MilicaB

A story about what NOT to do if you want to be happy

This kdrama is a dive deep into egotism...

It starts fluffy, I think 5? handsome half naked princes bathing, all love each other, and then ...

it gets super nasty as they "grow up" and start killing each other.

ML Lee Gang Ji is very memorable bc he is FORCEFUL, powerful, dark, jealous, pushy, and just closed off and insecure and doesnt listen...

and yeah messes it all up.

FL is an idiot. She keeps "helping" and causing trouble without ever ever turning her brain on...

AND THEY NEVER COMMUNCATE

So, for like 20 hours you get to see egoistical immature ppl doing stupid things... and causing trouble.

Some is saved... .. so it is not a total disaster...

but basically this kdrama is a LITANY OF MISTAKES
without offering a solution

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A vision of hell - ppl who cannot communicate

This is like watching hell -
ppl who canNOT communicate, cannot talk things over, only fight, angry, frustrated.

Maybe this will get 9.3 rating from some similar ppl

but artistically and in terms of story, there is practically nothing here
there are no solutions
JUST A VISUAL OF A HELL
like Squid Games of a highschool

====Written later ====
This kdrama is like a live comic book. For example, the scene with umbrellas and mass of ppl....

I thought - well these kids are left to themselves... Adults are NOT helping them... so they are trying to solve problems in their own little world to the best of their abilities...
and yeah sometimes defending oneself is quite offensive ...

but still... I cannot but cringe to look at their world, bc it is PLANET VIOLENCE, they do not live normal lives, THEY LIVE IN A WAR ZONE
and they are not even gangsters or homeless or abused kids from bad families, they are kids with homes and families. Well.... seems like they are kids from very neglectful and emotionally distant and abusive families.

Also, this is 10000% male world. THERE ARE NO FEMALES IN THEIR WORLD. Only men, physically fighting and HURTING each other.

I was thinking it is good that ML keeps mentioning that fighting is not the solution bc someone will get hurt

BUT THEN HE GOES TO FIGHT. The scene between him and the bball dude in the little tunnel was one of the most stupid scenes I have ever seen. DO THEY KNOW HOW TO TALK????

and the fights made me remember Mr. Plankton kdrama, and Ma Ru from that soapy kdrama where he has brain damage and loses his memory.

I THOUGHT ALL THOSE BOYS DEFINITELY GOT DAMAGE TO INNER ORGANS, SKELETAL SYSTEM AND THE BRAIN AND ARE GOING TO PAY FOR IT REAAAAAL SOON... THink Mr. Plankton...

Really really really really messed up. REALLY.

So WHAT is a good solution for them?

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Over the top meaningless slapstick

Disclamer: ppl complain that they want to see the ML again in a villain role like he was in Weak Hero. PLEASE do not try to lock up actors in the same type of role!!! that is so nasty to the actor... it is like locking the actor in a creative JAIL and also limiting their income and exposure.
**** Let the actor try different roles and advance their skills and repertoire.

Also, in Weak Hero, ML looks soooo different, I did not recognize him in his drama. Yeah ML was a great villain in Weak Hero but that role is easier bc it is so one-dimensional, there is not much to act.... That dude is a villain only, he fights, that's it... And the messages are so much more black-white cut out in Weak Hero... it is just ... well... boring :) ....
ML in this kdrama has a lot more COMPLEX role with so many layers.... So many!!!! there are so many facets of his life 1.5lb baby, his coach, betrayal, winning competition, missionarry zealous work to convert people into his religion, perfectionism of a workout saint, his pent up personal life, his pent up personal emotions, his facade of PERFECTION AND SAINTHOOD that falls apart when a hot ex invites him to eel meal and hotel, etc etc etc so many contradictory roles, beliefs and feelings....

ML in this kdrama is a very COMPLEX character... So to an actor, that is a good thing to try something more difficult with more nuance...

SO PLEASE LET THE ACTORS ACT ANYTHING THEY WISH TO TRY TO ACT. It is for their creative growth, $$$ and fame.

