I think Zhou Ye is a decent enough actress but the whole cutesy act does get a bit old after a while. As you said in another post further up, it's not a good look for not just her but him as well. On top of that she's amenable to every single thing. In a normal relationship there has to be some pushback. The problem is that neither of them really have any kind of arc that warrants 33 episodes that has them at the centre. If he for example was going through some kind of existential crisis or struggling with both professions or that she was struggling to get recognized, this would be a far more interesting show. But it feels like she's incredibly lucky and he's superman. It's Screenwriting 101 to have a desire line -- a goal.
I've pretty much given up on the show. I can listen to the music on YouTube.
I disagree. There are many, many shows with conflict that are objectively great shows. Shows like this with basically…
I don't understand what it is exactly that you're disagreeing with in my post. I did make caveats in what I said in terms of length, the characters and the lack of character development. I did say low conflict romance that peaks early -- not low conflict shows in general. Meet Yourself is a great show because it doesn't focus on the main romance or just the leads. It has multiple character arcs that all intersect. Even though the leads don't have much conflict, there is a bit of push and pull and there's conflict elsewhere in the show. Here the support characters feel like they're mostly dancing around the leads and singing praises to them. When the well isn't very deep it tends to dry up quickly.
From where I'm looking, most (if not all ) of the problems with this show stem from the weak script and/or direction. The people in charge don't seem to know how to properly integrate the monster story with the human stories. There's a monster running loose around the place and yet people are waving guns around making empty threats while also having conversations like a normal break in and break out from a garden variety military installation. Then of course they feel the need to prop up a fledgling attraction -- one sided initially and then we're led to believe that it's mutual when the build up from Chae-ok's side is non-existent.
It's as if all the characters, the scenario are presented purely to highlight particular wartime atrocities. Like pieces on a chessboard that are moved around accordingly. Also often in ways that don't really make sense. The sequence of events is so obviously out of kilter. Take for example, large numbers have already been killed by the creature and yet the Japanese soldiers saunter around with no sense of urgency about what's going on in between the attacks. The soldiers at the bottom of the food chain should be terrified but they just carry on as usual like the monster is a nothingburger in between attacks. They should have far more important things to do to fortify their defences than make menacing gestures against Chae-ok for refusing to speak Japanese. But but... the show has to sledgehammer home the point that there's no difference between the creature and the invaders right at this very moment. It's just silly.
By pretty much the fourth episode, everything is known to the audience and it all becomes a waiting game. There's so much waste of side characters too. Wi Ha-joon's in particular.
Honestly this is probably the best short drama that I've ever seen. Most of them are pretty low quality and ridiculously choppy but the production values of this one is relatively decent. The costuming is surprisingly good. The leads not only have great chemistry but they can deliver a charming performance. There are the usual nutty things but honestly some of the storytelling here is better than some of the bigger productions I saw in 2023.
It does a disservice to the show when it is reduced to a one-liner like it's "all about suicide". It's like saying that A Christmas Carol is about ghosts. Suicide is a part of the protagonist's journey and a McGuffin but the show is fundamentally quite sympathetic to the struggles of those who can't get ahead in the rat race. Overall, it's just about one man's cavalier attitude to death especially when he thinks that is the solution to all his problems. There's no need to take Death too literally when she's spouting about punishment especially knowing what comes in the end. It's a posture and a continuous debate that goes on between Death and Yee-jae.
Really? I think Part 2 is a big slow down compared to Part 1.My understanding of the ending is that he has been…
That's right. It's an open ending but one that suggests the possibility that he might have retained memory of what occurred. But the likelihood of him retaining memory of what happened is high because he picks up the call right when Mum rings. Something's certainly changed.
That's one assumption of how that world works. We have only seen this game through the perspective of one person. We are not given any information as to how this game works for all the "participants". You're also trying to apply real world logic to a fantasy show (a highly constructed allegorical show) that is concerned with a single man's transmigration experience.
In these kinds of stories the protagonist never talks about it. I can't say I blame them. Who'd believe them? George Bailey didn't. Scrooge didn't.
i feel like the whole show wasn't trying to give reason to why he committed suicide (even though they used some…
I'm with both of you. In fact I don't think this show is about suicide at all. It's only about suicide as much as It's a Wonderful Life is about suicide. I also think that Death says a lot of things just to stir him up because of what we know at the end.
Doesn't the ending make no sense?Do all 12 lives get undone now? Are his mom and gf still fated to die soon? Does…
Really? I think Part 2 is a big slow down compared to Part 1.
My understanding of the ending is that he has been given a second chance to make it right and to use his knowledge of events to change things on his own.
Is there a lot of rage for this show? Why do I get the impression that there isn't much buzz for it compared to…
I made this comment judging from what I've seen here and elsewhere. I'm honestly fine with it because it's the first piece of fluff in ages that I actually enjoy. I'm only up to Episode 9.
