For the most I did enjoy this - great acting, especially by the 2 ML's But, this really should have been called - surviving horrible mothers. San Ha's mom being the worst of the three, but Dal's mom is right up there and I am not giving a pass to Hae Jun's mom just because they redeemed in her in the end - she still put her own feelings ahead of her son's, even after everyone told her he was suffering. They completely failed in respect to San Ha's mom and redeeming her at the end - I get she had her own trauma - but she literally tortured this poor boy for 20yrs and that is not forgivable. Where they failed even more was not addressing AT ALL that this woman clearly had some serious mental health issues and needed some serious mental health care, They completely lost me when they had San Ha kneeling and begging his mom at the end. She never once apologizes to him or makes any amends. Instead - she just goes off to England with the daughter and everything is fine now - NO, NO, NO! Nothing about this story arc was ok or handled properly. Quick romance at the end with Hae Jun's mom and Jeong Jae was just dumb and too rushed. I get why, but it was such an afterthought and just done poorly. They spent way too much time on high school years and not enough on the 10yrs apart, then rushed the romance at the end
This is one of the - its so bad, its fun to watch. Seriously bad script and direction. SOOOOO many post holes (which I expect from this shorts) - but this one was particularly bad. ALOT of bad acting or overacting - especially by FL and the main villain lady. It doesn't help that the FL is supposed tonethis amazing martial artists and she is pretty bad. And what is the deal with her HUGE sword - it was almost bigger than her - it was RIDICULOUS! You really are only watching this for Dai, his bare chest, a lot of sultry lounging about and a man who knows how to kiss - that really is about all this worth. Good thing it's quick and short - that way the headache from all the stupidity doesn't last long.
Started off good for me, got boring after ep 18 - sooo didnt care for much of the Youngzhou story arc - the vapid songstress ladies, starting her business, greedy businessmen - just blah for me - picked up again towards the end when they got back to the mystery of the pearl and smoking out the bad guys. I also just the investing so much time and energy into a story and the characters just to have them have bad endings - I feel cheated. But, hey, thats just me. I think I would have enjoyed this much more if they had stuck to the chase for the pearls and why everyone wanted them - which involves why the Yan's were killed and framed. I get it though - this was supposed to be about her journey from slave girl to prominent businesswoman - but it just felt like they spent 18 episodes all about the blood pearl and his family and then completely shifted gears after 18episodes. First half is kind of exciting, second half - not so much.
The title on this is very misleading (as with much of the promos for this show) - not much romance/Love - it comes most into play at the very end with the lesson about learning to love one's self, otherwise - not much romance to speak of. Gaming part really only comes into play at the beginning and then at the end. Rest of this is just plain old fantasy drama. The idea is interesting - although I never quite got how transmigrating into a book became a game - but, whatever. Gaming aspect was very fun at the beginning and then they just kind of let it go through most of the middle ( a few reminders sprinkled in here and there), then came back to it at the very end - so it was weird. Kinda felt like a great idea and they just didnt know how to sustain it through 32 episodes, so fell back to straight-up fantasy drama and then looped back at the end. And, within that fantasy drama - just a lot of overused tropes dressed up differently. Its worth a watch - but not a rewatch for me
I think what you meant in your last paragraph was it's so earnest. I also couldn't stop laughing at inappropriate…
I get why she is there from a mythological stand point - but as you even say - this character was not well written and there fore, comes across as just a plot device - for many reasons - whether she is or isn't from a mythological point of view - the writer/director made her feel like one - and that is all that really matters for this drama I am also not saying she is useless because she is just physically weak - its a weak character as a whole and if you had taken her out of many of the scenes - it wouldn't have changed it. Again - this is totally a writing/directing issue.
Just finished this and would say - it's definitely worth a watch - but not a rewatch for me. Filmed beautifully and all the actors were great - especially if you want to spend 34 episodes with some of the most sultry men in cdrama land. Cant say I enjoyed the fl character all that much - mostly because I didnt really see the point of her besides being a plot device to get past the censors with all the bromancing going on. Beyond that, she spent an inordinate amount of time crying and not being all that useful. They also did that horrible plot device thing with her where she had to be in the middle of everything - event though it often made no sense, she couldn't help with anything and it was clear that they just wanted her in the scene. I can also tell its not a well scripted character when it becomes clear that it would not have changed the story AT ALL if she wasn't there for a majority of it. On a side note - be prepared for lots of crying from pretty much everyone - but the two main female characters cried the most. Director was obviously going for the very angsty, very dramatic vibe and he did nail it - but it was a bit much at times. I even found myself giggling at things that I know were not meant to be funny - but they were just so over-the-top dramatic, it just made me laugh.
