Meari21

As a fan of both Solo Leveling and Study Group, I hope they cast him as Sung Jinwoo in the live action K-drama version. I think he can pull off both the weak and cutesy Jinwoo and the hot and badass Jinwoo. Besides, his stunts in Study Group have convinced me he'd be perfect for the role.

I wasn't talking about K-drama fans but characters in the drama and Korean viewers in general. South Korea is still largely a conservative country where people live with their parents until they get married or even long after they're married. And living with partners is still frowned upon by older generations. That is why most people who choose to live with their partners are pressured to get married eventually. This is true in most Asian countries as well. People in Asia generally don't mature as fast as those in western countries. After talking to my Korean friends and acquaintances, a number of Koreans indeed found the relationship off-putting. It was quite controversial even. The only reason others didn't was because the actress who played the character was in her 20s at that time. If it had been played by an actual 18-year-old, they would've been grossed out by it. And FYI, I don't approve of much younger actors being paired with middle-aged actresses either.

Same here. Discounting the fact that the guy is hundreds of years older than her, Gong Yu looks like he's in his late 30's in this drama and the girl looks like one of my Korean students who was 16 at that time. Not to mention that even though they say that the girl is 19 years old, she's actually only 17-18 because Koreans normally use their nominal age. I found it weird that nobody thought it was scandalous for a teenage girl to live with a grown man, let alone have a relationship with him. I believe some K-netizens pointed this out as well and were grossed out by it. Her being a damsel in distress who just relied on a man to take care of her also didn't sit well with the feminists there. I watched this years ago and I remember skipping most of the scenes and just focused on the bromance between the Goblin and the Grim Reaper. I only read the episode summaries to understand the story.

I just started rewatching this because when I first saw it, I was literally dozing off while watching the first few episodes, so I didn't fully appreciate it then. I realized it was only because all the accounting and math calculations bored me. My brain normally shuts down when math is concerned. Suffice to say, math has never been my strong suit. lol But when it picked up around the fifth episode, I was in for a ride. I still think of this drama very fondly and it's one of my favorite C-dramas ever. I figured it's time for me to get to know Jia Mo all over again.

I was responding to the other commenter. They were talking about being hesitant to watch medical K-dramas because of the inaccuracies. As for your concern, that's more for dramatic purposes. I can suspend my disbelief and forgive those depending on what the writers are trying to get at by including those scenes.

It was filmed last year but the drama's timeline is around 2013-2016 because it's based on the real-life accomplishments of Dr. Lee Guk Jong, who is a celebrated trauma surgeon that pushed for the advancement of trauma centers in Korea. He's considered a legend in that field and he almost singlehandedly changed how hospitals handle emergency cases there. The writer of the original webtoon was a medical specialist who wrote this story to honor Dr. Lee. Dr. Lee accomplished these feats around that time, so they chose to follow that timeline, hence the old iPhone models.

His obsession with Bai Shou makes sense, though. He is Mo Li after all. He made himself believe it was her who sent those letters, he wanted it to be her so badly, just like Mo Li wanted to believe Xingyue would actually be his.

It has more to do with their culture. In Korea, many people become doctors simply because it's a white collar job and considered one of the top professions, so it's not impossible for some doctors to just treat their jobs as a source of income and social status, nothing more. Also, sometimes hospital politics and disillusionment in the system make them lose interest in their jobs and just go with the flow, just like what happened with their hospital director, who actually happened to be Dr. Baek's hero and a hardworking doctor who refused to give up on his patients when he was younger. As for the egotistic doctors in this drama (there are a lot of them), I don't find it unrealistic either. Korea is a patriarchal society where men are considered superior and there's a specific hierarchy that people follow. Older generations, especially their Gen X'ers and boomers are quite conservative and very demanding. I know because I've been working for Korean companies for 15 years and I've had typical ajusshi bosses that would literally force you to go out and drink with them after work and refusing to do so was considered insubordination and could cost you your job. They were often loud, crass, and extremely rude, especially when drunk or angry. I'm not saying all Koreans are like this because I have many Korean friends who aren't like that, but this is the reality that they have to live with. It's not uncommon for someone to encounter an awfully rude and bossy (and even racist) ajusshi/ajumma or haraboji/harmeoni.

