lovecoutureflyy

This is the version with Johnny, but it doesn't have any subs and the quality isn't that great. Both versions are pretty similar though with the drama amplified in this one, and I preferred Joy's performance of Nang.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktYkqdecL-o&list=PLLIY4U4GA8XDpRXGO8t46ISmQvndAPtDz

Once again, another lakorn that is better than the remake. It amazes me how the writers end up taking away all the good from the original when they do a remake. I watched this without subs and even I could tell that this was ten times better than the one with Andrew and Matt.

First, I have to start with Willy who is not just a pretty face, and he is definitely pretty, but he can act. I don’t mean average acting, but strong acting with nuance and emotion. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Andrew is a bad actor. In his hay day, Andrew was great. But his portrayal in the 2017 version felt cartoonish at times. Chit (Willy) is different from Chat (Andrew), not only because of different performances but because the way they are written. Chit is angry, passionate, lonely, and strong, whereas Chat is quiet, somewhat passive, and lonely. Chat is supposed to be angry too, but Andrew does not channel anger in the way that Willy does. Also, I liked that in this version Chit is the one trying to kick out Yo and her mom, so we don’t have to deal with some annoying side plot of a tyrannical Grandmother and a greedy Aunt. Because of this, we get very intense scenes between Chit and the mom and Chit and Yo. None of this could happen in the 2017 version, because Chat has to play mediator between his grandmother and Yo. Actually, Yo and Chat fall for each other fairly easy. Yo doesn’t even dislike Chat in that version. Whereas, in this version, Yo hates Chit just as much as he hates her, and that passion between them leads them to falling for each other. Yo would yell to the top of her lungs saying she hated Chit, while Chit with tears in his eyes would tell her that he loved her.

By the way, their chemistry is on fire. Yo would hand back just as good as she was given from Chit. Whereas, in the 2017 version, Yo often coddle Chat than ever being angry with him. Also, Mam is better than Matt. Mam portrays Yo with sass, wit, and fight. Matt’s portrayal of her didn’t have the same fire, but unlike Andrew, I blame this on the writing. They really toned down Yo in the 2017 version. None of those witty conversations was there and none of the bickering. The only thing I wished was that Chit was less aggressive, but then again, it is a lakorn.

And overall what makes this a better version is it’s writing. The story and the characters were written better. Yo doesn’t get along with her mom in this version. She has her own problems to deal with and she has just as much depth as a character that Chit has. As I said no annoying outsiders, so this left the problems between the family with Chit, Yo, and their parents. The parents are actually given their own story too and this is what makes the conversations between Chit and Yo’s mom so interesting, and also why I understood why she did not want Chit to be with Yo. Chit was practically harassing Yo’s mom trying to do everything to get her to leave, so he told her that he would mess with her daughter in order to hurt her. So instead of the typical ‘we don’t want you to be together because your statues are different’ it was about the mom not believing Chit loved Yo, but that he only wanted to hurt her.

Hopefully, one day in the future this gets subbed. But I overall loved it. And this has proven to me that I’ve watched too many lakorns that I could pick up on dialogue the way I did without subs.

It’s getting to the point in the drama where conflict has arrived, and if we’re being quite honest most people don’t like conflict. It’s inevitable and honestly, this drama would be bad if it didn’t have it. Because why would we watch nine episodes or so of them hiding their relationship for them to realize that no one cared in the first place. But though we know it’s coming, we still don’t like the drama to go in that slump of characters seeming unreasonable.

I will say that this drama has placed itself in a trap of being so realistic that it’s not avoiding the common tropes of noona romances. If you’ve seen them before, you know that this always happen. One of the parents are against the relationship and so we have to bare through them being insufferable. But then again, the drama has always laid the bread crumbs for the mom to be like this, and it’s also being true to South Korea being a collectivist culture, which means family is a bigger priority over individual desires. So that’s why Jin Ah despite being 30 years old is still listening to her mom. It seems unreasonable and annoying that she can’t stick up for herself but in actuality it’s just a testament to the culture she has been raised in. So of course, she wouldn’t easily ignore her mom even if it’s annoying. And despite how annoying the mother is being, she truly believes she’s doing what’s in her daughter’s best interest.