As for the drama: apparently this drama has some nitch fans to get these great ratings here and on Viki LOL I think the drama is cheap kitsch

Perhaps the only value of this kdrama is to draw some attention to the need to keep the body healthy and in shape. But the CRUDE way it is done, it wont be interesting to anyone except those who are already in gyms

This COULD have been a great kdrama but ... the acting is so shabby and the script is so bad, it is so .... shallow and pretentious.... it is over the top screaming and exaggeration but there is no MEANING to the conversations, it is all just for the sake of screaming and flashing...... I watched 5 episodes and dropped it.

it is like a slapstick comedy of acting how they feel rather than what really happens........ meaningless chaos of screaming, too much in English, forced efforts to be "funny" but it is not funny because the conversation is meaningless,

This kdrama has some sweet moments and it is doing a job of trying to get a message about health across but IT IS NOT FUNNY AND THE MESSAGE IS TERRIBLY NAZI.
1. The bodybuilder Director is NOT someone you wish to train with, he is NOT funny with his yelling and pushing and overdoing, it is not funny to watch him chase away all clients of his gym.
2. FL character is also not funny with her meaningless screaming and actions and her overall dumbness.
3. AND IT IS A SUPER BAD IDEA TO PROMOTE UNHEALTHY DIETING AND ARTIFICIAL FOODS. That dude lives on some tiny protein bars. Where is that great Korean food that we love to watch everyone eating in kdramas???? A whole family sitting around a table and eating some good home made food. WHERE IS THAT????

SO now kdramas turned into american thing, eating fried chicken and beer and getting fat and then working out in a gym and eating tiny protein bars instead of real food???? WHERE IS SOUTH KOREA GOING???

Sorry but this kdrama needs to be redone properly. It is kinda a WRONG repeat of the earlier kdrama "Oh my Venus" where a fat lawyer gets in shape under a personal trainer.

The topic is interesting and needs to be addressed BUT WE NEED A NEW KDRAMA THAT WILL DO IT PROPERLY

I dont feel that this kdrama is about fat shaming, it is more about promoting bodybuilder culture and paying 5 million won to a personal trainer and then millions of won for protein bars, which is actually dangerous.
***** That bodybuilder dude eats some little artificial protein snacks and is constantly on a diet. THAT IS UNHEALTHY*****

And, imo, that bodybuilder body is unhealthy too. It is an unsustainable and artificial look. Until he eats normal foods and can do normal things like dancing properly and being flexible, I consider him UNHEALTHY.



I love older kdramas bc women too look like they got muscles

imo New kdramas ARE about fat shaming bc the ACTRESSES ARE TOO SKINNY and look totally unhealthy

Great female bodies with really nice legs and muscles in old kdramas like in "Heavenly love" Or "five enough" younger actresses,

compared with skeletons in modern "REal has come" FL or female lead in "My love from another star", and many others who are just SKELETONS

I RATHER WATCH OLD KDRAMAS WITH A TABLE FULL OF GREAT HOME MADE KOREAN FOOD FULL OF VEGETABLES AND KIM CHI AND EVERYONE EATING TOGETHER AND LOOKING SLIM AND MUSCULAR

I think more than anything, kim chi is the magic food :)

Also I want to see FUNCTIONAL HEALTH, not some bodybuilder permanently on a diet and eating some artificial food and protein drinks, just so he could look like that.

HONESTLY ANY SURFER LOOKS BETTER THAN THIS ARTIFICIAL LOOKING OVERLY MUSCLED UP DUDE, any basketball player looks better, has nicer body than this artificial pumped up body obtained by dieting and protein bars.

I want to see HEALTHY people who eat homemade food and are flexible and strong and can do cardio too, who are FUNCTIONAL in their daily lifes

The bodybuilder director is DISFUNCTIONAL AND TOXIC. He cannot relate to people, he doesnt understand life, he overpushes his clients and oversteps all human boundaries. He is NOT a good role model at all. He is a religious fanatic, to be blunt. And he has NO sense for business or training. He should be training people for the international David of Asia competition in Las Vegas (where he won), not ordinary people in a city gym who want to shed a few pounds or socialize.


So overall, this kdrama just looks... like some cheap Hollywood show. Sorry but that is the worst thing I could say about any entertainment, that it looks like Holywood.... I NEVER WATCH ANYTHING AMERICAN BECAUSE IT IS SO MEANINGLESS and this kdrama is like that. But right now I cannot say there is any new kdrama I wish to watch!!!!!!! Except For Eagle Brothers and Haunted Palace (minus the horror) but everything else showing, including this, is bad.

I dropped into later episodes to check what is going on, since I do not like giving bad reviews without a reason. Episode 8 was not bad... finally we saw his REAL self, he went to a hotel room "to do anything for his gym" LOL and he couldnt give people easier time for the sake of his gym... ?

But then ep 9 is a complete DISASTER the story is a mix of super soapy ad super sexist trashy, FL is a loser 100% by the script, it was incredibly boring and annoying

Surprisingly many ppl like this kdrama, it got 9.1 rating on Viki which is SHOCKING

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Fluffy college rom com that took a nose dive into meaningless disconnected MESS

The first 4 episodes was ok, nothing special, a fluffy college romance. It was not terrible but it was not total trash. The ML is peppy, and energetic and ful role, the only thing is that I am dying to CUT HIS BANGS so that I can see his eyes, I keep wondering when he is gonna get an eye infection LOL
the 2nd ML is OK and at least looks good so when his acting is too stiff, there is at least a face to look at.
FL cannot act and is super stiff and obvious in her acting, that is annoying.