This is the second K drama in 12 months that I've sat up and taken notice of. I don't usually agree with the overall ratings of dramas on MDL but this I do. HIghly provocative. Top tier performances all around. Best of all is the darker reimagining of It's a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol.
Honestly I don't get the rage about this show. It is a fairly straight forward by-the-numbers seachange drama with many K drama tropes thrown into the mix. The writer needed a McGuffin to send Sam-dal back to Jeju -- a workplace incident, a suicide attempt and the ensuing social media scandal. But it soon becomes evident that this isn't just about her. Her return to the island has ramifications for more than her own issues because of unresolved fissures within the community. There's a huge elephant in the room between people who are neighbours. It hasn't been good for the people involved. It's a festering wound turned into a cancer that needs to be cut out because it is tormenting all the main players. Even if Sam-dal had moved on and never returned, the antagonism that has plagued both families remains. Yong-pil's dad is wallowing in the pit resentment and Ms Ko is suffering from survivor's guilt are facts regardless of whether the leads are together or not.
A controversial character like Yong-pil's dad is bound to take a few hits. This is not our first K drama, domineering parents aren't anything new and they always come in for a lot of flack. Mostly deservedly. I'm not unsympathetic to the man's pain and his burning resentment. He definitely thinks he has good reason to be angry even now. But apparently not resentful enough to move away because he is living right across a very narrow street from Ko Mi-ja. Okay, maybe he's trying to punish her but all he's done so far is punish himself and his son. A man is allowed his own feelings and anguish no matter how counterintuitive but when he tries to rob his son's moral agency that's another thing entirely. It isn't just forbidding the match. It's forcing his son to stay in a state of grief regardless of what Yong-pil actually believes. The father here is forcing his adult son to take responsibility for his (the father's) feelings. (If that doesn't border on abuse, I don't know what does) From his POV it's obvious Yong-pil has already lost one mother and is loath to lose another which is why he guards Mi-ja for dear life. That is his choice because he prioritizes relationship above career. The fact that he regularly goes to the museum to look at that exhibit with the two Mi-jas tells us everything we need to know about where he comes from. Yong-pil is a glass half full guy while his dad is a glass half empty guy.
4 
I've pretty much given up on the show. I can listen to the music on YouTube.
It's as if all the characters, the scenario are presented purely to highlight particular wartime atrocities. Like pieces on a chessboard that are moved around accordingly. Also often in ways that don't really make sense. The sequence of events is so obviously out of kilter. Take for example, large numbers have already been killed by the creature and yet the Japanese soldiers saunter around with no sense of urgency about what's going on in between the attacks. The soldiers at the bottom of the food chain should be terrified but they just carry on as usual like the monster is a nothingburger in between attacks. They should have far more important things to do to fortify their defences than make menacing gestures against Chae-ok for refusing to speak Japanese. But but... the show has to sledgehammer home the point that there's no difference between the creature and the invaders right at this very moment. It's just silly.
By pretty much the fourth episode, everything is known to the audience and it all becomes a waiting game. There's so much waste of side characters too. Wi Ha-joon's in particular.
There are the usual nutty things but honestly some of the storytelling here is better than some of the bigger productions I saw in 2023.
That's one assumption of how that world works. We have only seen this game through the perspective of one person. We are not given any information as to how this game works for all the "participants". You're also trying to apply real world logic to a fantasy show (a highly constructed allegorical show) that is concerned with a single man's transmigration experience.
In these kinds of stories the protagonist never talks about it. I can't say I blame them. Who'd believe them? George Bailey didn't. Scrooge didn't.
I also think that Death says a lot of things just to stir him up because of what we know at the end.
My understanding of the ending is that he has been given a second chance to make it right and to use his knowledge of events to change things on his own.
I'm honestly fine with it because it's the first piece of fluff in ages that I actually enjoy. I'm only up to Episode 9.
A controversial character like Yong-pil's dad is bound to take a few hits. This is not our first K drama, domineering parents aren't anything new and they always come in for a lot of flack. Mostly deservedly. I'm not unsympathetic to the man's pain and his burning resentment. He definitely thinks he has good reason to be angry even now. But apparently not resentful enough to move away because he is living right across a very narrow street from Ko Mi-ja. Okay, maybe he's trying to punish her but all he's done so far is punish himself and his son. A man is allowed his own feelings and anguish no matter how counterintuitive but when he tries to rob his son's moral agency that's another thing entirely. It isn't just forbidding the match. It's forcing his son to stay in a state of grief regardless of what Yong-pil actually believes. The father here is forcing his adult son to take responsibility for his (the father's) feelings. (If that doesn't border on abuse, I don't know what does) From his POV it's obvious Yong-pil has already lost one mother and is loath to lose another which is why he guards Mi-ja for dear life. That is his choice because he prioritizes relationship above career. The fact that he regularly goes to the museum to look at that exhibit with the two Mi-jas tells us everything we need to know about where he comes from. Yong-pil is a glass half full guy while his dad is a glass half empty guy.