Honestly, I wish they would have made the mother more nuanced so that would show more. And possibly the drama’s slow pacing which has worked really well in the beginning for most, is not working so well now that conflict has come because it feels like it’s dragging for some.

I'm definitely in the minority with you. I thought it was funny, especially in the beginning, but I do think it got very draggy in the middle and a few episodes could have been trimmed off. Especially with the relationships that felt like they were going nowhere. The humor is there, it just wasn't enough for me to ignore those many moments that felt boring.

I enjoyed this drama a lot. A few episodes could have been trimmed off though. Besides that, the relationship between Xiao Fei and Qing Hui is so sweet.

This lakorn is good, but it almost feels like it’s missing something that would have made it better, and I just can’t pinpoint what it is. The chemistry is there between New and Noon who I think both did a good job despite how nonsensical their characters could be. The pacing isn’t bad either. And the plot is just like any other slap and kiss lakorn, but this lakorn is still missing an ingredient that would have made it better.

Sa didn’t annoy me as much as I thought she would. It was nice to see a female lead who was poor and actually acted like it. Too often, you’ll have a character claim to be poor, but their pride will be as high as the richest person and that’s how they get the male lead to fall in love with them. I’m not saying poor people shouldn’t have pride, but that if you were dirt poor with a sick child to raise, you would be more worried about how to take care of them than your own pride. She would do everything for her son and I could respect that. I also loved when she started to accept the image Witt had been throwing on her and it pissed him off because he wanted her to feel shame. I loved when Lucy tried to make her feel poor and Sa kept the tip regardless pissing Witt off. I just wish there were more moments of her being strong like that.

I liked the development of the relationship between Witt and Sa throughout the story. Recently, I’ve seen way too many lakorns where the relationship between the leads doesn’t seem to progress at all and it only has the leads arguing back and forth. Don’t get me wrong, they are constantly arguing, and Witt’s jealousy, yelling, and suspicions can be very annoying at times, but at least Sa and Witt’s relationship is constantly changing. From him suspecting her as his ex-lover, to falling in love with her, to him finding out who she really was and pretending to not know, to falling in love with her all over again and hating her for that. That development isn’t that good towards the later half because of all the craziness with the secondary characters.

I thought the continuation of the mom villain plot in the last few episodes was stupid. They had hurdled over all of the big suft that got in the way of their relationship, and the mom just came off as this annoying ploy to have more episodes than necessary.

Also, I was so happy when the brother died at the end and did not shed one tear for him. He was a horrible person and I found it hard to believe that Lucy fell in love with him. What he put his sister and son through was ridiculous.

Overall, New and Noon have great chemistry together and it's the selling point of the lakorn. The execution of the story could have been better though. The characters are actually compelling with motivations and backstory but they just go the typical route.

This lakorn has way too many episodes. 17 episodes is just too much especially considering how long each episode is. Because of it, too much time is spent on nonsense like the adults acting like children, the grandmother being a hypocrite, and the leads' banter becoming annoying.

It’s like the writers didn’t know what to do with the leads so they would have them argue back and forth constantly. I liked their relationship in the beginning, but by the end I was getting sick of it. They fought over everything. Massaya would get angry at him and he’ll try to get back in her favor and then Lak would get angry with Massaya and she’ll get angry back. A rinse and repeat formula just about every episode. They do have chemistry, but it just gets tiring after a while.

I don’t think Mookda’s portrayal was bad, she did a good job, but I did prefer Bua’s portrayal. Bua felt more mischievous and different to the people in Rattanamahasarn, compared to Mookda’s portrayal that just felt like any other ‘I’m different because I’m a girl that can fight and I’m not timid’ She just felt extremely childish and like a brat, instead of a girl who was truly different like the previous version.

