irmar

They were focusing on the "why hang important matters on the competition" (which is also a concern, but a different one). What I'm saying is they should have thought that the main rule of judging was completely absurd. Competitions of any kind should have judges with no conflict of interest, that's the ABC of competitions. Also they have an odd number (3,5 etc.), so that there is no possibility of a tie. A serious writer would have found another way to make a competition foul.
If webtoons have ridiculous plot holes, that's their fault, I suppose.

That was just an example from the episode I had just watched.
What about the cooking competition's main rule, that the two competing nations rate each other's dish? How absurd is that? Of course you will give a bad score to your rival, even if you liked the dish more.

We mean realistic within the boundaries of the time-travel premise. Even science fiction, even fantasy create a world and then, within that world, there are realistic rules that have to be followed.
In this case, for instance, they go get a special item for the competition with very little time to spare, but they choose to go on foot when there are perfectly good horses available (someone comes to get them back and they get back to the palace on horses). And the king takes only two men to protect him, instead of a whole guard concealed in the woods looking out for him.
And many, many little absurdities like that.

And to think that Viki doesn't allow us to translate anymore but they put hired translators who do everything condensed and Americanized, obliterating all cultural references! We can still edit (not all but most of the shows), but they pressure the Channel Manager to release the subtitles for translation into other languages without first editing them. Not only that, but they put a 100-character limit on every subtitle so that most of the time we cannot add explanatory notes to help viewers understand cultural terms. It sucks! We are extremely unhappy.
Accuracy, completeness, preservation of the Asian flavour and cultural explanation used to be Viki's strength, so why want to be like all the other platforms that don't cater to Asian drama enthusiasts but to a more general public?
(This is a general rant, Viki doesn't carry this show)

Just in case, I'll wait until it's over. It's only one episode, after all.

Do you remember "Love Rain"? There was the young couple and their parents couple, reuniting. There was a poll back then in Korea, asking viewers which couple should have a happy ending, as it wasn't possible for both to get together (get married), as there would be tongues wagging (and I don't even know whether it's legally possible, since they become family after their kids' marriage). The public voted for the young couple, so the old couple went to the USA and "remained friends". It was heartbreaking, after all they went through to finally find each other again. Now, we can put our imagination and think they weren't just friends, but that's what that drama delivered.
I wonder about this drama. Does it solve the dilemma in a similar way?
(If yes I don't want to watch it)
I put "spoiler" not for this drama, but for "Love Rain" - otherwise a beautiful drama, with Jang Keun-Suk at his very best).

She doesn't talk with a baby voice at all. (I am allergic to that!) She just speaks softly, but with a normal voice.

I am at episode one and a half and I am struggling. They seem so long, as if they were 2 hours instead of one hour each.
UPDATE: After the first two episodes it got better and better. I'm in episode 7 now and loving it.

I found the last episode unbelievably conventional and boring, definitely lower quality than the rest. But all in all the drama was enjoyable and the main actress was good, so I watched it with pleasure. The poor ML was even given some lines to say in the last few episodes, yay! His acting was nothing to write home about, but he delivered the brooding idiot vibe of his character decently.
Too bad the two second leads' story wasn't that developed - but I understand they couldn't start it earlier, for fear of ruining the SML's image and trivializing his feelings if he forgot his love too quickly.
One thing I appreciated is that the mother-in-law didn't do a 180-degree turn and suddenly become a good person, everything forgiven, Although there is a hint that Cherry will try to make peace between mother and son. Drama heroines often do that odious meddling, which is really dismissive of the trauma inflicted by such monsters.

That picture in the wallet was shown for a split second. It seemed a picture of many people. What was it and how did it prove Yu's love for Cherry?

Oh, I watched Lighter and Princess and also a Small little Happiness what was the name of that drama, and I don't remember such scenes.

No, I don't think it is normal. Two people who love each other support each other in good times and in bad times. It must be old-style mentality probably still prevalent in China.

Poor Cherry deserves some honesty from her friends and from her lover. It's the only way she could MAYBE move on. Everyone knows but her! And the guy playing the noble idiot is an idiot period. I thought his reason would be some life-threatening disease, loan sharks around him or some tragedy like that. And it was only that he didn't have money? Come on! This makes it super ridiculous. It must have something to do with the Chinese notion of saving face and the patriarchal thought that the man should be the provider and make more than the woman. That's where we the international public cannot really understand. I see some in the comments say they understand him, they must be Chinese then?

Why should HE give a good life to her? Because he's a guy and she's a woman? And he doesn't need to go to university, he can get an honest job like everyone else, with his superior brain.

When he came with the black cap, he already had this dark style, he was lying about coming back and left her on false pretenses ("Go heat the buns and I'm coming"). So no, he already knew that he couldn't keep his promises.

It IS stupid and he is a coward. Because he knows he is inflicting great emotional distress to the person he supposedly loves.

In case you wondered about the military training. I searched and found this.
In China, university students are required to participate in a period of military training, typically at the beginning of their freshman year. This training, mandated by the Ministry of Education and the Central Military Commission, aims to instill discipline, patriotism, and an awareness of national defense. The training period is typically 21 days for college students and 14 days for high school students and involves both theoretical study and practical exercises, including marching, physical training, and learning about national security policies and global security situation, as well as participate in military-style exercises.
Nowadays it is also done in thousands of elementary schools designated as “model schools for national defence education”, part of China’s push to increase military awareness and skills among its population – starting at younger and younger ages.
The training also aims to improve students' physical fitness, mental discipline, and work ethic.
There's a renewed focus on military training and national defense education, with efforts to integrate it more effectively into the curriculum and make it a more meaningful experience.
The growing emphasis on military training for civilians reflects a heightened nationalism in today’s China under Xi, who has also made clear his distaste for what he sees as declining masculinity in China, and the worsening risk that he could take the country into war over Taiwan.
“Requiring children to engage in performative military education activities at younger and younger ages normalises China’s increasingly aggressive foreign policy, and could potentially prepare the country psychologically for a contingency in which China engages in armed conflict,” said Bethany Allen, the head of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s China programme.
China-based analysts have also told media the ruling Chinese Communist party (CCP) is learning from the Ukraine war and the potential need to have a population that can be quickly mobilised for conflict.
More here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/11/love-the-army-defend-the-motherland-how-china-is-pushing-military-education-on-children

She compares with the mother in Secret Garden (k-drama), who doesn't relent even at the end.

That was good! I loved it.

I am enjoying it very much! There are some similarities with other stories but it feels fresh, and the actors are very good.