So far this drama is all concept and zero plot. I can't believe the rating is as high as it is. It's almost over…
Honestly, I feel you. It's glaringly obvious that the writers had a vague idea in their heads but didn't really think it through before they started filming. The pacing issues this drama has (and I'm not even talking about the plot holes) only prove that.
I'm still kind of enjoying it solely based on its concept and the chemistry some (w/ the emphasis on 'some') of the actors have with each other, but I do find myself skipping a lot. The plot is so dull that I'm not really missing anything anyway.
Ep 6 highkey saved this drama for me. The entire time I was kinda meh while watching. It was alright, but I didn't really like the main characters and it sometimes seemed way too rushed and other times way too draggy. But honestly, in ep 6 we finally saw some more of the main characters' personalities (especially Do Jae's!!) and we also saw more of the entire concept of Se Gye changing faces aka literally the reason I (and I can imagine many others) started watching it in the first place lmao I really hope they'll continue in this direction, with which I mean focusing more on the character growth and the way they both deal with Se Gye's different faces, bc it's what makes this drama unique and not just another typical rom-com.
Honestly, I loved this movie. The acting from the two leads was top notch imo. They weren't awkward with each other (what I've almost come to expect from bl's) and their relationship was actually really believable.
As for the ending, I actually kinda like it tbh. In the end, though Gu Jun obviously did deserve the 'second chance' to be happy, some things just aren't meant to be. I think he himself also realized this when he realized that Ming Jin wasn't the man he'd fallen in love with all those years ago (bc he didn't like the ice cream). I think it was also why he was so willing to leave Min Jing's apartment in the first place and why he almost easily went back to being old.
My only complaint with this movie is the music and sound design, tho. They really could've done a lot better on that one.
My interpretation is that basically when he fell into a coma, it was actually all in his head. The longer he imagined…
Tbh, that's also what I think, seeing how Hyun Seok didn't seem to remember him. I absolutely agree with everything you said, though I personally would've much rather he stayed alive to take care of his mother instead of leaving her and everyone the way he did (I mean, pretty sure your mother didn't mean she wanted you to kill youself when she said she would support you no matter what, buddy) But in a way, I guess it does fit the drama, huh?
But anyway, if you believe in this interpretation, it obviously doesn't really matter how he handled things, since it was all in his head anyway... But I still can't comprehend how he wouldn't help the kid the first time he went there (seeing how he was't sure if anything was real). Had it been me I would've done everything in my power to make sure that he didn't grow up to be a murderer. But idk, maybe I was just too invested in Min Seok and Hyun Seok's story line lmao
Am I the only one who thought that the reason for him being 'send back' in time was for him to somehow redeem Min Seok and avoid all the murders from happening. Up until ep 14 I was honestly convinced he would somehow save the kid from the environment he was living in and make sure he grew up loved and way less likely to commit the heinous acts. That would've made so much more sense imo.
I mean, I guess you could argue that it all happened in his own head anyway, but idk.. I thought they stated he was there for a reason and rn I really don't get the reason he was there for at all.
I haven't had secone male lead syndrome like this since citt. No, scratch that, this time it's even worse. Honestly, how can they not let Ayumi end up with Kaga??? I'm sorry, but was I the only one who noticed that she literally spend 5 ep being cute with HIM instead of Koshiro?? And don't get me wrong, I actually really liked Koshiro as well, but he's not the one I watched hours getting closer to Ayumi, is he? I honestly feel scammed..
I'm sorry, I'm not sure if you noticed, but this is a kid you're talking about. It's not his fault Thailand is…
I'm sure what's happening over there is horrible and really unfair and I had no idea about it until now. I knew asian countries could often still be really conservative and racist (especially against each other and other minorities), but it honeslty baffles me that they could even be that way against their own people (+ other minorities)?? Like, it's literally almost unbelievable. Thank you for your explanation and you DO absolutely have the right to speak out abt this!! I'm sorry if I gave you the impression that I didn't think your opinion was valid.
It's just that I think you're attacking this kid a little too harshly. He's still only 17, after all. Besides, obviously no american company is ever gonna hire him, regardless of his acting skills. We al know how anti-asian Hollywood is. He's not going to stand a chance over there.
