Great adaptation
I loved what they did with this one!Having read the webcomic prior to watching this one might have helped me to get into the story more easily, but it surely was not necessary; meaning that even if i had watched this without reading the webcomic i would still give it the same rating i'm giving now.
The acting is great. Specially the main leads. The kissing is a bit awkward the first time but nothing that will make it impossible to watch this drama.
I specially loved what they did with the character of Denis. In the webcomic he is very much different but i like the drama version way better. It gave a new and different meaning to him and his actions.
Overall, i think this is a nice drama with a fantasy-like thematic that may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it was mine and i loved every second of it.
Was this review helpful to you?
Good idea. Just not executed well enough
I'm proud that BL's/ Korean Bl's especially try to move away from the real of what is expected from them. The Director Who Buys Me Dinner was a mix of supernatural and fantasy which is good because BL's deserve more themes and different stories. Yet since it was only 14-16 mins an episode, less by all the summaries and the previews in the beginning and end of the episodes + the normal 8-10 episodes, it really affected the plot. Since the episodes are so short there really isn't an opportunity to tell the story correctly. The series suffers from a lot of plot holes that left me confused and I still don't really understand the curse or their past connection. The ending is bittersweet too, I liked it enough but I feel like it could have had a better finish.While I liked the performances of the cast in the last two episodes there's still room for improvement esp if they are going to stay in the BL industry. Some of the acting in the intimate scenes left me feeling awkward too. Still it's important for Korea to tell these stories as much as the writers and producers tell the male and female romance ones. For that I'm happy that Korea has done that and are giving fans more BL's lately. The Director Who Buys Me Dinner was another step in the right direction.
Overall I ive this series a 6.0 because I enjoyed it and thought it was cute. Is there room for improvement? Yes, but I'm satisfied enough for what this series gave me. Loved the OST tho.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Uma verdadeira aventura
Vi esse dorama sem esperar nada e ganhei um trauma em troca. Não é ruim, é curto demais pra ser ruim, é bem confuso pra falar a verdade... Confuso ATÉ DEMAIS.viria de novo ? Sim, principalmente se eu tiver na companhia de um amigo(a)
gostei da história? fiquei com raiva isso sim. Quando eu apego a um personagem eu defendo ele, e o menino aqui só serviu pra morrer. Não é como se não tivesse clima, clima tinha, mas devia ter morrido QUANDO ELE DEIXOU O MENINO SOZINHO LÁ, AI ELE FOI POSSUÍDO
Esse não é o melhor dorama do mundo, mas tá muito longe de ser ruim.. Eu queria Mais, mas eu acho que a graça é essa
Was this review helpful to you?
Not the best, not the worst
This is ok, but not great. It’s definitely good for passing an entertaining couple of hours, but it lacks real consistency of storyline or well-developed characters.What I liked:
- The production quality: Korean series (including their BLs) tend to be top tier for cinematography, and this one is no exception. I really loved some of the camera angles. They gave it the full Korean drama treatment, and it was excellent.
- The acting: I think the actors did well with what they had to work with, and I was as emotionally invested in the characters as I could be given all the flaws in the writing.
- The overall plot concept: The basic concept of the story is quite interesting, although I don’t know if I can give the drama credit for this one, since it’s based on a web comic. I’ve actually read some of the comic and was wondering whether it would translate all that well into a drama. But turns out that the plot concept fit really well in drama format.
What I didn’t like:
- Character Development: The characters on a whole have very ambiguous motivations. It’s very clear that they’ve been written to follow the source material (webcomic), but without any real depth. This get worse as the series progresses, and I found myself getting whiplash from Youtan’s sudden personality shifts and the completely unexplained back story and motivation of the third character (I forgot his name).
