Good thing you didn't choose to write about Thai BL or even regular dramas. Dubcon and noncon seems to be the norm in most of them, even the actually good ones.
For a touch of different vibe, this could have mentioned The Romance of Tiger and Rose, which includes exactly the same tropes, but the positions are reversed. I'd be really interested to see if anyone feels that it's in any significant manner different, just because the one doing the manipulation and light abuse-bordering stuff is a cute bubbly girl and we all want them to end up together anyway.
I think I'm better now since I age, I used to hide behind the chairs while my family was watching horror shows!…
Strange how much the Japanese love vampires, though, huh? There are so many vampire anime, I can't even begin to count them. And some movies/doramas too. Maybe the SK lack of love towards vampires is also linked to how much Japanese media on them there is.
I'm European and vampires are still definitely not my thing. At all. I will diligently avoid any and all vampire stories (in Western or Asian media either, I don't care, I don't like them. Or zombies, though those are of a Haitian origin.)
Werewolves are Central and Eastern Europe-sourced, though. France had some really interesting (based in real massacres) tales on loup-garous, there are some stories in Germany around the Dark Ages, and then there's the Eastern take on it - they wouldn't necessarily eat the people but the Moon or Sun during eclipses. Werewolves really are very interesting critters of the dark of the Western world, much more interesting than the old dry blood-suckers. But then, wolves really were widespread throughout the whole continent for ages, and even now they still inspire stories all over Europe.
I wonder if SK really ever had anything to do with high density of wolf packs. The terrain would allow their existence, but maybe they never spread that far to the south and east of the continent and establish a foothold, and that's why foxes are way more present in Korean and Chinese folklore.
That's why I had such high hopes of Search :D but nope. My hopes were dashed to the ground and destroyed. *Sigh*
I think I'm better now since I age, I used to hide behind the chairs while my family was watching horror shows!…
No. no, no... I like Choi Jin Hyuk a whole LOT (I mean, nobody can forget Daddy Gu!) but zombies really are not up my alley. Even handsome ones. If he were a werewolf though...
Seriously, why isn't anyone doing any TV series with werewolves? Though not sparkly ones, thanks (or those were vampires? Anyway). Aside from A Werewolf Boy, I don't remember any of them in SK dramas or movies. It's about time, I'd say...
I think I'm better now since I age, I used to hide behind the chairs while my family was watching horror shows!…
I liked the idea of werewolves, and in that drama, they would definitely had been zombies created by radiation. But in the end, there were none... (/sad).
I don't hide from horror movies... I mastered the remote control heheh.
This is me perusing the list so that I never watch these dramas, LOL. Talk about scaredy-cats, I am at the Super Sayan level of scaredy cats.
...That being said, I did watch Search and it didn't hit me as horror. Except for the creepy Radioactive Zombie Werewolf (there weren't any Radioactive Zombie Werewolves in the drama, though, SADLY - yeah, I'm still salty about that), there wasn't much to be scared of.
So, it was only today while reading another c-web novel (unrelated to GMDC) that I realized that there's an actual trope of going into a cave and finding a lost book of martial arts that turns the protagonist's life around. All this time, I thought that scene when WWX cheekily tells JC and LWJ he went down a cave and studied a secret martial arts book was just an inside joke between the three of them, but it turns out, it's an insider's inside joke of the plot writers too :D
Good job, team! I love finding small gems like this even after so many re-watches :D (That might mean I need to be watching/reading more wuxia/xianxia, because it never occured to me it was such a nod to the world of tropes, LOL. Live and learn :D)
MDZS final episode ... Tencent doesn't stop giving me heart attacks till the very last second lmao ... I can't…
I felt they put all the small bits in there, just to make sure they get put in, LOL. Like it was a trade - tone down the reveal fest in order to get to squeak in the WangXian moment past the censors.
... But somehow it kind of works.
