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I don’t really have a problem with them getting together at the end. Ideally I would want them together by ep9, so that we could also enjoy some of their time together as a couple, as I already said I highly doubt that there will be a season 2.

And yes I sort of dropped The eight sense, but I would say I put it on hold if I’m being honest, it wasn’t bad, but I just couldn’t get behind the production quality, even if it was sort of a stylistic choice, it also kinda broke my heart, and I just wasn’t in the mood for it, but I’m planning to revisit it maybe after weak hero season 2

Because in order for the slow burn aspect to work, there needs to be a payoff, or a justification for it. If the main couple gets together by ep 10, and have 5-7 minutes of screen time together as a couple, do you think that is satisfactory when it comes to the writing? I would be surprised if you said yes, because the answer is clear. And also, it’s highly unlikely that we will ever get a season 2, to actually have that payoff, since we are talking about a BL (honestly the production quality is a miracle here), and also the fact that even the first season was hardly released.

The story was clearly designed towards the webtoon style of storytelling, and not one with a limited screen time. They just haven’t used the already limited time wisely, with especially the second couple and the tennis storyline. Instead of fleshing out who Heesu, and especially who Seong Won is, they decided to focus on the wrong things, hence the outrage.

So it looks like I overestimated the drama a little bit. I thought that we would get a confession this episode but apparently not. Instead, it really feels like it’s getting ready for the miscommunication trope for the next episode, great… Maybe they will get together in the last 5 minutes of the last episode guys💀.

“Be grateful we even got this show to begin with” is a WILD thing to say, and it really shows that people’s expectations of BL’s are down in hell at this point. It’s important to provide valid criticism, so that we WONT get another shitty adaptation like this, or just generally a BL like this. Things will never change if you don’t speak out about the issues. People are tuning in, because they care about this show, and this industry, and want to see both thrive.

The thing is, in order to actually pull of a “slow burn” you need a payoff for it, or in this case a justification. The payoff is that we could finally see the main couple together, and their relationship. But unfortunately with a pacing like this, it is highly unlikely that we will see enough of it that will be a satisfying payoff. Because I can confidently say that we will never get a season 2 of this, this season alone barely released.

My prediction is, next episode will have a confession. The episode after that will have a conflict, and the last episode is when they will resolve that conflict and get together, and maybe share a kiss, and if they are generous enough, we may see them in a relationship for 5-7 minutes. Which I think is very underwhelming.

Yeah, I have seen a few people (almost always the same ones i might add), being condescending to others, just because they have positive things to say about the drama, and they believe they somehow see a "bigger picture" that others here can't see. But I have also seen some pretty disrespectful stuff from the other side aswell to be fair. Criticism is important, but so is being civil, and feeling superior to someone just because you are "different", is not only cringe, it's also harmful. But I can also sort of see it, that the people involved with the drama might have influenced this, because of all of the criticism they recieved, which is well deserved. But that's just a speculation of mine.

It's interesting how you are complaining about people's criticism about the drama, and say that they are false, and yet you don't even truly understand what people's issue is about the drama, and what they are really complaining about.

No one is mad for the second couple just because they are straight. Though if you think about it, if you make the argument that "This is not a BL this is a queer show", then it would've made more sense if they would've made the second couple GL instead, but I digress. What people actually complain about, is that they created this pairing only for the series, and gave a huge chunk of screentime to this couple, even going as far as deleting scenes between the main couple, to advance the second couple. They could've used that time much more effectively, to develop either the main couple, or show what challenges Heesu faces as someone who is "different". Do you truly believe that the amount of screentime the second couple got, and the tennis storyline was a good use of the drama's already limited time? It feels like they are forcing their way into an already established story and into queer spaces, I mean what would you call it if they delete scenes from an already established story between the main BL couple to please the straight couple? Also the slow burn of the main couple, just can't be justified, because I can almost guarantee you, that there will not be a season 2 of this, what's the point of a slow burn if there is no payoff?

But to be fair, I do believe that there are people who have the wrong mindset about the drama from both sides of the spectrum. I don't think it's unwatchable, but I also don't think it's a great drama, and I probably wouldn't recommend it to people who haven't started it yet. Pointing these issues out is important, because it paves the way to the industry, to make them strive better, criticism is essential for media, especially the BL scene, because it is in shambles. If you think that criticism is wrong, or that people shouldn't complain, you are part of the problem.

