No love triangle is ever "necessary" except that it does create conflict. Conflict is useful not just for the plot but character. One of the ways characters develop is through conflict. Without conflict, why would any character have to negotiate with other characters or learn the art of negotiation. The reality is that no one can have everything they want and conflict can be the means for maturation.
Personally I think Sang-do has been wasting his time. But so has Yong-pil's dad. I accept the love triangle because the theme of this show is about unresolved past issues for these characters. The so-called love triangle is not about Sam-dal and/or Yong-pil but Sang-do. It is his character arc. In his mind, he is the male lead of his story. He has regrets. He was always one step behind. He's never been able to shake the thought that if he had gone to Seoul with the others, he could have been with Sam-dal. That's the reason why he can't move on. It's the "What if" thing. He is clinging to a past that could have been even though really he doesn't have a chance. There's a parallel with Yong-pil's dad who is also living in the past and tormenting himself and others with a "what if" scenario playing out constantly in his mind. Because he can't budge... no one else can. He doesn't see himself as selfish but as a devoted husband grieving for his wife and the injustice of her death. He expects the same devotion from his own son.
So we have two introverted men who haven't expressed their grief in healthy fashion which is why they are still stuck in time. What the love triangle does for Sang-do is to help him see why he's been wasting his time dwelling on what could have been when he never had a chance.
Although the cat and mouse game between the leads is amusing, I don't see the point of what he's doing if all he's doing is hanging around her like a bodyguard and exposing himself. Not a good plan. The Count of Monte Cristo this aint.
I've just started this. So far, it's a decent watch albeit a tad slow moving. It's so obviously inspired by Back to the Future especially giving prominence to the mad guitar skills. I was motivated to go and watch clips of Michael J. Fox playing guitar for Johnny B. Goode. It is fascinating what the writer has done with some of the elements of the original and developed different aspects to give it a SK flavour.
Five episodes in and it's already much better than Les Interpretes -- which is one of the biggest waste of time and human resources in the history of C dramas.
Not a fan of noble idiocy on principle BUT I don't mind the show because I have a background in applied linguistics and TESOL and there are overlapping issues up for debate. Of course applying Jane Austen's Persuasion template to the romance doesn't translate comfortably here. The male lead's broken-hearted petulance is rather silly. From an educator's point of view, I'm not convinced that AI is a magic bullet for language acquisition but Google Translate was pretty handy on my last overseas trip on a functional level.
But the most important thing is that I like Chen Xingxu.
Sakura is both intensely cringey and adorable at the same time. This is such an old school J drama and unabashedly a trope fest. It's ridiculously cheesy. Yet I find myself grinning from ear to ear.
I've loved Sato Takeru since his Bloody Monday days.
in last couple of hours, someone just did a massive review upvoting and downvoting campaign. probably mad that…
I honestly don't understand this obsession with users propping up their favourite shows with these kinds of strategies -- playing the system and the numbers game. Do they have money invested in this show? The cast and the crew have been paid for this and another season has already been approved. Sooner or later the hype will die down and people will make up their own minds as to whether this works for them or not.
I don't usually criticize opinions here but the statement that Yong-pil's life has been entirely revolved around Sam-dal is downright silly. In fact, it's a gross mischaracterization. From everything we've seen it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. If his life has been built entirely around her, he would have given Dad the proverbial middle finger and followed Sam-dal to the ends of the earth. He could have gone to Seoul (and other exotic locations already) -- many times over with all kinds of job offers on the table. But he went along with the break up and stayed with his father instead. If anything, it is more accurate to say that his entire life has revolved around his father, Mi-ja and the island especially seen in the way he is desperate to insist on accurate weather forecasting of Jeju with the higher ups. The truth is Yong-pil would be considered a good Asian son putting duty/obligation before love and paid the price for it. There's no doubt he's been hoping for reconciliation between the parties concerned being the optimist that he is. It's Jane Austen's Persuasion with the roles reversed.
This is an old school K drama. The desire line 100% reflects that.
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.
4 
No love triangle is ever "necessary" except that it does create conflict. Conflict is useful not just for the plot but character. One of the ways characters develop is through conflict. Without conflict, why would any character have to negotiate with other characters or learn the art of negotiation. The reality is that no one can have everything they want and conflict can be the means for maturation.
Personally I think Sang-do has been wasting his time. But so has Yong-pil's dad. I accept the love triangle because the theme of this show is about unresolved past issues for these characters. The so-called love triangle is not about Sam-dal and/or Yong-pil but Sang-do. It is his character arc. In his mind, he is the male lead of his story. He has regrets. He was always one step behind. He's never been able to shake the thought that if he had gone to Seoul with the others, he could have been with Sam-dal. That's the reason why he can't move on. It's the "What if" thing. He is clinging to a past that could have been even though really he doesn't have a chance. There's a parallel with Yong-pil's dad who is also living in the past and tormenting himself and others with a "what if" scenario playing out constantly in his mind. Because he can't budge... no one else can. He doesn't see himself as selfish but as a devoted husband grieving for his wife and the injustice of her death. He expects the same devotion from his own son.
So we have two introverted men who haven't expressed their grief in healthy fashion which is why they are still stuck in time. What the love triangle does for Sang-do is to help him see why he's been wasting his time dwelling on what could have been when he never had a chance.
Not a good plan.
The Count of Monte Cristo this aint.
It is fascinating what the writer has done with some of the elements of the original and developed different aspects to give it a SK flavour.
Not a fan of noble idiocy on principle BUT I don't mind the show because I have a background in applied linguistics and TESOL and there are overlapping issues up for debate. Of course applying Jane Austen's Persuasion template to the romance doesn't translate comfortably here. The male lead's broken-hearted petulance is rather silly. From an educator's point of view, I'm not convinced that AI is a magic bullet for language acquisition but Google Translate was pretty handy on my last overseas trip on a functional level.
But the most important thing is that I like Chen Xingxu.
I've loved Sato Takeru since his Bloody Monday days.
The truth is Yong-pil would be considered a good Asian son putting duty/obligation before love and paid the price for it. There's no doubt he's been hoping for reconciliation between the parties concerned being the optimist that he is. It's Jane Austen's Persuasion with the roles reversed.
This is an old school K drama. The desire line 100% reflects that.
But I am a little concerned about the pedagogical underpinnings of the show.
I've pretty much given up on the show. I can listen to the music on YouTube.