displacedmoon

What a nice gem. For sure, the story has been done before, but this one managed to bring out the tissue box for me. I'm surprised it's underrated. Possibly because some viewers may dislike the ending if they take it literally, when it should be interpreted metaphorically.

I stumbled upon this by chance thinking it was a simple rom com -- but it turned out to be much more. Really enjoyed this one.

http://www.gooddrama.net/japanese-movie/attack-on-titan-2015

Hwang Jun Eum has selected solid dramas in the past. I'm hoping she picked this one because the drama will get better after her role goes through some character development. I cringed during the scenes when Hye Jin's theatrics were so over the top that they bordered on nonsensical slapstick. I really hate when writers do this to a female's role.

Yeah...they decide to blow everything up, and in the end it's....gasp!....sunshine, that kills Gwi. A bit anti-climactic for such a bad-ass character! I also wish the writers had explored the scholar's blue-eyed evil persona a bit more. It could have led to a more plausible reason for him having to disappear for a year. For example, he leaves because after killing Gwi, he realizes his evil side is not gone and it takes a year to reconcile with this part of himself. But you know the drill....relationship separation seems to be a staple cliche ending in alot of asian dramas---it's almost as expected as wrist-grabbing, piggyback rides and flashback scenes! lol

Lee Joon Gi has been a favorite since I first saw him years ago in the King and the Clown. This drama just reinforced how much I enjoy watching him. But now I get to add Lee Yu Bi, Shin Chang Min, Lee Soo Hyuk, Kim So Eun, and Jang Hee Jin to my list of talented actors! They, along with the supporting cast, did a fantastic job. SWWTN was a fun ride with lots of eye-candy....cough...cough....I mean visual interest. I'm sure I'm not alone when I admit that, on several occasions, I had to rewind when appearances by the hot male leads, caused enough of a distraction to warrant forgeting to read the subtitles. lol

Agree. I was a little disappointed at how the romance evolved. The interactions between Kang Seon Woo and Na Bong Seon was mostly a miss for me. I far more enjoyed the chemistry between Kang Seon Woo and Shin Sun Ae. And in the last episode, NBS was eerily alot like SSA's cheeky character in the earlier episodes. It just left me thinking that KSW only liked NBS because she had become more outgoing like SSA. When she was timid/shy, I never saw an indication that he was remotely interested, unless I missed that somewhere. But that said, all of the actors were really fantastic and did their individual characters justice.

The thing with western dramas is that despite the violence and vulgarity, you can usually see it for what it is. It's not sugar-coated as romantic or comedic. When someone get's slapped, pushed around or verbally abused, there is little confusion in the viewers mind that the action is wrong. I agree, western dramas have alot of sex, drugs and blood--but because of that, you become less invested in wanting a 'happy ending', whereas in an asian drama even if the lead is a complete low-life, you still want him to redeem himself and get the girl so that we get our happy-ending.

I guess that's what makes asian dramas more confusing then a violence-ridden western drama. They send out a mixed message--that it's okay to forcefully kiss a female or hit a disobedient son, as long as it's under the guise of romance or comedy.

I wonder what this says about us (the viewers/society) when we continue to watch and highly rate dramas that sugar-coat abusive behavior as romantic or comedic. Are we subconsciously condoning it? It wouldn't surprise me if we are. On an average day, we are bombarded with mass media subliminal messaging that highlights the social disparity between men and women, the rich and the poor, the strong and the weak.

Seemingly light-hearted dramas like Hana Yori Dango, for example, which contains verbal and physical abuse, is one of the most watched dramas out there, even fostering multiple remakes. It was one of the first asian dramas I watched, and back then, I was a little taken aback by the actions of the main lead. I couldn't help but think, 'what a douche bag.' But fast forward a few years later and similar actions in Secret Garden by Kim Joo Won towards Gil Ra Im, didn't phase me. In fact, I found the majority of the scenes cute and funny. Go figure.

