lilili

I'm tired of fan wars over Bright's acting so let's shoutout the women who are all killing it:

Tu is incredible. It's hard to believe it's her first role because she is absolutely nailing this character and is becoming my fave of all the adaptations. She can play it all: fear, doubt, introspection, anger, power, strength, love. Plus she's real world gorgeous. Doesn't look like a model but you can see why Thyme is smitten.

Cindy Bishop as Thyme's mother freezes the piss in you every time she shows up. She's ice cold and you can see why Thyme is scared of her and feels like he can never measure up to her expectations. The scene where she tells him if he can't rule the school he can't rule anything gave me chills.

Fah as Mira brings a depth to the character that's missing from other versions. She's not in the story for very long but she's done so well to make you understand why Gorya has a girl crush on her and Ren is helplessly in love with her.

Prim as Kaning has had a small role so far but her brief scene with Win/Kavin made me excited because even though she's tiny her strength comes through loud and clear. Looking forward to seeing their relationship develop.

June as Hana is fantastic. She's a subtle actress and you can see so many emotions play out in her face, especially now that she's resenting/envious of Gorya. Looking forward to her big moments later on.

Maria as Tia is so much better than I expected. She's beautiful of course but her scenes with Bright were emotionally resonant and the care and concern that Tia has for her brother comes through very clearly.

The bullying is so intense and well done that I'm still upset about it which is another reason the pacing is bothering me. The characters (and we) need more time to evolve past that.

Bright's strongest moments were in the second scene at the arena when he's reacting to Gorya putting the clippers near her head. I also like him with his mother and sister. He does have very expressive eyes and that works great for Thyme. But he needs to do better during the big emotional moments like the airport scene but even there I don't think it's terrible, just a bit overacted.

My favorite actor in the role is Jerry Yan in 2001 Meteor Garden because he brings out the character's vulnerability. But no one will watch that version because of the horrible production values. I can't even recommend it to anyone even though it's my favorite (tho F4T is a strong second so far).

I have problems with the pacing and I agree that the friendship with the F4 and the relationship with Thyme are too rushed but I disagree on the bullying not being evil enough (she was almost raped???) and on her not being strong enough. She kicked Thyme in ep 1, she ran back into the arena to defend Hana when she got the red card, she pushed back when Ren pushed her (and he's way bigger than her, they had to have the actress stand on a curb to get them both in the shot), she fought off Thyme on the bus. She may be the strongest version of the character.

Ah your breakdown is fantastic, love the analysis and insight into why it didn't quite work!

I hope they course correct because I was so hyped after the first two episodes but ep 3 was a bit of a letdown even though it had so much good stuff in it: the meta opening, the entire bus sequence starting with the comedy between Thyme and Gorya and then his sister showing up and them having a very serious conversation about the future. The way Ren continues to be very different from Rui/Lei/Ji Hoo (shoving Gorya wtf). The airport scene where Thyme isn't jealous of Ren but instead feels betrayed because his best friend thinks it's okay to leave with no notice. But the core relationship and Gorya's feelings for Thyme haven't been developed well enough.

Thank you! I was struggling with why it felt so rushed. It's disappointing because this version is so incredibly good in other ways but I am not convinced Gorya would bother showing up for the date even 3 hours late. It took away the impact of Thyme waiting in the rain which is a huge emotional moment in the other versions.

I know I'm out of step on this but I wasn't wowed by HYD 2005 or the actors except for Oguri Shun. And obviously the acting in the Korean version ranged from mediocre to straight up clownish and terrible.

You should watch up to the episode when they move in together (ep 10 I think?). There's still a lot of cute moments between them up to then. There's also a five episode mini sequel made to address the fan complaints and it's also very cute so maybe skip everything after ep 10 and then watch Still 2gether to finish up. They also made a movie but that's a bridge too far for me 😆

I thought Bright and Win were random English words until about six weeks ago but now that I've seen Bright in this and 2gether I think he's really well suited to be the lead in BoF and I don't get why people are hating on him so much. I think Dew is a much weaker link (not hating on Dew because he's a newbie actor and I think Ren is a genuinely challenging role).

It's not like Lee Min Ho set some unreachable standard for this part, you know?

I agree on Lee Min Ho. People are dragging Bright's performance and I'm like um have you seen what passed for acting in Korean BoF? And that's the most popular and influential version, lawd

I genuinely do think it's good and here's why. The tl;dr version is that F4T is extremely well written and smartly updated for the modern era, not fluffy like the Korean BoF (which I like) and Chinese MG (which I did not like). Here's the long version:

- I know a lot of people hate Bright's acting (I think he's doing fine) but you have to acknowledge how good Tu is as Gorya. Plus the character is better written than in other versions. She's complex and not super humanly strong all the time, she struggles but then does the right thing which is compelling.

