This review may contain spoilers
breaking news: woman teaches local man empathy
I started FNWTD knowing it was based on a visual novel. I had read a few chapters years prior when it was still being published but never ended up finishing it despite the interesting premise. So, when I heard about the (controversial?) adaptation i was intrigued - Hell, i would even say i was roped in after discovering it had all my favourite tropes.
Sageuk? Check. Person travelling into their favourite novel? Yuh-uh. Morally grey male lead who yearns and pines and loves only the female lead and hates everyone else? [through gritted teeth] so happy for her.
Alas, even with its abundance of sure fire tropes that should have made me froth at the mouth for the drama, it soared high with expectations and made a splat on the ground when it failed to deliver.
PREMISE:
Our female lead (whose real life name i completely forget because she doesn’t exist outside of providing the male lead a character arc) discovers her favourite webtoon is ending abruptly much to her dismay. As any rational fan would do, she writes a strongly worded scathing comment cursing out the author, who remarks that if she thinks she can do better then to have at it.
And at it she has.
She awakes into the body of Cha Seon-chaek, an unimportant background character in her favourite novel. But SC does not care that everything and everyone she knows is suddenly gone and she has stolen the life of a young lady - she plans to live life to the fullest and make the most of it. So, she grabs the popcorn and prepares to sit herself front and centre to see the epic love story of her two favourite characters play out in real time.
Unfortunately for her, it doesn’t seem like she can handle her alcohol well and even more misfortune befalls when - ruh roh - she gets too drunk and stumbles onto the first meeting scene of the two LIs in the story. But wait, where’s the FL? And why is Lee Beon there? And why is he looking at her with such soft eyes and, hold up, why can’t she remember anything from the night before and DID SHE JUST HAVE A ONE NIGHT STAND WITH THE ML?
Well, it couldn’t get any worse, right?
Spoken too soon, it seems LB cares about one thing and one thing only: her. And he isn’t letting her wriggle herself out of his grip too easily. After all, she has to be made responsible for taking his virginity.
Ah, all the makings of a perfect, goofy, shenanigans-filled rom-com.
Right?
WRONG.
The drama quickly loses its footing on already wobbly ground.
The biggest problem lies with the female lead in the fact she serves no greater purpose than as a tool for LB to grow and achieve a character arc. Throughout the story, SC does not grow nor evolve as a person; she might as well have been as nameless and unimportant as the original SC with how she exists merely to act as an influence on LB rather than achieving her own character growth and becoming a fully fleshed out character. Her entire world revolves around LB; any decision she makes is to further push LB’s own story and she is a constant damsel in distress whose misfortune, once again, works to aid LB becoming a more empathetic person.
From the moment they first kiss, it’s like SC has readily sealed herself into a fate inescapable: she must live purely for her LI and she dare not exist as an entity outside of him. Perhaps it might have been poetically tragic had the writers had an ounce of insight or introspection, but it comes off as they always intended: SC is not her own person and never has been and never will be. She will pour love onto the ML, give him the children he desires and then die as a dutiful wife all the while never taking fate into her own hands.
That isn’t to say there’s anything wrong with wanting love, per say. But from the glimpses (of which there are so few) of her previous life, our female lead suffered the dreaded gossip mill and was ostracised in her university social circle because it was believed she tried to steal another person’s boyfriend. She desires love, she craves being wanted and is terrified of rejection - but all these secret fears are handled so poorly because the show fails to delve further into the pool of it all beyond a dipped toe. Any decision SC makes is centred with her LI in mind. She has no autonomy, she has no effect on the world around her. But inaction is no greater than action, and so we are left with a female character who lacks any sort of power or control and must suffer so that her lover can grow as a person. And worse yet, SC is more than ready and willing to abandon any sense of being to fit into the role of LB’s wife and lover, because so long as she has love, she doesn’t need anything or anyone else.
It’s a shame, really. It’s hard to like a character when there’s nothing about them to sink your teeth into, especially considering she is the focal point of the show. SC can be boiled down into three traits alone and it does not wash down easily; she survives because she acts as a vessel for the love interest, she gains his affection because she was at the wrong place at the right time. She is easily replaceable because she is already the replacement for the original female lead.
And as for her boy toy, he does have more depth and is far more interesting to watch. He changes personalities quicker than one might change their bedsheets (which i hope is often for some). He is a spectre that haunts the streets, a warning for children from their parents not to act naughty, and he has never known kindness or affection save from his one and only bestie. He, like SC, wants to be loved - albeit at a level far more desperate than her. Which is why it is no surprise he decides he will dedicate his life and heart to the first woman who tells him she understands him and isn’t scurrying away at the mere sight of him. Lee Beom loves Seon-chaek because she loves him. There is no depth to be found here even if you bring a shovel to dig for it. Seon-chaek shows him the first scrap of decency any human has and, as a result, he makes the decision to dig his claws into her and will not let go even if it kills him, or her. And try she does to shake him off her, to no avail.
This show really is the poster child for “persistency is key and time wears down anyone”.
I have to say, the decision made to make Eun-ae a villain in her own story might have been interesting had it not been so poorly handled. So, what, she’s been evil all along but just never decided to act on it except for when her one and only friend unwittingly takes her place unbeknownst to her? She didn’t know Lee Beom, she had no love nor feelings for him, and yet because SC has received what was written to be hers, now she despises SC to the point of wanting to murder her and crashes out for no apparent logical reason? And what reasons there are, they’re flimsy things that break instantly when you try to get a closer look at them.
As for all the other characters, they served their purpose as being there to prop up our main leads but beyond that, they made no impressionable impact.