Meh - it was ok Another cdrama where writers and directors dont know how to write/direct a good female character. The actress did fine and played her role - the problem is the role. In the first half she is overbearing, doesn't listen well, has no sense of person space or boundaries and just keeps pushing in the name of 'helping' - then, once the whole thing with the brother starts, she turns into this wimpy girl who pulls the martyr card - this is just annoying, because up until this point she is overly straight-forward and now cant say a word. ML does fine - it's the typical male, tsundre CEO who has some childhood trauma that the FL will cure through 'love' - been there, done that a bazillion times. Romance part doesn't work so well - actress clearly needs toward on her kissing and how to be romantic (this could totally be a direction problem). It also felt very typical of cdramas that the FL is overly naive and immature - she felt like a middle-schooler having a crush than a full-grown adult in a relationship. The ridiculously, childish nightgowns didnt help. Also typically bad styling for the FL - the bad bangs and the tracksuits were just awful. She just never felt like a mature adult at any point in this drama.
Nothing to write home about - pretty lite fair, good filler Be prepared to be annoyed by pretty much ALL the female characters in this - cdrama writers REALLY, REALLY need to be better about writing female characters - cause they are really bad at Horrible - stalker-turned romantic trope for one couple (seriously cdrama land - you HAVE to stop this) - and there was nothing particularly cute about this girl (besides being tiny)- she was mad crazy and violent - there was nothing about her behavior that warranted rewarding her bad behavior The usual - people liking main leads who dont like them back - just an overdone trope - was pleased that when 2ML finally confesses, she says no - he doesn't go cray-cray
This is one of those dramas that had potential and then just failed in execution. Luckily its only 10 episodes and only worth the watch for Moon Sang Min and the brothers. Second couple is more interesting then the main couple Main couple just dont quite hit the mark - mostly because the FL character just feels so disconnected from the actual relationship. Partly due to her childhood trauma, partly because she is a workaholic - she kind of gets there in the end, but you have lost all interest in her by then. I mostly wanted this character to go get a good therapist - that was my overriding thought through most of it. She has some heavy, heavy emotional trauma she needed to deal with and to try and wrap it all up in nice bow at the end - that the love a good man saved her, just makes my eyes roll. Two of THE MOST annoying coworkers that they gave waaayyy too much screen time to
Why do we need to appreciate the willingness to discuss polyamorous relationships. Are they that important significant.…
I appreciate any drama that tries to take on looking at different types of relationships outside of the conservative viewpoint - and, yes, they are important and significant.
I dont think I FF'd though a drama so much as I did this one - that is how draggy it was. It is a 30 episode drama the they could have done in less than half of that. Waaaay too much time spent on them reminiscing about high school and the epilogues were completely pointless. I mean come on already, these are all 30yr old adults and they spent over half this drama talking about high school - move on already! HATED the best friend/business partner and wife - the annoying couple who have no filter and cant read a room to save their lives (especially the husband - he was the worst!) FL was the typical - super-conservative, kind of shy, nerdy, book-worm - albeit genius at work, but NO emotional intelligence and the emotional maturity of a teenager. You never quite get why she is hesitant and while they try to play it off as having to do with her first crush - turns out they didnt even really date and she is the one who walked away - she just let people think he ghosted her cause it was easier the way. So, it all just doesn't make sense beyond her own self-imposed angst. I mean, they worked, mostly, once we got there (far into the second half of the drama) - but by the time we did, I didnt much care anymore, cause they were kind of boring. They tried to make it up to us with pretty good kissing scenes - which were good, I always appreciate it when both participants can actually kiss - but it all comes so late in the game. I also did appreciate that they communicated well, no real love triangles and supportive parents. And the biggest miss of all was that they didnt give enough time to Cheng Hui and the actress story - this really was the most interesting of them all (which says volumes on how poorly the story is written when the best couple and characters are your third team and not the main couple). I hope we get to see Wu Jun Ting as a lead very soon - he was fantastic!
