6 episodes in and I must say, I'm pretty bored. The previous eps have been mostly wasted on non essential stuff. This wouldn't be such a bad thing, if the drama wasn't only half the length of your average K-Drama. Did this drama happen to be originally planned for like 40eps and was then axed? So far I don't feel any kind of suspense and I'm not particularly optimistic about the story getting wrapped up within the remaining eps without it being rushed.
Dylan Wang, the main actor, said many times that this character was out of his comfort zone, as their individual…
I haven't watched any of his other works so I can't really compare. I also didn't mean that he did a bad job. If he was paired with someone of similar experience I probably wouldn't have been as conscious of his acting.
I 100% agree with you with regards to a lot of dubbing being poor quality. I personally don't enjoy a lot of dubbing…
I'm not denying the complexity of the Chinese language, in fact my native language is spoken in different countries and some dialects sound like a completely different language. Even as a native speaker I can't understand them.
However, at the end of the day, if you want to be an actor, shouldn't there be certain requirements to your skill set? Since they can understand the standard dialect, they should also be able to speak it with a little training. They don't even have to be fluent since the conversations are scripted anyways. Being able to speak in a dialect the audience can actually understand should be a no-brainer in my opinion. It's not like it needs to be perfect without any accent, in fact the accent would actually make it more authentic.
Overall it was pretty good, I loved the soundtrack! Story wise it took a bit of a hit towards the end, 30eps would have sufficed imo. The overall production was well done. The storytelling, was slow paced, but it matched the drama's overall feel, it didn't feel draggy. The FL actress did a stunning job, the ML actor unfortunately fell a bit short in comparison. I notice this quite often when they match older more experienced lead actors with very young ones. The difference in experience becomes apparent where normally you wouldn't even necessarily notice it. Anyway, it wasn't too bad, just something I took note of.
I'm certainly not a big fan of dubbing, but I could tolerate it if it wasn't so awfully bad in so many C-Dramas. The volume changes suddenly, weird background noises, not in sync with the lip movements etc. One would think for a country that dubs a good share of its television to have a developed voice acting industry. However, the sad truth is that most Chinese dubs are of poor quality which kills the immersion.
As for the explanation that it's because of the many different dialects, I find that a poor excuse. For example, there are many different English dialects and accents, spoken by people from different countries with different slang terms, but nobody dubs their voices. It actually kills the actors individuality if you just copy a standard voice over their lip movements. It also takes away from the production's diversity if everybody only speaks in a standardized dialect. How weird and boring would it be if you have a movie about people from the Scottish countryside and they speak with an American accent?
For me this was an uphill battle. I enjoyed the first few episodes, however as with so many c-dramas I couldn't bring myself to like the all too perfect male lead character (academic genius, violin prodigy and good at e/sports.. smh). It was still alright in the beginning, but at some point he also turns from a charming, and a bit nerdy young man into a cocky brat. In contrast the female lead is a total airhead, which I actually didn't mind too much and at times even found rather cute, but let's just say her character's design isn't particularly creative or innovative.
The 2nd ML on the other hand is a super awkward cast, like he's almost twice as old as the FL which felt rather off. He appears more like a concerned uncle than a love interest. The second couple is stupidly annoying. Also, they didn't bring anything to the table, apart from some cheap drama and some not so funny comedy.
The painfully cringey gaming scenes also didn't make me like the drama any better. The OST is alright, however for my preference a few more songs would have been nice. Most of the background music is some variation of the same song.
Overall I give it a 7/10 because I liked the concept (fan + idol) and the decent first few episodes.
Storywise it’s pretty weak, but I liked most of the characters, especially the FL. The main couple are cute together and there are quite a few kiss scenes which is a plus in my book. Unfortunately, the ending was somewhat rushed. The ost was alright, nothing amazing but decent enough. Overall above average I'd say. 7.5/10.
Do people really not understand why KHN is boring and why people are siding with KDG?I don't understand the hate…
In my opinion the problem with Kang Ha Na is neither that she's against Kim Do Gi and the crew nor that she tries to stop them. I have no problem with her being against vigilantism, after all there are good reasons why the law is enforced by the state only (and as a prosecutor she is part of this very system and represents it).
The drama only shows the upsides of vigilantism but none of its downsides (at least so far). There are many hurdles in the justice system, however they are there for a reason. They protect the people from arbitrary and wrongful punishment. A vigilante doesn't have to abide any rules, making them appear more efficient when dealing out punishment, however there are no safe guards to protect a potential accused who might actually be innocent.
