PrettyCarEye

Thank you for this list. Now I know what NOT to watch.

Hmm, I'm looking forward to this, but the poster and trailers look super cheesy. I mean, they kinda went totally overboard with the white horse, come on! lol They didn't even try to hide the 'knight in shining armour' references. Then there's the wide eyed shock at the love confession & forced hug. God, I hope this isn't another CLOY. I don't mind cheese when it's mature and adult, but when its juvenile & silly like in CLOY, I can't deal. If I wanted to see grown azz adults acting like silly teenagers, I'd go watch a high school drama. Anyway, I'll just have to trust this writer & these leads. Both LMH & Kim Go Eun are good at creating on-screen chemistry with their co-stars so maybe there's hope. At least, KGE isn't one of those actors who love to act too 'pure' to kiss properly on screen.

Kim Eun Sook dramas usually have a happy ending. It's kind of one of her hallmarks.

Next year? OMG!!!

Do you know when S3 is out cuz if it ends on a cliffhanger like S1, I don't think I can bear it.

Damn! Thx.

I don't understand, did all 6 episodes air already? I thought S2 just started today?

Hyun Bin & Son Ye Jin really look nice together, but I don't know where all this chemistry everyone is talking about is. Their kissing scenes are fake. They never kiss when they should kiss, there are no really romantic, heart fluttering scenes, no skinship ... all they do is just stare at each other like starstruck teenagers while holding hands. Stories about fated lovers are supposed to be passionate, romantic and deep ... but these two are just meh. My dog & her boyfriend have more chemistry & passion for each other than Seri & Jeong Hyuk. Their romance is juvenile, passionless & boring for a couple who is supposedly fated to be together but separated by their warring countries. Park Ji Eun needs to watch Too Late To Say I Love You & take notes on how to write a proper fated love kind of love story. What a complete waste of such a good looking pair.

Was it worth it?

You're definitely right about the difference between Korean movies & dramas. In fact, they can't even be compared. They're two completely separate media, each with their own set of rules. Thankfully, unlike China ... Korea doesn't censor its movies so we're able to get films that explore a wide variety of topics and which include sexual content.

TV, on the other hand, is very censored. Most stuff that's shown on broadcast TV (SBS, MBC, KBS) is censored due to content being for general audiences. Even cable channels like JTBC & TvN are censored. Another thing is that 'ahjumma' power is pretty strong in Korea, and they tend to be super conservative & very influential in shaping the culture. They make up the vast majority of drama audiences. That's why most dramas rarely feature real, passionate kissing (considered too brazen & forward for general audiences ... we don't want to give the kids any wrong ideas). It's always those tender, sweet type of barely there kissing. If it's too passionate, it gets cut. Heck, most of the time it doesn't even gets filmed in the first place! There are, of course, exceptions (and thank god for that!), but the rule is pretty unwavering overall.

Yeah, the paragliding scene in CLOY was really ridiculous. It's not even well done, from a green screen perspective. Everything else about the drama looked so glossy, but they didn't seem to have allocated much budget to creating that scene. Anyway, I can suspend belief on things like that, but I get really annoyed when the physical intimacy between romantic couples is fake & unbelievable, as was the case here. I will drop a drama for things like that. I'm very tempted to drop CLOY. I've been psyching myself up all weekend to watch the last 4 eps and I just can't bring myself to do it, esp when I know the ending is less than ideal.

My memory is a bit spotty, but I don't recall The Heirs being as you described. It was just poorly written. KES is good at writing adult dramas, not teenage ones. She should stick to what she knows and stop trying to capitalize off of every big name in the business. I'm counting on The King being good because it's been a minute since I actually watched and liked one of her dramas.

Seriously, the moment I saw how PSH kissed in pretty much ALL her dramas, she was blacklisted for me. It didn't matter one iota if she was a good actress otherwise. You can't constantly kiss like a deer in headlights & expect me to take you seriously! No ... just no! lol

"JH was already someone who lived and liked the abroad long before Seri, being a soldier was never his thing. Like you said they were being oppressed in North Korea so it's not money, JH family had money, he had influence thanks to his father but he didn't want that life for himself."

The comment was not so much about JH as it was about the South Korean value system of worshiping money & status.

As for Seri, she wasn't wanting to rush to back because of her company, she mostly wanted to go back so she could inherit her father's company and gain more money, power & prestige ... and get back at her brothers.

Her own company - Seri's Choice - wasn't a problem for her, but her everyday life was. Her life was toxic & meaningless and made her sick & lonely. She was ready to give it all up when she went to Switzerland to end her life. The term 'money doesn't buy you happiness' defined how she lived. The village people didn't have much & lived under a very oppressive regime, nevertheless they were far happier in their everyday lives than Seri ever was in hers.

