ViolinGal

I understand. Luckily for me the episodes were so short that it made watching it a lot more manageable than if it was an hour-long episode production. I was able to get my dose of what I was watching the episodes for (the meta) a lot quicker...and it was a more satisfying watch because of the length.

But you definitely have to be in the mood for cheesiness. And have 2 free hours of your life available that you want to sacrifice. xD

But the paragraphs are short, just like 2 sentences each! xD

WHAT?! ....Oh my stars, that was beautiful and so heartbreaking at the same time.

I think so, yes.

In the second episode they had the classic: 'I caught you and stared deeply into your eyes' scene.

Plus there have been a lot of flirtatious photoshoots the drama has put out of them in couple-like poses.

LIGHT YEARS OF IMPROVEMENT.

While I'm still not this director's hugest fan, things were MUCH easier to follow and connect with in this second episode. The characters were fleshed out better; I didn't feel like I had whiplash going from scene-to-scene. But most importantly, it was coherent and made SENSE. :D

Such a relief.

Hopefully things continue in THIS direction and the first episode can be thought of as that annoying growing pain you just have to live through. xD

Haha, I think they'll for sure meet in episode 2. I'm hoping everything magically gets better after that point.

I have honestly no idea what the focus is supposed to be? Everything in this drama is just a bit confusing in how its set up and portrayed.

Exactly. Directing is an important part of the drama, if it goes so fast like this...with scenes weirdly cut together in a way that doesn't leave enough time to catch up with what's happening or for a scene to have an emotional impact and for the viewer to connect with the characters.....that will be REALLY disappointing.

I hope the directing style changes. I'm hoping for a better episode 2.

No I do not think this was the worst. I said Kang Koo's Story was the worst (the same director of that special also directed this).

I only thought the directing was bad. Not the story itself. I thought I explained that in my post fairly clearly. I guess you just misunderstood what I was trying to convey. :/

Guys. O_o .....WTF was up with the directing in this first episode?! Everything was weirdly spliced together so quickly that it was TOO HARD to connect to any of the characters. It was also SUPER confusing to follow. So many things happened, but the director didn't leave enough time for emotional impact or connection with these new characters. I barely understood what was happening. It was just super ATROCIOUS.

And guess what, I found out something SUPER DISAPPOINTING: ....The director, Hong Sung Chang also directed Kang Koo's Story. THAT WAS HONESTLY THE WORST THING I HAVE EVER WATCHED. *disgustedface*

Ji Sung is the best thing since sliced bread so OF COURSE I'm going to continue watching. I sincerely hope it gets better and that the directing for this show doesn't ruin it for me.

*fingers crossed* .....*Praying to all my drama-gods out there* .....*please don't disappoint me!!!!*

....I'm honestly crying on the inside. TT_TT My poor, poor Ji Sung!

Please tell me I'm not the only one!

Perhaps.

I think the only time I haven't hated English being used in an Asian drama was in Oh My Venus with Henry. They didn't have him purposefully speak his lines slower or not act the emotions properly either....he was just normal.

I think they subtitled what he said a lot of the time too so non-English speakers could understand. If I was in charge, I think that would be the direction I'd take....I wouldn't purposefully change the way a language is spoken...especially if subtitles can solve that problem.

I just feel like whenever English is used in an Asian drama, the feeling and inflection is completely gone. I don't know if I would characterize it as robotic, but something is definitely off.

With native English speakers, I've always assumed it is just bad acting and their only qualifying factor for getting the job was just that they could speak English.

For other actors where English is a second language, I've just assumed that a lot of concentration is placed on saying the words correctly, so also trying to act in an unfamiliar language, is obviously extremely difficult.

The idea that someone is purposefully leaving important inflections out so it can be understood by others....is weird to me. How would leaving out the correct emotions help someone understand the same word better?....

Maybe it's because my second language is ASL and emotions/emphasis are a huge part of the grammar and being understood. xD

I'm not fluent enough in any other spoken language to be able to attest to this type of speaking style for a foreign language helping others more readily understand what is being said.

Oh my goodness you finished it! <333333

I agree with everything you said in your review. So glad you enjoyed it! It became my 2nd favorite drama of all-time.

Gonna watch this next week so I can marathon the entire 3 eps in one sitting. <33

Maybe I'm not remembering correctly, but I don't remember the Oh My Ghost lead being jerk-like. Or at least, if I was to name off all the rude jerk male leads, I don't think I'd consider him in the running.

I gave it a 5.5. Extra point for the brotherly dynamic that really hit my bromance-wanting spot. But everything else and yes, the ending....I regretted watching.

Yeah, I understand. From my perspective, it's not like it's embarrassing...it's actually pretty impressive (if I attempted to speak Korean, I wouldn't be anywhere near as coherent). In that situation, it's more-so there is less focus on the acting itself (because so much focus is on pronouncing the words correctly)....the acting and feel of the scene suffers a little. So it's not the best situation in that context.

But in this specific situation, the guy was clearly a native-born English speaker, just not from the US. I *think* he's from the UK, but I could be wrong. So it was just jarring to hear the characters keep emphasizing and referring to him as "American." ....As if that matters. The storyline would be no different if he was a reporter from the UK. So, that was just weird for me.

It's not a critique of an accent. English has many different accents from various countries. It's more-so a critique on how the show broaches how they use English-speaking characters. I wish there were more representations of different countries--I don't understand why it has to be the US every single time. At the very least, it would make it more believable.

This certainly isn't a problem just associated with DOTS (but rather most kdramas), and to be honest, it's not even really a "problem" ...it just brings me out of the story and in the long run, it certainly doesn't matter. It's possible to suspend belief and just go with the flow and realize the realities of how kdramas get their English speaking actors - Mainly people from Europe who either have English as their first or second language, hence their English accent reflects their native country. Nothing can really be changed about that, it's probably extremely difficult to get US-accent actors in Korea.

But something that CAN be changed is every English speaking person automatically being associated with the US. Especially for roles that are so minor and it doesn't really even matter if they're from the US anyway. I think the guy from the "World Times" could easily have passed as a reporter from the UK. And that would have been much more believable and reflective of his accent. Why can't the UK do in-depth reporting in a war-torn country? Why does it have to be just the US. Or with any other European actor and utilizing their native country; a character could be German or French and they're using English because that's the most commonly known second-language. It would just add to the continuity and credibility of the story.

But again, it's an incredibly minor detail. Just something I wish the people in charge would consider.

The 14th episode is the one that really changes the dynamic on its head.

Yay, I'm glad!