3GGG

I wasn't expecting that epilogue clip in episode 8. It opened a whole other story. I've been getting the vibes that 2ML might actually be a son of a witch:
1. We got a lot of close ups on the pic of his mom, but no story there yet.
2. He mentioned something about only women being able to be witches.
3. In episode 8, old granny pointed out that he very accurately portrayed their world in his web comic (which would make sense if he learned some things from his mom).
4. It might also explain why he got the invitation.

So now I'm wondering if by "kissing" Cho Hong, he absorbed some of her powers. After all, we were already told that when a human betrays a witch with love, they steal their powers. However, unlike regular humans, if 2ML is indeed a son of a witch, he might now be able to use those powers!

Either that or he always had powers and his way to keep him charged is through his web toon. Getting that adoration from his fans. Sort of like the grannies do with the restaurant...

Though I hope he doesn't become an antagonist, it would certainly make for an interesting storyline.

Yes, there's a love triangle. Although it's more like two characters are in love with one another and there's a third character harboring a one sided love. So at the very least she isn't flip flopping between them (yet).

I felt the same thing you did in regards to that scene with the skimpy outfits. The webtoon took its time to built up the moment until the girls got tired and spoke up, which added to the impact and threw the guys off of their high horses. It was much harder to believe that scene in the drama because the "skimpy wardrobe" doesn't look that different from what they normally wear, so it lost me a bit there. At least in the webtoon Mi Rae isn't shown wearing short shorts, so it would make sense if she was uncomfortable showing her legs.

Something I'm also missing in the drama is how heavily reliant on communication is the development of the relationship between Do Kyung Suk's and Mi Rae. In that in the webtoon, they are both constantly learning from one another but talking things out. The fact that it was Do Kyung Suk's support that made Mi Rae first speak up about finding him scary whenever he physically grabbed her and forced her to follow him was very realistic. In the Drama, however, Mi Rae spoke up and shrugged him off right away, without actually letting him know why she disliked the treatment. In so doing, the drama failed to show Mi Rae teaching Do Kyung Suk the importance of boundaries.

Though considering that the drama is constrained by a number of episodes, it's only logical that they would gloss over a lot of things. If it was me, however, I wouldn't have introduced the "dance" thing which added nothing save "visual candy" and would've emphasized the perfume thing more. I mean she fell in love with perfumes because they are a representation of "shapeless beauty"; whereas dancing is all about the visuals.

Lovely article, I am going to be using the term soulsis now, it has a better ring than sistermance (which I've been using).

Would also add the soulsis that stood out to me from the following dramas:

-Because This is my First Life.
-Strong Woman Da Bong Song | I mean FL pretty much went toe to toe with a serial killer for her soulsis!
-Fight for my Way
-Oh my Ghostess | I loved the friendship developed between the two female leads.

https://mangadex.org/manga/19258/my-id-is-gangnam-beauty

Agreed. Unlike with this drama, I didn't even get curious enough to check WWWSK's webtoon. That drama was so disappointing, I dropped out at episode 12.

In general terms, yes. However, I think the show is constructed as a critique of the often cruel role "beauty standards" play in society. This critique is more evident in the webtoon than in the show, but they do touch upon it in the drama as well. What's worth noting is that the beauty standards affect all women in different ways -- with no one (regardless of whether they are considered naturally beautiful or not) being immune to the pressure to "look" a certain way.

In that respect, Mi-Rae (FL) isn't the shallow person the summary might imply. She's a victim of society's expectations. She didn't undergo surgery to become beautiful, she just wanted people to accept her as a "person" (which is incredibly heartbreaking). The issue that arises afterwards (and one which she hadn't anticipated) was that people would still judge, reject and critique her.

Yeah, at this point I do regard this as a alternate version of the same story.

Personally I prefer moments that are built slowly and then reach a climax. In that regard Mi-Rae from the wetoon gives me more feels. Every time someome mistreated her you could see her frustration building until she would finally explode and give voice to her thoughts. Those scenes in the webtoons had more impact than the times she's voiced her opinion in the drama.

Still both versions have their good and bad things, which makes them interesting in different ways.

Exactly! In the web toon there was no second lead syndrome, whereas here I'm thinking it will be hard not to be swayed by him. More so since the ML doesn't have the innocent/childlike charm that becomes his staple in the web toon.

