PrettyCarEye

Sad to say, but this was not a good directorial debut. Nothing worked. Not the cliched, unoriginal script - how convenient, that whole scenario with the babymomma. Plus all the other characters who were introduced & then nuked on a whim without rhyme or reason. ::eyeroll::

Not the unimaginative directing (JWS seems to think car headlines are particularly cinematic. Newsflash, they're not!) or the boring acting. JWS oppa had that same deadpan, melancholic look on his face & body language throughout the entire movie, no matter the emotion he was expressing. That moronic gangster guy with the shotgun was so incompetent ... his character so bad, he was good. Compliments to the actor ... I guess. Then there was KNG, his character was supposed be this maniacal loony toon, but the constant whining like a little b*tch was more annoying than menacing. I guess that was the point, but somehow it still didn't quite work as a character development device.

I did not feel invested in the hero's journey at all. The ending sequences were sooo predictable & stupidly unrealistic (like how do you sit there & not realize what's about to happen?). For its genre the movie lacked high enough stakes to keep it engaging & was, thus, a total dud. Absolutely a victim of Korean one-track minded storytelling, that only parental love is ever worth exploring or fighting for. Nothing wrong with love between parent & child, but for once could we try something different? It is the same in every drama & movie. Sigh. 5/10

Totally agree. What an utter disappointment!

Too Late To Say I Love You is not a Chinese version of CLOY. It is a completely different drama but explores a lot of the same themes & dilemmas as CLOY. Great drama if you can overlook some its less finer points. Well worth the watch for the passionate romance between the leads (although if you're the type of viewer who don't like alpha male leads, you might not enjoy the ML. He can be a bit intense & very hot-blooded). I loved him, but then he's just my type. I'd highly recommend it if you don't mind that & can find it subbed & in good quality.

That she should have written a review rather than an article is not up to you to decide though. That's up to her & the editorial team on MDL. Furthermore, I've been on MDL for years and drama articles have always been apart of the roster, not just news. You must be new around here. I think you're being very unreasonable just because she expressed an opinion that is different from your own. I know it can sting when other people don't like a drama as much as you do (it happened to me a few years ago when I wrote a glowing review about the drama Lovers; I loved it, my MDL companions, not so much), however, don't you think you're being a bit immature with all this type of triggered commentary?

Expressing an opinion that is different from your own or those who enjoyed the drama does not constitute "hate". There is such a thing as constructive criticism, which is valid conduct in human interactions & relationships. The OP meticulously laid out the reasons why the drama didn't work for her in a manner that takes into consideration its popularity & how beloved it is by many viewers. Where is the hate?

Oh no, I hate to tell YOU ... your whiny, knee jerk reaction to my comment without having understood what I wrote is the reason why you exactly fall into the category of MDL users I referred to - the illogical, emotional, mentally ill, fragile & uneducated class.

I specifically stated in my comment that IT IS OK to express disagreements with other people's comments/opinion, however, judgemental personal attacks is the most telling indication of an immature, uneducated and uncouth individual with NO ability to present their arguments rationally. And what did you do? You go and do the exact same thing I problematized. Isn't that ironic???

Moreover, I did not express agreement with Melanie's opinion, I defended her right to freedom of speech and expression. Big difference. The problem with you keyboard warriors is that you don't read to comprehend what people are saying, you comment & react without thinking. You are like gnats just waiting to pile on to other people just because you don't like their opinions. Here's one suggestion for you: Grow tf up or stay off the internet if you can't deal with people who don't share your view of the world. It's best for your mental health which is clearly a bit fragile.

And as for your comment about "people like you will comfortably slut shame women". Fyi, I didn't slut shame anyone. However, unlike you I don't see shame as necessarily a bad thing. Since you're going to make assumptions about me & what you think I believe, let me make one about you. I'm sure YOU are one of those people who have no problem shaming men for their perceived bad behaviour, but you get butthurt about whatever you perceive as "slutshaming women". Make it make sense. You can't, though, because you know why? You're a hypocrite. You're probably the type of person who want one rule for men, but no rules women. Then you'd be the first to be up in arms about "gender equality." Tsk ... you live in a clown world. I live in the real world.

