I haven't seen any of these dramas yet but my love for villains makes me want to watch them all immediately. Charming villains I've loved have been Kim Bum's smirky and calculated Lee Ro Joon in Mrs Cop 2 and Kim Jae Wook's perfectly unhinged Mo Tae Gu from Voice. Both characters are very messed up but still fully functioning and I enjoy the psychology behind their characters. The actors both give great performances and that really stand out from their other roles and offer real insights into the depth of their acting abilities. I hope we see more typically pretty boys playing villains. Honourable mention also goes to Choi Tae Joon's Choi Tae Ho in Missing 9 - he was a product of his circumstances and once you discover how he became so dog-eat-dog you're left feeling bad for him, or at least I was anyway. I think the key to a good charismatic villain is that you want them to win and that's definitely true for me and these three.
I'm new around here and this is my first time commenting so if this needs the spoiler check, please let me know!! Also sorry this is so long - who knew I had so much to say? :P
Anyway, I too found the ending of this rushed and somewhat disappointing but I've been thinking it over and I think I kind of get what they were trying to do. I think the ending was deliberately left open and ambiguous to reflect the quote they mention from Lee Min Ho's book in the story - "to search for something to love me is called every day life, but to search for something I'll love is called traveling" (paraphrased).
In the beginning of the series, she is so desperate for a boyfriend and love from someone else that it's all that she can think about - it's her every day life. And then she goes on a journey, she travels, so to speak, to find someone to love, arguably someone she loves, like in the quote. And while it could be said that she found someone/thing to love and that it is one of the men or the journey itself, I would argue that she actually found something much more important to love.
The development of her character is quite solid - she goes from meek and unassuming in the first few episodes to quite bold in the last few and that comparison speaks volumes. Consequently, I do not think it is a stretch to say that the thing she finds to love is actually herself. She has bad self esteem in the beginning of the series and then, after being the love interest of so many different men for so many different reasons, she is able to see her merits and feel more confident in who she is.
And sure, while it's disappointing there were no actual kisses in a show whose very title promised seven of them, I really enjoy the idea that she went on a journey to find romantic love but found self love instead. Throughout all those fantasy situations she found herself in, she saw the cool person she was and the things she was capable of and became stronger as a result. So strong that in the presence of Lee Min Ho, who left the other workers shaking, she was confident and flirty, something that she never would have been in the beginning of the series.
So yes, while the lack of a definitive answer is annoying, I'm also kind of glad. I'm glad she didn't pick one of the boys and have her first kiss in a fantasy land where she wasn't the real version of herself because it means that she can have a real, authentic kiss in her real situation with a real dude who likes her for the awesome person she is and not because some fairy witch lady made it happen. And I think maybe that's the point too - the six almost kisses were necessary stepping stones to prepare her for the seventh, real and authentic first kiss that she's going to get now that she's accepted who she is and loves herself for it.
She started the journey wanting love and ended it, in my opinion, loving herself and I think that's actually a pretty good ending, all things considered. Still would have loved to have seen at least one kiss, though ;)
Anyway, I too found the ending of this rushed and somewhat disappointing but I've been thinking it over and I think I kind of get what they were trying to do. I think the ending was deliberately left open and ambiguous to reflect the quote they mention from Lee Min Ho's book in the story - "to search for something to love me is called every day life, but to search for something I'll love is called traveling" (paraphrased).
In the beginning of the series, she is so desperate for a boyfriend and love from someone else that it's all that she can think about - it's her every day life. And then she goes on a journey, she travels, so to speak, to find someone to love, arguably someone she loves, like in the quote. And while it could be said that she found someone/thing to love and that it is one of the men or the journey itself, I would argue that she actually found something much more important to love.
The development of her character is quite solid - she goes from meek and unassuming in the first few episodes to quite bold in the last few and that comparison speaks volumes. Consequently, I do not think it is a stretch to say that the thing she finds to love is actually herself. She has bad self esteem in the beginning of the series and then, after being the love interest of so many different men for so many different reasons, she is able to see her merits and feel more confident in who she is.
And sure, while it's disappointing there were no actual kisses in a show whose very title promised seven of them, I really enjoy the idea that she went on a journey to find romantic love but found self love instead. Throughout all those fantasy situations she found herself in, she saw the cool person she was and the things she was capable of and became stronger as a result. So strong that in the presence of Lee Min Ho, who left the other workers shaking, she was confident and flirty, something that she never would have been in the beginning of the series.
So yes, while the lack of a definitive answer is annoying, I'm also kind of glad. I'm glad she didn't pick one of the boys and have her first kiss in a fantasy land where she wasn't the real version of herself because it means that she can have a real, authentic kiss in her real situation with a real dude who likes her for the awesome person she is and not because some fairy witch lady made it happen. And I think maybe that's the point too - the six almost kisses were necessary stepping stones to prepare her for the seventh, real and authentic first kiss that she's going to get now that she's accepted who she is and loves herself for it.
She started the journey wanting love and ended it, in my opinion, loving herself and I think that's actually a pretty good ending, all things considered. Still would have loved to have seen at least one kiss, though ;)