Eleison

Actually, I found a video with a few short clips. This is not great, but it's something (she shows up at 1:18, 1:46, 2:33, 5:43, 5:58, 6:48):https://youtu.be/pfYjQUUlpaY?si=jYEH0PFxSrjLboVm

BONUS: Includes footage of Dan Stevens when he was still a nobody.... 😏

The child actress who plays Ha Yul reminded me of someone, and I realized it's the British actress Lucy Boynton when she was a child and played Margaret Dashwood in the BBC's 2008 Sense & Sensibility. Margaret is a bit older and feistier/sassier than Ha Yul (who is more serious and somber) but their way of speaking (even though they're speaking different languages), their mannerisms and the way they carry themselves are very similar. There's not a lot of footage of Boynton as a child on YouTube otherwise I'd share a link. 😔

He's just being stubbornly optimistic that he maybe still has a chance and is being a bit moody about accepting that Sam Dal probably only has eyes for Yong Pil. He got hopeful when she came back that this was his second chance and he's upset now that it seems those hopes are getting dashed. Nothing major, but I think it's bothering some watchers that he's being so stubborn and oblivious. But hey, he's a 2ML, they're usually oblivious. 😂

She seems to be his Muse. 😉

Also, so cute that Baek Du's brothers noticed Baek Du's spark and deduced it was because a "lady friend" was watching and he was feeling inspired to show off his skills. 😂

Baek Du WOULD be oblivious about what "Want to hang out later in my room and have ramyeon?" suggests. 😅 (He knew what it meant but still said it and thought she'd understand his completely innocent intentions) Just too cute.

I loved Racket Boys! It's just a perfect feel-good, coming-of-age drama. Pure coziness. :) Run-On was one of those popular dramas I for some reason didn't get as into; I haven't seen Love All Play yet; don't currently subscribe to a platform that has access to it. But I really liked My Lovely Boxer and loved seeing Lee Sang Yeob play something other than a villain; 😂 he's a great actor. :) And of course, Weightlifting Fairy (which I thought was just adorable). Another favorite!

I did. :)

A mix! There are some MDLers who are enjoying it, and some who repeatedly return to this thread each week to update us on how awful they think some or all of the characters are and/or story is. Maybe a bit more repetitious negativity than is typical of an ongoing drama. Kind of a bummer.

Does anyone know whether CJH speaks Japanese, and will he speak Japanese in this (I haven't seen the trailer)? (He sounds so lovely when he speaks Korean, so I hope viewers get to hear it, as it pairs well with his deep, soothing voice.) Though I suppose it's fine for him to have an accent since he's supposed to be a student. I just cringe almost every time Korean actors speak English while trying to act in Kdramas (minus Ok Taec Yeon and Ahn Hyo Seop, who actually sound convincing), so I wonder how well CJH can emote and deliver while speaking Japanese... 🤷‍♀️

Also, doesn't Korea emphasize students learning English over Japanese or Mandarin?

Me too! It fell off the trending list, but I don't mind. My Lovely Boxer was never on the trending list either, but I really enjoyed it as well. :) It's fun that ssireum is unique to Korea, so I've got nothing to compare it to. I like that I have no idea what's going on and can't tell if the actors are doing a convincing job of portraying it. 😅

I get it! Sometimes I have dramas that I seem to like for reasons I can't articulate, despite having all the things I should like. The age gap could have been easily avoided, and would probably have been enjoyed a lot more by fans if the creators had gone that route. I would have definitely preferred her to be older!

Aw, I see. You should keep watching. Episode 5, 7 and 11 are very close to Episode 1 in the enjoyment factor so you will probably like the rest! It's up to you, of course. :)

Thank you so much!! Appreciate you responding. :)

Thank you so much; I appreciate the detailed, thoughtful reply!

Agree about the OST! The BGM is also fantastic; I was so sad when I discovered that the instrumental tracks are not on Spotity. I could only find covers of some of them, and they just didn't cut it. 😔

I think the age gap can be got over if you think about how old the ML is supposed to be, which is hundreds of years old. That's why he's more like a god (in the Greek god sense) than a human, and when you think about it that way, it makes him feel ageless and unaffected by time as typical mortals are. That's how I got past it, though the grooming in a romantic sense I do not agree with as some have commented on here (at least from what I remember). He was very resistant to her hanging around at first and only hoped she could remove his sword, and she was the one who latched on to him. She also knew he was not a typical 30-something man, because she could poof him into her presence by blowing out a candle. 😂

Good to know! Will keep these observations in mind. :)

I think he's a little more lovable in this one, cause he's more pathetic; he reminds me of a scared puppy. 😂

Rewatching this! I agree with much of @amitra828's review above (minus the stuff about the FL; I cringed whenever she tried to express emotion. Would have much rather had Dong Soo end up with Jin Joo!).

