overall ok. i wish i watched it sooner, and yes the pace kind of slowed down close to the end but my biggest problem with it was that the girl didnt end up with the guy i anticipated. and i feel sooooo bad about it. loved the ost btw which is kind of a prerequisite for me.
Very underrated drama, in my opinion. I gave it a 10, even though I got bored sometimes and even though I still can't accept the ending. I've just finished watching this for the 5th or 6th time and I can't assure you enough how unique the romance portrayed in this drama is. Putting everything else aside (like avenging her father or her affection for the gisaeng), for me the drama ends in 16th episode (because seeing the end once was hurtful enough) where hyewon asks danwon "what if I were a woman?" and he replies with a kiss on her forehead. That scene... That scene right there is why this drama is a 10 for me. The way they look at each other... You can see in their eyes the impossibility of the situation they are in. It is so real. In short, what I can say about this drama is that I will never not watch it again.
I can't seem to finish it. I liked it pretty well, especially Jun ho, but maybe the writing was a bit uneven.…
Something was definitely off about the drama, but I can't put my finger on it, either. For me, I didn't feel the romance, and the sorrow the characters went through, neither the main characters', nor the mother's. Maybe too many tragedies encountered by too many people make it hard to sympathize with the characters and take the drama seriously. In that case, I guess writing is to blame, but then again there were times I found the female lead annoying, too.
I wasn't all that impressed by Hong Jong Hyun in Moon Lovers but in this drama, I have especially enjoyed watching him as Rin. He definitely goes into my favorite korean actors list. And for those who enjoy sageuk, I definitely recommend it.
You see this kind of reply in the comment section of a lot of high-rated dramas. People not understanding why…
Yes, it is obvious you like this drama.
So by grandma's example, you talk about showing empathy towards others, which we tend to ignore usually. It is mostly because in real life, people are selfish. They only care about themselves, their own emotions and rarely about others, which is ok. It is normal to be selfish. Being selfish is in our nature. So what would be actually realistic is for grandma to emphasize while teaching gand doo that it is very difficult to feel the grief in others when you yourself are in pain. Being emphatatic is not easy on a normal day, but if you are in pain, it is almost impossible. So it is hard to consider this as an important life lesson. And I still don't get how grandma bonds with gang doo so easily. For a money lender to believe in a teenager saying "I will not be able to pay my debt." is quite shallow. Am I supposed to believe she somehow sees gang doo as the most honest person in the world? Anyway empathy has been an inspiration for countless works. It is not a mystery, as you said it, it is simple. So not enough to make 8.9 rating.
For Ha Moon So's mother, I still think it is unrealistic. Yes, everyone deals with grief in a different way. So I can, to some extent, understand how she may keep liking her younger child more than moon soo. But years pass, she becomes alcoholic. (No surprises there almost every parent becomes alcoholic in a situation like that) If she had died of that pain, I would have understood. I would say, yeah she was so upset over her death that she drank herself to death. (a little cliche but the drama has lots of them, so why not another one.) That would be more persuasive. Another reaction could have been, under all that pain, showing bits of sanity, and trying to get help. Grief counselling, maybe. Reaching out to groups who went through the same thing, regular sessions possibly with her husband. Then I could have somewhat relate to her pain. Showing Moon Soo her grief every time she gets a chance, and so multiplying Moon Soo's pain and guilt by ten is a little pushing it. It is not sincere. It may be unpredictable, but in an absurd way, not in a logical way.
For the message, you talk about embracing struggles. Classic motto, "what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger". Thinking about embracing struggles made me think of "Silver Linings Playbook". Even there, the portrait of two people bonding over psychological disorder was more convincing. You could feel that they actually bonded by doing dance practices and going into a dancing contest. In Moon Soo and Gang Doo's case, it was either kissing without any passion while drunk, and not remember it afterwards, or "go, or I wont let you go" moments. It is shallow. It is predicted. And especially Gandoo's going crazy phase. Seeing the person died in front of you over and over or yelling for no apparent reason, or getting tremmers, while points to crazy, is also predictable. So all in all, no mystery, nothing that makes people stand in awe, nothing that justifies an 8.9 rating.
And when I mentioned my pace, I did not say this is how it is supposed to be. Anyone can finish it any time they want. But you mentioned "one sitting". Everyone's perception of "one-sitting" is different, of course. But still you phrased it as one sitting. You said "it is heavy to watch it in one sitting." Hence, I thought I had to mention what could be problematic about a drama that you can't watch it in one sitting in my previous response.
All in all an 8.9 rating means close to being flawless while this drama is nowhere near there. A character-driven story does not necessarily mean it is going to be boring most of the time. In character-driven stories, something unpredictable usually happens. But nothing was unpredictable or unexpected in this drama. So I still think it is overrated and hence misleading.
