TamzinMillemni

It’s a good job that you named the actresses you were referring to because it completes what you were trying to say. This way it allows people to form their own opinion on your opinion. Myself and a lot of the commenters here on MDL are in consensus that the two actresses you mentioned did such a good job embodying the two characters and that their performances will indeed be memorable. I know I won’t forget Da A’s performance of Ha Rin anytime soon. I don’t think you’ll be able to change my mind that another actress could embody Ha Rin better because I am so satisfied with her performance, but I respect that you have a different opinion.

As someone who doesn’t hold biases outside of a show or follow news of actors outside of a show; I can say that purely judging by their performances in this series, I objectively think that every one of the main characters and the main supporting characters did an impressive job. Not only did they do a good job acting but they also embodied their roles.

We have this same debate in western television, about nepotism and connections. What I say about that is, if it’s nepotism and connections, then what they must do in return is to be capable actors and I think these ladies are all capable actors.

You might need to name the actresses because the main characters and the main supporting characters all fitted their characters to a Tee. I wouldn’t change anything. I don’t think we were given enough scenes with the secondary supporting characters so I don’t know if their roles were deserved or not. I couldn’t make that call. All I’ll say is that just because it’s someone’s first acting gig doesn’t mean it’s not deserved. I hear it’s the actress Jang Da A’s (Ha Rin) first acting role and she has knocked it out of the park. She IS the character of Ha Rin. I can’t imagine anyone doing it better.

Liar Game, Itaewon Class, Squid Games, Class Of Lies, Moving are the ones that come to mind. They have similar themes with people coming together/working together to overcome an adversary/a harmful system.

Death’s Game has that sick twisted ‘game’ element to it and The Glory has a similar story of overcoming a school bully like Weak Hero Class 1 and Pyramid Game.

Taxi Driver and many others like it, have a theme of someone taking on an evil-doer.

Having the grandmother use the word ‘sloppy’ with Ha Rin like she does with Ha Rin’s dad is such a small but devastating detail for Ha Rin. To her it speaks volumes. It means she’s no better than her father in her grandmother’s eyes. With that one word grandma removes Ha Rin from her level and brings her down to the level of her idiot and weaselly father.

Another understated but powerful detail, are the parallels between Soo Ji’s school environment and the army environment of her father. I think it was this comparison and not the comparison between the girls in high school and the other parents’ clique that had the most impact in sending the message to the audience about how these ‘pyramid’ structures are found in real everyday life. Using Soo Ji’s father as the example, shows how people in higher positions can choose to turn a blind eye and scapegoat people lower down on the hierarchy. Just like Soo Ji says to her father.

I like that the outcome was not an overwhelming victory for the girls and that things didn’t end smoothly and cleanly for everyone.
Some of the plot points that I really liked were:

- Not everyone stood up to quit the game. It was a great way of not letting everyone off the hook by not redeeming all the ‘bystanders’.

- The final plan to take down the game was realistic, although Ja Eun overhearing Ha Rin was too convenient but I did like that she was the one to start the wave of people quitting the game. It was very poetic. And I also like that Soo Ji didn’t just think that ending the game was enough. That she realised she needed to make sure the public were watching by having a plan A, a plan B and a plan C, so that it would be hard for Ha Rin and the adults to reverse everything and keep operating in secret.

- I also liked that just like how it would happen in real life, they showed how the bad adults were still able to manipulate and find a way to save themselves and utilize the remaining power and control they still had with their positions. They just rebranded and moved on.

- The ‘reasoning’ for Ha Rin’s actions was also well explored. Having the reason be that she was a psychopath was too convenient as illustrated by the comments under that article where the commenters were distancing their humanity from hers, by saying she was not like them (as in she was not human). This explanation lets people off the hook too easily and that is why I’m glad the series does not do that for the viewers. Using Soo Ji’s words, the writers tell us who Ha Rin was/her motivations. Ha Rin can’t hide behind psychopathy or victimhood because the truth is that she is nothing but a bully who didn’t need a big reason to bully. She did it because she wanted to bully others. Just like every other bully.

