Marshmallow-Chocoholic

I agree entirely. I appreciate everyone has different feelings, but it is amazing the amount of people who are quick to jump to her defence with being a “ well-written” character. Having a crush on someone is not a crime in itself, but it is hard to truly understand where we can see Mi Joo’s growth at all in this series. Yes, she had a difficult breakup and I have heard the argument by certain watchers that it may have been the case that ( similar to Joon), Mi Joo suffers from emotional neglect causing her to commit herself to needing to be constantly loved by others , but even this is never explained or even offered as an adequate reasoning tactic at all in the series. In fact, I don’t think it’s possible to pick out much about Mi Joo’s backstory , interactions with her feelings or past apart from her introduction as the “ rich girl” archetype in the beginning of the series. I’m glad that I’m not the only one who saw that ineffable reasoning by the screenwriter for Mi Joo’s feelings aside from “ he gave me a drink and is good looking “. I would understand if the screenwriter had started on this front but allowed it as a stepping stone for Mi Joo to learn more about Soo Hyun and their social and economic differences from one another by talking to Young Ran, or at least attempt to develop a platonic friendship with him first in order to allow her to mature or sort out her feelings, but instead Mi Joo just comes across as a fractious school girl with unrequited feelings for Soo Hyun . This is a sad reality as Woo Da Vi is actually a really good actress and is even delivering a brilliant performance here , it is just her onscreen persona which is the issue . I’m not entirely sure if Mi Joo is as bad in the webcomic as I’ve only read a little, but there are some major differences with her character especially as she’s only a side character in the webcomic storyline.

No and that’s understandable. However, a lot of people in healthy relationships would define being able to talk or share their feelings with their significant other as a sign of mutual trust and symbiotic respect. This isn’t saying that Joon should load a colossal weight of emotional trauma onto So Bin, but so far their relationship has very much been defined as So Bin as the emotional band aid for when Joon is “ upset” or “ wants to talk about something”, but rarely getting into the actual root problem, offering solutions or even just reciprocating the same conducted behaviour for So Bin with her own heavy weight outside of when it was “ necessary for the storyline”.

Mi Joo for a major proportion of the series( hence why I added up until recent episodes) fitted the archetype of someone with “ unrequited feelings” ( or alternatively unreciprocated feelings) for Soo Hyun. If you want definitive proof of this then look up “ unrequited” in the Oxford English Dictionary and it will be defined as” ( of a feeling, especially love ) not returned”. I believe that this is case and point even in the recent episode when her feelings were not reciprocated by the rejection of Soo Hyun to go out with her and return mutual feelings hence why Mi Joo is supposed to embody the typical trope of the “ girl with unrequited feelings who is hopeless in ever having them returned”. It is a classic ideology of romance stories throughout the world and has existed for millenniums . I could go on and on about the amount of psychological and philosophical studies which have been carried out into one-sided love and feelings. Even psychologist Eric Berne commented that unrequited love can often be more problematic for the individual by saying “ Some say that one-sided love is better than none, but like half a loaf of bread, it is likely to grow hard and moldy sooner”. “Obsession”(, or if you want to call it “ infatuation”, ) is not necessarily the same as unrequited love, however, it is often attributed as a common sign of one-sided feelings of the experiencer towards the object of their affections. Personally speaking, I think Mi Joo’s conducted behaviour is on the mild side compared to some of the more “ neurotic” attitudes of female leads in recent years. Nevertheless, it is evident to see where certain individuals raised red flags in early episodes about Mi Joo’s conveyed actions verging upon obsessive and unhealthy. There is often said to be a fine line between a crush and obsession, yet Mi Joo could often just put her toes across that line at times with certain acts nearly verging upon idiosyncratic behaviour . I am not angered by the fact that Mi Joo was promoted from a side character, to a main lead in the series just that poor-writing seems to stereotype a lot of the female leads notably in this series and their own feelings as fickle; Mi Joo does not exist for any other entertainment as the “ hopeless lover” and even then just accepts her rejection pretty much ( aside from her infatuation over the course of a majority of the series with Soo Hyun) and this was a similar case and point also with So Bin’s pretty much “ life-long” crush on Chan Ki being happily put to the side for going out with Joon. This is just bad and incompetent writing at its height.

