Sinasina

There are so many, I'm literally talking about the best of the best. I'm jelly that you can watch such amazing shows for the first time in 2025, when I have like nothing to watch & due to that somehow I have not dropped Dynamite Kiss of all things. (Business Proposal is fine though.)

For example: Goblin, Hogu's Love, Secret Garden, While You Were Sleeping, I Can Hear Your Voice, Pinocchio, It's Okay That's Love, Oh My Venus, Still 17 etc..
(In secret Garden the second FL defo doesn't want the ML, but it takes a few epis for that to become clear, it's actually quite a similar FL character to the one in Dynamite Kiss)

I have a list actually https://kisskh.at/list/1dOGjNE4
though this list is about weak love triangles in general & half of it is cdramas, as such there are a few love struck second FL's around that give up quickly or are not too bothersome. For example one of the best romcoms I've seen is Another Oh Hae Yong & in that show the second FL defo wants back in ML's life, but it's a weak effort..

If you can accept shows with annoying second ML's, but not FL's then there is probably hundrends more. The most common triangle setup is 2 men & 1 woman, often there is not even a second FL. Strongwoman Do Bong Sun is the biggest name in that otherwise wretched genre & it's incredibly funny if you can FF button the second ML's scenes.

I'm watching e10 rn, I'm 50% in & I'm thinking good gawd, are they going to turn this show into Jealousy Incarnate?

Really, you have missed some of the best kdramas if true.

Yeah well, this is just as true for cdramas & c-idols. It's just a surprising quirk of Korean society that their entertainment industry is nearly as restrictive as the Chinese one.

It's not an acting issue, it's a kdrama issue. Wouldn't surprise me if some high profile actors had it in the contract that dead fish kisses only. What's even more plausible that the intensity of the kiss affects the age rating of the show as well.

It's all the writing. Sure we could criticize FL's acting -though I think she is rapidly improving- however this is tiny tiny problem compared to the characterization and the dumb strategies to make this drama longer than it had to be.

I would be okay with him remaining a sad single dad & that's it. I don't think meaningful redemption is possible without 30 episodes of steady character development, maybe with some long timeskips added in.

What bad thing do you think HY has done that makes her comparable to the 3 other leads?

Second ML is awful, the plot in general is quite awful, ML's family is 2005 kdrama style cartoon villain-ish.

And the mom division's depiction is straight up disrespectful to educated & smart housewives dreaming about returning to the job market.

I have not been talking about her character or moral choices, just the fact that according to the script she shouldn't be stupid & is a university graduate, with scholarships at that.

I do agree that this is not a very good drama. Though Darim's controversial character is just a small part of that in my mind.

There could be contradictions in the writing, but at the very least there are the job interview flashbacks where the interviewers joke about the shitty uni she went to.

>that's why she never finished Uni

She finished Uni, she's been struggling with the civil service exam that guarantees employment if successfully taken, which is absurdly difficult & most people cannot do it. Failing it repeatedly is normal, like only the best of the best of the best can do it.

If you rationally analyze her basic setting as shown in the early episodes, then she should be on the smarter side of average, punished by society for her poor / fatherless family background.

In my experience by and large non romance South Korean shows tend to suck, especially compared to 2000,2010 era American television. The only reason Korean thrillers etc are still gaining traction is because Hollywood is in a big decline. What I'm trying to say is that that is not a very high bar to aim for, especially if we ignore production values & focus on real substance.

So what is the Sci-fi tag about?

My ex's Korean ex handled their breakup exactly like this, so it's certainly a real cultural thing. Though it hardly applies to what's going on in this drama with FL's "friend", that is not real life.

Though I know from experience that this trying to read between lines thing can be insane from a non-Asian perspective. (Chinese people do this too at the very least)

I'm only on e4, but imo if the dad is not evil, then he received a major character rewrite, just "great"!

> Kdrama writers, you're better than this!

I wouldn't expect much from the writers of a show where the ML has a 2005 era evil chaebol dad & where FL's fake husband / love triangle cockroach is her chidhood friend.

Having a bad couple of months with multiple hospital visits is the least of the script's problems.

These shows don't require any experience with this genre. The danger here is that the writers often mess up the final episodes & with this drama we don't yet know if it will be good or bad.

I envy you, I'd love to delete Goblin, While You Were Sleeping, Another Oh Hae Yong, Hogu's Love & It's Okay That's Love from my brain to experience them once again & you can.

Why wouldn't they be? The studio etc know that MDL ratings matter to foreign viewership, so they'll take steps to make sure it's not bad.

But yes considering how many reviews talk about the "amazing chemistry" It seems clear what's going on, even if a small percentile of those are serious.

Just look at the top 2 reviews shown right now, both are 1st time MDL reviewers xD.

I'd guess Son+Won is one.