You see this kind of reply in the comment section of a lot of high-rated dramas. People not understanding why…
Ok, but I want you to convince me and you are close to what I was expecting as a reply, but still not there. Sure any drama can be character driven, with a beautiful cinematography, doesn't mean, doesn't prove they will all be exceptional. Secondly what particular life lessons or talks were enlightening or refreshing? Can you be more specific? I can't seem to remember any. Since it made a deeper effect on you and no effect on me, you probably remember some. Also I said people SHOULD rate with reason, and SHOULDN'T rate with emotions. I did not say they CANT rate with emotions, and since they CAN and they DO, the rating becomes misleading sometimes, which is exactly what we have here. But yeah, I agree, we have no control on that, doesn't mean I am wrong. I am not setting any guidelines either, I am only expecting one (but the more wouldn't hurt) specific quote or moment or something which made people give an 8.9 rating, something more than just "so awesome drama" or basic movie criteria like cinematography, costume, design, directing,... But if by guidelines you mean the cliche I talked about, then yeah, I still think that scene shouldn't have been there. It cheapened the moment, and confused me. I did not understand whether he wanted her to stay or go. Maybe that was too because of the grief, being confusing. And how do you explain a mother loving one child more than the other as being realistic? What mother does that in real life? An insane one, maybe. A greedy one, sure; which was the case in this drama, like most other k-dramas, another cliche. Let's say that it is somewhat realistic. What about the part after her younger child's death? Many years go by and a turned-up alcoholic mother cries over her child's death every time she gets a chance, and making it especially obvious to her other daughter. A real mother would try to get help, solve her problem and try to love her remaining child even more. For the ost, I liked "where we", I think it best suits for this drama. I liked "that day you come to me", too, but not as much. (I did not know the names by heart by the way, I had to check them up.) The others were as dull as the drama itself, maybe even more. None of the soundtracks made me even find (and listen to) them on youtube. (this one is a guideline for me in order to judge the ost.) And about the one sitting part in your previous response, I think it is a sad excuse for an overrated drama. If a person doesn't finish a k-drama in one sitting (for me that would be 3 days at most for a 16 -20 ep. drama) then something is not right. Either it is one lousy drama which got lower than a rating of 6, or it is a great drama with an impossibly difficult to understand message which eventually leave people at either dropping the drama, or continue to understand what the message is. I am the latter. What is the message by the way? Trauma can lead up to love, too? Do we need a drama to tell us that? I think a self-improvement book would do the trick.
You see this kind of reply in the comment section of a lot of high-rated dramas. People not understanding why…
My argument is not "Oh, I hated it, so it is a bad drama.", my argument is that this drama does not deserve 8.9 rating and by extention the rating is misleading. If 99.9% thought that this drama was awesome, then I would say that it earned its rating, but since that's not the case, then no. Besides what I'm expecting is examples to convince me that this drama deserves 8.9 rating, which you haven't given me any, by the way. Not just you, neither did the other comments I could read or the top reviews. An 8.9 rating means close to exceptional, and there was not one single exceptional point in this drama, none I can remember. Like sb farted, it stank a little, and then, poof, it is gone. I believe the acting was not good because I could not feel the grief and could not symphathize with the characters. Also there was one cliche moment, which for me was an instant dealbreaker, dropping the rating to 8-8.5 band. (This is 2018. For someone who has been watching k-dramas since 2009, cliches&repetitions are not tolerated.) So instead of replying to me over and over, please enlighten me (if you are willing to) and give me specific examples to refute my argument, rather then the empty words like "people liked it, deal with it". This way the conversation will become more productive. What affected you so much about this drama? What do you think makes this drama exceptional?
Rating should be done with reason, not emotion and all I am saying is that this rating makes no sense. Then again, this is a few-months-old drama, so it is new. It is understandable that the exaggerations are at its peak. The rating would probably drop in a year or two to where it is supposed to be, so that it does not mislead people any longer.
I'm sorry but I can't seem to wrap around my head as to why this drama is loved so much. I am watching ep 14 right…
Maybe sb else thought of it as well, but I'll say it anyway. This story could have made an excellent movie (without the obvious cliche scene). But as a drama, it just doesn't deserve 8.9 rating, no.
You see this kind of reply in the comment section of a lot of high-rated dramas. People not understanding why…
Well I've finally finished the drama and sadly I couldn't feel what those who liked it felt. I considered myself emotional since The Lion King, Titanic make me cry every time I watch it, but turns out I am a cold-hearted bitch since I felt absolutely no sympathy towards the main characters whatsoever. Maybe it is the acting that did not make me feel that emotion, who knows. I am a moderate K-drama watcher, and I don't normally bother to write any comments about whether the ones I really like or really hate, but I felt the urge to write a comment for this drama in order to see what I had missed. This is my 110th drama and I am proud to repeat my previous judgement, that is "this drama is so far my biggest disappointment" (because of its rating). Believe me this drama does not even deserve an 8.5, let alone 8.9. Maybe an 8.2, for the effort. Seriously, what is the big mystery? Even one of the most romantic scenes was full of cliches like "leave or I won't let go of your hand" and that was the moment I threw up a little in my mouth, come on!! I am sure (and by that I mean desperately hoping) the rating will go down eventually so that it stops being misleading. I am still open to those who can convince me that this drama deserves 8.9. I could still be missing something.
