ABETTERTOMORROW

Is it a coincidence that two people in this show almost have the same name? Gi-hyeon (기현) and Gi-hyeok (기혁)? I think the depressed officer that committed suicide (Gi-hyeon) might be related to the fake witness (Gi-hyeok). Perhaps cousins?

Glad you enjoyed reading it. There is even a hierarchy in brands in Korea. North Face is not so popular anymore. It is now more Moncler, Canada Goose, Herno, Burberry and Prada. Whilst North-Face is between 200-600 USD, Canada Goose etc. starts easily at 1,000 USD. The only people that are able to buy those jackets are the well-off, so that is why kids such as KHJ are targeted and not some ordinary geek.

This is a worrying trend. Korea is so focused on studying that they have no time to get part-time jobs to earn the money fairly. At the same time, Koreans are very collective in nature, so they NEED to belong to the bigger group and MUST have the newest Canada Goose parka. So they will bully others to get one. Quite honestly, even if KHJ asked his dad for help for these two dudes, new bullies would appear.

Having said that, I would expect him to study at an elite school in Gangnam or some Foreign Academy. So it is quite weird that two poor fellas were in his class.

There is a bullying hierarchy. The ultra-rich (chaebols) are the ones that bully the poor (also called gapjil or power-tripping). However, the poor bully the above-average rich people to steal money or even their clothes. In Korea, it is very common of bullies to steal a brand-name parka from a richer fellow student. See here: https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/01/south-korea-teenagers-north-face-fashion-fad-bullying.html

The kid falls under the above-average rich-category, not chaebol rich. He is well off, but that is only because his dad is constantly working (he is a lawyer). Thus, his dad has no time to raise him. Doctors, lawyers or bankers make the worst parents, because they are always working. This makes their children the easiest targets.

Hey CatoCat! It seems that you had a nutritious meal as well. You are much more constructive today. Keep up the good work!

You rated FOE a 9.5 yourself?

As said, I gave IONTBO a 1, because I think it is severely overrated. I am not even talking about the mother-plot or what. I have watched so many kdramas that I felt IONTBO is nothing special anymore... Almost boring. I found it also pretentious.

To be fair, the only drama that I gave a higher rating and deserves some criticism is Alice... I am thinking of changing my rating there.

I mean we are the last one to judge someone's taste? The same could be said of your rating system, right? I have never watched The Untamed, but since it is rated a 9.4 here, I guess it is also at least above 5. You gave it an 1.5.

By the way, my system also does not make sense. I give all dramas a 1 or a 10, because of your aforementioned reasons. Some dramas are overrated, so I give it a 1 and dramas that are sort of enjoyable I give it a 10. It will compensate for the extremeness of the fandoms giving either too high or too low grades.

Probably because there is some truth to it? I think the mother plot ruined it for a lot of people

Yeah, but It's Okay Not To Be Okay got the same warning from the KCSC as Backstreet Rookie, so the KCSC did not find anything "more wrong " with BR in comparison to IONTBO. I will not say that TV-channels eat these warnings for breakfast (because they subtract points when it is time for licensing renewals), but in the grand scheme of things it does not do a lot damage. After all, people massively tuned in at SBS for Alice and Do You Like Brahms, which means that people already forget this so-called faux pas of Backstreet Rookie.

Says who? SBS is the only public channel that has been able to defend themselves against TVN and JTBC.

Even their worst shows (The King, Backstreet Rookie, Alice) never dropped to dreadful territory such as KBS and MBC. In fact, The King and Alice hit double digits and Backstreet Rookie was close. Their hits such as Dr Kim 2, Stove League, Good Casting, Nobody Knows, Hyena etc. etc. makes this year one of the most successful years for SBS. The channel is predicted to have a top year-ending with two highly anticipated shows starting in October. Penthouse will certainly be a hit as it is written by one of Korea's most successful makjang writers and Fly from Rags to Riches has Kwon Sang-woo. I was also surprised when I read it, but netizens are saying that this is one of SBS' most competitive years in terms of quality and ratings. Apparently they have a very good eye what works. I kid you not.

Simple ending, but executed extremely well. Very impactful

In the field of psychology, the Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people with low ability at a task overestimate their ability. It is related to the cognitive bias of illusory superiority and comes from the inability of people to recognize their lack of ability.

"The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt." -- Bertrand Russell

SBS is just trying to outlawyer people. It is fairly obvious that she is not the same person in the literal sense of the word. The mother is dead and this one is a different version in a different timeline. So technically they are not the same person and SBS' statement is factual. However, we all know that we mean something different with "same person".

I think that Season 2's ending will be magnificent. There is a reason that this series is pre-produced. TVN trusts the writer fully.

Also, I think no one watched Season 1 live, because at that time it was not popular. I think everyone binged it, which makes the viewing experience totally different. With Season 2 there are so many moving parts that it would be easier to understand if binged.

