Viajero

I would also put it at #1, perhaps alongside 19/20 and just above the first couple of sesasons of EXchange. Far superior to any of the seasons I've seen of Single's Inferno, Heart Signal, Better Late than Single, etc.

It's on Kokowa (at least in my region)

I couldn't disagree more about Shin Sae Kyeong. I realize she has a whole legion of haters here on MDL (while far from the greatest actress in Korea, I never thought she was that bad), but I felt she gave one of her all time strongest performances and was one of the highlights of this film. It was like this role was made for her.

I agree they could have elaborated teh ending a bit more, particularly the consequences on the North Korean side, but I don't feel it detracted that much from what I thought was an excellent action thriller. Also, I thought the FL did far better than OK. She was one the main highlights of the film for me.

I take it you are someone who can't stand to see a FL who isn't a helpless simpering damsel in distress worshiping at the feet of the heroic macho ML? Personally, I enjoyed the way they took turns rescuing each other. I never saw the fact that she had her own strengths as necessarily diminishing his strengths. My problem with this ML lies elsewhere.

Handsome? Maybe for some, but that's a matter of taste. What makes people assume that most men have any desire at all to look like a pop idol? None of the guys I know do and fortunately there are enough women around who don't go for that look at all. Actually, most women I know are kind of turned off by the kind of guy who is obsessed with their looks to the extent required to look like one of these idols, what with all the makeup, plastic surgery, etc. You also misunderstand me if you think my issue is a question of attractiveness. Of course actors on TV are going to be more physically attractive than the general public. But as I said in my original post, my problem is not that this ML is physically attractive, but rather that he is attractive in a way that doesn't fit the role. It's also to be expected that the actresses are going to fit modern ideas of beauty, but in this case Tian Xi Wei is at least short and has a common Chinese body type, even if on the TV slender side of things, and within this context, does better fit the role she is playing. There is certainly nothing sickly about her.

The plot does sound somewhat similar, though I think the lead character sounds quite different. In any case, since I enjoyed that show, I'll probably give this one a chance.

I thought he was the weakest part of what was otherwise a great cast and story. He simply wasn't convincing as a general. Part of this was due to his appearance - not because he has too pretty a face or wears foundation, but rather he simply looks too skinny and weak to fight with a sword and other weapons of the time. Medievil warriors had to have incredible upper body strength, which this guy clearly doesn't have. Or are we are to suppose he has some special strength power, the way the female lead does? If so, they didn't make it clear. The other part of course was that he simply didn't convincingly act the part of a general from that or any other era. The male lead in a period romance ... yes. A general leading troops into battle ... no.

It's okay for Japanese show on this site. But if this exact same series were Chinese, it would have at least an 8.4 on MDL. This is why I sometimes value the IMDb scores more because it's 8.2 on there and it would likely also be about 8.2 if it were Chinese.

My fear is that they seem to have substantially reduced the role of the character played by Park Eun Bin in the original Korean version. She was the best thing about that series.

Golden does include a couple of short phrases in Korean. But in any case, K-Pop is still K-Pop when they do songs in Japanese or English songs or versions of songs in those languages.

Oh, so far I'm liking it a lot more than Joy of Life.

The scene of her crying softly late at night while smoking on the balcony of her hotel room as she tries to write her final letter is a classic, as was her mad dash across town into Kensuke's arms in the finale.

She was my favorite too. I would have been surprised if you had told me after the first couple of episodes that she would become my favorite, but she really grew on me.

I watched the first couple of episodes way back when this first came out, but dropped it becuase I was burned out on reality shows at the time having just worked by way through multiple seasons of Terrace House and Single's Inferno. I came across the show again last week and this time watched it all the way through. It really is one of the best Asian reality dating shows out of the dozen or so I've tried. The only other ones as good or better than this one are the Korean Nineteen to Twenty, and My Sibling's Romance.

For once, a kdrama that started good and finished even better. Easily my favorite so far this year. I get the criticsm of GKP as the ML. They might have been better off leaving out his character entirely as he hardly plays a critical role in the plot. But that is pretty much the only negative and it hardly detracted from my enjoyment of the series. Park Shin Hye knocked it out of the park as the protagonist, the rest of the cast was great, it was hilarously funny when it was supposed to be, and the whole sting/heist type plot included the perfect amount of intrigue and suspense.

I'm waiting to start this one until its a little further along, but I've always liked Lee Sung-Kyung. In fact, becasue the story doesn't really grab my attention, she's probably the main reason I might give it a chance.

Oh, I know all about how things are rigged when it comes to kpop and award shows in general. But this article is about TV viewership ratings, which tend to be much difficult to rig.

Are TV ratings that easily to manipulate in South Korea? Usually they tend to be quite legitimate in most countries because so many advertizing spending depends on them. And even if they are manipulated on occasion, I doubt it would be necessary in this case. For once I agree with Korean viewers in that Undercover Miss Hong has been the best kdrama so far this year (not that this means much since its only March).

It's become easily my favorite kdrama so far this year. The rest haven't even been close.