Meese

Is this sarcasm or did they do more promo than I was aware?

I think it was supposed to be 6 years (that's what it was in the novel too) but the editing/subtitles got messy and confusing.

Now that this drama points it out, I sort of like how that was brought up. Like you, I never thought of how pushing away a loved one "for their own good" could actually have them end up with someone who wouldn't care about them as much and still leave them in a toxic situation. I like that JM was the one who recognized that and brought it up.

Whenever I hear the OST, I get so many flashbacks to moments of the show. The OST really captures a lot of the feelings from SAL.

I agree Esther can come across as “wooden” in some scenes in the beginning, but she improves in the second half with showing more range imo. She definitely has room to continue growing, but I do think you get a peak into her growing as an actress later on.

In terms of the beginning, when you sort of reflect back on JM, I think there were some issues with the script when it came to her character for what exactly she was doing there. I don’t think the reason translated well. YSX said something along the lines the director told her JM was almost immediately attracted to JZ but I think you would still have expected them to be a bit awkward with one another after not seeing each other for years while also jumping right into a more dangerous situation. I don’t know, I was confused, I’m convinced the script writer was confused on how they should initially act, so I can see where YSX would be confused with what exactly JM should be like in the beginning because you have this more playful character who is supposedly instantly attracted to her her long lost childhood brother/friend figure who shows up beat up and won’t answer questions and then you’re in car and motorcycle chases. It’s a lot.

I agree though, I would have liked for JM to have come right off the bat as a bit more saucy. I don’t know how that would have played out exactly with all the chase scenes and seeing a guy after like a decade, but I think that would have let her do better in those beginning scenes and establish more of JM’s personality right off the bat.

The promo in general just felt so weird to me where they randomly dropped it without an official start date originally and had Thai Sweet in the queue already but it is missing HY for half the episodes and then it's mainly just livestreams and TT snippets to promote the show in addition to billboards which as an international fan, I can't appreciate.

I wonder if YSX and HY didn't both have dramas that are supposed to start filming soon if they would have done some shows together.

I WISH 😭😭😭

As primarily an Esther variety fan, that was one of the things I was looking forward to the most for SAL. The livestreams and Thai Sweet made me want that even more because of how much fun the SAL cast seems to have with one another.

The North American audience was exactly who I was thinking in terms of it doing well on Netflix. I mentioned it in a previous comment, but I see a lot of parallels to other shows/movies/books that have done well in NA which makes me think this could do really well on Netflix.

LOL. The more I think about it, I can see more parallels to TSITP from the growing up together to not seeing each other (granted, in TSITP, it was for less than a year and it's family friends vs adopted siblings) and then having that yearning back and forth coupled with the coming of age plot/couple goes through a period of separation due to the guy pushing her away due to a personal tragedy. This is like the more action packed version, edgy version of TSITP.

And yeah, I also feel like the show is doing well on TT. That's interesting about the hashtag comparisons. I think the one benefit of the choppy editing and very loose plot is that this show just feels like it can be told via TT. There's some really great edits out there that capture the feel of the story really well and a lot of scenes that are great little snippets.

I was shocked at how there are multiple C actors/actresses that have 3-4 shows that came out this year. I understand there can be delays due to the censorship review process, but that's SO much content in a short period of time.

The way I want this to go on Netflix so bad. I just feel like it could blow up even more if it was more readily available on there. I don't know how much people on here are into Booktok, but the way I would describe it is June First meets Culpa Mia meets TSITP.

I've followed along on a couple different Reddit pages where they give updates and it sounds like there have been a lot of hate campaigns against her that have been ongoing for months. Stuff from harassing companies she announces brand deals with to even her most recent concert earlier this month where there were people reporting her being "problematic" so the Haidian District Culture and Tourism Bureau had to say she hasn't violated any rules and then people throwing insults about the concert after the fact. And that's not even touching on the alway present insults about her voice/acting/face/etc.

I just think it works out in her favor (and HY's) that this was an international success and they're both able to capitalize on it amongst people who aren't as likely to be influenced by all that noise around her by the more brutal CNetz that has been ongoing for months.

It's interesting. I've just gotten more into the more day to day of how CDrama entertainment works and a lot of what I have read is how it's a cold market and there just aren't many hits. I do think the drama having international success could actually be a blessing in disguise in that if it's a struggle in general to attract the Chinese audience, particularly with a more idol drama and with how weird it sounds like people can be with Esther right now, there are still plenty of people out there to grow their fanbase which this show seems to be doing and they should be more neutral on any "controversy" people try to generate.

Esther and Mike are hilarious together. You can tell they're friends IRL. It's cute.

The different reenactments of the stair scenes were too funny.

Agreed with this! I also like how they had Pan Kai who was interested in Mumu be an actual friend to her. I grew such a soft spot for him when he was the only one from Thailand who was willing to tell her that JZ had come back and gave her his contact info.

I think overall, this series supporting cast while small, they all played important roles in their own rights without interfering with JZ and JM's story too much. I think they could have been developed a bit more to add some depth to their characters and the story, but overall, I was happy with their contributions.

The lack of explored depth to JM is my one big issue honestly with this story tbh. The show touched me in ways a show hasn’t in a long time, but I just can’t give it a 10 for this reason plus the bad script/editing.

However, from my understanding, the novel itself is very male centric. One person said it felt like a story for the reader to drool over JZ. When I continued on with the mentality it was a male centric story, that helped a lot more for me personally and let me sort of look at the story in a different light and where they sort of go with it and how they portray the two characters. It’s not going to be for everyone, but just wanted to give you my perspective.

I want to say underground fighting and racing but maybe somewhat connected to the Alliance. Patrick Finkler’s character who was somehow connected to Lin Sui (were they related?) was shown to be the mole in the Alliance, correct? So Lin Sui may have been aware of the Alliance but I don’t think it was ever shown he was actually part of it.

People can feel free to correct me if they remember something else.

I got Boys Over Flowers Yi Jung/Ga Eul confession vibes from the sun and moon reunion scene and I saw a post that pointed out the grocery store scene with Lin Sui and JZ reminded them of Goblin so I would be curious how South Koreans take this show. Would love to see more YSX/HY promo activities for the show in general.

I still have fingers crossed this could end up on Netflix because I just see this being a good Netflix drama for people to stumble on and then binge.

Yeah, I agree, an extra couple episodes could have helped a lot with really delivering the emotions. I personally would have loved to have seen more interactions between JM and her dad to make that noodle scene have more of an impact.

I’ve started my rewatch from the end and already, I can appreciate parts a lot more. I mentioned it down below, but I thought it was funny they used JM being a picky eater and late sleeper to do the joke about how JZ told his employees JM was both his wife and kid. I also think the theme of JZ wanting to spoil JM and take care of her also sort of makes her childish behavior at the beginning make a bit more sense. I had forgotten about it, but I had read someone who loved the novel mention part of spoiling JM also had to do with JZ wanting to make her depend on him so she wouldn’t abandon him which also adds some depth to JM and JZ.