Really liked this drama, I ended up binge watching it over 2 days... Also, I fell for Lee Jae Wook’s character, and want to see him in even more things (I‘d already seen Search : WWW before this). Main cast nailed the acting for me.
Honestly I do strongly agree that the level of objectification is wrong, as it should not be an expectation of leading actors to just throw in a shirtless scene with no purpose, and that really unless there’s something purposeful about it than it isn’t needed.
Alternatively, if you’ve seen the shower scenes in Strangers from Hell, they are actually plot relevant. They do not feel like fan service, as it’s not just one guy in a shower, there’s usually someone else as it’s more like a wet room, and focuses rather on the (bizarre) interactions. The angles used are also not to objectify or show off physique, but more to illustrate the discomfort and exposure of the situation, which I’d say on the counter is a good example of how to do a shirtless scene without objectification. Then again, this show is definitely an exception overall, as it’s very rare for relevant plot to come out of this kind of scene, this is the only one that popped straight in to my mind on the topic.
Does anyone know if the ML is actually a psychopath? I’m not completely convinced, I sort of suspect he isn’t because of some small things that are very much NOT psychopathic tendencies. I’m also thrown by his clear desire just to live as a ‘normal person’ because this implies he believes himself to be a psychopath, but at the end of episode 5, he also said about feeling pity towards his wife, and pity is a demonstration of empathy, and as far as I know psychopaths are not capable of it. Does this mean it’s more sociopathic then?
Also, I’ve just finished ep6 as far as where I am in the story goes.
I don’t mind spoilers in this regard, as long as no major plot spoilers please.
Honestly, not that good, I think most people didn’t like it, but keep going because the writing gets significantly better sometime during episode 2-3, I almost dropped after episode 1 but wanted to see when she went to the book world, and it’s worth it.
Thanks for the article, I loved it! The only place I’m unfamiliar with is the Philippines, I especially liked the metaphor for Taiwan, though they were all pretty accurate for me. Japanese dramas are a wild ride, never quite know what you’ll get but good fun once you’re on board!
Also, the South Korean metaphor hit the nail on the head for me, as I’ve been in a Korean drama slump recently, as I’m fed up with the restaurant always being the same, and having similar tasting food, but thankfully I’ve found a spicier romance kdrama that’s also a psychological thriller, it’s like the neighbourhood restaurant decided to get a new menu and redecorate, but it’s still run by the same people, a refreshing change from the usual romance formula.
I haven’t watched any zombie dramas/films before this, but gave this a go, and it was good. I wouldn’t call it a masterpiece or anything, but it was enjoyable, and pretty realistic - for example the mentality of the male lead for the first third of the film, speaking of, his acting was great, I hadn’t seen him before this.
Don’t know how to feel, don’t know if it’ll happen, if it does happen it’s only a maybe at this point if I’ll watch it... and I thought it was announced that HIStory was over because of writers/directors leaving the network..?
If HIStory is making a comeback, why not wipe the slate clean with a new couple/series? Being that this is a sequel, it’s less likely to gain attention that the creators want, and while this series had the most views, it also had the most anger and upset attached, so is more likely to get less views and more criticism than any other option, new couple/series would have everyone on board, it would also be a chance for the series to restore its reputation for good writing, as the writing had been on an uphill until the end to MODC was written.
From what I’ve seen of Unexpected, this has a different tone (I prefer the tone of Lost Romance over Unexpected personally), but same premise, but I haven’t seen much of Unexpected yet. Also similar to The Romance of Tiger and Rose.
My poor heart barely survived ep 15, it was crazy! Still loving this show, and ep 16 teaser was so painful because it was so short and now I have to wait..!
Also, about Marcus Chang’s character(s?), although they in themselves aren’t particularly appealing, he’s still doing a good job, and the writing for several other characters is more than good enough to make up for it (at least for me), especially ChunTian, and in some ways, XiaoEn, as both of these are consistent and ChunTian in particular feels human to me (whenever she’s onscreen, her actor has done an amazing job with making her feel real). I can’t speak much for the evil family members because I’m mostly speeding through their scenes, not because of disinterest, but because of wanting to see what is happening elsewhere; that being said I do intent to do a full rewatch the week after this finishes, seeing all of the evil family member scenes in their full glory(?).