The plot wasnt terrible.

AND THEN - the deep nose dive into total MESS that just cannot be watched. Ep 5 is ... well.. all over the place, makes no sense, acting is terrible bc the script is total trash, it is just one of those WHOA!!!! what is this??? reactions when you watch something totally meaningless and disconnected

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Positive role models, healthy fun boys, no alcohol and parties but clean FUN

This drama is so cute and positive, I love this HEALTHY VIBRANTLY ALIVE bunch of boys. I love that there is no alcohol and getting ditzy and drunk and vomiting like in most kdramas. These are really really really FUN boys. I loved their dancing to celebrate. I think this is a great new role model for korean society, which ranks super high in drinking and alcohol problems. No wonder their birth rate is doing down, with so many ppl drinking, it is jus tnot healthy

I think these boys are a new hope for the future

And yeah there is romance but ever so slightly. My favorite is when the boys are teasing the captain about synergy LOL Or the bluberry smoothie and having to sit down LOL

The drama focuses on their professional growth as rugby players and what kinds of personal inner demons and external corruption demons they had to conquer to keep improving and growing. But they are not trying to become better people just bc they want to be better ppl. They want to be better players and that requires teamwork and that is their motivation for self improvement. They are not .... saintly people :)

So it is really about personal growth for the purpose of accomplishing a high level in sports, for the love of the sport as well as for the winning.

FYI This drama is not about rugby, if you want to see that, just go watch some rugby matches lol THIS DRAMA IS ABOUT PEOPLE WHO PLAY RUGBY AND THE WHOLE BACKGROUND OF "PRE-PROFESSIONAL" SPORTS

I think the part that is glossed over is that this is a DANGEROUS contact sport and that many people get really messed up injured, esp since they are playing this without any helmets. Knees, elbows, etc... are going in this sport. And even worse.
American football is probably even worse - super super dangerous, everyone comes down with torn shoulders etc. I know so many older people who say they wished they never played it as it injured them for life.

So dont gloss it over, this is not really a sport, there is a lot of fight in this, esp tackling, do NOT sugarcoat the dangers of this.

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What a waste of story and actors - but the final comments are WICKEDLY FUNNY

The drama is a total disaster, even worse than WTSG and TIH.
BUT the comments after the last episode are hilarious. Read them and you will have a wonderful experience of the best comedy ever, I was laughing so hard, tears went down my face and my abdominal muscles feel really worked out LMAO

Just saw a wickedly funny, desperate, desolate plea for mercy, a comment saying:
ep 8 cliffhanger is a THREAT OF SEASON 2
LMAO LMAO LMAO this is wickedly hilarious :) :) :)

What kind of drama is this to make people fear season 2...?? LMAO

The comments here are a LOT better than any stand up comedy LOL

I keep laughing so hard reading the comments, tears are rolling down my face and my abdominals got a great workout LMAO

Ogwi got weak when he bumped into the cave and lost his hair extensions,
the cast is 7 punching bags, 4 dead zombies, and 1 hero MDS
mistake failing to put ep 8 as ep 1
I kept watching this to find out if it could get any worse - and it DID
someone asked if they should watch and the comments back and forth were so funny... advices like pretend that this drama does not exist
and so on....
The comments are AMAZING

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR A WONDERFULLY ENTERTAINING EXPERIENCE YOU ARE THE BEST

=== AND now to the review - ahem ======

This does not feel like a kdrama because there is NO CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT AND NO MEANINGFUL COMMUNICATION

It is a bunch of flashy scenes, but all jumbled up and choppy

so overall this feels like being in a video game or cartoon

The only "close up" is learning that Mirr fell for the hot bad boy Ogwi. And yeah TaeSan was friend with the old lady and has issues helping humans, and some other angels do not - but why, why yes, why not... ?.
Other than that, we know NOTHING about the characters

ZERO NILCH NARA NOTHING

this is like watching a cartoon or a video game, so simplistic and so ... boring.

As for special effects - I am totally fine, to me they are super fancy. I am not complaining about that.

