I'm not sure Baifern was the right choice here and/or the make-up department and special effects department failed.
In the original Korean drama: 1. Ha Ji Won came in known for her versatility in for example martial arts movies, for period dramas, for playing a beauty, for playing a tomboy, for all sorts of things. 2. Kang Sa Rang the supporting actress won a Miss Korea pageant and is a model as well as an actress.
Baifern has the background as a model and actress and is arguably prettier than the second female lead in the Thai remake whereas Ha Ji Won can contrast her physical appearance with a beauty queen winner in Kang Sa Rang. I know it's not everything but it certainly helps sell Ha Ji Won as the 'average' (stunt) woman whereas every time I look at Baifern she just seems to be well done with makeup and never really breaking a sweat (seriously, compare the stunt scenes and the post-injury scenes in episode 1 between the two dramas, it's night and day. The Thai drama she literally never breaks a sweat and never looks very sick despite needing a hospital bed in both versions).
I'm also not a huge fan of the line delivery and chemistry between the leads and how the comedy lacks relative to the original. Finally I do like how they played up the destiny angle but there are way too many flashbacks. I appreciate they want to show the male lead has an obsession but there has to be a better way to show it.
Definitely give it a chance, I know my comment is negative but the show could work for you. I didn't hate it... I'm just short on time recently and feel there are better shows out there that are suited better for me.
Tried to watch this but ended up dropping. The story gets a bit boring in the middle, plus the episodes are totally…
Same. The accent of the female lead is strong and makes me believe she's from Yanbian or whatever in Northern China and that was good but overall I feel like too many characters mope or wallow in their self pity and that caused me to lose interest. I get life is messy but it ended up being boring to put on screen.
"the show is picking a line of propaganda from a failed regime and giving it validation. Is that really ok in…
You don't have to reveal the story if you come out and say "no, none of the pro-democracy people will be North Korean spies". It's not difficult to do.
Normally I'm all for historical fiction that's set hundreds of years in the past so when I hear complaints about that... I kind of roll my eyes. They directly reference the "Joseon Exorcist" when complaining about this show. I do think something set in 1500 should be given leeway and people can separate fact from fiction.
That being said something set in 1987 where an authoritarian regime is crumbling but still destroying lives... that should be treated carefully. The majority of the population was born before 1987. So tens of millions will have memories of the time period. The democracy is still young.
The plot as written here and on the page of the show seems laughable at best and could easily be damaging.
I mean seriously. Think of China appointing the leader of Hong Kong. That's what it was like in Korea. The regime picked the 'democratically elected' candidate. It was a farce. And then they turned around and called pro-democracy Hong Kong residents, Chinese citizens 'foreign agents' or 'influenced by foreign agents' and have arrested, tortured, disappeared and likely killed others.
Now think about Hong Kong and think about how that is South Korea in 1987. And if the plot and script leaks are accurate... the show is picking a line of propaganda from a failed regime and giving it validation. Is that really ok in your eyes? It's certainly not in mine.
You can do shows about modern events, modern political events but when something is sensitive you have a duty to research and tell a somewhat accurate story. And an accurate story doesn't start with you having a plotline that is basically a dictatorship's propaganda.
As others have said... probably should have been a bit shorter. Too little going on, the same repetition. Thought it was ok but I found myself fastforwarding here and there.
First 3 episodes felt ridiculous and contrived to me as opposed to a good story. The story was weak to set up scenes for the characters and that's not something I really enjoy. I mean seriously. The first 3 episodes can be summed up "CAN YOU SEE HOW COOL I AM? LOOK AT HOW COOL I AM" for Seo Hwi, Seon Ho and Hee Jae.
I think I'm out. The job of actors, writers and directors should be to tell a story and I don't think that was done.
I liked the cast but as with a lot of Japanese dramas it feels disjointed and disconnected moving between scenes and themes. That doesn't make for a very good story.
It was okay but nothing great as a result of how characters acted and reacted to create the story.
Worth a watch because the cast is good and the story on its face is interesting but I was not blown away.
