LittleFallOfRain

There is certainly so much more to chemistry including what you mentioned. I understand all that. I think the artists themselves have to play off each other well even behind the scenes and be comfortable enough with each other too esp when they will be playing intimate roles opposite each other. There has to be trust built within the two in order to act out different emotions. Even in fight scenes there has to be some kind of partnership between the fighters.

The writing and directing certainly also is at fault here. Their relationship wasn’t built well so it was hard to swallow that the FL was obsessed and very aggressive while the ML constantly looked dumbfounded and naive.

You’re right that SHS acts so well. And, as you mentioned, her scenes with her niece and sister are so believable. So how come some of us were left emotionally cold when she was with the ML? She can’t be said to be carrying this show when the romance, which is sold as central point, is a failure.

To me, there is something lacking. As I said earlier, SHS has strong features and presence, and she needed to tone down or else she would look too harsh. That’s one part of how I see it. Because of that, I can’t see enough vulnerability, softness and tenderness from her. She also kept her tone of voice in a condescending manner when speaking with the ML so that was also quite irksome. So it looked like a romance between a teacher and her innocent pupil. And a big part of why I watched this show was the promise of romance so it’s very frustrating to watch for me.

Oh I can definitely picture Im Si Wan in this role.

I think you pointed out what I find lacking from her in this drama. I think she has a strong presence that at times I find her too harsh when it comes to portraying romantic scenes. And maybe the writing isn’t helping in that which is why I thought of another actress who could probably project that better. Someone who can show acting range and vulnerability.

You may want to try 2521. It was one that she won a best actress award. I won’t spoil you on the story.

It’s hard to explain the actress’ appeal in correlating to this character. I think it’s her ability to project intimacy onscreen without much skinship.(You’d know what I mean if you completed Mr Sunshine). I think she has the vulnerability and softness that is just right for this character.

I just remembered she’s also in the drama Revenant, currently airing now, if you can handle horror theme. I read it’s doing well in ratings.

I can’t say I agree with your argument but let’s just agree to disagree on that point.

For the record, I’ve seen and liked SHS in other dramas but somehow her performance here is just not working for me. And reading your edited comment, I find it funny that on my part, I have been emotionally detached whenever she is onscreen.

It’s too bad you’re not acquainted with Kim Tae Ri though. If you’ve seen her works, maybe you’d understand why I thought of her.

I can’t think of another actor who would fit Seo Ha’s frailty though…do you have anyone in mind?

I’ve been reading spoilers on the webtoon and it really is such a shame they changed so much of the core story.

Some of the other details like the 2nd couple romance was so much cuter in the webtoon also.

Sorry to disagree. Chemistry is definitely NOT on the writing. That’s on the artist’s ability to project onscreen. And I can see Kim Tae Ri carrying out the same nuance in acting out quirky characteristics as well as Shin Hye Sun.

No need to be so defensive on your favorite actress. This is for me and those who find the lack of chemistry between the main couple that SHS is unable to deliver.

The last thing drama-land needs is another 1000 year childhood connection, that only makes the drama ordinary instead of unique. It seems the production dropped the ball big time on this one.

I agree. They tried to add too many sub plots that only made the story more convoluted.

And also, they could’ve done less with repeated flashback scenes of the accident, Seo Ha in the pool, Ji Eun’s past lives as if the audience was dumb and needed constant reminding.

I can’t help but think that if this show had another actress play the FL maybe there would be more spark to the main couple. I’ve been thinking Kim Tae Ri would be perfect for this role and she would be nailing it so well.

And I think she would make it more believable playing a 24 year old character too since she was already so convincing as 18 year old Hee Do.

Not that it would make the story less messy. But that’s the fault of the writer. I was thinking along the lines of the main couple’s chemistry.

Lee Anha, I wouldn’t worry too much about MDL ratings. It’s not deserving of the high number here. This drama has so many flaws only the fans who watch with rose-colored glasses are giving it high marks and don’t want to admit them.

Just look at the Korean TV ratings and Netflix Global rating which reflects a wider audience. You’ll see it’s falling behind shows like Celebrity and King the Land. It’s obvious which shows people prefer to watch.

You can have a good cast, great cinematography or great OST but that won’t make up for bad overall story telling. And this drama didn’t even achieve all of them.

