Lailai

2.1–4 million KRW is around the average monthly salary in South Korea, while rent can range anywhere from ₩300,000 to ₩1.5 million (roughly $200–$1,100 USD depending on the area and housing type). Or ₩700,000-1.5million+ in Seoul.

For many working-class families, a 2 million KRW fine would be close to an entire month's salary. If your child ended up costing you that much money because they were being awful online, I'd imagine most parents would be pretty furious, lol.

I'd consider it a fairly significant amount. Even when my mother was working two jobs in the U.S., I remember rent being around $1,400 a month, and it was still a struggle to keep up with expenses. I'd imagine many Korean families face similar financial pressures unless they're in particularly high-paying professions.

That said, I personally think the fine is still too small. The goal should be to make the consequences severe enough that people think twice before doing it again. But the Korean Justice system has always been too forgiving.

I was genuinely baffled that almost nobody suspected So-mi. She constantly panicked, deflected, and immediately accused anyone who questioned her. As someone who played Among Us for like three weeks in 2021, the person recklessly throwing accusations around is usually the first one voted out.

Also, I'm sorry, but the entire time everyone was suspicious of Yeon Woo because he got injured, all I could think was: “How the hell would he have fit into the vent?"

Did nobody stop and think, "Wait, Yeon Woo would've had to be completely inside the ceiling to get cut like that and leave that much blood"? That vent was difficult for Ahn Hee to get into, and she was a relatively small girl. Yeon Woo would've struggled to fit, let alone climb around inside it without the ceiling collapsing. He was injured around his midsection. If he had actually been the culprit, it would've made far more sense for him to drag someone down by a limb than climb into the ceiling himself. I kept waiting for someone to point this out, and nobody ever did.

That said, I do think it's pretty obvious Jung Won or Da Beom likely stabbed him and planted the blood as insurance.

And regarding Se-eun's mother... does she seriously think her daughter would've wanted her only friends tortured? Why were Jun Hee and Yoon Seo even included in the game? Jun Hee was the one who found and reported Se-eun's body. Yoon Seo never seemed to participate in the bullying, spread rumors, or stand by while it happened. They basically threw two innocent kids into the punishment for no reason.

I also agree that the bullying reveal felt weak. I hate downplaying victims' experiences, but after watching things like All of Us Are Dead and The Glory, I was expecting something much more severe based on how the show built it up.

Instead, the big reveal is that she was deepfaked dancing in a crop top and shorts, got some inappropriate comments, and was laughed at. After all that setup, my reaction was honestly, "This is it?" Compared to the trauma the students endured in the game itself, Se-eun's bullying felt oddly underdeveloped. She supposedly took her life only days or maybe a week after the deepfake spread, and the deepfake itself was so obviously fake that people were literally editing her face onto other videos as a joke. The show spent so much time building mystery around what happened that the payoff just didn't match the buildup.

Again, I'm not denouncing Se-eun as a victim. I just expected something far more impactful after all that setup.

I also wasn't too upset that it was a game. I actually expected Yoon Seo to die, wake up back on the bus, and spend multiple loops trying to save everyone without violating the game's rules. I was surprised by how different the ending ended up being(in a good way at first, then in a bad way. Mainly initially surprised because I’m usually right about Kdrama endings lol). I honestly wish they'd done more with the idea of Se-eun's spirit influencing or haunting the game in order to save the students. Or maybe with the concept I guessed, forcing them to relive their deaths and betrayal until the full truth about her suicide was revealed, which they’d then be set free.

As for Jung Won, I can excuse some of her behavior because she's an AI. I don't think she actually remembers anything. She doesn't seem to have a conscience so much as she's following programming. If the game tells her to lie about being a civilian, she'll lie. If the game tells her to kill everyone in the most ridiculous way possible, she'll do it.

I also heavily agree on what was the point of wiping everyone's memories? They die horribly, forget everything, and then repeat the cycle. Eventually the police will find them and they're physically unharmed anyway. What exactly was the punishment supposed to accomplish?

I actually don't mind the Mafia concept itself. The students were forced to turn on each other, spread lies, and make judgments based on incomplete information, which mirrors what happened to Se-eun. The actual bullies were forced into roles where they had to lie, manipulate, and kill or risk exposure themselves. As symbolism, I think it works.

The problem is, as you pointed out, that the rules are complete nonsense.

What was the point of the trail into the forest? Why did nobody become suspicious of So-mi after she intentionally pushed someone outside the boundary and got them killed, they forgot about that entirely. And the group's logic was ridiculous. They're basically like, "Why didn't you tell us you woke up covered in blood next to a dead body? Now we can't trust you."

Uh... because if I walked up to all of you covered in blood after being found next to someone dead that I supposedly hated, you'd immediately suspect me anyway. Keeping quiet was arguably the smarter choice. Their reaction made no sense.