I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed this series. I have a huge respect for series that are written well with a clear vision for its characters, its story and what it’s trying to say. Even more so when these aspects are executed to a very high degree. I’m really impressed. 👏👏👏

My favourite thing about this series were the smaller details.

Watching again for the third time. It’s quite an easy going, re-watchable series. I’m reminded of how much I love the main characters and their love story and the side couple and their spicy passion. I wish this could be serialised and we get a -

Kiseki 2: Short Spice - with Chen Yi and Ai Di;

Kiseki 3: Japan Escapades - with the couple who were sent to Japan

Kiseki 4: Origin - telling the story of the boss and his lover, while mixing in bits of their younger days.

And just as a bonus (because I don’t think we’re ever getting a full series with Wayne and Huang again), we top off the Kiseki series with:

Bonus Kiseki - a story of Zhang Teng and his right hand man played by Wayne and Huang.

LAAAAYS! Where my Lays at. 👀😄😂😅😭😭🤣🤣

Fr Thai dramas be like: *emotional rain scene* gotta pull out the Oishi Green Tea Honey Lemon drink and down it in slow motion while you get a lingering shot of the MC’s Adam’s apple and sweat rolling down his tight, wet abs.

This is a running joke in one of the forums I frequent. It’s never the stuff we want to be brought up. 😅😂🤣🤣

To be fair to them, I was waiting for a controversy but I didn’t think it would be about cars. I’m starting to notice that whenever a drama or an actor starts to become popular, there’s suddenly controversy being drummed up. Could we call this ‘image assassination’??? Why is this the norm? Why are competitors and anti-fans so salty? And most importantly, why do they choose these high school mean girl methods?

I’m not South Korean so I can only speak as an outsider looking in. I wonder, is being in the SK entertainment industry worth it? I’ve been thinking about the pros and cons of the industry in prominent countries that export their content well (Japan, South Korea, USA, UK, China, India, France, Thailand, Canada, Taiwan, the Nordics) and of all the countries, South Korea is the one that almost completely sets you up to fail. At no point can you feel safe and somewhat secure in your career. It’s also the only one where you can loose everything without any wrong doing. Just the perceived notion of wrongdoing is enough. Does this not sound like an industry built on paper cards? Japan and China come close but unless you’ve been blacklisted by the government or you are somewhat in the wrong for an incident or your handling of it; you don’t just lose face just like that.

It’s really, really good but if you have an aversion to heavy/dark topics, then it’s probably not for you. It’s not a ‘light’ drama content-wise but interestingly the filming style is not dark or gritty. It’s pretty light and airy visually. It’d even say bright and colourful.

Leaving a comment here so that others can know that I do not co-sign your xenophobic views and that any interpretation of my comment being in agreement with you is purely your own misunderstanding.

:D 🤗

I’m loving these editorial articles. Especially these nostalgic ones. Keep them coming please. 👍

I agree that it felt shoe-horned in. I can’t think of a reason why they would reference it. They really could have used any other royal family. That’s why I think k-dramas should stop referencing Arabs, the Saudi Royal family (even if they’re mentioning them because they’re the richest royal family), and the Middle East. Heck, I even think they should stop referencing South Asians and Africa.

Always a nice feeling when you find your people. Also, I really wish viewers would know the difference between ‘not for me’ and ‘this series is bad’. I’ve come across so many shows that I recognise are not for me but I don’t rate them low because of that. Just because it’s not my cup of tea doesn’t mean it’s objectively bad. I usually just move right along to the next series and leave the ones that are not for me alone.

I think it was a reference to how even royalty couldn’t get front row tickets. There’s also a reference about not including the Middle East on the tour list, although it’s stated that the tour locations were selected at random. (Perhaps there was a real controversy for a K-pop group irl but I wouldn’t know which group).

Honestly, I don’t know why k-dramas just don’t stop referencing Arabs. It doesn’t matter if they do so in a good light or bad light, it’s just not worth the hassle and the potential faux pas.

I’m only just getting to know of his existence and it seems I’ve been missing out. 😅 Moving was the very first time I came across him. I will definitely be taking a look at Extreme Jobs. Thanks.

This is so wonderfully random. Peek absurd humour. 😂