Hanatoko

Old comment but I want to add for readers (in support of you): it is definitely a cultural thing and you see it come up reasonably often in kdramas. There's so many layers here that come into play.

Korea has a strict age-centric culture and language revolving around levels of respect. If someone is older than you, you treat and speak to them differently. The same is true if someone is your senior. Having an older person in entry level positions complicates that dynamic for other employees. Further, Korea's job market is extremely competitive and highly values youth. Part of this is because the younger you are, the more time you can invest into a company. This acts doubly against older women because mothers are still expected to be available for their children (vs fathers who often relegate that to their wives and work all day). Also worth noting is that lookism is a huge issue in Korea as well, so much so that resumes are obligated to have pictures on them.

Da Jung is an older divorced single mother AND got pregnant as a teenager which throws a slew of issues into the mix. She's like the shining representative of what a conservative patriarchal society deems improper and undesirable. Being a single mother is still frowned upon in Korea, and they're not often treated well. News anchors are very public figures essentially acting as makeshift celebrities or the face of the network, so having someone that can be easily criticized is a big no-no. Anchors are also typically expected to be young and attractive. She's older and has two children already, which means she won't be at the company as long as a younger college graduate would and she also has to dedicate time to family instead of working. In a culture like Korea where people literally wait for their boss to leave before they can go home or are obligated to attend after-work drinking parties, none of this is ideal.

I'll leave it at that for now, but it bothers me when people can't look beyond their own cultural bubble and then insult something as childish or ridiculous because they don't understand it or never experienced it.

I think diagnosing fictional characters yourself and then getting angry at the way you think said diagnosis is being treated is just unreasonable. I haven't watched Run On and thus will not comment, but Louie frivolously spending and being generally unaware of the world are just symptoms of his grandmother coddling him his entire life. He also proves himself to have skills useful in a job environment anyway, so it's not like he's "incapable of surviving by any standards if not for his wealth". These are not exclusively autistic traits and shouldn't be treated as such.

And in what world is there any abuse in My Roommate is a Gumiho? He is by far one of the most harmless MLs to grace our TVs in recent memory.

Sang Tae was thought of as a nuisance by his brother, but that doesn't mean he WAS a nuisance. At the beginning of the drama when we're told they move constantly because of Sang Tae's fear of the butterflies, Sang Tae immediately agrees to go back to their hometown without so much as a second thought when asked. Gang Tae was using him as an excuse to escape his own issues and run away. The burden upon Gang Tae was more-so caused by his mother than his brother's actual neediness. He felt shackled because of his mother's expectations and the responsibilities that fell upon him when she died, but that feeling of being shackled was a personal issue that he continued to perpetuate upon himself.

This is not to say that Sang Tae was a fully independent autistic person that needed no help at all, because he did have outbursts at times, but I don't feel like the drama tried to depict Sang Tae as an actual nuisance and people often do not give him enough credit with how well he functions and communicates overall. He goes on to have his own arc in achieving his dreams and seeking independence from Gang Tae. It's noteworthy that both brothers have arcs that mirror each other. Both of them had similarly complicated, toxic, and possessive feelings towards each other mixed with a desire to be independent and free of one another. They're brothers that want to support each other and yet feel stifled by each other at the same time. In the end, both of them ultimately achieve independence and mutual understanding with Sang Tae leaving on his own to live his own life.

This has too much heart to be below an 8. It's not the most original plot in the world, but it doesn't need to be because its thematic is done so well. I love the theme of "home" and just how important having a space to call our own and unwind in is to our lives. The plight of the FL is increasingly relevant in modern society, and the juxtaposition between her ability to turn each apartment into a home she feels comfortable in versus the ML's barren houses is great.

Korea is not one collective mind and set of creators. Different directors and writers will do different things. Audiences also vary, and there are people who prefer younger high school dramas. It doesn't make much sense to assume that every Korean BL will be similar, or to be surprised when one doesn't match up in terms of content or quality to another.