Agreed entirely. You can imagine if it had been produced by any other network than KBS, it may not have entirely followed every page of the webcomic, but there would have been more poignancy towards transcending certain aspects of the webcomic’s themes than the network burying their head in the sand towards these issues.

I suppose you’re addressing my point that certain watchers aren’t mad on her as a result of her characterisation . There seems to be several main critiques on Mi Joo by viewers in this camp; the first few episodes seemed to have established Mi Joo in the direction of good development. She’s struggled with a past breakup, a difficult relationship and seemed to suggest that she’d mature, learn that love is not the only way to happiness through focusing more upon making friends with SB YR, or even just struggling again to get back into having feelings for someone after such a traumatic incident. Then what do you know, she’s head over heels in love again with her unrequited feelings towards SH. There is the argument evidently that this is a sign of trauma in itself by the fact that Mi Joo ( similar to YJ) comes from a wealthy background but lacks storge and makes up for it in other ways. However unlike YJ, Mi Joo hasn’t had this opportunity for the storyline at all to provide any insight or motive either through backstory, relationships ( sans with her roommates and SH) and deeper development into her character. As a consequence up until recent episodes, Mi Joo could often seem fractious or immature by her unhealthy obsessiveness over SH, and more annoyingly everything with Mi Joo’s character entirely revolving around her feelings for him rather than her greater sense of calling as a character. Of course there is the unfair critique by some viewers that she is “ a bad character because she subverts SH’s sexuality and is only a side character in the webcomic ” but for a majority it isn’t really a case of attacking the character, just rather the questionable decisions of the screenwriter.

There seems to always be several main contingencies after an episode airs on this platform; watchers who have come across/ read the original webcomic and are avid fans of the original storyline ( putting a candle against everything which isn’t the same), those who couldn’t care less and are just watching the drama and then a minority who can see both sides of the picture . Personally I’m in the latter camp. I’ve always maintained than a drama and a webcomic are standalone works in their own right. Admittedly whilst I have my own qualms about the drama ( not because of the webcomic) from a writing perspective, I do think that I can understand why certain watchers may be a little bitter with erasing the “ gay” element of Soo Hyun’s character . LGBTQ+ representations have been fairly positive over the past few years in South-Korean media and productions, so to see this eliminated does put some watchers on a downer. However perhaps it is important to consider that KBS has respectively always been a “conservative” production channel, so from the get-go it would have been surprising if this had been included at all.

I don’t think people are really attacking her for being “ selfish” , just her character development.

I suppose a lot of this respectfully boils down to personal taste and experience from K-dramas. Talking personally here, I don’t really “ hate” Mi Joo for being an asset present with the SH being “ straight” direction of the storyline. For me it’s the direction of her character. I’ve seen a myriad of Mi-Joo style characters in second FLs over the years who are the basis of being the “ fool in love” archetype and lack a greater sense of calling outside of romantic pairings. I respect if your opinion differs and you like Mi Joo, but to each their own I suppose .

I think a lot of people have mixed feelings towards Mi Joo for several main reasons; 1) Even by having a “ crush” , with her unrequited feelings towards SH a lot of original webcomic readers are irked by this direction ( due to SH’s sexuality being ignored even over her crush , and Mi Joo not having such a prominent role nor feelings for SH in the original storyline), 2) Her “obsessive “ nature- I’ll be honest in saying personally Mi Joo doesn’t seem as neurotic as some second female leads towards entirely being a “ creepy stalker” , however, a lot of Mi Joo’s presented attitude is often conveyed as unhealthy for some watchers. Finally there’s the major point with her poor character development. When she’s introduced there was certain poignance about Mi Joo’s breakup possibly allowing her to grow or learn from her experiences, yet she seems to be stuck in a constant rut of having to be in love. It is understandable that this is the point of “ At A Distance, Spring is Green”. They’re youths learning the highs and lows of reality and are meant to be flawed. However, Mi Joo’s one motivated aim just seems to be to fall for men. Whilst it was sweet to see Mi Joo grow closer to her roommates and not go down the typical route of being nasty with Young Ran , there have been no real pointers to signify that unlike YJ, SH and even NSH, she’s had greater development or maturation as a character. There’s nothing to put together about Mi Joo’s past, backstory , journey to self-respect or even learning to develop a greater sense of meaning for her feelings. ( By at least understanding more about SH even from YR outside of “ he’s good looking and nice and gave me a drink”). Whilst we should acknowledge that each character in this show has their own flaws and strengths, it does become prominent for some viewers that Mi Joo isn’t as well-rounded as other characters by only existing as the archetypical “ second female lead with a big fat crush on the second male lead”. Of course this isn’t a crime in itself but it is evident where contempt grows towards not necessarily Mi Joo per say, but the screenwriter for prosaic development.