Just finished and not so bad quick binge given the short length of each episode. Clearly they were going for the film-noir vibe - but didnt quite pull it off. Not horrible, but not great either. Whoever did the sound affects on this - just stop - they were waaayyy too loud and someone was clearly obsessed with the sound of footsteps - it was a bit weird and overplayed. Best characters were the ML, the aunt and Mr. Thirteen - by far. FL was just ok - but mostly because they couldn't decide what they wanted to do with her. Starts of the tough-cookie, but then becomes the damsel in-distress, then back to smart tactician, then back crying all over the place. Then add on the horrible trope of constantly running into the middle of dangerous situations with NO ability to get herself out of it because she needs to know something or wants to help (while at the same time, not taking help from the ML who can actually help - oh no, has to solve it all on her own - ugh!!). I honestly had a hard time thought a lot of this understanding why the ML liked her besides that he wanted to 'save; her and she was cute.
I finished this - and it took a lot to do so. But, my foremost thought is that I didnt get the point of it. Most dramas/story are here to impart a moral to the story and this one left me wondering what that was. Everyone ends up either dead or sad, and you get very unsatisfactory endings for all the bad characters - so, what is the point! FL is left with the loss of her beloved ML dies without the real truth coming out and public thinking he is a bad guy SML ends up with position he wanted - but at the cost of losing everyone he loved The doctor and ms dong dont end up together King dies - but the truth of what he had done never goes public - she, he basically gets to die with dignity. Pe Yan's mom gets sent to a monastery to live out her days after causing numerous deaths and a wake of chaos Enjoyed the 2 main male leads - the moral ambiguity gave them great depth of character - they were both pretty bad and pretty good a the same time - showing the not everything is black and white. FL character was not my favorite - she was pretty one-note and you could have told the whole story without her. The first half she was the annoying teenager who thinks they are an adult, but they aren't. Second half she just spends whining about her shift/aunt. One o f the more annoyingly naive girls who takes FOREVER to figure out what is going and even then, most of the time doesn't get the bigger picture at play (she does kind of get there towards the end, but, by them, I just wanted her to go away). She does have a few times that she does make a good choice to go help the ML - but mostly she keeps making really bad choices along the way. It is filmed beautifully and if you enjoy super-angsty, tragic endings - you might enjoy this one.
this one was just ok for me - seen worse and seen a lot better. I wanted appreciate the willingness to take on issues like foster kids and polyamorous relationships - they just did it so poorly. All three of the sisters should have had some serious mental health counseling - which is all I could think about every time I saw them -especially Ja Yeon! Got so tired of FL's constant whining about her mom didn't pay enough attention to her - and while I get that as a kid, having all these foster kids in her house coming and going, was probably hard - but, come on! she is 33yrs old now - deal with it (hence the need for some mental health help) And, even then I could have gone with it until she makes the comment towards the end with Ja Yeon about how she kept her around because she say the pain - ummm, this is exactly your mom! the complete disconnect was annoying. In general, I just didn't find this character to be all the pleasant - maybe because I dont find being petty funny. This seems to be a theme with female characters in dramas that I dont like. I had a hard time feeling bad for her since her mom was taking in broken. battered and abandoned kids while she had a fully in-tact family and home. Then weirdly - this is the 'trauma' they wanted to focus on for her instead of the ACTUAL trauma which was that her dad got murdered - hello!! this is just skimmed over. Didnt quite understand the third sister in the polyamorous relationship as they don't give you much background on her besides that she was one the foster kids. Had no issue with her relationships as they were all consenting adults - but it's just this weird thing to throw in there, given everything else. Break up at end was just done poorly as well - I get her reasoning and she was right - he needed to go find himself - she just did it in a really awful way - because, once again, it was easiest for - not him. I mean seriously - at a funeral - come on! Annoyed that there we NO consequences for her ex - he cheated, took her work - not once, but twice - and he is just let off (actually rewarded really) No real resolution with Gyu Hyun's mom and all that happened (she basically tried to destroy a number of people's lives and pretty sure she was responsible for Ji Uk's mom leaving) - but, yeah, lets just not deal with that at all. So much stuff just thrown out there and then left hanging If you like Shin Min Ah - you may like this - this character is somewhere in between her Oh My Venus and Hometown Cha Cha Cha characters - I enjoyed her Oh My Venus, but HATED her character in HTCCC- which then makes sense that this was just ok for me.
