Booksandtrees

Where is the misogyny in this though? Should a spade not be called a spade? As far as I can see so far, the Writer has shown both sexes' failings as far as human behavior is concerned. My take is that the heavy criticism leveled at some of the women are justifiable due to their bad and outrageous behavior and since they themselves are such a large part of the drama based on their screen time, it is unavoidable to call them out as is (Sa Ra, Yeon Shil, Gi Ja, Dai Rae, and Dae Ran).

To your point about Se Ryeon's mom (Dae Ran), women since the beginning of time have always been drawn and allured by powerful and wealthy men whether they themselves are rich or poor. Yes, some adulterer's/men will divorce their wives and marry their mistresses which is usually the norm in Asian drama land. However, I find it curious that Young Guk's father did not marry her in the 20 years of their relationship but that could be because of her not so subtle and craven longing for his money. What is unusual to me is that she has been allowed to continue her lifestyle living with Young Guk and his children despite the not so secret knowledge to everyone in the house that she has no interest in them whatsoever, and if you are able to sympathize with her then the same should be applied to Dae Bom who was leeching off Se Ryeon's money for what over a month and would probably have continued if her mom had not accidentally caught him in her house. Fine the argument could be made that Se Ryeon kept throwing her money and expensive gifts at him, but he never said No, or let me get myself together and get a job. He was fine being a kept man.

The best part of your comment was "Most people are just not good, and they are as selfish as anyone else," but I disagree with the last part. Fair enough, there are always two sides to a story but given what we the viewers have seen so far, Yeon Shil (Dan Dan's step mother) is just an awful, awful woman. Some will probably not agree with me that she is the worst of the lot but she gets my vote. Was she redeemable?, probably but highly unlikely given Dan Dan's
father's ultra passive aggressive nature with her in as much as she is the cause of several macabre events time and time again with no about face, remorse or humility.

Anyway, thanks for your commentary, I was able to get my venting out and Yes I too am enjoying the show. (not the triangle part).

Reading your review made me laugh just from the memories of enraged I was when I watched it 3 years ago. Gosh it has been that long. Every single thing you wrote mirrored my sentiments exactly. So there was a debate going on about the lead's relationship on another site at the time it aired and I voiced my opinion which was well received then. Around 6 months ago, a new viewer replied to my post in disagreement of a particular scene (he did not wish to judge Jin Ah so harshly) since according to him she was merely behaving according to her cultural values. Whatever. I re-replied to him that there was not enough tea in China that would make me re-watch that drama to debate him.

So shamelessly, this is my 3rd or 4th go around with this drama and for the life of me I still cannot understand why Hae Won's mother did not save herself during her interrogation by saying that she accidentally stepped on the gas instead of the brakes unintentionally killing her monster of a husband. Yes her sentence was reduced because of the obvious bruises on her face and body but it could have been reduced even more. Was she that prideful and removed that it was better to be labeled a murderer than a battered woman. To be honest though, I found both sisters to be cold, hardened, emotionless and indifferent not to mention selfish to the core and by sheer definition of the word bullies. Where was that behavior learned from? For the entire duration of the drama, we saw one scene only of her laughing with her mom, sister and daughter and even then she was somewhat detached from the group. Not once did we see her show anything close to a motherly side to her daughter. Contrast that with Eun Seob's adopted mom who had no problem openly showering him with affection and fondness. Yes, domestic violence victims are not a monolithic group and their reasons for staying with their abuser runs the gamut but I was pretty astounded for her to give an explanation that she stayed because she felt pity for him and wondered if it was probably a translation error but if not then she lied again. Simply put, she loved him. Not an unheard of or unusual yet psychologically warped reason. That scene that preceded his death was not just a beating as Hae Won's aunt described it but more of a brutal and savage assault.

