Jackpapa

There are many cheating K-drama and J-drama that I do not like much. Many stories try to show that there are reasons that Woman cheats the husband and Viewers shall sympathize her.

+ ML is a good husband but may not notice his wife’s overworks. He may not ever cheat the wife in the story. BUT if ML cheats the wife once by mistake, it may be understandable to balance the affair guilt.
+ FL is the wife who overworks but does not communicate her burdens to the husband for help. So, she cheats the husband by having another man to comfort her. BUT if the husband is asked for help and he always ignores doing it, it may be more understandable for the cheating reason.
+ After the affair is caught-up, ML gets so much hurt and wants to divorce. FL feels sorry and just waits for the husband to understand and forgive her BUT does not show enough growth to save their being broken family …….
+ Then the story ends that ML feels lonely and cannot survive without her.

I just read your review and totally agreed with you. The story line is so WEAK in the second-half. Both June and Guy show their SELFISH characters and just want to take what they want by not thinking and hurting the other people’s feelings. The written story does not show enough growth and learning for them to deserve the (opening) ending happiness. They just forgive and forget on what they had done !!! …. Viewers do not learn or get anything from this drama.

I watched this original J-drama after watching the remade K-drama and preferred this J-version more. The J-writer tried to balance and compare the affair guilt between Man and Woman and wanted to convince Viewers to sympathize and forgave the adulterous wife whom ONCE slept with another man due to her weakness and exhaust from over-works …. In the J-story, the husband ALSO cheated on her during her pregnancy but she chose to keep silence to save the family. In difference, the remade K-drama changed the story in showing that the K-husband was honest and did not have affair with any girl.

The original J-drama did not clearly show that the adulterous J-wife thought of her lover BUT the K-drama showed that the chetaing K-wife obviously thought of her lover and might passionately fall in love with him and “obviously” expressed her happiness when being with him during the affair period. The adulterous K-wife did not feel sad, upset, or disappointed when she knew that her lover dumped and completely abandoned her …. but, so surprisingly, she showed her care to him and his marriage situation, rather than spending time to save her being-broken family.

IR always loved her husband and his family. Her bond to him and his family was stronger than her love to Joon. After her husband wanted to have IR to be back with him, IMO, she would want to be with him whenever she ensured that he would not resent and truly forgave her guilt.

Even when she decided to move to stay with her in-law’s house due to her MIL’s sickness, she told Joon that she did it for Joon and the reason to be with them b/c she wanted to ensure that her love to Joon would not be changed.

When she was awakened up from her coma, the first face that she thought of was her husband although the one who was being with her was Joon. That made Joon realize that he could never compete with IR’s husband.

ML and FL and others performed great. But the main storyline could be written better.

In term of the couple’ characters, the written story was that the ML and FL might not love each other but they both stayed together because they still got benefits from each other. They both have affairs without any much care of their own partners’ feelings.

Soo-ee’s doctor friend said to Hae-II that Soo-ee did not want to have a surgery because she wanted to have a baby. The story portrayed that the husband seemed to believe that Soo-ee wanted to have a baby with him and did not divorce Soo-ee b/c he also had an equivalent affair guilt that he slept with another girl. Just wonder if her affair was not found out, Soo-ee wanted to have a baby with whom? …. Her husband … OR her lover?

Totally agreed with your review above. The story line has a lot unrealistic behaviors of main leads.

I do not understand why Eun Jin keeps crying when she finds out that Jae Hak is Mi-Kyung’s husband. She does not like Mi-Kyung and she knows that Mi-Kyung does not really like her. What is the reason of her crying heavily?

I also do not understand why Eun Jin can not answer her husband the truth when he questions her if she has slept with Jae-Hak. She could openly tell her husband about her emotional affair with another man … BUT WHY she wants to hide the truth that she has not slept with Jae Hak. This is a NON-SENSE and conflicting character. If Eun Jun has slept with her lover, it will be more understandable on WHY she does not dare to answer that question.

