By what I understood, the intention is to honor the professionals fighting the virus, encourage, and such. You…
I wonder if they'll accurately portray corrupt officials covering things up because the central corrupt government led by President Xi encourages cover-ups. I have no doubt 10-20 years from now another disease will emerge from China and cause the world problems again. They have learned nothing from this. The word "accountability" doesn't seem to exist with the CCP. If you are proactive and find something, the CCP will fire you. It encourages bad practices.
The ending was weak. The explanation I see down below for the happy ending doesn't make much sense (even if that's the intent of the writing/directing team... it's still filled with holes). I think the fact he has a first wife complicated things. I liked her and the actress playing her but she became an afterthought way too often.
Just like I was afraid of back around episode 40... the past 30+ episodes have all literally been basically the…
Oof. Thanks for the tip. I just saw two of these soaps appear on Kocowa new episodes and figured I'd give once a chance while I work from home. I guess I'll go with the other one for now and this one at some point later.
I'm kind of on the fence about starting this one. I like the cast but I'm not sure how you base an entire TV show off a concept that's usually a twist in a TV show or a ~1-2 hour movie.
Guys is this worth watching ive been trying to find something with action like vagabond,healer and stuff?
I guess the question to ask is how much comedy you like mixed in with action?
A major part of the show is misunderstanding between the leads and other characters. A second major part of the show is the group of housewives and househusbands protecting their neighborhood and trying to help the female lead to funny results. A lot of confusion results for both the leads and everyone else.
There is a lot of internal monologue among the characters as they say one thing to try to get information and reactions but are thinking another.
I enjoyed it but it's not anywhere near as serious as Healer. The action scenes are fewer and far between but they do exist and happen. It does have serious moments. There are consequences for characters. But it's a blend of serious and comedy. Sometimes stuff is funny, sometimes stuff is serious, sad, happy.
Another struggle? Powerless kings. Most MLs, most of the time are kings or crown princes, are usually so powerless…
It makes sense though. You'd have a King die and then you have a young man or boy ascend the throne... what happens next?
A modern example is Kim Jong Un inheriting North Korea in 2011 at the age of 25.
He killed or jailed over 200 top officials including an uncle. This took place over several years as he began to take control and consolidate power. At first Kim Jong Un put forward orders many of which were not followed... then he had to enforce it with violence. Soldiers were literally killed in battle for siding with their "advisor" they liked over the "king" in Kim Jong Un. A new king coming into power without strong military ties could easily find himself deposed. Especially when military power was more about manpower in ancient China (or anywhere) so a powerful advisor from a populous province of the empire/kingdom could legitimately threaten to march on the capital and kill the king by assembling men from the cities and surrounding villages he "owns".
I'm a big fan of Roman history so think about Rome. Caesar was a governor of a province north of Rome after he became too powerful and the Roman Senate wanted to exile him. He had troops loyal to him. He marched on Rome and seized it and quickly eliminated his rivals (killing them, exiling them and then stuffing the Senate with advisors loyal to him that would vote for him). Now replace Senate with King or Queen and it's the same concept.
So while it's not fun they're powerless I would say it's somewhat accurate. You're either powerless or ruthless and while neither one is particularly good... the young king slaughtering his uncles and brothers and advisors isn't likely to win over any modern audience.
Pretty good start but then drops off heavily. Well, nothing new, everytime a TV series handles only one case it…
Agreed. The show should have taken a more episodic approach. It started to drag because it was the same case over and over. The bad guy can predict the future and always act appropriately (and none of that gets captured on camera?) to escape and even when he gets caught there's some convenient way out to keep the story going.
It's one of my gripes with a lot of crime shows. The villain is always some super genius until he or she is conveniently not a super genius and gets caught. Most writers don't have the writing ability to write smart and flawed villains and pace it will enough so that they aren't stretching reality to keep things going.
Western TV kind of hides this where most crime shows are episodic with a bigger story and one big time villain that they slowly develop.
I like Chinese historicals the best of the China/Japan/Korea. I enjoy historical TV shows no matter the language.
I think Korean/Japan can come close to China when it comes to the comedy style and the "traveled back in time" genre but do less well with serious period pieces for whatever reason. One example is Nobunaga Concerto from Japan which is one of my favorite shows.
Female lead is still the worst lead I have ever seen in any drama anywhere. She's a bad person. You can be a victim and a bad person. A strong character is someone who can be empathetic and protect others and do the right thing. Read the synopsis up there. That's her character. Lies, cheats, steals and destroys innocent lives (intentionally, she chooses to destroy them).
Korean dramas are filled with leads - mostly men who are pretty bad, sometimes abusive but I just haven't seen anyone this bad. She would be the villain in literally any other story. She's a corrupt prosecutor who harms innocent people. She would be the big bad guy at the end of the show who needs to be taken out after the leads have worked their way to her. I'm not saying she doesn't jail bad guys - of course she does. But those corrupt prosecutor antagonists in other shows also jail bad guys. They just also screw over innocent people and try to jail them too (like our female lead).
Instead she's played as some sort of anti-hero but I still don't see anything redeeming about her character to compensate for the bad she did in the show. I appreciate there's corruption and you see this all the time in Western shows as well where cops or prosecutors bend the rules but it shouldn't be glorified - certainly not to the extent of what she does. Of course in TV shows it always works out... in real life innocent people get thrown in jail.
I liked the character growth of the two female leads. I could have done without the Kang Shi Wol character. One super annoying character that is always pouting and making bad decisions and acting like an arrogant clown was more than enough (Chairwoman/aunt).
It's a soap so a lot of dragging and secrets that slowly get revealed to 1 person at a time. IDK like I said - I liked the female leads and their growth from experiencing awful circumstances. They survived terrible situations and grew to be strong and capable people.