Though I have to say it - I think they did JC wrong, in the end. He DOES come around, and they DO talk, in the novel and in the drama. The donghua leaves them in limbo. I wish WWX could have heard him be heartbroken about the way their paths diverged. Someone in the donghua plot team doesn't like JC at all :D
That man saying they'd get 3-5 years of peace... Is that a teeny-tiny thread of hope we'll get some more GMDC seasons? Even if WangXian is more reserved, and the actual xianxia takes first place, I'd be all for it. After all... there are all those extras in the novel :D
From Ever Night, there's a great song (in two versions; the official one is sung by a woman, but I think the male version is just as good if not more impressive, particularly while actually watching the drama):
For so many years I was completely certain Chinese was too hard for me to ever learn any word, LOL, and now I tend to recognize certain phrases, words, and anticipate replies or questions :D (though mostly in period dramas, not really in the modern-era set ones :D)
Oh my goodness this...the fact that I like Eddy Kim's When The Night Falls like crazy before I've even watched…
If you haven't seen the drama yet, I recommend it :) It's cute, it has lots and lots of fluff, a pretty great scifi/paranormal thread (nothing scary, I promise), and well, Lee Jong Suk. And Suzy, in one of the roles I actually kind of like her in. There's also Jung Hae In (of the Prison Playbook and D. P. fame :D, in his breakout role, IMHO)
I still go back and watch parts of it time and again. (But you also should be warned that I am a LJS fan :D)
My latest favourite OST is The Devil Judge's. I think the songs are all memorable (and I keep returning to that OST), but the best piece there, IMHO, is HuckleBerryfinn's "The Nights". I could keep playing it on and on all night. So soothing. So calming.
Also, another obsession of mine's, even if the drama has good and bad parts - the OST shines! - is the "While You Were Sleeping" OST. Can't choose the most favourite between Eddy Kim's "When Night Falls" and Henry's "It's You." Right now I'm leaning toward the latter, but it's a very close contest.
But I pick my OSTs based on the BGM too, and going by that, the ABSOLUTE favourite so far is definitely The Untamed's OST. Not that "Bu Wang" or the duo version of the main song aren't amazing, but the "Grass/Cao Mu" theme can't be beaten. And talk about perfectly scoring such a drama - I love it from top to bottom (heh!) and back.
Looks like maybe the finale of the donghua might be core-centred.
Yup, they definitely left the core problem to the last episode. I hope it gets the focus it deserves, but I have no idea how it could get as intense as in the book/drama - after all, JC took a while to come to terms with it all, and then to admit his own shortcomings and help WWX in the temple. Having him finding the secret and immediately accepting it could go awry.
But I have faith that the plot would respect the spirit of the story if not the letter, and they'll deliver. After all, it's the finale. They probably intend to tie all loose threads and wrap it all up nicely.
As long as WWX and LWJ end up together, I'll be happy. My heart broke in the minute that they split in the ending of the drama, LOL. (Though, going by the setting and the clothes they were wearing, they were supposed to be reunited and THEN go to that rock in the middle of the river to compliment each other on being exactly who they are, THE END. I... am being a bit contrary here and I'll say I actually like the actual last scene better.) If we can't have a tumble among the bushes, then that's okay LOL - just keep them together :D
I think what some have a problem with is the beginning is sorta the ending( first 2 episodes). In between it shows…
WWX keeps telling people who he is, and showing them, too. It's not just any one moment. And he keeps growing as a character - from the carefree young lord (whose only major problem is Mdm Yu, the Jiang siblings' mother) to someone caring for all the world's problems yet still not crushed by them.
The first episodes are only the ending of their past lives, and serve as an anchor for the second half of the series. They're supposed to make you wonder how did they get there, and they don't show a whole picture - there's nothing in there to suggest that LWJ and WWX have any closeness (as WWX is basically running away from LWJ each time they get to the same area, LOL)
IMHO, the script does a good job of linking the two parts - as the second part is a lot less dramatic and heroic and turns into an investigation seeded with a lot of bonding moments.
