bloomingtide

Really? Literally nothing changed? Outside of their real relationship being just days old, did they not hug several times, get jealous of others around them (YD with yoga lady, TK with fuckboi), were lovey dovey at the breakfast table, went from sleeping separately to sleeping in a bed together (and back and forth), defended each other, already weathered one crisis of miscommunication together, gave each other words of affirmation? To call this nothing changed would be rather insulting.

Sometimes I wonder if only kisses are seen as valid "romance" ,which i would love to see myself between them, mind, but there is more to it in a relationship. Especially in a very VERY new one with one part needing more time to get comfortable with displays of affection and physical touch in general. Plus her mindset of one foot out of the door and trying not to get too attached (which YD is failing more and more given her confession how she likes him so so so much but should not) does not help matters either. Things will definitely change when they are fully committed to each other with no further secrets or time limit in their way. Mark my words :D

I really liked her in Five Enough tho, and while not the best actress by far, there is definitely an unfair bias against her in the international public. Afaik, Korea loves her which would explain why she is considered for a lead role in a weekend drama.

i am still in the beginning episodes (7) and i dunno why but 100 thirty minutes episodes than 50 hour long feel like a lot more to watch, lol. But i like how they are setting everything up, with the married couple becoming "housemates only" and this being their new beginning/new understanding for a fresh start, his brother clearly being set up as love interest for the youngest sister that wedding fell through due to a JH-level asshole of a husband (the siblings taking revenge in her name was so perfect) things like that. It is really comfortable to watch and has TK's mom as main lead there as a bonus on top, lol.

hehe. Btw, Jin-Ah would make a nice real name then for a girl, leaning on their fetus name a lot. Oh Jin Ah /Gong Jin Ah has a nice sound to it heh.

In a conservative society sich as SK and if you are working in the education field? Yeah most likely, since you act as an example for the kids and have to personify the right moral values to them then in the employer's and parents' eyes, and these are still very traditional/confuzian in nature. Single mothers are generally not highly regarded, mildly put, in SK from what I gathered.

The 'he/him' is a sub translation error bc that is never said in Korean. I have already addressed that in detail in this thread so just point you at it heh. Thanks tho, I also think Taekyung would prefer a mini me Yeondoo over an miniature JH hahaha. But then it's already certain who is gonna be the fussy one and the who is gonna spoil their daughter rotten out of them both hehehe. Spoiler alert: it is Taekyung 😁

Yeah that is definitely a subs translation error then bc inok always just uses Jinjja when talking about the baby nothing else. I don't want to bore you with details but Korean sentence structure is generally starting with name/title/person, place/thing, possibly adverb and then lastly the verb in its appropriate polite level/tense partical.

So when you read 'he/she' what is then actually said in Korean is generally their name or sometimes '사람' which is person in English. Or titles like mother in law, grandchild, grandmother, husband etc things like that. Subbers do take from context then who they are talking about and add 'he/she/they etc then to make it into a working english sentence. The only pronoun that is commenly used in Korean is I/me when talking about yourself (but often left out in further convo as it is gleaned from context then that you are talking about yourself.) In fact addressing someone with 'you' only is seen as rude/blunt and only used when you are picking a fight or are very close to the person and speaking 반말(로) aka in casual form with someone.

I still cringe whenever I see Korean lessons teaching people 당신(은) as an appropriate usage/substitution for 'you' in a sentence because lololol it is soooo not. There is a reason why 당신 is translated as 'honey' at times bc again depending on context its usage is either seen as rude or intimate. Ads and songs etc use 당산 as a general form of 'you' because then it is used to address the 'masses' not a singular person.

Sorry for nerding out here about Korean language details, but I hope that makes things clearer here heh.

Yeah exactly. It is better they leave a boy as a sibling when Taekyung is contributing half to the child's gene pool later on, rather then him having to raise a miniature JH with Jinjja. I am pretty sure TK would prefer this too 🙈😆🙈

Hmm, you mean in the opposite direction? Sorry but Korean does not use pronouns tho (there are words for it, but in day to day convo ppl address each other only by name or title, not pronouns) so that is most likely a sub translation slip up since they have to add pronouns for international viewers then and should pay heed to keep it gender-neutral as well. tho sometimes it happens and those things slip thru then.

There is speculation in knetz about it due to YD's conception dream at the very start, which is a bunny (twin bunny but we know that did not happen by now 😔) and small animals symbolize a girl while dreaming about dragons etc stands more for a boy. in korean dream meanings

-Imo there are also several hints given in the drama such as:

- The very first scene we have with TK in this drama is him coming to work and the patient's girl who cried the whole time immediately stopped upon seeing TK and her parents wonder why she does that.
-Then in eps 2 we have TK taking care of that same baby girl in his office and about, and that scene really did not serve any purpose aside from serving as a cheeky preview into his future. 😁 Plus despite all initial panicking and grumping he did a very good job taking care of her. There is even that old couple who tells the leads "how their daughter looks like them" (and both being that is not my kid haha) but yeah wink wink nudge nudge
- The instant connection Taekyung had with Sookyum, like the girl immediately took such a shining to him that she wanted to make him promise to become family. And for a guy who supposedly didn't like kids at all, he connected with the girl very fast and genuinely likes her. Plus there is this whole scene where SK runs into TK's arms and scoops her up. And they look like father and daughter in that scene with YD wistfully watching on/them.