It kind of goes off the rails in the last 8 episodes where the male lead becomes incredibly possessive, jealous and gets physical with the female lead with forced kisses, grabbing her and holding her down and insinuating he might rape her.
I think what made it particularly bad for me was I didn't really see any remorse or regret from the male lead. He smiled and giggled looking back on it.
It says there's an 'original story' so I guess they might have wanted to stay true to it but I feel the show would have done better if the female lead was treated a bit better by the script. I liked the ending but she was an incompetent spy who didn't really achieve anything. Why would her 'uncle' give her and male lead a new mission? I do like that ending but I feel like Episode 10-18 could have been building her up instead of your typical domineering male lead in a Thai drama. Whatever.
Also the female lead's sister has this elegant look to her, wish she would get more shows and lines. I get youth sells and she doesn't exactly look young but she was expressive and I liked that.
She's a supernatural being that takes on human form. She is basically like a 'plant' in that she can manipulate…
The alternative for him is dying (it's unclear if this would be intentional by her or a side effect of what happened because remember... he has come back from the dead too) so not really a Stockholm syndrome in a traditional sense at least for the start of the show.
If you watch you'll see pretty early on he tries to leave and is forced to return.
Is it only me who got confused after reading the synopsis?
She's a supernatural being that takes on human form. She is basically like a 'plant' in that she can manipulate and shoot out branches/vines at will. The show is called 'Rattan' which is a type of vine and you can guess where the name of the show comes from.
She is brought back to life by a car accident that 'kills' the male lead. She saves him but he is bonded to her and incapable of leaving.
There you go. I 'spoiled' the set up of the first ~2 episodes. All of this is subject to future change in subsequent episodes but it gets you an idea.
The male lead obviously wants to escape this scary, powerful supernatural being that is lets say... domineering but he is physically incapable of doing so. She uses him to adjust to the world and help get what she wants (but at this point I'd be spoiling actual plot).
So if I was writing the synopsis I would drop the "alien" and change it to supernatural being or something and likely clean up the backstory as it will be revealed over time and is not really necessary for the synopsis beyond "she was from the 1930s and reawakened" or whatever the exact year was.
Is it only me who got confused after reading the synopsis?
It's a synopsis that tries to reveal as little as possible and some of the word choices are poor. I'll write a little 'spoiler' down below that reveals the first few episodes.
This was tough to get through. I don't think I hate the female lead but she just goes around in circles too often for my liking. And she does it so many times before there is any movement on the overall story and plot.
You don't get a romance for most of the show. You don't get a story for most of the show. You get a soap opera. Female lead is happy around male lead, the 'relationship' is sabotaged or she misunderstands something and sulks for a few episodes. Repeat this over and over. The fake pouting she does gets old fast. And what makes this so frustrating is that they aren't in an actual relationship beyond their fake marriage.
I appreciate this is supposed to be a comedy but this was at best boring and at worst frustrating for me. I feel like this show could have been 8-10 episodes instead of 29 and it would have been just as funny, just as romantic and have a stronger story.
And the fact I feel so much could be cut because it was irrelevant speak to why some people think the female lead is dumb. The writers have her character make decisions to draw out the show. There was a clear lack of substance.
All in all, if you like a happy ending and don't mind characters having moments instead of a larger story, plot and consistent romance... this is a good drama. It's definitely 'fluffy' and 'light' as others have said.
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1 
In the original Korean drama:
1. Ha Ji Won came in known for her versatility in for example martial arts movies, for period dramas, for playing a beauty, for playing a tomboy, for all sorts of things.
2. Kang Sa Rang the supporting actress won a Miss Korea pageant and is a model as well as an actress.
Baifern has the background as a model and actress and is arguably prettier than the second female lead in the Thai remake whereas Ha Ji Won can contrast her physical appearance with a beauty queen winner in Kang Sa Rang. I know it's not everything but it certainly helps sell Ha Ji Won as the 'average' (stunt) woman whereas every time I look at Baifern she just seems to be well done with makeup and never really breaking a sweat (seriously, compare the stunt scenes and the post-injury scenes in episode 1 between the two dramas, it's night and day. The Thai drama she literally never breaks a sweat and never looks very sick despite needing a hospital bed in both versions).