The story tries to lead to the direction that Eun Jin really loves Jae Hak. But I do not see any connection between them regarding LOVE ….. except only a scene that they go to a Hotel room together with an incredible (so much) warm-hearted that they could not sleep together b/c the action is an affair BUT not love.

The drama story and characters of the two FLs and one ML do not make any sense at all.

A simple example is the SFL, Eun-Jin.

Eun Jin’s husband met another girl and his betrayal hurt her. It made sense that she felt sad, upset, and wanted to divorce him. When her husband has tried to improve himself, then she meets a married man, Jae Hak, whom she falls in love with. She can not force herself to sleep with Jae Hak b/c of her passionately love feeling to that married man AND if she sleeps with him b/c it is an affair …. OMG !!! …. But when she confesses to her husband that she does NOT love another man to revenge him, her husband is so upset and asks if she has slept with that man, HOW and WHY she does NOT tell him the truth right away that she has not yet slept with her lover? …. I do not understand WHY she keeps silent and does not answer that question ?? ….. This is incredibly NON-SENSE b/c she is watching her husband being hurt in thiking that she has slept with another man. Moreover, she does not want to revenge or divorce or get divorced by her husband, keeping her silence is really a NON-SENSE character.

I do not understand how the story makes Eun-Jin as the Victim of her own affair. When her husband cheated on her, she was hurt and acted agreesively. BUT when she cheats on her husband, she acted liked a pity girl and cries heavily in most of the remaining story in hurting her husband and her lover’s wife …. WHAT !!! … Some Viewers (including me) may not understand why she cheats and then what is her crying for after her lover’s wife reveals her affair ?? Her crying starts to make sense when she finds out that her affair guilt has an impact on her younger sister’s love b/c her sister’s boyfriend is her lover’s wife’s younger brother.

You will find a lot more non-senses and comflictings in the drama.

The story was so confusing and disappointing at the end. The husband’s character, as written, was an indecisive person who thought so many times before making a decision. Then when the decision was made, that’s it !!! …. In the story, the husband tried so hard to forgive his adulterous wife’s affair BUT he was so hurt and could not forget the image of his cheating wife being with her lover leading to their divorce. HOW, in a short period, could he forget and magically erase his painful memory and the image of his wife being with another man …. and then wanted to go back to be with his wife.

I also preferred the original J-drama. The remade K-drama made the K-FL’s character to be like … she felt passionately in love with another man and cared him so much. And at the ending story, she admitted that she was happy when being with her lover and did not ever think to break-up her affair if the husband did not find out.

The J-wife’s regret and sorry due to her betrayal to the husband seemed more sincerely.

Ji Hyo is a great K-actress. I have watched her movies and series since SEX is Zero - II until present. Her acting has been improved over times and looks naturally and emotionally.

The main story line in realizing the hardship of a career mom and housewife is good … BUT some details in the story conflict with each other. Some Viewers might think that the adulterous wife’s lack of communication is the issue for this couple that she has not shared her burdens to the husband for help BUT I do not think so.

There is a scene obviously showing that the cheating wife can talk and keeps PUSHING her husband to resolve her issue in finding a camera-man to satisfy the Mom’s group. The story also shows that the husband is a good person and wants to help her although he is being hurt and still does not know whom and how he can find a camera-man.

So, is the lack of communication really the issue? Why had she NOT shared her other burdens to her husband? Cheating is her choice and decision.

ML and FL performed excellently and naturally in this drama. OSTs were great and so emotional.

The story line was good for Viewers to realize that working as a career mom and housewife is not an easy job … But the K-Writer failed to convince many Viewers to feel sympathy with the adulterous wife as the Victim of her own affair.

I did not think that the adulterous wife Soo Yeon’s mistake was a one-time mistake that made her lose everything as the Song Lyrics said. Although SY slept with her lover ONCE, she never thought to break-up her (emotional) affair with that married man since the affair started for about half a year. She was so happy when she was with and met her lover and eventually did not deny that man’s desire to sleep with her. She has kept her affair secret without any suspicious manner to her husband and intentionally lied in front of his face to sleep with her lover at a Hotel. At the ending story, she, herself, also admitted that she would still continue her affair relationship with her lover if her husband did not find out.

