amrita828

Sorry, I realize I didn't reply in full to your questions.
After SG, I've fallen in love multiple times 😅: the king 2 hearts, just between lovers, algernon ni anataba wo, empress ki, healer, I hear you voice and many others.

And I've been down the Binnie rabbit hole myself 😉. Strangely though, CLOY left me a little cold.

Interesting question.
I suppose if I had to rate all the dramas I've watched since 2005, my list would be different. Dramas have changed, but mostly I have.
I have rewatched SG a couple of years ago and I still consider it a great drama, with all the elements I like: dialogues, characters's growth, fun and angst in right doses.
Clearly the emotional impact isn't the same; I know what's going to happen next, the suspance is gone, and so is the viewer I was. But I won't change my opinion, it was formed at the time of watching it the 1st time and should always be judged in its context.
🙂

😂😂😂
I was in need of a good old sarcastic rant - the kind of reviews I enjoy the most - and so browsed the page of one of my most hated dramas. Coming across this was a joy, thank you for voicing my thoughts so well.
By the by, it seems our hate combined was not enough to have the fl die on that mountain. 😔🤷‍♀️

Agreed.🤷‍♀️

This drama has been sitting in my currently watching list for months now, with only a couple of episodes left that I can't bring myself to watch.
You perfectly explained the reasons why.
When a review becomes more entertaining than the show itself, something went terribly wrong.

Guess what, I dropped the drama because of the king's laugh.
You seem to be the one and only reviewer who mentioned the issue. 🤷‍♂️

Well, go watch the drama instead of relying on comments. It may surprise you.🤷‍♂️

I don't know where you got this information, but it's all wrong. She got pregnat with the guy she loved, guy 1, as you call him.
She became a slave in China, had no choice at all, and only after being betrayed multiple times, beaten, almost killed and deprived of her child decide to revenge by becoming the emperor spouse. It's a revenge story, not a dark romance. There is no "you're a brute but I love you nonetheless" narrative.

But, hey, probably not your cup of tea. No harm done. 😉

She never fell for guy 2. She only loved guy 1.
In the very, very end, however, she admitted of having come to "love", in a way, her husband.

Since you're here, I'll post something and hide it with the spoiler button. Up to you if you want to be spoilt, ok?

In order for the viewer to understand the reasons behind Seung Yang's choices, it is paramount to watch the drama. It isn't a rom com by any stretch of imagination, so every "love" relationship needs to be put into its context. I can't spoil the plot, but be sure love declarations are not Seung Yang's forte., in fact, she basically never does.
With this in mind, I don't know if this drama is for you.
It's long, dramatic and tragic, at times hard to stomach.
I loved it, but that was me.
That's why I still remember it 10 ys later and you are very welcome. 🙂

I stopped reading at bullshit.
Bye

Thank you so much for you very kind words. I'm truly happy I made you laugh, it was my intent.
Happy watch/read. 🙏

Not at all. I'm sorry my review is open to wrong interpretation: my fault. It was meant more for those who had already seen the drama.

There is no love triangle and in no circumstance is she disloyal to guy 1. The "triangle" is only in the audience's mind.
This said, this is a historical drama. I venture to say modern sensibility should not be applied. I was much more outraged by the way people were treated than any possible infidelity.
So if you can stomach some torture I'm sure you can do the same with a love that could not be.

Writing it was fun. If it was a waste of time reading it, I suggest you choose better next time.

As usual, I believe the "truth" rests in the middle, or a combination of all factors and more.
When you've been watching Asian dramas for about 18 years like I have, slumps, fastidiousness or even boredom are unavoidable. The market has changed, the targets have changed and I have changed.

While streaming platforms abounds nowadays, they still focus on the most popular/trendy products, often ignoring all the rest: the same does MDL, where out of 100 articles, 99 are about South Korea. And because all markets in the world work on demand, the SK entertainment business milks the same cow until the poor animal eventually dies of exhaustion.

We can't expect to like ... what was that? 300 dramas a year? That's almost 1 a day with some due vacation in between. Likewise, it is mathematically impossible to appease everyone, which oftens leads to dramas cramming all existing tropes into a single product - appeasing nobody except perhaps those who approached the drama world last Monday.

What veterans like me miss is the time when everything was new. This time will never come back, regardless of quality. We are not the same people we used to be, what felt new and fresh then feels predictable now.

This being said, I loved the article. A good discussion on dramas that goes beyond the dreaded "best drama ever" is something else I have missed on this site.

Thank you for your kind words. 😊 Have you finished Empress Ki in the meantime? Did you like it?

Thank you for taking the time to read and comment on my review, Kate.
I distinctly remember reading, enjoying and completely agreeing with yours at the time you wrote it.
Better still, I'm going to re-read it right now! 😃

I've never complained of the character being childish. Go Mi Nam is indeed a child in terms of life experience, but she doesn't learn a lot, does she? She spends most of her time apologizing and bending, and Park Shin Hye's acting does not help when all she does is pouting or wide opening her eyes . Furthermore, there's a huge difference between childlike and childish.
I also never expected her to be manly, but even if she tried to play the tomboy - which would have been a little cleverer since she pretended to be a male - I don't see why boys could not fall in love with a manly person: they did think she was a male, after all! Are you implying the only way to be loved by a straight boy is to be silly cute?

Certainly better than a run- over, shot man on the brink of death struggling to say "I'm all right"!