As for the adults and family, it’s just the same ole typical lakorn foolishness, so I shouldn’t have been that annoyed by it, but I was. In most lakorns with the exception of a few, forgiveness is given so easily. The grandmother was horrible and what made me laugh was that it was literally history repeating itself and she still had not learned her lesson. I genuinely wanted them to leave but every time something did not go the grandmother’s way she would pass out. It was nice to see Massaya’s grandfather let her have it though because someone needed to tell her she was wrong.

Overall, I don’t think it’s much better than the previous version because it lacks the good storytelling and character development. The only up this has over that version is that they actually give focus to the romance, but then again, it almost feels like a detriment because there is too much focus on romance.

Just re-watched this again and I must say that this just feels like a childish version of the original one. I see many people saying James wasn't good and I agree. To me, James is more of eye candy with charm and charisma and when put in the right role he can be great. But his acting skills are very average, and a role like this called for someone who could deliver emotion. He wasn't terrible, he was just bland in comparison to Ken. Then again, most of the new actors are not as good as Ken. Put Nadech or Mark in this role and they'll still feel bland compared to Ken. Lol

To be honest, Yaya wasn't that great either. I think Yaya is a good actress but her portrayal was lackluster and she made the character Poom feel like a brat in comparison to what Janie did with the character.

When watching this, it gets tiring because it feels like you're watching two people fight for no reason, whereas in the original despite their bickering, you wanted to see them best each other.

I actually love the music used in this drama because it creates this warm mood that fits what the story is telling. It gives off this feel of love, maturity, and happiness. I think the reason it’s baffling for some is because the use of English music, but I’m glad it’s not some pop ballad that was used. I think it would be over dramatic and cheesy and that’s why the Director chose something that fit more with the mature mood of this drama.

Boys Over Flowers is the reason I watch dramas now. It’s kind of funny to think about it now because after watching the other adaptations and reading the manga I realized just how bad the Korean version was. Yeah, it’s pretty and the guys look good, but it lacks the substance that the other two adaptations have.

Overall, I think the Japanese version hands down is the better of the three because of the chemistry and the cast.

I feel really bad for Meteor Garden though because I feel that it’s hard for people to watch it because it’s so dated. When you look at it now, everything looks so tacky and old and it’s hard to ignore especially if you’ve watched the Japanese and Korean versions first. But honestly, in my opinion, Meteor Garden has the best chemistry with the F4 and they were more fleshed out. It also has the best version of Makino (Shan Cai). Barbie does a great job. One of the things that annoyed me about Jan Di in BOF was that she was incredibly weak in comparison to the other girls. She was only strong with Joon Pyo and no one else.

I also think the Korean version highlighted the relationship between Jan Di and Ji Hoo too much. It had gotten to a point at the end of the drama that I was questioning whether she really liked Joon Pyo, whereas in the other versions it’s quite clear who she likes more. I think this is why Jan Di and Joon Pyo can never win in the chemistry department compared to the Japanese version.

It's always been hard for me to choose who plays the best version of Domyouji because I think all of the actors did a great job with that role.

The leads were great and had great chemistry together. The drama is also well written and directed. I think my only gripe would be that towards the end I felt it lost some of the spark it had in the beginning. I just can't put my finger on it, because I don't think it dragged as I had always thought the drama's slow pacing was a good thing, especially considering the subject matter. But by the time I got to the end, I was unable to give it a 10 like I previously thought I was going to do. Overall, excellent drama and I hope it's able to give people more insight on what grief is actually like.

I'm taking a philosophy course on death and dying and one of the things I learned about was grief. When people think about the five stages of grief sometimes they see it as a check-off list. But the problem is that it's not that easy. Making it to the last stage of grief which is acceptance is the hardest thing people can do after facing tragedy. As human beings, we are flawed and irrational, so this drama's portrayal of characters going through grief with characters like the mom and dad, Moon Soo, Kang Doo, and Joo Won was great. It's honestly one of the best things about the drama. It's realism, honesty, and depth given to all of the characters. All of them were extremely grey, no one was perfect and that made the drama even more realistic.