I wanted to resort to name-calling, but I toned it down (or else it will get deleted). My intention is not to debate with him. I just want to let him know that he is a prick. Sure, it is alright that you do not like this show, but to write full essays in broken English and then call everyone dumb is pathetic. He claims that he is from Chiba in Japan, but he is damn rude - even by Western standards.

Sure, perhaps the scene was exaggerated... But try to more open and learn about how Korea works. You must not know about the famous Vita 500 bribe scandal, where a businessman named Sung Wan-jong gave 30 million won in cash to Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo in a Vita 500 box (Vita 500 are those small energy drinks that they sell in Korea). So it occurs in real-life as well: http://koreabizwire.com/kwangdongs-vita-500-enjoys-huge-popularity-thanks-to-bribe-scandal/33772

Anyways, now you have officially won... I will not respond to you anymore.

Dude and what happens when the crypto exchanges close? How am I going to do transactions? How can I exchange my cryptos for flat-money... Think ahead man.. There is simply less hassle in dealing with cash-money... Also, the lawyer is old... He might not even understand the concept of cryptocurrencies.

Have you also thought about the security? One hack and Hanjo loses all its money. At least, now it is stored more safely in a secured safe. And it is less prone to big fluctuations due to speculations. Anyways, I'm outta here... You have won the discussion... I could not care less.

Listen... What do you mean with double facepalm? A cryptocurrency is expressed in a monetary value such as Korean wons (hence an exchange rate). Thus, there are fluctuations. There are also fees to have your transactions mined (hence, you have to pay a transaction fee). For example, if I want to give you 100 won in cryptos, I need to pay more than 100 won because of the fees.

If you remember the conversation at the end of episode 6. Woo Tae-ha's wife sold all the cryptos, because she knew that there were rumors that the Ministry of Justice wanted to close the crypto exchanges... It has nothing to do with whether the wife was doing something illegal or not, but that the Ministry of Justice kept a keen eye on cryptos. If you think one step ahead (which apparently you cannot do), you will understand that stirring up shit that the Ministry of Justice is closely monitoring is not a smart move. I am not saying that criminals do not use crypto, but in Korea (due to all the regulation) it is becoming more difficult than in the rest of the world.

We are moving to a cashless system, because amongst the reasons is the money laundering with cash-based currencies...

Read this article for fuck sake: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cashless-society-dangers-racist_l_5f234e95c5b68fbfc880de22?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHKrPXa_h73WPv6uDSrBlPvqYFGnvIphQ7TqBx9edpqhs5Nq4Imnazi56vb1d-tduDehM__PWz1DSOWMSvyEyE8iwYIaJpnDuICagEON7COxQkSICL8BgZIW6o-uFJiEkch8bGcGwf6C7UqoHZUnsfPw_z6uxyfOS4c5fNyg-mhw

This fella... Talks all the time about how smart he is etc, but then starts about cryptocurrencies and how it is a better way than keeping a mountain of cash. If you watched one of the earlier episodes, you would have picked up the conversation of Woo Tae-ha about his wife's cryptocurrency-speculation when there were rumors spreading that cryptocurrency exchanges were closing. So you would already know that cryptos are under scrutiny in Korea. In March 2020, Korea actually passed a bill to regulate cryptos to prevent money-laundering... You always claim that you are so smart, but I think you even fail to pick up the simplest dialogue of this show and connect the dots yourself. Cryptos are a bad idea... Why all the hassle. Just ask for his bank account number and just wire him the money... The chances that you will get caught is equally as big, but at least you will save on the exchange rate and the transaction costs. In Korea they normally use gift cards or sometimes cash money.

There is also another reason to keep a big pile of cash. In one of the earlier episodes, Hanjo was told to pay a government fine. But they ran the narrative that they did not have the money. If you would put the money into cryptos or shares/cross-shareholdings, then it would appear on the balance sheet. Hence, it would show that you would be able to pay the fine. That is also the reason that LYJ could not acquire more shares to beat her brother... It was not because she does not have the money, it is to hide it from the government... Just like criminals always carry loads of cash in real-life.

Yeah, but then the drama would be BL...

I think it is a bit different. In hindsight, there was no progress in Season 1 at all. They kept teasing us and dropping red herrings, until they exposed the culprit in episode 12, who had a motive that was hardly thought-off. He was caught by accident due to his tattoo.

I get why you felt Season 1 to be more interesting. With Season 1, there were at least 5 suspects, but it turned out that the culprit was someone they did not expect. But you felt like you were assisting HSM in solving this "whodunit"-question. In Season 2, no one seems to be the culprit, because all confusion is solved in one single episode. In fact, there is actually TOO much progression going on. You are basically an outsider watching how HSM is solving the case for you. His mind goes too quick for us and we do not feel like his assistant anymore.