I have nothing against age gaps either but I think it is very dependent for me on the “ gap” we are talking about. An age gap between adults in a healthy and overt relationship , understandable. An age gap between someone who is a child and an adult , then there are undeniably going to be some red flags. I did point this out in my comment beforehand that the ML wasn’t attracted to the FL in any way during the beginning of the series, however, it’s important to remember that some individuals may percept this as grooming or uncomfortable as it isn’t necessarily always the case that someone is “ attracted” to a minor, but easing them into false security by giving them attention or acting as a mentor figure. As it happens, I personally don’t really see it this way and my criticism comes from elsewhere ( the ML showing no interest and then the FL’s nearly neurotic obsession with him), however, some individuals in my social circle who have watched this show have picked up on this element beforehand.

This is a definitely a slippery slope argument as it is dependent on a lot upon where you’re from in the world and sociocultural norms . I appreciate what you’re trying to say by age differences in relationships ( I also know a lot of happy couples with big age gaps), however, that’s a bit of a different argument in many cultures to effectively a minor and a grown-man ending up together in a romantic storyline . In a lot of worldwide societies many individuals would considering this “ child grooming”. Regardless of the FL being a “ sociopath”, time-skips or being intelligent, @Joy is bang on the mark by saying that the FL is still very much in a developmental stage ( scientists may mark this as “ late adolescence” which can even last between the ages of 24-25) with her brain and hormonal imbalances. This isn’t saying it’s “ wrong” for the FL to have physical or sensual attraction towards the ML and nor did the ML attempt to lead her on as a child either . In fact in the later storyline it is important to remember that regardless of psychical development, the FL is still an adult and this “ problematic” gap between the leads( dependent on the FL being a child in the early storyline ) has been smoothed over. On the other hand, an issue which often arises in big age gap relationships which isn’t addressed in storylines like Itaewon Class with nearly a 12 year age gap , as socio-psychological and sociological differences between couples from different generations can undeniably often put a damper on wider social factors.

I have mixed feelings about the drama also. The irony is that webcomic actually started on a pretty good note with Ji Kyung being a fairly relatable and down-to-earth heroine, however, when they began introducing the whole spectrum of cliches with the love triangle, her character started becoming incredibly superficial and the messages conveyed soon became “ makeup will make you prettier and never take it off in public otherwise you’ll be ugly.” If the drama storyline had attempted to smooth down these evident problems of the webcomic, and gone down the “ The Makeup Remover” route where the message is prominent that makeup can be a source of problems for societal beauty standards, but also a form of expression and identity , then maybe the drama wouldn’t have been too bad. Admittedly it was sort of nice to see that one scene where Jin Kyung learned to accept her “ flaws” by showing her friends but even changing certain background stories or roles in the drama, just made Jin Kyung and her romantic love triangle boring and shallow for the most part.

@sal09 We definitely could see some better character growth in the next four episodes, so fingers crossed :).

@Faye Waters I’m not entirely sure who you’re directing this comment towards, but I’ll answer anyway as a lot of your points seem to cover what myself, @Binci and @Jessica have mentioned. First of all, it is true we have preferences. Mine will evidently differ from yours, just as yours will differ from mine. However it is a bold assumption ( especially as the point wasn’t even brought up) to assume that we are even suggesting in this line of discussion that any of us are trying to ship Yeojun and Soohyun. I can understand if maybe you misunderstood the line of discussion here, however, ironically our comment was upon the scenes that we were all seemingly not “ really watching” and our feelings towards how enforced this pairing felt for us. Nobody is saying that Jun can’t have this relationship romantically with So Bin and his friendship with Soohyun , but rather just the problem of how the show has taken this direction for us. Again, I appreciate that you are probably an advocate towards this pairing and there’s nothing wrong with that if that’s how you feel, however, please comprehend the line of discussion first before making wild assumptions :).

