TofueToffee

I didn't realize until halfway through the drama that while QK x CF were falling in love, our lead couple were not in love and not supposed to be in love even at the Guixa separation, although they started to understand and care for each other.

QK and CF fell in love and went through their ups and downs with each other later. Meanwhile, SDYQ and YT started with their ups and downs with each other, and thus their feelings were built to culminate at the revival of SDYQ.

I think being patient with the leads YT x SDYQ's love story which took 20+ episodes for them to come together compared to the QK x CF is important.

About the two main love lines, I don't think they should be compared because both had different pacing and of course within the first half, one would be more prominent than the other because QK x CF fell in love much faster while YT x SDYQ were slowburn.

Spoilers for the pairings:

There are a lot of things I can nitpick about this show, many shortcomings, but the things it does well it does so well who the heck cares, this drama is a must watch. The plot and story is absolutely entertaining, I laughed out loud and cried so many tears, both which I was told about and came into it skeptical but it managed to do just that.

Not only were the jokes and emotional highlights good, the actors brought life to this drama. The four main characters plus their sidekicks and friends really made this show special, especially CXX and LL. (LL cries so good, its contagious.) And it was great to see how much gravitas was brought to the rare battle scenes because the actors seemed to have done prior wirework/physical training before the filming and most of the male actors have sturdy builds.

And the OSTs are just PERFECT.

Yes.

It has a sad tragic ending, but it is also a very fitting ending so not annoying.

Chen Xingxu as ML did not disappoint. He was perfect in this role and so charming. His acting really elevated this type of character that would have been your typical smarmy ML. Also I have always loved the costumes of this era, especially the uniforms, and CXX showed off the uniforms and clothes so beautifully. They looked to have been tailor made for him.

I really enjoyed this pairing and watching our smart leads go back and forth with the villains. Although there are many weaknesses on the plot and coincidences, and although it's pretty apparent this production didn't have a huge budget, I think they still managed to capture big moments and make them matter.

The romance was great and the politics didn't bother me either, but the 3/4ths section was hard to get through. Although I guessed the outcome still it tires me when writers go to this extent just to push a twist that most of us saw coming anyway.

This drama is worth watching if you can accept those shortcomings.

shinjsubs is subbing this drama! :)

scroll down the comments, you can see her comment with a link to her page :)

Concern over emotional well-being, there was a bit of that at the end of EP3. Physical well-being, EP5.

Not that great honestly. They have a good amount of scenes together in this past episode especially but I don't think they have much onscreen chemistry.

Anyone who is a fan of the manga, be aware that the adaptation was intentionally made to be different. The director and writer decided that the role of Amakusa Natsuki would be a more realistic approach as a Japanese police officer and so will have black hair etc.

Not too much but a decent amount, enough to get a storyline and resolution. He's second male lead.

Have you seen Tiger and Rose? If you squint, it's a happier version of how Cheng Yin could've been if he had prioritized love over power and revenge.

Yes, they were dubbed. If you watch the behind the scenes (ML and FL parts are eng subbed on Youtube) you can hear their real voices. Both PXR and CXX sounded really good and emotional so it's kind of a shame.

Half-way thoughts: The actors described the drama like a stage play as most events occur in the sharehouse with lots of dialogue -- and that's what I enjoy most about this. From the acting, the small cast and their interactions, and the exploration of trivial and serious/silly things between the housemates -- it's an engaging show without too much need for pomp. It feels SIMPLE and that's refreshing. Although everyone has secrets, currently all housemates come across as honest and kind people and that's what also sets the comforting tone of the drama. However we're halfway through and I'm a bit impatient with the mysteries, and hope the second half doesn't have to rush to resolve all the little plot lines.

You don't outgrow dramas like this., instead it just becomes more poignant. Despite being a drama that aired in 2001-2002, the story is still as good.

What really holds these woven individual stories together and sets the base is the warmth and acceptance from Mr. Rental's wife, which while we worry for her and the family, allows us to also warmly watch over Mr. Rental. (It'd be a very different story and slice of life if his family were not as accepting.) Brief background was given on Mr. Rental, just enough to explain his situation, but no more than that. Even private questions asked by other characters that could be easily answered with flashbacks were simply swept aside with "I don't know" or "I forgot". I'm not sure if this is true of the real person but it does come across as intentional writing, evading such personal details on Mr. Rental. An interesting choice but it fits the drama, although I am curious.

Shoutout to the character Kanbayashi Yusaku. The actor is very good and the character frustrates me but I found him to be the most interesting recurring character, aside from our main lead and his wife. The support characters were also very well-acted.

Despite the obvious character flaw of the main lead Mr. Rental (the reason for this plot, also based on a real person), the drama was very healing in that Mr. Rental did not set out to try to "change the world"; he merely observed /watched and accompanied the lonely individuals within society as they self-reflect -- not too much obvious preaching makes it a comforting and easy watch.

Haven't seen the Korean one, halfway through this JP version and judging it as a standalone so far. Exciting and interesting! Good pacing and well-done in acting from the main cast, also setting the atmosphere with direction and bgm. Originally very high level for me, BUT

The reveal of the clicking villain and their first face-to-face confrontation was lackluster, and the unfortunate weakness seems to be in the casting of this villainous character. As soon as the mystery dissolved, this villain lost any fear factor. Doesn't help that I've seen this actor's guest role on Arashi's variety show where he played a goofy villain skit. Edit: Unexpected twist, but didn't change my mind about this character's casting.

Completed. Second half was less gripping but it had its emotional moments. Toru is cute and I especially love the casting for Hikari and Higuchi, emphasize on Higuchi. Overall enjoyable.

To my current knowledge, no. The romance is fictional, the uprising is real. I think most of the praise is more about how the conclusion of the drama reflects the reality of real people who are still missing loved ones and waiting for answers. The director has stated that the drama focuses on the ordinary people caught up in the uprising and the survivors, represented by both Myung Hee and Hee Tae.

It's so lovely to read stuff like this about the actors from the writer and production team. I thought that for a 12ep drama and even before we got to the end, our characters had so much depth whether or not they had any backstory onscreen or not didn't matter. The way they were acted out viewers felt these characters really existed.