This was one of my first dramas (when I picked dramas by tracking lead actors I liked, and then watching all their dramas, haha; obviously for this one I was on a Ji Chang Wook kick) and one of my first sageuks. It was also my first introduction to the kind of friendship developed so beautifully in many Kdramas. And I loved it.

Yes, it has huge plot holes, many moments where you need to suspend disbelief, the FL struggled to emote (someone dropped the ball with her casting) and the production quality was very bad, as is typical of any pre-2015 drama.

But this kitschy drama succeeded where the beautifully produced My Country: The New Age failed (which went for a similar premise). Not only was that drama super confusing and hard to follow even though it was made in 2019 (I think?), it wanted us to get invested in the ML leads' friendship and the ways they cared about each other and fought for each other despite being on opposite sides of a political conflict. However, their devotion to each other made no sense to me. They spent only a few episodes showing them as friends and the rest of the drama was meant to ride on the connection developed from those few episodes; it just couldn't carry me through the garbage the leads had to go through and the weird frenemy tension they had.

Warrior Baek Dong Soo, instead, spends almost half the drama with our two friends as actual friends before the "betrayal." Suffering together, having adventures together, overcoming obstacles together, and growing up together, with each of them admiring their friend for their unique strengths which they did not possess: e.g. Yeo Woon admires Baek Doo for his candor, relentless optimism, bold creativity, his intense loyalty to those in his life, and most of all, his unflinching belief that he need not be bound by his destiny (Yeo Woon, in contrast, is actually deeply insecure and feels saddled by his destiny and the grip of it holds him in a miserable paralysis; his unbelief is understandable when all of his father figures reinforce that he cannot escape his fate with every chance they get); Dong Soo admires Yeo Woon for his brilliant skills, natural gifting with martial arts, incisive intelligence, and quiet confidence (in contrast, Dong Soo is a late bloomer; he has to work like a dog for everything he does, everything coming from great struggle; it took far more time for Dong Soo to find his sweet spot than Woon and gain the confidence he needed to be an excellent martial artist; because of this, Yeo Woon was an inspiration for Dong Soo; Woon's severity towards him in their sparring battles was his way of believing in Dong Soo, his way of sharpening him to become a better fighter; in addition to this, while they were growing up, Woon always quietly supported Dong Soo, and never gave up on helping him in his endeavors, no matter how crazy they were).

In my first watch, I was enamored with Baek Dong Soo (who is adorable and endearing for the first 2/3s, and truly heroic and compelling in the last 1/3). In my rewatch, I grew in appreciation for Yeo Woon (Yoo Seung Ho was only about 16 or 17 when he played this role!!).

*DETAILED SPOILERS BELOW*

The most heartbreaking part for me that seals my love for this flawed character is the first time Choon sends him on a mission. Horror of horrors, we discover Woon is sent to murder several of his warrior camp friends (cruel Choon; testing Woon to see if he has what it takes to be an assassin). True to his mission, Yeo Woon stabs in succession each of his friends he grew up with and trained alongside; his brutality is sickening. However, the subsequent scene reveals that none of the three boys are actually dead; once the other assassins melt into the night, leaving Woon to finish the gruesome work, the drama shifts perspective. (You slowly discover Woon cleverly initiated the stabbings so he could appear to do his job well while simultaneously protecting his friends by wounding them in places that were not life-threatening.) Woon rushes over to his friends, checking their breathing, tending to their wounds and quietly weeping over them, deeply horrified at what he's done, grieving the cruelty of his fate, and wracked with guilt over his betrayal. This is the most vulnerable we see him. He gradually hardens as he betrays more of his friends and loved ones, descending further down the path of darkness and loneliness, a journey sealed by his guilt. He is trapped by his fate to be an assassin whose identity is found in killing, and yet he never stops choosing the harder path by always fighting the urge to become a cold-blooded murderer: sparing people when no one is watching, secretly showing compassion and tenderness when his job calls for ruthless hate. Aw, Woon-ah! 😭

Yeo Woon never has a robust redemption arc, nor is he ever able to fully break free from his destiny, but his loyalty to Dong Soo (who never gives up on him) does draw out the remnants of his goodness that burst out in fleeting moments of defiance against his fate. As the drama reaches the climax of the 3rd and final part (I think of the drama in three parts as they relate to stages of development and growth in Dong Soo), it's deeply satisfying to watch these two team up--through the strength of their friendship and from opposing sides--to champion and fight for the good.