SY said that she did NOT have enough time to be herself and even had no time to fix her worn-out shoes. The two-hours late by her lover gave her a free time to finish reading a book kept in her bag for a long time and that was the starting point of her affair. Then, to enjoy her happiness, she was (magically) able to arrange her (not-enough) times to meet her lover at any cafeteria or even could manage and arrange her time to be with her lover in a Hotel room !!! …. So, meeting and being with her lover was her priority rather than spending her time with her family.

The song lyrics said that the adulterous wife did not even love her lover … BUT there were so many scenes in the drama showing oppositely that the wife felt passionately in love with and always thought of that man … buying colorful lingeries to show her lover in a secret place (comparing to buying a wallet as a gift for her husband’s wedding ceremony but “forgetting” to give it to him); blowing or kissing her hand given to her lover and holding his hand; admitting at the end about her happiness and not feeling guilty when being with her lover, etc. ….

All of her actions and expressions which could be seen more in the drama did not convince her ONE-TIME mistake. It seemed that she had another man in her heart during the affair. Her excuse in having an affair did not make much sense !!!

The husband was the one whom narrated this drama story. So, the story might not show enough growth of the wife to gain the husband’s trust back and deserve the (opened) happiness ending. Her sorry and remorseful feelings to the husband seem so easy and simple and it is quite hard to sympathize the wife as the Victim of her affair.

A question after I finished watching this drama was if their son should stay with the adulterous wife after the divorce. Yes, she was a good mom. But when her son grew up and asked her what was the reason that the parent divorced, could she dare to tell her son the truth that the broken family was due to her affair and she was happy to be with another man when she felt exhausted to be a perfect mom and housewife?

The story line is good. The first marriage may end up with misunderstanding. After years pass, then one may know and learn his/her mistake and correct himself/herself to better understand the partner.

Anyway, you said it all !! … I totally agree with you that the ending story should be up to 30 EPs. The last 6 EPs are meaningless. I am so disappointed especially with the last 2 EPs that FL has not been informed about the ML’s Coma condition by ML’s family and she keeps searching for ML from countries to countries.

The secrecy and confidential agreement can be signed by several persons and can be updated any time. … and the ones whom sign the agreement could NOT share that info out to others. The Writer should realize that FL is ML’s fiancee and has her right to know his sick condition.

The Writer seemed to NOT do much homework about secrecy and confidential agreement when writing the script.

I quite agreed with your comment. I enjoyed watching this drama but did not like the ending much. The story was unrealistic but the actings of ML and FL were great and looked naturally.

The Writer tried to make the Wife SY as the Victim of her own affair that she had initiated and convinced the Viewers to sympathize her. The 6 months affair period was long enough for her to stop the relationship with another man BUT she did not want to do it. SY admitted that she was so happy when being with another man and also forgot her family and did not feel any affair guilt. Then when that man wanted to sleep with her, she could deny BUT just accepted it with her smiling and happy face and looked forward to the appointment date.

The worst of this remade K-drama was that SY’s lover was a married man who also had wife and *kids*. The written story was that her lover’s wife could forgive the husband’s affair guilt, so it should be fine b/c her lover’s family was not a concern ….. BUT in the real life, their relationship would definitely not be the same as before …. IF her lover’s wife decided to divorce him, SY was the one who destroyed that husband-wife-children family. Was it OK to sympathize her *intentional* affair guilt as the Victim?

The written characters of ML and FL were confusing and disconnecting between EPs.

The Writer wanted to make SY’s character that she was overwhelmed with her workloads as a career mom and housewife. She did not complain her burdens to the husband and claimed that she did not have time for herself. So, lack of communication of her burdens to the husband and not having times to be herself were the issues which led to the affair when she met another man who comforted and realized her hardship. However, there was a CONFLICTING scene showing that SY pushed her husband very hard to resolve her burden in finding a camera-man to satisfy to the Mom’s group. So, why and what was the reason that she did not share her other past burdens to the husband to resolve the issues?