I am complaining that special effects took away from the story but THERE IS NO STORY there is just a bunch of events that are completely unexplained and thus WEAK

I will watch it to the end to find out more WHY this is such a flop
It is a study in failure

and yeah TaeSan actor is quite terrible in acting

====== I WANT TO FIGURE OUT WHY THIS DRAMA IS SUCH A FLOP ====
I got some answers to my questions today. At the start of ep 6, Ogwi searches visually for Mirr. *** THAT ACTOR IS SO GOOD, JUST A FEW SECONDS OF HIS ACTING IN UNDIVIDED ATTENTION AND CERTAIN ANXIETY ABOUT MIRR MADE THE DRAMA ALIVE
**** THAT IS *** THE ONLY *** ACTING ***** I SAW IN 6 EPISODES.*****
The drama is DEAD bc nobody is acting. They are pretending something ah so pretentious but there is no acting. Everything is fake.
A FEW SECONDS OF OGWI WAS REAL. Who is that actor? He is very handsome but more importantly, he is a fabulous actor.

After I saw the next scenes with the Grumpy Fat Cat face on the screen and him wobbling as an old fat man - suddenly I realized why the drama is a flop - there is no acting in it. 50% of the scenes are to glorify Taesan character, and Taesan character is super boring, and Taesan actor is super extra incompetent as an actor.

Then there was scenes of the Fat Cat changed his mind and went hammering and the music was .. some rap or something - THAT was awesome too - it was an unexpected twist and it was FUN.
*** this drama flopped bc there is NOT ONE ELEMENT OF JOY OR FUN, EVERYONE IS SO DEAD SERIOUS LIKE THEY SWALLOWED THE FROG THE SECOND AGO... IT IS ***** BORING BORING BORING BORING ***** too theatrical uppity pretentious... like kids playing .... just ...

I have been studying this to figure out WHY it is such a flop. I am totally fine with the props and special effects and fights - I dont care about that, so what is there is all fancy enough for me..... . WHAT I WANT IS TO SEE ACTING AND STORY and of course nice camera work

First, this drama has soooo many scenes of Taesan just going places like an old fat man with that grumpy face, and the whole drama is about trying to glorify him but he is sooooo boring. THe actor is a terrible actor. He has maybe 2 facial exrpessions? and one of those facial expressions - the grumpy worried poker face - takes about 99% of his time on the screen. HE IS SUPER BORING TO WATCH

This camera is choppy, scenes are disconnected. I am not educated enough to know WHY but this ... cameraman? producer??? who is it??? NEEDS TO STUDY

The story really feels totally completely all chopped up in pieces and thrown in the air. Whoever was making the script the story and the camerwork, HAS NO CLUE and seems to lack attention span, focus, and ability to THINK CREATIVELY

and just needs to go back and take some classes ... more classes.... and watch more of masterpieces to figure it out...

To be honest, the drama looks like it was made by someone who plays video games and wanted to make a "live" video game. The lack of quality of the story, of the camera, of the acting, of character development, etc is ALL EXACTLY LIKE IN A VIDEO GAME.
Video games are ... cheap. NOthing personal but they are cheap trashy stuff :) You cannot make a drama like a video game.
So get your face out of video games and start watching some dramas and movies with amazing camerawork and story. ...

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Based on flawed script and dumb story, masterful acting, powerful commentary

Written after ep 14:
I watched to the end bc I was stuck indoors for a while and so I decided to do research, "how to kill a drama" and concluded that this drama is DULL and DEAD bc there is no communication, everyone is isolated doing their own thing, and there is no character growth. It is the same old same old stuff ... for 12 episodes. And as the commentator below so astutely noticed, NOBODY IS ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS. That is why there is no character growth and no movement forward and THE WHOLE DRAMA IS DULL AND BORING. All characters are losers. There is some streak of maturity in the Policeman friend, that's it, so he is generally fun to watch except when he is not, bc he too is rather dumb. .

The first and only spark of life is in ep 13... maybe some in ep 14.

The only truly alive scene in this entire drama was in ep 13 when Tae Hoon and Seok Cheol speak in the hospital, and TH genuinely gets interested to hear what is going on and tries to troubleshoot, and shows his caring side and also his ATTENTION and ALIVENESS.
He wasn't squinting with a poker face as usual. I am not sure if they changed the hair of that actor too, was his hair slightly shorter?
But in any case, the ATTENTION AND CARE he put in to COMMUNICATE with SK made him look very alive, a lot younger and very cute. ****That is basically the only instance of a real communication in this drama.***** Tae Hoon actor is suitable for a wide range of roles with a wide range of emotions and will do great in a family drama, rom com, thriller, in all kinds of good and bad roles, he can be a swooning charming good guy, a swindling sales person, etc.
We never got to see if he kept his promise to quit thug life. Perhaps he didnt bc we didnt see him in the epilogue.

