UnaSpenser

The story is set in the Tang Dynasty. (Late 9th to early 10th century.)

What a fantastic story of a made family. Best family ever!

The ensemble acting is the best I’ve seen. The chemistry between all five of them, in the family feels so genuine. Those fathers are awesome together.

I don’t support abuse of any kind. As someone who has suffered both physical and psychological abuse, I find it reprehensible what people above are saying about one form being worse than the other. Physical abuse is what it is because it has a power psychological impact. That lasts a lifetime. So, physical abuse has a double whammy.

We do it need to have a abuse olympics for all, forms to be unacceptable.

I don’t know anything about the nature of their relationship. Neither does anyone else here. Media is not a reliable venue for assessing personal relations.

I will reiterate: I don’t care what kind of non-violent behavior she had, it doesn’t justify him hitting her (if he did.) The response to emotional abuse is to get help or leave. Not to become violent. So, whatever problems they may have had, it is never okay to say that “she deserved it”.

If someone is emotionally toxic, they are psychology wounded and need help. It’s no one’s obligation to stay in relationship with them or to get them that help. Their only obligation is to not engage in abusive behaviors as a response. If anyone is abusive, they are solely responsible for their behavior and it is never appropriate to say the victim of their abuse deserved it. That goes for both parties.

All of that said, I don’t trust media sources when it comes to personal relations. I’m still enjoying his acting, for the most part. Being in the US, I have about zero access to real information out of China. So, I tend to ignore all the scandal talk.

Only on episode 13, so my final assessment may change.

This is a sort of interesting combination of this simple, sweet high school drama mixed with an ominous undertone of serial murders happening way in the background. The students and community are completely unaware of the serial murders, due to the nature of them being quietly hidden behind supposed suicides and the police not making it public. I’m enjoying the mix, thus far. Some of the characters are a little bit too much trope (the ditsy, dumb girl who the guys fall for because she’s just so naively giddy - however the beginning has a hint that she isn’t as lacking in intelligence as it seems. And the studious, almost anti-social boy. And a conga line of unrequited crushes. My goodness, I’ve never seen such a long chain.) But, the actors are doing well and the ensemble work well together, so it’s enjoyable.

The piece I don’t get is the VR ‘game’. The male protagonist is invited to play a game and when he signs in, we’re taken to this high school story. It’s unclear if this is a recreation of actual history. It’s unclear what the ‘game’ aspect is. He seems to be just passively subjected to this story. But, for about 12 episodes now, this VR high school story is where we’ve been. So, I’m waiting to find out more.

The intrigue of the murders was pretty good until they revealed who the murderer is. It’s portrayed almost as a caricature, in stark contrast to all the other believable characters. Since we’re inside the VR, perhaps that’s on purpose.

Anyway, delightful enough to keep me watching.

Sweet story focused on a woman developing her talent and career with great solidarity from so many people around her. Refreshing to have a straightforward love story, where they meet, begin realizing they like each other and slowly build the bind for a mutually respectful and trusting relationship.

A relaxing breath of fresh air.

The consort becoming a villain was predictable.

Follow up: about 1/2 way through I couldn’t take the pouty, overly self-sacrificing , female lead. That mixed with the trope that a supposed friend would demand that the FL refuse a relationship with the person she loves, because the friend wants him and so the FL “can’t” have that relationship because she would feel guilty that her friend would be sad, made me lose it.

What the hell is this obsession with characters thinking that they’ll be the default fallback if they can sabotage the relationship that the person they desire actually wants? Ugh. Done.

Somehow ended up watching this older Taiwanese drama. It has that studio feel and the acting is mediocre, at best. Still, it’s light and entertaining enough.

I do find myself skipping all the scenes with the control-freak grandmother who utterly disrespects her granddaughter’s own wishes for her life. The FL is about 30 and is a teacher. She has set out in the life she wants for herself. Yet, somehow, even at this age, the grandmother has the power to force her to move back home, leaving her job behind, just because she doesn’t like who she thinks the granddaughter is dating, it doesn’t help that she’s ignorant and passes judgement without much information and his giving her granddaughter terrible advice. I just can’t stomach it. She’s a nightmare, in my book. Other than her, the rest is okay for passing time or filling in viewing gaps. Or what I call a “palate cleanser” - clearing your mind between more intense viewing experiences.

The fact that you can hate him so much in One Spring Night and then love him so much in Designated Survivor speaks to his powerful talent. Looking forward to more performances from him.

This is an atmospheric piece with a wonderful character ensemble and an interesting, even if somewhat predictable, conclusion to its mystery.. (Though, I think there’s more to what we now know and I hope we get a season 2 with the same core cast. As there is the big question of “why would it have been that person?”)

The production manages to be both camp-y and lush. The sets, the costumes, the pacing of speech and movement and story, all envelop you like a plush blanket. Very dreamy and mesmerizing. Every character is quirky and interesting and the actors all do a fabulous job with their roles. It has the immediate feeling of becoming a cult classic.

Right? He went from abusive father (my mister) to serial killer father to father who tried to kill him to this. His best performance was in My Mister. I hope he isn’t another expressionless character here.

She is so much the same, a boring same, in every role she plays, that I just can’t be bothered.

The depth of the story and the captivating ensemble work really surprised me here.

I almost didn’t take a look, and I never got used to the bangs (lol), but there is so much quality to this, it was well worth it.

He steals every scene he’s in, in that drama. So expressive and great comedic timing.

He had legit cause, though. They annihilated his entire family and his best friend committed suicide to protect his life. I’d become a supreme ass after that, too.

In the US, if you drive drunk and kill someone, you’re responsible. You end up in jail.

It’s an interesting topic, because it’s considered rape to have sex with a drunk person, since the drunken person is not capable of consent, due to impaired mental faculties. So, you can be an unwitting victim if you’re drunk. But, you are not absolved from accountability if you harm someone while drunk.

The first episode was pretty impressive. Production values way above most Korean projects.

One of the more famous conlangs is Klingon from Star Trek. It was so fully developed that people have translated things such as Hamlet into Klingon. Conlangs are a lot of fun!

I didn’t know who’d he was when I watched Her Private Life. I was challenged to see him as so beautiful that he would be the top idol. He looked strange to me. It might have been the hair. But, his smile felt a bit creepy. Here he is playing a character who is a bit creepy, but he came off as far more attractive. Go figure!

I know that you didn't. But writing it off as a "toxic relationship" makes it sound as though they're equally culpable for the nature of the relationship. If he was hitting her, that's abuse. And she was the victim of abuse, which would effect how she behaves. There is a huge power imbalance when a man is violent to a woman and it needs to be very clear that the issue is his abuse and not that she contributed to a bad relationship. There really isn't any point to turning the subject from "he hit her" to talking about some behavior of hers and how they both were being "toxic", except to minimize his culpability. Even if that's not what you thought you meant to do, that's the embedded message. We need to be careful about that.