Olive4213

It couldn't be done now. It couldn't be done in 5 years. Even if you get a new generation of writers to write it, they couldn't get a show about women't sex lives past the censors--even if South Korean audiences wanted a show like that. Which they really don't.

It is profoundly contrary to Kdrama.

You can make a show about a bunch of girlfriends living in an exciting city (its been done, over and over and over) and you can have the show be about their relationships with their boyfriends and jobs and families.

What you can't do is make a show about a bunch of girlfriends sex lives, and that's what Sex and the City was about.

Sex and the City can be maladapted as a Kdrama. It's a terrible idea. Sex and the City is an American show whose central premise is the sexual attitudes and behaviors of its characters, in the backdrop of the most (or 2nd most, if it's not your city) exciting city in the country.

South Korea, with the 2nd lowest birthrate in the world, is not a country that particularly celebrates women's sexual ownership (which is to say they don't at all), and it's far too patriarchal and hierarchal to put up with a show where women characters do much more than kiss like Park Shin Hye.

I can't believe you did all that research and wrote this article and then we got to read it. Thank you so much!

Featuring Lee Da Hae (who really should have known better) as the typical Cdrama FL who is innocent and naive to the point where her character is of virtually sub-normal intelligence (and that's even if you're willing to ignore that the writers gift the character with "math phobia" har har) and whose noble idiocy is so galactic you may wonder how she's managed to avoid living sainthood and

A second FL who is so spoiled and childish, no male character in the world could be reasonably expected to have anything remotely like sexual feelings about her and

A third FL who is a dishonest narcissist who lies and tricks her way into the ML's feelings (but his character is so weak, so wavering and spineless, you can be forgiven for thinking that he deserves what's coming to him.) and

Writing that is so bad, the writers give you a scene where the FL has just gotten out of the hospital BECAUSE SHE MIGHT GO BLIND, and the two ML's argue about who is entitled to have her while SHE'S STANDING THERE GETTING READY TO FAINT. (Sorry about the yelling.)

Do Chinese audiences want female characters like this?

This drama has everything you hate about Cdramas (unless that's the stuff you like Cdramas for.)

Don't. Just don't.

This may not be the worst drama ever written. Maybe. But it's a strong contender.

Viki licensed this, and it's being subbed now.

I love to be included in people's drama watching families!

Is this the 3rd remake of this lakorn? I know I've watched at least one version of this.

Viki will be airing/subbing. (As for synopsis, Viki's is even shorter than the one above as of 2/28/19.) I'm thinking this is going to be revenge genre, but I haven't been right about anything since 1990.

I've only seen 1 subbed episode (thank you so much, subber--whoever you are!) and this is my new favorite drama.

and that makes you awesome!

very good points, especially about Thailand making so many remakes

Thanks for the follow up.
I wonder, though, why Viki did not pursue proper licensing for lakorns? Clearly, it's doable. Netflix ha acquired some Thai programming. I wish Viki would, too.

I'm so grateful to the lakorn subbers who make it possible for me to understand dialogue.

Subbers who don't complete a drama just annoy the hell out of me, which is so bad, because the half of the drama that they subbed--it's not like I paid them for their work, right? Plus, their work is getting ripped off by trolls. Actually, I think dramas that are abandoned by subbers happens most often in the Jdrama community.

I don't have facts about this, but the conversations I've glanced over on Viki forums say that the problems for showing lakorns there are on the Thai side--it's the Thai showrunners or networks that are the obstacle. I discovered lakorns the month after they were all dropped by Viki. D'oh.

The challenge for watching lakorns currently is finding them subbed. It's completely possible to watch most lakorns on youtube on the channel where they're broadcast, but they're raw. I've watched one or two lakorns that way (only to find later, when if I get the opportunity to watch the same episodes later with subs, that my understanding of what I was watching was--shall we say--off?)

It took me a year to warm up to lakorns, principally because I started out with a strong dislike for the way the language sounded to me. Now that it no longer sounds strange (and gaining a tiny Thai vocabulary) I really enjoy how wildly over the top they are.

Lakorns are moving away from the rapey scenarios of the past. Slapping (I hate slapping the most) is still prevalent, though (usually the 2nd FL slaps the face of the 1st FL--but when that happens, it's not uncommon for the 1st FL lead to hit back now.)

I love lakorns. Given a good, steady source for subs (I love you to pieces, Neko and Thippy), I'd probably watch the things all day.

With the completion of subbing (thank you!) I need to revise slightly my earlier comment.

I don't dislike this drama as much as I did initially, and I think it does a fairly decent job of presenting characters that appear to be damaged beyond redemption. (Of course if that was true, the drama wouldn't exist.) As the drama develops, the writers manage to make Hoshino somewhat sympathetic. Also, I managed to stop despising Ogawa, the FL, by the last episode but only barely.

I'm glad I gave this show a 2nd chance, but I couldn't possibly re-watch it.

I tuned in originally, hoping the drama was going to be steamy. But no.
I watched every episode, with anticipation, but I can't recommend this. It's a three-hankie drama, and the child actors perform remarkably, but I thought the drama was ultimately pointless.

[sees "tragedy" tag . . . quietly crab crawls away . . .]