Have a Google at south Korean politicians fighting in parliament.
I have seen it and just speaks to the violent culture that is SK - if it's ok to do this in parliament - must be ok to do everywhere. There are some serious anger management issues on going all over the place!
the exaggerated violence is an ongoing trope in the show so if it's bothering you this much you may not want to…
Its just the plain fact that being abusive, in any setting, is just not ok and certainly not funny - there is nothing 'playful' about the way she full-out choke-holds him to the point of him not being able to breath. it would be one thing if it was a light-hearted, grab around the neck and give him a noogie - but this was way beyond that. And I am finding it even more disturbing the number of people who are trying to make excuses for it
They are just playing that's how both of them behave when u continue watching u would see one ep where he does…
choke-holding is not playing and its not funny - dont care that they both do it - they are adults, not children. That choke-hold in ep 1 was no joke - she is cutting off his breathing, mom has to come in and stop her - there is nothing 'playful' about this. I am even more disturbed to think he would do this to a grown woman. And yes, mom is clearly not calm - but this is beyond just not being calm - she is violent and has serious, serious anger issues. You can be angry and not calm without resorting to this level of violence.
But, this really should have been called - surviving horrible mothers.
San Ha's mom being the worst of the three, but Dal's mom is right up there and I am not giving a pass to Hae Jun's mom just because they redeemed in her in the end - she still put her own feelings ahead of her son's, even after everyone told her he was suffering.
They completely failed in respect to San Ha's mom and redeeming her at the end - I get she had her own trauma - but she literally tortured this poor boy for 20yrs and that is not forgivable.
Where they failed even more was not addressing AT ALL that this woman clearly had some serious mental health issues and needed some serious mental health care, They completely lost me when they had San Ha kneeling and begging his mom at the end. She never once apologizes to him or makes any amends. Instead - she just goes off to England with the daughter and everything is fine now - NO, NO, NO! Nothing about this story arc was ok or handled properly.
Quick romance at the end with Hae Jun's mom and Jeong Jae was just dumb and too rushed. I get why, but it was such an afterthought and just done poorly.
They spent way too much time on high school years and not enough on the 10yrs apart, then rushed the romance at the end
ALOT of bad acting or overacting - especially by FL and the main villain lady.
It doesn't help that the FL is supposed tonethis amazing martial artists and she is pretty bad. And what is the deal with her HUGE sword - it was almost bigger than her - it was RIDICULOUS!
You really are only watching this for Dai, his bare chest, a lot of sultry lounging about and a man who knows how to kiss - that really is about all this worth. Good thing it's quick and short - that way the headache from all the stupidity doesn't last long.
I think I would have enjoyed this much more if they had stuck to the chase for the pearls and why everyone wanted them - which involves why the Yan's were killed and framed. I get it though - this was supposed to be about her journey from slave girl to prominent businesswoman - but it just felt like they spent 18 episodes all about the blood pearl and his family and then completely shifted gears after 18episodes. First half is kind of exciting, second half - not so much.
Gaming part really only comes into play at the beginning and then at the end. Rest of this is just plain old fantasy drama.
The idea is interesting - although I never quite got how transmigrating into a book became a game - but, whatever.
Gaming aspect was very fun at the beginning and then they just kind of let it go through most of the middle ( a few reminders sprinkled in here and there), then came back to it at the very end - so it was weird. Kinda felt like a great idea and they just didnt know how to sustain it through 32 episodes, so fell back to straight-up fantasy drama and then looped back at the end.
And, within that fantasy drama - just a lot of overused tropes dressed up differently.
Its worth a watch - but not a rewatch for me
I am also not saying she is useless because she is just physically weak - its a weak character as a whole and if you had taken her out of many of the scenes - it wouldn't have changed it. Again - this is totally a writing/directing issue.
Filmed beautifully and all the actors were great - especially if you want to spend 34 episodes with some of the most sultry men in cdrama land.