Yeah, that was even worse. The webtoon itself originally was BL, but they removed the BL element, and made it bromance instead, which was really shitty. It was obviously intended as a BL, and you can even see that in the drama itself, I never really bought that they were just “friends”, even after the ending.

Preach it. Honestly the amount of people that are trying to validify, or excuse the creators and the writers choices are concerning.

The bar for BL's seems to be down in hell at this point, and people are perfectly fine with it, which is why we are getting underground quality BL's or adaptations like this, that are catered towards the straight audience. I also don't understand those people, who say that if people will complain, it's harmful, because they, for some reason will not do BL's like this anymore, which is a silly argument, because actually it's the opposite. If you don't voice your opinions, and the problems about these dramas, then the creators will think that they are fine as it is, and won't strive to do better. Change won't come, if you don't do something about it.

Also newsflash, just because you have a different opinion, that doesn't mean that you are better, or that you somehow see "a bigger picture", when it is most probably not even there, so being condescending to people is not as cool as these people think it is.

Sure, it's not a bad drama by any means, it just has a severe identity crisis, and doesn't know what message it wants to convey. It's awfully stereotypical, and basic, but it's not unwatchable, It just had the potential to be so much better.

Aside from the focus of the second leads, one of my biggest complaint is the slow burn itself.

I love slow burn stories, so I normally just wouldn’t mind it. But the problem is that it’s being executed very poorly here. Besides the fact that they intentionally cut scenes from the webtoon to make it “slow burn” and the bait that you mentioned, the slow burn just can’t work if there is no satisfying payoff. Looking at the pace of the drama, they are probably planning on the main couple getting together very late, maybe even the last episode. Which would normally be fine, because there’s always season 2, where the said slow burn would pay off right? The thing is, season 2 is nowhere in sight, since this season alone barely released. So the payoff itself will never come.

It depends honestly, if you want to watch it purely for Ahn Ji Ho, then go ahead. If you actually want to watch something enjoyable I would say maybe or maybe even no.

What people say is partially true, I would say that both couples have even screen time, maybe the second couple has a tiny bit more, but the real problem is that the second couple has more meaningful scenes together than the main couple. To give you a rough band spoilery idea, we are at ep6, the second couple are already together, but the main couple only became real friends in ep5, and there will be 10eps, so the pace is awfully slow for the main couple, and even though they have a decent amount of scenes together, none of them are meaningful.

Story wise and just in general the drama is heavily mediocre, and is leaning towards being pretty bad. But it’s up to you really, in my personal opinion, if I was in your place, I wouldn’t bother with it, at this point I’m only watching because I already spent almost 6 hours on it, which I will never get back, so might aswell see it through.

I’m callling it right now. We are going to have the confession in ep8, ep9 and a bit of ep10, will be spent with Heesu being mad at seung won for lying, and him trying to make amends, a kiss scene in ep10, then maybe like 5-7 minutes of them being a couple and being lovey dovey, and that’s it, it’s a wrap. Season 2 nowhere in sight to actually justify the god awful slow pace of the main couple. Of course all the while featuring the straight couple aswell cuz why not.

I would say probably not too well. Also this is not the first BL with long episodes/deep character study. There are a few more like this, they are just more low profile. The reason why I think it’s not doing good, is because there’s no outrage over it in Korea, atleast I’m personally not seeing anything about it specifically. People loved Love in The Big City, and it garnered so much attention that some bigoted Koreans even when to the streets to protest against it, Friendly Rivalry also received some minor backlash, but it was nowhere near the scale of Love in The Big City, so that basically sums up the horrible situation in Korea when it comes to acceptance. But it also tells you that it doesn’t really have a wide audience, or it’s not as widely known as the other two, so I’m guessing it’s not doing great, to be fair I don’t think it’s doing well on an international scale either.

To start this off, I did like today’s episode, it was definitely better than the last 2 that’s for sure. However, I think most of my concerns are still present.