A lot of the story was shallow and, unfortunately, if you are looking for a show to really be sucked into, this is not for you. However, if you wish to pass away a few hours of your time and watch something easy and lighthearted, this is for you. It certainly isn’t the worst drama in the world, but just don’t expect to be completely blown out of the water with it.
Sageuk? Check. Person travelling into their favourite novel? Yuh-uh. Morally grey male lead who yearns and pines and loves only the female lead and hates everyone else? [through gritted teeth] so happy for her.
Alas, even with its abundance of sure fire tropes that should have made me froth at the mouth for the drama, it soared high with expectations and made a splat on the ground when it failed to deliver.
PREMISE:
Our female lead (whose real life name i completely forget because she doesn’t exist outside of providing the male lead a character arc) discovers her favourite webtoon is ending abruptly much to her dismay. As any rational fan would do, she writes a strongly worded scathing comment cursing out the author, who remarks that if she thinks she can do better then to have at it.
And at it she has.
She awakes into the body of Cha Seon-chaek, an unimportant background character in her favourite novel. But SC does not care that everything and everyone she knows is suddenly gone and she has stolen the life of a young lady - she plans to live life to the fullest and make the most of it. So, she grabs the popcorn and prepares to sit herself front and centre to see the epic love story of her two favourite characters play out in real time.
Unfortunately for her, it doesn’t seem like she can handle her alcohol well and even more misfortune befalls when - ruh roh - she gets too drunk and stumbles onto the first meeting scene of the two LIs in the story. But wait, where’s the FL? And why is Lee Beon there? And why is he looking at her with such soft eyes and, hold up, why can’t she remember anything from the night before and DID SHE JUST HAVE A ONE NIGHT STAND WITH THE ML?
Well, it couldn’t get any worse, right?
Spoken too soon, it seems LB cares about one thing and one thing only: her. And he isn’t letting her wriggle herself out of his grip too easily. After all, she has to be made responsible for taking his virginity.
Ah, all the makings of a perfect, goofy, shenanigans-filled rom-com.
Right?
WRONG.
The drama quickly loses its footing on already wobbly ground.
The biggest problem lies with the female lead in the fact she serves no greater purpose than as a tool for LB to grow and achieve a character arc. Throughout the story, SC does not grow nor evolve as a person; she might as well have been as nameless and unimportant as the original SC with how she exists merely to act as an influence on LB rather than achieving her own character growth and becoming a fully fleshed out character. Her entire world revolves around LB; any decision she makes is to further push LB’s own story and she is a constant damsel in distress whose misfortune, once again, works to aid LB becoming a more empathetic person.
From the moment they first kiss, it’s like SC has readily sealed herself into a fate inescapable: she must live purely for her LI and she dare not exist as an entity outside of him. Perhaps it might have been poetically tragic had the writers had an ounce of insight or introspection, but it comes off as they always intended: SC is not her own person and never has been and never will be. She will pour love onto the ML, give him the children he desires and then die as a dutiful wife all the while never taking fate into her own hands.
That isn’t to say there’s anything wrong with wanting love, per say. But from the glimpses (of which there are so few) of her previous life, our female lead suffered the dreaded gossip mill and was ostracised in her university social circle because it was believed she tried to steal another person’s boyfriend. She desires love, she craves being wanted and is terrified of rejection - but all these secret fears are handled so poorly because the show fails to delve further into the pool of it all beyond a dipped toe. Any decision SC makes is centred with her LI in mind. She has no autonomy, she has no effect on the world around her. But inaction is no greater than action, and so we are left with a female character who lacks any sort of power or control and must suffer so that her lover can grow as a person. And worse yet, SC is more than ready and willing to abandon any sense of being to fit into the role of LB’s wife and lover, because so long as she has love, she doesn’t need anything or anyone else.
It’s a shame, really. It’s hard to like a character when there’s nothing about them to sink your teeth into, especially considering she is the focal point of the show. SC can be boiled down into three traits alone and it does not wash down easily; she survives because she acts as a vessel for the love interest, she gains his affection because she was at the wrong place at the right time. She is easily replaceable because she is already the replacement for the original female lead.
And as for her boy toy, he does have more depth and is far more interesting to watch. He changes personalities quicker than one might change their bedsheets (which i hope is often for some). He is a spectre that haunts the streets, a warning for children from their parents not to act naughty, and he has never known kindness or affection save from his one and only bestie. He, like SC, wants to be loved - albeit at a level far more desperate than her. Which is why it is no surprise he decides he will dedicate his life and heart to the first woman who tells him she understands him and isn’t scurrying away at the mere sight of him. Lee Beom loves Seon-chaek because she loves him. There is no depth to be found here even if you bring a shovel to dig for it. Seon-chaek shows him the first scrap of decency any human has and, as a result, he makes the decision to dig his claws into her and will not let go even if it kills him, or her. And try she does to shake him off her, to no avail.
This show really is the poster child for “persistency is key and time wears down anyone”.
I have to say, the decision made to make Eun-ae a villain in her own story might have been interesting had it not been so poorly handled. So, what, she’s been evil all along but just never decided to act on it except for when her one and only friend unwittingly takes her place unbeknownst to her? She didn’t know Lee Beom, she had no love nor feelings for him, and yet because SC has received what was written to be hers, now she despises SC to the point of wanting to murder her and crashes out for no apparent logical reason? And what reasons there are, they’re flimsy things that break instantly when you try to get a closer look at them.
As for all the other characters, they served their purpose as being there to prop up our main leads but beyond that, they made no impressionable impact.
A lot of the story was shallow and, unfortunately, if you are looking for a show to really be sucked into, this is not for you. However, if you wish to pass away a few hours of your time and watch something easy and lighthearted, this is for you. It certainly isn’t the worst drama in the world, but just don’t expect to be completely blown out of the water with it.
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