SongofSixpence

OMG, yes - I'm watching it too, and not only is it 90% FL passively accepting ML's advances the romance is shown mostly from ML's POV, past and present. I don't dislike the FL either, but I find the relationship unconvincing and uneven.

It's so frustrating! When viewers praise romances like that as "mature" I have to question what mature actually means to them - I think it's often code for they think the ML and skinship scenes hot, or just the taboo nature of the relationship.

Historical technicality, but the nobi in the Joseon period were closer to serfs or indentured servants than slaves - they had legal rights, held contracts and could own and inherit property. Slaves were a Goryeo dynasty thing and there was a mass emancipation of them near the beginning of Joseon, then a gradual emancipation of the nobi by law in 1775.

Feudalism still sucks though.

It's equally interesting that those defending the drama make the assumption that those critical of the romance are just looking for a romcom style relationship in a melodrama - which are equally as formulaic, just with different tropes.

IMO, this is a standard Kdrama romance in set up if not tone - there's an idealized first love, separation and reunion, a barrier to the relationship and not much beyond that yet. We know very little about the leads' private and inner lives, how they would relate as a couple or even if they anything to talk about outside of work. The writing has given viewers a limited scope with which to view their relationship - the hagwon.

That's disappointing for those who are primarily romance motivated as well as those who enjoy more detailed characterization and storytelling - not to mention the genre savvy who know there's angst ahead. If the getting together feels trite, there's less reason to be invested in the leads staying together when the going gets tough.

The school teacher is upset because his authority is being challenged, so he reworked his final exam to only use material from the classroom - he wants to make hagawon tutoring useless as a factor. The school and other teachers are upset because changing the exam criteria is going to invalidate the ranking system for the whole grade - they think his exam will be too easy. So the administration assigned a senior teacher to "advise" him on the changes and he refused - which made them more upset.

But I'm 99% sure the next scene where he goes to buy cigarettes but can't because of "parental complaints" is an allusion to the other reason the school is upset.

The romance is here... but it's more smoke than fire.

I love a good slow-burn that takes time to ramp up the longing and anticipation but this one failed to meaningfully build the current relationship first. It's mostly about their past connection instead, which is one of the tropes I'm iffy about in Kdramas. I wish the writer had spent more time letting us get to know ML and FL better along with them getting to know each other.

There's also too much reliance on exposition in the romance and in general. People don't usually openly and in detail explain or discuss their moods, thoughts and feelings with each other but it happens in this drama a lot. Like, all the time - even in public. It doesn't feel at all realistic, though it does create and maintain an intimate mood.

I'm lukewarm overall at this point. There are parts that I'm interested in (education and social issues), parts that are likely going to annoy me (the villains and office politics) and parts that could go either way (the romance, the side characters, the vibe).

According to tvN it's six years. ML was 18 and FL 24 when they were tutor and student - currently they're 28 and 34.

https://kisskh.at/photos/qYw5dB_3

On the character chart they're officially 29 and 35, but in South Korea you're 1 year old at birth due to a traditional age system so to get their actual age you have to subtract 1 year.

Melodramas as a genre are defined by stories that focus on a central moral/class conflict at the expense of detailed characterization. So the conflict is "good" teachers vs "bad" teachers and everyone is just player on one side or the other.

I'd probably be okay with that if the writer was actually doing something interesting with the conflict - like using it to meaningfully critique the education system - but so far, nope! We've got two petty tyrants on a power trip abusing their authority vs two teachers who became ideal teachers practically overnight plus some background backstabby office politics.

Like you said, there's plenty of symbolism - but the people who see depth and subtlety here must be watching a completely different drama.

That's not how FL is portrayed and it's not how we're told she's taught and worked for the past 14 years - she literally says she's not the same person she was a week ago. We're only shown she has the potential to be a good teacher when teaching or working with ML. So you could argue he's the impetus for her growth or the link to an ideal self, but that would still be a short timeline for a very dramatic change.

Same for ML. He had his epiphany during the free lecture last episode and in this episode promised to do nothing for the next year but support FL's teaching and help her gain new clients. That's giving up on salary and personal advancement - he's a new teacher, he could easily be fired for under-performing.

It's too perfect to believe this early on. I might have felt differently if it were halfway through or the current relationship between them had developed more, but this is rushing things without fleshing them out enough for me.

The simplistic characterization is showing its limitations. "I'm all about the money" FL has a change of heart in a week, and same with "I want more money" ML? I'd expect to see more give and take or internal struggle over the decisions they've been faced with but it's all very straightforward so far - standard melo stereotypes. They make the "right" choice because they're the heroes and they represent an ideal, not because of realistic character growth.

