Amy

I think one of the constraints is that different genres have a different standard of good/bad, and every person has their own standard when judging each drama. There really is no way to make it completely objective. A mystery sci-fi drama that has a very complex plot line could easily have plot holes and loose ends that make it drop from a 9 to an 8, while a simple, heartwarming, character-driven story with not much plot could easily score a 10 for ppl who like that genre, and get a 4 from people who don't like it cuz it doesn't have a plot.

In addition, there are many questions that cannot be answered. Should we apply higher standards to complex plot dramas and lower standards to feel-good dramas? Should we rate according to our own scale, or MDL's "scale"? For example, a 7.5 rating on MDL is the cut-line for good/not as good dramas. But maybe for me, even a wonderful drama only deserves an 8 cuz I have very high standards.

All in all, these are inherent flaws in the system that can't be changed, so in the end whether or not you consider the ratings when deciding to watch a drama is a choice that only you can make. Ratings could mean something or not mean anything at all.

I really like that "3 seconds, 3 years and 3 months" concept.
He fell for her in 3 seconds, loved her for 3 years, and then fell for her more in 3 months.

I think he did all that because he couldn't cope with his guilt towards the ML. At some point he probably did regard him as his little brother and cared about him, but the accident was too much of a burden to him and instead of dealing with it healthily he decided to resort to pushing the other person away. This mentality, although terrible, is actually more common in real life than you may think. Many people shift the blame on the victim after they do something wrong to escape from the guilt on a daily basis. This happens every day in our daily lives as well. That's why I understand why he's doing all that, although it's still very cruel and wrong.

When Bon saw the behind of the woman in red shoes, his expression tensed up and he chased after her. It was like he saw someone he knew.

I have a feeling it will be her evil twin plotting a revenge. Usually this happens in dramas - guy sees a person resembling his old lover, chases after her frantically, then realizes she isn't the same person.

Ok guys DO NOT read this if you don't want to spoil yourself with the Japanese version. (Since whether Moo Young is the killer is one of the main mysteries of the story.)
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In the Japanese version, he isn't, but he's indirectly involved.

To be exact, she's not really a damsel in distress. She's more of the opposite, eager to be a high achiever but acts without tact. She does things in her own way using her own moral system while trying to please the bosses but ends up needing everyone to cover for her rash decisions. Honestly if someone was like that in real life they would've been fired on the first day.

I agree. This is borderline fantasy genre even with all the "justification".

Imo, both of them are wrong. I tried putting myself in JY's pov and honestly I'd get angry too (although I might not react as strongly). I mean it's obvious that the other guy has intentions but YJ never pulled away from his advances and even went to a high class dinner with him on her birthday. That's unacceptable for me even if I trust my SO. Boundaries like these need to be kept to not lead the other person on. Plus, although JY is petty which is bad (he didn't even contact her on her birthday), he was pretty much a perfect bf in all other aspects and it's obvious he loves her more than she loves him. It's always been him serving her, packing her lunchbox, driving her to the sea the moment after she says she wants to go, doing various things to win her heart, etc. but never once did she do anything for him until her fd said she should do something in return. Dude this shouldn't have to be reminded by anyone.

It seems most of the hate is going to JY, but I don't think YJ is that good of a gf either. They're both immature and don't know how to deal with relationships, and I guess they'll learn it the hard way later.

These aren't really unpopular opinions tbh. Except I'd disagree with the cinematography part cuz most Chinese dramas I've watched have over-the-top, fake CGI that makes me laugh. I'd rather they went to real places to film (cuz there are places with unbelievably good scenery in China) but they almost always decide to use CGI to build a fake mountain or use plastic to build a fake forest, and I have no idea why they don't just use the real deal and add some special effects on top of it. Might even be cheaper that way.

Despite agreeing with most of your points, I still don't like watching C-dramas for other reasons like:
- the horrendous dubbing (like seriously I don't understand what's so bad about the actors' real voices... like, do they just HAVE TO replace them with boring stereotypical voices every time?)
- the ginormous amount of episodes (most C-dramas have over 40 episodes, some even 70 or above 100... seriously unless the plot is great from beginning to end with absolutely no fillers at all I wouldn't bother to finish it, and usually it's unnecessarily dragged)
- the subtle/nearly-nonexistent romance (I'm a sucker for romances and C-dramas usually don't have enough of that. It's either hinted or it's there but they don't get enough skinship let alone kissing esp in wuxia dramas)
- the bad plots (although some C-dramas have good plots like Nirvana in Fire, Story of Yanxi, Empresses in the Palace and Legend of Fu Yao, a majority of them are shit -- this appears to be a strong word, but I've had enough bad experiences with C-dramas to conclude this. For every 10 C-dramas I watch, usually only one is good and that's usually the one that becomes a big hit)

Although I'm still enjoying this, I do think the character actions don't make any sense. It seems like they just made up forced excuses to bring the characters together and there wasn't much of a relationship build up. Anyway, if I lower my standards when watching this and just treat it like a normal rom-com it'll be fine.

I'm watching it on viu.com not sure if they have english subtitles since I'm watching on the Chinese version of the site.

For some reason I just couldn't finish this drama. It was so boring even though there was a plot. I didn't even feel anything during the supposedly dramatic moments. It all just fell bland for me idk why.

Is it weird that I ship the CEO and Ae Rin? Cuz he's such an adorable and hot villain and they look better together xD
The first villain that I actually like... Lol

Yeah I'm still enjoying this a whole lot despite the flaws. The portrayal of a relationship is spot on and characters are realistic. I can relate well with the ML's insecurities lol. Also, not bothered by the angst as much as others are. Really looking forward to how the story will play out!

I have a complete love hate relationship with JY right now. On one hand he's so petty, self-centred and loves to run away from problems. On the other hand he is such a sweet, sincere and thoughtful person. He's the type of bf who keeps giving you a headache but you just can't help but forgive him every time.

But whether or not you like him or not, one thing is for sure: his character is very different from typical kdrama male leads.

I'm feeling the exact same way for The Third Charm tbh. That drama is so underrated among the currently airing dramas. I'm all flustered and have been babbling non-stop in the comments section lol
ClaudiaKdramaFan when are you gonna start watching it cuz you definitely should!!

Ma Sung has the same pronunciation as "devilish" in Korean. So Devilish Joy is a word play of "Ma Sung's Ki Beum"

Or you could wait until this finishes airing, ask if it has a good ending, and then decide whether the watch it or not (if you can wait that is).

There are many reasons why she possibly left him.
1) She started looking down on herself. She has always been looked down on by other people, and even when she wanted to join parties she'd get shamed by her "friends". She just couldn't blend into other uni students without finding herself to be inferior. Plus after her brother lost his leg and she had to support the family on her own, the status gap between her and the others just got worse. Self-pitying is self-oriented, even if the other person accepts her she can't accept herself.
2) He didn't stand up for her when she was being publicly humiliated. Which is reflected in her statement saying he is too mellow/weak and dense/doesn't understand things. Heck he even went to help the other girl up instead of his own gf.
3) She found herself to be a burden and didn't want to attach herself to peoplr, esp when JY is a uni student with a bright future. To her, he just wasnt "in her lead" and they wouldn't work out. Although she made it sound like he wasn't good enough for her, it was actually her who wasn't good enough for him. She simply didn't want to spell it out and the only way to get him to leave her was to shame him instead of herself. She was immature, but her actions made sense.

As for why JY couldn't get over her, I explained it in another comment below.

Btw, I really appreciate how instead of judging her for what she did, JY embraced her flaws in character and tried to think in her perspective. That's empathy at it's finest.