Therefore, some indication that she was reluctant to return to all the toxicity of her previous life would have been more convincing & realistic to me. I'm not saying that she should have wanted to stay in the North, just her realizing the true meaning of happiness isn't in how much money, power & status you have, but in the *quality* of life you lead.

On the surface she lived this enviable life. She had money & power, but was bereft of joy. There were very few people - who she did not have to pay - who cared her about her well-being. Wanting a more peaceful & stress free existence, wanting to not let go of the supportive love that JH gave her (something she has never experienced, not even from her own family) ... would have shown growth in her character, imo. But like her brothers, she had her own greed & that was what drove her strong desire to return.

There are so many millionaires & billionaires who either run their companies from a distance or they hire in a CEO and remain as chairman of the board, all so that they can live a more meaningful life. The best thing about being rich is having time. Time to dedicated yourself to causes you truly care about instead of having to struggle to survive like most other people.

But we can agree to disagree. As I mentioned above, our expectations for dramas are influenced by a number of factors that may not converge with other viewers so you don't have to agree with me. This is, however, my opinion & I'm sticking to it.

I totally agree with you! Excited for this because of Jung Jæ In, but disappointed that Soo Bin was cast as the FL. She did not leave a good impression after watching her in I Am Not A Robot, unfortunately.

I really like Kim Kyung Nam ever since I saw him in Come & Hug Me and Prison Playbook. He never gets the girl, and I'm kind of bummed out that he'll star in yet another drama where he still won't get the girl. So we're kinda in the same boat! :(
But hey, it's LMH ... very few men can challenge him & win in the 'getting the girl' department! lol

Can't do anything for yah there, hun. You're either gonna have to accept that he won't get the girl (come on, his rival is LMH, what do you expect? :) Or don't watch. :(

Finally! A pairing in a KES drama that I'm satisfied with! I'm looking forward to this, but with KES one thing or another usually doom her dramas for me. I either dislike her casting or I dislike the story/plot. Love the casting here, but feel iffy about the story. Loved the casting in Goblin, but didn't feel the story was any good. Hated the casting of DotS, but liked the story of romance between the soldier & the medic. Enjoyed the story in Secret Garden, but hated the casting (Ha Ji Won), same for A Gentleman's Dignity ... loved the story, hated the casting, and the list goes on. This time I hope both casting & story will go hand in hand to create a memorable viewing experience!

KES dramas tend to have some sort of triangle, but to her credit they're not usually annoying like triangles in a Hong Sisters drama, for eg! That's huge coming from me because I absolutely hate love triangles & will usually drop or avoid dramas with any hint of one in it. The thing with KES's dramas, though, (and I've seen a few) is that the triangles are tolerable. They usually make sense to the story & not just placed there as a filler or an unnecessary plot device. They're usually handled maturely, and goes away fairly quickly because KES couples tend to be fated & won't have eyes for anyone else.

Lee Byung Hun doesn't like doing shows or movies with happy endings! It's some weird habit of his where he only chooses projects in which his character dies. I've heard him say it in at least 2 interviews. So as much as I like him as an actor, every time I see him in a drama/movie I brace myself for a sad ending.

KES, on the other hand, usually does not write sad endings. Maybe that's why mr. Sunshine's ending was vague? I dunno, I didn't watch it, but if people are thinking it's a happy one when it probably isn't that is the only conclusion I can draw because KES doesn't like sad endings. I once read an interview from her where she said that. So maybe the vague ending of mr. Sunshine was a compromise between her & LBH.

When it first came out in 2017 I brushed off watching it because I didn't really find its premise that compelling. Then I participated in the 2019 Watch Challenge & ended up watching it to fulfill one of the categories. What a gem it turned out to be! To think I never would have watched this drama if it wasn't for the challenge ... scary! lol Totally agree with you that it's one of the better dramas of the 2010s. Let's hope there's more to come!

That would be very sad, if true. I don't want to believe Ji-Won would be so callous to Looney.

Yeah, even though I had planned to watch CLOY from the moment it was announced because I loved the concept and was sooo curious about the outcome for this couple, subsequent gushing comments about the explosive chemistry between the leads only served to increase my excitement & anticipation. But when I actually started watching I was like ... what chemistry? Sure, Hyun Bin & Son Ye Jin looked nice next to each other, but without the intensity & physical intimacy they just came across as actors doing a job, rather than the actual characters they were playing. I didn't feel any passion or chemistry as you'd expect from lovers in their precarious situation.

