PrettyCarEye

I find it odd that Sang In had no qualms about inviting this young, handsome guy to come live with him and his young, beautiful wife. Yeah, I know they were friends & Sang In trusted both him & his wife, but regardless, which man in his right mind does that? Even if you and your spouse have the best of relationships, this is just not something you'd do. Just like there's a thin line between love & hate, there's a damn thin line between faithfulness & infidelity ... anyone's who's been in a monogamous relationship knows that. It takes very little for living arrangements like this to blow up in your face, which is why I believe most people wouldn't do it. Yet, this guy add fuel to the fire by letting Du-Ræ stay with them, even after he began to have strong suspicions of the affair. I found it very odd, but then again there's not a lot about this movie that made logical sense.

I also wanted a proper confrontation between Sang In & Mo-Ræ. Sure, Mo-Ræ felt guilt and was remorseful for what she did, but no matter that ... hurting someone in this way is one of the nastiest & cruelest realities of life. I wanted to see him get really mad at her. Of course, nothing violent but just thoroughly cussed her ass out, make her hurt. This is why there are so very few cheating spouse shows I can tolerate because the perpetrating parties never seem to really get the put down they deserve. Yeah, he beat the crap out of Du-Ræ (which was good), but I hate the way Mo-Ræ got off, scot-free & was portrayed as this pure, innocent waif, even when she gave no concern to the sordidness of cheating on a man she claims to love right under his nose & pretty much smack dead in his face. I mean, how totally shameless and disrespectful can someone get?

But this is Hong Ji Young, the director's, style. She's also a Scorpio, which explains a lot about why she's drawn to these type of 'love' stories that push certain boundaries. She did the same thing in another one of her movies where the long time boyfriend was cheated on by his woman with ... you guessed who, Ju Ji Hoon! lol And he (the boyfriend) had the same nonsense 'It's okay, I forgive you' type reaction toward her. Like, negro, what?!? Smdh. I'm not saying forgiveness is totally inconceivable after infidelity, but so soon after someone does something like that to you ...? Fuck, nah! I guess they're waaay bigger people in this world than me. My personal trust issues would make this type of reaction wholly unrealistic in my books. I'm sorry that Sang-In had such poor self-esteem that he wasn't able to completely walk away from this situation and not look back.

First of all, my question is why Ju Ji Hoon can't find his own woman? This is like the 3rd movie I've seen him in where he is on the wrong side of the love triangle.

Anyway, this movie isn't totally unwatchable, but it makes a rather poor attempt at dabbling with the idea of polyamory, Korean style. Polyamorous lifestyles are definitely not my cup of tea, and on a normal day this wouldn't be a movie I'd choose to watch unless there's some strongly compelling reason. That strongly compelling reason, in this case, was Ju Ji Hoon and his fine self! (The sh-- I go thru for that man!). While I prefer the older, more mature Ju Ji Hoon of today (2019), it was nice to see a younger, love struck version of him here. He WAS fine ... superfine, but the movie ... was a waste. Like I said, the poly lifestyle is not my thing, however, it isn't unheard of for me to enjoy stories that go against my personal taboos. This movie, though, was not well done ... so it kinda left a bitter aftertaste.

I can imagine making a movie of this nature in a super conservative society like South Korea can raise some barriers so that may have contributed to the poor execution. Nevertheless, I didn't like how they handled the whole cheating thing and the subsequent events that occurred afterwards. The attempt at an artistic, allegorical ending did NOT translate well. Like, at all. Ju Ji Hoon aside, this movie was a disappointment. Ju Ji Hoon, for putting me through the torture of watching this movie, better reward me with more fulfilling, quality projects moving forward! I want to see him in a proper romance related film in which he, for once, doesn't steal someone else's woman! :-)

That's an interesting theory.
Also when the 3 of them were lying in the bed, Du Ræ said something to the effect of "I like him too .... but what if I say I like you as much as I like him?"
Now, it's very odd to me that he'd compare the 'like' he has for Mo-Ræ to the like he has for Sang In. Guys who have platonic friendships with other guys don't 'like' them the same way they like their women ... I would think, unless they had some hidden homosexual feeling for each other. So yeah, the writer/director could've definitely been pushing some homoerotic thing here but, this being a Korean picture, couldn't take it as far as she may have wanted to go.

Awesome! Thanks again for taking the time out to do this for all for us! <3

That's the herd mentality that's prevalent throughout Asia, unfortunately, esp in Korea where despite the glitz and glamour of the Korean Wave (Hallyu) & younger generations wanting to adopt more modern lifestyles, it's still very much an old- fashioned, deeply conservative society with outdated, sometimes even backwards, cultural ideals. I totally agree the backlash against this movie is rather ridiculous. Telling the stories of other contributors to the development of hangul takes nothing at all away from Sejong. The people who are badmouthing this movie are acting like delusional, hateful groupies!

