Meari21

Episodes 5 and 6 are my favorite episodes so far. Like someone else here said, it's a K-drama but it also has the vibe of a J-drama. I think that's a great combination as we get to have the best of both worlds so to speak. No wonder they chose to cast Munetaka Aoki as Naito Senichi. He plays a vital role in this story arc. I gotta admit, his scenes made me teary-eyed. And they actually went to Shizuoka! Miyauchi Hitomi is also great as Hirose. I didn't know she can speak fluent Korean.

I was surprised to see Munetaka Aoki guest star in this. They actually got known Japanese actors to play Japanese characters for guest roles! That's rare in a K-drama.

Many of these execs remind me of some of the Korean bosses I've had over the years. When a project tanks, they abandon ship and pretend it has nothing to do with them. When their business goes bankrupt, they either run away to some country with no extradition treaty with South Korea or unalive themselves to escape dealing with the consequences of their actions.

I don't agree but I can respect that. I also felt the same way about other male leads, but they ended up becoming huge stars in China. So what do I know? lol

Those roles didn't really fit her imho.

I think she thrives in these mysterious and volatile type of characters. I buy her more as a sympathetic anti-heroine than a goody two shoes female lead tbh. So this role fits her like a glove. The male lead is the typical tsundere. I've seen him in The Legend of Shen Li and he, along with He Yu, were the only ones that kept me tuned in so I don't find his portrayal here in any way bad. Besides, he does fit the dark, serious, brooding type that hardly shows any emotions.

He's up for another leading role in an iQIYI drama. He's been the only one confirmed so far. The drama will be based on Chen Jian's novel "The Tang Dynasty Nili Prison".

World of the Married too 🤣

I spoke to a Korean student of mine earlier and she said that this scandal is like one big makjang drama that everyone in the country is eagerly following even though some of them may not admit to it. I can't help but agree. Truth is stranger than fiction indeed. This is more complicated and outrageous than any makjang drama I've ever seen!

Like what others have said, the character was written by the same author and authors tend to stick to the same archetypes. I've noticed this among female authors especially. Xin Yun Lai is a pretty good actor. He does well playing the silent brooding types.

Hey, nice to see you here again!

Unfortunately, it's not available in my region.

Hope they also release this on Viu or Netflix so I won't have to re-subscribe to WeTV. I have way too many streaming platform subscriptions already. lol

I agree with your take on Kim Soo Hyun. I never liked him for some reason. I have borderline hated him since I saw him in Dream High. My impression of him was that he was childish, crass, and mentally unstable. I have friends who adore and defend him to this day, but when I heard news of this scandal, I wasn't surprised. I'm still not sold on the other accusations against him, but I'm more inclined to believe that he was indeed into minors as he does seem like the type who would go after young girls. Unfortunately, he's not the only Korean male who likes to pursue younger girls. In fact, it's not as uncommon in Korea as one might expect.

I have to disagree about PSJ, though. He doesn't strike me as problematic. I've watched him in Yoon's Kitchen and Jinny's Kitchen for years and he seems like a good and industrious person. I started liking him as an actor because of those shows. I could be wrong of course. But I hope I'm right about him. lol

There's another Korean actor that I have disliked since I saw him in a drama many many years ago. I just have a feeling that he's a complete jerk in person. lol

I know some genuinely good Korean men but they are few and far between. Hopefully the younger generations won't follow in their footsteps. But yeah, whenever K-dramas romanticize the male leads and their fans believe that men like that do exist in Korea, I can't help but cringe because in my 15 years of teaching hundreds of Korean students, I've only met a handful of truly decent men.

That's how it is in Korea. As they always say, the customer is the king. Teachers aren't really seen as educators but more like service providers. When students or parents complain, your career will be in danger.

I wouldn't generalize it like that. Not all of them are perverts and assholes, after all. But in my experience, the older guys in their late 30's and up are usually the ones that I can't stand because they have superiority complex, are extremely rude, sexist, and overly bossy. If you're younger than them and you're a woman, they treat you like a slave. Not all, of course, but majority of them are like that. The younger generations are better and more liberated. I usually don't have a lot of issues with my younger students.

This scandal reminds me of my past experiences with some of my male Korean students. I remember some of them mentioned that many adult Korean males like them prefer to get with teenage girls because they're easier to please, less demanding, and aren't man-hating girl bosses. One of them even stated that his dream is to marry a 17-year-old girl. He was 27 at that time. I was so appalled and horrified when I first heard these statements. I wanted to tell them how horribly inappropriate their statements and actions were but I admit I chickened out because I was working for a Korean-owned language institute where teachers were basically treated as service providers. If you offend any of the students, you could get fired and blacklisted, so the best I could do was to look displeased and quickly change the subject. I don't know if the accusations against Kim Soo Hyun are true or not but I find them very disturbing. I thought that maybe the students I encountered were just weirdos and hoped that things have changed since then. I guess I was mistaken. Despite all their progress, they're still largely a patriarchal society that thinks women are inferior and can even be likened to property. And that is a travesty.

Possible. He also had the audacity to ask his boss about his marital status without considering the consequences. If I were in his shoes, I would never even think of asking that sort of question, especially since I'm a newbie and could be fired just like that. The question was too personal and uncalled for. When he did that I immediately thought this kid was either raised too sheltered and spoiled or he's just an idiot. lol

So far I'm liking this. It's a male-centric non-romance business drama, which is more my cup of tea. I have some gripes here and there, including the exposition dumps in the beginning, some questionable dialogues, and inappropriate background music. But the rest I'm cool with. The white hair doesn't bother me at all. I have a friend, who is 5 years younger than me, went full gray in her early 30's because of a genetic condition. She doesn't dye her hair but she rocks the silver hair! Lee Je Hoon is in his 40's, some people have fully gray hair around this age.