- Plot progression and pacing: This is an instance where they really could have used a script doctor. Or maybe they had one who just wasn’t paying that close of attention. To be fair, it’s extremely difficult to reduce a full webcomic down into a mini-series of only ten 16- to 20-minute episodes. But man, this series got choppy at time. A good example of this was a flashback sequence, which I only realized in the following episode was supposed to show the character getting their memory back. I hadn’t even known that they didn’t have their memory in the first place.
- Plot holes: There are several plot points that are just never explored or are left dangling at the end. Like Dongbeak in one scene seems to get possessed by…someone? Something? We don’t know because it never gets explained. I’m sure this and other plot holes were parts of the comic that they felt were important to include. But if that’s the case, they needed to have done a better job of wrapping them up and weaving them into the story.
All that being said, I think most of its flaws really just stem from trying to shoehorn a webcomic-length story into a mini-series. Despite my criticism, it is a decent drama to watch if you just want some entertainment. The actors are good-looking. The plot makes sense if you turn your head and squint. And you get some cute fluffy moments. It’s certainly not the next Semantic Error, but it’s not an unpleasant way to pass a couple hours.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
The premise is great; the runtime too short.
The idea to blend an office setting / a boss-employee-dynamic with a fantasy plot of reincarnation and curses which have to be broken, is interesting.Unfortunately, the boss-employee-dynamics with its inherent power imbalance is only kind of important in the beginning -- for me, Dong Baek was much too accepting of Yu Dam's story. But that may be because I did not feel a connection between the director and his employee. The director was so standoffish at the beginning, and then suddenly, he is concerned annd worried? The employee is confused and more than a bit uncomfortable, and then, suddenly -- love? A bit more time for character development would have been nice.
I think there's a lot of more character back-story and world-building here than we get to see; and this is what makes the whole series feel unfinished. It is as if we get an incomplete puzzle and are asked to fill in the missing pieces ourselves, and the pieces that are there are just the people, and none of the surroundings.
We don't know why it was so important that the "child of god" / "the kid who grew up in the shaman's house" not get a name. We don't know who it was who shot Dong Baek (looked like Dennis, maybe?) and why. We don't know what kind of curse it is and how exactly it can be broken. And we don't know how Yu Dam knows. We don't know who is was who possessed Dong Baek that one time. We don't know anything about Dennis, and why he thinks so lowly of Yu Dam.
The list could go on and on.
I don't understand why those who were responsible chose this story when it was clear that there's not a lot of time to fully explore it. Even a 10-episode drama of 25 to 30 minutes per episode would have been enough to at least explain the most pressing questions.
But if you know that you don't have the time, then why not choose a much simpler story?
As it is, most of the episodes felt rushed or disjointed (or both); which is a pity since the acting and most technical aspects were fine.
The ending .... is probably something people love or hate. It's open-ended bt hopeful; and I think it fits so I like it.
If you're interested and have the time, you could watch it -- it's short enough and certainly not bad enough -- and form your own opinion.
Was this review helpful to you?
For what it's worth, I liked it.
Did the series have a unique premise? Definitely. The outline checked all the boxes for me, but I'm a sucker for the old reincarnation trope with a half side of Highlander. Great. Then was it an amazing, knock-it-out-of-the-park series? Uh, that would a no. Oh. Should you give it a pass? No! Fear not, fellow trope lovers, there's a lot to really enjoy in The Director Buys. Let's run through the list. Was there some comedy? Yup. Some of the inner dialogue was pretty damn funny. Did we see some onscreen chemistry? Yes, yes, we did. Do the actors have the requisite chops to keep us invested in the story? I thought so, particularly in the case of the Director. Are the two lead characters appealing? I liked them, though, admittedly I liked one character more so in the first few episodes. (I thought that after he gave it up to love, he turned into a little melted marshmallow, losing some of his inner tension that was so entertaining in the first few episodes.) So, why didn't I give The Director Buys the full 10 points? They needed more screen time to fully flesh out the premise. If they'd had that luxury the backstory could have been better bridged into the present story; the switch from uncertain antagonists to fated lovers would have felt less abrupt; and the bad guy could have been better knitted into the fabric of the plot. (Connecting him to the past would have worked well there). That's it, really. The back-end felt rushed; a not-lethal flaw I've noticed in a few other Korean BLs. That being said, I could see past that, and totally binged the series, enjoying it for what it was. So, if the plot premise checks your boxes, go ahead and throw the popcorn bag into the microwave. You'll have an enjoyable evening.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Quick watch you should watch.