Well, my favourite episode is the one with the snow scene, when LXC tells WWX LWJ's backstory, and then they have that heart-to-heart discussion. The cinematography is the best in the series, the moment is poignant (as it shows WWX is completely aware of what's been going on and even accepts the outcomes of his life choices, good or bad, as LWJ is also completely aware of what's going on in WWX's mind and accepts him as he is.) If I were to choose, I'd choose that episode as the best in the series.
The plot is really wearing thin... How come Je Yi can suddenly access any and all information he's asking of her,…
She was part of the info branch BUT he's asking for things that should be classified (no raised brows at her questioning? She's not in the information branch any more, would spies actually tattle out to each other state or agency secrets just because some friend asked them to? Just look at how paranoid HJH is, if someone asked him for anything he'd first spend a week checking those people out. Is he the only one who's questioning what their friend would do with the info they requested?) Or if they're not classified, then they should be rather hard to dig out instantly, as it seems to happen. The NIS doesn't actually have a file on every living SK or NK person, start-up, industry, etc, in the country, just ready to be accessed by JI to help HJH when he asks.
KPH definitely wants HJH dead, but by now it's an agency-wide kill order. He's not the only one there setting up an ambush for HJH, the top dogs approved it, the snipers are from who-knows-which agency branch, the tech staff is also there... HJH is someone who supposedly shot KPH, so it's not just personal, he turned into an institution problem.
So yeah, his partner, whom he's rather close to (everybody knows that, they're not pretending they're enemies or cold to each other ), would be among the very first to be under surveillance in case the fugitive approaches her.
I mean this is basic procedure for the police, would the NIS have inferior procedures or standards?! They're not a bunch of gung-ho cowboys dealing with problems by gut feeling.
This is what I mean when I say the plot is cracking when they're trying to explain it. Left alone and mysteriously dark, watchers would provide their own explanations and excuse the mistakes. This show is best at action, do action and leave the rest half-hidden. It would definitely work better, IMHO.
Ok, halfway mark, the cracks in the plot are distracting, but the action is still pretty good (I liked the action…
The plot is really wearing thin...
How come Je Yi can suddenly access any and all information he's asking of her, and basically instantly too? He asks, she delivers, like it was prepared in advance.
Then how come the NIS gave a kill order and everybody and their moms are supposedly hunting for HJH, but he can still mess around like no one's watching, in a city that's the role-model of CCTV surveillance?! All the people he needs to clear out his name meekly decide to help him immediately, someone (who? as Je Yi is in the command room, so it's not her) is manipulating the CCTV in the meeting with the reporter so that it modifies his face and figure in real time (does that even happen?!), he can go hide wherever and nobody reports him, etc...
Je Yi is his partner, and no one in NIS is keeping an eye on her? She can go about his business and the only time they acted like she needs to be a bit controlled is when the director asks her to be in the command room. Otherwise, she can go and buy meds and bandages for HJH and still no questions asked...
I still don't like Soo Yeon. She never did anything yet (in half the drama) and now she's out of comission again, for at least an episode until she either dies (so her character is pointless) or recovers (probably to act like a strong woman some more.) I can't even.
The talking heads directors doing some politicking around the NK defectors case and HJH's situation are making it boring as heck. They're so unprofessional it's painful.
Which leads me to the current villain - is he a psycho?! What's his motivation? Whyever would he go to the darkside? No backstory on him, just showing him being a psycho really doesn't help the story IMHO. He's just cartoonishly evil and that's all there is about him.
As for the retired agents secret society thing... The plot goes right back to The Bourne Identity with that. I almost expect to hear they're calling it Treadstone 71 in English, LOL. That, after HJH became the Terminator (up to and including the wound-sewing scene, LOL), and even Neo (when he was on the phone with the director, I got distracted and kept imagining him say "I'm not here to tell you how it's gonna end... I'm here to tell you how it's going to begin" :D )
They should do more (and longer) action scenes, and less plot 'xplaining. They're making a mess out of that.