Her not-having enough time for herself was also hardly believed. Before the affair started, she said that she did not have time even to fix her worn-out shoes. However, after the affair started, she could find (her not-enough) times to meet her lover at any cafeteria outside the office; to buy colorful lingeries to show him in a Hotel room; to even plan and manage her time to sleep with him; etc … So, CHEATING was her choice and intention.

The Writer made the husband’s character as an indecisive person whom took time to make a decision BUT when he did make it, that’s the end. He was so MUCH HURT about his wife’s affair and could not forget the image of his wife’s lover being with her leading to the divorce decision. Then after a few or several months, how he could “magically” erase his painful memory and wanted to reconnect with her as the husband/wife relationship? Also, the last disappointing was that the husband narrated at the ending that he hoped his wife would forget his past which I did not feel that his *unintentional* mistake in overlooking his wife’s overwhelmed works (but without her communication to him) was comparable to his wife’s *intentional* affair guilt and lying in front of his face.

Good inside comments. I also noticed your comments of this drama in AsisaWiki several years ago.

I understood the interpretation of Rocking chair’s presence in the drama was a bit confused in the last EP 19-20 when IR left a letter to her husband saying that “I am sorry” . The meaning of this statement as IR had told her SIL and her husband HT narrated was that “she no longer loved her husband any more”. BUT when IR met her husband again at the crossing street, IR’s heart fluttered ….

So, did it mean that IR could not stop loving her husband although she wanted to and decided to leave him as stated in her letter?

It might be a bit late to say that I loved your comments above. I had the same thinkings as yours when I watched this drama which I enjoyed watching it so much. My only different thinking was that IR might not “truly” love the Carpenter but might be shortly infatuated with him b/c he was handsome and around her ages …. And he was ONLY A MAN whom she could not openly talk about her overworks. The “true” love had to be developed over times ….. not in a short period.

The drama portraying the thinkings and feelings of IR’s sister-in-law was so amazing !!! Yes, she was the best ever friend of IR during the 7 years.

Btw, I did not quite understand and was confused in the last EP 19-20 when IR left a letter to her husband saying that “I am sorry” at the end of the letter. The statement’s meaning as IR had early told her SIL when she expressed how much she still loved her husband and HT also narrated in the end of EP19 was that *She no longer loved her husband any more*. So, after she was awakened from her COMA, she ended her relationship with the Carpenter and decided to STOP loving and HT as written in the letter.

However, when IR met her husband again at the crossing street, her heart fluttered? So, she could not stop loving her husband although she wanted to and left him?

In the drama story, the adulterous wife IR knew that what she had done was wrong and wanted to end her relationship with Carpenter KJ before her husband later came home and yelled at her. The bad thing was that her husband had known about her affair and was so much hurt and could not force himself to even forgive her. He did not want to help or support IR to get rid of her emotional feeling with KJ …. What he just wanted was to divorce her and end their marriage without considering IR’s hardship devoted to him and his family. However, it was hard to say that her hardship devoted to her husband’s family justified her affair.

What I disliked IR’s character in this drama was that she always gave hopes to Carpenter KJ while she, at the same time, was trying so hard in begging her husband’s forgiveness for her affair. The story portrayed her obvious caring to Carpenter KJ in reminding him to apply lotion on his hand after they argued in a tool shop where she met KJ and blamed him that he should early inform her that her husband had ordered him to make a chair for her.

There was a scene when IR and KJ argued at KJ’s workshop b/c KJ did not want her to stay with her in-law’s house and he asked what he meant to her …. She replied to him that if he did not mean anything to her, she would not FOLLOW HER HEART to be with him. How could it be? It seemed that IR gave a hope to KJ again !! … If IR honestly followed her heart and loved KJ, she should accept her husband’s early divorce proposal and stayed with KJ.

Even in the nearly ending story after she did not want to leave her hometown with KJ and then KJ ended his relationship with her, she later called him on the next day after talking with her best school girl friend … but it was good that KJ did not accept her call (which might make him to have another hope again), otherwise he would be hurt more b/c IR never loved him as much as she loved her husband.