amrita828

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"!

"I think a missed opportunity that would have tickled the viewing audience would have been if Hyun Woo woke up from his hospitalization, looked at Hye In and said, "Who are you?" Now that would have been priceless."
LMAO 😂😂
Indeed, it would have been so outrageous, I'd have applauded it!

Wow. Why couldn't I put the same thoughts in such an effective way too?
Great review.

Ikr?
Germany has so many beautiful spots and cities and here they chose Potsdam... not to mention translating the Korean penchant for traffic never stopping when someone stands in the middle of the road. 🫣 I can't for the life of me imagine someone at a traffic light speeding up and honking instead of braking upon seeing a human obstacle. In Germany, of all countries! Lol

I agree!

Lol!!! 😂😂
Sorry, not that I want to laugh at your evident suffering, it's just your phrasing...
I agree, by the way.

https://kisskh.at/9916-bad-guys

I think each of us should be free to decide wether we can forgive cheating or not. Luckily we are not living under the moral dictatorship of others yet... or anymore.
So our ML has forgiven the whole family treating him like dirt for three years and nobody is scandalised.
Forgiveness is a choice. To each its own.

Not really. His Italian is borderline atrocious. But I suppose we can forgive him almost everything.

While reading your review I suddenly realized I had been nodding my agreement at every sentence.
It's kind of fantastic you mentioned "Hajimete koi... etc" , as I made the same exact comparison not longer than a couple of hours ago while talking with a friend.
Just as you rightly pointed out, while the premises seem the same, the way these two stories are told and, most notably, the characters development are so different I found Hajimete koi delightful while struggling to finish this one. When I finally reached the end, I realised I hadn't smiled once for its whole duration. It simply left me with a bitter feeling this could have been so much more, if only they had focussed on characters rather than selling us the trite and unrealistic "destiny" soup.

Thank you for this review. 👍

Yes, that's a sad truth, not only in Korea.
Exposing kids to the entertainment business is always edgy and potentially risky, in my opinion.
However, I don't think a peck on someone's lips can alone constitute a trauma for a teenager. For all we know, these two can be good friends on set and outside.
Point is, as you said, we cannot know and I guess we never will.
I'm honestly much more concerned with minors exposed to violence, even the staged, fake one.

Well, she was working, read a script before signing a contract. Actors have managers and minor actors have tutors, often in the form of a parent/manager. There is no harassment if she consented to play the part, well knowing there would be kisses involved.
If she was forced to sign a contract, than the problem would be much worse than a 24 year old actor giving a 17 year old actress a kiss in front of a camera.

Oh, and by the way I maintain a teen can kiss if s/he wants to, it's not against the law. Sex is another story.

Not that I'm an expert at the show business jurisprudence, but I've never heard of a law prohibiting a minor to kiss on stage - or in real life, for that matter There's no nudity, or sex involved after all, and the kisses are pecks that wouldn't scandalise my great great grandmother.
So I guess the answer is: yes, it was legal.

Lol.
Bad dramas like this one do have 1 quality: they infuse clever reviewers with extra wit and delicious sarcasm.
I loved reading this. 👍