Honestly people are being way too harsh on this drama. The acting was really good compared to many dramas I watched. Yes the recaps could’ve been shorter and yes it felt a little fast paced but when the budget is only so much then that means the drama is also gonna be so much. Many people didn’t like the ending which honestly I’m not sure why. Yes there could’ve been maybe one more scene to solidify it but the ending left us feeling optimistic. It is insinuating that they’ll restart their story over but with more of a solid future. Overall the main leads were great and so was their chemistry. You can’t please everyone.Was this review helpful to you?
:)
i just finished binge watching this, and i have to say, i think it deserves a little more love than it’s received. when it comes to korean bl, you should go into the series not expecting anything spectacular. have low standards, so you won’t get disappointed!i may just be easily entertained, but i really enjoyed watching this series.
i really liked the plot. i love reincarnation/soulmate tropes.
i do wish the episodes were a bit longer. the 2-3 minutes of recap from the previous episodes didn’t help either. i’m not sure if this series has a movie version, but i feel like if i had watched that, it would’ve made the story move more smoothly. when series have a short amount of viewing time, if you watch it with a movie mindest, it won’t feel as off paced. this series was basically a movie cut up in 10 episodes.
i have nothing really bad to say about youdam and dongbaek. for once, a main couple didn’t have any unnecessary problems and drama, and their communication was quite well. their acting wasn’t terrible and chemistry is there. i feel if they had a better written/produced show, their chemistry would be a lot more visible.
for denis’ character, i have a lot of questions. it’s clear from the start that there was something wrong with him. i spent my time wondering what it could be, since the series never explained it (as the episodes went on, i was hoping they were going to.)
it was clear he had some type of mental illness. at first, i thought he had a panic disorder. but then as he interacted with dongbaek more, i thought maybe he had some type of personality disorder.
he was on medication, and when his episodes would start, if dongbaek were around, he would be there to console him and calm him down. i think that’s what started denis’ obsession with him— since dongbaek knew how to take care of those situations.
denis had a huge fear of abandonment. he’s mentioned many times how youdam had used him and abandoned him. this boy definitely had some trauma and i think that’s where his problems could be rooted from.
anyways, i wish they went more into depth on his character. but with the time limit, it was bound to not happen.
the parallel from the present time to the past time was genuinely heartbreaking for me. it killed me seeing youdam have to live through that again, especially when he thought the curse was over.
i’m not unsatisfied with the ending of this series, but it definitely took a turn that i wasn’t expecting.
i thoroughly enjoyed this plot, and i feel like it could’ve done a lot better than it did if there was more time. nonetheless, i still really enjoyed this series. it’s very different from most korean bl’s, too. hopefully there will be a second season!
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Had Potential, but kinda just died….
Okay, so YES MY REVIEW DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS. IF YOU DON’T WANT SPOILERS, DON’T READ ANY FURTHER.Okay, so here we have the Director who has been alive for centuries waiting for his lover, Seol Dong Baek to come back into his life. He finally does, but then we have this psychotic idol named Denis who pretty much ruins everything in the end. The story doesn’t tell us much about Denis. We know that Denis kills Seol Dong Baek in the olden days, as he was hired by the King to do so. However, the story doesn’t tell us really anything about him in the present, other than that he’s an idol and he has a contract with the Director’s agency. I don’t know why Denis had so much resentment and anger towards the Director. At first I was thinking that maybe the Director and him could have been together at one point, but then I thought no, because the Director said that he was waiting for Seol Dong Baek for centuries. Then I thought that it was because Denis thought that the Director was going to discard him once he wasn’t useful to the agency as an idol. However, I don’t think that was true either because the Director wanted to renew Denis’s contract. So I don’t know…Denis did mention that the Director is infamous for discarding people once he deems them useless, but the story doesn’t expand on that.
