I enjoyed it. It was a good series to watch. Is the genre new? No. But it was fun to watch nonetheless. The director took a chance and casted new face, which turned out extremely well. As her first drama, I thought Jung Ho Yeon did well. She's not a professional actress by any mean, but it was a great effort for her first role. She deserves her on-going fame, as well as Anupam, Lee Yoo Mi, or any casts that got boosted from this series. I think actors/actresses that get offered in a Netflix show from now on might actually jump on that chance. Because we saw what happened to Sweet Home, almost all cast got a huge following and multiple projects after. Hopefully it will be the same for this one as well.
Anyhow, as for why it's so popular or hyped up, I believe its just as the director said. For its simplicity, and personally IMO, empathy. There were no complicated games or plot, it's was just raw human nature. The design were simple as well. There's an extremely famous TikTok star called khaby.lame, he doesn't talk in his tiktok and all he do is simple motions that copies other's video, but he has a huge following. It's a formula that works. Maybe that's the trend right now, or maybe some people or things are bound to be popular because its their time. Who knows.
The second thing I think is because the audience could relate to the characters. They're normal people, like us. They have greed, they have debt, and they have people they cared for. They weren't forced to play like Battle Royale, or have a dystopia world like Hunger Games, or magically teleported elsewhere with its own universal rule like Alice in Borderland. This event could as well happen in real life, our life, if enough millionaires starts it. I think these are what sets them apart from others of the same genre. The audience felt emotionally connected on some level. And remember, this is a 9 episodes series instead of just a 2 hours movie. It has an advantage and a lot more to offer to the audience.
I think I wrote too much, but anyways, the only thing I dislike about this series is the ending. Sung Gi Hun was about to board the plane and see his daughter, but he stops and made a decision to return. I think this is completely stupid. His mother died, and he only have his daughter left. What the hell is he thinking? It would of make more sense if he traveled to his daughter, they go on a vacation, AND then he happens to see Goong Yoo offering someone else a choice of envelope. Then if Gi Hun decided to return to save other people because the game was still going on, THEN I can understand that. But otherwise, terrible decision made.
Are there better movies/dramas out there? Absolutely. But right now, this is King. Personally, Battle Royale 2000 from Japan is still my top favorite. (thank you for reading this far)
I have seen Chinese dramas recast actors for different seasons, but have never seen a Korean one that does it. Since this is Netflix, I am assuming that's why they had no qualm about it. For those of you who won't watch it because the main actors from S1 is not in S2, please please do not antagonize other actors/actresses who would pick up the character. What seems to be a show time fun to you, is someone else's livelihood.
I love Go Min Si's and I thought Lee Do Hyun was great, he was one of the reason I watched it. I'm sad that they both won't be joining, but excited to see who will be cast next. We also got Lee Si Young and Park Gyu Young, they were both equally great.
As for company not recasting, it could be due to various reasons. Either budget didn't allowed them, or schedule conflict or they just wanted new faces (which is odd if old ones are so loved). As we all see, the casts got really famous after the show and starred in some of their own. EVEN if they wanted to star in Sweethome Season2 again, their agency will demand a hefty sum of $$ from the production company to have their actors appear and that might conflict with what Netflix is willing to pay. That's how it works if you get popular. That's why branding is so important.
Just finished watching it! I personally enjoyed the second leads more so than the main ones. I liked their growth…
Even with limited screen time, I think she did the character justice. Thousand Years is not exactly pure rom-com, but it has romance/comedy genre, casting her with that same comedic personality, which was what I meant earlier. I have seen many of her other works and she can really cry convincingly and expressed her emotion well, reminds me of Dicky Cheung. I have no doubt of her as an actress.
Yeah I am looking forward to Who Rules The World, I love wuxia genre. Viewership count isn't always necessary be a factor to determine someone's acting ability. There are tons of great artists who isn't popular even though they're good, while there are some who are popular but is quite underwhelming. So I would put viewership count as the least factor to rank in acting abilities.
Im just starting this drama but why does the ML always have this >:| face hahah, he's muggin'. Maybe because he's…
Just finished watching it! I personally enjoyed the second leads more so than the main ones. I liked their growth a bit better, it felt more worth it? If I am saying it correctly.
