Su_Ramen

I thought the cringy 'Japanese pirate' things were made up but they did exist in history. The problem was that they weren't really Japanese but mostly Chinese. They weren't supposed to look like samurai either....

https://invisibleasia.com/2020/10/18/under-the-power-did-japanese-pirates-exist/

I feel you. The English subtitles on Youtube are hard to understand. So sad because the drama is in such high definition.... I had to watch pirated sources in Vietnamese because the sub is better. I may need to do the same for these new eps.

We really need the 12 eps released on Youku recently engsubbed. Please kindly share if you found them engsubbed somewhere. I made a lot of wild guesses about the ending when I first finished the drama months ago and really wanna know if my guesses were correct.

I wrote a comparison review between Royal Nirvana and The Rise of Phoenixes as well as wild guesses about the censored out ending of RN here:
https://invisibleasia.com/2020/06/22/comparison-review-royal-nirvana-vs-the-rise-of-phoenixes/

I'm so sad that the comment below me doesn't like this drama. What kind of high school production has fights like this? They gotta be f*cking geniuses. But people are entitled to their opinions. I can't quite find dramas like this that has a nice mixture of mystery, wuxia and romance. Tried Under the Power but still prefer this more. You can check out my comparison review Ancient Detective vs Under the Power here:
https://invisibleasia.com/2020/10/10/comparison-review-under-the-power-vs-ancient-detective/

I think people who are disappointed by this drama just had a wrong expectation. Come on, it's just a chick flick, good-looking guy and nice romance. At least the female lead is smart which is nice. If you found yourself disappointed by the mediocre storyline, try Ancient Detective.
I wrote a comparison review on both dramas:
https://invisibleasia.com/2020/10/10/comparison-review-under-the-power-vs-ancient-detective/

I started watching with pretty low expectation but it turns out to be really good! Rare to see a good historical romcom! I wrote a review here, comparing with the Legend of Yunxi, another light-hearted historical drama:
https://invisibleasia.com/2020/06/29/comparison-review-the-romance-of-tiger-and-rose-vs-the-legend-of-yunxi/

Yup!

it's fictional because the female costumes are from the Tang Dynasty whereas the male costumes are from the Song Dynasty... The writer may have researched history to formulate the plot. I think there's too little interaction with other states to tell which dynasty it was based on. Mostly, the story focuses on the internal politics.

I wrote a comparison review between Royal Nirvana and The Rise of Phoenixes, as well as some wild guesses about the ending here. So sad to see only 350 something reviews on MDL!
https://invisibleasia.com/2020/06/22/comparison-review-royal-nirvana-vs-the-rise-of-phoenixes/

I admit that I was wrong about her promotion and stuff because it wasn't apparent in the first few eps (when I wrote the comment) that she was only a high school graduate. So the job is definitely great for someone with that background. The drama did get a little better later on, trying to add elements to convince us that their relationship is genuine. But the way he treats her is inconsistent and those elements seem forceful to me. It would be more convincing if the drama shows the 9 years they're together, and how she's been there for him during tough times at work. They talked about it but it's not enough for me to be convinced.

I stand by my opinion that there are misogyny and sexism in this drama, like in lots of K-dramas with rich guy-poor girl relationship. This drama is even worse because she's absolutely at the mercy of his. It's not the men vs women but the power imbalance. If the relationship goes well, great! If they ever break up, she'd have absolutely nowhere to go, like Monica Lewinsky. There's a reason why lots of porn are about CEO and female secretary. I feel so uncomfortable when she oversteps her responsibility like fixing his tie (for me it's the equivalent of female employees making tea for male employees). You also mentioned the tie because I'm sure you felt that gesture was kinda weird but convince yourself that it was just for humour. We ignore misogyny and sexism because we think 'oh it's just a drama, it's a fantasy' but it's a dangerous fantasy. I'm sure there are genuine romantic relationships between CEO and female secretary (my previous company's CEO married his secretary and they look happy together) but it's a tricky theme for a drama esp a romcom that covers only one month with flashbacks. You probably won't agree but I respect your opinions and won't comment further on this.

Btw, I'm entitled to bringing my world view, twisted or not, to anywhere on the Internet. I'm not even trolling and just state my genuine opinion on the drama. I look forward to reading yours, though like I say I won't reply further.

I just read Kim Ji Yong, Born in 1982 then started watching this drama. Bad choice. Now all I can see is just how misogynist it is. If she's so good, capable, and devoted to her job, how can she be still stuck at the secretary position after 9 years... And we, viewers, are okay with how women are treated in this drama? And the guy, he falls in love with her just because she caters to all his need, just like he said, 'tailor-made clothes'? I know, I'm only at ep 4, maybe he will change later on, but for now, he's not only narcissistic but also sexist. All the cliche soup just made it worse for me that not even the humour can brush it off, as if women can be easily bought with these cheap tricks. How dare she falls for that so quickly...Part of me feels angry that this drama is a hit...

I totally understand you. I got so frustrated so I came to MDL to look for like-minded people. How could she said to break up in front of everyone so easily like that? It’s also totally insensitive to meddle in his family problem when she can’t even solve her own family issues. Like this woman makes stupid mistakes all the time but still takes on more than she can handle. if she were my friend I would be speechless too. I love the first 5 eps and literally watch the rest in 3 hours because I kept fast forwarding out of annoyance.

This drama drives me crazy. I knew there would be social problems since the main couple started going out in like ep 2-4 but I wanted the series to be how they cope and solve these issues together but it’s a drama about how 2 people’s lives got ruined because of social pressure. Seriously they should have made a drama started from when this drama ends instead of the way it currently is, the series goes nowhere. I understand the female lead behavior but it doesn’t mean that I’m not annoyed by her. Jung Hae In’s cuteness and their great chemistry just made me even madder.

Yeah she’s good. Despicable then became quite cool and charismatic at the end. For once, they made a good and smart evil female character, not the typical jealous woman fighting over a man.

i think He’s the cause of this mess too. If he copes better, everyone would have been so much happier. Min Jung wouldn’t have to endure so much, she could have been good friend Hyeon Jung. Yuri’s family could see Seo Woo more if he coordinates things a little. Even in the end, he loves Min Jung and only feels guilty towards Yuri but still couldn’t move on and made everyone miserable. Man, it annoys me so much I just fast forwarded his scenes.

Awww I love Min Jung. Was sick of evil stepmoms. When she said everyone was building their home bricks by bricks but she had to repair a home that was bombed hit me hard. Gangwa annoyed the hell out of me though, I think I just can’t stand indecisive men in general.

This drama has wonderful female characters! I was shipping Yuri, Mi Jeong, and Hyeon Jung, while fast forwarding parts with Gangwa, The filming of this drama was probably cry, cry, cut, cry, cry, cry. Everyone cries every 5 mins. I was crying but then got too tired to cry after ep 10, then cried river of tears in the last few eps, esp parts about Yuri’s mum.

I'm halfway through the drama and man, I want MSC to go bankrupt so badly... I've never hated a character as much as In ha's mom. The drama did a good job portraying the sibling's loss and pain.

Which scenes? I watched BTS and most (if not all) are done in water, even the kiss scenes. There’re actually lots of underwater scenes more than lots of mermaid movies. Have you ever done scuba diving? It’s tiring to be underwater for 20 mins. Not to mention the uncomfortable tail, holding breath, making facial expressions etc. She probably has to retake many times too.

Nothing was going on in ep 4 until like the last 10 minutes. I wish they would stop making cliffhangers like this. This is why I keep binge watching dramas!