The drama has many inconsistencies from the start I don’t even think they can wrap this up well. I don’t feel any emotions for their romantic scenes at all either. The script is partly at fault. Because there wasn’t enough build up to their relationship. We were just supposed to assume they had some connection and fell deeply in love due to their past lives. And also, it’s actually because both actors don’t have any romantic chemistry at all.

At this point, I have zero emotional attachment to the characters and I don’t even care whether one or both of them fell off a cliff or don’t end up together.

This might be an unpopular opinion.

Shin Hye Sun is a good actress but she is better suited for quirky characters such as the one in Mr Queen. Her facial features has too strong screen presence that isn’t suited for soft, romantic scenes. Her eyes are too sharp it lacks warmth needed to express tenderness. Even her body language is too stiff for physical intimacy.

It is even more noticeable and uncomfortable to watch here because she’s playing a character with a more mature life experience romancing an awkward guy, even though technically he’s supposed to be older by order of birth. Her knowing smile, weird expressions and tone in her voice treating him like a child does not help to bring the leads in a romantic light at all. It’s obvious that their mental ages or emotional level are not the same. His initial behavior when confronted with physical intimacy was to either scamper away like a scared little boy or keep a distance from the other person. I know it’s meant to be cute but it’s actually not. It was also made more creepy that the drama had to actually show us with the kid actors themselves that they almost slept together when they were kids. What in the world was that for?! Just the thought of the implication of that scene was really uncomfortable to watch. Given the context of their situation, the character of Ju Won playing her 18th life with her more mature life experience actually telling the 9 yr old Seo Ha to sleep in her room was really creepy!

I think the show went too far by even bringing pre pubescent kids into this kind of film situation. I can’t imagine how or what the Director even explained to the kid actors what that scene was for. Or even what the kids’ parents thought of their kids being put in such scenes. Or did the parents even know what their kids were doing that they consented to them acting that out. That scene was not even necessary to the plot!

I already had some reservations about the kids’ relationship from the earlier episodes. And tried not to over react because the majority were not that bothered and even pointed out that Ju Won was actually a young girl herself. But it doesn’t look that way to me and this recent episodes of the couple’s behavior confirms it. Adding that particular kids’ scene to correlate it to the present day couple was the last straw for me.

You can follow Netflix Global weekly count here:
https://www.netflix.com/tudum/top10/tv-non-english

And Korean TV viewership are usually posted on Wiki.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/See_You_in_My_19th_Life

MDL is just a small percentage of drama viewers mostly catered for international drama fans to keep score. Some even have multiple accounts so they can upvote or downvote shows. So the viewers probably don’t even count to a 100 thousand per show. The ratings that have more importance are the ones in Korea and Netflix as those give numbers from a wider range of audience.

I just realized the show doesn’t really need more episodes, they just needed to minimize ML’s dive in the pool. Also too many flashback scenes of the accident that I don’t care for anymore by Episode 9. They could’ve used those to build Do Yoon and Cho Won’s romance instead.

To be fair, I do think the 2nd couple has better chemistry than the main couple. The main FL characterization is too weird for me with her facial expressions, voice intonation and basically the things she says to the ML, in addition to what you’ve already mentioned. As some people have pointed out, she acts like a mother-figure and treats him like a child. So that entire kiss scene was uncomfortable to watch. The ML has trauma issues and needs therapy. But drama makes it look it’s easily curable with a romance.

Oh I see what you mean now. They didn’t handle a lot of things very well did they? It’s annoying how alot of things are dealt with very superficially. Esp the ML’s trauma. The show makes it look that he’s easily cured by a shallow romance and a kiss.

Personally I’m disappointed at all the emotional scenes, there just wasn’t enough punch that made the scenes satisfying for me. I mean, I get what they wanted to convey, but they just felt too contrived for me that it doesn’t seem natural.

I beg to disagree that the ML is just a supporting character. He has as much weight to the story given the numerous times we are being shown him having flashbacks of his accident and his imaginations of the young FL. His trauma and grief is central to the story in the way it affects people who have been left behind.

I agree with you though, the drama being just 12 episodes that the characters aren’t as fleshed out as they should be and the superficial dialogue isn’t helping to create the emotional attachment to their story.

Also, now that they added more characters and subplots, I think it’s gonna affect the overall impact on the drama. It’s all gonna feel rushed.