martens

Just finished watching! Definitely a thrilling/exciting watch if you ask me.

Some deaths, I was really upset about; aside from Gijun, I actually felt pity Lee Juwoon, Chunseok, Byeongho, and Seongwon.

I've never seen anything that So Jisub starred in before, but damn was he good in this! Definitely the most convincing in their role, imho.

Also, it looks like I'm one of the few who seemed to really hate Geumson. Genuinely was wishing for Gijun to make Geumson suffer more.

For all the pain, suffering and deaths that Geumson's desire for power caused, he sure got an easy way out of life.

I see this too often in K-dramas. It's like these people are incapable of showcasing the positive sides of Christianity and instead decide to just put it in a negative light. I get that South Korea has a problem with religious cults, but that doesn't mean they have to basically demonize the religion and its followers.

I'm not even a Christian myself, but this bothers me to no end.

Not me cheering at the episode 6 ending 😭 Mr. Assassin just got here and has already stolen the spotlight for me.

Words can't describe how furious the episode 4 ending made me.

Going to the police would have been in favor of Tee Rab, and it would have been the right thing to do as well, but I also understand that he wanted the money because of his financial status, but holy damn! I feel so effing bad for that guy... His screentime wasn't much, but I came to care for him in that short little time. I'm so angry at the turn of events that I don't have it in me to shed tears for him.

As for SPH, I believe this is going to be the no-return point for him. He has done bad things to cover for his son so far, but this one must have been the most devastating one for him. Even though it was an order, he was still the one who pulled the trigger.

On another note, I'm so glad that SPH and KKH are the main focus! They are the most intriguing characters in this drama, along with Sang Hyuk.

I think it really just depends on what type of show you like. It is perfectly fine to not enjoy something that some others do. Maybe you like a bit more fast-paced ones?

This is exactly the type of show I like! Just the opening/intro alone pulled me in right away (not even sure what I like about it so much, lol). The first two episodes have been amazing so far. I'm really looking forward to the next one!

About Hoyoung, I absolutely understand that he was scared and panicked and left because of it, but I still feel, idk, disappointed (?), angry (?) that he decided on that. The kid could have been alive if he had responded to the 119 operator after he was able to breathe normally again.

As for those voting one star because this is based on an Israeli series... seriously now? My country and people have been through worse at the hands of another world power, while the world willingly turned a blind eye. But you wouldn't see me acting that way if SK remade one of their series.

I get that it's a very sensitive thing and that we feel for the people in Palestine, but why bring politics into this now? You guys didn't seem to have that much of a problem with Israeli content prior to the war, despite being aware that Palestinians were dying and suffering then too.

I'm sorry but I could not stand In Sung's mother. Worst character in this, easily. So annoying and entitled for no reason. My favorites, on the other hand, were the grandmother and the detective.

Have mixed feelings about the end, though. I'm glad in a way that the grandmother got to have her revenge, but, regardless of Young Soo's three friends covering for him, I felt bad for them too, especially the chief. I was more hoping that the grandmother was going to just end In Sung's parents instead.

Also, Joo Hyub is the biggest victim here, but he didn't even get to have a proper burial. Nobody seems to give a damn that he just disappeared, police ain't even looking for him. Honestly, screw that whole town, they're all crazy. Touching too much grass is bad too, I guess.

I stumbled upon this yesterday and binge-watched 8 episodes until 5am, finished the last two just now. I usually never binge a show unless I find it really gripping, and this one did it for me.

There wasn't too much action, but I don't mind that at all. I enjoy an interesting story and a good set of characters far more. There were things that frustrated me at times, like how gullible Oh Taek was (thought I couldn't blame him much) and the incompetence of the police, for example. The laws over in South Korea are so ridiculous, it pisses me off to no end.

I believe that this would've actually been better if it was just set during that one night, with Oh Taek and Hwang Soonkyu dying and the killer getting away in the end. There aren't too many K-dramas that dare to take the approach of writing off their main character(s) and letting the antagonists win; this could've been one of them. But at the same time, I really like the reveal after the time-skip about Lee Byeongmin not being the only one behind the murders (no cap, call me crazy, but I wouldn't mind a 10-episode drama focusing on Byeongmin and Geum Hyuksoo). But even then, the mains could've still been killed off at the end of that night. They could then move the focus over to Sena and Kim Joongmin, the main detective, bringing Byeongmin to justice.

They didn't really bring up Geum Hyuksoo towards the end, so I'm wondering whether or not they even knew that there were two of them plotting and committing the murders.

Honestly, the victims I feel the worst for are probably those two brothers in the car that tried to help Oh Taek. I wish they had just called the police and moved on. Even just following the taxi from afar until the police arrived would have been more than enough. And the mother and her cop son... Oh, Lee Byeongmin I ain't ever forgiving you for all that needless killing.

Lee Byeongmin's mother should be jailed too! She knew about the kidnapping of Chaeri and the possible murders, and she was okay with it. She even told him to finish the job so they wouldn't find out. People like that are a danger to society and shouldn't be walking freely.

Also, I feel really bad for Hyunji. She seems to have actually loved Byeongmin, but all he seemed to care about was having a son. Like, when she brought up how he would feel if the baby was a girl; he stayed silent. And when Oh Taek kidnapped her and then called up Byeongmin, he didn't say much about Hyunji; he was focusing on making sure Oh Taek wouldn't harm his son. I think this all stems from his clear daddy issues. Byeongmin is doing a lot to be noticed, praised and loved by his father; but isn't receiving any of that. So, he was probably wanting a son so he could shower him with all that he never received from his own father. It's sad, really.