I am unaware guy's reputation, so maybe your reaction was justified, but idk, I still don't believe he deserves to be blamed for all the things wrong in Thailand.
I still can't believe they left multiple, major characters (like his father) out, but they did appartenly have time for the longest, most unnecessary and uncomfortable sex scene ever??
No, Naoto was not the killer. It was Shingo. Naoto had a heart condition and died at the end of the movie.
We know Shingo is the killer, because, after he had his major freak-out, Tatsuya followed him back to his island, where he found the word 'rage' carved into the walls of his hideout. The same words Singo wrote with the blood of the man he killed on the wall in the beginning of the movie. It is also stated that the killer hated when people looked at him with pity (this is why he killed the couple in the first place). When Shingo nearly choked Tatsuya he yelled at him that he didn't need his sympathy. The final clue was that he wrote everything that left an impression on him down. He carved his rediculation of Imuyi's rape (which clearly left an impression on him) on the wall. This is how we know he's the killer. I completely understand your confusion, thouh!
I would've loved to see more of Min Jin's and Mi Ok's relationship tbh. I think it would've made made Min Jin's death and Mi Ok's desperate and gruesome revenge that much more devastating.
I actually really enjoyed this movie. More so than I did the manga, in fact.
I thought their relationship in this movie was way more balanced (there were no typical yaoi roles forced upon them, as is the case in the manga), which I very much appreciated, it made them a lot more 'believable' imo. The way the actors portrayed their characters was incredible, there was no awkwardness (which you often see in BL j-movies), just the raw emotions of two people in a (be it a fucked up) relationship. This is honestly one of the best performances I've ever seen in a j-movie.
That is not to say the movie didn't have its flaws, bc it did. I just feel like the actors really covered those up almost seamlessly with their amazing performances.
I am annoyed bcs it's not even realistic?Hanyang resisted while pills where shoved down his throat, has been clean…
PREACH!! This is literally the most accurate thing I've ever read in my life. I can not believe they did him dirty like that. I hate when they cast everything a character's been through aside just for the sake of dramatics like jfc, his entire fucking character arc was build on him refusing to take drugs and even going as far as to resist them even (as you said) when they're being forced down his throat. I just finished the drama and I'm still so upset abt this, but I'm happy to see I'm at least not the only one who thinks abt it this way..
Am I the only one that had major second female lead syndrome with this one??
I found Adachi a lot more likeable than the female lead. I feel like everyone's forgetting that she was the one who had the balls to confess first, even though that must've been really hard for her to do, given the fact that she was severely bullied. This fact also explained a lot of her later actions. I don't want to condone them, I just want to say that it isn't surprising she went to such extents, given everything she went through.
I mean, look at how the main characters treat her throughout the entire movie. Rita literally cheats on her. Hatori is jealous of her the entire time. She badmouths her and doesn't feel bad at all after Rita cheats with her. Kosuke is on Hatori's side and so literally verbally abuses her each time he's in the same frame as her ("You're a despicable woman", "You're a hypocrite, it pisses me off.") I don't understand how so many of you like him so much??? Like, don't get me wrong, I like Kentaro a lot, but I really disliked his character here. They literally all treated her like garbage and this ruined most of the characters for me.
The reason I say I did have second female lead syndrome is because I feel like, at first, Achadi did bring out the best in Rita. He stood up to her bullies and seemed genuinely happy whenever he was around her. That was, until Hatori started acting up.
And in the end she does come clean about everything. She could've been selfish, but when he asks she gives him the opportunity to leave her and go be with Hatori, even though being alone is one of her biggest fears. I personally think this alone shows just how strong of a person she is.
Oh wow, I'm already really liking this! Boo's depression is portrayed in an incredibly realistic way. I literally get chills whenever he has a breakdown. I can't wait to see where this is going!
I feel like the thing about this drama is that it's all about interpertation, be it the ending, be it the relationships.
