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Interesting! Thanks for that. It certainly is a different perspective. I think we agree on what's happening. While you are validly interpreting it from an omnipresent viewer's perspective -- we see everything right...him, her, and their interior worlds -- I was thinking of it from a storytelling pov. Each of them is missing large pieces of the picture, which is ok that's how the story moves forward but the bits they do have make them react in ways, that I don't think hold up. Ah well. Insightful comment from you on her trauma, I missed that one. What do you want to bet her trauma and his issues are all going to resurface in a big just as we catch a glimpse of their sweetness?
Lol.

Sure

He's so underrated! Did you watch him in Rattan? He did a really good job. Not sure how these things work but he could really benefit from an agency and manager that can secure high quality scripts and productions for him.

Thanks for asking...from a storytelling perspective I find, in the first instance, the FL's reactions and responses inconsistent. This is not casting shade on the actress. I like Janice Wu and she's done well with what she's given. I found that for someone who is as clever and as quick as she is described, despite having conflicting feelings about the ML (stemming mainly from confusion is he into me, is he not into me - since she doesn't have the audience's omniscient perspective), her responses to him whips between hot and cold. The writer gave her a pretty overblown reaction to the whole Grandpa's secretary showing her the pic of the ML and the lady at HQ. While I can understand that, she then asks the HQ lady about their relationship and softens in her attitude, virtually in the same set of eps. Then the phone call in the hospital sets her off, and his 'confession' (of sorts) and her response to it. I can understand her reactions If they are trying to show that she has conflicting feelings about the ML, her uncertainty over how he feels about her (rightly so), and possible implications of leading her on/emotional infidelity but it could have more nuance. She's experiencing a lot of things/feeling a lot of feelings (lol!) so the emotional volatility is understandable but not, to my taste, to this extent. Meanwhile the ML's emotional muteness coupled with expectation that she can intuit his feelings/read his mind is making a lazy bit of writing even messier.
I can get behind her emotions and her reactions but it's a disservice to her character (and to some extent his) for the writer to force them to behave this way. Be angry, be upset, be uncertain but show me the transition from one to the other, or what triggers an emotional switch. That's my $1 worth!
Curious to think how you think it's going?

Thanks for explaining to me what I meant. :/

Whoever wrote this script should just be sacked, sent back to school and maybe re-employed in 10-years when they know how to write a consistent, coherent narrative and well-rounded characters. It get's worse as the show moves forward.

Largely agree with you OP. Except my expectations were far removed from You are My Glory, and I didn't mind Romance of the Little Forest. It was silly, funny. and cringey by turns. But the leads did alright. Him, especially.

Sparkling chemistry, and solid acting + comedic timing by the leads...but it does suffer from poor writing and wince worthy characterisations. Such a pity. These 2 deserve so much better. I wasn't expecting You Are My Glory because that novel is on another level and the adaptation was brilliant too (the director even made YY act/emote!! That was a first!! :D) But would have been happy within something like Perfect and Casual or Romance of the Little Forest. Aah well. Will continue to watch because they are sweet together. It's been a while since a contemporary rom-com caught my attention.
This will do in a pinch.

They are the worst...errrk

😂

oo..thanks for the update. I was waiting for Here We Meet Again.

He is a real nemesis. Pity there is no one to oppose him. I would have liked our FL to at least put him in a chokehold once...especially when he skirts the boundaries of respect. But the scriptwriter let me down there.

Nope. The boat is gradually filling up. Haven't abandoned all hope yet but that's because of my fondness for Chen Xiao.

Ok, rapidly losing its charm. All of a sudden this drama has changed from gripping and interesting storylines with complex plot moves and morally grey characters to something painfully pedestrian. For me, it's a let down given the cast and production quality. It could have all gone so much better than it has in the last 10-13 eps.
At this point, it should be re-titled as "The lucky one" or even "The Somewhat Smart One" rather than "The ingenious one."
My dude. You had 10 odd years to plan your revenge and this is what you're giving me?

Why does Mango TV happen to good actors, and (fingers crossed!) good adaptations?! Ugh. They are the worst with their subtitles and captions. Maybe Viki will pick this up. Or a fan of the novel who can't bear to watch it get butchered.

I feel your pain. #solidarity

I know right. What a waste. Even if it's a poor adaptation it's still wasted in the wretched hands of Mango TV. Ugh and Double Ugh.

Not sure how I'm feeling about this tortured loveline. They are both too smart and are surrounded by clever people to not pick-up that something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Sorry show runners, you have let me down. The rabid brother storyline is also draggy.
I wish they had handled things better than the old worn out trope of Juliet and Romeo. Someone should bury that and leave it to moulder in peace.

Such a good drama. To call it a tropey rom-com is to do it a great disservice. Yes, the genre is familiar and the narrative shape is also deceptively familiar but the story they are telling in a fairly lighthearted fashion is pretty grim.
A pretty girl, who comes from a poor but loving family, is ostracised and sees the worst of people outside her home because of the way she looks. It's interesting how her abrasive social awkwardness and 'rudeness' is an extension of her self-protection. Haneda-san embodies the saying that if you're going to be blamed for something then claim it as loudly and as offensively as possible before someone can pin it on you. She's not about to let others enjoy humiliating her. Better to just embarrass everyone and be the 'wicked woman.'
I went into this drama thinking at best it would be a funny, somewhat charming, feel good story and at its worst, cringey and a time suck with some nice people to look at. But I got so much more than that. The sweetie tucked away inside the wrapper is tart, sometimes bitter, with the occasional hit of sweet. It's a a clever incisive commentary on misogyny - how some men embody it, and how some women internalise it; and how women are objectified. This most recent episode really highlights this aspect. And for the first time we see Haneda-san's real thoughts and feelings burst through her incredibly high self-protective barriers. Not to belabour the point but there is a lot traumatic social isolation behind those few lines.
The ML always knew his own mind but he's really stepped up. In some ways, I think, he's coming around to decoding her personal protections and ways of behaving. As someone who probably has a strong sense of camouflage since he's been raised to be a commodity by his putative parents he's probably better placed than anyone (apart from her fam) about Haneda-san's oddities.
An engaging watch. Thank you to ecotvsubs for translating!

Oof, Ep19 was brutal. Hats off to Chen Xiao - his micro expressions, his mannerisms, and the incredible emotive expression in his eyes is fantastic. I think, he's outdone himself in the acting category in this role. Such a fine tuned, deeply nuanced performance.