I think the interesting thing was watching this on Viki with timed comments. People were constantly criticizing the characters for not moving on from the incident. It just made me realize that people really don't understand how grief works period, and that they don't understand that some people die in grief never having made it to acceptance. Just like most of the characters blamed themselves for things out of their control. It's irrational. They know they shouldn't blame themselves but they can't help it. These are one of the various things that keep people in a constant state of grief.

I don't think you have watched many lakorns before. I would say they are an acquired taste. Lol! Seriously, most of them are bad in all departments; writing, directing, pacing, acting. So when watching a lakorn, you'll have to get used to the unnecessary staring and the repetitive moments. Many of their episodes have a run time close to two hours, and majority of the time it's not necessary.

They're a guilty pleasure for me, so I have mastered the art of skipping when watching these and enjoying them despite how ridiculous they can be. So I guess you can say, I judge lakorns by lakorn standards. I would recommend this lakorn in particular if you want to watch something that will make you laugh, and if you like the romantic push and pull type of relationship. Bella is a riot and I love her in these roles. Once Pope (male lead) gets away from being the angry type, he becomes much more relaxed in his role. And they have lots of chemistry together.

But if you're looking for something that it well written, and you can't ignore some of the common thai tropes (long periods of staring, repetitiveness, evil people, nonsensical actions) then you probably won't enjoy it.

I think it's always interesting to see who they gravitate towards first. It's like the last season where everyone liked Ji Hye. Maybe guys really like giggly girls. But now that all of their careers have come out, it has changed the playing field. For a long time Ji Hye had all the boys attention, but now it seems that Hyeon Joo has already lost it.

Right now, the pairing I like together the most is Hyun Woo and Da Eun, but I need to see more of an interaction with them together. I liked her with Jae Ho but he seems a little too mischievous.

I think they did that last season, but the new girl had come first before the new guy. But it wasn't as early as the second episode, I believe she came much later. I think there just causing a stir up for the guys to cause a little drama.

I agree that Mal Ran always showed signs that something was off with her. Especially with the weird way she would harm herself when something did not go as planned. And she had so many horrible secrets of death that she had to keep to herself, I think it was hard for her mind to accept that after everything she had done, she would end up with nothing. But it's what she deserved though a part of me wished I would have saw her with a prison jumpsuit, but there was something satisfying knowing Pil Joo had broken her to that point.

Omg! This so fucking long. Lol! As you can see I love to analyze the writing of dramas. So thanks for the fun discussion.

Sorry, this is going to be long.

There’s a point in the drama where Chairman Jang’s girlfriend said to him everything would be much easier if Pil Joo had been his grandson. Chairman Jang is someone who cares only about blood and despite the fact that Pil Joo is clearly light years ahead of his grandsons he completely disregards this idea. The reason Pil Joo interviewed for it was because you could tell he was actually good at it and liked it. Think about it. When he finally got the position as chairman he could have easily done nothing and let the whole place fall apart. The whole reason he wanted the position was to get revenge for his family, but as soon as he got the position he had already come up with a plan to keep the company going for years. So, I think it makes sense for him to want to interview for it because it was something he was good at and seemed to like. As for knowing his future and post revenge dreams, Pil Joo had none. This is not a mistake on the writer’s part but shows just how much Pil Joo was out for revenge. Honestly, it had never been in his plan to go to jail. It was because Mo Hyeon had the information that would put everyone in jail and she revealed it. His only plan was revenge or death and he knew how risky this game would be. He even gave up on the idea of love so would he really have dreams outside of his goal? Personally, I would have loved if the drama ended how it started with him in jail. But then again, I don’t think people would have been satisfied with that either. People like closure, but did we not get closure with Pil Joo completing his goal which is the whole plot itself?

Pil Joo’s original plan was to get revenge, take over the company, and then run it the right way, which is by not allowing blood to get in the way of the company’s future. Mo Hyeon ruined that plan when she had dirt that would ruin everyone including him.

