ItsAMe

Well, there are not many people who are able to tell apart irony, sarcasm and cynicism. Everybody who knows the difference is able to interpret the message in my previous comment as it was supposed to be interpreted. I hope that answers your questions.

He was away? I thought 'The Red Sleeve' was his comeback. But maybe you are right. Romance is a safer and more popular genre.

But there wasn't anything to discover left. The characters were one-dimensional. Nothing interesting happened anymore. Or do you think that the forced 'Oh, we have to separate out of the blue cuz daddy' felt natural? The characters didn't even pretend to feel desperate or angry or anything. After they got together again, everything was exactly as before after like 2 seconds. The dad looked annoyed for 3 seconds. Or the ridiculous 'Oh, by the way, I need my own hotel, which I never mentioned before but which has totally been my lifelong dream and I have also thought about it a long time'! That was just a sequence of random information. You can easily see that by replacing or removing scenes, and nobody would even notice that. If the story or maybe just the romance had been properly developed, it would not be possible to swap anything because it would have been a sequence of consequences, not of random information.

Jfyi, you can enjoy a drama while simultaneously acknowleding its flaws. At least, I can.

The fact that you write "The progression of them getting to know each other, talking and building connection with each other is the plot" shows that you either didn't read or understand my comment. Read it again, and you'll notice that I complained about the lack of progress in the second sentence.

ML and FL are a couple after a few episodes. After that, there is absolutely no 'getting to know each other' anymore because they already know everything about each other. There is no progression anymore because they are already in love, already a couple, had sex already. If you don't agree, let me know about the relevant progressions I missed after the main characters became a couple. Don't forget that, according to your definition, 'relevant' refers to the characters' progression only, not to any events. Thanks in advance.

I sometimes suspect that the writers suddenly change something in the script or that the actors do not get the whole script in the first place. I mean, the synopsis sounds entertaining, and the first few episodes were entertaining as well, in my opinion. :/

One of the very few dramas I watched twice. Yeo Jin Goo did an excellent job. When I watched this drama the first time, I thought that the two kings were portrayed by two different actors who just happened to look very similar. When I checked the casting list, I was surprised that it was the same actor because the characters felt so different.

Kim Sang Kyung was also fantastic. He and Yeo Jin Goo had a great chemistry making the relationship between their respective characters extremely interesting.

The only scenes I didn't enjoy were the romantic scenes with the queen. They felt fairly forced and lenghty.

This sageuk is all about politics. ML somehow has to survive because everybody either wants to use or to kill the king.

No, you're not the only one. They had a great chemistry, and their relationship was so intriguing because we knew that they would never be a couple or a Happy Ending for them.

Well, I think that most of us do know and expect that the relationship is the plot. However, there is absolutely zero progress as of episode 4 or 5 regarding that relationship. The leads are a couple, they are in love, and that's it. No real conflict. And sometimes the writers insert some struggling which feels forced and which suddenly ends.

The FL's friends had way more exciting stories with actual problems but they had way less screentime. Personally, I would expect the main leads to have the most exciting stories and problems to solve.

No worries. If you cannot stand the bullying, that's fine. Nobody expects you to watch any drama to feel miserable. Most of us watch dramas to feel entertained.

You are right about the hierarchy in Korea. It is very obvious there because the social hierarchy is part of the language while in Western societies it's usually not. In Western cultures and languages, disrespecting somebody is less obvious unless you call them names or openly bully them. We Westerners also tend to openly lie to give certain people the illusion of being respected (especially in advertising) while it is an open secret that we actually don't like them.

You see the bullying in dramas because Koreans suffer from it and want to feel good/better when watching their dramas. The K-dramas are simply "honest" in this respect, and we non-Asians/non-Koreans should not forget that K-dramas are mainly produced for Koreans living in Korea. Asian dramas are not race-swapped Hollywood movies/series. Koreans in Korea are telling their own stories just like everybody else on this planet except for US-Americans. US-Americans cry for rich people in Hollywood.

Western media, especially Hollywood, tend to paint a very wrong picture of our Western societies. "Hey, it's me, the poor student living in this poor people loft" is a very typical "poor people" character. Nowadays, we are even taught that the actors/characters in Western media were representations of something, and fiction was actually reality. And if our lives are not as seen in the movies, that's, of course, the fault of [insert a political/ethnic/religious/ideological/social group you don't like].

