I’d like to share my 2 cents on Do San’s character though, I think ALOT of people have been misjudging his…
i also read somewhere saying that the writer may be intentionally writing NDS’ character to be bad in order to make HJP more likeable - and more possible for endgame than Do San. If that's the case she is succeeding really well due to the discussion it's generating.
Bcs you guys can’t deny it. As little screen time HJP gets, his scenes are full of depth and poignance. Whereas NDS scenes always feels super forced and shallow and petty.
I’d like to share my 2 cents on Do San’s character though, I think ALOT of people have been misjudging his character as they kept putting him side-to-side to Ji Pyeong (which by far and wide is a much more well-written character).
A disclaimer to be made though! I’ve always been a NJH fan, so it’d be a lie to say that I was completely unbiased in my favour towards Do San. But nevertheless, I’ll be analysing NDS as a character and as the way the writer has wrote him to be- free from my NJH biases (i’ll try! Haha)
Even though I really loved ep 1’s prologue on Ji Pyeong’s character and the way they delivered it, I felt no connection to it and felt like it was all -too familiar (typical kdrama sad childhood story) . (note: I LOVED it but I just couldn’t personally relate to it).
However, when we were first introduced to Do San...I was really drawn to his character. I loved his quirks, his socially ineptness, his love for knitting, his dorkiness, his awkwardness, and just the way he’s always clear on what he wants despite not knowing how to get there and being incredibly stupid at times haha etc. I also loved how when Ji Pyeong insulted him (so so badly), he took it well and he took it as a motivation to improve SamSan Tech (and he actually listened to his advice on not being a CEO). So I had NO IDEA why so many people hated NDS from the get-go. He was charming and watching him cross paths with our (seemingly) protagonists made me feel like there was LOADS of potential to see his character grow and I was like rooting for this underdog exploring the winds of life. (As compared to Ji Pyeong who already had a quite well-defined character arc due to the established backstory in ep1).
But to my disappointment, his character kept falling more and more flat as his love for Dal-Mi grew. It felt sweet at first, but slowly it felt super clingy, lowkey toxic...and also super out-of-character? It’s not the fact that he fell in love with Dal-Mi so quickly that’s the issue though, it’s the inconsistency in NDS’s character. At times, the DoSan I was drawn to shines really brightly and the interactions with DalMi was just pure sweetness! Like when he held hands w her in the bus, or the starry night field after the beach scene, or even the crying scene in the bus station when he recognised how he has hurt her- those scenes were great. It was consistent w NDS’s character of being stupid but still willing to learn from his mistakes. Especially on how he drew parallels with his “cheating” in the math exam and how he chanced upon Dal-Mi- that was just *amazing* writing and character development as he struggles with the identity people projects him to be and his true self whom he knows will be a disappointment to everyone. Those were really heart-wrenching scenes that made me treasure NDS as a character so much more (that’s why ep9 was really good imo)
But then there were extremely contradicting scenes that...felt super out of place...that undo-ed all of the great development that was built in NDS’s character. Like when he stalked her to the pub, or when he raged against JiPyeong (like in ep6 he said he does not easily gets angry????), or when he get jealous about JiPyeong... and just the little things he do for Dal-Mi. It made him look super immature and petty...also super cringey and toxic. Felt like that was just filler scenes to help make Dal-Mi and Ji Pyeong shine brighter (cause we get to see how much more mature the other two are at handling things). It would’ve been fine had they flesh out more on how he is having insecurity issues with his identity and that’s why he’s putting Dal Mi on the pedestal. But No... that’s not what they’re doing? They are glamorising his obsessive/childish actions and they are expecting us to like him more?
I hope these character-issues w NDS will be resolved in the remaining episodes... bcs NDS is a really unique character with LOADS of potential. His strength as a character is seen in how he is so innocent and unassuming of people, incredibly stupid but so willing to learn- So idk why they are making him out to be this clingy, toxic guy. A total reverse from the NDS we were introduced to... :/ and I’m sure NJH has the calibre to act it out— don’t sleep on his talent yalls!!