Just my two cents (so far). I hope it goes back to pure adrenaline flick and leaves off the secret society of whatever and the spies inside the spy agency (or at least they do it better!)...
Ok, halfway mark, the cracks in the plot are distracting, but the action is still pretty good (I liked the action scenes in the first episodes better, they were movie-level.)
I first watched her as Nana in City Hunter (WHAT?! I am allowed to watch a drama for the pretties. LMH is pretty, PMY is pretty, and I won't lie, I actually liked that drama a lot. So sue me.)
But I fell in love with her, totally, head over heels, etc, after watching her and her kdrama dad dancing like two loons in Healer - amazing!! (Epic song and dance moment starts around the 2:15 mark):
She never disappointed me in any of her roles. She's a great actress, and I should probably watch more of her dramas (and I will! As long as there are no sad endings. A sad ending for a PMY role is too sad to be accepted.)
LOL, that idiot, so proud of himself of having summoned a mighty corpse, I bet it's Nie MingJue and Meng Yao's…
There was some Wen-related back story about the cave, if I remember correctly (it WAS a long time ago, LOL), but nothing about the core yet. The book jumps back and forth randomly, it wouldn't surprise me if they make it a flashback in the donghua and link it to a reveal in the temple - it seems clear they never went to Lotus Pier before finding the temple. It might be that JGY with that devious mind of his guesses the truth after WN brings Suibian around for some reason and JC has to use it. After all, in the book/drama, the secret comes out in the temple, too, to everyone around.
Ah, to have a clear confession! I have no high hopes of anything clear-cut, but there's still a chance of a subtle confession and life-together-ever-after for them, LOL.
YES!!!!Maaaaaate, I am LOVING the donghua!If there was one thing the live action didn't have that I'd really wanted…
LOL, that idiot, so proud of himself of having summoned a mighty corpse, I bet it's Nie MingJue and Meng Yao's going to get what's owed him :D
I am of two minds about the reveal on the core, I'd rather they'd do it as in the book, not leave it so late and with so many witnesses. (I really hope they don't skip it altogether somehow, that would be a bummer. But then they haven't disappointed so far :D)
3 
For a touch of different vibe, this could have mentioned The Romance of Tiger and Rose, which includes exactly the same tropes, but the positions are reversed. I'd be really interested to see if anyone feels that it's in any significant manner different, just because the one doing the manipulation and light abuse-bordering stuff is a cute bubbly girl and we all want them to end up together anyway.
I'm European and vampires are still definitely not my thing. At all. I will diligently avoid any and all vampire stories (in Western or Asian media either, I don't care, I don't like them. Or zombies, though those are of a Haitian origin.)
Werewolves are Central and Eastern Europe-sourced, though. France had some really interesting (based in real massacres) tales on loup-garous, there are some stories in Germany around the Dark Ages, and then there's the Eastern take on it - they wouldn't necessarily eat the people but the Moon or Sun during eclipses. Werewolves really are very interesting critters of the dark of the Western world, much more interesting than the old dry blood-suckers. But then, wolves really were widespread throughout the whole continent for ages, and even now they still inspire stories all over Europe.
I wonder if SK really ever had anything to do with high density of wolf packs. The terrain would allow their existence, but maybe they never spread that far to the south and east of the continent and establish a foothold, and that's why foxes are way more present in Korean and Chinese folklore.
That's why I had such high hopes of Search :D but nope. My hopes were dashed to the ground and destroyed. *Sigh*
Seriously, why isn't anyone doing any TV series with werewolves? Though not sparkly ones, thanks (or those were vampires? Anyway). Aside from A Werewolf Boy, I don't remember any of them in SK dramas or movies. It's about time, I'd say...
I don't hide from horror movies... I mastered the remote control heheh.
...That being said, I did watch Search and it didn't hit me as horror. Except for the creepy Radioactive Zombie Werewolf (there weren't any Radioactive Zombie Werewolves in the drama, though, SADLY - yeah, I'm still salty about that), there wasn't much to be scared of.