As for Yoon Seo going back into the game, I don't think she really had a choice. The father explicitly said it was dangerous because she wasn't fully awake yet. I interpreted that as being similar to waking up after anesthesia or an endoscopy, you technically wake up, but your body isn't functioning normally yet. She likely wasn't in a condition to fight back or run away. And even if she could, where was she supposed to go? She had no idea where she was, and she wanted to sacrifice herself if it meant everyone else could be freed.

I can also understand Da Beom wanting to kill Jung Won. She betrayed him and literally locked him in a freezer where he was tormented by Kyung Su. His anger there makes sense. What doesn't make sense is why he suddenly stopped trying to kill Yoon Seo and Jun Hee when he had multiple opportunities to do so. The game was practically handing him the win.

At the end of the day, Night Has Come had a genuinely great premise. The idea of forcing students who participated in rumors, lies, and social exclusion into a deadly Mafia game is interesting. The problem is that the execution was messy, the rules were inconsistent, the character motivations often made no sense, and the answers to the show's mysteries were far less compelling than the buildup suggested. All your points are very valid.

Good concept. Poor execution.

Just want to say.

“people who came to a cult, then ran away while bringing a curse, and had to return to the cult (to what they thought) to end the curse.“

The purpose isn’t to end the curse, it’s to spread it to as many people as possible. To dilute it, it can never truly end. It’s like, if you have to drink a cup of poison. The only way to live, is to drop a bit of that poison, into the cups of everyone around you. You then all share the burden of that poison, but you all live, and you must do this over and over again. Once you start, you can’t stop.

That’s the aspect I really loved, we don’t really get clarity, it’s dreadful, and bone-chilling.

There has always been a huge problem in Korea about this, especially in the past. In recent years it's become less common, but it is still ever present.

Teachers are near the bottom of the hierarchy of the working class, it's not that hard to lose your job. One wrong move or word and you're fired, imagine a student telling their parents that a teacher humiliated and disrespected them? Or God forbid the student lies and says the teacher assaulted them in any way.

Then that parent can file a complaint against said teacher to the school board, which can result in lengthy drawn out meetings that no one wants to attend nor deal with. The school of course will want to avoid any problems with staff going public, it would tarnish the school's reputation and in Korea reputation is everything.

Now imagine this but for a student that has parents who have powerful connections, if you noticed in Weak Hero all of the bullies/antagonists had powerful connections.

As an example: If a student who's parent was the governor complains that a teacher harassed, humiliated, or disrespected them to their parent then what would happen? They'd complain about the teacher to the principal, which could potentially get to the school board.

Would the principal rather have the governor breathing down their neck or fire this one teacher that can be replaced within months? Obviously the better choice is the latter. Powerless authority.

Watching it right now!! I completely forgot about the fact that he let the grandson of the man he considered as a sort of father-grandfather figure just drown.

I was really put off by the scene, I was expecting him to save the kid at any point but he just ... Let's him drown .. lol?? He basically led the kid to his death, if he wasn't going to protect him he shouldn't have taken him with

And Everytime Goblin and FL are together I kept assuming they'd have a father/daughter dynamic, and he did refer to her as "kid" and "child" often throughout the series on the website I watched it as well. The way he addresses her is also the way an adult would address a kid throughout the series, using banmal to speak to her and such while she uses formal language and calls him ahjussi.. I really don't get why viewers especially Korean viewers can see that as a perfectly normal romance

I mainly got more information from series recaps, non-biased reviews, and two friends who watched the series as well. ^^

That plot thread adds to my comparison of her to a person with Stockholm syndrome. It isn't romance if the person you've "fallen" for saved you from an abusive household, you automatically place them on a pedestal because all you've ever known is hurt and horrible treatment.

It would've been amazing if they had let her fall in love with her childhood friend, she could've learned that love doesn't have to come with hurt and feeling of self-worthlessness. Romance K-dramas don't often do this with the female MC, it's nearly always the male MC we see this with so it would've been a somewhat fresh take for it's time. A grown.. no ancient. Absolutely ancient, man being genuinely jealous over a highschool girl is disgusting. It's more disgusting that people who've fully watched this drama still defend it with their entire heart.

Atlas... the Internet is an odd place anyway. Though I'd love to watch the video essay you make, please link it if it ever gets posted !!

Ssh, he was green flag in series so good enough . Lol

Finally someone who shares my annoyance at this overly moronic plot, what the hell is the point of having powers if you can't use them? It's incredibly frustrating throughout the first few episodes.. like I'd get needing to have money on him, that'd in itself make an interesting superhero. But the money disappears..?