So trueeeee ugh. They had SO MUCH potential. Park Bo Gum and Park So Dam are both incredible actors. They also had pretty sweet chemistry in the first few eps. But why did they ruin everything with horrible horrible horrible writing?.??!,
Yassss so true. I really loved Goblin so i was having such high expectations form it. Sigh, what a disappointment.
I rmb always feeling “wait, it has a really good writer. A really good cast. A really good plot (ish), a really big budget- but why is it so bad?”. Your review has answered this question that has bothered me since forever
Bcs you guys can’t deny it. As little screen time HJP gets, his scenes are full of depth and poignance. Whereas NDS scenes always feels super forced and shallow and petty.
A disclaimer to be made though! I’ve always been a NJH fan, so it’d be a lie to say that I was completely unbiased in my favour towards Do San. But nevertheless, I’ll be analysing NDS as a character and as the way the writer has wrote him to be- free from my NJH biases (i’ll try! Haha)
Even though I really loved ep 1’s prologue on Ji Pyeong’s character and the way they delivered it, I felt no connection to it and felt like it was all -too familiar (typical kdrama sad childhood story) . (note: I LOVED it but I just couldn’t personally relate to it).
However, when we were first introduced to Do San...I was really drawn to his character. I loved his quirks, his socially ineptness, his love for knitting, his dorkiness, his awkwardness, and just the way he’s always clear on what he wants despite not knowing how to get there and being incredibly stupid at times haha etc. I also loved how when Ji Pyeong insulted him (so so badly), he took it well and he took it as a motivation to improve SamSan Tech (and he actually listened to his advice on not being a CEO). So I had NO IDEA why so many people hated NDS from the get-go. He was charming and watching him cross paths with our (seemingly) protagonists made me feel like there was LOADS of potential to see his character grow and I was like rooting for this underdog exploring the winds of life. (As compared to Ji Pyeong who already had a quite well-defined character arc due to the established backstory in ep1).
But to my disappointment, his character kept falling more and more flat as his love for Dal-Mi grew. It felt sweet at first, but slowly it felt super clingy, lowkey toxic...and also super out-of-character? It’s not the fact that he fell in love with Dal-Mi so quickly that’s the issue though, it’s the inconsistency in NDS’s character. At times, the DoSan I was drawn to shines really brightly and the interactions with DalMi was just pure sweetness! Like when he held hands w her in the bus, or the starry night field after the beach scene, or even the crying scene in the bus station when he recognised how he has hurt her- those scenes were great. It was consistent w NDS’s character of being stupid but still willing to learn from his mistakes. Especially on how he drew parallels with his “cheating” in the math exam and how he chanced upon Dal-Mi- that was just *amazing* writing and character development as he struggles with the identity people projects him to be and his true self whom he knows will be a disappointment to everyone. Those were really heart-wrenching scenes that made me treasure NDS as a character so much more (that’s why ep9 was really good imo)
But then there were extremely contradicting scenes that...felt super out of place...that undo-ed all of the great development that was built in NDS’s character. Like when he stalked her to the pub, or when he raged against JiPyeong (like in ep6 he said he does not easily gets angry????), or when he get jealous about JiPyeong... and just the little things he do for Dal-Mi. It made him look super immature and petty...also super cringey and toxic. Felt like that was just filler scenes to help make Dal-Mi and Ji Pyeong shine brighter (cause we get to see how much more mature the other two are at handling things). It would’ve been fine had they flesh out more on how he is having insecurity issues with his identity and that’s why he’s putting Dal Mi on the pedestal. But No... that’s not what they’re doing? They are glamorising his obsessive/childish actions and they are expecting us to like him more?
I hope these character-issues w NDS will be resolved in the remaining episodes... bcs NDS is a really unique character with LOADS of potential. His strength as a character is seen in how he is so innocent and unassuming of people, incredibly stupid but so willing to learn- So idk why they are making him out to be this clingy, toxic guy. A total reverse from the NDS we were introduced to... :/ and I’m sure NJH has the calibre to act it out— don’t sleep on his talent yalls!!
I rmb always feeling “wait, it has a really good writer. A really good cast. A really good plot (ish), a really big budget- but why is it so bad?”. Your review has answered this question that has bothered me since forever