The drama totally killed the Grim Reaper actor - he is such a great actor but they made him so subdued and dull and flat, slow motion guy...
SK is stupid, playing John Wayne macho man who leaves his true love to go bust some thungs ALL ALONE and get killed - and he almost did.. And we see him killing someone with a great gusto.... His thug life DID make him a monster. Keeping him in jail for 2.6 years was a great idea to help him detox.

They say no chemistry between FL and ML - of course not!!!! she is like a child and he is like her babysitter. There can be no romantic chemistry there. The female lead stayed a mentally off chronically anxious scared and cowardly stupid person. She goes in person to threaten the mafia boss that she will protect SK. She is a true dumb moron.

Written after ep 11 or so:
This drama is american style, we see stuck characters in toxic actions and relationships, and NO GROWTH. There is no plot, no story, just a bunch of images passing by in a video.... That is depressing and boring and that is why I and many other people do NOT watch american stuff anymore. It lacks meaning and content.

Kdramas are about CHARACTER GROWTH and this drama lacks any of that. Except the gambler finally coming home at ep 9!!!!! you had to wait NINE episodes to see that little bit!!!!

Also, this drama totally goes overboard with the kdrama trope of FL being a dumbo snowflake. THIS ENTIRE DRAMA IS BASED ON WEAKNESS, IMMATURITY AND STUPIDITY OF FL WHO DID NOT TELL ML, HER GANGSTER BOYFRIEND WHOM SHE LOVES!!!! THAT ANOTHER GANGSTER WAS COURTING HER AND BULLYING HER AND ADMITTED TO TRYING TO KILL HIM BC OF HER.

14 EPISODES MADE OUT OF THAT!!!!!

It is incredible incredible **** D U M B N E S S **** the classic kdrama plot created by dumbness of mentally unstable irrational incapable INSECURE SCARED RASH WEAK SELFISH SCARED IRRATONAL INCAPABLE ILLOGICAL IMPULSIVE UNSUCCESSFUL **** BROKEN **** looser FL
and ML tolerating and supporting her immaturity and weakness and having to bail her out and babysit her

Of course FL acting is always super boring bc she is always that weak scared character so female actors just need to act a pained / scared / worried / anxious face. THIS KILLS KDRAMAS.

MOST KDRAMAS ARE ABOUT DEPENDENT INCAPABLE WEAK WOMEN HAVING TO DEPEND ON SOME GUY TO TAKE CARE OF THEM

ALL WOMEN SHOULD MOVE TO S KOREA, THE LAND OF SUGAR DADDIES WHO BABYSIT AND TAKE CARE OF ANY STUPID WOMAN WHO CATCHES THEIR FANCY, WITHOUT ANY REGARD HOW BROKEN AND DEPENDENT SHE IS

BUT THIS DRAMA IS EVEN BEYOND THAT into some serious grave real mental illness realm where a grown up woman is keeping secrets that could KILL her lover - just because she is scared to talk about things and thinks that she can just gloss over stuff.
She is like that all the way to ep 10, when the gangster becomes serious and admits he did try to kill ML and will be killing him. THat stupid FL still does not say a word to ML.

FL is incredibly incredbly INSANE, literally INSANE. If she is sane then she is incredibly selfish.

Overall FL is incredibly immature dumb little girl in adult body.

FL IS MENTALLY OFF, PSYCHIATRIC CASE, A 3 YR OLD IN A BODY OF ADULT. This is often the premise of kdramas. I can count just a few kdramas that have a strong FL. The rest are all real losers.
But this kdrama goes even further into WOW WOW WOW INSANE FL.
To not tell him that another gangster is after her... ???? how dumb is that?
WHICH ADULT WOULD KEEP SILENT ABOUT SOMETHING LIKE THAT????
and then you make entire FOURTEEN (14) EPISODES OUT OF THAT

So that is why ppl dont feel connected with this drama. THERE IS NO COMMUNICATION AND NO CHARACTER GROWTH WHATSOEVER.

and yeah ML as a professional gangster for what - 30 years?? - lacks any skills for self care. He is so oblivious to dangers of his job.

====
It started ok. I watched the first few episodes thinking, ok this sets the tone. However, nothing changed. the characters never ever communicated or changed.
This is what I wrote after first 2 episodes:

This kdrama is not about cool hot guys car chases and fights. THis is not "One Class hero" or something like that. This drama is not pretty faces beating each other and trashy plot. This kdrama is a LOT worse than those kiddo dramas.... bc ... in all those dramas the families are rotten and sacrifice their kids.... and in the case of this kdrama, we see WHAT HAPPENED AFTER HIGHSCHOOL, how the kid was basically sold into slavery and had to slave as a thug for like 30 years and cannot even retire from that life bc his own father and family keep messing him up. We get to see the practical effects of a disfunctional family.
So this kdrama is not for just fights scenes.
THis kdrama *has* a PLOT. It has a very complex STORYLINE with many different and very ***complex characters***, spanning all walks of life, and very serious psychological, economic, and socio-political issues.