- I love how they've integrated social media into the story. It feels very real and touches on a lot of different problems: The pressure to maintain a certain image, the fear that something you do will go viral for the wrong reasons, how social media is used for bullying.

- The F4 introduction isn't glamorous the way it is in the Korean and other versions. They are introduced at the stadium when someone is about to get beaten and it's scary. You are automatically thrust into a much darker world than other versions.

- The other students are more involved/invested in the bullying & are the ones instigating the worst abuse, e.g. trying to shave Hana's hair. It makes Thyme less toxic & someone who's also trapped by the system rather than someone who just runs the show.

- Gorya's family is genuinely loving and supportive and not simply using her to make the family rich. Giving the good shoes will take you good places speech to Gorya's father is brilliant because when Thyme cuts up her shoe & she wears it to kick him, it isn't simply that she's fighting back, it's that she's standing up for her family and her values.

- In this version Thyme's mother goads him into bullying the school & is the inspiration for the red cards. This is a lot more complex than the simple "I'm a bully because my mom was mean to me" in previous versions & it makes Thyme more sympathetic.

- In the kidnapping scene, instead of Thyme trying to get Gorya to be his girlfriend, he's trying to bribe her into recording an apology so he can rescind the red card without losing face. This is less creepy than previous versions and makes more sense. Also MJ and Kavin tell Thyme that kidnapping is illegal and goes too far, calling out something that's deeply problematic in other versions of the story.

- The meta bit at the start of ep. 3 was amazing.

The hair is clearly an homage to the previous adaptations because it's messy and frizzy but not so crazy that it takes you out of the story.

The way poor Bright gets dragged for his acting. I personally think he's doing fine but maybe I'm blinded by his looks 😆. Also, HYD/BoF has never been known as an acting showcase so 🤷‍♀️.

But Tu is fantastic. She's so impressive in every scene.

I hope she's still an antagonist but not a villain. If the F4 get to be treated sympathetically after they basically commit criminal assault, then she should get a more sympathetic treatment too.

I have a friend who also prefers the Korean version and loves Inheritors/Heirs. And I get it because the Korean version is a crack infused fever dream, it's camp on steroids, it's cotton candy laced with hallucinogens. What F4T is serving is wildly different even though it's basically the same plot (though Korean BoF strayed pretty far from the source material, especially with how it treated Ji Hoo).

Anyway, I don't think anyone should insult you for your preferences! I love the campiness of the Korean version but F4T is hitting me in the feels in an entirely different way.

I'm an exception here in that I didn't love the Japanese version aside from Makino who was kickass. So I know it's tracking very close to the 2005 Hanadan but I wish they'd let it breathe a little.

Excellent point about the episode not being as thrilling and why.

Random thoughts:

The meta bit at the beginning with her parents making fun of the accidental kiss trope killed me. I wish I could get a message directly to the writers to tell them how much I love what they're doing.

Unfortunately, even though I mostly love the writing, the pacing of the episode felt off. It feels like we skipped a step Gorya's evolution of the relationship with F4. Like her smiling at the airport when Ren and Thyme reconcile when Thyme is still her enemy and hello she almost shaved her head last episode. A longer transition would work better. I also felt like it weakened the moment of Thyme being in the rain which is huge in other versions. In this one it didn't have the same impact because things are moving so fast.

Having Ren shove Gorya freaked me out but it's good because it shows he really is part of F4 and can be dangerous too, also he's not the right person for Gorya if he can do that to her.

But I love Mira in this version, she's a kinder, more thoughtful character and I am going to miss her. Having her inspired by Gorya is great and I also liked how Gorya refused to capitalize on Mira leaving because it went against her conscience.

The sister is fantastic, full stop. And I really liked her conversation with Thyme, it was deeper than we've seen in previous versions. You can see the pressure on him to step up into a role he doesn't necessarily want.

I liked the tiny bit of the evil trio reacting to F4 befriending Gorya and I want to see more of that. Also Hana's resentment is showing which is good.

Anyway, this episode didn't thrill me as much as previous ones but I'd still say it's solidly good and I'm still excited by what the writers are doing.

I was so shocked by that and feeling like yo girl RED FLAG

I forgot that scene is coming! It will be very cool if she's able to be more athletic and involved in the competition instead of relying so much on Ren to save her.