Meari21

I actually enjoyed this for the most part. The only things holding me back from giving it a much higher score are the inappropriate musical score and the lengthy and unnecessary exposition dumps they do at almost every episode. I get that they have to explain the lingo and how things work in this industry, but the fact that they felt the need to spell things out for you by making other characters discuss why some characters choose to do something or what they're thinking just to explain things is dumb, and they're treating their audience like newborn infants with close to zero cognitive skills who can't understand what's going on.

He wasn’t obsessed with Si Eun. If you’ve noticed, he had a habit of checking Suho’s Insta and fondly looking at his photos. He didn’t do that with Si Eun. I believe he saw Si Eun as more his equal but Suho he idolized.

Not true. Some teachers even straight up hit these kids and verbally abuse them. I've seen it happen. The only reason they avoid doing so is some kids took videos of them hurting the students and uploaded these videos online some years back. The videos went viral and became a social issue in Korea. That is why corporal punishment is now prohibited in Korean schools. But there are some teachers who still inflict corporal punishment on their students albeit secretly.

This was my exact same question. lol I mean, even if they can't do anything to stop all that fighting, they could've at least called the police or school security. I know for a fact that when students do their self-study inside their classrooms, teachers are almost always present because they are required to do so. The fact that there were hardly any teachers make this drama highly unrealistic in that aspect.

I don't think he was jealous of Suho, though. In my opinion, he placed him on a pedestal because he was the exact opposite of his father. He was confident, cool, and a good person who never unnecessarily hurt others. But when he thought Suho bossed him around and considered him a liability like his father did, he felt betrayed. Yeongi's growing closeness with the boys was the final nail in the coffin because he felt like she was more part of the group than he was and his deep insecurities led him to believe that Suho never thought of him as a real friend. He did what obsessive fans do to their beloved idols when the gods they worship don't behave the way they expect them to, which is tear them down. His disappointment in Suho was the reason why his idol worship obsession turned to hate. Suho became a surrogate for his father so it was him who received all the punishment from Beom Seok.

To be honest, even my Korean friends admit that their educational system is extremely flawed. That is why many of them who can speak English go to international schools or leave the country to pursue higher education abroad. Some even deliberately migrate to other countries with the hopes that their children won't have to suffer the harsh competition that Korean students have to deal with every single day of their lives. Their lack of confidence in their own educational system stems from the fact that Korean education doesn't really encourage critical thinking and individualism. Their education is highly standardized and exam-driven, and students heavily rely on their ability to memorize answers and excel in tests instead of developing cognitive functions and creativity. Precisely why there are people who study English all their lives, receive high scores in TOEIC, but have close to zero communication skills. I have to admit, though, their focus on mathematics and sciences is crazy! I've tutored high school kids studying complex calculus and it made my head hurt. lol No wonder the country is bursting with innovation. Of course this is just a generalization and I'm mostly referring to typical schools. There are special schools that do not employ this kind of system.

Xianxia dramas usually have godly beings, immortal sects, and demons or yao. Besides, there's no xianxia tag in this, just wuxia with fantasy elements. I wasn't talking about objects but ways to bypass these spells. It's like this, you undergo a lie detector test and you're asked questions answerable by only yes or no. The question is, "do you love your sister?" You sometimes love her but sometimes you hate her so either yes or no can be true for you. Either answer won't be a lie. The character was asked if he knew about something in particular, he said no. He didn't lie because he really didn't. But it didn't mean he knew nothing at all because he was actually involved. He just didn't know about the particular question that was asked. If everything is explained and spelled out to the viewers/readers, then that's not good writing imho. If you think these are plotholes, you're free to think so. I am merely answering the question you posed based on how I understood this magical lie detector test. But if that still doesn't satisfy you, then no answer will.

The rule of thumb in writing is "show don't tell". They don't need to specifically mention something to let the viewers know about it. Most of the time, they show it. The fact that one of the guilty criminals was able to pass the test, shows that it's not reliable. Like I said, it can be compared to a lie detector machine, it's not always right because people can beat it depending on how they answer the question and how the question is phrased. I don't think this is xianxia, though as there are no gods. This is more like a combination of wuxia and xuanhuan because of the dark fantasy elements.

These are some of my favorite dramas of all time. lol

If you're into crime mysteries and detective stuff, I'd recommend Under the Skin. No romance, though, just an engaging bromance between the two male leads. If you happen to like anime, I Am Nobody is a must-watch as it's based on a manhua that was turned into a Japanese anime and finally adapted into live action. They also adapted a popular Japanese manga/anime, Hikaru no Go, into a live action drama that I thought maintained the essence of the source material. And if you're willing to give Taiwanese dramas a shot, I'd suggest you check out Oh no! Here Comes Trouble. These are all modern dramas. But no romance, just some bromance (not BL).

To answer your question, those spells don't always work and are not always reliable. There are people who can use tricks to beat the spells just like some people can bypass lie detector machines. This was demonstrated when they used the spell on someone who was guilty but he appeared to be telling the truth. Later they found out he was indeed involved in the crime. I doubt this will work with far more powerful people. Like you, I enjoyed the first few episodes but I lost interest the moment the female lead was introduced because that's when the drama dragged and it affected the plot progression. In the book, Xu Qi An has multiple love interests, including the Royal Princess, who's supposedly his favorite among his harem and the one that plays a more important role in the story, even though he's married to Lin An. They made her appear to be a major character in the drama because most C-dramas have a male lead and a female lead and they decided to stick to that formula. But in truth, there is only a male lead and the rest are supporting characters. Having said that, I actually enjoyed the last act of this series. It's not perfect, I must admit. But I don't think it's terrible. It could've been so much better if they had made this truly a wuxia adventure drama with zero romance.