Puen himself stated that he was bi/pan, it's no wonder people are going to look into things more. At first I believed everything between Puen and Shingha was strictly platonic, but after reading some comments suggesting that they might have been more AND seeing how Puen broke down in the hospital I couldn't help but think that those people might be right. And I feel like that's the dramas biggest stength. Its ability to make you think about its characters, to actually make you care. Which is sadly something many directors fail at.
The relationship between Puen and Than was, by far, one of the best ones I've ever seen in any drama. Because it can, again, be interpreted in many ways. The fact that Angel, who's in love with Puen, starts crying when she sees him with Than makes it pretty clear cut for me. But other may think she was just exaggarating bc of what he told her. It's all a matter of perspective.
In the end I don't really think it matters whether or not Puen was romantically involved with anyone (so @ppl in the comments who are extremely negative towards ppl who do think so, pls stop). I think we should all be thankful to the director for going us such a high quality show with awesome performances and actual fleshed out characters who go through realistic hardships.
Okay, I know people in the comments have been complaining about the ending non-stop, but I really need to get this off my chest as well.
I get that the writers wanted a tragic ending. I get that, it often makes a drama more memorable. But I don't get why they'd let Un die at the hands of his best friends. There were so many bad guys, why not make use of them for his death?? The sudden change of demeanor of Cho Rip towards Un made no sense. His reasons weren't justified (they tried, but they just weren't), it was just a cheap way to make it even more 'dramatic', his death being a result of the betrayal of one of his best friends. In reality it just made the ending close to horrible.
The writers should know better than to butcher Cho Rip's character just for the sake of dramatics. I might be in the minority here, but I really liked Cho Rip's character throughout the show and it makes me sad to see people in the comments treat him like this. It wasn't fair for a character that had gone through so much positive developement and for us viewers. They also should've had at least made Un say what he wanted to say, to both of them. He never had the chance and that makes me so mad. They deseved at least that bit of closure to their friendship.
Then there's also the second thing that really bugged me. The romance. What the hell was with all the foreshadowing in the beginning?? I was so convinced Dong Soo and Jin Ju were going to end up together. I was hoping until the last few minutes that they would too. But Dong Soo ends up with Ji Sun? The character we see almost nothing of the last fifteen or so episodes?? That character? What the hell were these writers thinking when they wrote the script of these last few episodes? At first I thought I was the only one who just didn't feel ANY chemistry between these two, but looking through the comments I'm glad to see I'm not the only one.
I didn't like them together from the beginning, probably because Dong Soo (who's supposed to be a strong and likebale character) turned into such an idiot around her. He literally annoyed me. And after his training period with the sword saint it got a little better, but they just stopped developing their relationship (and Ji Sun's character while they were at it). If they had I probably would've at least been a little happy with the ending.
But Jin Ju. Oh my god, how I love this character. She's so strong and charming, everything a female lead should be. She and Dong Soo had so much chemistry! They were literally perfect for each other. They let her end up with Hong Do, or, as I like to call him: that random painter that's always around for some reason. I wasn't opposed to this. They had their cute moments and they had okay chemistry...but that was only around the middle. They, again, didn't develop their relationship enough. For a drama that has romance as one of their main genres, they really didn't cut it for me.
But...overall I did like this drama. It had decent fighting scenes, the characters had good developement (until those god damn last episodes), the bromance was on point and it was just a good watch. Kudos to the child actors btw, it actually took me a few episodes to get over the fact they were gone.
Will I rewatch it? No. Simply because don't want to go through the same frustrations again
But that's just my opinion, I'm sure there are some people that really thought the ending was fitting and and really liked the main pairings and that's fine, too.
I'm still kind of enjoying it solely based on its concept and the chemistry some (w/ the emphasis on 'some') of the actors have with each other, but I do find myself skipping a lot. The plot is so dull that I'm not really missing anything anyway.
But honestly, in ep 6 we finally saw some more of the main characters' personalities (especially Do Jae's!!) and we also saw more of the entire concept of Se Gye changing faces aka literally the reason I (and I can imagine many others) started watching it in the first place lmao
I really hope they'll continue in this direction, with which I mean focusing more on the character growth and the way they both deal with Se Gye's different faces, bc it's what makes this drama unique and not just another typical rom-com.