I'm also not a huge fan of the line delivery and chemistry between the leads and how the comedy lacks relative to the original. Finally I do like how they played up the destiny angle but there are way too many flashbacks. I appreciate they want to show the male lead has an obsession but there has to be a better way to show it.
Definitely give it a chance, I know my comment is negative but the show could work for you. I didn't hate it... I'm just short on time recently and feel there are better shows out there that are suited better for me.
That being said something set in 1987 where an authoritarian regime is crumbling but still destroying lives... that should be treated carefully. The majority of the population was born before 1987. So tens of millions will have memories of the time period. The democracy is still young.
The plot as written here and on the page of the show seems laughable at best and could easily be damaging.
I mean seriously. Think of China appointing the leader of Hong Kong. That's what it was like in Korea. The regime picked the 'democratically elected' candidate. It was a farce. And then they turned around and called pro-democracy Hong Kong residents, Chinese citizens 'foreign agents' or 'influenced by foreign agents' and have arrested, tortured, disappeared and likely killed others.
Now think about Hong Kong and think about how that is South Korea in 1987. And if the plot and script leaks are accurate... the show is picking a line of propaganda from a failed regime and giving it validation. Is that really ok in your eyes? It's certainly not in mine.
You can do shows about modern events, modern political events but when something is sensitive you have a duty to research and tell a somewhat accurate story. And an accurate story doesn't start with you having a plotline that is basically a dictatorship's propaganda.
I did like the first 1/3 of the show before that dropoff, wondering if I should finish because the subs have gotten better or forget about it.
I think I'm out. The job of actors, writers and directors should be to tell a story and I don't think that was done.
It was okay but nothing great as a result of how characters acted and reacted to create the story.
Worth a watch because the cast is good and the story on its face is interesting but I was not blown away.
I think what made it particularly bad for me was I didn't really see any remorse or regret from the male lead. He smiled and giggled looking back on it.
It says there's an 'original story' so I guess they might have wanted to stay true to it but I feel the show would have done better if the female lead was treated a bit better by the script. I liked the ending but she was an incompetent spy who didn't really achieve anything. Why would her 'uncle' give her and male lead a new mission? I do like that ending but I feel like Episode 10-18 could have been building her up instead of your typical domineering male lead in a Thai drama. Whatever.
Also the female lead's sister has this elegant look to her, wish she would get more shows and lines. I get youth sells and she doesn't exactly look young but she was expressive and I liked that.
If you watch you'll see pretty early on he tries to leave and is forced to return.
She is brought back to life by a car accident that 'kills' the male lead. She saves him but he is bonded to her and incapable of leaving.
There you go. I 'spoiled' the set up of the first ~2 episodes. All of this is subject to future change in subsequent episodes but it gets you an idea.
The male lead obviously wants to escape this scary, powerful supernatural being that is lets say... domineering but he is physically incapable of doing so. She uses him to adjust to the world and help get what she wants (but at this point I'd be spoiling actual plot).
So if I was writing the synopsis I would drop the "alien" and change it to supernatural being or something and likely clean up the backstory as it will be revealed over time and is not really necessary for the synopsis beyond "she was from the 1930s and reawakened" or whatever the exact year was.
You don't get a romance for most of the show. You don't get a story for most of the show. You get a soap opera. Female lead is happy around male lead, the 'relationship' is sabotaged or she misunderstands something and sulks for a few episodes. Repeat this over and over. The fake pouting she does gets old fast. And what makes this so frustrating is that they aren't in an actual relationship beyond their fake marriage.
I appreciate this is supposed to be a comedy but this was at best boring and at worst frustrating for me. I feel like this show could have been 8-10 episodes instead of 29 and it would have been just as funny, just as romantic and have a stronger story.
And the fact I feel so much could be cut because it was irrelevant speak to why some people think the female lead is dumb. The writers have her character make decisions to draw out the show. There was a clear lack of substance.
All in all, if you like a happy ending and don't mind characters having moments instead of a larger story, plot and consistent romance... this is a good drama. It's definitely 'fluffy' and 'light' as others have said.