MadelineMaureen

'Moon in the Day' just finished & i think there is a really well rounded performance from him in that one. As he's playing two different characters you can see more of his range. It's 14 episodes long but within the first 2 you'll be able to tell if you like his acting or not.
He's improved with each project so im excited to see where his career takes him.

I love the little actor just watching and teasing Director Lu & DingDing. I think he was their first supporter tbh.

I made it to episode 20. I dont understand how you write a fully grown "professional" woman like she is a ten year old on a sugar high, but these writers did. I wouldnt be surprised if the Chinese government had to put out PSAs to counteract the BS this show puts out as content.

I dont hate the show, I've just seen so many shows that I see a pattern forming that I hope wont happen with this one. And with so many shows having offshoots of the same premise recently it's harder to not compare the differences between the shows and who is able to portray certain aspects of their story better. Visually this one is leading the pack.
As i said in my first comment, 'My Demon' has my favorite cinematographer working on the production. The thing that I keep thinking about is that both the writer & directors only have 1 other project each prior to this. As someone who loves the lead actors I just want the writing & storytelling to stick the landing.
Liking something is subjective. I just think I've been burned recently with another 16ep Netflix show that i was still very much in love with by ep6, but the story completely fell apart afterwards. So I'm much more hesitant to jump head first into singing their newest project's praises. I've watched hundreds of shows and seen how they are received by different audiences. I was hoping that someone else who has been watching Kdramas for 15ish years could help me better articulate what it is that I'm feeling about this show.

Although I've been enjoying the show I feel like there is something missing/lacking. The cinematographer is one of my favorites in the kdrama industry & he's really crafting beautiful shot after beautiful shot.
But the pacing just feels off somehow. We got pretty much the last 5-10 minutes of one episode tacked onto the beginning of the next.
I think a lot of the 16 episode dramas have been struggling with keeping a good pace lately imo. The repetitive filler becomes much more glaring after watching a lot of shows that are 12-14eps or 2 parts split into 9 episodes. The 2pt 9ep each format helps with the story pacing. You can hone in on one part of the plot before tying up the overarching plot in the back half.
There are tons of shows that I enjoy that are even longer, but because the story is enriched with more characters that matter to the plot & not just side fluff that could honestly be cut(looking directly at you Strong Girl Nam Soon), they dont feel too long.
I just want to connect with the two leads, but they haven't really given us much reason to root for them other than they are pretty to look at & are both blunt. I just need a bit more interest from both parties, and a bit more humanity to the characters. Having BOTH leads be cold & standoffish sometimes just doesnt play out well.
(I feel like I'm crazy. please tell me someone understands what I mean/what im talking about, and that I'm not the only one.)

If you have VPN it's on the Japanese server :)

Anyone who worked on the project(in front of or behind the scenes) would possibly run into issues when trying to make/work on another project.

Currently watching 3 Friday/Saturday shows
'My Demon' on Netflix
'The Story of Park's Marriage Contract' on Viki
'My Man is Cupid' on Prime
They are all good in their own way. All have "interesting" takes on the past/supernatural. And all 3 have murder mysteries woven throughout the shows.
The chemistry for each of the main leads is amazing. It's just going to come down to how they all end on whether or not they will enter the rewatch-god-tier level. As I was really enjoying Strong Girl Nam Soon at around the same episode aired count I'm hesitant to sing the praises of any one show atm. I was filled with regrets from wasting my time, and glad that the person I had originally recommended it to was more in a binge watch mode and I was able to stop them before it was too late.
But based off of what I've seen so far I can understand why Marriage Contract is doing stronger in viewer scores. There are more varied ages of characters in this show than the others. Aka a younger audience is going to wait to stream later, older audiences will watch as it's airing.

yeah, girl knows that Ri Ta killed him to save him from himself. She knows the guilt he feels toward those he killed in battle. So to be killing HIS people for her...once they stopped running...if they even could, he would have hated himself even more. & she wouldnt be able to be the reason so may children didnt have their own fathers or brothers.
She was always willing to take one life & then forfeit her own as payment. Not the dozens of soldiers/servants following orders.

If they played his weird voice without the overlay of the other actor one more time i was going to yeet something across my room. All I could think about was the poor actor's vocal chords getting jacked up.
The step/half brother of the ML in Park's Marriage Contract, is an unhinged I haven't seen in a minute. The crazy-eyes, mutually assured destruction mentality, & manic laugh was a bit much all together so early on. If I saw someone act like that infront of me you bet I would be changing every pass code & lock to my house the second I could.
That seems to be a common issue in some of these shows. Too many people with the pass code to what we are told is an extremely closed off and private person. 🙃
Also simply saying "hey so there is someone actively trying to kill you, and is willing to get other people to do the job as well. So if you could just stay in the house with me until the day after your birthday you should be completely fine to live a relatively long and normal life."