As for the ending, I actually kinda like it tbh. In the end, though Gu Jun obviously did deserve the 'second chance' to be happy, some things just aren't meant to be. I think he himself also realized this when he realized that Ming Jin wasn't the man he'd fallen in love with all those years ago (bc he didn't like the ice cream). I think it was also why he was so willing to leave Min Jing's apartment in the first place and why he almost easily went back to being old.
My only complaint with this movie is the music and sound design, tho. They really could've done a lot better on that one.
But anyway, if you believe in this interpretation, it obviously doesn't really matter how he handled things, since it was all in his head anyway... But I still can't comprehend how he wouldn't help the kid the first time he went there (seeing how he was't sure if anything was real). Had it been me I would've done everything in my power to make sure that he didn't grow up to be a murderer. But idk, maybe I was just too invested in Min Seok and Hyun Seok's story line lmao
I mean, I guess you could argue that it all happened in his own head anyway, but idk.. I thought they stated he was there for a reason and rn I really don't get the reason he was there for at all.
No, scratch that, this time it's even worse. Honestly, how can they not let Ayumi end up with Kaga??? I'm sorry, but was I the only one who noticed that she literally spend 5 ep being cute with HIM instead of Koshiro??
And don't get me wrong, I actually really liked Koshiro as well, but he's not the one I watched hours getting closer to Ayumi, is he?
I honestly feel scammed..
It's just that I think you're attacking this kid a little too harshly. He's still only 17, after all. Besides, obviously no american company is ever gonna hire him, regardless of his acting skills. We al know how anti-asian Hollywood is. He's not going to stand a chance over there.
I am unaware guy's reputation, so maybe your reaction was justified, but idk, I still don't believe he deserves to be blamed for all the things wrong in Thailand.
Naoto had a heart condition and died at the end of the movie.
We know Shingo is the killer, because, after he had his major freak-out, Tatsuya followed him back to his island, where he found the word 'rage' carved into the walls of his hideout. The same words Singo wrote with the blood of the man he killed on the wall in the beginning of the movie. It is also stated that the killer hated when people looked at him with pity (this is why he killed the couple in the first place). When Shingo nearly choked Tatsuya he yelled at him that he didn't need his sympathy. The final clue was that he wrote everything that left an impression on him down. He carved his rediculation of Imuyi's rape (which clearly left an impression on him) on the wall.
This is how we know he's the killer. I completely understand your confusion, thouh!
I thought their relationship in this movie was way more balanced (there were no typical yaoi roles forced upon them, as is the case in the manga), which I very much appreciated, it made them a lot more 'believable' imo.
The way the actors portrayed their characters was incredible, there was no awkwardness (which you often see in BL j-movies), just the raw emotions of two people in a (be it a fucked up) relationship. This is honestly one of the best performances I've ever seen in a j-movie.
That is not to say the movie didn't have its flaws, bc it did. I just feel like the actors really covered those up almost seamlessly with their amazing performances.
This is literally the most accurate thing I've ever read in my life. I can not believe they did him dirty like that. I hate when they cast everything a character's been through aside just for the sake of dramatics like jfc, his entire fucking character arc was build on him refusing to take drugs and even going as far as to resist them even (as you said) when they're being forced down his throat.
I just finished the drama and I'm still so upset abt this, but I'm happy to see I'm at least not the only one who thinks abt it this way..
I found Adachi a lot more likeable than the female lead. I feel like everyone's forgetting that she was the one who had the balls to confess first, even though that must've been really hard for her to do, given the fact that she was severely bullied. This fact also explained a lot of her later actions. I don't want to condone them, I just want to say that it isn't surprising she went to such extents, given everything she went through.
I mean, look at how the main characters treat her throughout the entire movie. Rita literally cheats on her. Hatori is jealous of her the entire time. She badmouths her and doesn't feel bad at all after Rita cheats with her. Kosuke is on Hatori's side and so literally verbally abuses her each time he's in the same frame as her ("You're a despicable woman", "You're a hypocrite, it pisses me off.") I don't understand how so many of you like him so much??? Like, don't get me wrong, I like Kentaro a lot, but I really disliked his character here. They literally all treated her like garbage and this ruined most of the characters for me.
