lime_pickle

Very little (if any) moderation seems to go on here. Some horrendous, moronic, actionable things are said in the comments section.

He scrubs up well, doesn't he?

Is she actively swapping younger male leads with the other queen of noona, Im Soo-jung?

Well, at least the FL in this can actually do that thing called 'acting'.

Hey, all he needs to do is stand there and look pretty. Or stare a lot, right?

Goodness, it's AGES since we've had a 'noona' romance. We definitely need another one.

Thanks.

Does anyone know which real-life case this story is based on?

I struggled with a 40-something woman, and a teacher at that, being so clueless about inappropriate behavior (surely you're taught this sort of stuff way back in teacher training college?) making the villain's job so easy. Then I was told that she was 'only' 26 (but, mysteriously, particularly for a Korean woman, looked much, much older). There was also the "this is not about romance, it's about maths! (but when will they get together)' cringefest. I DO think this had potential but it needed a better thought out script (and, frankly, a FL who looked mid 20s). I have no problem with age gaps generally - I love Lost, for example, but just think this drama didn't know what it wanted to be.

I prefer mature/realistic - but this wasn't that. But the main thing that sunk this drama - apart from the tedious, circular and - frankly unbelievable - plot was the lack of any actual acting from the main leads.

I'm sure the character was unattractive, too, but her 'acting' (mooning and staring) didn't help give the role any dimension either.

She was good in something 6-8 years ago. Apparently. But my experience is that the top half of her face is always frozen, the bottom half is mostly frozen and that her eyes are dead. You can't blame ALL of that on too-much botox, at some point you've got to question the actor's investment in her own skills.

Is it an advert for the tax service? Either a recruitment ad or a 'pay your taxes' thing?

It might be because they've only seen her in a drama where she's acted badly/not at all. I think you can blame writers/directors for a lot of things (e.g. characters) but not for the (in)ability to, say, emote convincingly. Personally I thought she was OK in My Name but utterly dreadful in Nevertheless.

I'm relatively new to Korean/other Asian dramas (2 years) but have consumed a lot in that short period (lockdown). I guess I do a mixture of hope-watching and hate-watching. I'm fascinated by the excuses that fans make for their 'oppas' and 'eonnis', by the focus on actors' private lives and by the gaslighting in the comments.

It's also pretty misogynistic to think that all/most women (voters) are driven by jealousy because they're incapable of rational thought and objective appraisal. Yeah, a lot of - frankly unappetising - men like to fantasise that all/most women are fuelled by jealousy and competition over their sweaty arses but I don't think it reflects reality.

There's nothing mysogynistic about pointing out someone's lack of skill. It smacks more of misogyny to defend, say, criticisms of Song Hye Kyo's poor acting skills with the usual screeching about her prettiness, or her private life, as if women should be valued only as decorative objects and/or as partners to men.

Han So Hee is dreadful in Nevertheless but decent in My Name. I've never seen Song Hye Kyo do any actual 'acting' in anything I've seen her in - just a lot of blank-faced staring - but she has a lot of screechy fans (who talk, constantly about how pretty she is and/or her private life, which isn't about acting).

I've been trying to think about why this drama is so bad, and why the ratings are in the toilet, while putting aside my distaste for the relentless 'noona' dramas that the kdrama industry is pumping out recently:

- the acting, from the main characters, is very, VERY poor - too much blank-faced staring (and I include JKY in that, though he's been good in other things) and the FL was good in something in 2006 (apparently);

- the plot is trite and, frankly, unbelievable - as is much of the dialogue;

- even in scenes of high emotion the FLs eyes and the top half of her face don't move - including when her mouth is full-on screeching- that's super-weird;

- it's boring, god it's super, super BORING. How can a drama which kicked off with a 'sex' scene be so utterly dull?

It's like the production company had a meeting and said: "Listen, the audience is mostly thickies. As long as we throw them a few bones in the form of a hot ML, a popular actress and a promise of some saucy bits, they'll swallow anything."

Those weren't 19+ scenes for 99% of your international audience - they were over-romanticised and twee. The drama might have been better for some genuine grittiness to be honest.