Eleison

So is the Japanese drama divided into two seasons? I thought the first was extremely short! Too good to be true... So, it seems the Thai version beats for the most concise storytelling, coming in at 16 episodes.

While the Korean version made me love this story and the Thai version takes the cake as my favorite of all three versions (I still haven't seen the Chinese version - how on earth do they stretch the story over so many episodes? The Korean version was too long and it's still like 20 episodes shorter than Meteor Garden. 😳), this one certainly has a charm of its own.

It has extremely cringey moments, then some really weird moments, and some relationship interactions that are quite rough and have NOT aged well, but somehow it still manages to draw you in and endear you to the characters. Domyoji Tsukasa, like the other versions of him, manages to make you care about his character despite being a jerk for much of the drama. I liked that the ending was different than the Thai and Korean versions and the last scene with them together was 👌. All versions of this drama have a lot fewer actually romantic scenes between the leads than most romcoms/melodramas, yet the actors still manage to pull off great chemistry at the end and give the viewers at least ONE romantic scene with both of them being genuinely into each other (and not hiding it for once) at the same time. 😂

While I really appreciated how short this was and the quicker pace (this one felt like the 2005 Pride and Prejudice adaptation, the Korean or Thai is more like the BBC adaptation, much longer and more in-depth), I felt like we didn't get as much time to see Tsukasa become a different/better person than in the other versions, which I would have liked. However, I did like how he admitted at the end that getting beat up for Tsukushi helped him see what it felt like to be on the receiving end of another's fist.

Also, despite being from 2005, the BGMs for the OST were shockingly good. I was sad to find they're not on Spotify. 😭 They didn't feel dated except for slight hints of this era's motifs/instrumentation. Even better than the Kdrama BGMs, though the Korean version still has a better OST altogether. The Thai version's OST isn't all original to the drama, which was a bummer, but instrumental versions of the main theme song that crop up were lovely, at least.

I also just discovered that there's a second season... 😮 I'll guess I'll see what I think of it...

But your feet at 14 or 15 can be done growing? Mine were at that age. I don't see why they couldn't be the same size even after that many years?

Would also love to see these moments!

I think THE big mystery for me is why Bo Geol reacts to Mokha the way he does if he is Ki Ho, and I think the drama is beckoning us into the confusion; it wants us to be disturbed by his behavior and stay for an explanation. 😏 And it better be good!

If he's not Bo Geol (which for many reasons I think is unlikely), then those aching looks he gives her and sad expressions must be him learning to pity her despite his annoyance with her for her role in endangering Woo Hak (aka Ki Ho) through exacerbating his relationship with his father that led to his injury/memory loss. That would account for how bristly and rude he is to her.

I think it's still really possible either could be true, though.

Oh, and I remembered they're in the same class; though I guess the age thing could still be true and he's just ahead?

Definitely one of the more "manly" Korean actors since he's tall but also not super thin or delicate-looking like many others. And I'm always impressed when a model-turned-actor can, well, act. Isn't it refreshing when they're not JUST good-looking? 😏 I've seen him play more cheery, naive roles before this so it's fun to see him try his hand at a more broody role with more depth and mystery to it.

@11331195 The actor for Ki Ho is definitely younger than the actress for Mok Ha (and it's honestly surprising to me that their age gap is not more obvious, but I think it's because Woo Jin brings such gravitas to the role, he comes across as older), and while that doesn't mean they actually intend to make his character younger in the story it is interesting they'd cast a younger guy and older girl since guys in high school generally tend to look younger than girls even when they're in the same grade. 🤷‍♀️

He's also the nephew of Lee Seung Gi's character in Vagabond. I thought he was so excellent in that role!