The reason I say I did have second female lead syndrome is because I feel like, at first, Achadi did bring out the best in Rita. He stood up to her bullies and seemed genuinely happy whenever he was around her. That was, until Hatori started acting up.
And in the end she does come clean about everything. She could've been selfish, but when he asks she gives him the opportunity to leave her and go be with Hatori, even though being alone is one of her biggest fears. I personally think this alone shows just how strong of a person she is.
I can't wait to see where this is going!
Puen himself stated that he was bi/pan, it's no wonder people are going to look into things more. At first I believed everything between Puen and Shingha was strictly platonic, but after reading some comments suggesting that they might have been more AND seeing how Puen broke down in the hospital I couldn't help but think that those people might be right. And I feel like that's the dramas biggest stength. Its ability to make you think about its characters, to actually make you care. Which is sadly something many directors fail at.
The relationship between Puen and Than was, by far, one of the best ones I've ever seen in any drama. Because it can, again, be interpreted in many ways. The fact that Angel, who's in love with Puen, starts crying when she sees him with Than makes it pretty clear cut for me. But other may think she was just exaggarating bc of what he told her. It's all a matter of perspective.
In the end I don't really think it matters whether or not Puen was romantically involved with anyone (so @ppl in the comments who are extremely negative towards ppl who do think so, pls stop). I think we should all be thankful to the director for going us such a high quality show with awesome performances and actual fleshed out characters who go through realistic hardships.
I get that the writers wanted a tragic ending. I get that, it often makes a drama more memorable. But I don't get why they'd let Un die at the hands of his best friends. There were so many bad guys, why not make use of them for his death?? The sudden change of demeanor of Cho Rip towards Un made no sense. His reasons weren't justified (they tried, but they just weren't), it was just a cheap way to make it even more 'dramatic', his death being a result of the betrayal of one of his best friends. In reality it just made the ending close to horrible.
The writers should know better than to butcher Cho Rip's character just for the sake of dramatics. I might be in the minority here, but I really liked Cho Rip's character throughout the show and it makes me sad to see people in the comments treat him like this. It wasn't fair for a character that had gone through so much positive developement and for us viewers. They also should've had at least made Un say what he wanted to say, to both of them. He never had the chance and that makes me so mad. They deseved at least that bit of closure to their friendship.
Then there's also the second thing that really bugged me. The romance. What the hell was with all the foreshadowing in the beginning?? I was so convinced Dong Soo and Jin Ju were going to end up together. I was hoping until the last few minutes that they would too. But Dong Soo ends up with Ji Sun? The character we see almost nothing of the last fifteen or so episodes?? That character? What the hell were these writers thinking when they wrote the script of these last few episodes? At first I thought I was the only one who just didn't feel ANY chemistry between these two, but looking through the comments I'm glad to see I'm not the only one.
I didn't like them together from the beginning, probably because Dong Soo (who's supposed to be a strong and likebale character) turned into such an idiot around her. He literally annoyed me. And after his training period with the sword saint it got a little better, but they just stopped developing their relationship (and Ji Sun's character while they were at it). If they had I probably would've at least been a little happy with the ending.
But Jin Ju. Oh my god, how I love this character. She's so strong and charming, everything a female lead should be. She and Dong Soo had so much chemistry! They were literally perfect for each other. They let her end up with Hong Do, or, as I like to call him: that random painter that's always around for some reason. I wasn't opposed to this. They had their cute moments and they had okay chemistry...but that was only around the middle. They, again, didn't develop their relationship enough. For a drama that has romance as one of their main genres, they really didn't cut it for me.
But...overall I did like this drama. It had decent fighting scenes, the characters had good developement (until those god damn last episodes), the bromance was on point and it was just a good watch. Kudos to the child actors btw, it actually took me a few episodes to get over the fact they were gone.
Will I rewatch it? No. Simply because don't want to go through the same frustrations again
But that's just my opinion, I'm sure there are some people that really thought the ending was fitting and and really liked the main pairings and that's fine, too.