I agree, and that's why unfortunately I haven't given any Taiwanese dramas a second chance due to this. Strangers…
Strangers from Hell was a crazy ride, but I loved every second of it, it’s definitely the best psychological horror I’ve found, and because of that is one of my all time favourites, the use of perspective (and manipulation of it - particularly later on in the show) is different to anything I’d encountered before, especially when much of the story is told from Jong Woo’s perspective. What did you think of Strangers from Hell?
Soundtracks are definitely integral to the drama experience for me, and it can be a struggle; as it’s hard to enjoy moments of the drama when music not fitting to the mood being created, for this I’d say mostly Thai BL comes to mind (not attacking them, just that usually their soundtracks ruin the dramas for me). Whereas dramas such as Strangers from Hell and Search : WWW have great instrumental soundtracks - especially “Millenial Love” from Search : WWW, which almost takes the place where a song usually would, in being the most key part of the soundtrack to me.
On another note, I heard the songs from Strangers from Hell before watching the drama, and the reason I wanted to watch it, and the instrumentals fit perfectly, putting it up there with my favourite all time soundtracks because of this, the Parasite soundtrack does a similar thing atmospherically, playing with how hopeful a scene is by its music alone.
Equally, some dramas do fine with little-to-no soundtrack bar maybe 2 songs and very sparsely places bits of instrumental (for example sparing use of classical or romantic music), as good dramas can carry themselves like this far better than a poorly done of otherwise unfitting soundtrack.
I tried this, and dropped it... there’s nothing wrong with it, I’d probably say it’s well done, but I didn’t find it was what I needed to be watching, I only had interest in FL’s side of the plot, and it’s made me realise that I’ve only ever managed to complete 4 melodramas, all of which had comedy aspects. Honestly, I also found it too cliche, which I know might not be the right word, but it felt like eye-rolling levels of dramatics to me, so I left it...
I’m a Happy Ending person, I’d rather see a goofy or cliché happy ending than a sad one. While I avoid sad endings, I unfortunately watched MODC when it was airing. It will only ever have 9 episodes to me. Also, I’d say it isn’t too bad when it is made clear from the show’s overall tone how it will end, I’m fine if a show does a U-turn to a happy ending, but not the other way around, that’s why MODC killed me..
Equally, I don’t mind open endings depending upon how they’re done, and sometimes I’d regard open endings as happy ones (HIStory : Trap being an example), but even if an ending is open in a neutral way that’s also usually not an issue for me. Overall I’d say Happy Endings are my favourite, unless it’s some kind of fun psychological thriller / horror, than I’m only there for the ride, wherever the crazy train decides to go.
Good article, though I think I’ll avoid most of this list (apart from MODC, it’s too late to avoid that).
I barely survived ep 12, still loving this show. I found the pace slowed down in ep 11 but it makes sense having seen ep 12. So far I have no complaints, the opposite really, I love the casting, and their acting is solid, chemistry is definitely there, and the writers have done better than any other romcom I’ve seen (haven’t seen much from Taiwan, so I wouldn’t know if their writing is always this good). Also, the soundtrack is good, they haven’t managed to irritate me with it yet, and the main song is very fitting.
Also, speaking of the writers, I do like how Xiao En is written as far as female protagonists go, because I had the worry that she’d get weaker as many “strong” female leads do (thinking of Park Shin Hye in a few dramas), so the consistent writing feels very good. None of us seem to know why she likes ML, but I still think that’s a non-issue, as I wouldn’t say any part of him is bad, childish maybe, but not bad.
So far it’s still a refreshing part of my week, hope this continues :)
It seems the writer is in a hurry to bring the characters to the real world. For me its ok to have a steamy scenes…
I was getting a similar vibe, because I feel like there’s more than just 2-3 episodes of real world time needed to explain the credits as well as for leads to resume their real lives, I suspect there’ll be 1-2 more episodes and then they’ll wake up. I also agree about the steamy scenes, it didn’t bother me either.