Interesting write up. Unlike most people, I didn't like CLOY. I ended up dropping it. But I so badly wanted to like it because I love Hyun Binny & Song Ye Jin is alright. I mean, she's not my favourite, but I wasn't upset that she was the FL. Perhaps what I was most excited about, though, was the great potential of the plot - the stoic North Korean soldier falling for the beautiful & bubbly South Korean nice, rich girl. It was supposed to be a tale of sweet, but forbidden love & I was expecting a lot of intense action & romance amidst a moody backdrop of two countries that are technically still at war. Sadly CLOY for me turned out to be the same old boring romcom drama cliche. No substance, no chemistry. They totally misused all the potential of the story by focusing the narrative on all the wrong things & basically not giving any airtime to the reason why people tuned in in the first place: the romance, the danger, the forbiddenness of their love affair. Sure, there were some cute, endearing moments, but they felt like high school. Not intense enough at all.

There is a Chinese drama with a similar theme of a forbidden & complicated romance between a military man & a woman he shouldn't be with. It's called Too Late To Say I Love You starring the ever indomitable Wallace Chung. That drama had A LOT of flaws as it relates to pacing & some story arcs, but what they definitely got right was the setting (its mood & tone), the characterizations and romance. I *felt* the intensity of the protagonists' love for each other & the forbiddenness of their love. When they got together, their encounters were intense and passionate because they didn't know when or if they'd ever see each other again. Danger lurked around every corner, war could break out at any moment & their love affair could be found out or exposed at any time.

That feeling of dread & excitement when they meet was not limited to the characters, the audience felt it too, which kept you on the edge of your seat. I loved the drama despite its overbloat of 36 episodes consisting of a number of unneccessary fillers & some annoying characters. It had me firmly invested in the leads and their love (unlike CLOY where I lost interest in the couple at some point). I was rooting for them to make it to the end; that the ML wouldn't end up dead in war or shot for compromising his high ranking position in the military for a woman.

CLOY, given its story/plot, should have had a similar vibe, but had *none* of these elements that made TLTSILY such an epic love story. Just bland, cliched, zero substance & zero chemistry. Hyun Bin & SYJ made a beautiful couple (I'm not surprised they went on to marry irl), but their coupling in CLOY was completely wasted because they were regulated to acting like silly, awkward teenagers, instead of adults who had found this great love with each other, but were in constant danger of losing it because of their circumstances.

Coming back to the article, all the reasons why I ended up dropping CLOY are the same reasons expressed about QoT, which kind of makes me feel validated in my initial impression of QoT when I first checked it out to see if it was worth watching. I didn't know that CLOY & QoT had the same writer/director team, but I knew QoT was a bad drama (for me anyway) just by watching its trailer. Like CLOY it looked too glossy and perfect for the themes it wanted to explore & even in the trailer it seemed to skirt around the core issue of why the couple got divorced (by highlighting the slapstick comedic sequences). It was the same with CLOY, every theme was explored *except* the one that was most important - the danger & forbiddenness of the romance between the leads, how they were going to make it work given the huge conflict of interest between their respective countries. So glad I trusted my gut and didn't bother to waste my time starting this. Thanks for the article, OP!

I get what you're saying. This is typical for people who are experiencing something the first time, though, right? I remember 12 years ago when I watched my first Asian drama, it was a masterpiece for me at that time. But after 12 years and many dramas later, I see now that it was barely above average. I totally agree that they're much better thriller dramas out there than Squid Game. At the same time, it's not the worst either.

I'm mostly pleased for the success of the show on behalf of the production team because I read an interview where the director explained how much he struggled to bring SG to the screens (apparently he had to put up some of his own money & go without food to get it made). Then because he wasn't a top ranking director, the deal he struck with Netflix was a really bad one (just a one off payment, which wasn't a whole lot, and no future royalty payments from S1).

With the new season he's guaranteed a cut of the lifetime profits of S2 and all subsequent seasons thereafter. So for him & his team, I hope the show continues to do well so they can get paid their due. I've worked in the film/TV industry; it's not an easy life for 90% of creatives. Half the time you can barely pay your bills.

Fresh & original to audiences who are not regular viewers of Asian dramas. Moreover, I haven't seen Alice in Borderland, but are you saying that just because something is popular it is always bad? Squid Game wasn't a big deal for me, but it was watchable while it lasted. I can see why people who've likely never watched an Asian drama would find it thrilling. No?

Can you let me know where you watched this fully subbed? It's only partially subbed on certain sites.

Can you please say where you watched this with subs? It's on kissasian, but subs stop after about 28 min.

You should pick it back up. The event you were disappointed about was indeed bitter, and may continue being bitter for a few episodes more, but afterwards it's a pleasant experience. The murderer gets what's coming to do them, of that you can be sure.