I really hope someone is inspired by this drama and do a movie about North/South lovers & make the love story more deep & intense. The only problem is that if this gets made into a movie, I am almost 100% sure they're going to make it a tragedy instead of finding a way to give us a happy ending.

I have heard the buzz about Something In The Rain, but since I don't like older woman/younger man relationships plus I heard about the horrible ending, I didn't bother to watch it (or even the kiss scenes). I don't know, I just never really enjoyed Son Ye Jin in romantic roles because she's TOO reserved when it comes to physical intimacy, imo. She has the perfect look for a romance heroine, but when it's time for her to really go all in ... I always feel like something is lacking even though visually she and her co-stars make a striking couple.

Hyun Bin for his part is actually a decent actor when given the right role. But the projects he chooses are always a bit meh. Either the role doesn't fit him (like in the movie Rampant) or the role fits him but the story is botched by poor writing. Because of his good looks, he's become very commercialized ... which means he's only offered (or he only accepts) these glossy, often insubstantial type of roles that don't really show his acting chops or elicit a deep response from the audience. I'd love to see him in more arthouse or indie type films like Late Autumn. Heck, even something like Come Rain Come Shine ... even though that movie was a waste of time for me personally.

KES, you know what ... she is a huge hit or miss for me, but what I like about her dramas is that she doesn't infantilize her characters. Whilst most romance writers (Hong Sisters, Park Ji Eun et al) go for cute & juvenile; KES goes for flirtatious/sexy & mature, similar to the writer of It's Okay, That's Love & The World They Live In.

Sure, her stuff can be super cheesy, but I can tolerate cheese as long as there's a mature, adult vibe. Not the usual stupid juvenile stuff like in CLOY and other similar dramas. I loved some of her earlier dramas like Lovers (which saved romantic k-dramas for me at a time when I was about to give up on them) & City Hall. But god I hated The Heirs (Park Shin Hye will pretty much ruin any drama for me) and to be completely honest I didn't love Goblin.

It took me 6 months to finish Goblin because to me it was quite boring. Moreover, the female lead being a childish, high school student in pigtails whilst the ML is this grown man longing for her ... ehhh, I don't know ... I love Gong Yoo & really like Kim Go Eun, but that was a little iffy to me. So Goblin was unfortunately kind of a huge ... miss. I enjoyed the last 3 - 4 episodes when their adult relationship started because that's when I saw the usual KES hallmarks - lots of passionate chemistry, flirty, mature ... but the episodes leading up to that point just didn't work for me for the above mentioned reasons.

As for Descendant of the Sun, this seemed like a drama I could have really enjoyed, but what felled it for me was the casting. I just wasn't feeling it so I didn't bother to watch it. I don't think Song Hye Kyo is that good of an actress, at least not in romantic roles. The way she interprets her characters always make them come across as cold & bitchy. I felt the same way about her in That Winter, The Wind Blew & The World That They Live In (when at the time she & Hyun Bin were supposedly dating).

And this is kind of where you and I disagree because I think Hyun Bin & Son Ye Jin looked way better together as a couple (they just did not create the romantic chemistry to make you go ... ahhhhh) than Song Joong Ki & Song Hye Kyo. Song Joong Ki's super baby face made Song Hye Kyo look old next him ... at least that's how they came across to me. Instead of a lovers vibe between them, they felt more like brother & sister from my pov. The moment they were announced as the leads, I didn't see or feel any chemistry between them. I was very disappointed actually, and my disappointment was kind of compounded when I watched clips from the drama. I didn't like seeing them together. Then when I heard they were getting married, I knew almost immediately they weren't going to last because they just seemed incompatible as a couple to me, both on & off the screen. But that's just me. :)

I am looking forward to KES's latest upcoming drama, The King: Eternal Monarch, with Lee Min Ho & Kim Go Eun (female lead from Goblin!). This is a great pairing because I know these two will create amazing chemistry on screen. Both Min Ho & Go Eun are good kissers. Go Eun is not one of those female actors who shy away from on screen intimacy so I was very glad when she was cast. I know he's a bit too overrated for his own good, but I enjoy LMH as an actor when he chooses the right role. Like Hyun Binney he's one of those super commercialized actors who's talent tend to get lost in all the mediocre stuff they get offered & choose, but I found out he's actually not that bad of an actor when I saw him in the movie, Gangnam Blues. What I'm a bit concerned about is the story, sounds a bit iffy to me, but I'm willing to reserve judgement until I watch the drama since it's a KES vehicle.

Gosh, sometimes I'm waaay too chatty! Sorry this post got so long! :)