The root of the problem with this drama, is that it wants to do everything, but it just can’t afford to, because of the short runtime of its episodes. The weekly episode schedule also works against its favour, because it makes the pace look worse than it actually is, hence last weeks backlash. It really looks like the writers wanted to keep the kdrama format, but that can’t work with the 40minute screen time, all while having endless amounts of storylines to follow through, as the traditional kdrama formula always does. I don’t mind having seperate storylines from the main story, I also don’t mind the straight couple, what I am worried about, is how they will affect the main couple’s progression. That is the reason why the main couple suffers/ed the lack of/meaningful screen time, all while, as I predicted last week, the straight couple already had a confession, so they are as good as together already, in the fifth episode. I get that the main couple has more hoops to jump through, but it would be nice to see more of those hoops, or just to have more time to spend with them, and I think the right solution would’ve been to have the traditional 1 hour screen time for it.

But my concerns aside, today’s episode was definitely a step in the right direction, even if were only baby steps. So all I can say, is that don’t give up on the drama yet, give it a chance, and that we can’t fully judge the drama till it finishes airing, we will have to see how it will turn out. But also keep your expectations low, because the pacing is still an issue.

Firstly, there’s no such thing as 4 main leads, not when we look at couple pairings, there are the main leads, and the second leads, as far as I’m aware they are not in a poly relationship. You can classify them as main characters (which are completely different things, especially in this context), but classifying them as main leads is a STRETCH.

Second, the second leads were not featured together in the webtoon, this was created for the drama, it was not part of the source material. So it is perfectly understandable for people to be upset, especially since the main leads relationship is in the gutter, but the straight couple are literally almost together, and not only that, they removed a crucial scene between the main leads just to give the said straight couple more screen time. However you try to justify it, the backlash is valid.

Yeah I feel like people are definitely giving up too quickly on the show. However it’s totally valid to criticise the last episode, and raise their concerns over the pacing of the drama. I also say that the last episode deserved the low ratings. But I don’t think we can fully judge the show for what it is yet, we can only do that once it finishes airing. Even though I am quite upset about the last episode, I’m still holding out hope for the drama.

People “can’t stand what they are seeing” for a very good reason. It’s because people were so excited to be finally represented in a KBL drama that has an actual budget, and runtime, and then there are the fans of the webtoon. Both parties are disappointed at the moment, because deleting crucial scenes between the main leads to give the straight couple like 10-20 minute screen time is atrocious, it is a straight washing variable.

People don’t “hate” the show, but rather voice their opinions and call out harmful behaviour in media, and critise the drama. Criticism is not hate, and if you think otherwise you are part of the problem.

What I can tell you if the roles were reversed and this happened in a straight kdrama, people would go for the pitchforks, and straight up hit the streets, no questions asked. Hell people already did it when Love in the Big City was released.

So no, people critising a drama for it’s harmful rhetoric is not hate, nor are the people are trying to drag the show down, because a lot of us still hope they turn this around.

Well we are not sure yet honestly, but based on episode 4 it's really looking like it is a straight-washed drama, which is unfortunate. But it's not exactly fair to make that assessment yet, since it's still ongoing, but it has straight-washing qualities, that's for sure.

The straight couple, was not originally in the webtoon series, this aspect was added to the drama, people may argue it's for inclusivity, but my guess is that they wanted to make the show accessible to straight people, which turned out to be counter productive, because apparently the original plan was to air this drama on cable. One of the reasons why it was counter productive, is because they sacrificed a crucial scene, (according to people who read the webtoon), between the main couple, to give the straight couple 15-20 minutes of screentime, so it sort of shows you where the priorities of the writers and the producers lie.

I haven't watched Love in the Big City yet, but based on how you described it, you will not find those qualities here YET, we just have to see how the drama continues to deal with stuff, to be able to make a full assessment.

They don’t necessarily go for realism, but rather they try to go for inclusivity but they go the wrong way about it, for example, the main BL couple is taking a backseat and the drama so far is developing the straight couple more than the BL couple. In the drama, homophobia is not exactly present. Based on the characters reactions, liking the same gender is/or maybe almost as normal as liking the opposite gender. Though the ML tends to get defensive and touchy when someone mentions the subject to him, but I don’t necessarily believe it’s because he fears what others might think about his sexuality, but rather that he is scared that people find out he likes Chan young and he is scared that it might ruin their friendship, atleast that’s how I perceive it.

No, they don’t really engage with labels, it’s more on the lines of “he likes guys or she likes girls”.