I was so confused by this, but now I know more about how Chinese dramas are filmed. I'm assuming they can make things work with a Chinese drama that has a Korean man who presumably is not fluent in Mandarin since they dub all the voices of the actors anyway in their dramas? I was confused by why the actors didn't look like their voices and the talking on the screen matched up in the few Chinese dramas I've seen; come to find out, everyone is dubbed. No wonder! All Jong Suk needs to do is know, more or less, the Mandarin words so that his mouth forms the shapes needed and they can get a Chinese-speaking actor to dub for his voice, correct? Such a strange, difficult way to do things. I would hate having to dub as an actor. It's like lip-syncing but worse. 🤣 Actor's voices are a big part of the "acting" to me, but to each his own.

Agreed, the second half went completely off the rails! I remember people saying that in the comments. After starting it I thought, "How bad could it get? This is pretty good." And then I finished it, and I understood. 😂

Lee Jong Suk carried this show; he was amazing, and the first few episodes were really good. Then, it slowly became a train wreck and devolved into weirdness. Jong Suk's character's abilities as a surgeon were obviously fantastical, but his brilliance was still enjoyable to watch. :) Oh, and the romance was a mess as well...

Preach! I wasn't even watching Start-Up or reading the comments when it aired but anytime the topic comes up anywhere, people's claws come out and I just want to run and hide. 😬

Right! Makes sense to me, too.

And I think most people are aware if they look at the comments on here they are going to see some spoilers. 😅

I usually do it for plot points that the story rests heavily on or for reveals of any kind. Also, for stuff that might ruin a person's discovery of the drama if they heard it. If it's already something a lot of people have mentioned without a spoiler tag I don't bother as much, but for anything detailed and specific, I try to use a spoiler tag.

This would be amazing; I hope they do something like this! We need answers and Bo Geol's behavior towards adult Mok Ha is the most maddeningly intriguing part of the drama so far.

I Can Hear Your Voice is less polished and feels a bit more dated (Pinnochio, too, and it was a funky one since the relationship between the FL and ML was a little different? The "family" in Pinnochio has some weird dynamics) than While You Were Sleeping (which I found super satisfying) but I really liked it because I love how she develops the FL who's jaded and selfish at the beginning, and how they juxtapose the villain and ML and show how easy it is to become an awful person through our choices. Start Up is well-written and beautifully filmed but the lying and deception (albeit with mostly good intentions, but still painful) was hard to watch because the fallout from it all was so awful. 😅 I'd be curious to see if you think the fuss about ML vs. 2ML is really warranted. I could see why people were rooting for 2ML, but I still was team main leads; it was clear to me that the FL loved the ML for always believing in her, even when she made mistakes or chose wrongly. I also go into dramas knowing that getting behind the leads who will end up together is a more enjoyable way to watch a drama. 😏

And sorry, what does Q4 mean?

@bloomingtide Yes, deeply invested, too! Tastes do differ and it is quite subjective, for sure. I'm usually pretty easy to please and have found that most of the dramas that are rated well, I enjoy, but there are always exceptions so I always check comments before diving in based on ratings. I have a pretty good feel for what I will like now (e.g. I just don't like the afterlife/ghost dramas or office dramas; I've tried so hard and just can't 😅), but sometime a gem crops up out of nowhere and that's always nice. :) Have you tried any other dramas by this screenwriter? She's solid. Twisty, tightly written plots (can maybe get a hint of makjang in there), complicated, multi-faceted characters you can never forget, with incredible growth arcs and adorable relationship dynamics between characters (and she rarely has side characters you fast forward). Everything feels necessary and important and is woven together into one plot and focus.

@11331195 I'm with you; it made me put the show on hold for quite a while, but I did come back and finish because I wanted to see how it ended. I am still on the fence about what they were really doing with the two male leads, but there was one voicover sequence about, "If all other people went extinct but you, I'd be okay," or something to that effect, and it felt like it came out of nowhere. So yeah, definitely some confusing relationship dynamics in this, between literally everyone. When I finally got something cute and sweet, then they killed Su Hyeon off. 🤦‍♀️ Yohan was also such a tough character. I rooted for Ga On the most (poor guy got dragged through so much garbage) but because everyone was so flawed and never really grew in a linear fashion but bounced around between goodness, selfishness and revenge it was hard to see an arc develop for any of the characters. I guess Elijah softened, haha. Interesting show!