Also not a hint but the whole fact that a mini me yeondoo would wrap TK around her finger in record time is just to good to be passed on haha, and it would be super adorable too, ngl. And I bet TK would also prefer that to raising a miniature JH when it's a boy. Haha. So let's leave them having a boy and jinjja's sibling till TK's contributing half of the DNA as bio father. 😜

I think Jinjja is going to be a girl, btw. Lemme explain why i think so:

Upon first watch, especially if this is your first weekend drama you watch, the first episodes are the hardest. Because i just notice this now with watching the beginning eps of "Once Again" rn, pretty much all the characters at the beginning are at their worst/their worst selves. Which is by design and the structure that most weekend dramas take to lay the groundwork for slow but gradual character development. All the people are very much wip and some even assholes that you feel frustrated watching them, but they will change and get better little by little.

i think this is what i like most about these longform dramas by now... the eventual payoff. It is so very satisfying when you see a character develop to their better and later to their best selves, but it is certainly a journey that requires patience from your place. Up to you if you wanna give it, but i would recommend you to (particularly bc her family and basically everyone will improve as episodes go on, hell even joseon granny will become tame-ish (Well everyone except for deluded dishrag (SFL), she is gonna get worse, lol.)

Also, i picked Once Again (back) up and i just noticed that the actress playing Taekyung's mom Inok has the main lead role in there. Nice <3

1) This is basically korean soap opera. Depending on whether or not you have watched family dramas before, you have to expect a different narrative structure and pacing to the regular kdrama shows. However, the writer here does not drag conflicts out and makes characters actually communicate with each other in a sensible fashion. Well, most of the time, anyway. Nonetheless there are over the top situations such as hairpulling, screeching, crying, scheming, manipulative villains (SFL/Joseon Granny) etc all the overt nonsense you find in a makjang. Just roll with it. It also settles down tonally into softer melo later on. Stages and sets are pretty olden days (well, okay ugly) since family dramas have lower production quality and budget than regular glamorous kdrama. Plus appealing to the nostalgic factor for the often middle-aged korean viewers tuning in, I guess)

2) Characters evolve more slowly but realistically, into a good and bad direction than in regular kdrama, due to the screentime and larger amount of eps available. This also means they are all at their worst selves at the start of the drama. The ML now is a fully other person than he was at the start, same for FL's family, for example. You have to have patience with a LOT of them, but the payoff will be worth it.

3) It is day to day storytelling. Meaning little time passes in all the episodes. We accompany the characters through each continuous day/night cycle, see what they are doing each day. Keep this in mind when wondering why the leads act like strangers around each other at times. Because they literally are. From the moment of their cohabitation and start of contract to ML's confession only three weeks have passed in the story, even though these are 10 eps to watch for you (after the first 10, setting it all up.) Hence why the romance feels starting late between the leads, but it is actually happening fast. Their romance arc has only started now (eps 20 and up,) with a lot of hindrances still in their way, of course. (if you like the male chasing female first trope, oh gosh you are right here, because does ML Taekyung ever deliver on that with a golden retriever-like eagerness, lol)

4) Do not get worked up by asshole characters too much or you will have a very bad time. It is best if you see Joseon Granny and SFL for the clowns they actually are and never take them too seriously. They are cartoonish/over the top mustache-twirling for exactly that reason. But in truth they are just narrative tools to create conflict and in SFL's case bring the leads (closer) together. Without them, the leads would have never met, as FL would have married her then bf and ML would have stayed a forever bachelor estranged to his family. There would be no story. So keep this in mind whenever they are clowning on your screen with their kindergarten lvl of schemes and being shitty ppl, heh.

5) You will like some characters more than others and that is okay. Try not to get hung up on their scenes, because each of them gets their share of screentime to advance their respective arcs. Just roll with it or fold laundry during it or something haha. Your opinion and lvl of care on/about them could change over the long course of the story as they develop as characters.

i wonder if all the ppl complaining here lately don't know what it means to watch a weekend drama and/or never had done so before, tbh. Like this is a very different watch from your average 16 episode kdrama BY DESIGN and if you go into it expecting it to be the same, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Easy as.

Guess it is time for my family drama survival tips to bear a repeating:

i mean yeah but also an unfortunate styling choice for a character that is supposed to be pregnant. Even if she is skinny, which the actress is, the stylists do not need to put such emphasis on it with dressing her in high waisted skinny jeans that puts too much focus on her all too flat stomach tbh (and i know that every woman starts showing at a different point and also how much, but it is still a bad clothing choice for someone playing a pregnant character.) Some more ambiguous clothing like the dresses now with a loose blazer over it is much better suited here imo.

Bit unfair to throw YD/TK into the set of a love square when they would rather poke out their eyes with rusty chopstick than to give the hellion clown duo any time of the day romantically tbh. Like they would swear celibacy or to never date again before that 🤣

At least the other four are a love square with equal interest for each other heh

All in all very mid. Can't share people's enthusiasm for it honestly. Probably could have if I ever managed to connect to the leads and their story but it never happened so yeah. Powered through the last eps in obligation to finish it, but will hard pressed to remember anything about it by next week tbh. Meh. 5/10

Lol at least she is wearing looser dresses now instead of high waisted jeans and the dresses are kinda cute. Hope they continue the trend of looser clothes with her and more as pregnancy progresses and Jinjja grows 🥰

hahaha, true. They even said something along the lines how those both assholes are the reasons they met and they are grateful for it. Yeeep, lotta money and i loved how she insta-paid him for it, but maybeTK does repay her at some point, like shelling out for some fancy jewelry or so heh.