The plot synopsis doesn't remind me of DOTS either. Maybe the vibes are similar?

I just came here to check up on how this drama is going so far by reading the early reviews and comments. This is on my to-watch list but I haven't gotten to it yet as I've been busy with work and juggling a couple of dramas right now. I am shocked to read these negative comments. What's going on?! Why is this being compared to Descendants of the Sun?

Actually, one of the commenters here is a trauma surgeon and they said that it's pretty close to reality. There are probably some fantastical elements for theatrical and comedic purposes but the cases are plausible and some trauma surgeons have indeed performed those feats. The author of the webtoon from which this drama was based on is a medical practitioner himself. His main character, Dr. Baek, is based on a real-life trauma surgeon who championed trauma centers in South Korea. His name is Dr. Lee and he's considered a legend in his field according to my Korean friend who's an ER nurse in Seoul. Most of the major plot points featured in the drama actually happened in real life. As for the mercenary doctors angle, it's also possible since many of these doctors are deployed overseas to work in military zones. And the fact that Korean males usually undergo mandatory military training for three years, they're already skilled in weaponry and war tactics so it's not improbable for Korean male doctors to work as medics for mercenary organizations abroad. I suppose they could've toned down the comedic and comic book aspects to make the drama more believable but that's most likely a stylistic choice so I don't mind it so much.

So my friend was right. Interesting. I think the real-life trauma surgeon's last name is Lee. Forgot his first name. Apparently, he accomplished all this more than ten years ago back when helicopters were not as common and trauma centers weren't seen as vital in Korea as they are now.

I meant the photo. They have strict requirements on this site if you want to change the actors' profile pictures. My submissions kept getting rejected because the photos didn't meet their standards in terms of size, clarity, appearance, etc. I'm glad they finally approved a new one after so long.

Good to know that it's as realistic as they could make it. It doesn't really matter to me whether it is or not, though. This is still one of the best K-dramas I've seen. I heard from a Korean friend, who happens to be an ER nurse working in Seoul, the author of the webtoon actually worked in the medical field. I have yet to check whether that's true. But I'm inclined to believe it because the story centers around a real-life hero who fought to prioritize trauma centers instead of treating them as deficits. This trauma surgeon, like Dr. Baek, was also the one who convinced hospitals to procure helicopters and have helipads built for emergency cases. He was responsible for the advancement of trauma centers in Korea. He also saved a Korean soldier deployed in Somalia and had to operate on him under unfavorable conditions. So the writer did do his research at least.

Nah, they just have strict criteria. If those aren't met, they won't approve your submission. I couldn't get the sizing right for some reason.

Girl, I tried many times but failed each time. I also chose photos of him when he still had long hair. I'm glad somebody finally succeeded.

Whoever changed his profile picture, thank you! I tried multiple times but failed. lol

No wonder it has anime-ish vibes and the Black Wings subplot just screamed very comic book to me, it's based on a webtoon that was inspired by the accomplishments of a real-life trauma surgeon. Apparently, it was published in 2019 and the real-life counterpart of Baek Gang Hyeok accomplished these feats back in 2013-2016, so the drama follows that timeline. Someone here probably already mentioned that because the actors use old iPhone models in the drama, but I just think that's an interesting tidbit.

I read a review earlier that says this is as formulaic as it gets and it follows pretty much the same plot as every other medical K-drama there is. But if you think about the fact that this is actually based on a real person's accomplishments, which was immortalized in a memoir and a webtoon published many years ago, one would wonder if it really is just a copy of previous medical K-dramas or perhaps it's actually the basis of those dramas. Either way, it's still a damn good drama and I don't say that very often.

Oguri Shun is one of my favorite actors ever and he looks nothing like Ao Ruipeng. Ruipeng looks a lot like Dylan Wang as @BubbleNSqueak mentioned. I also think he resembles two Japanese stage actors I know: Naoki Takeshi (who kinda looks like Dylan Wang) and Akihisa Shiono.

He even formed a biker group with Neo Hou and He Yu.