L13

You don't file a restraining order in Korea because a guy declared he'd try to seduce you.

And they didn't mention a fidelity clause in the marriage contract; I imagine the whole point of it is to allow Dohan to be with his boyfriend in NYC, so why shouldn't she also have a sidepiece? Plus, they're not married yet.

In any case, we'll see how Ajeong reacts to Jihan's announcement tomorrow, but I imagine she won't take him seriously given that she's still under the impression that he hates her. Like, can you imagine falling in love with a guy who's only courting you to ruin your engagement with his brother, and also hates you? Obviously not, so she's treating it as some novel form of trash talk/harassment and not as a serious objective... Jihan probably thinks the same way at this point, but we as viewers know he's already down bad for her.

He’s not tall and his face shape is nothing like Gamin’s.

No, I get it. I get annoyed when the characters are drinking in every episode and it feels like the writer doesn’t know what else to do to force them to have meaningful conversations, but so far I haven’t become frustrated with it here.

I don’t think a scene in which a disapproving grandfather observes his grandson’s supposed girlfriend flirting with his other grandson and they’re both blind drunk and acting like annoying children “glorifies” drinking, exactly.

A heartfelt, funny and poignant movie with a truly detestable villain, good taste/a sense of dramatic measure that almost never falters or tips into sentimentality, some wonderful bits of comedy that capture the absurdity of growing up and the pain of loving and living with other people, and... just a little too much fighting, I think.

The authentic, thoughtful and humorous portrayal of adolescence is a highlight, as is the masterful gender swap of the stereotypical shoujo plot about a school bully with a heart of gold obsessing over a pure-hearted classmate and trying to coerce her into spending time with him while she pines after the perfect second male lead. When the obsessive tsundere in question is a girl (and this girl in particular), the familiar tropes become refreshing, thought-provoking and just the right amount of ridiculous.

To reiterate, Gwang-shik fucking SUCKS, oh my god. I haven't hated a villain like this in ages.

The ending was perfect.

So many things in this show don't make any sense, though... It doesn't make sense that the secret government org in charge of shinobi relations would waste their time following and kidnapping a journalist who works for a small magazine that only a few conspiracy cranks read in the middle of a massive security crisis—when the journalist is, moreover, in some kind of romantic relationship with a shinobi and is hiding out at his house after agreeing not to expose him! Like, she should NOT be a priority right now, so why are they going after her so zealously and risking their tenuous agreement with the Tawaras? They could have just talked to her, intimidated her a little and told her to stay put at the Tawara house until they dealt with the, you know, murder cult terror threat hanging over Japan at the same time???

A lot of the details of Karen and Haru's early investigation were totally illogical too... I don't use the term 'plot hole' lightly because it makes me think of pedantic nerds who don't know how to enjoy a story, but this show had a bunch of actual plot holes in the first episodes that I've already forgotten.

Also it doesn't make sense that Gaku would wake up after a two-week coma, realise he's in the secret camp of his mortal enemies and not, you know, immediately kill himself or kill a bunch of them before killing himself. All he did was stare at that Fuma Kotaro guy—NOT a scary or cool villain, by the way—when he could have simply taken his own life to prevent information leaks. And then when he finally tried to kill himself days later, it was with that massive goofy shuriken that was easily knocked out of his hands. Come on! A real ninja would have been able to bite down on his tongue until he died or he would have hidden poison on his body or something. And then he had a private conversation with Fuma Kotaro in a secluded place and didn't make an attempt on his life at all? All it took for him to start questioning his whole life was to hear someone say that killing people for the government is fucked up? Dude, I thought you already knew that?

In general, the ninjas in this show are really not that impressive IMO. They lack the agility and deadly grace I would expect, they don't have preternatural senses or near-magical stealth skills, they're too obvious and clumsy in their daily lives. That stupid daughter was ordering grappling hooks "for ninjas" online to her own house, in her own name! They carry their phones on missions! An office worker with the cognitive capacity of a concussed rat was able to bug their house successfully!