Anyway, what bothers me about Kang Ha Na is her self-righteous attitude. As someone who has experienced the helplessness of being stuck in the system, knowing someone is guilty while being unable to punish them she should be a lot more understanding of Kim Do Gi. I don't say that she should support his cause or let him off the hook, but she isn't in any position to look down on his desire to help people. She herself constantly failed to help those very people after all. Her behavior is also in contrast to what she says in the flashback of her assessment interview to become a prosecutor (something along the lines: The law is far away while the fist is near). She acknowledged that the law has its limitations, but with regards to KDG she refuses to even try understanding his point of view.
She knows the justice system has its flaws and some injustices slip through, but instead of acknowledging the problem and trying to solve it she takes the easy way by despising KDG as a common criminal. She ignores the cause and only sees the symptom. To me it feels like she despises KDG because he succeeds where she fails. Her desire to stop him is because her ego is hurt (she is showing way too much satisfaction hunting him down). Simply put, while it should be about the victims she is making this about herself, trying to proof her own superiority and that annoys me.
I wish they had toned down the comedy. If done right a bit of comedy can help to relieve tension and support a serious plot by showing contrast, so it's not bad in general. However, for my preference it was just too much and too cringey which completely killed off the vibe of the drama for me. All the tenants only served as comedic relief and apart from that were pretty pointless to the plot. And the role of the NIS was completely nonsensical. It's still a decent and entertaining drama, but I had hoped for something darker and more serious.
WAIT Really??? I'm on ep 5 and she's fine right now and I hate the 2 other moms there horrible, why does his mom…
Hehe, I was momentarily confused lol Notwithstanding, I agree with you. The FL is an absolute saint. Despite getting pushed around her whole life and not getting the chance to live for herself even once, she is still such a sweet person and tries her best to do everyone justice. And the ML matches up to her in sweetness, I really like that he's neither cocky nor arrogant like so many MLs in asian dramas. He's just a really nice and honest person, a bit immature at times but over all there's nothing to dislike about him imo.
WAIT Really??? I'm on ep 5 and she's fine right now and I hate the 2 other moms there horrible, why does his mom…
It's not like she's a horrible person. It' just that I don't like her weak personality/character which leads her to make certain decisions, due to her own insecurities.
However, at the end of the day, if you want to be an actor, shouldn't there be certain requirements to your skill set? Since they can understand the standard dialect, they should also be able to speak it with a little training. They don't even have to be fluent since the conversations are scripted anyways. Being able to speak in a dialect the audience can actually understand should be a no-brainer in my opinion. It's not like it needs to be perfect without any accent, in fact the accent would actually make it more authentic.
As for the explanation that it's because of the many different dialects, I find that a poor excuse. For example, there are many different English dialects and accents, spoken by people from different countries with different slang terms, but nobody dubs their voices. It actually kills the actors individuality if you just copy a standard voice over their lip movements. It also takes away from the production's diversity if everybody only speaks in a standardized dialect. How weird and boring would it be if you have a movie about people from the Scottish countryside and they speak with an American accent?
The 2nd ML on the other hand is a super awkward cast, like he's almost twice as old as the FL which felt rather off. He appears more like a concerned uncle than a love interest.
The second couple is stupidly annoying. Also, they didn't bring anything to the table, apart from some cheap drama and some not so funny comedy.
The painfully cringey gaming scenes also didn't make me like the drama any better. The OST is alright, however for my preference a few more songs would have been nice. Most of the background music is some variation of the same song.
Overall I give it a 7/10 because I liked the concept (fan + idol) and the decent first few episodes.
The drama only shows the upsides of vigilantism but none of its downsides (at least so far). There are many hurdles in the justice system, however they are there for a reason. They protect the people from arbitrary and wrongful punishment. A vigilante doesn't have to abide any rules, making them appear more efficient when dealing out punishment, however there are no safe guards to protect a potential accused who might actually be innocent.
Anyway, what bothers me about Kang Ha Na is her self-righteous attitude. As someone who has experienced the helplessness of being stuck in the system, knowing someone is guilty while being unable to punish them she should be a lot more understanding of Kim Do Gi. I don't say that she should support his cause or let him off the hook, but she isn't in any position to look down on his desire to help people. She herself constantly failed to help those very people after all. Her behavior is also in contrast to what she says in the flashback of her assessment interview to become a prosecutor (something along the lines: The law is far away while the fist is near). She acknowledged that the law has its limitations, but with regards to KDG she refuses to even try understanding his point of view.
She knows the justice system has its flaws and some injustices slip through, but instead of acknowledging the problem and trying to solve it she takes the easy way by despising KDG as a common criminal. She ignores the cause and only sees the symptom. To me it feels like she despises KDG because he succeeds where she fails. Her desire to stop him is because her ego is hurt (she is showing way too much satisfaction hunting him down). Simply put, while it should be about the victims she is making this about herself, trying to proof her own superiority and that annoys me.