The continued emphasis on authority in education as "wrong" is equally unsubtle. Both villains - the school teacher and the Witch (who was also a school teacher) - have outright said they desire authority. They seem to represent standardized, credentialed education and both criticize FL for teaching Korean without a degree or certification. So is the ideal being championed here the unregulated hagwon, which capitalizes on the failings of the system? Or deregulating education? Or simply to be a good teacher within a broken system? As a critique it's very basic.

I'm really not loving the yakety sax instrumentals or tone and story progression here. It reminds me of Rian Johnson's parodies, specifically Brick (life-or-death noir in a petty high school social scene). Unlike those praising the realism I feel with every episode it's diverging farther from slice of life around education and becoming more melodramatic and farcical, just with a mundane backdrop. Not what I was hoping for - if a drama is going to focus on social issues I'd like to see those issues addressed, not watch a moralistic pantomime of good teacher vs bad teacher.

Still worth a watch for me this point, but I'm tempering expectations.

In OSN FL was in a relationship with SML when she started pursuing a closer relationship with ML. Even though there was no physical cheating, emotional affairs are considered infidelity by many people and in modern psychology.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/emotional-infidelity

Nope, neither ML or FL are in a relationship with someone else. But according to the character profiles FL's friend and co-worker Yoon Ji Seok is in love with her so there may be an emotionally messy love triangle later.

That's hard to answer without knowing your taste in dramas. But if you usually don't like melos or overly dramatic melo villains I'd avoid them!

TvN, Jung Ryeo Won and Wi Ha Joon have all called it a melodrama in their press interviews and marketing material. Jung Ryeo Won said she feels it's less sterotypical than most, which I'm hoping means no OTT toxic villains like the director's last two melos.

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/art/2024/04/398_372658.html
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/art/2024/05/398_374469.html

AGREED. Nothing makes me down rate a drama faster than a dramatic, soap opera breakup with a magic "like nothing ever happened" get back together - especially if it happens in the last 15 minutes.

It's the feminine equivalent of taking off a tie - uncomfortable work attire that you remove in a more private or casual setting. She's symbolically stepping in and out of her high stress, high profile role as a top hagwon tutor in the sanctuary of her office.

But between your comment and the previous one I'm curious how many people saw it as something sexual? That's probably the last interpretation I would reach for.

Public schools all have the same basic syllabus while private schools often specialize in a specific area (humanities, STEM, foreign languages, etc). Teachers don't decide what to teach, but they do decide how to teach and test the material. The drama is showing an exergated view of this by focusing on Korean language/literature where there's lots of room for interpretation vs subjects like science or math.

As for hagwons fighting over students, they're private businesses that want more clients and income - to give you an idea of the size of the industry, there's around 24,000 hagwons just in Seoul. FL's hagwon is targeting an elite private high school because the students are wealthy and they'll get more prestige by catering to them, as well as stealing them away from another popular hagwon.

The rest of the hagwon drama is really just office politics in a slightly different setting. ML jumped the promotion queue as a new teacher and all the more experienced staff are upset, along with the other new teacher.

It's a bit ??? that the village has a caste system when they've made other obvious changes, but social hierarchy seems to be an important point in SML's backstory and FL's work experience so I think it'll continue to play a role in the story. I also suspect it's part of why ML's mom and sister left because women also didn't have many rights or freedoms in Joseon, though we'll have to wait and see.

But I didn't mean to imply IHYV was a mentor/mentee relationship. IMO a majority of Kdramas have ML doing most of the active romance - running to FL's rescue, helping FL in tough circumstances, putting FL first despite difficulties, etc. In IHYV and DTLM it's more like a 50/50 split of FL doing those things for ML too. That's the dynamic that I love, I want to see more MLs get swept off their feet!

FL is very sweet, silly and kind of a pushover to start so if you find that archtype annoying skip this one. But if you like OTT high energy multi-plot romcoms like Strong Woman Do Bong Soon give it a try.

MDL needs to realize that light, cute and funny doesn't necessarily mean dumb.

The theme of the drama - examining which parts of traditional heritage are worth protecting vs those that should be modernized - is really interesting. The caste system vs the modern office hierarchy, the exhibition on current cultural art vs the missing Joseon artifacts, ML's family split between staying or leaving the village and SML running a traditional restaurant that lets normal people eat royal cuisine.

I also like that FL actively tries to support and protect ML just like he does for her. That's the dynamic that got me interested in noona romances with I Hear Your Voice but unfortunately seems rare in general. Usually it's ML doing all the emotional labor and grand gestures which makes the whole relationship feel one sided - not my thing at all.

Sticking with this one for now, I want to see where it goes.