Yeah, like I said I totally get and share your concern. Unfortunately it is indeed likely to go in that direction because the Korean economy is capitalistic in principle & designed to mimick its American counterpart. The temptation of increased profits will outweight cultural relevance & authenicity, and ultimately this greed along with global influence will lead to the outcome we both dread. Very sad business, but such is the way of the world. Nothing lasts forever, good or bad.

I don't think Squid Game itself was particularly westernized. It was a fresh, original concept, esp to Western viewers which is why it was such a huge hit, but very much entrenched in very Korean style storytelling. It had all the usual tropes of a typical Korean drama - the melodrama, class divide, greedy morally bankrupt chæbols, corporate skullduggery etc. But yeah, the unnecessary additional seasons are a devise of western profitseeking.

I get what you mean and I agree. K-dramas are unique in the way they tell a story and wrap it all up in the space of one season. That lends itself to tighter and more original storytelling than the western format of prolonging a show with multiple seasons just for the sake of profit (Prison Break's first season was excellent and a hugh success, but with each season thereafter the quality of the show just went to sh*t).

There are some shows that are written with more than one season in mind (Kingdom was one such, I think) and in those cases, additional seasons are OK because you know it was a planned process. But the only reason why we're getting multiple seasons of Squid Game is because Netflix wants to exploit its success. The first season concluded on a high note & provided a good ending for our protagonist & that universe. We didn't really need more seasons. While I don't wish for its failure, I fear that subsequent seasons are going to ruin the high note of S1, kind of like Sweet Home whose S2 was a massive disappointment. Oh well, guess we're gonna have to wait & see.

Korean creatives just have to overdramatize *everything*. So many shows & movies get ruined with all kind of over the top melodrama and makjang. Sigh ... it's a cultural thing, but man ...

LOL! I dont know why but for some reason your comment has me in stitches. haha

Please just ignore the absolute insanity of immature MDL users. I've been on this site for about 12 years and it is a harbinger of mentally ill, brain dead, otaku weirdos with ZERO social skills in real life. The Tiktok brain rot generation ... a total lack of real world experience, insight or critical thinking ability. Express an opinion that is contrary to the mainstream and these insignificant little gnats come out of the woodwork to attack you like rabid dogs. The same thing happened to me recently when I posted an opinion on the drama Sweet Home. As a grown adult of sound mind, I'm embarrassed that I even allowed myself to stoop to their level by getting into a mudslinging argument with them. Sometimes, though, the attacks are so shocking & outrageous that it's tempting not to engage. I don't think it's a bad thing for people to express disagreement with other people's preferences (it makes for a lively & engaging community), but being irrational & judgemental in one's arguments is so classless & uneducated. But don't expect most MDL users to understand that.

Super hilarious to me how many assumptions (all of which are patently false btw lol) you all are making about me, as if you know me ... a total stranger on the internet. It really underlines the meaning of making a complete ass of one's self when you ... ASSume things you have NO evidence to confirm.

But on a more serious note, before you block me because that's what nutjob keyboard warriors like you all love to do when you can't outmatch your betters ... you block them & run away like little cowards instead of standing on your arguments. Let me expose your flagrant ignorance, for the benefit of anyone who might stumble upon this outrageous exchange, for which I am embarrassed to be a participant because I've allowed myself to be sullied by the stink of your collective pig sty.

I never made a political statement. YOU all turned this into a nasty political smear campaign against me, all because I criticized an ASPECT of leftist ideology (feminist propaganda) in discussing the female lead in Sweet Home (a position I stand by). My comment in no way dismissed other merits of leftism, nor was it ANY definitive indication of my political leaning. I could be a leftist myself & still criticize its pitfalls, for all you know. But I guess THAT notion did not occur to any of you feeble-minded, fragile, mentally ill scallywags who are just chomping at the bits to attack anyone who may have a different view from your own. Talking about Trump, walls (Walls?!? how the heck did walls become a part of this conversation???) & all manner of irrelevant, utter nonsense that *I* neither said nor brought up.

Your collective lack critical thinking skills is shocking & an embarrassing testament to the tik tok brain rot of your generation. I am done with this moronic conversation. If you want to continue spouting vomit & remove all doubt that you are not only a fool, but an uneducated fool, go ahead & knock yourself out. For now on, you're going to do so alone.

LOL ... okay, Zoomer. Whatever you say.