I guess after years of watching asian dramas I'm also becoming immune to the wrist-grabbing, forced kisses, hitting, and verbal abuse. It's only in dramas like Lee Jun Kai and Misaeng where spousal and workplace abuse are taken to extremes, that I'll sit up and pay attention. So thanks for the article. It was definitely needed--if only to give us viewers something to think about next time we see a character being pushed around, even if it's glossed under the guise of comedy, romance, or disciplinary action.

Fans of kdrama do not have low expectations. We have realistic ones. We are the first to recognize that many of these dramas are riddled with cliches, formulaic writing, superfluous episodes, and less than stellar acting. Which is why we avoid judging asian dramas, as we would for example, an indie film full of artistic expression and insightful revelation.

SWWTN is a typical representation of Korean production, direction and writing. It's no worse or better than the average, in that it suffers from some redundancy. Admittedly, it gets tiring to watch the same formulas repeatedly executed in our beloved asian dramas. In those instances, many of us switch gears temporarily and watch western entertainment -- which by the way, isn't immune to tedious formulaic scripts as well.

So the fact remains that fans will continue to watch, enjoy and highly rate your garden-variety kdrama. Why? Because while we love to hate the stereotypical patterns that is oftentimes kdrama, very little beats it's entertainment value and the added bonus of having a drama air (whether good or bad), with your favorite eye-candy in the lead role. When the writing, direction and acting is cohesive and original...well that's just icing on an already perfectly good cake.

Haven't seen the anime or read the manga...so I was a blank slate going into the movie. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't that great either. There were a few cool/interesting moments (ie, the gory scenes with the titans), but most of the movie was just 'blah' for me. Wish they would have developed the characters more for the movie version.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, however a bit more discretion would be appreciated out of respect of the thousands of MDLers who share this fantastic site with you. Profanity doesn't need to be used to get your point across, and calling fans 'brainless' as per your earlier post is unnecessary and impolite.

In the last 15 years, hundred's of k-dramas have aired. I'm sure you can find something that's more up your alley. So seriously--if you dislike an actor or drama that much, do yourself a favor and consider dropping it and moving on to something else. We get it -- you find LJG redundant and his dramas even more long-winded. Your multiple vitriolic posts have made that abundantly clear. No need to continue the tirade....although I have a feeling, we haven't seen the last of your 'tactful' posts. Sigh.

Absolutely fantastic! That last episode was really sad, but also inspiring. I wish this wonderful drama wasn't at its end. Sato and all of the actors hit this straight out of the ballpark.

Watching Scholar and enjoying it so far. May try Oh My Ghost. Shinya Shokudo is the Japanese version of Late Night Restaurant and I really enjoyed both seasons. It will be interesting to see if the Kversion is just as good.

I'm just not feeling Jae Min and Ma Ri together. Not during the first few episodes and even less during the historical roadtrip this drama took us on. It's been second lead syndrome since the beginning! Now that we're back to the present (and especially after ep 10), I find myself rooting for Shi Hoo even more.

We had some really great dramas this winter, but now I'm feeling the summer drama slump. Giving Healer a re-watch for a pick me up!

Episode 9 - Atsuzo's greatest triumph and despair. Such a bittersweet episode-but truly well written.

I absolutely love Japanese comedies--it's that offbeat humor that no other country can match. River's Edge Okawabata Tanteisha and Shinigami-kun aren't labeled as comedies on MDL, but they're both excellent examples of how Japan blends low-key humor with more serious elements.

And I agree with others re: Don Quixote, Meitantei no Okite, Jikan Keisatsu and Mahoro Ekimae Bangaichi. I loved those, along with alot of the ones listed in the article.

Off to a nice start. Hope the writers keep the pace up and give Lee Chun Hee more airtime or write his role to be more solid. Right now it just seems as if his character was an added afterthought. And that chair scene in the classroom with Ji An had me rolling (no pun intended) with laughter! Wasn't expecting that.

Cute drama, but a little corny. It's only 5 episodes at about 20 minutes each, so it's great if you just want a fun, light-hearted watch. The only peeve is that at the time of writing this, it's difficult to find streaming english subs for the 5th episode. But really not that big of a deal--I was able to figure out the gist of it, even with my limited Korean.