Ok, so it really became Battle Royal in the end... Which could have been good, or just okay, but it didn't worked for me here. I just don't understand the purpose of this story. What do they want us to understand from that ? There is so much to write about this. First, they swear way too much. All these characters cursing all the time, it was very annoying. Is the purpose of this show to make people think that Korean high schoolers are all dumb and really stupid ? We can wonder, considering all the bad decisions and idiotic things these characters did and said throughout the first and second parts. It's true that the suneung has a huge cultural importance in Korea, but I doubt it will be that important and remains the first concern of people if what happened in this drama was real, so it's not very convincing, even though it's a sci-fi drama. The worst trooper of all the class almost exterminate all of them ? Seriously ? If he had shot all of them in the classroom in one go, it could have been believable. But we see him shoot a lot of them again and again, even after loosing is first riffle, even after being touched at the leg, even after some escaped, and even against good shooters we have seen in previous episodes, he has the upper hand (like when Tae Man stand up to shoot him) ? No, even if the surprise effect and the chaotic situation, it wasn't believable for me. The spheres are still in the air at the end, but everybody goes back to the life as before, after the devastation we have seen in the previous episodes ? And just one scene where buildings are in construction is supposed to makes up for it ? Again, big no, not believing that. And Chi Yeol is the only survivor we see at the end ? With a stupid self-reflexion and some moral of this nonsense story ? Once again, big flaw... Considering the potential of the plot, the huge and good production of this show, the overal great casting (Moon Sang Min's acting, especially, was perfect for me) and acting, there are too many and big flaws to make it a good drama, unfortunately. Oh and why this poster here ? It doesn't correspond to part 2 at all. Just like the cast credits. What are these contributors doing with so much edits ?
Two people found this helpful ? That means three idiots with the one who wrote it. Everyone can have a personal opinion, but blatant hatred isn't something that should be tolerated.
The fact that "The Night Owl" won the Best Film award and Ryu Jun Yeol won Best Actor in Film for his role in this movie at the 59th Baeksang Arts Awards (one of the most prestigious, if non THE most prestigious, award ceremony in Korea), just prove that the ratings here are really not something people should considered for watching this movie. Ahn Tae Jin won the Best New Director award for this movie too. Reviews and ratings like the one of @ChinaJapanLover, which are totally stupid, biased and full of hatred, are really useless.
you read manga, please, Any spoilers about the lead couple? progress? bitch? another rival? break up
You asked for spoilers, be careful, I wrote everything. This story is all butterflies, kindness and love. And food haha ! No rival, no break-up. ^^ The progression of the timeline is a little bit different with the drama so I'm not sure about when it will arrive but there will be the episode with Yutaka sick and Minoru who rush to him and take care of him. Sweetness x1000 in prevision. They should put also the scene when Yutaka explain to Minoru his childhood trauma, which should be very good if they follow what was drawn in the manga. The kiss scene under the snow too ! I look forward to it. And then the confession and how they were related before. But considering the drama so far, it doesn't seems they followed that, or maybe they are just hiding it until the revelation. There should be a little wavering time, until Yutaka realise his own feelings (I hope they will not drag and dramatise this too much in the drama), and we should have at least one full episode of happy couple and family cuteness (more would be even better !).
I wish they were more faithful to the manga regarding the memories of Yutaka's childhood. It's okay because I have read it, but otherwise I don't think what they show has the same meaning and impact that what was drawn in the manga. And the flashbacks of previous episodes were way too long and unnecessary here. But I nip-tick because I like it very much. The bench scene was very cute and Iijima Hiroki is doing a fantastic job at portraying Minoru here, even though he don't really have the same "vibe" as the manga character.
The depiction of the adoptive parents in the drama is wrong for me though, compared to the manga. Sure, they didn't stopped the step-brother bullying, but in the manga it's because they are always away from home, working, so they don't have any clue of it. In the drama it's like they don't care about Yutaka, which is very different from what you get reading the manga. It's a little bit disappointing for me.
