Eleison

So true!

It's a much slower pace than more recent costume dramas and has lots of conversing scenes, but if you can push through the pace (everything is important in NiF), the last half or so is SWEET. I prefer dramas that end stronger than they start. I think they're rare, and Nirvana in Fire is one of them.

It doesn't start badly nor is it poorly written (nothing about NiF is poorly written), but the rich, rich pay-off at the end does take some patience and determination to reach, I think. I think it doesn't use cheap spectacle, cliffhangers and scandal to keep you hooked. It's doing something more robust; harder to appreciate at first, but more satisfying in the end.

I just mean he's very petite (even if tall). 😅

This creator has a solid track record--might check this one out once it's closer to being done airing!

Cause he has such a young/baby face face and his frame is so thin, he easily passes for a high schooler.

Yes, it doesn't seem to fit his body! 😅

I guess it's a case of picking your poison: slow and drawn out with filler (the plague of older dramas), or rushed and fast-paced (the plague of newer dramas)? I find only the best Kdramas escape falling into either category, regardless of the format.

That said, I didn't feel like this one was very rushed (just my opinion, though).

Have you seen Nirvana In Fire?

Nope, I do, but it's possible I didn't properly interpret the tone of your response. Not to put down teenagers, but on MDL, people tend to reference them as a way to insult someone's taste or opinion (e.g. "only teenagers could like that; if you liked it, you must be a teenager" (implied definition of a teenager when used in this way: "shallow, someone without a valid opinion, flighty, only care about good looks and not about substance, can't tell the good from the bad, immature," etc. many meanings, I know, but it's used as a "catch-all" for "you don't know what your're talking about)).

That's the way it came across in your response. If you didn't intend it in that way, then just so you know, that's the way it sounded. 😉

So true! 😅

I think that's a fair criticism; the characters do save each other at different points (or try to), and I always interpreted their affection as stemming from deep gratitude. Sol was grateful Sun Jae encouraged her to live and not give up when she was at her darkest point, and the same was true several times for Sun Jae being encouraged by Sol when life got hard for him (I think gratitude is a great atarting point for affection!). It might not demonstrate the reason for such an intense devotion as we see in this, but dramas are rarely realistic anyway. It's not what they're going for. That said, I do think I see what you mean. This one has romance shown in fantasy (in more ways than one), while some romance dramas lean a bit more into the realistic.

That said, I don't think this is teenage love (it looks quite different from this, and wouldn't span time loops or this much adversity, just saying), but it is certainly largely fantastical and not a thing in the real world. Maybe it's more the sort of love a teenager might actually imagine would be possible, not so much a love they would be able to display. (While adults won't buy it because they probably know better, and will enjoy it strictly as fantasy). 😉

The way I look at it, all dramas are somewhere on the spectrum of utterly illogical/unrealistic to somewhat so. So, pick your poison! 😅 And there's a huge variety of things within the spectrum. In my (admittedly) limited experience, most Cdramas do not lean towards the somewhat illogical/unrealistic but down towards the utterly illogical/unrealistic. But they CAN be entertaining!

"You must be very young, teenager?"

What a demeaning way to start a post. 🙄

The FL does get better in IHYV, but she's definitely a pill for a good bit of it. 😅 I loved LJS in that one, though. 🥰

My impression was it's stylized to feel webtoon-like; Weak Hero is also stylized and exaggerated but not in a comedic way, so it feels more "realistic." Honestly, I think WH and this are both extremely unrealistic, just in different ways. WH is heavier, while this is more lighthearted. This one has adults who care. In WH, every single adult was pathetic and checked out.

Overall, very different vibes from them! I see why people tend to compare them, but apart from high schoolers engaging in fist fights and the theme of friendship, there's very little to compare. 😅

Evidence it's a Netflix drama. 😉

The middle bit was a definitely a little slow (the part about the Crown Prince and his concubine), but I thought the end was very sweet because you get the leads being cute together after the ML and his "wife" that he was forced to marry get divorced. There are lots of cute scenes of the leads finally getting to be together. It wraps up nicely--I'd recommend it!

You're right! I have seen him in other things and I think he gets typecast as a villain. 😅 I had forgotten he was in Gaksital.

Still hoping they'll make a remake of that someday, but still have Gaemi do the music. 😉

Oh, yes, I remember that scene from Our Beloved Summer! 😅

Before Rowoon graduated to ML status. 😉