Good job, team! I love finding small gems like this even after so many re-watches :D (That might mean I need to be watching/reading more wuxia/xianxia, because it never occured to me it was such a nod to the world of tropes, LOL. Live and learn :D)
... But somehow it kind of works.
Though I have to say it - I think they did JC wrong, in the end. He DOES come around, and they DO talk, in the novel and in the drama. The donghua leaves them in limbo. I wish WWX could have heard him be heartbroken about the way their paths diverged. Someone in the donghua plot team doesn't like JC at all :D
That man saying they'd get 3-5 years of peace... Is that a teeny-tiny thread of hope we'll get some more GMDC seasons? Even if WangXian is more reserved, and the actual xianxia takes first place, I'd be all for it. After all... there are all those extras in the novel :D
Have you watched Love and Redemption yet? Here's one of the main themes (no spoilers, engsub and pinyin subs, too):
Love like Coloured Glass: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxOcvaDdvbc
From Ever Night, there's a great song (in two versions; the official one is sung by a woman, but I think the male version is just as good if not more impressive, particularly while actually watching the drama):
Darkness (female ver.): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUA1zbsd2NY
Darkness (male ver.): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juuwNU0O5gY
Another huge favourite of mine is part of the OST of Ashes of Love, an amazing song on its own, but the drama deserves a shoutout too :)
Upwards to the Moon (engsub/pinyin sub): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpan9yLmsgI
For so many years I was completely certain Chinese was too hard for me to ever learn any word, LOL, and now I tend to recognize certain phrases, words, and anticipate replies or questions :D (though mostly in period dramas, not really in the modern-era set ones :D)
Thai is still impossible for me, though, despite learning some great songs through their BL dramas :D, like Skyline from I Told the Sunset About You (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvRtrDdF3rI and Thai ver. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJeEOzEZstU) or Wind from A Tale of Thousand Stars (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CeABlP5g3w).
Sorry for the link spree, I get enthusiastic about OSTs LOL.
I still go back and watch parts of it time and again. (But you also should be warned that I am a LJS fan :D)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GTWb9NFrAY
Also, another obsession of mine's, even if the drama has good and bad parts - the OST shines! - is the "While You Were Sleeping" OST. Can't choose the most favourite between Eddy Kim's "When Night Falls" and Henry's "It's You." Right now I'm leaning toward the latter, but it's a very close contest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fAU7dewivI
But I pick my OSTs based on the BGM too, and going by that, the ABSOLUTE favourite so far is definitely The Untamed's OST. Not that "Bu Wang" or the duo version of the main song aren't amazing, but the "Grass/Cao Mu" theme can't be beaten. And talk about perfectly scoring such a drama - I love it from top to bottom (heh!) and back.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtqfVypKDCM
But I have faith that the plot would respect the spirit of the story if not the letter, and they'll deliver. After all, it's the finale. They probably intend to tie all loose threads and wrap it all up nicely.
As long as WWX and LWJ end up together, I'll be happy. My heart broke in the minute that they split in the ending of the drama, LOL. (Though, going by the setting and the clothes they were wearing, they were supposed to be reunited and THEN go to that rock in the middle of the river to compliment each other on being exactly who they are, THE END. I... am being a bit contrary here and I'll say I actually like the actual last scene better.) If we can't have a tumble among the bushes, then that's okay LOL - just keep them together :D
The first episodes are only the ending of their past lives, and serve as an anchor for the second half of the series. They're supposed to make you wonder how did they get there, and they don't show a whole picture - there's nothing in there to suggest that LWJ and WWX have any closeness (as WWX is basically running away from LWJ each time they get to the same area, LOL)
IMHO, the script does a good job of linking the two parts - as the second part is a lot less dramatic and heroic and turns into an investigation seeded with a lot of bonding moments.
