DramaAjumma

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.

Thanks!

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.

Thank you for doing so.

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 actually think the writing in this show is very very good.

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.

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.

It's really Part 2. There was no need to separate the series TBH.

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.

Kim Kang-hoon. Jang Seung-jo. My favourites. Had no idea.

It's a real shame because Tan Jianci to my mind is one of the most talented C drama actors working today but these kinds of low/no conflict romances just don't cut it. Certainly not for 33 episodes. There are elements of this premise that I actually really like. The music. The voice acting. That bit where Qingcheng is judging a voice acting comp in Episode 8 and gives his interpretations of a character delivering key lines is one of my favourite moments but such moments are exceptions not the rule. As an amateur singer and occasional actor myself, I appreciate that side of things. But the romance peaks too early and is rather overdone in comparison to everything else and a lot of the character interactions revolve around them. What's the throughline? What's the desire line? Conflict is key to character development.

For me this show lacks weight and feels more like expensive fanfiction. For me Qingcheng is more of a fantasy male lead and Gu Sheng is a self-insert by the writer. It feels like someone is using A Star is Born template without the melodrama and it feels entirely forgettable.

Final thoughts of the show -- took me forever to write it.
https://40somethingahjumma.substack.com/p/a-journey-to-love-2023-final-thoughts

I was surprised to see kids at the screening.
But it is school holidays here.

My first impressions of the show can be found here...
https://40somethingahjumma.substack.com/p/welcome-to-samdal-ri-2023-24-first

It wasn't about sending "a message". It was about sending him away from the battlefield. At least that was Yu Shishan's intention. One way or the other he would have died. I doubt he would have survived the battle at He County.
I also think he had to die to free A'Ying to marry Li Tongguang.

It's true I think that there hasn't been any good adaptations since the 1980s but I don't think there needs to be a shared universe a la MCU to make this work. I grew up watching Adam Cheng in the role and while he had some strong co-stars, I can think of half a dozen decent mainland actresses right now that could be a part of this. With the right script and the right director, it could work.