This drama is some serious acting. So yeah it has to be slow enough to ACT those very complex interactions and events. The Grim Reaper actor is excellent.

This drama addresses some serious issues, including the tradition of addiction (gambling and drinking), the tradition of gangsterhood, money issues, riots, redevelopment, rulings by gangs, etc and also we have "proper ppl" on the other side, like doctors, etc.

This drama is a masterpiece. This kdrama is a severe and serious SOCIAL COMMENTARY of all kinds of issues that all of us have to worry about. The uniqueness of this kdrama is that is includes both good and bad guys.... we get to see BOTH sides... and their OVERLAP.

THIS IS SERIOUS STUFF. Like gangs of thugs redevelping a poor hood. GENTRIFICATION. this issue should be familiar to everyone. THis issue is something that everyone everywhere has to worry about - unless you are THE rich thugs...

If you dont make your own money and pay your own rent and even own your own house or business, this drama wont be interesting to kiddos.....
This is not a cartoon nor a toy drama to excite the kiddos who love to see ppl fighting.

It is not too slow. REAL LIFE IS NOT TOO FAST. If you want to watch a drama on steroids, it will be bad for yourbrain, it will contribute to brain damage due to high level of distraction.

Also, if you want to SEE SOME ACTING then it has to be slow enough so that you can see emotions and thinking of the characters. If you think that thinking boils down to "which side shall I hit next" then rethink that and think about what your neural patterns must be like if you really believe that is "cool". What really CAN go on in your head if you have those kinds of habits? The answer: nothing. You cannot think clearly. You have to SLOW DOWN to think clearly and to FEEL.

THIS DRAMA IS ABOUT LIFE AND LIFE IS RATHER SLOW, and THIS DRAMA IS ALSO FAST bc it covers tons of issues. In the 2 episodes, we know all the history, they met again, MS healed her singing issue, sister was found and rescued, and we have laid in front of us issues of ... money, jobs, addictions, single parenting, bullying, phobias, taking care of elderly parents, and changing one's life from thug to a normal person. And his family's bertrayal and his dad selling him into slavery for 30+ years and he cannot even quit

THIS IS A LOT and I just finished watching ep 2!!!!!!!

So this kdrama is something to be watched carefully, very carefully.

It is a psychological drama

I am not giving it 10 yet bc I am leery of Disney. Disney loves to make stories about people who we should not glorify, and then glofiry them. And never shows the solutions for ordinary people. And the ending is always hopeless, or somehow magical and impossible for anyone except that ONE person in millions. Disney is sneakily evil in its brainwashing.

So I will see if this will be such. brainwashing under pretense of entertainment, or of there will be substance to it.

Kdramas are always powerful socio economic politicial commentaries and that is their value, they show proper ways of doing thing and solving and getting ahead for ORDINARY PEOPLE

American stuff is always about thugs prostitutes etc someone "out of line" someone outside of the fringes of law, it is never about John Smith.

So I will see and watch.

Ah last but not least. The FL is th typical mentally disabled loser who cannot take care of herself in real life and requires a guy to keep rescuing her. That is such a trashy sexist plot that kdramas use, most are like this, and this makes plot that is BORING.

========================

Written after ep 3 or so:
The pace of this kdrama is still too slow and the characters are isolated and do not communicate. I hope they will soon. But the feeling is still of desperation more than living


======
WRITTEN AFTER EPISODE 5:
Gees it is the same old kdrama sexist cliche - a mentally unstable damsel in distress FL who cannot even talk and a loser ML who has to keep saving her. UTTERLY BORING. The stupid woman creates the plot by failing to tell her gangster bfriend that another gangster is after her. IS HER IQ ZERO?

Also, how it is filmed - it goes for looooong scenes which are mostly meaningless. WE GET TO WATCH THEM LIVE THEIR LIFE, openng doors, and sitting in cars etc. UTTERLY BORING.

You have to pick a few moments that are meaningful, not just show them live their life moment to moment

THE MOST BORING THING - that makes it feel like an american movie - is that NOTHING HAPPENS INTERNALLY, NOBODY IS GROWING, THEY ARE ALL **** STUCK **** IN THE MUCK OF THEIR LIFE

WE DONT WAnT TO WATCH A BUNCH OF LOSERS BEING STUCK FOREVER.

WE WANT TO SEE INNER CHANGE AND CHARACTER GROWTH.

