Silfie Korea

For future viewers:
As someone who has read the novels (Oxygen & Nitrogen) before the series, I must say that the leads are a copy-paste so far. I've seen a lot of comments and reviews talking about them being dull, inexpressive, and so on (and I was honestly afraid about watching it in case it will destroy my idea of the story). Well, if you read the novel you will see that it's exactly the same in there. I've watched only the first 5 episodes but so far it's pretty similar to the novel (the main couple = Solo & Gui).

From the novel's point of view:
You have to keep in mind that Solo is portrayed as a little kid. He is someone who needs attention and help for everything. He has been spoiled and it shows.
On the other hand Gui is someone who has been taking care of others all his life. He had to do everything by himself, maturing faster than the rest of the kids of his age.
So together they fit like puzzle pieces. Solo is like a kid and Gui is like a mom (in more than one way, but for some people saying more can be considered as a spoiler).
There is no major event in the novel besides a time that they need to be separated due to work, showing how toxic is Solo's possessiveness but also being the clue for both leads to develop and change. So the whole story is quite "boring" in the sense that you don't have the typical break ups, ex-girlfriends, and blah, blah, blah. I don't know yet if it's the same in the series, but I could see why some people consider the leads as a boring couple.
And yes, as I've mentioned I always thought that their relationship is quite toxic. Solo is super possessive and Gui can't say no to whatever Solo asks (this is also shown in the drama). Towards the end both characters finally show development, but unfortunately during almost the whole novel they stay the same. And reading the reviews it seems that the drama is loyal to that final development.

So yeah, I can agree with the opinions of people who have watched the drama. But in the actors and drama's defense I must say that the characters are written like that, so they did a decent job portraying them. As an actress, sometimes is harder to show no emotion since we tend to do the opposite and both actors are rookies. Oxygen is their first project so I think it's fair to give them a pass. They did good for being their first official work.

PS1: the doctors & Khim's story is NOT in the novel, that's completely new (and I think there is a fiancee in the drama, when that doesn't exist in the novel).
PS2: the novel is sweet and innocent, so don't expect to see some skinship (I only watched 5 episodes so far, but I doubt that they will change it).
PS3: Solo's father is supposed to be young. Solo was born when his father was 16/18, so the father isn't even 40 yet (following some comments that I've read complaining about the actor's age).

I haven't watched the drama yet, but stuff like that does happen in real life. I also don't really understand how it's possible.
One example is Woody Allen. His ex-wife adopted a girl during her previous marriage and, after Woody divorced her, he ended up marrying that girl and they are still together (it's been over 20 years). He was never her father legally, since she was an adopted child from Woody's ex-wife and the previous husband, but it's still weird and that's why people call him out as a child predator and such. No blood relation, no father on the papers, but still weird because he met the girl as his wife's adopted daughter.
I'm sometimes curious to know what goes in those people's minds... It has to be because they have never considered the other person as part of the family (like if that person was blood related to them although they are not), there is no other explanation to me.

I guess this tells me that I've watched too many asian dramas... lol
I wrote the comment after watching the first episode, and now that I've finished I had to mark it as a spoiler.
Not gonna tell what exactly is the spoiler, if you wanna know then you should watch the drama. It's not a bad one. A couple plot-holes but in general everything was well explained and detailed. Except for one plot twist, the rest were kinda obvious.
The romance is very light, so if you are a hardcore fan of romance in dramas maybe you won't like it. This is mainly mystery and thriller, and what keeps you watching the next episode is the need to find out what's true and what's not.

IGNORE THIS COMMENT.

Okay, so I've just watched the first episode and I wanted to write what I think will happen in the story and later come back to see how wrong (or right) I was.

A group of college friends witness/cause a murder/somone losing his life, and they decide to blame one of them. It goes to the point that the one being blamed ends up committing suicide after trying to prove his innocence. Yet none of his friends wanted to clear out his name (maybe because they are the ones who caused the death? no idea).

Years later the sister of the guy who was wrongly accused and committed suicide wants revenge and starts to meddle in the business of his brother's classmates. However I think that the girl doesn't really want to kill them, but maybe somone is using her to end with those lives. And here comes my suspicion that if that's true, then maybe it's the brother. Maybe he didn't die at all and he planned his own revenge while using his siter.

