gingerkiss

Exactly what curve are you talking about?

Except for Melting, I enjoyed all his dramas post military. I thought Lovestruck was great but of course it is not for people who can't stand the interview format. Backstreet was questionable in terms of some controversial content for many but I enjoyed it too. And TSOM was excellent. I don't see how these were wasted opportunities.

I love JCW cos he dares to challenge himself to take on different roles passionately. I am his fan so I read most of his interviews. From my gut feel, one of the reasons JCW takes on scripts is cos of people he wants to work with and usually these are the directors or perhaps certain writers. I could be wrong.

I'm curious. What did you like about his shows pre Suspicious Partner? Healer was widely considered as one of his best if not his best project. Yet you graded Healer 1.0 so I really don't know what issues you have by putting up a sweeping statement about him and then trying to backtrack when asked. What is your motive?

Quite clearly you don't like him which is none of my business but to put an absolute statement like that is full of insinuations on his profile page when you don't even know him personally is so disrespectful to the artiste and an eyesore for his fans. Working for money is a given for all actors/actresses and for that matter, most, if not all professions.

Wow, you sure know it all or are a great mind reader. But from the little that I know, acting for money is not a crime even if what you claim to know is true.

He does nothing for the plot so far but I am also very amused with him.

It probably would be more popular internationally if it's available on Netflix.

The tea competition scene was ace in Ep 16! I love to learn about tea so the presentation of the art really impressed me. So interesting! Can someone explain to me why the FL clutched her hanky so tightly? What was the messaging here? Is it to show she's still nervous despite her cool facade? Cos I did find it a tad awkward.

Scores are mostly subjective. A few of the dramas I've enjoyed like Novoland Pearl Eclipse (2021) and Who Rules the World were rated poorly on Douban for various reasons. Those that are highly scored are usually not those I wanna watch. But yeah, I think there is a dearth of good C-dramas this year. The best one I've watched is Legally Romance and it's only 6.4 on Douban.

Try it...I think it's a gradual buildup for me but I find the storytelling quite solid. The acting and chemistry of the leads are tops and that's drawing me to want to watch their story unfold.

Wow...the score on Douban is 8.8! That's so rare these days considering how picky their local audiences are. But it's a well-deserved score. The production is pretty impressive and the cast are all top-notch. Well, perhaps with the exception of Jelly Lin for me cos she's lacking the classy vibe for someone in the pipa trade. She still reminds me so much of her mermaid role. But the chemistry between Crystal and Chen Xiao is definitely off-the-charts.

8.5 for me. I enjoyed the inner dialogues and the whole concept of liberation. There were some very comforting moments for me, like the early scene of a broom sweeping across the floor. The focus on the mundane probably draws some of us in. But this is one drama I would not re-watch. I'll also be careful who I recommend this to cos someone could watch this and think it's okay to justify or even glorify their existential struggles with addictive substance or victim mentality. That was the disturbing bit for me watching the last episode.

I probably am one of the few who feel lukewarm about Gu and MJ individually. While I enjoy MJ's thoughts and thought process, she is my least favorite amongst the siblings. She always puts up a huge wall with most people, even toward her siblings and parents. The only person she is comfortable to reveal herself to is Gu and maybe to some extent, her best friend. But I'm glad that for her own good, she has begun to realize she has a victim mentality. As for Gu, honestly, apart from the fact that he is good for MJ, I can't see much of his appeal like others do. The last episode makes it worse as it seems to me, his character was trying to justify using addictive substance to get away from guilt and depression. But then again it's probably cos of their flaws that make this drama so raw and good to watch.

Chang Hee remains my favorite. While he came across as a loudmouth and almost as someone full of avarice initially, he is not like that at all.

Overall, I like that this drama did not have a conclusive ending. Yet, it's also not open-ended. Life goes on. They did not try to make anyone exceptionally happy or tragic just to increase viewership. Oh and thank goodness for limited skinship. Definitely beats a lot of dramas that try too hard to be dramatic with the usual tropes.

Chang Hee is the best! Such a big-hearted man with high EQ and so much love. It's a surprise how he turned out considering his dad is so non-communicative cos usually boys look up to their father. I guess that's why he said he yearned to have an older brother.

I think somewhere in the second half of ep 2 for me but probably you'll enjoy it better by ep 4.

I was surprised that the last 2 episodes didn't cause me to tear up even though there were so many sad and moving moments. I felt really sad when the 4 of them went for a drive at the beach without the mom. As rightly pointed out by KJ, she was so overworked. The only moment I saw her happy was the day she went to steal a peek at KJ's date. And perhaps the time she fondly looked back at CH's childhood photos. The children probably wished they had treated her better. And the dad. Oh the dad was so profoundly lost on so many levels toward his family. So typical of many men who think they are doing their best by providing food on the table for the family but are so emotionally disconnected to what's really going on till a crisis hits home.

I love the musical parts in TSOM. They are so integral to the entire drama and those were the scenes I re-watched multiple times. And this is coming from someone who dislike musicals and falls asleep as soon as the singing begins.

I second your comment. I enjoyed the first part but I have no desires to re-watch the 2nd half. It seems to me that by the 2nd half, the story was just going through the motions. I didn't get much feels. Even the ending wasn't very sweet either.

I cannot connect with their romance too. When I wrote my thoughts on this pertaining to what I saw were angst in ep 9, some people tried to shove their opinions down my throat telling me that I'm missing it and I should learn to appreciate their nuances. Well, I can appreciate their non-romantic interactions but like you, I find those scenes depicting their intimacy awkward especially after Gu said MJ scares him. I guess I just prefer they continue to worship each other with words, thoughts, and actions for each other but not with each other. LOL. But to add on, I found that kiss to be a liberation of some pent-up emotions or frustrations rather than longing for each other.

Personally, I love Lovestruck. It was not just JCW but the topics and discussions in the show were interesting and resonated with me. But I do know that some people dislike the interview format of the show so again, it's subjective. I started out apprehensive but by ep 2, I was wishing they had more episodes.

TBH, I wasn't so sold on Healer cos I dislike the flashback technique they used. It was too often and too distracting for me. But I did enjoy watching the romance. Suspicious Partner was enjoyable but I wasn't too hot about the FL. Haha. Anyway, the show that really made me his fan was Empress Ki because I was so impressed by his acting in there.

I wondered about it too but I guess cos of having to squeeze everything in 40 episodes, these less important matters had to be ignored.

You're not the only one who finds it boring. I'm sure plenty do too. It just depends if the drama is relatable to you. But for those who enjoy it, it's not overrated. The monologues, dialogues, and interactions are gold. Personally, I had found ep 1 and some parts of 2 boring but it picked up and was great till ep 8. Ep 9 was a tad boring for me cos of the focus on some angst in the relationship but it improved by ep 10. The last 2 episodes were great too.

I noticed that too.