This is amazing! Thank you so much! How are the subs for eps 9 and 10 coming along?

The absolute best MIL I've ever seen was in GOLDEN BRIDE. What's interesting is that her daughter in law was not Korean, she was Vietnamese (Korean actress, though). And usually Koreans are very racist to South East Asians, who they perceive as too dark/black and beneath them. While there were whispers about how 'dark' she was, I was shocked to see how well the MIL treated her daughter-in-law. Sure, one could argue that she had to be nice because she needed something from her DIL, but even after she got what she wanted she was still nice and supportive. I really loved it. And what I loved even more was that the ML was supportive of his wife. If any of his family members tried to bully his wife, he'd stand up for her and tell them to back off. In most dramas I've seen the ML is usually very passive toward his mother's ill-treatment of his wife/gf because it's uncomfortable being caught in the middle. But not here. I've not seen a drama since with a better MIL.

Quite true, but I can't believe parents of adult children (in their 30s and 40s) are as terrible as they show in dramas. And even if they are, I don't think grown adults would stand for it without saying anything at all about it. In dramas, a lot of parents ruin their children's relationships with their meddling and intrusiveness. I know in real life that many children break up with their significant others if their parents (esp if they're rich) demand it, but I also know that there are some children who don't stand for their parents' bad behaviour. I wish we'd see more of them in Kdramas, but I guess in Korea that wouldn't be so popular.

This is one of the most frustrating thing about Kdramas for me, especially in family dramas! The parents are terribly overbearing and intrusive and the kids set no boundaries whatsoever. I really hate it!

Did you watch it with subs & if so, where? Thx.

The max is not 11 yrs. Stop lying. I also notice from your list that you gave all the older man/younger woman dramas 1.0 ratings. Nothing wrong with you liking noona romances, but it's always the same BS with immature people like you ... you come on the pages of older man/younger woman dramas and bitch about the age gap, but have no problem when it's the other way around. Irrespective of what the 'max' age is ... what's disgusting is not a 40 yr old man with a 20 yr old woman. What's disgusting is hypocrisy. YOUR hypocrisy. Just tell true ... you're a hater & you ain't foolin' anybody talking about the max age is 11 yrs ... 11yrs my foot!

She had okay chemistry with Yabuki (though I didn't swoon when they kissed, I was annoyed), but Suga is the right & the best man for her. They're compatible. Just like she said at the airport ... they understand each other in a strange, sort of off kilter way. I don't think she had that same deep connection with Yabuki. To be honest, to me Yabuki seemed more infatuated than in love. He wanted what he couldn't have so she kind of became a conquest for him.

Suga was a complex guy and loving him was difficult for Kyoto at first, but just like Mariko, Suga had emotional scars that he hid very well behind his work, his handsome face & his flirtatiousness.

It bothered me somewhat that it was mostly Kyoto pursuing him throughout the show, confessing her feelings to him first (something I don't usually get hang up on in dramas, but here I did), proposing to him (gosh, hard no!) .... it just made her seem ... too desperate? At some point, I got frustrated with Suga for being so damn hot & cold. I wanted him to fight for her a little, just to show his true feelings for once.

But by the end of the show, though, I understood why his character was like that. He had severe trust issues with women, so Kyoto really had to prove her love was sincere before he was willing to let her all the way in. When I understood this, Kyoto having to pursue him for most of the show didn't bother me as much anymore.

I hope you don't mind that I'm responding to a 2 yr old comment. You've probably forgotten all about this show ... but I still feel compelled to respond. Maybe this comment will jog your memory.

Ok, so I understand your frustrations with Mariko, but what about Kyoto?
She broke the girl code by fraternizing with Yabuki after he confessed to her during the play. He was still involved with Mariko at the time. Mariko rushed there to support him, only to hear him confess to another woman, then she saw them being close ... how would that make you feel? You'd probably feel betrayed by the both of them too. So in her anger and hurt, she told Suga about Kyoko's situation (which Kyoko never should have kept from him anyway). If these characters would've just TALKED openly with each other, half their problems wouldn't exist or wouldn't escalate as much as they did!

Anyway, should she have been the bigger person and let things slide? Maybe, but I understood her feelings in that moment & why she wanted to get back at Kyoto by breaking her & Suga up.

Kyoto should have never met Yabuki after the play OR allowed him to kiss her, even on the cheek. That was inappropriate, esp when you know the guy is dating your best friend & you know how your best friend feels about him. I think Kyoto did that out of pure selfishness, to stroke her own battered ego & self-esteem.

