herc-u-luis

I just hope people give the ratings after the drama has finished or close to being finished. God knows how many shows have royally disappointed us even with pre-inflated ratings before the show even had gone halfway

I certainly hope so. He needs to get another serious hit show (not just commercial success, but something that can be critically acclaimed as a great show) like healer to really propel his career in diverse directions. While I do enjoy his Rom-com shows enough to watch them, over time, people are gonna get bored of him. Nowadays, K-dramas have stepped up the game, making shows that to a significant extent rival US and UK tv series in terms of story and acting. Even Rom-com genre has been evolving. He needs to be part of a really Great show sometime soon I suppose. Looks, he got it. Acting, he got it. Popular Female leads, well, they are willing to act with him. Now he needs a great script, and good show-makers who are really thinking about making a great show.

The name of the anime is "No Longer Human" or "Aoi Bungaku" in Japanese. The character Dazai in Bongou stray dogs was actually based on Dazai Osamu, the writer of the novel "No longer Human". Dazai Osamu in real life attempted suicide several times, that's why in Bugou stray dogs you see Dazai osamu talking about suicides and attempting them in funny manner. I could give you a link, but I don't know whether link sharing here is okay or not for the moderators.

Hmm, I wouldn't go so far as to say that agency doesn't matter when you reach stardom. Big actors sometimes become independent at some point cause they have limitations while working in the agency while taking a role that might not benefit the agency, at the end of the day it's a business and even though you might get some leeway for being a star in that agency, you are still contract bound which you will have to obey somewhat religiously if you want to stay in the agency. Plus, you are always aging while new talents will always join the agency, and you never know when the agency will push a new face to be the new poster-boy of the agency. It's not as simple as milking a pre-established image and past establishments while taking roles independently without caring much whether it will benefit the agency or not. Going independent is not really an option for every actors, not all of them have enough money and time to actually do all those things that an agency offers to do for them. And interviews are hardly ever "not scripted" to never give the impression that the agency is influencing the choice of an actors dramas/films as it can affect the agency's reputation. Hardly any actors will say anything like that, cause, at the end of the day, when actors mess up or get into any controversy the agency handles it and protect them. Whistle-blowing will definitely put the actor into the blacklist, good luck getting into another one. So, we can't ever get the full picture from the interviews.

Either way, his choice/the agency's influenced choice has not been spot on for some time. I don't know whether backstreet rookie was any experiment from JCW's point of view, as it really didn't require any extraordinary acting skills, neither was the storyline something memorable. The cast other than JCW, rather the female lead is very popular, a solid reason It was guaranteed that people would watch it. It was somewhat funny, and not the good kind of crazy. At least majority of people thought so, I would assume from the reviews.

Lovestruck in the city can be considered an experiment, sadly it didn't pay off if he was looking forward being in a great drama, although, obviously commercially successful. His acting was decent, storyline was, well, not very convincing. Female lead was popular, like the male lead, so obviously was a guaranteed commercial hit.

Suspicious Partner was relatively good for it's own genre. The suspense was there, the role of the villain was actually decent.

K2, well, it seemed way too unrealistic to me, for a serious political action thriller. Even in a fiction, there are some level of practicality to be maintained imo. That's one of the reasons I didn't really like vagabond either, the storyline was too unrealistic to watch over 16 episodes, a movie of 2 hours should be fine. Although Vagabond did really well with the action scenes, it was difficult to take this one seriously after the death of the male lead's nephew. Honestly, After a few episodes it was pretty easy to guess that Ed Park was a villain. Although, I think, If someone is not really much interested in the integrity and progression of the storyline and the many plotholes, both of these two drama are actually fun to watch as action dramas. Although, I didn't really like yoona's acting.

Melting me softly, after a few episodes I dropped it. Just couldn't go on with the drama, it was difficult.

As far as BR and LITC goes, they started out well, with a promise to be different, but landed flat in the middle, in BR's case it happened even earlier. I don't really think It's JCW's fault, the creators, writers and directors kept coming with problematic twists and incidents that really kills the initial vibe and promise. That's why I think maybe the agency isn't doing right by JCW. A lot of the times actors don't have much choice when it comes to choosing a drama, if the agency don't really try to create a different and refreshing image of the actors by either allowing or bringing different and better offers to them.. JCW has kinda established himself as a rom-com actor, and all the drama offers he is getting are of that genre. His military enlistments and controversies may also have played a role for him not getting different roles, maybe the agency and drama makers didn't feel confident about it or something.