I totally understand. I took a break from this drama and picked it up again just a month ago. I was so annoyed by the mistaken identity subplot that went absolutely nowhere. I also wish they didn't include any romance. I would've been happier with a purely male-centric wuxia drama.

But that's the reality that people in ancient China lived in. It's also a culture thing. These historical C-drama romances are actually unrealistic as men of stature in those days had more than one wife. Theirs was a highly patriarchal society, after all, and women were just pawns whose real power lie in their ability to manipulate their husbands. I, for one, would like to see that kind of realism portrayed in a historical C-drama one day.

It makes sense. These actors are supposedly all friends, especially those under the same agency. It's just that I've never heard of them nor seen evidence of them being best friends.

Funny you talk about not believing in conjecture when you yourself presented a conjecture that she killed herself with anger and revenge in mind. It's obvious that you have taken a side and so have I.

Hmmm... It could simply because they were in the same agency and they had to keep up appearances. Actors pretend to be friends to enhance their image and such and for promotional purposes. But I have never seen photos or videos of them hanging out outside of work so I was surprised when people brought up that they're friends in real life.

Park Seo Joon? I've never heard of them being close at all. Maybe just showbiz work friends? As far as I know, his best friends are the boys from the Wooga Squad: Park Hyungsik, Choi Wooshik, and V. And didn't he supposedly throw shade at Soo Hyun after the release of the "Paris mannequin" video? The guy from Garosero even posted a positive comment on his Instagram because of that. lol And I recently saw an old interview of Choi Wooshik that resurfaced where he was asked about Soo Hyun and he couldn't give a positive comment about the latter. He looked very uncomfortable when asked if he thought Soo Hyun is a good guy. I can't say for certain that these are indeed signs that Soo Hyun is not a good person or whether these actors are his friends or not, I'm just sharing what I know. Jung Hae In seems to be one of his closest friends and I've heard that he frequents room salons.

If the allegations are true that they had a relationship for 6 years since she was 15 and he had started pursuing her when she was a lot younger, then there could've been serious psychological effects on her. Her DUI accident happened just a year after they supposedly broke up. Her friends and family claimed that the break up devastated her to the point that she started drinking. Take a look at the known Hollywood child actors who weren't guarded by helicopter parents like Justin Bieber and Corey Haim. They were allegedly raped and molested when they were kids. One of them got hooked on drugs and eventually took his own life. I'm not saying Saeron was molested (although she could've been), but her relationship with Soo Hyun definitely had an effect on her psychologically. The age gap and imbalance in power dynamics can deeply affect a young mind. It could've affected the way she lived her life, her choices, and even future relationships. Imagine you were in a romantic relationship with the same man since you were 15 and this man was also your boss who demanded you immediately pay up the full 700 million won you owed his company that they claimed you don't need to pay and they even said this to Dispatch, a known celebrity news site. He was ignoring your pleas, refusing to see you or take your calls. This man was your first love and probably the only man you really loved. How would you feel? I think many people don't know that Gold Medalist is Soo Hyun's company, he is the big boss, his so-called cousin/stepbrother is just a figurehead. He had all the authority to help her. All she asked for was time to pay the debt. But he ignored her completely. She posted that photo of theirs to get his attention. I think she knew that if she acted like she was threatening to expose their relationship, he would respond. It worked. Gold Medalist sent her a message threatening to sue if she released more photos and affected the drama Queen of Tears. But think about it, if she truly was some kind of mastermind out for revenge, she would've released a statement and all the evidence she had right after that to taint his image and get a deal out of it so she wouldn't have to pay her debt. But she didn't. Even when she was being harrassed by countless reporters, bullied by his fans, destroyed mentally and emotionally by the fact that she had nothing left, she chose to stay silent. We can never really know what she was thinking or feeling when she decided to end her life that day, but if she had been angry, she wouldn't have stayed silent.

If she was so enraged, she would've exposed him herself using all the evidence she had in her possession and gone to Garosero herself to speak out about everything. If she truly wanted revenge by ending her life, she could've left a suicide note addressed to him, blaming him for all her suffering. But she didn't. Her last letter to him that he never received didn't sound vindictive to me. In fact, she sounded like she wanted to move on. The fact that she legally changed her name, found a Korean-American man and had a whirlwind romance with him, married him, and fled to the States all point to her wanting to start over. But according to her husband, they realized they rushed things and weren't really suited for married life so they divorced. She returned to Korea and died alone. And to think she had a very promising career before she left YG Entertainment to sign under Soo Hyun's Gold Medalist as its first artist apart from Soo Hyun himself. That move alone is iffy. YG Entertainment is one of the biggest agencies in Korea and they managed her career well. She was a multi-awarded child actress and was poised to become the next "it" girl. But she left them and signed with an untested new agency that Soo Hyun happened to own? Her career took a nosedive the moment she transferred. Besides, this isn't just about what Saeron's family has revealed so far, but also the collection of Soo Hyun's past interviews, old blind items about him, negative articles written about him that are more than a decade old, and other controversies linked to him that had nothing to do with Saeron. If there's smoke, there's fire. I don't fully believe all the allegations against him but his actions and the sheer number of circumstantial evidence against him are hard for me to ignore.

Your comment reminds me of how people blame women for getting raped, believing they instigated the whole thing and seduced the men simply because of the way they dress. Just because a woman enjoys getting male attention, it doesn't mean they want to be sexually assaulted. Saeron was no saint but the mental and emotional pain she went through was real. What people don't understand about suicide is it's not an easy choice to make. People choose to go through with it because they feel that there's absolutely no other way out for them. The sense of hopelessness is what pushes them to end everything because that can grant them the escape that they so desperately need. What you said is not only insensitive but also ignorant. May you or any of your loved ones never experience that kind of anguish.