Mariko was still dealing with the emotional scars of her ex cheating on her with someone else, someone he had prior feelings for (just like Yabuki) so she's extra sensitive. Furthermore, I don't think Mariko knew Yabuki liked Kyoto before she got involved with him. She found out AFTER they were already together. To me, the most trash character in the drama was Yabuki because he should have rejected Mariko when she came on to him. Instead, he used her as a placeholder, all the while knowing that he was in love with someone else & knowing that Mariko was falling more and more in love with him. Then he had the gall to blame her for breaking up with him. I was like ... B*tch! She broke up with you because you did not love her! You used her for sex and that was ALL! So don't act like she broke your heart! YOU broke HER heart by playing with her feelings. GRRRRRR .... I just hate when men do sh*t like that!!!

Anyway when Mariko realized that no matter what she did and no matter how Yabuki tried to hide his true feelings .... he could not get over Kyoto, she broke up with him (which was the right thing to do instead clinging to him).

As for what Mariko said about preferring Yabuki when he was poor ... you really believed her? To me that was BS. That was just a front, pretty much like all the time Suga pretended he wasn't bothered by the rumors of Yabuki & Kyoto being an item. She really loved the guy and even after she told Kyoto that she doesn't mind if she & Yabuki date, you could see from her body language that she did mind. She still had feelings for Yabuki. She also wanted, and probably expected, her best friend to stand in solidarity with HER & reject any and all thought of ever going out with Yabuki ... I mean, isn't that what the girl code is all about?

But Kyoto still entertained the idea of dating Yabuki. She loved the attention she got from him without thinking how her behaviour made Mariko feel. I mean I have sympathy for Kyoto too (Suga wasn't the easiest man to love after all), but I still feel that was a bit dirty of her. Yes, she was on the rebound from Suga, but no matter what you just don't get involved with your best friend's ex, in ANY way or capacity.

I'm not saying 2 wrongs make a right, but everything Mariko did was in response to what someone else did to her. So I think if she deserves hate, then so does Kyoto because she isn't totally innocent either.

In general, I think these characters all needed a lesson in proper communication. Every last one of them. Maybe because I'm a very open and straightforward person myself, my biggest frustration with this drama was that no one was upfront with each other when it really mattered. They all could have saved themselves a lot of grief just by talking straight with each other instead of going around corners and jumping to conclusions. But this is how the Japanese really are, so in that sense the show is very realistic. Their style of communication is very roundabout & requires a lot of reading between the lines. They don't believe in straightforwardness, so many times things are left to fester and spiral out of control when they don't have to.

In the end, the only person I felt bad for was Fukuda, the chef. I don't think Mariko really loves him. She got together with him after being rejected (by her ex, by Yabuki, by that guy from her French language class and even Suga - when she was drunk) because he's safe & comfortable. Maybe they will work out, but Mariko strikes me as the type of woman who needs a man who can make her heart beat. When her heart is fully healed by the safety & comfort Fukuda provides, I'm not sure how long she'll stick around....

Anyway, sorry for this longa$$ rant! lol
I see you enjoyed the show since you gave it a 8/10. For me, I'm thinking 7/10 ... mostly because all the misunderstandings, miscommunications and non-communications really grated on my last nerve. :)

Said the person with countless noona romances with big age gaps on her list. Biased much? :/

So I just found out that Song Joong Ki was offered the role of Prince Lee Chang and he rejected it in favour of Arthdal Chronicles. I'm so glad! Aside from the fact that Song Joong Ki just doesn't fit the role of Lee Chang ... like AT ALL, can't imagine anyone but Ju Ji Hoon playing the prince! Not even Hyun Bin in the movie version of the drama could outshine him. S2, hurry up & come, darnit!

Didn't get the hype around Capernaum. Roma was very well made (as is to be expected from Alfonso Cuaron) & a good film, so was Shoplifters, but I have to agree with you. I wouldn't say any of these films were better than the other. They're all top tier films with excellent, visionary directors at their helm. They all deserve to be recognized, but sadly there can only be 1 winner. I personally preferred Burning. It was different & would have deserved the win. But the Oscars are known to prefer dramatic narratives over genre films. Don't think a genre film has won since .... I don't even remember, so I wasn't too surprised when Burning didn't make the cut.

The title is very misleading ... lol

This was a complete and utter waste of time.

Agreed!

Disappointed by the ending. It was too abrupt. They said he had a brain aneurysm ... in other words, a damn stroke that led to him being in a coma for months! One thing's for sure is that a hemorrhagic stroke is a very serious illness, esp when it knocks you out for several months. Even though he's awake, there's a strong possibility that he might not be able to speak OR use half of his body. In such a state, the only person she'll be nursing will be him, not babies. That's why the ending sucks ... they could have at least showed that he got healthy enough for them to start a family of their own and live a happy life. But I guess it wouldn't be Japanese if it didn't end on a melancholic note...