However I do agree that for a drama like Lovestruck in the city, even it's executed properly by the writers, directors and actors, in the kdrama world, It can easily be just a matter of Complete Hit or Complete Miss.

I agree, After Healer all the shows that he has been has been subpar. There are things at play behind the background, maybe he needs to be part of a better agency.
So many kdramas depend on basically starpower, he has been using it, and it's working out well, in terms of commercial success. However, the shows aren't really that good, a lot of the time disappointing. Like a popcorn, you eat it and forget it, there is not much to remember. In 2017, he went to military, and maybe there weren't many opportunities for him after he came, so he is playing general rom-com. Although, Lovestruck in the City was a bit different, still, it really didn't make the cut imo. I had better hopes as the director was one of the two directors of It's okay to not be okay.
Hopefully, in the near future, he gets the opportunities to play much better roles.

I think you are right. However, For whatever reason, Ji Chang Wook is continuously acting in rom-com dramas nonstop, and with mediocre success. His success in the recent times has been mostly due to his star power that he achieved in Healer. I am sure quite a few things are at play in the background here, not all celebs gets to have proper role that suits them. Ji Chang Wook has been kinda branded as a Rom-com actor, and military enlistment in 2017 really didn't help the cause.

While Lee jong gi is not as popular as Lee Dong Wook (his popularity kinda skyrocketed after Goblin) or Hyun Bin, he definitely has been able to diversify his roles quite a bit, he also worked with people who looks like were planning to make really good shows, not just get more viewership. Flower of Evil was a masterpiece, and yeah, it didn't get the proper recognition. However, the show has definitely created history in the drama lovers group, such as this one, 3 years from now when someone will ask about flower of evil, it will be recommended by most people as one of the absolute best Korea has ever produced. That itself is a great achievement.

I just hope Li Chang Wook can get out of this stereotypical dramas that he has been a part of recently. Maybe not a big budget drama, but rather a different type, maybe not something like K2, but, more of a acting focused show with a decent storyline. He may need to be part of a better agency for marketing, although, that's not really entirely upto him.

There is a difference between commercial success and really making a great drama, his shows in terms of making money and viewership, has done well, but, really, after Healer he hasn't been in any drama that I can call excellent. Other Actors like Song Joong Ki has came up with Arthdal Chronicles, a very good show after His famous hit drama Descendants of the Sun, Kim Soo-hyun with Its okay to not be okay after his famous drama, My love from another star, Lee Joon-gi, well, he keeps coming with one better after another, He recently rejected acting in the upcoming drama Link: Eat, Love, Die, cause he thought that role for him wasn't really worth it.
These are the actors who are in his age group, some of them really started skyrocketing their career from the year 2015-2016. While some of these actors are taking on different versatile roles for different dramas, Ji Chang Wook's roles have been pretty much one dimensional. While Lovestruck in the city was a bit different characterwise, the overall story kept falling apart here and there. I just hope that he acts in a drama which will have a great storyline and require great acting for that role, not just a pretty face. He needs to take a break from these predominantly Romance-based dramas for a while. Maybe some Serious Crime based show or something entirely different. That's just my opinion anyway.

When will Ji Chang Wook finally be in a drama that will score more than 8.5 in mydramalist??? After Healer, all the shows that the became the lead of kinda felt subpar. He was also in Empress Ki, and that was a great show, but after Empress Ki and Healer, I am really disappointed by the dramas he's been (Except for Suspicious Partner, that wasn't really that good, but was good enough imo).
I think he needs to be a bit more selective about the roles that he takes, should be more choosy when it comes to evaluating scripts. I hope in the very near future he chooses roles more wisely.

"No Longer Human" was a shocking and amazing anime that was based on Dazai Osamu's novel of the same name. That anime actually sent chill down my spine, although I haven't read the original novel. Some of the stories of that novel was actually based on Dazai Osamu's real life experiences. The title seems too similar to not be based on the same novel. The storyline looks quite similar to the overall idea of the novel itself, although it can be just a different story.
If it is actually based on the same novel, honestly, the actors will have to up their game. These type of stories need great acting. Gonna watch Ryn Joon Yeol after a long long time on dramas. Hoping for the best.

Can someone tell me why almost all the shows rating has dropped by .2 points. It's okay to not be okay was 9.1, now it's 8.9. The Untamed was around 9, now 8.8, pinocchio 8.3 from 8.5.
This has happened to all the shows ratings. I would understand if it was for some shows, but now it looks like a, I don't know, some kind of bug in calculation or something.

So, Romcom Kdrama Bonkers version of "Mushishi" has begun. Looking forward to next episodes.