namopanik

Initially, I've dropped it after 2 eps but recently picked it up out of boredom. It does gets better, especially when you considerably lower your expectations. Political parts are there to skip.
It also gets even more like boyband MV around ep 7-8, when Hwarangs get dance and sing assignment /idk, is is important enough to be considered a spoiler?/.

I guess it depends whether you look at ratings in an absolute way, from garbage to masterpiece, or in respective genres for every drama. I feel similar with Dream High - it's very good in its own genre, but somehow it seems inappropriate to me to rate it equally with some complex historical drama oozing with pathos and gravity in every scene.

so, when does she go wicked? I'm at ep 10 and nothing of interest happens.

He always had his moments, it took me a rewatch to even acknowledge he was a 2nd lead in School 2015. But that was something completely new. I want him a lead in something similar.

have you seen it? I'm wondering which version to choose.

I actually find it unintentionally hilarious how they aren't on the same page. Llike that scene in ep 6 when they were rescuing the hostage and he went full on into his delusional mode and she was just scheming.

Finally, some progress!

Same. That escalated pretty quickly for 62 episodes run. He goes straight to the point, doesn't he.

you mean the deadman at the end? Why would he behave like he met Eun Tak for the first time if he was Deok Hwa?

You may want to check out One More Happy Ending if you want multiple pairings. High Society also has a strong second couple, but I wish I had something better to recommend than that one.

I'll tell you why: lazy writting. Setting her as a highscholer makes her more vulnerable, officially she has to depend on her lousy relatives. Being a goblin's bride seemed like a legit career choice to her.

You're both probably right. It all evens out eventually.

OK. It looks decent enough, I'm waiting patiently for the subtitles. But guys, 9.5? Really? Chill out with those ratings unless you want a Princess Wei Young fiasco again. There's a lot episodes ahead to be very embarrassed for making unrealistic expectations.

Maybe there's the rub: they are trying to play with it, and not take the easy route with laying out all the past arc in a chronological order at the very beginning. It was effective for confusing people who reincarnated as who and it kinda reflects how the Reaper is gathering pieces and trying to make sense out of it.
Now that I think of it, nowadays even normal tvs have all those fancy functions with recording and pausing, so it's a high time to let overused flashbacks be a thing of the past. Or just go easy with it for starters. But I guess they're simply like it that way. (And I can't say I'm completely immune on this trick, especially in romcoms! I detest it, but it works. At least when flashbacks don't last 5 mins with a break for a sub).
/I was pleasantly surprised when they pulled an extra footage of KSH after all that repeating of the same scences. I hope there's more of where it came from.

I see you haven't seen Bridal Mask yet. It's thrilling for the first time and completely unwatchable for the second, because the ambiguity comes from the uncertainty who's who and once you know it, it spoils all the fun. Some shows (or books for that matter) are constructed so well that rewatching brings even more pleasure than the first encounter, because knowing full scheme, one can fully appreciate all the clever clues and misdirections. Sadly, Gaksital isn't one of these works. Just a tedious strain of getting caught and released, tortures and a love triangle angst that could have been a base for great dynamics and character development between 1st and 2nd lead, but eventually didn't deliver it.
Plus, it's has a very naive view on politics and history.
But hey, it also has Joo Won singing a silly song about being a womanizer-oppa while seductively embracing a standing mic and that bingo catchphrase that gets referenced every time he's mentioned, so it's still a treat.

maybe that's the lowest one starts as a prop lackey: a wig splitter, hair by hair so it wouldn't look fake. Next step - distressing clothes.

don't forget bird used as a device in an opening sequence. There has to be a bird.

Yeah. Constant recaps are borderline insulting. But I think we as an international drama watchers tend to forget that tv shows are still being made with, well, tv in mind /either this, or they think we're plain stupid/. As opposed to online-viewers who can replay a moment till the button on their keyboard fades or rewatch the episode as many times they want, discuss it and all. TV shows - some of them - are still being made for people who can just miss an episode or three, do their things during airtime, tune up late, whatever, but still want to grasp what it's about. It really shows up badly when bingewatching.
Plus, they probably wanted to squeeze every penny they pumped into historical scenes. But if I see that shot with the queen carring bowls one more time I'll scream.

At least if it had promoted pedophilia, with lousy chemistry it wouldn't be very effective, would it? Choose one, haters.

Silla is very much an actual period, you @mila make it sound like it was made up or something. It comes before the unification of the lands and Goryeo times (or Moon Lovers: Ryeo).
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/341971-a-rare-glimpse-into-ancient-koreas-silla-kingdom/ << according to this article, they imported Roman glass to Silla, but it was a luxury item. They also used glass beads for ornament. So it kinda fits into this image of a life of a young, beautiful and extremely well-off. The architecture of club, with this geometric, 3D facade seemed very modern tho.
I actually like how they're working with props here (and I speak as someone who dropped The Painter of the Wind because fabrics were too shiny and polyester-y...). The clothes of poors are convincibly rugged and of indescernible colour, and there's a visible gradation when you look amongst those rich and powerful.