So happy for him after he won the Best New Actor award in the TV category at the 59th Baeksang Arts Awards for his role of Grand Prince Seong Nam in “Under the Queen’s Umbrella”. Well done !
reviews on website like mdl are never objective. they are basically a written opinions. 99.99999% of users are…
Of course, I agree, and I don't pretend to rate objectively dramas and movies. I really don't do it objectively actually. ^^ But considering the objective flaws of this show, I really find the comments and reviews too dithyrambic. Yours actually is well-balanced I think. I think I really don't understand the hype over the mental health issue thing in dramas. For me it was more a let down than an interesting part of the story.
Very nice, but lots of problems too. Like Jae Won ghosting Ji Hyun for the old "I'm going to prevent you from…
Just like you (and everybody actually), I was also amazed by the first two episodes, so the expectations were very high and the disappointment I have is even greater. For me the end didn't redeemed the bad developments and production from episode 3 and after. Episode 9 was a disaster for me (a passionate and well-made kiss cannot wash away all the rest, especially the stupid scene in the street with the forced kiss of the ex-girlfriend-now-girlfriend-again-even-if-the-guy-knows-she-cheated...) and episode 10 wasn't that special neither for me.
9.8 in Rakuten, 9.5 in IMDB and only 8.1 here ...what's wrong with MDL?
Nothing wrong, because it's pointless to just compare numbers like this. From how many people ? And from what age, sex, country ? To really compare ratings you need much more data. ;)
Can the rating be a paltry 8.2 on the day they completed the series with such massive appreciation? Maybe not…
Well, every negative opinion about the show is literally attacked here, from the start (actually from episode 3, as before everyone really agreed that it was very good). So, of course, people tend to stop writing, as expressing his opinion is sometimes impossible on this website, but they still rate. It started from 9,5 with the first two episodes but it ended as a 7,5 for me, for example.
It's funny and really ridiculous to see now how wrong all the people who jumped on crazy hypothesis from the start were. I hope it will refrain some people to go crazy from the start about the end of a drama and, more importantly, calm down and stop being so aggressive towards others who don't follow their ideas and opinions. The production of the drama was sloppy and very inconsistent, just like the story and the characters, with very good episodes (1 and 2) and some that were very bad (episode 3/4 and 9 ?). So I'm even more disappointed. I'm really not in phase with all the hype (the reviews here are way to complaisant and not objective, but that's no surprise).
As a sageuk, it's really the kind that I don’t like, even though I must admit that it is the first time in a very long time that the trope of the cross dressing is cleverly used. However, if I watch it primarily as a rom-com with a serious main intrigue, set in an historical frame, it’s a good one, especially thanks to the performance of the cast. Do Hwan is amazing in this role, I really missed him as an actor (and he is the first actor to use his bare body this much in a while, as he should ! ^^ He can be proud of the body he bulked up, it was well used in episode 7). His chemistry with Bona is great and she is excellent too. As the whole cast actually. The main intrigue is also quite interesting. So far I look forward to the future developments.
I'm still not sure whether to start this one. I'm a big saeguk fan, but most of the new ones are more lighthearted…
There is absolutely nothing similar between this one and "My Country" (which is one of my favourite sageuk), except for Do Hwan playing the main character. ^^ I love him and he is putting a great performance as an actor for this one, but if you watch it, I suggest you to take it only as a fun rom-com with a serious plot, with an historical settings, because it's absolutely not a sageuk that is realistic. It's more enjoyable than other recent rom-com sageuk though, especially thanks to Do Hwan, Bona and the other cast that are all very good and the main intrigue that is interesting.
Looking at some of the comments, character-driven dramas are apparently too much for some. Not that I am surprised…
Yes indeed. There is simply nothing wrong with this drama objectively, it's very good for what it is. Of course, it's an adaptation so there will always be critics regards to that, which I completely understand. But most of the people here can't separate their own feelings towards a story/characters (which is totally subjective and effectively very different from a person to another) from an objective review of the production and story/characters developments, and even more, can't express it properly here.
1 
There is so much to write about this.
First, they swear way too much. All these characters cursing all the time, it was very annoying.
Is the purpose of this show to make people think that Korean high schoolers are all dumb and really stupid ? We can wonder, considering all the bad decisions and idiotic things these characters did and said throughout the first and second parts.
