Marshmallow-Chocoholic

@Homulol I appreciate what you’re trying to say here and I do thank you for elaborating on your point from @Anushka’s comment, however, this is becoming a bit of a tiresome point that ” if you understand the meaning of those works” you can ‘appreciate’ the drama more. Let’s be honest. Fair enough if you like the drama, but a lot of the works and messages were sporadic, disconnected and confusing for a lot of viewers. Even speaking as a philosophy and literature student, I was stuck scratching my head at times towards what this story was actually trying to convey here.

@Sora Agreed entirely. The only thing which is just keeping me watching this is to see how it ends.

@Lupus It depends what you’re looking for in this drama. If you’re here just for the cast , the aesthetic cinematography and some arbitrary philosophy here and there, you’ll love it. If you have high standards on the lore of fantasy shows and dynamic character development, then likely you may not enjoy this one as much. My biggest advice is just to give it a go. You may love it, you may hate it. That’s up to you :).

@elle I definitely agree Nabi’s actions are a little questionable at times. However, there certainly wouldn’t be any drama or tension if she didn’t find herself in these situations (lol). I guess what we have to remember is that Nabi is emotionally vulnerable, rather than “ stupid ” per say. It would be easy to argue that she could bounce back or not make the same mistakes as the past , but Nabi presents an alternative problem of abuse victims who cannot quite escape it.

If you go to asianwiki in notes or bakamangaupdates and look up the name ( At A Distance,Spring is Green) both provide an original webcomic link. The website demands coins after a certain amount of episodes , but if you’re willing to pay then you’ll be able to read it:).

@Safiera You have made some brilliant points here. I think it’s refreshing to explore the more problematic sides of relationships in K-dramas, away from the more respectfully rose-tinted romance storylines of mainstream productions . In reality there are sadly so many people who are in Nabi’s scenario, or who finds themselves attracted to more emotionally draining relationships and are unable to escape them.

@LinZin I’m sort of getting the vibe perhaps Sol has a girl crush on Yan but is trying to inhibit her sexuality in order to avoid causing a problem between their friendship.

@Problematic I can appreciate you not enjoying the drama, however, the subjective stereotyping here is a little condescending. If you dislike the show, then fair enough but at least try and be constructive with your criticism :).

@ Carulhein Agreed entirely. Let’s look forward to seeing how they grow during the entirety of the drama storyline :).

@Spacebuns I do agree that they are very different dramas and it is a little unfair to compare them on certain grounds. However, what is important to appreciate is that when Goblin came out, it was a cultural and media phenomenon both in South-Korea and overseas. For a lot of international drama watchers Goblin is the creme de la creme of the modern fantasy genre, whilst DAYS has received little reception ( apart from a bit of online buzz) in South-Korea . There have been a lot of dramas ( even before DAYS) which have come under a lot of scrutiny in the ” post -Goblin era" such as the Bride of Habaek which marketed itself as the " next Goblin” and flopped seriously hard amongst audiences in Korea and criticism. Comparing is pretty normal to be honest. I believe it is fine to do so as watchers ( myself included), do note similarities , but we should do this without the “ standard” having to be Goblin and critique it as a stand-alone piece in its own right.

@thematchabun I know exactly where you’re coming from. There’s nothing wrong with liking or hating or show as everyone has different tastes ( I’ve also been in a similar boat with really popular dramas, and dropped them after a couple of episodes because they just didn’t appeal to me). I entirely agree with the format also. If it had been released on a Friday/ Saturday or a Saturday/ Sunday slot then perhaps it would not have detracted the rating as much with ( as you said) momentum from the audience demographic.

@chias That’s the point though. They aren’t his friends and Jun knows that but he doesn’t say anything or stop because he’s afraid of being despised or neglected similar to his familial scenario. He doesn’t care if it’s authentic, it’s just something he can have control of in his restrained life by using money. I agree that he should be able to make more authentic connections ( hence the point of the actual storyline and his pursuit of Soo Hyun’s friendship), however, I think whilst it’s easy to say he should, it’s important to remember that Jun doesn’t know any better. As cliche as it sounds, he has never really had a proper emotional connection with someone without money. It’s a twisted way of thinking that you can manipulate others into being your friend or partner ( and something both Soo Hyun and Bin are quick to notice) but as the saying goes someone is a byproduct of their upbringing. This isn’t excusing Jun’s actions. If anything, they are malicious and conniving and people who are like this on real life, I’d advise anyone ( relationship or friendship) to stay away. However, already this is something intriguing about Jun as a character- the fact we are having this debate over his complexity shows that he’s unpredictable, complicated and ultimately flawed. In others words, he’s not one-dimensional; he’s human.

Thank you, I look forward to being able to read this soon :)!

@chias That’s the point of Jun as a character. He leans into being everyone’s ATM and believes he can make friends with money because ultimately these are the hedonistic values Jun has bought into through the dysfunctional scenario of his family. Jun knows he is being taken advantage of by these so-called " friends” because he believes that he won’t have to shy away from the reality of loneliness. As the saying goes money can’t buy happiness and this is what presents a great contrast with Soo Hyun. Soo Hyun has to work for money just to survive and is quick to jump on the boat of paying Jun back for the watch, whilst Jun has never had to worry about these things and quickly passes them off . It would be easy to label Jun as "spoilt" because in a way with materialistic things, he is. However, emotionally Jun is vulnerable. This was shown well during the scene between Soo Hyun, Jun and Soo Hyun’s brother at the canteen table and Soo Hyun’s fraternal affection for his brother. Jun may have all the money anyone could ever want, but even he couldn’t put a price on the ability to have this authentic connection with someone. It makes him the " gopher” in our eyes because he doesn’t seem able to say no to anybody, but ultimately this is what builds up Jun’s facade ; the cheery and benign social butterfly who has everything he could ever want, apart from true happiness.

I apologise for the misunderstanding, however, typically when previous comments have paraphrased “ In hope for love between two boys“ they are looking for a BL setup which can easily be confused for a minority of watchers with LGBTQ+ storylines. However as much I am same boat as you nor am I defending the actions of KBS, it is important to acknowledge the sociocultural differences between the west and South-Korea.

@Yukii_13 It shares the same name as the drama ( or 멀리서 보면 푸른 봄 in Korean). Sadly, it is not widely available in English, however, a previous comment further down from a couple of weeks back mentioned that if you have a translation engine/tool you can access the webcomic in Korean and translate as you go :).

@Nauriya This is dependent on what you’re looking for in a show. It is sad that they did scrap these more poignantly aspects from the drama, however, it isn’t inherently bad nor is it entirely what I’d label " homophobic" either- just very conservative as a KBS drama and burying their heads in the sand to changing times . Ji Hoon, Kang Min Ah and In Hyuk are pretty good on the acting front and there are certainly some intriguing themes presented. Admittedly the biggest problem for me personally at the minute is the lacklustre pairing between Ji Joon’s character and Min Ah’s . It takes up a lot of screen time and was simply added to avoid the " provocative” elements without a lot of foregrounding. If you don’t mind more evident spoilers then the webcomic isn’t a BL, but rather a representation of our main lead who is revealed to be gay, however, I do agree that it is disrespectful to have subverted the author’s work and messages beyond recognition simply because they don’t want to " rock the boat".

Agreed! I seriously wished they’d aired this on a Friday/ Saturday or Saturday/ Sunday slot for more eps :).

@thematchabun Agreed entirely. It is sad how downvoted this show has become from one episode rather than just giving it a chance.

@Kcitkat I certainly did but it is surprising looking at the mixed reactions in the comments…