Another possible story is that everything is made up. A dream. Since the very beginning we see a girl who has PTSD, anxiety, tried to commit suicide twice, etc. We soon find out that she is involved in this murder and frame case, and the FL says that she is the worst. But maybe she is traumatized for whatever happened with that murder. She has PTSD due to that incident and everything we are seeing with the FL trying to get revenge is all in her mind. Like if her guilty conscience was creating all this revenge story to atone for her sin.


I plan to come back after finishing the drama to see if I was right or not. It's just one episode but it's interesting already, so whoever is thinking about watching this one just give it a try :)

Leaving this comment for future viewers:

This is definitely an iconic kdrama that everyone must watch at least once. When it was released, BOF was a hit in SK and a lot of people started their journey in kdramaland after watching it. HOWEVER, this is a 2009 kdrama. It was really good in 2009, now it's horrible. So if you want to watch it, keep that in mind.
Bad plot, bad acting, horrendous stories, trigger warnings without warnings, and a long list of bad qualities. But hey, as I've said they are bad now but back in the day they were superb.
Unfortuntely BOF is a drama that aged poorly compared to other iconic dramas like Goblin.

Give it a try? Yes.
Why? Because there is no one in kdramaland that doesn't know about BOF (korean version or some of the other versions that exist).
Would you like it? Probably no.
Why? It's an old drama that was targeted to the interest from 2009 viewers only, without thinking about the target of the future years.

Uhm... I can talk from my own experience in a casting process, but it's the western market so there will probably be differences.

The name is important. Popular actors with experience are obviously preferred for those both reasons: fame and ability. However sometimes the budget isn't enough, they are already working on another project, or the actor/actress declines the role. I personally dislike when the casting directors go and ask to a certain actor instead of holding a proper casting process. A lot of hidden gems haven't been found yet for this reason, and I notice that asian dramas tend to do that a lot. Instead of holding a casting, they send the offer to an actor/actress and this one decides to take it or decline.

When holding a proper casting process, the casting director sends the 3, 4, or 5 qualities that he/she is looking for (age, appearance, height, physical abilities, etc.).

For example:
A casting director is looking for a man between 18-23 years old, +175cm, brunette, who knows how to play the guitar. If the person doesn't match the listed qualities, then he can't apply for the casting. And a 30-year-old man (who looks 20), who is 180cm, brunette, and has played the guitar since he was 5 goes to the casting. He isn't matching the first request which was his age, but he is not going to be rejected. Although he is 30 years old, he could pass by a man in his early 20s so he is allowed to do the casting.

At the end when it comes to the age, the appearance is the key. An example from the western industry is Jason Earles. In Hannah Montana he is playing as someone born in 1990, when the actor was actually born in 1977. He played a character who is 13 years younger because despite of his real age, he looks super young. I was shocked when I found out that he played a 16-year-old guy while being 28 years old.
One good thing from asian genes is that they seem to age way slower, so they look young despite not being that young. If they are even experienced actors that's a plus for casting directors, so they will obviously prefer to cast someone older for a young character.

I think the audio issue is due to copyright (which I don't understand since both Amazon and YT have the rights to show the content), so I'm not sure if you will find a site without this audio problem tbh.

For me it's a mix of "What's Wrong With Secretary Kim" and "Devilish Joy", being DJ way more similar than WWWSK (obviously the story of "Well Dominated Love" has nothing to do with these two, it's just the general feel that it's similar). If you hate the amnesia cliche, then you should skip this one.

It's been a while since I've watched it so I don't remember the exact details of the characters, but I remember that none of them was annoying. There is a SFL and a SML that have feelings for the leads, but they are respectful once they realize that the feelings aren't mutual. They don't really push their intentions to the point of disliking them. So there is no love triangle nor obsessed second lead.

The leads are head over heels for each other and the actors have a good chemistry. The PDA level is good, showing how an adult relationship really is instead of showing those "fish kisses" and awkward moments. The female lead is strong and knows what she wants in life, not a pushover nor weak. Even when she is being wronged she doesn't wait for the ML to help her, she looks for the solution herself.

I enjoyed the drama despite of not being a fan of the amnesia plots, so I would recommend giving it a try :)

He reminds me to Jerry Yan (Yan Yu Hao). He appears in "Mr. Swimmer", "Gank Your Heart", "Time Teaches Me To Love" and a few other dramas, but idk if he is the one you were looking for.