But in the end, Seol Dong Baek dies again for the second time, because Denis the psycho kills him in a rage trying to kill the Director. The Director, heartbroken, prays to god to save Seol Dong Baek again, only this time, the Director says that he will be the one to have his memories erased this time. His wish is granted, and Seol Dong Baek wakes up in his own bed. This time, Seol Dong Baek is the one with all of the memories and the Director has none, or so we think…the last episode hinted a little bit that maybe the Director might remember Seol Dong Baek, but not well like he did in the past, more like just déjàvu. The ending is an open ending though. Seol Dong Baek asks the Director if he wants to have dinner with him. So we can speculate that hopefully they come together again for a third time and maybe the Director gains back some of his memories, hopefully that this time Seol Dong Baek won’t die for a third time…
Overall, I liked this series. However I didn’t really like the ending or the fact that we got really no closure about who Denis was/is. I honestly just view Denis as a psychopath. He certainly has the creepy death stare for it. The series had potential, but fell short for me. The junk thing about Korean BLs is that they are often too short, so the storyline and characters are often overlooked and rushed and so the viewer doesn’t really get to know much about the characters or their stories.
Would I rewatch this series? Maybe. It’s not bad, just a bit lackluster. I liked the cast though. If this is your first time, I’d say give it a shot. I will say that it doesn’t hold a candle to other Korean BLs like Semantic Error though.
Was this review helpful to you?
More visual, less impact. Nevertheless, it’s good enough.
I thought that this is just another office-based love story and never expected it to be a fantasy-romance drama. At first, I feel too bored by the weird stuff that goes on with them not until they explained it during the last few episodes. However, the explanation was too shallow and I wanted more side stories coming from the archer, where we all know that it was Dennis on his past life. As well as the clearer background behind the curse given to Seol Dong Baek.The visual of the main couple is, I guess, more entertaining than the whole plot of the show. Min Yu Dam is the definition of a handsome man. His eyes are too manly, his smiles are too cute, and his whole appearance is so lovely. The same with Seol Dong Baek in the overall physical attributes. But one thing that I needed to point out is that they needed to work more with their on-screen kissing scenes since I felt a little awkwardness between them.
The ending was a great one. The reverse scenario of Seol Dong Baek asking his director for a dinner out together is an acceptable conclusion for a not-so-sad ending.
Was this review helpful to you?
Interesting Story Line
I didn't read the description before I watched the drama and was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't a typical office romance. I enjoyed it very much and love the how short k bls are. I find the fantasy aspect of the story line to be fascinating since things like that aren't shown in US shows. I recommend this drama if you are looking for something atypical (not a high school or college or typical romance bl).This is another one that I can go back and watch again when I want something quick that doesn't take forever to watch. It's not as sweet as Semantic Error or Be My Boyfriend (not a bl but a SUPER sweet, short kd) but it was entertaining and different. I thoroughly enjoy the mini-dramas.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
I hope they do a S2.
The ending wasn't what I was expecting. I really hope they do a season 2 as the drama doesn't seem completed at all, but I hope they do a season 2 where the director remember him or something like that.Overall the drama is good to watch. The acting isn't the best but it's not the worst I guess.
I like how they actually cry in the scene. (Where Seal DongBaek died and a few other scenes)
Favourites parts in the drama was when they were showing emotions (crying) or how Dennis Lee was jealous or angry at Min Yu Dam for "abandoning" him.
The only thing I dislike is that the drama is short, under 12-14 minutes (excluding the intro and outro)
Was this review helpful to you?
