the title my love mix up in 2 different ways. The first one is the whole debacle with the eraser that made Ida think Aoki liked him, while Aoki thought Hashimoto liked Ida and didn't want to reveal her 'secret' which is why he went along with Ida's misconception. Also the whole misunderstanding where Aoki thought Hashimoto liked Ida but she instead liked Aida fits it as well. My second interpretation is that Aoki initially thought Hashimoto was the one he loved while it was in fact Ida whom he loves.

So I personally think it's all up to everyone's perspective. I personally didn't think the switch between love interests was fast since I considered Aoki's feelings for Hashimoto more as a crush, fleeting emotions while he did fall in love with Ida albeit slowly (no fleeting emotions). I think Aoki had more attachment and stronger feelings for Ida than he did for Hashimoto. Besides, Hashimoto clearly rejected him multiple times (when he first liked her due to the cupcaje she said she wasn't able to give it to the person she wanted it to give to so she just gave it to Aoki, her eraser with another boy's name on it, actually explaining to Aoki that she wrote the name of that person because she liked him, and the immediate sorry and bow after Aoki slipped that he initially had liked her).

It probably was a crush and as the girl herself pointed out how quickly he got over her & wasn't really upset with her rejection anymore it should have been a hint that he didn't like her as much as he thought he did. Sometimes a crush is simply a crush, while actually falling in love with someone is very different in my opinion. I usually got over my crushes veeeeeery quickly, but when I fell in love with my best friend (which was an unrequited love) it took me around 2 maybe even 2,5 years to get over them. I think this is very similar to Aoki. He wasn't that hurt by Hashimoto's rejection (he actively tried to play cupid for her which means he sort of accepted it and moved on) while he was agonising over the potential that Ida didn't like him or would choose that girl from another school over him. I think his reaction to Hashimoto being into someone else and Ida potentially not having an interest in him was very different. This to me then alludes that Aoki's feelings for Hashimoto weren't actually that strong and that he likes Ida more (his feelings for Ida are stronger). I personally never harbored strong feelings for my crushes (they were more fleeting) than I do when I actually fall in love with someone.

I feel like we're pretty harsh when it comes to rating stuff here on MDL (myself included), but lol at least we're not as generous as Viki where almost everything has a rating of 9+💀☠

Btw really great article on such an interesting topic💜