KDramaFanatica

Honest opinion: it is full of old-school Kdrama tropes and is, in many moments, completely ridiculous in the best, most entertaining of ways. Junho and Im Yoon Ah’s charisma and sizzling chemistry is really carrying the show, for the most part but I’ve laughed out loud more watching this drama than I have any other. All of that to say: if you just want a simple, feel-good, entertaining Kdrama that hearkens to Kdramas of old and are willing to not take it too seriously then this drama is for you! And to answer your question: it would definitely be rated 9.4 or higher on Viki (reviewers tend to rate shows higher on Viki; 8.0-8.6 is pretty accurate, imho, for this drama).

A Dream of Splendor

A movie trailer, finally!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
https://twitter.com/kdramatreats/status/1591458627545882624?s=46&t=XwkIArNYJOUhTkx_Lf9IFQ

Ah, bias against Korean actors. Gotcha. We’re done here.

WRONG. I watched the original and loved it. I’m pretty sure u haven’t even watched any of Jeon Yeo Been’s works. 🙄 Jeon Yeo Been isn’t just a drama actress, she’s also done movies (and won awards for her acting) so to the left, love.

You’re oh so very wrong.

Yes! Someone uploaded a picture on Twitter of Jeon Yeo Been and Ahn Hyo Seop filming a scene together.

Having watched works of the FL and ML and knowing the talented director and production team at the helm of the Kdrama remake I can confidently say that they will definitely be bringing a quality remake!

YES! How could I have forgotten about the amazing friendship? People expecting a standard love triangle will be pleasantly surprised.

The love triangle is not distracting at all (mainly because the FL’s reaction is very much clear about her feelings). It’s unique and honestly, bittersweet for the SML.

I love Beenie too but you should DEF watch the original Taiwanese drama! It has great writing, acting and directing! That’s why I’m so excited about this Korean version because I know the source material is so amazing already I can only imagine what an amazing work such a talented PD, actors and production team will create!

SOOOO overjoyed that it’s finally official!! Jeon Yeo Been has the acting chops to pull off the FL, which is a complex character (and trust that AHS will make the ML character his own). I caution people to not be too concerned with comparing to the original. There are going to be cultural differences for sure but I trust they’ll be able to capture the sweet, melancholic and humorous tone set by the fantastic original. I’m even more certain the Korean version will earn its own accolades given the director’s great previous works like “The Innocent Man” and “Just Between Lovers”, not to mention the production team who worked on “The Red Sleeve.” Let’s support this great upcoming work, “hwaiting!!”

All these comments about the actors (for those doubting Jeon Yeo Been and haven’t seen not even one of her marvelous acting in previous works—you don’t know what you’ve been missing out on) and I’m over here wondering about who Director-nim and Screenwriter-nim are going to be. THAT will tell us even more about what we can expect in terms of quality and content.

Also, I hope I’m not the only one who’s not expecting this to be an exact scene by scene replica of the Taiwanese original. I expect there will be changes taking into account cultural differences and the target audience for this new version. I mean, we already have the perfection that is SOOD so let’s let the Korean remake shine its own unique excellence.

I’m SOOO very excited to see Jeon Yeo Been take on the lead role in this remake! A lot of people doubting she can do justice to what Alice Ki did in the original Taiwanese version obviously aren’t familiar with her work. Even though she started her career later than most other hallyu actresses, she came out of the gate running with her movie roles, winning various awards for her talent. Bookmark this comment: this is going to be one of those times when people complain and doubt and then come back around admitting that, if anyone was going to get the role in the Kdrama remake, then it could only be her. JYB can do both vulnerability and determined grit with the best of them! Fighting, Beenie!

Nope, no hate here. Song Hye-Kyo is beautiful and I like her acting but every time I saw pictures of her with Song Joong Ki she looked pained and like her heart wasn’t really in the relationship. Not sure if there’s anything between SJK and JYB or at least anything more than friendship but Indo agree they’d look like they’d make an awesome, down to earth couple!

As far as SY there is a difference in depending on someone but what if she chose to work on grief and missing her mother WHILE leaning on and receiving KG ‘s support (which is really all he was offering; he wasn’t offering unhealthy comfort or trying to fix her pain; it was his companionship that gave her support)? The issue in their relationship was that he was the SOLE thing she was relying on (plus alcohol) to deal with her grief and loneliness (along with a trail of failed relationships). And that’s on her. But she went the other extreme (as we tend to do) by completely disconnecting from him. That’s why KG’s last interview mentioned hope that she might come to understand things better in the future (like LEO’s realization) that it’s not all or nothing but there is a middle ground where people can come together to lean on, rely on and love each other without sacrificing other sources of support and other actions needed for growth. Again, the same can be said for RI. She used breaking up as a shield and weapon instead of leaning in to resolve the conflict (if it could be resolved). It’s about the conversations that people aren’t willing to have (an issue due to which PJW suffered great pain).

But I think that’s the point. She’s now drawing from her courage to take that risk because PJW and their relationship is worth it. In the end, isn’t that what we all risk when agreeing to enter into relationship? When she was hyping herself up outside of PJW office profit before the meeting we saw signs that LEO was starting to push against her insecurities and beginning to change her views of herself. In a hypothetical future break up it’s a sign she probably won’t have the same response again. That’s what I loved about the show and what I think the screenwriters got right. There is such complexity and nuance in love, relationships and in maturing.

There’s a new preview up that the other characters will, indeed show up as commentators with Oh Dong Sik at the center as the one who is inexperienced when it comes to love.

I have to disagree on LEO going after PJW at the end only because he wasn’t paying her attention. PJW stopped acting like a clingy crazy man and gave her space and that space gave her an opportunity to FINALLY reflect on some things. After the reflecting it seems she came to crossroad: she could either focus continue on her journey of finding herself apart from PJW or go to him and invite him along on the journey. At some point you could see the wheels turning in her head about how pointless it would be to choose to go at it alone. Which is in interesting contrast to SY who chose to say goodbye to KG while she figured out a way to not feel so lonely. Or even Rin-I who pushed KJ away instead of trying to fight through the difficult and painful conversations she needed to have with her partner of 10 years (she made a lot of assumptions about his motivations based on her mom denying her but didn’t give him a chance to sort out why he lied and I don’t think it was about being ashamed of her). Rin-I went down the path LEO had just come out of: end it so you don’t have to do any of the real, difficult often painful work in the relationship or even potentially risk having your greatest fear that you’re not worthy or loveable confirmed. In the end, LEO figured out what the others haven’t: it takes great COURAGE to push past your insecurities and fears to give love a chance without the certainty that the relationship will make it. That’s why LEO and PJW reunion did, imho, end up feeling more well earned. But we’ll see what ep 17 brings for the other couples, if anything.

Yay! I’m guessing the focus will be on police officer Oh Dong Sik with the other characters offering commentary in the interviewers about his love life (or lack therefore). I could see Oh Dong Sik also offering commentary on THEIR various escapades in his station (ex. PJW’s angry drunk demands to find camera thief and the day LEO was exposed as a liar and SY having slept off her drunkenness at the station) so it still gives him the spotlight in the ep while also giving us more of the rest of the gang! SOOOO happy!