I watched it out of boredom, but although it started well, didn’t enjoy how immature this drama felt as it went on, too much push and pull in all directions with the single exception on Joon Ki’s parents. I understand the more ‘mature’ theme/concept of the main couple, but feel it could have done a lot better, and instead came off as immature to me.
On another note, loved Park Hyung Shik’s and Yang Hee Kyoung’s (Joon Ki’s mother) acting in spite of growing to dislike pretty much all else about this drama.
Alternatively, if you’ve seen the shower scenes in Strangers from Hell, they are actually plot relevant. They do not feel like fan service, as it’s not just one guy in a shower, there’s usually someone else as it’s more like a wet room, and focuses rather on the (bizarre) interactions. The angles used are also not to objectify or show off physique, but more to illustrate the discomfort and exposure of the situation, which I’d say on the counter is a good example of how to do a shirtless scene without objectification. Then again, this show is definitely an exception overall, as it’s very rare for relevant plot to come out of this kind of scene, this is the only one that popped straight in to my mind on the topic.
Also, I’ve just finished ep6 as far as where I am in the story goes.
I don’t mind spoilers in this regard, as long as no major plot spoilers please.
And on Viki if that’s what you meant..?
Also, the South Korean metaphor hit the nail on the head for me, as I’ve been in a Korean drama slump recently, as I’m fed up with the restaurant always being the same, and having similar tasting food, but thankfully I’ve found a spicier romance kdrama that’s also a psychological thriller, it’s like the neighbourhood restaurant decided to get a new menu and redecorate, but it’s still run by the same people, a refreshing change from the usual romance formula.
If HIStory is making a comeback, why not wipe the slate clean with a new couple/series? Being that this is a sequel, it’s less likely to gain attention that the creators want, and while this series had the most views, it also had the most anger and upset attached, so is more likely to get less views and more criticism than any other option, new couple/series would have everyone on board, it would also be a chance for the series to restore its reputation for good writing, as the writing had been on an uphill until the end to MODC was written.
Also, about Marcus Chang’s character(s?), although they in themselves aren’t particularly appealing, he’s still doing a good job, and the writing for several other characters is more than good enough to make up for it (at least for me), especially ChunTian, and in some ways, XiaoEn, as both of these are consistent and ChunTian in particular feels human to me (whenever she’s onscreen, her actor has done an amazing job with making her feel real). I can’t speak much for the evil family members because I’m mostly speeding through their scenes, not because of disinterest, but because of wanting to see what is happening elsewhere; that being said I do intent to do a full rewatch the week after this finishes, seeing all of the evil family member scenes in their full glory(?).
On another note, I heard the songs from Strangers from Hell before watching the drama, and the reason I wanted to watch it, and the instrumentals fit perfectly, putting it up there with my favourite all time soundtracks because of this, the Parasite soundtrack does a similar thing atmospherically, playing with how hopeful a scene is by its music alone.
Equally, some dramas do fine with little-to-no soundtrack bar maybe 2 songs and very sparsely places bits of instrumental (for example sparing use of classical or romantic music), as good dramas can carry themselves like this far better than a poorly done of otherwise unfitting soundtrack.
Equally, I don’t mind open endings depending upon how they’re done, and sometimes I’d regard open endings as happy ones (HIStory : Trap being an example), but even if an ending is open in a neutral way that’s also usually not an issue for me. Overall I’d say Happy Endings are my favourite, unless it’s some kind of fun psychological thriller / horror, than I’m only there for the ride, wherever the crazy train decides to go.
Good article, though I think I’ll avoid most of this list (apart from MODC, it’s too late to avoid that).
Also, speaking of the writers, I do like how Xiao En is written as far as female protagonists go, because I had the worry that she’d get weaker as many “strong” female leads do (thinking of Park Shin Hye in a few dramas), so the consistent writing feels very good. None of us seem to know why she likes ML, but I still think that’s a non-issue, as I wouldn’t say any part of him is bad, childish maybe, but not bad.
So far it’s still a refreshing part of my week, hope this continues :)
On another note, loved Park Hyung Shik’s and Yang Hee Kyoung’s (Joon Ki’s mother) acting in spite of growing to dislike pretty much all else about this drama.
I also agree very much with 5 and 7, especially gestures of kindness, they really can make all the difference! Great article!!