manicmuse

I'm definitely still watching.

It's shocking how boring this drama is. 2 actors I love... completely wasted. No wonder subs have been taking so long. I think not many people are willing to sit through this much less translate it.

I was willing to accept a lot of the ridiculousness in this drama until he left the kid in the rain. smdh.

Good to know, and I will definitely keep that in mind. It wouldn't be the first time I hated an actress in one show but loved them in another.

Ah ok. I haven't seen many jdramas, I mostly watch Japanese movies instead.

Yeah I agree, they are definitely totally different genres. That's what I find the most interesting. In a lot of ways it's still the same story because so much of the plot and scenes are the same but also it's so completely different that they almost seem totally unrelated. I think I like that better than having a remake just copy the same thing in a different language.

At first, I wasn't buying their chemistry at all but in episode 2 they got me. Maybe his dorky smile just grew on me. This seems like it will be better than I thought.

I had a long train ride so I decided to start watching this again and some things make so much more sense to me now. I like it even more, and it's already high on my favorites list.

Also, I couldn't get past all the women characters in the Japanese version being so silly, and ridiculous, and making no damn sense... especially the lead.

What I saw in the Japanese version were characters who were pretty surface. None of the shocking things made sense, so I didn't connect, and it seemed more extreme for the sake of being extreme instead of dark. I'm not easily shocked so I'd rather see a well thought out mystery than characters being suddenly violent out of nowhere. They are definitely different story telling styles, and maybe I would have liked the original a little more if I saw it first and a long time ago, but the Korean version definitely seemed like they took what was good and gave it an upgrade I can appreciate.

Even watching it again, after watching the Japanese version, I'm liking it probably more than I did the first time.

I don't think they made the story lighter. They just took out the shock value parts and made the story have much more depth. Many of the Japanese characters are pretty one dimensional compared to this version and it isn't nearly as suspenseful overall. I'm not saying that the main guy in the Japanese one is bad, but Seo in Guk is amazing in this role, and definitely far from pathetic.

I just watched the Japanese version and this is so much better I'm watching it again.

This show is kinda terrible, and I think I love it!

For. The . Win.

I can't believe they tried to justify all of those flashbacks when it's obvious they just need to fill in the time.

Yes, I think the point was to show him manipulating the situation with her in order to antagonize her ex, and call her bluff on how far she was willing to go with him. At that point, those 2 fools were both driving recklessly already, and Moo Young's thing is pushing people's boundaries, especially when he questions their morality and motivations. His character was always emotionally detached from people and indifferent to putting himself in danger, so it makes sense to me that he would have no regrets in that situation. The only person he cares for in the whole drama, and that makes him want to care and act outside of his normal character is Jin Kang. That's why when she calls him out for his lack of emotion over the accident he can't respond like he normally would. That's why the scene where he asks her to teach him to be different is so heartbreaking.

I think I assumed incest was the ending once I realized they were connected and because of the brother's reaction to them being together. I think that was done on purpose, as probably a nod to the original. I think it also adds to the heartbreak when it seems to be confirmed only to have it revealed as another manipulation. That's the kind of twisted plot twist I can get behind. I also agree that the incest thing can be over done and wouldn't have added much to the story (besides giving the brother a bit more motivation behind his actions). It's definitely a much stronger story without it compared to the original, which I just finished. I think the original executed the ending well but it lacked any emotional impact because it was so disconnected from any of the characters actions throughout the story.

So ironically I think the Korean version was more emotionally disturbing even without the shock value violence and incest.

I was torn by this too but I made peace with it because it became obvious early on that they had a connection and chemistry, and she was trying to pretend they didn't for her friend's sake but it was even obvious to Seung Ah.

As for the car scene, I think he was just curious to see how far he could make her take things. He didn't care about her, or himself, and I think he was encouraging her to kinda call her bluff and to get back at the Chaebol dude. Moo Young saw her as an annoyance and a burden and wanted to test her declaration that she would willingly lose everything and run away with him by saying "Don't get caught". He knew they were driving recklessly in the rain, and we assume he knew what the outcome could be, but it was them not him that caused the accident.

Technically Jin Kang wouldn't necessarily see him as being responsible for that crash either since he was in the accident too. She also doesn't know what he said to her in the car, so I think she just saw the whole accident as unfortunate, probably the Chaebol's fault, and she couldn't help but be worried about him being hurt or dead. Realizing that she can't stop being concerned about him made her eventually stop trying to resist him, and she chose to see the potential for a good guy in him. I think that's pretty realistic if you have ever liked someone you know damn well you have no business in the world liking.

I do think that if Seung Ah was alive she would never have considered being in a relationship with him. I also think a major part of Moo Young's character is his ability to get people to do things they wouldn't normally do by appealing to what he knows they really want.

Yesterday I kept listening to Star on repeat... sigh...

It's probably because I watched the Korean version first, but these Japanese characters seem super one dimensional, except for Ryo, and the plot seems more cheesy & campy than dark. The women characters are childish and very poorly written. The brother is pretty good, but he's also pretty smarmy, so I prefer the Kdrama brother, smiling to mask what's really dark about him, but I agree his actions would make more sense if they stuck to the sibling plot. I do think the relationships in the Korean version are much stronger, so they didn't need a sensationalized plot to get me hooked.

Maybe I'm speaking too soon, but because it's shorter I'm pretty close to the end already, and if I watched this version first I might have skipped the Korean version totally, so I'm glad I didn't.