Well, my favourite episode is the one with the snow scene, when LXC tells WWX LWJ's backstory, and then they have that heart-to-heart discussion. The cinematography is the best in the series, the moment is poignant (as it shows WWX is completely aware of what's been going on and even accepts the outcomes of his life choices, good or bad, as LWJ is also completely aware of what's going on in WWX's mind and accepts him as he is.) If I were to choose, I'd choose that episode as the best in the series.
KPH definitely wants HJH dead, but by now it's an agency-wide kill order. He's not the only one there setting up an ambush for HJH, the top dogs approved it, the snipers are from who-knows-which agency branch, the tech staff is also there... HJH is someone who supposedly shot KPH, so it's not just personal, he turned into an institution problem.
So yeah, his partner, whom he's rather close to (everybody knows that, they're not pretending they're enemies or cold to each other ), would be among the very first to be under surveillance in case the fugitive approaches her.
I mean this is basic procedure for the police, would the NIS have inferior procedures or standards?! They're not a bunch of gung-ho cowboys dealing with problems by gut feeling.
This is what I mean when I say the plot is cracking when they're trying to explain it. Left alone and mysteriously dark, watchers would provide their own explanations and excuse the mistakes. This show is best at action, do action and leave the rest half-hidden. It would definitely work better, IMHO.
How come Je Yi can suddenly access any and all information he's asking of her, and basically instantly too? He asks, she delivers, like it was prepared in advance.
Then how come the NIS gave a kill order and everybody and their moms are supposedly hunting for HJH, but he can still mess around like no one's watching, in a city that's the role-model of CCTV surveillance?! All the people he needs to clear out his name meekly decide to help him immediately, someone (who? as Je Yi is in the command room, so it's not her) is manipulating the CCTV in the meeting with the reporter so that it modifies his face and figure in real time (does that even happen?!), he can go hide wherever and nobody reports him, etc...
Je Yi is his partner, and no one in NIS is keeping an eye on her? She can go about his business and the only time they acted like she needs to be a bit controlled is when the director asks her to be in the command room. Otherwise, she can go and buy meds and bandages for HJH and still no questions asked...
I still don't like Soo Yeon. She never did anything yet (in half the drama) and now she's out of comission again, for at least an episode until she either dies (so her character is pointless) or recovers (probably to act like a strong woman some more.) I can't even.
The talking heads directors doing some politicking around the NK defectors case and HJH's situation are making it boring as heck. They're so unprofessional it's painful.
Which leads me to the current villain - is he a psycho?! What's his motivation? Whyever would he go to the darkside? No backstory on him, just showing him being a psycho really doesn't help the story IMHO. He's just cartoonishly evil and that's all there is about him.
As for the retired agents secret society thing... The plot goes right back to The Bourne Identity with that. I almost expect to hear they're calling it Treadstone 71 in English, LOL. That, after HJH became the Terminator (up to and including the wound-sewing scene, LOL), and even Neo (when he was on the phone with the director, I got distracted and kept imagining him say "I'm not here to tell you how it's gonna end... I'm here to tell you how it's going to begin" :D )
They should do more (and longer) action scenes, and less plot 'xplaining. They're making a mess out of that.
Just my two cents (so far). I hope it goes back to pure adrenaline flick and leaves off the secret society of whatever and the spies inside the spy agency (or at least they do it better!)...
But I fell in love with her, totally, head over heels, etc, after watching her and her kdrama dad dancing like two loons in Healer - amazing!! (Epic song and dance moment starts around the 2:15 mark):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS9bpwzemp0
She never disappointed me in any of her roles. She's a great actress, and I should probably watch more of her dramas (and I will! As long as there are no sad endings. A sad ending for a PMY role is too sad to be accepted.)
Ah, to have a clear confession! I have no high hopes of anything clear-cut, but there's still a chance of a subtle confession and life-together-ever-after for them, LOL.
And if not, well, we'll always have MDZS Q :D
I am of two minds about the reveal on the core, I'd rather they'd do it as in the book, not leave it so late and with so many witnesses. (I really hope they don't skip it altogether somehow, that would be a bummer. But then they haven't disappointed so far :D)