It's true that the suneung has a huge cultural importance in Korea, but I doubt it will be that important and remains the first concern of people if what happened in this drama was real, so it's not very convincing, even though it's a sci-fi drama.
The worst trooper of all the class almost exterminate all of them ? Seriously ? If he had shot all of them in the classroom in one go, it could have been believable. But we see him shoot a lot of them again and again, even after loosing is first riffle, even after being touched at the leg, even after some escaped, and even against good shooters we have seen in previous episodes, he has the upper hand (like when Tae Man stand up to shoot him) ? No, even if the surprise effect and the chaotic situation, it wasn't believable for me.
The spheres are still in the air at the end, but everybody goes back to the life as before, after the devastation we have seen in the previous episodes ? And just one scene where buildings are in construction is supposed to makes up for it ? Again, big no, not believing that.
And Chi Yeol is the only survivor we see at the end ? With a stupid self-reflexion and some moral of this nonsense story ? Once again, big flaw...
Considering the potential of the plot, the huge and good production of this show, the overal great casting (Moon Sang Min's acting, especially, was perfect for me) and acting, there are too many and big flaws to make it a good drama, unfortunately.
Oh and why this poster here ? It doesn't correspond to part 2 at all. Just like the cast credits. What are these contributors doing with so much edits ?
Everyone can have a personal opinion, but blatant hatred isn't something that should be tolerated.
Reviews and ratings like the one of @ChinaJapanLover, which are totally stupid, biased and full of hatred, are really useless.
This story is all butterflies, kindness and love. And food haha ! No rival, no break-up. ^^
The progression of the timeline is a little bit different with the drama so I'm not sure about when it will arrive but there will be the episode with Yutaka sick and Minoru who rush to him and take care of him. Sweetness x1000 in prevision.
They should put also the scene when Yutaka explain to Minoru his childhood trauma, which should be very good if they follow what was drawn in the manga.
The kiss scene under the snow too ! I look forward to it. And then the confession and how they were related before. But considering the drama so far, it doesn't seems they followed that, or maybe they are just hiding it until the revelation.
There should be a little wavering time, until Yutaka realise his own feelings (I hope they will not drag and dramatise this too much in the drama), and we should have at least one full episode of happy couple and family cuteness (more would be even better !).
But I nip-tick because I like it very much. The bench scene was very cute and Iijima Hiroki is doing a fantastic job at portraying Minoru here, even though he don't really have the same "vibe" as the manga character.
The depiction of the adoptive parents in the drama is wrong for me though, compared to the manga. Sure, they didn't stopped the step-brother bullying, but in the manga it's because they are always away from home, working, so they don't have any clue of it. In the drama it's like they don't care about Yutaka, which is very different from what you get reading the manga. It's a little bit disappointing for me.
But considering the objective flaws of this show, I really find the comments and reviews too dithyrambic.
Yours actually is well-balanced I think.
I think I really don't understand the hype over the mental health issue thing in dramas. For me it was more a let down than an interesting part of the story.
It started from 9,5 with the first two episodes but it ended as a 7,5 for me, for example.
The production of the drama was sloppy and very inconsistent, just like the story and the characters, with very good episodes (1 and 2) and some that were very bad (episode 3/4 and 9 ?). So I'm even more disappointed.
I'm really not in phase with all the hype (the reviews here are way to complaisant and not objective, but that's no surprise).
However, if I watch it primarily as a rom-com with a serious main intrigue, set in an historical frame, it’s a good one, especially thanks to the performance of the cast.
Do Hwan is amazing in this role, I really missed him as an actor (and he is the first actor to use his bare body this much in a while, as he should ! ^^ He can be proud of the body he bulked up, it was well used in episode 7). His chemistry with Bona is great and she is excellent too. As the whole cast actually.
The main intrigue is also quite interesting. So far I look forward to the future developments.
But most of the people here can't separate their own feelings towards a story/characters (which is totally subjective and effectively very different from a person to another) from an objective review of the production and story/characters developments, and even more, can't express it properly here.