All in all, this was not a perfect drama but it was pretty damn close. Almost everything about it scored high marks for me. Every extended main character outside of the leads held their own and had their own relevant importance and charm, well all but one but I will get to her in a moment. Honorable mention Im Hwi (Eun Seob's sister) and his closest friend Jung Woo. Just by them gracing the screen cracked me up every time. The writing, the cinematography, the scenic locations, the OST, all were just outstanding to me. Yes could there have been a few more takes of some of Park Min-Young scenes, so that her delivery could have been more convincing? Sure but not enough for me to bemoan and dismiss her entirely and how can anyone not have felt that intense chemistry between her and Seo Kang-Joon. Lots of watershed moments but the one that really got me with the ugly cry was when Eun Seob gave his mother the hand sewn Beloved Mom scarf. Lawks! I just about died.
Where it failed for me was the handling of Hae-Won's ex-best friend in the last 2 episodes. Not sure who the writer wanted to convince that forgiveness was warranted and it belied Hae Won's character that was built up throughout the entire drama as someone who was principled and felt justified that Bo Young was no longer welcome in her life which was demonstrated several times. This incessant need in Asian dramas to whitewash a miscreant, vile and abhorrent character's behavior in the ending episodes and make them redeemable is just maddening. So what would come next, both ex-friends would meet up for coffee and talk about what? The time when you betrayed me and I tried to kill myself or when you went after my boyfriend. So silly and pointless. I could have done without the text message implying that all is now well. Thank you Vincenzo for not falling into that cliched storyline.

Yes Shi Yi's last walk while tragic was captured in a hauntingly beautiful way and you realize that there just was no other option for her besides suicide. Definitely a masterpiece.

And then I watched The Imperial Coroner and now it is a tie.

Ah...That is a lovely take "Beautiful and Shakespearean."

Me too....and I have been searching LOL

As a sequel, Forever and Ever while watchable, for me unfortunately did not capture the beauty of One and Only and I put the blame solely on the change of Directors since the Writers for both were the same. The content was there but the execution was not. There is just something about modern C dramas that tend to be more of a miss than a hit.

Let me recommend The Imperial Doctor. With a drastically low budget, they accomplished in 2021 what many other big production period/historical dramas could not. It is fantastic.

YESSSS!

Adding The Producer to my watchlist. So you love gaming and K dramas. But may I suggest Love 020? Chinese drama and while I have a perverse and complicated relationship with modern C dramas, this one is actually not that bad.

So agree with you. I just thought it was brilliant that they wrote a drama about a drama within a drama.

I really do hope you like it. That drama is a near perfect for me. Just one teensy little scene in the final moments that I wished the Writer had not bothered to include (and only because I based it off would her character really have let bygones be bygones) but still not enough for me to deduct points from it. Not to mention that her chemistry with Seo Kang Joon was just off the chain.

My very first introduction to her was from When The Weather is Fine and that will go down as one of the best dramas ever produced for me. Then I backpedaled to her previous dramas so impressed I was with her.

So a while back I went a searching for answers on the insane amount of alcohol fueled drunken scenes in K dramas and found copious articles including some of the ones you cited which helped to explain why it is so prevalent under the guise of "the culture." For me though what would upset me the most is that for the most part, the female actors were the ones enacting these scenes. Rarely would it be a man. Armed with this information, there seemed no avoiding these very uncomfortable scenes, so I opt to just FF on the remote rather than ditching the drama entirely. But I must disagree with you on the "cute drunk scene" line from your previous post since I have yet to actually witness one. Usually, they come off as more inappropriate and jarring. OK maybe Yoon Seo drunk calling Jung Rok and confessing to him (Touch your Heart). 😉.
One article that struck me was that in addition to the prevalence of alcohol as a daily acceptable habit, there is also the hangover remedy industry that follows. In 2019 they were clocking something in the range of 158 million USD yearly in the form of recovery drinks and soups. Yikes!
Which of course does nothing to abate the damage of their liver. I suppose that is the reason why Ik Jun has to perform so many transplants.
In all seriousness though, given South Korea's more recent low birth rate numbers and it's link to alcoholism, maybe this will light a fire under the Assembly to do something and then maybe a drama like Work Now, Drink Later will not be acceptable as entertainment to glorify this disturbing trend.... Oh and I guess I am a snob too.