WE WANT TO SEE **** SO LUTIONS THAT WORK *****

WE DONT WANT TO SEE A BUNCH OF LOSERS STUCK IN THEIR WAY AND JUST KEEP GOING DOWNHILL

WE WANT TO SEE THEM TRYING TO CHANGE AND GET BETTER.

**** THAT **** IS THE ONLY INTERESTING THING AND THE ONLY THING WORTH SPENDING TIME TO WATCH.

ML is a great actor and 2ML is pretty good too. FL is like a scared bunny, she is clearly a psych ward patient, and so her acting is just one sided and BORING. *** FL IS A BORING CHARACTER THERE IS NOT MUCH TO HER AT ALL ****. The plot makes no sense, why he and she cannot communicate - to each other or to others. They are mental health cases.

The oldest sister, the gambler, is such a bloody narcissist - so immature - cant go home because it is more important that her father will beat her up then that her own kid needs his mother. WHAT A DUMB IDIOT. And the lack of communcation between family members is just ASTONISHING. If you are losing the house, dont you want to say something??? or just make people be startled when the collectors come in??? WHAT IDIOTS.

This whole kdrama is about 10000% **** l o s e r s **** and that is why it is so hard to connect to it - there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that we can learn from these people. Nothing to like, really. It is all suffering out of their own will and stupidity. SO WHY SHOULD BE BOTHER TO WATCH THAT??? this kind is plot is typical in american movies and thats why they are so trashy and I would never watch them. This kdrama is starting to make me think I am wasting my time. Unless these characters GROW majorly real fast, this kdrama is indeed a waste of time.

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Mastepice iconic classic kdrama

I adore this kdrama. It is so fun and the music is so great Also, the plot is real and the acting is phenomenal.

The Dad as a youngster is a riot LOL That actor is so good.
The son is so-so. But his guitar chops...
THE SCENE OF DAD AND SON FIRST TIME ON THE STAGE AND THE DAD LOOKING AT THE SON TO START - wow one of the most etched scenes ever for me, one of my favorite scenes - masterful level of detail

FL is realistic acting :) I enjoyed her.

But I primarily remember the young Dad being so flamboyant and singing so well although he had no experience . HE HAD LOVE AND PASSION AND DESIRE. His body language his dancing, his singing.... the sync between him and his son... the screaming crowd... the girl with the puckered lips... OMG so many details in one of the HOTTEST EVER SCENES

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z9avVTnZ8M

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Masterpiece. One of classic iconic kdramas

This kdrama is creepy and sad for a very long time

and then it takes a U-turn bc the ML is such a good person.

Truely you get a feeling that a major disaster is avoided bc he created majorly good karma

FL is creepy. She is greasy unshowered scared scared street rat.... and yet she reacts to the HONESTY of her target victim, the ML.
She was going to ruin him and then she stops, bc he is good to her and good in general .

THIS DRAMA IS PRAISE TO ALL "SMALL INVISIBLE PEOPLE" who are good people doing good things and whom we take for granted.

The endign is 100% appropriate and realistic .

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On its own, a masterpiece. In context of all dramas, cliche. Excellent acting, esp female

This is a true masterpiece which I found by chance in 2025. Modern kdramas are just never this good. The oldies are RICH

To be precise, this kdrama is a masterpiece ON ITS OWN, but in the context of all kdramas, this is yet another "stupid insecure FL making dumb insecure rash choices" and "male savior who acts as her brain and leader" because she is a BRAINLESS IMMATURE WEAK PERSON so she must have him to guide her so that she can function properly.
It is unfortunate that kdramas just do not know how to make the plot otherwise.

It is a little bit lucky that FL is at least competent at work and is not a terribly bad mother. But as a woman, as a person, she is ... a loser. And an alcoholic to begin with. As usual, an extremely weak immature and selfish person. The only difference that makes her the FL is that she is not trying to harm others intentionally. She just harms everyone by her DUMB rash choices. :) How is that for a disfunctional toxic plot... ? AS USUAL. Also she is super skinny. Her calves are like two sticks and there is no meat aka muscles on her body. WHY are such dangerously thin women portrayed as "cool" when in reality, they are just unhealthy.

The Mr Queen actress Sister character is basically .... a mentally emotionally socially retarded person. She is a medical case of what is called loser.
How the golfer lies and cheats and takes advantage of her is ... well.... exploitation. Because Sister is essentially a mentally retarded person, or emotionally and socially handicapped, perhaps autistic, or whatever her problem is - she is CLEARLY medically mentally OFF - because her claracter is so one sided, it became a boring character and she did not have a chance to show her comedian and acting skills. That is super highly unfortunate. YeonTae character is WEAK, selfish, childish.
Other ladies are like that too!!!!! Luckily they change some so this kdrama is not a total loss.