@sal09 I think it’s wonderful if you can feel this way about So Bin and I am honestly not dismissing your view in any way. For me personally at least So Bin is the “ carte blanche” love interest- she has the potential to be interesting and well-rounded , but ultimately gets lost in the sea of her archetype as the “ asset”. I am not saying that So Bin should be explored in Freudian depth into her psyche, as sometimes simply taking the most simplistic approaches can be intriguing for viewers. Additionally as someone who terribly suffers from social anxiety in real life, I honestly think it’s wonderful to see a character represent real-life problems. However, what is irksome is that So Bin is a motiveless girl, in an otherwise motivated world throughout the events of the storyline . What do I mean by this? Well, look at her counterparts Soo Hyun or even Jun. They’re not perfect, and certainly are not supposed to be, however, they have goals; Jun to have an authentic emotional bond with someone, Soo Hyun tries to make ends meet and look after his brother even if it means becoming a social pariah, however, So Bin studies? It would be understandable if the drama had offered some reasoning behind this, or even taken the epiphany of dramatic irony by the fact that So Bin doesn’t know herself what her own goals are, or struggles to truly grasp what her future should be, but there’s none of this offered or even explained. She studies because she’s supposed to represent the “ South-Korean hardworking student” and that’s really it. Yes, she struggled with her vindictive professor, but what else can we grasp? Evidently there’s her past, however, it’s hard to join the dots here towards any elements of her past not being used to foreground romantic pairings in the show bringing us full-circle once more to the problem of So Bin as the “ asset” for the pairing between SB and Jun. Honestly, I genuinely think if you can see something poignant in this pairing , then I do think it’s wonderful that you connect to it. However, for me So Bin is a female lead who is written to appease the “ pairing” between herself and Jun, without being treated forthright as an individual.

I get you. The sad problem is that So Bin has the potential to be an intriguing, motivated character but ultimately she really only serves one purpose to be an “ asset” to a romantic pairing. I know what the screenwriters are trying to do here with “ two problematic people from different walks of life falling in love”, but there are so many versatile ways to build up , develop it or at least maintaining a platonic and respectful friendship , rather than enforcing it in a way which makes it seem as @Jessica said as though Jun has more equivocal respect for Soo Hyun.

This is definitely giving me Judge Dredd-style vibes. Interesting, a good cast and certainly a breath of fresh air for recent Korean dramas but ( for me at least) there are few things such as lighting and editing which undeniably feel a little off.

Oddly enough in C-dramas it seems to be a common occurrence in romantic storylines.

So far it hasn’t really been indicated an exact reason but it would seem to suggest that Yeo Joon is viewed as the “ inferior son” by his parents in comparison to his brother . ( Hinted by past dialogue that YJ is never been a prodigy and isn’t attending a SKY/ elite University. )This was indicative of the way his father was quick to allow his “ son” ( thinking it was Yeo Joon’s brother) to access company files before losing it when he found out it was Yeo Joon, as well as his mother saying that he “ shouldn’t have been born”. ( Admittedly there are some more selfish reasons with YJ’s mother having to leave behind her dreams in the webcomic from what I can make out.) His brother seems to be a bit more of a tricky issue to explain, however, the most likely is that he has been pushed by his parents into the elitist role of the “ prodigy” and so his ability to connect or kindle a bond with his brother outside of the way his parents have programmed him is difficult. This isn’t to excuse his actions towards YJ, however, I think from the way we’ve seen the camera pan out during interactions upon the brother’s face that he does care about YJ in his own way. In terms of the money, I’d say that it was probably from whatever “ allowance” that he’s been given by his parents as a form of bribe to keep away from the family residency .We don’t entirely know exactly how much YJ gets from this allowance, however, it seems to be a hefty amount considering his plush apartment, being able to afford luxury clothing and going out on top.

You’re welcome , I’m glad that I could help :)