A clip of the leads first meeting brought me here. Wondering what's the age difference between them because he…
You've probably made your decision but for anyone else:
He's 34, she's 29. It starts 10-11 years earlier when she's a highschool senior and he's heading off to do mandatory military service.
The first few episodes just set up relationships and secrets before jumping forward 10 years.
They meet in passing when they're younger and he's in military gear and she's in her highschool uniform with her bag(?) if I remember right. She's a few months from graduating highschool and he would be 23-24.
The age gap doesn't really factor in much. You don't see him in uniform much after those first few episodes - it was just mandatory service and after that he's in suits, vests and other business clothes.
It felt like they had no idea where to go after Ji-wook lost his job. They were trying to find ways to build a convincing story but it floundered and it was a series of scenes which I was kind of ambivalent towards. The mysterious serial killer angle was OK but it felt like it dragged and would have been more interesting if Ji-wook was still a prosecutor.
I enjoyed Cruel City and the tough choices they made to get to an ending. I still haven't managed to finish K2. I forget why I stopped watching but it's not like I have a huge urge to go back and continue. I always wanted to give something like Mr Sunshine a chance (late 19th early 20th century in Korea or China as well) because there seem to be so many dramas for that time period but for some reason I just don't. Maybe it's time to dip my toes in.
I'm not really sure about that ending for Episode 6. It seems premature for the female lead to walk away. He's still running around and not showing a lot of concern beyond being a decent person to her.
Late in the show a major thing happens to one of the leads and the plot is still very much unresolved with different factions still planning to do stuff. If you like happy endings or endings that resolve - this is not the show
Is there actually going to be a season 2? It has been well over a year and a half now. It ends with things completely unresolved just when I was starting to get interested in the characters.
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A major part of the show is misunderstanding between the leads and other characters. A second major part of the show is the group of housewives and househusbands protecting their neighborhood and trying to help the female lead to funny results. A lot of confusion results for both the leads and everyone else.
There is a lot of internal monologue among the characters as they say one thing to try to get information and reactions but are thinking another.
I enjoyed it but it's not anywhere near as serious as Healer. The action scenes are fewer and far between but they do exist and happen. It does have serious moments. There are consequences for characters. But it's a blend of serious and comedy. Sometimes stuff is funny, sometimes stuff is serious, sad, happy.
A modern example is Kim Jong Un inheriting North Korea in 2011 at the age of 25.
He killed or jailed over 200 top officials including an uncle. This took place over several years as he began to take control and consolidate power. At first Kim Jong Un put forward orders many of which were not followed... then he had to enforce it with violence. Soldiers were literally killed in battle for siding with their "advisor" they liked over the "king" in Kim Jong Un. A new king coming into power without strong military ties could easily find himself deposed. Especially when military power was more about manpower in ancient China (or anywhere) so a powerful advisor from a populous province of the empire/kingdom could legitimately threaten to march on the capital and kill the king by assembling men from the cities and surrounding villages he "owns".
I'm a big fan of Roman history so think about Rome. Caesar was a governor of a province north of Rome after he became too powerful and the Roman Senate wanted to exile him. He had troops loyal to him. He marched on Rome and seized it and quickly eliminated his rivals (killing them, exiling them and then stuffing the Senate with advisors loyal to him that would vote for him). Now replace Senate with King or Queen and it's the same concept.
So while it's not fun they're powerless I would say it's somewhat accurate. You're either powerless or ruthless and while neither one is particularly good... the young king slaughtering his uncles and brothers and advisors isn't likely to win over any modern audience.
It's one of my gripes with a lot of crime shows. The villain is always some super genius until he or she is conveniently not a super genius and gets caught. Most writers don't have the writing ability to write smart and flawed villains and pace it will enough so that they aren't stretching reality to keep things going.
Western TV kind of hides this where most crime shows are episodic with a bigger story and one big time villain that they slowly develop.
I think Korean/Japan can come close to China when it comes to the comedy style and the "traveled back in time" genre but do less well with serious period pieces for whatever reason. One example is Nobunaga Concerto from Japan which is one of my favorite shows.
Korean dramas are filled with leads - mostly men who are pretty bad, sometimes abusive but I just haven't seen anyone this bad. She would be the villain in literally any other story. She's a corrupt prosecutor who harms innocent people. She would be the big bad guy at the end of the show who needs to be taken out after the leads have worked their way to her. I'm not saying she doesn't jail bad guys - of course she does. But those corrupt prosecutor antagonists in other shows also jail bad guys. They just also screw over innocent people and try to jail them too (like our female lead).
Instead she's played as some sort of anti-hero but I still don't see anything redeeming about her character to compensate for the bad she did in the show. I appreciate there's corruption and you see this all the time in Western shows as well where cops or prosecutors bend the rules but it shouldn't be glorified - certainly not to the extent of what she does. Of course in TV shows it always works out... in real life innocent people get thrown in jail.
It's a soap so a lot of dragging and secrets that slowly get revealed to 1 person at a time. IDK like I said - I liked the female leads and their growth from experiencing awful circumstances. They survived terrible situations and grew to be strong and capable people.
He's 34, she's 29. It starts 10-11 years earlier when she's a highschool senior and he's heading off to do mandatory military service.
The first few episodes just set up relationships and secrets before jumping forward 10 years.
They meet in passing when they're younger and he's in military gear and she's in her highschool uniform with her bag(?) if I remember right. She's a few months from graduating highschool and he would be 23-24.
The age gap doesn't really factor in much. You don't see him in uniform much after those first few episodes - it was just mandatory service and after that he's in suits, vests and other business clothes.
The last two I really enjoyed were 100-manen no Onna-tachi and Nobunaga Concerto.