I'm sorry but I can't seem to wrap around my head as to why this drama is loved so much. I am watching ep 14 right now and still nothing has kicked in. What is it that so many people managed to see in this drama that I couldn't, besides its psychological aspects? I had so much hope when I saw 8.9 rating but because my expectation was as big as my disappointment, i feel like this has become a huge waste of time. "It's ok it's love" also had psychological aspects to it, but it moved so smoothly that I couldn't understand how fast I finished watching it. "Just between lovers" has become the food i had to chew for like an hour and cant seem to swallow. The only reason i'm still chewing is because it has 8.9 rating. Hoping something will change in the next 2 episodes.
Yeah, she looks kind of like Seo Ye Ji.
So by grandma's example, you talk about showing empathy towards others, which we tend to ignore usually. It is mostly because in real life, people are selfish. They only care about themselves, their own emotions and rarely about others, which is ok. It is normal to be selfish. Being selfish is in our nature. So what would be actually realistic is for grandma to emphasize while teaching gand doo that it is very difficult to feel the grief in others when you yourself are in pain. Being emphatatic is not easy on a normal day, but if you are in pain, it is almost impossible. So it is hard to consider this as an important life lesson. And I still don't get how grandma bonds with gang doo so easily. For a money lender to believe in a teenager saying "I will not be able to pay my debt." is quite shallow. Am I supposed to believe she somehow sees gang doo as the most honest person in the world? Anyway empathy has been an inspiration for countless works. It is not a mystery, as you said it, it is simple. So not enough to make 8.9 rating.
For Ha Moon So's mother, I still think it is unrealistic. Yes, everyone deals with grief in a different way. So I can, to some extent, understand how she may keep liking her younger child more than moon soo. But years pass, she becomes alcoholic. (No surprises there almost every parent becomes alcoholic in a situation like that) If she had died of that pain, I would have understood. I would say, yeah she was so upset over her death that she drank herself to death. (a little cliche but the drama has lots of them, so why not another one.) That would be more persuasive. Another reaction could have been, under all that pain, showing bits of sanity, and trying to get help. Grief counselling, maybe. Reaching out to groups who went through the same thing, regular sessions possibly with her husband. Then I could have somewhat relate to her pain. Showing Moon Soo her grief every time she gets a chance, and so multiplying Moon Soo's pain and guilt by ten is a little pushing it. It is not sincere. It may be unpredictable, but in an absurd way, not in a logical way.
For the message, you talk about embracing struggles. Classic motto, "what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger". Thinking about embracing struggles made me think of "Silver Linings Playbook". Even there, the portrait of two people bonding over psychological disorder was more convincing. You could feel that they actually bonded by doing dance practices and going into a dancing contest. In Moon Soo and Gang Doo's case, it was either kissing without any passion while drunk, and not remember it afterwards, or "go, or I wont let you go" moments. It is shallow. It is predicted. And especially Gandoo's going crazy phase. Seeing the person died in front of you over and over or yelling for no apparent reason, or getting tremmers, while points to crazy, is also predictable. So all in all, no mystery, nothing that makes people stand in awe, nothing that justifies an 8.9 rating.
And when I mentioned my pace, I did not say this is how it is supposed to be. Anyone can finish it any time they want. But you mentioned "one sitting". Everyone's perception of "one-sitting" is different, of course. But still you phrased it as one sitting. You said "it is heavy to watch it in one sitting." Hence, I thought I had to mention what could be problematic about a drama that you can't watch it in one sitting in my previous response.
All in all an 8.9 rating means close to being flawless while this drama is nowhere near there. A character-driven story does not necessarily mean it is going to be boring most of the time. In character-driven stories, something unpredictable usually happens. But nothing was unpredictable or unexpected in this drama. So I still think it is overrated and hence misleading.
For the ost, I liked "where we", I think it best suits for this drama. I liked "that day you come to me", too, but not as much. (I did not know the names by heart by the way, I had to check them up.) The others were as dull as the drama itself, maybe even more. None of the soundtracks made me even find (and listen to) them on youtube. (this one is a guideline for me in order to judge the ost.)
And about the one sitting part in your previous response, I think it is a sad excuse for an overrated drama. If a person doesn't finish a k-drama in one sitting (for me that would be 3 days at most for a 16 -20 ep. drama) then something is not right. Either it is one lousy drama which got lower than a rating of 6, or it is a great drama with an impossibly difficult to understand message which eventually leave people at either dropping the drama, or continue to understand what the message is. I am the latter. What is the message by the way? Trauma can lead up to love, too? Do we need a drama to tell us that? I think a self-improvement book would do the trick.
Rating should be done with reason, not emotion and all I am saying is that this rating makes no sense. Then again, this is a few-months-old drama, so it is new. It is understandable that the exaggerations are at its peak. The rating would probably drop in a year or two to where it is supposed to be, so that it does not mislead people any longer.
I am still open to those who can convince me that this drama deserves 8.9. I could still be missing something.