FreshKicks

I keep returning to watch bits and pieces of this and it never fails me. The thrills are still there and all those touching moments still land with all of the force they originally had.

I hadn't stopped by here in a while, though: the happiest comment section on MDL. And how about that rating!

This is such a great series. The rating really makes me sad.

Yes, to watch this is a truly repulsive ordeal. When I endured it during it's original airing it was only out of a twisted curiosity over how low it would go.

Yes! Also my pet peeve. Good to know.

"Non's ruin" ... I really like that way of putting it. Not merely a downfall or bad fate, but ruin, like being obliterated.

Which you can find here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NMlRDBLbd4

In the Kdrama the ML made a comment toward the FL that she interpreted as a put-down, similarly to what happens here (although in the Kdrama it is just in passing and they don't spend any time together) so yes, the relationship starts as a misunderstanding. Liu has been beaten down so much that she's almost incapable of recognizing kindness in a classmate.

This is an easy 8/10 so far.

The title "Beauty Newbie" seems to indicate that this will be a less serious take on the "Gangham Beauty" story, and some of the performances (Mike, I'm looking at you, you big ham) are goofy in a way that seems to confirm that.

I'm curious to learn what it is about Liu that attracted Guy to her when they were in high school. In the Kdrama version it was Mi Rae's love for dancing. That's not in the mix here, and since we know Guy has an issue with fragrances it would seem strange to me that he'd be attracted to Liu because of her love for them. I'd rather it not be because he felt bad that she was an outcast.

How perfect is it that they cast Win's younger brother to play the young version of Guy! For obvious reasons he really does look like a younger Guy. It's an easy choice once you see it on screen but I thought it was cool.

And it's interesting that they cast a much-older-than-college-age actress to play Liu. A lot of people thought Im Soo Hyang was too old to play Mi Rae, but in both cases I think it helps to sell the idea that the FLs got a lot of face work done.

And, sorry, but I don't think Faye is that pretty.

Message sent!

A Japanese teen romance that doesn’t star Suzuka Ouji. I wasn’t sure it was possible. 😆😆😆😆

Seeing him play rough and tough will be interesting!

You deserve a BL merit badge for this. Thanks for taking the time to post the info. If I can get the raws and subs for the series I'll make a BL cut for them and get back to you.

He's a complex villain, not just a cartoon, so it makes us go back and forth between sympathizing with him and hating him. What works the most against him is that it's clear that he relishes being a bully so you can only cut him a small amount of slack. Turning Non over to his uncle was pretty much the same as murdering him, too.

I will enjoy watching him meet his fate. I hope the gang gets knocked off one at a time, in creative ways, and he's the last to go.

I'm suspicious about the fact that we didn't actually show us Tee turning Non over to the evil uncle, and they didn't show us what happened to Mr. Keng either. Those would have been easy scenes to film, too.

Right. While I was expecting a happy ending for everyone I wasn’t sure how the mom and dad’s story could turn out that way.

This is so comfortably brilliant. The storytelling flows so naturally and there’s never a dull moment.

I don't think it was Myungha's original timeline because of the smartphones and his comments about how teenagers' tastes had changed since he was that age. I'd have to check to be sure, but I remember the cars being modern as well.

I think Myungha was given the opportunity to live his life with a new state of mind, with the game concept added to ease him into the new existence. To me this points to an alternate reality. The game aspect went away at the very end when the two boys reached each other on the beach and the timer went to zero. The letterboxing pulled away and the film filled the screen, signifying that there'd be no more game prompts or missions. Myungha would just live.

I like your theory about the Senior's identity but I think it's unlikely. Since the story takes place in a video game, there needs to be a separate someone who coded the game. It's hard for me to imagine that someone who wrote a game would be confused by his own creation while playing it.

The series also made a big deal about people wishing on shooting stars, including Myungha. The Senior had the ability to grant Myungha's wishes by giving him a way to try again, so that makes me imagine the Senior as an entity with omnipotent abilities.

Yes! I'm halfway through my first rewatch and it has let me pick up on clues and meanings that were easy to miss the first time.

Ah, you also noticed that the Episode 8 kiss was done with crotches apart. For me it's always a tell that the actors are just a tad uncomfortable with the scene.

At the end, the game world became Myungha's real world. The moment that happens is when the two boys reach each other on the beach and the timer goes to zero. The letterboxing of the screen pulls back and the aspect ratio changes until the film fills the frame.

I think the finishing touch should be for Myungha to forget that he'd ever been in a game to start with.

Speculation:

The "Senior" is an angel -- possible Myungha's guardian angel -- who gave Myungha a second chance at life by putting him into an alternate universe/reality. What Myungha experienced wasn't really a game. Instead, the game concept was used to ease him into his new existence while teaching him the basics he would need to avoid making the same mistakes. Even the "system errors" were intentional, to keep Myungha from developing the same old habits.

Because really, who'd want to be stuck in a game server for eternity, dealing with characters and NPCs who were based on code? Myungha ended up in a real flesh-and-blood world, it's just that it's not the world he was living in before.

And I don't think he'll be presented with any more missions or errors.