Cant say I enjoyed the fl character all that much - mostly because I didnt really see the point of her besides being a plot device to get past the censors with all the bromancing going on. Beyond that, she spent an inordinate amount of time crying and not being all that useful. They also did that horrible plot device thing with her where she had to be in the middle of everything - event though it often made no sense, she couldn't help with anything and it was clear that they just wanted her in the scene. I can also tell its not a well scripted character when it becomes clear that it would not have changed the story AT ALL if she wasn't there for a majority of it.
On a side note - be prepared for lots of crying from pretty much everyone - but the two main female characters cried the most.
Director was obviously going for the very angsty, very dramatic vibe and he did nail it - but it was a bit much at times. I even found myself giggling at things that I know were not meant to be funny - but they were just so over-the-top dramatic, it just made me laugh.
Another cdrama where writers and directors dont know how to write/direct a good female character. The actress did fine and played her role - the problem is the role.
In the first half she is overbearing, doesn't listen well, has no sense of person space or boundaries and just keeps pushing in the name of 'helping' - then, once the whole thing with the brother starts, she turns into this wimpy girl who pulls the martyr card - this is just annoying, because up until this point she is overly straight-forward and now cant say a word.
ML does fine - it's the typical male, tsundre CEO who has some childhood trauma that the FL will cure through 'love' - been there, done that a bazillion times.
Romance part doesn't work so well - actress clearly needs toward on her kissing and how to be romantic (this could totally be a direction problem). It also felt very typical of cdramas that the FL is overly naive and immature - she felt like a middle-schooler having a crush than a full-grown adult in a relationship. The ridiculously, childish nightgowns didnt help.
Also typically bad styling for the FL - the bad bangs and the tracksuits were just awful. She just never felt like a mature adult at any point in this drama.
Be prepared to be annoyed by pretty much ALL the female characters in this - cdrama writers REALLY, REALLY need to be better about writing female characters - cause they are really bad at
Horrible - stalker-turned romantic trope for one couple (seriously cdrama land - you HAVE to stop this) - and there was nothing particularly cute about this girl (besides being tiny)- she was mad crazy and violent - there was nothing about her behavior that warranted rewarding her bad behavior
The usual - people liking main leads who dont like them back - just an overdone trope - was pleased that when 2ML finally confesses, she says no - he doesn't go cray-cray
Luckily its only 10 episodes and only worth the watch for Moon Sang Min and the brothers.
Second couple is more interesting then the main couple
Main couple just dont quite hit the mark - mostly because the FL character just feels so disconnected from the actual relationship. Partly due to her childhood trauma, partly because she is a workaholic - she kind of gets there in the end, but you have lost all interest in her by then.
I mostly wanted this character to go get a good therapist - that was my overriding thought through most of it. She has some heavy, heavy emotional trauma she needed to deal with and to try and wrap it all up in nice bow at the end - that the love a good man saved her, just makes my eyes roll.
Two of THE MOST annoying coworkers that they gave waaayyy too much screen time to
Waaaay too much time spent on them reminiscing about high school and the epilogues were completely pointless. I mean come on already, these are all 30yr old adults and they spent over half this drama talking about high school - move on already!
HATED the best friend/business partner and wife - the annoying couple who have no filter and cant read a room to save their lives (especially the husband - he was the worst!)
FL was the typical - super-conservative, kind of shy, nerdy, book-worm - albeit genius at work, but NO emotional intelligence and the emotional maturity of a teenager. You never quite get why she is hesitant and while they try to play it off as having to do with her first crush - turns out they didnt even really date and she is the one who walked away - she just let people think he ghosted her cause it was easier the way. So, it all just doesn't make sense beyond her own self-imposed angst.
I mean, they worked, mostly, once we got there (far into the second half of the drama) - but by the time we did, I didnt much care anymore, cause they were kind of boring. They tried to make it up to us with pretty good kissing scenes - which were good, I always appreciate it when both participants can actually kiss - but it all comes so late in the game.
I also did appreciate that they communicated well, no real love triangles and supportive parents.
And the biggest miss of all was that they didnt give enough time to Cheng Hui and the actress story - this really was the most interesting of them all (which says volumes on how poorly the story is written when the best couple and characters are your third team and not the main couple). I hope we get to see Wu Jun Ting as a lead very soon - he was fantastic!
Clearly they were going for the film-noir vibe - but didnt quite pull it off. Not horrible, but not great either.