Anyhow, seems like there are some interesting replies over Lusi vs Reba under my initial one. Lol. I know all of you are fans of the respective actress, but we're all fans of great dramas and movies, let's enjoy them instead :D.
I don't think I need to clarify anything but I'll do it anyways just in case. When I said that I hope Lusi have more serious roles in the future just like how Raba had hers, I was not talking about their acting, how well they act or whatever facing expression they can make. As a simple observation we can see that Lusi is usually typed-casted into comedic/romantic/aloof roles, and there's is nothing wrong with that, however personally I would love to see her venture and challenge herself in the future. And this is mainly pointing finger at her company/casting agent to diversify her roles. Nothing on her as an actress.
We all know Lusi is a great actress, so wouldn't it be a treat to see what she takes on in the future? Cheers~
i really doubt he will have any significant role. Most probably a cameo, unless it's a non speaking role. It's…
Honestly, any exposure is better than none at all. But does it really have to be this way ):? I just feel dirty that they always typed-cast Asian actors.
Marvel fans will see the movie because they are a fan. PSJ fans will go see it for PSJ. Marketing does work. The question is, will PSJ have any substantial role in the movie? If you're going to pay $10-15 to see a 10 minutes clip of PSJ, I suggest you use Youtube, it's free. If you're a fan of both, then the waiting begins.
Hollywood has a habit of including famous Asian celebrities in their movies for Asia market exposure, but gave them insignificant roles.
I like it so far. Episode 9 was a little surprising for me, meeting a younger version of Seo Hae. I did not expected that ( I guess end of episode 8 kind of foreshadowing it). But seems like Seo Hae found herself on a time loop. Old Seo Hae travels back in the past to save Tae Sul (which the current day we're watching). They got married and passed away, hence we see their skeletons at end of episode 8. Since Old Seo Hae was from the future, she wrote on her diary knowing that her Younger self would survived that nuclear disaster and find her diary, to go back in time and save Tae Sul. Hence the looping. I thought the execution coulda been better...I mean she was running away from chasing soldiers, fell down a house, then found the diary and skeletons on some building. Lol. So convenient.
Is it ever explained in the novel how Fan Xian ever managed to reincarnate in the first place? Or who exactly…
Inside the Temple is like a mystical 'machine' that somehow collected Fan Xian's dying soul and transported him into the body of the baby Fan Xian of this world. I believe Ye Qingmei was born within the Temple. There were human beings there, I forgot who they were though. But they were tasked to give out knowledge to the world when the world was destroyed and needed guidance. They cannot rule the people nor influences the people via politics, their only task is to help mankind survive through generations, at least in the novel.
As I was reading through the episodes, there are no words to explain the feelings. What Running man has presented…
Age comes with time. It's hard for them now to participate in endurance battle, running around like before. And of course variety show changes over time. I think audience just really miss the golden days of Sparta Kook or Yoo's Bond. Running Man gave us a decade worth of laughs, so we should support it the same. When its gone, the void will be great. Just like X-man, just like Family Outing. ):
Damn, PSH in a dress - 'chef kiss'. So that's why the dude who traveled back to meet his Mom said sorry to PSH, because the 'present' him was fed false information by the Control Bureau and he went to hunt her down.
So the Control Bureau knew of time-traveling from 2002 and now they need to find and kill Tae-Sul because he invented that time machine. Im just wondering why they didn't try to kill him off way earlier if they already knew? Unless they needed him to create the machine itself or have some important part of the machine created first, then kill him. Then the Control Bureau will have control over the past, present and future? Is that what the 'Key' they are trying so hard to find, might be a formula.
Oh no friends, I think Im dropping this series. I tried watching up until episode 6, but I just can't get into it. The actors and actresses are doing just fine, it's just that the style from this writer, I cannot get used to it and I do not see the appeal. ):
Although I do wish they had casted Kwak Dong Yeon as the second lead instead.
Nice list. I've read JOL novel and another favorite of mine is Wang Qi Nian, his antics with Fan Xian are hilarious, although he doesn't get much screen time. I think there was one time where Fan Xian was writing a secret letter to someone and at the end of the letter he said 'Qi Nian, keep reading letters I sent and I will have my guards peek when your daughter take a bath'. Lol. Jin Xia from Under The Power is also a great one, great actress too. Ah! I forgot, Haitang Duo Duo too!
