One episode in and Junho's BFF drives me nuts already. I hope she learns some boundaries or they give her a backstory quick so I can at least get where she's coming from. On the other hand, I'm super intrigued by the rich ahjumma office assistant. What is her deal?
As expected, Junho and Yoo Jae Myung are both great. They each give off this air of grit, exhaustion, sadness and a little hopefulness all jumbled up together.
This drama gets me. Da Ni, Hae Rin, Yeong Ah, even Director Ko... I can relate to them all in different moments of my life. It perfectly captures that feeling of “okay, so I was in love for a long time and it didn’t work out. what the hell happens now?”
I knew Yoo Seung Ho was gonna be great but Kwak Dong Yeon was a revelation. The whole cast was really strong, actually. It was so refreshing to see Chun Ho Jin not playing a villain for once!
Such high rewatch value this one has. Second, third, fourth time around I'm still staying up til 4am for it, waving my arms in the air and yelling at my laptop screen.
So cute, so funny for the most part. Shame Gong Mi never got the kimchi slap she deserved, though. Also: who doesn't call or text the person they love for a WHOLE YEAR?? That's not Dan Tae's style, it's just lazy writing.
I still don't know exactly why but the failed boy group idol storyline just wrecked me. That last concert, how happy they were even though everything was ending and nobody cared. It's such a random thing to be devastated by but it cut me deep you guys.
Based on the comments I was expecting a real tire fire of an ending but it really wasn't so bad. It wasn't so much an 'open' ending because the writer makes it obvious what she wants you to believe. If anything, it seemed like a setup in the hope of a Season 2. I would've preferred that we got a satisfying emotional resolution, but it could have been way worse.
This drama has it all for me. Thrilling, twisty, well-written (minus a few niggles that didn't detract from my overall enjoyment). The best part is that it lands so well emotionally. I was a mess at the end! Choi Jin Hyuk has solid gold chemistry with all the actors around him and it's beautiful to watch.
This drama is so well-made that it absolutely deserves a 10/10, but it hurt my heart so much I’m knocking off half a point anyway. Why you make me cry so much, show??
I love how there's this depth to the game through Jin Woo and Hyun Seok's real life relationship. Even though Hyun Seok seems like just an emotionless avatar now, you still feel this intense angst in the game scenes because of their history. I wonder if a key to 'escaping' the game will be some kind of real-life emotional resolution?
Whatever the answer is, I'm ready to get some hope back in Jin Woo's life because seeing him trap himself in the shower like that just made me so, so sad for him.
This got the highest rating of any show I've dropped halfway - 7.5/10. It's not bad, the acting is decent. At times it's even brave (for a k-drama). But there's nothing all that exciting about it. I kept thinking I would go back to it but I kept getting distracted by other, more absorbing shows. Who has the time to stick with a drama that's just okay when there are so many others out there, waiting to be watched?
Random, but also: I love that Hyun Bin's fictional company is called J One... which happens to be the name of Ha Ji Won's real life company. Don't tell me that's not deliberate! #secretgardenfeels
So when se Joo disappeared on the train did he disappear INTO the game?
What I found really strange/interesting was how Jin Woo's foot injury seemed to disappear once the game started on the train (or whatever happens when the thunderclouds roll in). Can you get healed in the game now??
As expected, Junho and Yoo Jae Myung are both great. They each give off this air of grit, exhaustion, sadness and a little hopefulness all jumbled up together.
Whatever the answer is, I'm ready to get some hope back in Jin Woo's life because seeing him trap himself in the shower like that just made me so, so sad for him.