Agreed! I appreciate that both her mom and dad are so invested in her life here. While in the web toon they only appeared once at the beginning.

Though I like the web toon's Mirae and ML more. I prefer the second male lead of the drama, since he's had a bigger role in the story (intervening in problems within the Chem department) outside of just pinning for Mirae.

Agreed! At least this makes the drama a different version of the same story, so it's still interesting in its own way. I do like the 2ML more in the drama, i have to say.

I actually like her personality in the web toon more because it's consistent. In the web toon they build the moments where she speaks her mind, so they have more impact. In the drama I feel she fluctuates between being insecure and speaking her mind too much, so it feels inconsistent to me.

She mentions that they died when a tunnel collapsed, if i recall correctly.

I agree his acting pales in comparison to the rest of the cast so far, but the story is interesting enough to help me ignore that :). Plus the Shin Hye Sun's acting is amazing!

And i must thank you for the article, which made me pick up this wonderful series :). And I always like analysing and discussing shows, so even better!

Now that I've watched this drama till episode 32, I can safely say that it's never stated in the show that the "rules" are enforced commands. My interpretation was quite different from @KearaMH, so for me, the writers did set proper rules for Android Nam Shin III (ANM3 for short) and consistently followed them.

First, we need to establish something that's key in understanding the story. Android Nam Shin III, as his name implies, is not just a "robot", he's an Artificially Intelligent Android. So what's the difference?

While Robots are programmable and are usually autonomous or semi-autonomous. An AI Android is a robot with a human appearance controlled by a program that mimics human intelligence. In AI, an algorithm is "trained" to respond to a particular input in a certain way by using known inputs and outputs (in ANS3's case, here is where his "rules" come into play). AI algorithms can tackle learning, perception, problem-solving, language-understanding and/or logical reasoning (these are all abilities that ANS3 has and uses within the show).

So, having established that, we can now think of ANM3's rules as "moral guidelines" provided by his mom and David. Think of it like how a mom would teach a child to pick after him or herself. After repetition, it becomes a "rule of conduct". So it's still ANM3's decision whether to follow them or not, which allows him wiggle room for judgments and alterations.

Several things/scenes/clues in the show support this, such as:

1. ANM3 never says "I must hug you" or "I have to hug you" both of which imply forced compliance, instead he says "I'm supposed to hug you." This not only hints at the fact that he's making a choice but, by explaining the reasoning for his actions, he's looking for validation that his moral guideline is correct.

2. He's able to change his moral guidelines as he evolves. As an example, this allowed him to change from "hug someone when they cry" to the more sophisticated guideline of "hug someone only when they wish comfort".

3. After ANM3 determines that Kang Bo --who he regards as important to his evolution-- must be protected, his mother complains to David that "he's gone out of control". David proceeds to points out that this was precisely what they wanted. They didn't design him to be a robot devoid of free will, but they wanted to him to be capable of growth and progress. That's why he was given an AI rather than programmed as a robot.

4. When his mom considers adding the manual override, it solidifies that ANM3 rules aren't set in stone and were indeed given as a way to help him regulate his behavior. So when the manual override was used, we saw ANM3's AI (his personality) got deactivated. That's the only time ANM3 is controlled and, even then, it's his body being controlled not the AI.

So, in short, because Nam Shin 3 is an AI Android and not a robot, it makes sense that he wouldn't follow any "laws of robotics".

The webtoon is amazing! If you can, go for it! It'll also give you a lot of insight into some of the things that happened during these two episodes.

Though I have to say that the webtoon is giving me tremendous insight (I'm loving it). I think a lot of things related to the FL's feelings (like getting shut in the bathroom made more sense in the we toon) and even the ML's thoughts got lost in those first two episodes of the drama vs the feel you get when you see those events in the webtoon (different order, but basically the same). It'll be interesting to see how if the drama is going to go down a different path.

Yeah, I just started reading the webtoon today (an hour ago or so) and the characters do mention that she looks like an "adult", so getting an actress to look older fits. Though I feel that the ML also looks quite old.

I just watched the two episodes yesterday and I was getting the same vibe. Like this is happening in the same universe of Cheese in the Trap. It's setting out to be a show that's going to rely on the interactions between characters and how other characters perceive them.

Since I liked Cheese in the Trap for the psychological aspect, I'm hoping it continues down this route.