K-Drama 
Anyhow, as for why it's so popular or hyped up, I believe its just as the director said. For its simplicity, and personally IMO, empathy. There were no complicated games or plot, it's was just raw human nature. The design were simple as well. There's an extremely famous TikTok star called khaby.lame, he doesn't talk in his tiktok and all he do is simple motions that copies other's video, but he has a huge following. It's a formula that works. Maybe that's the trend right now, or maybe some people or things are bound to be popular because its their time. Who knows.
The second thing I think is because the audience could relate to the characters. They're normal people, like us. They have greed, they have debt, and they have people they cared for. They weren't forced to play like Battle Royale, or have a dystopia world like Hunger Games, or magically teleported elsewhere with its own universal rule like Alice in Borderland. This event could as well happen in real life, our life, if enough millionaires starts it. I think these are what sets them apart from others of the same genre. The audience felt emotionally connected on some level. And remember, this is a 9 episodes series instead of just a 2 hours movie. It has an advantage and a lot more to offer to the audience.
I think I wrote too much, but anyways, the only thing I dislike about this series is the ending. Sung Gi Hun was about to board the plane and see his daughter, but he stops and made a decision to return. I think this is completely stupid. His mother died, and he only have his daughter left. What the hell is he thinking? It would of make more sense if he traveled to his daughter, they go on a vacation, AND then he happens to see Goong Yoo offering someone else a choice of envelope. Then if Gi Hun decided to return to save other people because the game was still going on, THEN I can understand that. But otherwise, terrible decision made.
Are there better movies/dramas out there? Absolutely. But right now, this is King. Personally, Battle Royale 2000 from Japan is still my top favorite. (thank you for reading this far)
I love Go Min Si's and I thought Lee Do Hyun was great, he was one of the reason I watched it. I'm sad that they both won't be joining, but excited to see who will be cast next. We also got Lee Si Young and Park Gyu Young, they were both equally great.
As for company not recasting, it could be due to various reasons. Either budget didn't allowed them, or schedule conflict or they just wanted new faces (which is odd if old ones are so loved). As we all see, the casts got really famous after the show and starred in some of their own. EVEN if they wanted to star in Sweethome Season2 again, their agency will demand a hefty sum of $$ from the production company to have their actors appear and that might conflict with what Netflix is willing to pay. That's how it works if you get popular. That's why branding is so important.
Yeah I am looking forward to Who Rules The World, I love wuxia genre. Viewership count isn't always necessary be a factor to determine someone's acting ability. There are tons of great artists who isn't popular even though they're good, while there are some who are popular but is quite underwhelming. So I would put viewership count as the least factor to rank in acting abilities.
Anyhow, seems like there are some interesting replies over Lusi vs Reba under my initial one. Lol. I know all of you are fans of the respective actress, but we're all fans of great dramas and movies, let's enjoy them instead :D.
I don't think I need to clarify anything but I'll do it anyways just in case. When I said that I hope Lusi have more serious roles in the future just like how Raba had hers, I was not talking about their acting, how well they act or whatever facing expression they can make. As a simple observation we can see that Lusi is usually typed-casted into comedic/romantic/aloof roles, and there's is nothing wrong with that, however personally I would love to see her venture and challenge herself in the future. And this is mainly pointing finger at her company/casting agent to diversify her roles. Nothing on her as an actress.
We all know Lusi is a great actress, so wouldn't it be a treat to see what she takes on in the future? Cheers~
Looking great so far. As a fan of Lu Si, I hope she'll have a more serious and bad@ss role like Dilraba in her future works, it'll be a treat.
Hollywood has a habit of including famous Asian celebrities in their movies for Asia market exposure, but gave them insignificant roles.
So the Control Bureau knew of time-traveling from 2002 and now they need to find and kill Tae-Sul because he invented that time machine. Im just wondering why they didn't try to kill him off way earlier if they already knew? Unless they needed him to create the machine itself or have some important part of the machine created first, then kill him. Then the Control Bureau will have control over the past, present and future? Is that what the 'Key' they are trying so hard to find, might be a formula.
Although I do wish they had casted Kwak Dong Yeon as the second lead instead.