I was coming to the comment section to see if anyone else noticed how good his expressions are in this drama. Everytime he's watching her he does such a good job at expressing the charater's emotions in that moment.
I hope he can continue to get more projects that he flex his acting range even more. Ive seen a lot of "im in love with you, but hate you at the moment" type of roles. The "he fell first & hardest" kind of ML. Would be interested in seeing him in a role outside of his comfort zone atm aka antagonistic love interest.
I also have to admit that I just like to admire the way the man walks. like...damn....

I feel like i need to rewatch this one. Both leads were underage while filming the show so is honestly the most G rated high school to university drama I've ever seen.

i cant remember how she does it, but i remember telling my brain she's just using proper SPF now and studying inside more...yeah the delulu was deluluing.

Any particular reason? I'm not familiar with him or his work.

okay...cool. If you had no media literacy, and wanted to actively stay ignorant about how media shapes thoughts and ideas that's all you had to say.

And his character could have been straight and done all that.

When you make the only queer character the bad guy it is sending a message, whether knowingly or not, that queer people are secretive deceivers, willing to harm/kill others to keep their secret.
And in a country that is still dealing with a LOT of homophobia at that...yeah that's an extremely bad take on a character in 2023.

I've watched sooooo many films and shows of different generations and industries and this plot device belongs in 1940s Hollywood. There is a reason the Disney villains of a certain age are all queer coded. It marks them as "other" and "dangerous".

It might not have been the productions' intent, but that doesn't make it any less problematic and disappointing.

Also the fact that the lead actress was spearheading the campaign. Jumping in before and during production. Pulling strings and calling in favors. Lu Si WORKED on this show. She put everything into this to get it made.
Not enough budget for wardrobe, okay...uses her own clothes. Calls in favors from contacts.
OG Director leaves, okay...hold her beer....helps direct her co-stars, and pulls up her personal contact list for casting.
No money for music...oh look at that...sings half the ost at a cut rate.
I want her to be a producer on this show so freaking badly because of how passionate she was about the Hidden Love project.

thank you, and done.

I think whomever plays Sang Yan needs to be able to have the same rizz that Chen Zhe Yuan brought to Duan Jia Xu. Sang Yan teases the ever loving shit out of Yi Fan with simple looks and presence. It can't come off as cheesy or cringe. Their first meeting is him letting Yi Fan assume he's older than her, and being completely unbothered by things such as the school bell.

Sang Yan plays around with CLOSE friends and family, but the second he is around people he doesn't like he gets very cold/standoffish/sarcastic. His little sister Sang Zhi might think he doesn't have any game in the romance department, but she was completely in the dark about his almost decade long unrequited love. He also is famous in their hometown for being extremely attractive and untouchable...like an idol/star. To the point where his bar, Overtime, doesn't look like a bar from the outside, but is the most popular bar on the street simply because of his presence/vibe.

Also, I'm going to need the scenes of Sang Yan with Jai Xu at university and how the whole campus thought they were a golden couple, and both of them couldn't be bothered to correct peoples' assumptions. As one was more focused on making money to pay his father's debut, and the other was still hung up on his desk-mate.

I've seen a lot of actors fail at trying to be cold/indifferent, but still convey interest/humor. I'm going to need someone with strong eye acting ability. I'm talking the way Rang Rang looks at Zai Zai in 'When I Fly Towards You' and Jai Xu looks at Sang Zhi in 'Hidden Love'. All three stories are by the same author. The main difference in character between Sang Yan and Jai Xu is that Sang Yan is people pleaser/flirt as a defense to his teen trauma, and Sang Yan never needed to flirt with or please anyone(cause he rich-rich), his is blunt with his speech and has a cutting/sardonic sense of humor. He's never in a hurry and he dresses like a grim reaper.
Just thinking of his interview after his apartment fire and how blunt and unbothered he was and how everyone made it a meme of sorts. Unbothered King.

Sang Yan always seemed villain coded to me, but like greenest of green flag villains. And now all i can see is if Korea ever adapted this they would need to cast Byeon Woo Seok as Sang Yan.

In case you haven't check the page lately...the actress has changed again. Nothing seems to be confirmed anywhere yet.