It's just annoying.. but alas, I refuse to finish it so I won't write a full review lol

The Grim Reaper was my favorite aspect, I had been a bit disappointed when I realized he wasn't going to be our main focus when he seemed so interesting. I also agree, the drama seems to be making it seem like the age gap is okay just because it's fantasy .. it isn't.

It's more like saying you dislike London weather after being in London for just a few days, there's nothing wrong with saying it, others may disagree but it's still your personal opinion and you're fully able to share your experience with others as a forewarning.

I didn't write reviews for those shows because I didn't bother to do any research on them, simple as that.

It isn't misinformation to present an alternative storyline, I never claimed anything that wasn't true as true. It also isn't a far-fetched comparison, researching a painting and researching a film aren't far off.

Films and series are a heavy personal interest of mine, It's nothing for me to do research on one. It's similar to how people do research on a painting or a historical object.

It is a personal opinion, the only reason I read through the reviews was to make sure I wasn't spreading misinformation in my own. Aswell as watching recaps to at least get some sort of grasp on the series since I didn't finish it lol, I find it weirder that you're trying to dig at me for this.

I left a review with information that I would've appreciated knowing before I started watching.

Firstly, I finished the episode and disliked it. If the initial episode of a drama is bad it's already got issues, it's supposed to draw viewers in and make them want to click the next episode not bore them to death and make the skip button their savior.

Secondly, I would never write a review without knowing the facts, I am not that kind of person. I read through twenty pages of reviews on this series and once you get past the people prematurely rating it a ten you'll see a field of people rating it 7-3 explaining its flaws instead of overpraising the few highs it has.

I also went and watched two separate recaps on the series just to make sure my view on it wasn't premature in itself.

Thirdly in terms of influence, Boys of Flowers is certainly one of the most legendary k-dramas out there. D-Day aswell.

Sweet home is a personal best of mine, to Song Kang absolutely killed his role as Hyun-su. I definitely think everything after the first season wasn't the best, the writing got sloppy, it's still a personal favorite of mine due to the first season.

These three dramas at least did the bare minimum of not boring me to sleep and making me fly to the skip button out of disdain. If I really had to pick a Korean flick with little to no flaws it'd be Seobok, Park Bo Gum absolutely killed his role, but that's a Movie not a Series or maybe even Brave Citizen, but Guardian still wouldn't be able to take that Podium.

Guardian isn't the worst out there, but it is not for me. Once again it is a personal opinion which is what a review is for, I am not going to take it down as others can read it and get a clear view of its flaws instead of reading a wall of premature tens that don't point out a single of the many flaws it has.

I'd dare to say A Korean Odyssey is better, at least I was able to watch till episode five instead of falling asleep within the first ten minutes.

Unsure if you mean me or them, but if you're meaning me my taste is not "horrid" just because I dislike this one drama.

It is not my cup of tea and that's that, not every drama is going to be for every person. If everyone enjoyed the same things the world would be much more peaceful, lol.

How is it any good that she chooses to cling to him in her new life? It's like the directors tried their hardest for this kdrama to feel like a classic fairytale lol.

I don't get why you're trying so hard to convince me, I dislike this drama, I will not be picking it back up, I dislike the writing, and I dislike the plot choices. It is not for me therefore I will not be watching it.

Episode one is certainly not the only bad episode once again, go to page 15 of the reviews and you'll see plenty of people being real and not rating this a ten out of ten prematurely.

"this isn't a romance story" Guardian is marketed as a romance drama. The main plot focus is the fact that Goblin needs to find his bride to finally rest in peace, you absolutely have no way of avoiding romance with the setup this series went with. Honestly if it weren't marketed as romance I'd probably give it a higher rating, Goblin and Child Bride would've been better if they had a father-daughter bond going on not a "This high schooler is my wife."

Secondly what other option would she have when he's a domineering figure in her life? After watching recaps I compare it to an explanation in another review I saw, she's comparable a victim suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. He treated her like trash majority of the time and she let him. Not to mention she acts like a toddler and he acts like a haughty prepubescent boy .

This drama may have brought fresh ideas but it doesn't mean it didn't have a workload of cliches in it, I hardly ever complain about a drama being "cliche" because I enjoy the classics. I definitely fall for common tropes more often then not but I place fresh original takes on higher value, Guardian was just... Boring and disappointing.

That is my humble opinion, it wasn't for me but it's fine if you enjoyed it.

If you go to page 15 of the reviews you'll see why I made my decision to drop it, the series clearly isn't going to get better after the first episode from what I see it only gets worse. I saved my time, that is how I see it. Lololl, and If I had to pick a drama to be "one of the best" it'd be Sweet Home or D-Day, perhaps Boys over Flowers or All of us are dead or Meteor Garden or Black Knight. Certainly not Guardian

Likely because it is, there's nothing going on despite it's initial concept being intriguing. Lol

Kekek thank you for playing ^^

I do agree! I have added Charm ^^