There's so much you could do with a cool concept like ninjas secretly operating in present-day Japan, but this show reduced them to indentured thugs who work for some moron in the government... Which, now that I think about it, is probably what ninjas were like in real life, but I would have liked to see a more romanticised portrayal here.

I'm on episode 5 and so far I'm less impressed by this show than most people, it seems. It's just not that engaging despite the great premise, the characters are not very compelling (especially the father and the daughter, who annoy me immensely without the payoff of being interesting), the story doesn't offer many showstopping plot twists or dramatic set pieces nor does it move at a fast pace or progress toward a palpable culmination/build tension, the action scenes are... really not that great if you're a fan of the martial arts genre, and the western director's hand is evident in the overwrought Umbrella Academy style soundtrack (a big miss for me) and the terrible handling of emotionally/psychologically charged moments, which are dispatched quickly with quips and cliches most of the time.

Still, I'll probably finish it because I love ninjas that much, and the actor playing Haru is doing a good job.

It has serious moments that work for me as well as comedic moments that aren't meant to be taken seriously. Drama/comedy is a well established hybrid genre and not something unique to this show; it doesn't mean the show has nothing serious to say or that it's "disappointing" if you take it seriously.

I don't think Hotel del Luna copyrighted the ice queen character type.

Sooo… his sunbae set him up?

I'm impressed with Lomon's comedic chops here. He's never made a strong impression on me before, but here his acting is natural and engaging. Either he's improved over time or comedy just suits him.

I'm on episode 11 and the psycho parents give me so much stress, man.

Song dynasty era Pride and Prejudice? Oh, I will be seated.

Streets are saying Feb 9.

I watched episode 1, but neither of the leads seems very charming, plus nothing terribly interesting has happened yet. Also the part where everyone's pretending the FL looks like a man is taking me out of the story.

"the very ridiculous way in which a genius student is portrayed here, (a very intelligent person is one that with minimum effort manages the highest grade, so no hard studying! if you have geniuses in your family you know what I am talking about)"

I can't agree with this. There are many different ways high achievers achieve. People are all different, after all. Jeongwoo is portrayed as the kind of perfect student you describe—someone who is carefree and naturally talented—while Haneul is a perfect student through hard work and determination. I went to school and university with a lot of high achievers and Haneul's type is far, far more prevalent in my experience.

Yeah, I was really touched by that part because it was so realistic. To come here and see so many people criticise the FL for being a doctor and not taking care of her health just tells me there are a lot of children who haven't really experienced life yet on MDL.

I love how you put it and I agree. I thought the first episode was really good. It was fun and engaging while paying attention to psychology and characterisation, no flashback to the leads' youth dragged on for too long, and the secondary characters were plentiful and interesting enough to populate the world around the leads with believable human beings. Both characters are likeable too—the ML seems charming and genuinely nice while being a bit ditzy and privileged and the FL may be a bit uptight and indifferent to others at this point, but her modest background and her suffering in the present day are presented very realistically and make her sympathetic.

I enjoyed the first episode! It was all setup and pretty conventional, but it didn't drag; the direction is good and each scene is engaging and to the point. There is a good number of secondary characters too; I hope some of them will have their own storylines.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's episode for sure.

There's one thing I don't understand. Lee Sungmin is in his 50s. The Japanese occupation ended in 1945. The story clearly takes place in the present day or sometime in the 2010s at the earliest as per the use of smartphones and the fashion/tech/cars in the movie. Even if we accept Piljoo and his targets are all in their mid-80s or above, they would have been 10-15 years old when Japan retreated from Korea. Not old enough to do the things Piljoo accuses them of. Piljoo and his enemies would have to be 100 years old for the story to make sense... how are they all still alive, and so perky to boot?

The chronology is completely messed up. They should have dated Piljoo's grievances to the 1960s at the earliest, or set the movie in the 90s.