Anyway, I'm glad that they didn't make this unrealistic by having Oh Taek go unpunished just because he is the main character that got wronged. Him doing some time in prison and then getting out and having his happy ending was really nice and felt earned.

I agree so much with this! I just finished reading chapters four; I was neutral with my stance before this, but now I am kind of bitter about the change.

And I'm not saying that it can't happen, but Yi Heon being bullied and ostracized by pretty much the entire school because one known bully delinquent spread a rumor that he is a stalker is a bit weird. It's far more, idk, believable (?) that all of that is happening because of his sexuality.

I enjoy it regardless so far, I'm not going to stop watching, but I would have liked this adaptation more if they had kept that aspect of his character.

There are a good number of shows out there that bring awareness to bullying and how much it can affect the victim. But there is very little Korean content in the mainstream that talks about the bullying and abuse LGBT people go through. This adaptation could have done that, but decided against it.

dramacool

I don't think that's the case. Se Kyung is just suspicious of him and thinks it's someone else pretending to be Yi Heon.

I haven't read the novel, so I'm not sure how big of a role the romance plays in the story or in the lives of the main characters, and whether or not removing that affects the story in any way. But erasing this aspect altogether is a big shame. This could have been a nice opportunity for some representation and to showcase what LGBT folks go through, especially in more conservative societies (I'm seeing bullying in the tags, so I'm going to assume the main character deals with that because of his sexuality).

I hope the producer has a valid enough point for not including it. I don't want to hear anything about them making this decision because they were afraid that it would tank or that it would gain only negative traction from the public (Semantic Error was very positively received). If that was their reasoning, then they shouldn't have touched this novel to begin with, even if they really liked the general premise of it. There are plenty of amazing non-BL novels and webtoons that they could've adapted in its place.

Anyhow, aside from all that, I've really enjoyed the first two episodes. The plot is fun, the acting in general is good (Yoon Chan Young is doing amazing portraying the two personalities), the story is flowing nicely, the bromance is done well, and the characters are likeable and intriguing so far, Deuk Pal in particular. The only big qualm I have is that it seems a bit too light-hearted and comedic, because I was hoping for a darker tone. Nothing too dark, but something akin to Weak Hero Class 1 would have been really nice.

Looking forward to the next episode!

Seems to be the case. I've read articles, comments and post from from those that live there, and it's horrible. The principals tend to overlook them as they don't want the cases to get any media attention, as that could result in the school having a bad reputation.

The webtoon is still ongoing (200+ chapters), but so far, none of them are dead. Sooho is still in a coma, as far as we know, and Bumseok hasn't been mentioned again (he was only a minor antagonist, talked about in a sort of flashback backstory that lasted for a total of 5 chapters).

Exactly! I'm tired of people saying that some of us are making excuses or justifying Bumseok's actions. People would rather just hate than try to understand why some people act the way they do.

Exactly! I'm tired of people saying that some of us are making excuses or justifying Bumseok's actions. People would rather just hate than try to understand why some people act the way they do.

I do, however, have to admit that I have qualms with how much they changed from the original webtoon's storyline. As much as I loved Shieun and Sooho relationship in this adaptation, their bond was much stronger in the webtoon, to the point that their classmates assumed that they were dating. They were practically soulmates, and Shieun pretty much fell into depression after what happened to Sooho, refusing to go to school for days on end.

And while not bad in any way, I didn't really care much for the new characters that they included in this adaptation. Seokdae, Wooyoung and that secretary with glasses that works for Bumseok's father were the only ones that I really liked.

Youngyi in particular seems to have just been thrown in there because the webtoon doesn't have any relevant female characters in this arc of the story. And of course this wouldn't be a Kdrama if they didn't try to force a slight bit of romance into it (although it's clear that Youngyi isn't actually a romantic interest for any of them).

In another way, it seems like they added her in so that Bumseok could have someone to blame for the trio's fallout. In the webtoon Bumseok's main problem and reason for change is his inferiority complex, not because someone new came into the friend group and "messed up the dynamics" (in his mind atleast).

But then again, this drama would have been more more of a slice-of-life if they did a complete scene for scene adaptation. From what I remember from the webtoon, the action and fighting doesn't happen until around the end of this backstory arc, which takes places days/weeks after Sooho's hospitalization.

I binged this a couple of weeks ago, and I still can't move on from it.

The production was stunning, the main characters were fantastic, and the OSTs went perfect with the moods and atmosphere and were never unnecessarily overused as many dramas tend to do so. And of course, we can't forget about the phenomenal acting! Jihoon and Hong Kyung in particular did so well in portraying their respective, complex character roles.

The narrative isn't anything new or groundbreaking, but this is one of those dramas in which the emphasis is entirely on the characters. Instead of being pawns made and used to convey a tale or achieve a plot, the characters in this are the major players who propel the storyline forward. It's them, their will, their feelings, their behavior and their actions that gets everything going. That is something I particularly enjoy about this drama. You never really know what's going to happen next since these individuals change and develop throughout the show, just like people do in real life.

Highly recommend this to those that like friendship, bromance and action.

Do heed the rating, though, as this can get brutal at times.