BreakAway Seoul

I made it to episode 13, then i skipped through the rest and watched enough to get a general idea of the plot. The pacing of this drama was horrible. Everything got so far dragged out it just becomes boring and utterly anti climatic. Waste of time.

So this is my last comment, because I have stuff to do and obviously I'm talking to the wind here.

Expecting media to do better about some things is not a bad thing. But we all need to manage our expectations, because in the end, it is what it is. Let's take diversity in casting as an example. How long has western media been trying to get a better representation of various communities, and how little progress have we actually made?

In the end, we'll likely get far better results if instead of always expecting media to be our individual ideal of reality, we concentrate on changing how people perceive fiction and non-fiction. That can be done on the small scale, and have large returns overall.

Your premise here is that people understand/know porn is fictional though. When far too often sex educators have been shown that people DON'T know that pornography is fiction and believe that's how sex actually works and why it has the effect it does on people.

And those effects of story telling have been going on much longer than modern visual medias. If you argue that because of this effect, media should always be (insert some unrealistic expectations regarding what you consider reality), then we might as well do away with storytelling, fiction or non-fiction, all together.

Not only that, but by your example, non-fiction would be problematic, because even portraying real life in a way that can be consumed by a general audience can't portray someone like Ted Bundy in full, grotesque, detail. And many times there are people watching who find themselves in just that situation of romanticizing serial killers and even marry them while they're in prison.

If that is your expectation of fiction, fiction simply wouldn't exist. You will never be able to portray a reality that won't trigger someone. It's simply not possible, and to think it is, is extremely naïve of the world and people. (If it helps to know where I'm coming from, I have a Bachelors in Cultural Anthropology, which is literally the study of people and culture, and I studied psychology and fiction writing).

Which is why I said we need to work on educating society. You aren't going to change media. YOU have to take responsibility for how you perceive media. People have to be educated on how to properly perceive fiction from non fiction. Media isn't going to change. Expecting it to is like Demi expecting a bakery to rebrand their sugar free and gluten free options just because she has an eating disorder. Ignoring everyone else who HAS to have these dietary options for their health.

Or to put it another way... I have suffered from suicidal ideation nearly my entire life (I'm 35). Did you watch Untamed? Leaving aside the fact that it's fantasy (because from my experience, that totally didn't matter), their depiction of suicide was cathartic for me. When it aired, I was at my lowest point I had been in a long while.. I watched it over and over again and thought about how nice that would be. To just let everything go and feel peace. How much I wanted that to be the case. BUT, I know the difference between fiction and non fiction. I know it's not an accurate depiction of reality at all. I've had the opportunity to be taught how to recognize those negative thought patterns, and how to reframe them into something realistic.

Instead of requiring media to change (which won't do shit) I think we really need to focus on educating and getting proper mental health care out there for everyone.

I think rather than always expecting fantasy to reflect reality 100%, we need to focus on teaching society how to tell the difference between fiction and non fiction. If you can't tell the difference, that's on you. Not on the writers.

The chemistry is barely even there for Yi Tian and Yi Hong. Besides the actors that returned from GGS, the only other decent chemistry is between Wang An Yu and Nina Wang! HOW?! I absolutely don't get how they managed to do so bad at this, unless they just rushed it too much because they knew there was a big enough audience that wouldn't care if they messed it up because of how popular season 1 was.

And the robot combat... I have so much I could say about that. For one, has anyone watched robot combat or looked at the teams in real life? Half of them are middle aged men or older! To me, that completely destroys the believability behind Xiao Mi's storyline. I can only suspend my disbelief so far for these things. So poorly written and directed. (not to mention poorly acted).

EDIT: AND WHY IS SOLO SUDDENLY PINING AWAY FOR AI QING?! I liked him in GGS. He's annoying AF in this one.

Even taking this drama on its own merits and not trying to link it to GGS, it's boring AF. So, so boring. I'm just barely watching it. I fast forward through a lot of the episodes because NOTHING IS HAPPENING.

Now, considering that, even as a spinoff, it's supposed to be the same general universe/timeline as GGS, I don't really care that this is supposedly closer to the book. The original show they made didn't follow the book, therefore this shouldn't either. If it's a spinoff of a previously set show, with the same characters, with a timeline that should even vaguely match up, then it should be written as such. Not just some attempt to play off a previous shows popularity.

And to top off the bad writing, none of the new cast members have ANY of the chemistry that made GGS fun to watch.

Incredibly disappointed by pretty much every aspect of this drama.

That doesn't excuse turning out junk.

You know you found a rare gem in dramaland when you're on episode 57 of 59 and still having 'holy shit' moments. Major props to the original novel and the screen writers for not giving everything away too early in the show.

Add the amazing chemistry between the actors, main and supporting, and you really have a masterpiece. This will definitely land on my rewatch list.

Honesty, if they weren't going to even try to match what they did with HYD, they should have just left it alone and not done any kind of sequel. This was so damn boring. I eventually came back to finish it after getting to ep 3 the first time; but only because I'm out of work and didn't have anything better to do, so I set myself a challenge to force myself to finish my dropped drama list.

I'm going to refine my assessment of this drama. So far it definitely should be tagged as Gothic Horror, even with its lighter moments. If you're not into western movies like Crimson Peak, or shows like "A Haunting on Hill House" you probably aren't going to like this show. It's not exciting, or fast paced, or dramatic jump out of your seat horror. It's a more thought provoking, slow burn kind of horror that I quite frankly love. And that Seo Ye Ji was apparently meant for. She's breathtakingly gorgeous in all her sociopathy. I came for Kim Soo Hyun. But she's definitely caught my attention.

If you're expecting a light romantic comedy with mental illness as a glossed over backdrop, don't watch it. If you watch it any way, don't complain, you were warned. Yes, if you don't have experience with the sometimes/often grotesque reality of severe mental illness or are looking for sunshine and roses, you'll be disgusted with this drama. The reality of dealing with narcissistic sociopaths like our lead female is that shit. gets. real.

Personally, I think the writing and acting is off the charts. It's only 3 episodes in right now, but in my opinion it's the best of the big 3 post-conscription comebacks (JCW, LMH, KSH) so far. I would describe this as a dystopian romance wrapped in a veneer of dark comedy. And it's absolutely brilliant!

This was literally the last Jdrama I ever watched when it aired. I heard Koe wo Kikasete, discovered BigBang, kpop and kdrama and never looked back...

I need the entire cast to come back for the 2nd season. But if Liu Duan Duan doesn't return as the Second Prince, I'll riot.

I left KAT-TUN when Jin left and just followed him. (I was at his first Chicago concert.) Eventually they're just gonna have to call it quits and disband.

Glad he's moving into some main roles. This kid is a fantastic actor!!