The reason why I currently prefer Korean dramas is that even the most ridiculous dramas contain relateable characters. Average people are usually poor or at least not wealthy. And poor people in K-dramas usually work hard to get a better life. We see them struggling, and their struggling is relateable because we experience exactly the same in our everyday lives.

Many K-drama fans (like I) look for relateable characters but we are also looking for new stories we haven't watched/heard/read a million times yet. At the moment, Korea is providing those exotic stories.

I felt the same. The main couple is adorable, the friends are cute, there are a few funny and romantic moments but the story is lacking which is particularily obvious in the last few episodes. This drama is great if you just want to see good looking people eating tasty meals and saying cute things to each other but it's a waste of time if you expect any progress or surprises.

If you favour fluffiness over a solid story, keep watching. If you expect anything else from this drama and are already bored, you'll probably get disappointed.

From what I see in the comments of dramas with popular actors, their fans give the highest rating, no matter how bad the drama is. It's impossible to tell whether the rating is manipulated or not.

I wouldn't call this drama trash. It's average and has got the typical dragging last episodes like many other K-dramas. However, there were many romantic scenes fans of romcoms certainly certainly enjoyed.

Oops, you are right, sis.

I remember the "gay" scene between the ML and his friend at the beginning of the drama, and how much I adored ML's friend's great hair in the following episodes. And how sexy FL's best friend found ML's best friend. I don't remember ML and FL, though.

You haven't watched Penthouse yet, have you? ^^

The drama wasn't about religion. You don't know if Samir is a follower of your religion. I agree with you, though, if Samir was supposed to be a moslem, they should have been respectful and true to the religion. Perfect examples are here in swimming pools in Western Europe. New Year's Eve is also a good choice. They should have used those moslems for inspiration. If those were not perfect examples, I'm wondering why you are complaining about one fictional character instead about the thousands of famous ambassadors of islamic and Arab culture in our Western swimming pools. Don't worry, though, I know quite a bit about your religion, not just what I see in the news. :)

And no, Samir was not depicted as a dunkard. Drinking alcohol is not equal being a drunkard. And this is coming from someone who doesn't drink alcohol. Samir also wasn't depicted as a moslem because that would have made him less likeable due to certain real life associations. He was likeable because he was funny in his weird way, and he had an interesting friendship going on with ML.

Heftig! Ich habe eben noch mal nachgeschaut. Die Bar-Szene ist tatsächlich weg! Die hatte ich erst gestern Abend geguckt, meine ich. Jetzt sitzt Won nur noch die ganze Zeit am Schreibtisch und spricht ins Handy.

Echt schade um die Szene, weil sie Samir interessant porträtiert hat. Kaum hat Won gesagt, dass er alles für Samir tun würde, hatte Samir nämlich plötzlich kein Interesse mehr an den beiden Damen an seiner Seite und an der Bar. Man merkte richtig, dass ihm plötzlich andere Dinge wichtiger waren. Das hat der Schauspieler toll gespielt, fand ich. Danach war der anschließende Vertrag auch umso witziger.

Well, whatever, one more reason to "like" certain people.

It's interesting that moslems demand free propagada for their religion even though the character never stated something like "I'm a true follower of Islam and do everything exactly as my prophet Mohammad demanded of me, the perfect ambassador of Islam and Arab culture". You are making him islamic yourself.

What is "their culture"? At the moment, a lot of Arab culture happens in German swimming pools. Should they have shown something like that instead? No, Samir did not claim to represent his country, culture or whatever. He was just some rich business man doing business and having a bit fun. Also, they didn't bring an actor, let alone one from a _certain_ country. They just casted an actor who lives in Korea, who is fluent in Korean, who already acted in many Korean dramas and who looked somewhat Arab. Korea is a little country. You won't find many foreign actors there who are also fluent in Korean.

Yes, please do watch the episodes and form your own opinion. In my personal opinion, Samir was a funny and sweet character. He looked Arab enough for a Korean drama. (It's not like this is a Hollywood blockbuster with a big budget.)