I like the golfer character bc he is so vivacious and dressed so well, he TRIED and I love his fashion :) But ... he .... was manipulative liar and I wonder how long could he keep it up.... ?

As for fashion, it was amazing - very often scenes had couples dressed in somehow "matching" outfits, for example golfer and YeonTae both dressed in white with black stripes or suits with thin gray stripes, or inlaw Granma Grandpa dressed in matching gray/rose outfits - but they are not really officially matching, it is just fabrics that mesh well together, maybe look similar, and look good together. THE CLOTHES ARE AWESOME I would rewatch the entire drama again just to check out the clothes they wore, esp couples.

The in-law Grandpa is an excellent actor and his character is so vivid.
TaeMin actor is also an excellent actor and handled his face on the camera so well. He is a little scary bc he is polite etc AND also quite mean and shrewd.

HoTae and his wife are terrible actors, really terrible. Cannot act.

It drove me bananas to see the manipulation of lips. JinJu and HoTae's wife just keep pouting and meowing to make it look sexy but I just have a desire to turn off the TV. YunTae Mr Queen actress also speaks with his lips shut to make it "cute" and it is majorly ANNOYING.

I find TaeMin Teacher character scary and shrewd. But ... positive

Kdramas portray women as really brainless people, and ML mother, mother in law are incredibly nasty evil bitches who run the lives of their children as if their children are toys they own. THis is SO CLICHE in kdramas, to see parents manipulating their children as chess pieces on the chessboard, moving them around like dolls. And it is typically bad mothers. Seldom do we see bad fathers. Men are shown as exemplary ppl who take care and protect everyone. Bologney.

These VICIOUS, SELFISH WOMEN makes me realie that Korean men do not satisfy their women otherwise they wouldnt be so nasty.
This explains a lot of such hysterical female characters. They havent had sex or any attention for a loooooooong time and are just bitter and nasty and over the edge.
And the rich Dad is the same thing in male version. Stuck with the pretty but nasty immature wife, he has to cheat around, which makes his wife even nastier. Those two are match made in hell...

The the Cheater Best Friend and her mother - wow that is a medically toxic relationship and characters.... and the cheater husband too.... they are ... a topic for a psychiatric study LOL extremely weak people....

So most of this drama is about characters who are medically mentally and emotionally disabled.
The only sane character if ML, as usual LOL that is the trademark of kdramas, to portray men as the only functional and positive. THat is pathetic actually.

SO THIS DRAMA IN THIS BIGGER CONTEXT IS A TOTAL CLICHE SEXIST TRASH

On its own, as if no other kdramas existed, this drama could be labeled a great story and piece of art.


SO there is TONS of disfunctional parents in this kdrama.

THE FL ACTRESS IS AMAZING ACTRESS and she is so competent in her role, she gets lots of direct face shot screen time.
Then the sister of ML is the Mr. Queen actress, she is soooo good with comedy, facial expressions, ....
Then the shopaholic daughter is The Elegant Family actress
The two grandmas and grandpa are great actors too. The two older people used in later KBS dramas are must lesser actors, esp she.

So in Five Enough, we have a star FL and several more extremely competent and strong female actresses, there is no skinny brainless loosers demanding to be coddled, etc. .
and the plot is great
and the music is fantastic. Newer dramas dont have such amazing music!!!!!

I found this 2016 kdrama by chance in 2025 when I watched For Eagle Brothers. also KBS 50-episode weekend family drama, and someone mentioned this kdrama as another example of a "second chance romance" later in life. The ML actor and his character and role are recycled from this kdrama into For Eagle Brothers 2025 drama.

Well the older dramas are better!!! I watched Young Lady and Gentleman, 3 siblings, The Real has come, It is all beautiful now, and ... it was terrible. Yeah even Beauty and Mr Romantic was pretty bad. AMNESIA, BABY... we watched amnesia plot over and over and over again until we gagged... FL actresses who could NOT act, it was icy cold, skinny ones, really boring scripts, etc etc etc.
I noticed in older dramas, women have nice bodies.
In newer dramas we get some SKELETONS and that's consider "cool" And those skeletons need to be coddled and baby sat bc they have no brains to take care of themselves.
Cool, my foot... !!!!! isnt that the reason why Korea has lack of babies these days... ????

So a lot worse food, a lot more western food, skinny women, cold women, nothing sexy, and yeah Korea is on the verge of extinction... bc SOMEONE decided to make those bad bad bad female role models as the norm. BAD MOVE. REALLY STUPID.

Then Iron Family was great, except the ending.
Then For Eagle Brothers is sooooo slow in comparison.

This older drama is much better.

I can see how actors and roles are reused.

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