Whoever did the sound affects on this - just stop - they were waaayyy too loud and someone was clearly obsessed with the sound of footsteps - it was a bit weird and overplayed.
Best characters were the ML, the aunt and Mr. Thirteen - by far.
FL was just ok - but mostly because they couldn't decide what they wanted to do with her. Starts of the tough-cookie, but then becomes the damsel in-distress, then back to smart tactician, then back crying all over the place. Then add on the horrible trope of constantly running into the middle of dangerous situations with NO ability to get herself out of it because she needs to know something or wants to help (while at the same time, not taking help from the ML who can actually help - oh no, has to solve it all on her own - ugh!!).
I honestly had a hard time thought a lot of this understanding why the ML liked her besides that he wanted to 'save; her and she was cute.
Everyone ends up either dead or sad, and you get very unsatisfactory endings for all the bad characters - so, what is the point!
FL is left with the loss of her beloved
ML dies without the real truth coming out and public thinking he is a bad guy
SML ends up with position he wanted - but at the cost of losing everyone he loved
The doctor and ms dong dont end up together
King dies - but the truth of what he had done never goes public - she, he basically gets to die with dignity.
Pe Yan's mom gets sent to a monastery to live out her days after causing numerous deaths and a wake of chaos
Enjoyed the 2 main male leads - the moral ambiguity gave them great depth of character - they were both pretty bad and pretty good a the same time - showing the not everything is black and white.
FL character was not my favorite - she was pretty one-note and you could have told the whole story without her. The first half she was the annoying teenager who thinks they are an adult, but they aren't. Second half she just spends whining about her shift/aunt. One o f the more annoyingly naive girls who takes FOREVER to figure out what is going and even then, most of the time doesn't get the bigger picture at play (she does kind of get there towards the end, but, by them, I just wanted her to go away). She does have a few times that she does make a good choice to go help the ML - but mostly she keeps making really bad choices along the way.
It is filmed beautifully and if you enjoy super-angsty, tragic endings - you might enjoy this one.
I wanted appreciate the willingness to take on issues like foster kids and polyamorous relationships - they just did it so poorly.
All three of the sisters should have had some serious mental health counseling - which is all I could think about every time I saw them -especially Ja Yeon!
Got so tired of FL's constant whining about her mom didn't pay enough attention to her - and while I get that as a kid, having all these foster kids in her house coming and going, was probably hard - but, come on! she is 33yrs old now - deal with it (hence the need for some mental health help) And, even then I could have gone with it until she makes the comment towards the end with Ja Yeon about how she kept her around because she say the pain - ummm, this is exactly your mom! the complete disconnect was annoying.
In general, I just didn't find this character to be all the pleasant - maybe because I dont find being petty funny. This seems to be a theme with female characters in dramas that I dont like.
I had a hard time feeling bad for her since her mom was taking in broken. battered and abandoned kids while she had a fully in-tact family and home.
Then weirdly - this is the 'trauma' they wanted to focus on for her instead of the ACTUAL trauma which was that her dad got murdered - hello!! this is just skimmed over.
Didnt quite understand the third sister in the polyamorous relationship as they don't give you much background on her besides that she was one the foster kids. Had no issue with her relationships as they were all consenting adults - but it's just this weird thing to throw in there, given everything else.
Break up at end was just done poorly as well - I get her reasoning and she was right - he needed to go find himself - she just did it in a really awful way - because, once again, it was easiest for - not him. I mean seriously - at a funeral - come on!
Annoyed that there we NO consequences for her ex - he cheated, took her work - not once, but twice - and he is just let off (actually rewarded really)
No real resolution with Gyu Hyun's mom and all that happened (she basically tried to destroy a number of people's lives and pretty sure she was responsible for Ji Uk's mom leaving) - but, yeah, lets just not deal with that at all.
So much stuff just thrown out there and then left hanging
If you like Shin Min Ah - you may like this - this character is somewhere in between her Oh My Venus and Hometown Cha Cha Cha characters - I enjoyed her Oh My Venus, but HATED her character in HTCCC- which then makes sense that this was just ok for me.
And yes, mom is clearly not calm - but this is beyond just not being calm - she is violent and has serious, serious anger issues. You can be angry and not calm without resorting to this level of violence.