I had a problem with Mo Hyeon’s character but it’s different from your problem. As I stated before, Mo Hyeon’s character is used as a tool literally and figuratively. This means that unlike other characters her motivations could never be quite clear because in the beginning she lacks a goal. It’s the goals of others that drives her character. By the end of it, when she found out who Pil Joo truly was, I felt that she had become a functionless character with repetitive lines. Every time she spoke to Pil Joo it was the same thing. “You know if I reveal this information, it will hurt you too.” I swear she said this so many times, it drove me insane. But that’s because her character is literally designed to give Pil Joo a dilemma which is why their romance was never a driving point for me.

You asked is she happy? We can tell from the emotions, or lack of, on Mo Hyeon’s face that this whole situation had broke her. She never ever smiled the way she did before in the beginning of the drama. She completely changed. And do we need to know if she can trust again? Does that drive the plot in anyway? Once again, this isn’t something you need to know to complete the plot but something you want to know.

As for Boo Cheon, we saw at the end that he is at the company when Pil Joo goes for the interview. This implied that he was interviewed as well with him no longer being able to use the Jang name, but at least he actually has a goal now on his own without it being because of Pil Joo and his mother. And as I said before, do we need to know what his relationship is with his son? Is that going to change the outcome of the ending? We see Boo Cheon’s character arc come to an end with his conversation with his mom and Pil Joo. That had always been his resolution because like Mo Hyeon he was a tool for them both. With his ending, we see that he is no longer a tool, or puppet in this case.

Mal Ran’s resolution is her being in that mental home. She had done all of these horrible things to win the company for Boo Cheon but in the end she lost everything. Now she is stuck in a loop of believing Pil Joo is still around when he is the reason she is in the mental home. And by what Boo Cheon said, it implied that once her mind is stable she will go to jail for all of her crimes. So pretty much her dreams and ambitions amounted to nothing.

I really don’t care if Chairman Jang is dead because he went to jail. He got what he deserved and from the beginning we knew the one thing he did not want is to be in a scandal or be in jail. He was going to allow his own son to go to jail for him. His whole family was ruined, and they pretty much lost their family position in the company.

I think a lot of the time people want to know what’s after but sometimes you really don’t need to know these things. You don’t need to know if Chairman Jang died in jail. It will make you satisfied but it neither furthers or changes the plot. You don’t need to know if Mo Hyeon’s happy, but you do know the events changed her life and shaped a different her. I can’t remember but I believe she wanted to be a teacher at first, something along those lines, but by the end she has found a different purpose. The moment Pil Joo’s revenge ended, the story did as well because Money Flower is his revenge story and the other characters are in his world.

I’m satisfied with the ending because the writer did complete their character arcs, but then again, everything is subjective nonetheless.

Well let me ask this question, how do you think it was supposed to end? Or what do you think would have made it better? I'm not surprised that the ending is divisive because that's what usually happens with open endings, or I guess in this case you can say not so clear endings.

I get why you feel that way, but I've always been someone who appreciates endings that are *good* instead of happy. What I mean by that is I don't need the main pairing to end up together if the story doesn't call for it at the end. Some of my favorite dramas have open endings because the story could not wrap up with the main pairing riding off into the sunset after everything they had been through. Pil Joo made his choice long ago that he would choose revenge over everything. Mo Hyeon wanted him to choose her but eventually she realized he wouldn't be able to do it.

Also, I think the romance was a secondary genre in here because the whole point of Mo Hyeon's character is to be there as a dilemma for Pil Joo. Do I use this girl who saved me from suicide as a pawn in my game, or do I choose to leave my revenge behind and be with her?

I felt the resolution was in Pil Joo accomplishing his goal, losing the girl he loved because of it, and paying the price for his actions. The other characters had to pay the price for their actions in different ways. So I wouldn't say there is absolutely no resolution, but I definitely can see why you didn't enjoy the ending and didn't find closure.