I don't get why the ML in this gets such a bad rep, I think it's their first kiss? the way he holds her face i guess, but she'd made it clear days before that she wanted him to kiss her, so i don't think consent is an issue at all, they established it was something she would welcome already, and he grabbed her face because she was upset with him over what he and the audience knows is a misunderstanding. and the way she smiled after he kissed her? I think people are getting caught up in the technicalities of consent without paying attention to the details of the narrative.
on Qin Chen's disliking of Ling Wei: what's the reason behind it? his hostility toward her seems to go beyond the scope of just not being into her and being annoyed by her attention. like he straight up hates her. at her birthday he called her calculated and accused her of playing games with Yuan Xian, but how does he know this about her? was that ever explained? or are supposed to assume that at some point in high school he just realized she's manipulative?
the ML is a great actor imo, because i hated him in "Put your Head on my Shoulder" (i just didn't like his character and HATED the bad haircut they gave him), but I really liked him in this! night and day honestly.
why is the ML called three different names? Xiao Gu by his teacher mostly, Xiao Yi by his parents mostly and then Gu Weiyi by basically everyone else? someone please explain, i'm so confused
I really wanted to watch this one for Cha Eun woo, but the actress played female lead looks so plastic, unnatural,…
i'd say it's more ironic that what you're saying is exactly the type of thinking the drama is advocating against. I get that objectively, watching tv shows is about aesthetics, and we generally like to watch people we think are pretty, that fit our definition of beautiful, but it's just as shallow to judge her "plastic looking face" as it is to want one in the first place, and to just prefer the "natural looking cute type"
a big message in this drama is about the PRIVILEGE people who naturally fit beauty standards have, and how simply having those physical qualities naturally does not inherently translate to their personality. case and point: the second female lead in this drama, naturally beautiful and cute, but a horrible, manipulative person on the inside.
Ling Xiao- neighborHe Zi Qiu- adopted They just grew up together, thus a family! But theyre not related in any…
yeah.. I'm aware that the male lead was only a neighbour and that none of them are related in anyway, which was exactly my point... the second male lead and female lead are technically family if he was legally adopted, which i don't recall. but if he wasn't, at most they are all functioning as a psuedo-blended family, but none of them ever believe they are ACTUALLY related, which is why I said this show is not incest, because it's not. They treat each other as family, but they aren't family in anyway that makes it incestuous. that was all i was getting at.
the best c-drama i've ever seen. literally had me jumping out of my seat. i'd say it feels like it drags a bit in the middle, as the plot makes the show inherently repetitive, but overall it's great. and even though though some episodes drag, it does feel like they were all necessary to understanding the characters and their motivations, and who you can and can't trust.
usually i'm watching dramas for the sappy romances, but this I watched for the plot. that's not to say that the relationship between the leads isn't noteworthy, their bond is so important to the overall story, but it's not the interesting part of this drama.
also; if you have a particular hatred for the monster mother in law trope than this drama wouldn't be for you. the ML's mother is next level selfish, abusive and just plain annoying. she shouldn't have been allowed to have children in the mental state she was in, her daughter should have been taken away. she's completely unsympathetic, no matter what physical hardship she goes through, i could never see her as a victim because of the way she treated her children, before or after. i did like this drama; just excluding that character. she wasn't evil in a way that was compelling or possible to empathize with, she was just selfish and a bad mother, she was physically and mentally abusive. Spoiler: I honestly don't care that she was paralyzed. i did at first, like that would be traumatic for anyone. but the way she treated her kids during her recovery, her son who left the life he loved to help take care of her and his sister, only to be screamed at and burned and manipulated. ugh, i wish they'd killed her off.
this show is not 'borderline incest' there is no such thing as borderline incest, it's either incest or it's not. incest is between RELATED people, as in, by blood, genetically. none of the characters are actually related.
the ML's mother is a whole other level of selfish, delusional and just a terrible parent. if you absolutely hate the manipulative/scheming parent trope i'd be wary of this drama. also waaay too long. i liked this drama overall, but it certainly has its shortcomings.
I get that objectively, watching tv shows is about aesthetics, and we generally like to watch people we think are pretty, that fit our definition of beautiful, but it's just as shallow to judge her "plastic looking face" as it is to want one in the first place, and to just prefer the "natural looking cute type"
a big message in this drama is about the PRIVILEGE people who naturally fit beauty standards have, and how simply having those physical qualities naturally does not inherently translate to their personality.
case and point: the second female lead in this drama, naturally beautiful and cute, but a horrible, manipulative person on the inside.
the second male lead and female lead are technically family if he was legally adopted, which i don't recall.
but if he wasn't, at most they are all functioning as a psuedo-blended family, but none of them ever believe they are ACTUALLY related, which is why I said this show is not incest, because it's not.
They treat each other as family, but they aren't family in anyway that makes it incestuous. that was all i was getting at.
usually i'm watching dramas for the sappy romances, but this I watched for the plot. that's not to say that the relationship between the leads isn't noteworthy, their bond is so important to the overall story, but it's not the interesting part of this drama.
she's completely unsympathetic, no matter what physical hardship she goes through, i could never see her as a victim because of the way she treated her children, before or after.
i did like this drama; just excluding that character. she wasn't evil in a way that was compelling or possible to empathize with, she was just selfish and a bad mother, she was physically and mentally abusive.
Spoiler:
I honestly don't care that she was paralyzed. i did at first, like that would be traumatic for anyone. but the way she treated her kids during her recovery, her son who left the life he loved to help take care of her and his sister, only to be screamed at and burned and manipulated. ugh, i wish they'd killed her off.