SaraSaysStuff

What a frustrating journey of a show this was. Don’t get me wrong, I understand a slow burn is meant to have its own level of frustration, but this wasn’t that. The main characters were given the storyline of a side couple and the side characters the opposite. From the beginning I wasn’t expecting a kiss, this was always giving off “A Shoulder to Cry On” vibes, so I had already lowered my expectations. My issue is that the story that should have centered around the character that is the literal namesake of the show title was never given the proper amount of screen time and was instead always pushed aside almost as an afterthought. I guess yay they confessed and found they shared the same feelings, but why did we have to wait until the last 10 minutes of the entire series to see them have a “cute” ending that really wasn’t fulfilling at all. I lowered my rating another half point because they also just had to throw a poop joke in at the end, just why. I’m left wishing I would have enjoyed this as much as I had hoped for.

What an enjoyable watch this was. It made me feel all the feels. The pacing is slow, but the story is deep and makes up for any other faults. I really liked how when they were first starting to feel out their relationship, the scenes during those moments together were shot with the camera far away. As they grew closer, the camera also shortened the distance. And when they were finally in the same space, confessing the same feelings, and on the same page, we were right there up close with them. It would be remiss of me not to mention and consider the fact this drama is now 11 years old and is still completely relevant. I’m just left with a good feeling, having enjoyed getting to watch something that was done so well.

This really has gotten good. I didn’t think it would. I had my doubts. I even thought about dropping it early on, but right now I’m glad I didn’t. The last two episodes were a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to seeing what will happen next. There’s a sweet charm to this show that has officially got me hooked.

This is far too underrated. One of my absolute favorite KBL’s of all time.

It was all for nothing? But why?

I’m loving this so much. It’s become that one show I look forward to watching the most each week.

Every time Dongju flashes that devil-may-care smile in the face of those that dare think they can oppress him or get the upper hand, it just tickles me. I literally can’t help the evil and sinister laugh that comes out of me when he pokes the bear and shows that his teeth are more fearful. Which leads me to the thought, who would win in a fight between a bear and a shark? It would of course depend on the territory. Right now, Dongju controls both the battle and where it’s being fought, and he’s definitely got the bigger bite.
Dongju, fighting!!

I’m a week behind, so I’m only now seeing Mark’s house in episode 3, but that has to be the same house from both the BL series “Between Us” and “Love In The Air”, right? I think I’ve seen it in another series as well, I just can’t remember which.

This show stresses me out. And mostly it’s because my brain just instant braining. I’m piecing things together much slower than I probably should be, which leaves me in a constant state of confusion and frustration while watching.

I’ve sort of just lost caring about wherever the story is headed. Finding out that the relationship between Dongju and Eunnam hadn’t been incestuous - that being the only storyline that I found at all intriguing - doesn’t say much for where I imagine this show to be going. Those couple episodes of wondering whether or not Dongju had slept with his half sister felt like an unnecessary stress.

The one thing that I had sort of pieced together was that Dongju could have possibly been Ildo’s son. And then we got the whole Darth Vader reveal moment. So I’ll keep watching because I’m curious where that’ll go.

It just feels like the villains keep adding up, and there’s no redemption really yet to be found, it’s just, a lot

You’re very welcome! 💜

It’s a happy enough ending. Do Ha and U Hyeon end up together. But just to add my two cents, there was a forced separation near the end that felt unnecessary before their mutual confessions, and then one of them leaves to keep studying abroad, so we’re left with knowing when they at last get together they have to do the whole long distance relationship thing. Sort of bittersweet honestly, but I did enjoy watching this.

I can’t help this feeling of being underwhelmed. This started out so good, there was a vibrancy and excitement that instantly had me hooked, but the back half of the series just didn’t hold up. The show peaked at Hae Seong getting the bully kicked out of school. Once the story switched from the fun of figuring out the school’s urban legends in search for the gold to battling the evil school director, it just wasn’t as much fun. Far too much time was spent on the corrupt director. I could barely watch her scenes due to my detest of the character, but then her demise felt too rushed and really not that great of a vindication by the end.

I’m probably feeling this way mostly because the “romance” tag doesn’t really fit this series. Or maybe it’s because the shiny appeal of the story slowly wore off. Not to mention adding in another Quizno’s commercial within the last 10 minutes of the final episode just pissed me off.

I just wanted more from this. It served so well early on, but then gave scraps by the end. And that’s on me, my expectations were probably set too high. I wouldn’t say I disliked this, not at all, I just wanted to like it so much more.

I really enjoyed watching this. It was a lot of fun.

I couldn’t help but notice the ring Su Hyun gave Da On was too big, and the ring from Jae Min was too small, but Seong Hyeon’s ring fit him just right.

This might be my own misunderstanding or misreading of the story, but Eun Nam married not just for the company stocks, but as a way to find an answer in how or why her birth father died, by working her way into the company to figure out her father’s unexplained death. Which has been pretty much Eun Nam’s only motivating character trait I can see, that she would (ignorantly) want to give her life for the answer to her dad’s death. So yeah, she did use him.
Eun Nam had already thought Il Do might have something to do with her dad dying, and now seeing the evidence that Il Do tried to kill Dong Ju, her motivation has changed.
Maybe this is just a reach though.

Every week I think this is just getting better, and then the next week comes and it’s even better than the last. Dong Ju is playing a game of chess where he knows every move before his opponents can even guess where he’ll go next. He’s risking life and limb and damn but I want to seem him vindicated and the victor against all the corrupt foes that are well deserving of his beat down. They don’t even know who they’re messing with! They think cinnamon is going to take Dong Ju down? Cinnamon?!! Think again, pabo! Your old asses better run for the hills! The kind of justice that most likely isn’t sanctioned by law is coming your way!
Dong Ju, fighting!

On a side note, the poster for the show now makes a lot more sense. The way Jae Min has his hold on Da On.

I can’t believe I wavered at first and actually felt sad for the unrequited love between Jae Min and Da On when it turns out Jae Min’s been the manipulative puppet master behind everything. His control may not be as physically abusive as Su Hyeon, but now knowing he’s so sadistic and vicious, I don’t know who to hate more between those two.

I was in a bit of a kdrama slump, but had shows saved that I knew I should watch. So I decided to break the drought and just devote my time to what I thought was worthwhile. And fuck, excuse the superlative, but have there been some incredible series. I’m only a few episodes into Study Group and I already know this cannot be rated lower than an 8. It’s just freakin awesome. The action sequences already deserve a 20/10, so I wouldn’t be surprised with myself if I decided to rate it higher when I finish watching.
But also, why is my cutie pie guy from Tasty Florida all of a sudden in everything I’m watching? He was there in Melo Movie and then also in Buried Hearts, and here he is again! It’s such an uncanny coincidence. Every series he’s chosen I’ve loved or been loving. Shout out to Cha Woo Min. I’m loving him in every role.

I’m just really liking this. I’ve never really been a fan of the love triangle trope, or quadrangle as I guess this is. Or maybe it’s more a Venn diagram with Da On being right there in the epicenter of it all. But what I’m hooked on and can’t quite decide is if I like Da On with his coworker better than Da On with his college unrequited love. I feel like the show is making me lean towards the coworker, Seong Hyeun, but I can’t shake these feelings I have for the possibility of him being with his first love, Jae Min. And that’s why I’m hooked on this love triangle/quadrangle/Venn Diagram of a show and why it’s got my mind spinning and anticipating what comes next.