The first episode is nearly identical and the overall plot is quite similar, but this drama is far better than the movie IMO. It has more heart and depth, and manages to add many new subplots that ground it in a Korean cultural context. This drama is a master class in adaptation because it makes the material its own while still being recognizable, and it elevates its content in such a way that makes the original seem even more childish than it already was. It also removes the weird elements of the original plot like the sister dating the brother's bully.

Basically me. SaiZon were the highlight, and now I've fallen into a hole of following Jimmy/Tommy content.

It's not a particularly useful hidden camera if it's entirely blocked by a stack of towels and inside a closet. I don't think there's any malicious intent behind it.

This isn't all that bad if you skip everything except Tin/Can and Tul/Hin. Everything else is rubbish and not worth your time.

The rating was 8.5 until something inexplicably dropped it to 7.3 in like 2 hours. Let's not pretend it's indicative of anything right now when it's so obviously skewed and we're only 2 episodes in. Being critical of an entire show and rating it based on how you think it will develop before it even has the chance to tell its story is basically judging your imagination.

Plus given generic, tropey, and problematic BLs like TharnType are above 8, it's not like people rate based on how "original" a BL is to begin with. (Nor do they need to)

I found the second episode had less overuse of sound effects, though frankly the first episode didn't bother me much to begin with.

It's absurd. Either the site messed up or something shady happened like a review bombing. A drama does not naturally drop 1.2 points in just a few hours; especially given there was no new episode to prompt it.

And unlike a few months back when dramas site-wide were dropping while MDL played with their review system, the only drama I've seen drop is this one.

I don't get it either. This is delivering in every aspect for me so far. The story pacing is even impressing me a bit given its time constraints.

People aren't "going soft" on Korean BLs. They're delivering a very different BL experience than Thai or TW BL dramas, and thus get rated differently.

That final scene and narration made my heart flutter. Such a great directorial choice.

I actually thoroughly enjoyed this from start to finish, and that's a large feat for a Thai BL! I've completed several at this point, but I always get turned off by something (typically the sexual assault/rapey tropes that are so frequent) and end up unimpressed or hate-watching. Gene calling out his own writing in the first scene as sexual assault had me cracking up.

I really love the overall vibe and set-up we've got here. The self-referential and obvious BL parody elements give this drama a distinct and progressive touch, but it still keeps the BL tropes people love and want to see. I'm eager to see how they use that dynamic.

The acting is working for me, the music is fun, and I appreciate the commentary it's bringing forth about fan culture. The sound effects are maybe a bit overdone, but I've gotten used to that from other Thai BLs so they really don't bother me.

I hope this continues to impress!

Frankly I don't think there was enough story here for 16 or 17 episodes. I did start enjoying this drama more after we got Eun Oh's backstory, but it took far too long to get there. It was like we were watching an endless loop of Jae Won being pathetic and Eun Oh being bizarre and "crazy" for more than half the season. We also kept flashing back to the exact same sequences from their time together a year prior which quickly got dull and repetitive.

Neither of the secondary couples got as much attention as they should have on top of that, which just makes this even more frustrating.

This story, these characters, and the themes that were presented are all good on paper. The execution just didn't work out.

I really wanted to love this because in all aspects it has everything it needs to succeed. The cinematography was beautiful, the music was great, the actors did a fine job with their roles, and the plot itself has a great concept and foundation. Unfortunately the plot didn't take into account the time it had, and everything felt squashed and rushed which left it no time at all for development. I should care about these characters and this relationship, but I don't because they spoke for all of 5 minutes and didn't even really interact with each other until Episode 5 of 8. We saw a skeleton of major events without any of the connecting threads that make them natural or believable.

This same story in a longer format would've been excellent, but that's not what happened so this disappointed and came out to be a bit of a mess. It's a little frustrating thinking about the potential it had, honestly. The other two notable Korean BLs that came out this year were much better at fitting their relationship and plot into the short movie format, and thus felt like properly executed complete stories.

"Get off your high horses and quit pretending as if your better than anyone else here in this comment section"

You say as you do exactly that. You're correct in that people holding negative opinions are completely valid, but immediately insulting people with positive opinions just goes back on what you're trying to say.

This is so petty and childish.