lilili

People are review bombing because they hate sex and joy

I feel the same way, the second couple is too cute and she had a good reason to be angry with him and to make him work to win her back and the fact he was willing to kneel down for her means she got a good one. The constant sexing is adorable

The illustrations are a clever way to get really explicit and stay historically accurate because I've seen some historical drawings and they really were that raunchy

I really like the second couple with the prince and his fiance who was rightfully angry that he never asked her if she wanted to marry him and instead went to her father first to arrange it. Once they got it sorted out their sex scenes were incredibly sweet and funny.

The third couple of the crown prince and princess having obligatory sex that she obviously hated was very sad and I hope they are able to find a way to be intimate that gives them both pleasure.

I'm not sold on the leads, Hwa Ri is just a spoiled brat who has an all access pass to leave the palace whenever she wants and Choi Hwan comes across as a little smarmy but their kiss was legit. I'm hoping I become invested in their relationship in future episodes.

Regarding the peeping scene, it's a historical fact that people in the Joseon era would poke holes in a screen to peep at couples having sex so they were having a bit of fun with it. I did get weirded out when I realized that Hwa Ri was peeping at her brother, that was excessive and a bit creepy.

Overall I'm really enjoying the portrayal of women's sexuality as in they are interested in sex and want to enjoy it but it's societal expectations and constraints that prevent them from achieving sexual fulfillment. It's nice to have an 18+ show that focuses on the female gaze and women's pleasure instead of whatever mess we got in Queen Woo.

If you just look at the sex scenes with actors this is only mildly spicy with a topless woman in one scene. But the illustrations are where this drama is earning its 18+ rating. Absolutely nothing left to the imagination. The opening illustration especially killed me because you have to look closely to see all the tiny people having sex in various parts of the screen. As for the plot, spoilers threaded below.

Someone uploaded it to Dailymotion

These are films not dramas but try Alienoid with Kim Woo Bin, Kim Taeri and Ryu Jeong Yeol and Space Sweepers with Song Joong Ki, Kim Taeri and Richard Armitage

I didn't care about a potential cheating storyline when I started the drama because you can make those stories interesting but the writing is so terrible that it's made the 2FL the most sympathetic and relatable character because of how she's treated by the ML

We don't need misogynistic comments about the FL to explain why the drama is a flop, it's 100% because of the shitty writing

"Viewer feedback has been scathing, with comments such as, "Is this the animal kingdom in drama form? It’s all about sex," and "With no fresh take on space, the focus on intimacy makes it hard to stay engaged." 😭😭😭 The takedowns of this drama are hella entertaining

Pachinko did well in viewership: "Parrot Analytics has found that the audience demand for Pachinko (파친코) is 16.0 times the demand of the average TV series in the United States in the last 30 days. 2.7% of all shows in this market have this level of demand." This is considered outstanding audience demand. https://tv.parrotanalytics.com/US/pachinko-pacinko-apple-tv-plus

Oh I'm blocking you too, good bye

Oh Jung Se is hot in this role and that's definitely something I didn't see coming. Too bad he's not acting in a better drama.

That person's profile has a bunch of CS Lewis quotes along with a Bible quote. I blocked them.

Loved getting a phone notification with your comment this morning 🙃

I'm not trying to ruin anyone's enjoyment of the drama. I'm speaking to people like me who are disappointed. But if you love it don't let my comments detract from that, you should honestly ignore me.

The blog post is snarky but I clicked through to the Korean article and translated it and the critiques are real. The drama is a commercial disaster that is going to reset the entire drama industry. There's going to be a lot fewer big budget projects and a lot more inexpensive romances that recoup their investment.

This is a blog post about the failure of When the Stars Gossip: https://koalasplayground.com/?p=139126

Here's the opening paragraph:

There is a very comprehensive and in depth Nate news article (here) going into detail with hard numbers on why the breadth and scope of the failure of space romance K-drama When the Stars Gossip will have "heads will roll" and "things must change" type ramifications across the industry.

So let's get to it as I explain the highlights of this article (my comments in italics) on what the failures are with the drama: (1) Stars is the first tvN weekend drama in 6-years to hit 1% ratings since Melting Me Softly, (2) it's also fallen of the Netflix top 10 by the second week of streaming, (3) none of the uploaded videos to tvN's Youtube channel have over 100K views, (4) the production started at 10 billion won and went up to 50 billion won with Lee Min Ho and Gong Hyo Jin's salaries and will end between 60-70 billion won after post-production work and special effects, (5) initially it was aimed to be a Netflix original but Netflix refused, then tvN held it back waiting for Mainland China to lift the ban on Korean entertainment believing Lee Min Ho was super popular there, but in the end tvN couldn't wait any longer, (6) the premise of an OB/GYN going to space to artificially inseminate the lazy sperm left by the dead son of a chaebol (hahahah, even writing this out is lolz) was far-fetched, (7) despite being billed as a romance, the chemistry between the lead doctor and space commander was not good and their emotional line was not relatable (to any human) and the bed scene at the end of episode 8 was not touching and instead bizarre with old-fashioned CGI special effects (double lolz), (8) supporting characters did not have good story lines and many feel miscast, (9) the directing was choppy and would transition suddenly like being cut off, (10) this will be a big stain for both leads - Lee Min Ho for having a series of dramas not do as well in ratings as expected for an actor of his level, other than good reviews for Pachinko, and Gong Hyo Jin finally getting called out for acting the same way every time, this time even more obvious and blatant.

ETA: Here's the link to the Korean article: https://m.news.nate.com/view/20250128n03135?mid=e02&list=recent&cpcd=

It's the writing, it's a pile of 2010 era cliches dressed up in a space plot. The actors are doing the best they can with what they're given.

It's incredibly lazy writing, not just the science but the thin plot too. I'm kind of stunned that the producers didn't care given how much money they sunk into this.