Because of recent censoring laws, reincarnation and/or time traveling adaptations from books must be cleared with the Chinese government. Reincarnation in itself is a central tenet of Buddhism (which Shi Yi practices). Officially, China is an athiest state. So you will notice, she mentions meeting ZSC before often in FaE, and we did get some flashbacks, but as far as an all out reference to their previous lives together we probably will not see. (This was explained to me by another viewer because I was confused why I was not seeing more of ZSC and Shi Yi's previous lives integrated in this sequel since we all know they had met before in a past lifetime and were reincarnated).
I suspect the crackdown has to do with the influence of the Dalai Lama and Tibet, but since I don't know enough on the subject, maybe someone else can explain it better?

My thoughts and observations so far.....
The differences between OaO and FaE are glaringly obvious and that can only be due to the changing of the Directors.
A Director's job is to create and visualize the script using his/her initiative, control the film's dramatic and artistic aspects and set the tone of the drama whilst directing the actors interpretation of the script they are given and to assist with the casting. Pre-Production, the Director is given the leeway to make tweaks or amend the script during the developmental stages.

Some on this feed have suggested that FaE does not follow the novel closely and some have stated the opposite. Since I have not read the novel, I will just say that ZSC cannot be blamed for his characterization of his role considering he is a method actor of sorts and a good one at that. This falls entirely on the Director. In OaO, he played the part of a General as a distinguished, strong, confident, deliberate (I could go on and on) Leader to perfection, until he made that stupid and fateful decision to sacrifice himself to the detriment of his legacy, leaving it shattered.

I do not think that for those here that are questioning the lack of intimate "kiss" scenes is unreasonable or illogical. Afterall, they are married and their chemistry as a couple is completely convincing to me. I for one am completely OK with the pace of their relationship in this sequel given that pre-marriage, their courtship was quite brief. As with OaO, I am also happy that most of the drama's dialogue and scenes are focused on just the two of them alone slowly getting to know each other and that it was love at first sight then and love at first sight now for Shi Yi. However, the constant interruptions of that Lian Sui got old after the 2nd time. No one that has watched Asian dramas for a while now as I have can possible expect any R rated love scenes but the scenes have to make sense. So if in fact, Allen Ren did enter that clause in his contract pre-production to remove any kissing scenes, out of respect and deference for his wife, then I do agree that he should have been replaced. Afterall, the reincarnation elements had to be withdrawn due to censure so what difference did it make.

In OaO, ZSC was also shy, unsure, and introverted in relation to his romantic feelings for Shi Yi but in that drama it worked because that Director masterfully leaned more on us the audience to interpret ZSC's feelings seemingly by the way he looked at her and after her. Shi Yi for her part in both dramas made no bones (no pun intended) in how she felt about ZSC, so we did not need their relationship to be kicked up a notch. Therefore, if FaE was unable to the sign on the more experienced Director from OaO for FaE due to project conflicts, they should have waited for him and done this drama right. At best, this is marginally a 7 of 10 for me thus far which is a shame because it started off so well and OaO I gave it a 15 out of 10 LOL.

My final critique so far is in the casting of Shi Yi's best friend Xiao Yu. Not convincing to me at all that she has Shi Yi's best interest at heart. Her constant passive aggressive comments about ZSC bothered me to no end. What a Debbie Downer and her hair.....Why? She was annoying in The Bond and she is annoying here.

Sigh....By Episode 8, I had to concede that the thrill was gone and S2 was not going to be as perfect as I had anticipated it to be. Certainly not on the Level of S1. Once Writer Lee inserted the melodramatic elements of Jun Wan and IkSun's very messy reunion that became a turning point for me. I too am OK if a third season is shelved.

Makes me happy when someone else enjoys a drama as much as I did 🤗

Yes...found out today that I should be watching One and Only first so I quickly jumped on it and have to say I am a fan. Love that the leads are bound together by their previous happenstance and the acting is so natural, not stiff and robotic that you sometimes get with historical adaptations. Not to mention so beautifully filmed. Agree with You Are My Glory in as much as I loooved Love 020. I guess I matured a bit since.
Every recommendation that I got since The Bond has not moved me in the same way as that one did or they are not available on my streaming service...so I wait LOL.
TBH, I am wary sometimes of giving recommendations because the appeal of a good drama is such a subjective thing...taking a chance with 3 more for you to try (no pressure) 😊
When the Weather is Fine
Nothing But Thirty (for Sanli)
Because this is My First Life
.....and will keep you posted if I come across anything else relatable to the Bond.