Niki Chu

Thank you :) for me, a drama doesn’t have to be innovative from start to finish, but I also don’t want to watch every scene and be reminded of that exact scene in a different drama. But if there are a couple of twists changing things up a bit, I’ll give this another 2-3 episodes

Okay so I watched 2 episodes of this and although it’s entertaining enough, there hasn’t been anything that I haven’t seen somewhere before already. It reminds me of The Uncanny Counter, Bring it on Ghost, Strong Woman Do Bong Soon (in terms of the love triangle) and The Master’s Sun. There are also some tropes from police shows like corruption, mysterious death of a parent and a Justice seeking police officer who is always held back. The romance is also starting with that initial bickering and is seeming to advance due to jealousy and that was maybe new in the late 2000s and early 2010s, but come on, by now we’ve seen that so many times. To those who have watched this till the end: does it get better?

Yeah I don’t get it, this type of story really doesn’t need that many seasons. It even could have worked as a movie, if you ask me. It’s sad because this could have been such a great limited series, but now it doesn’t have a proper ending

I agree! Genera Choi Young was an iconic role :)

So glad that I’m not the only one feeling annoyed about the multiple-season plan. It could have been such a strong and impactful limited series, but the way they’re approaching it, people will lose interest. I hope they’ll decide to wrap it up with season 2.

I had the same problem watching the two timelines: they just didn’t fit together and there was no connection that for me personally justified the way the show is not told in chronological order, but switches between the past and the present. This kind of narration only makes sense if the scenes (past vs present) are juxtaposed as a cause-effect-chain. And yeah, I’m annoyed about the multiple-season plan. My curiosity won’t last that long, especially because I’ve read the book already and I think most people watching this have read it as well.

Am I the only one who is really sad about this being turned into a multiple season series? I was at episode 6 when I thought to myself: how are they going to wrap it all up in just two more episodes? And there it was, the showrunner’s statement that it will have multiple seasons because “there’s no way the story of a lifetime can be told in just a season” (something along those lines, not a direct quote). But hell yeah, it can! 8 hours are more than enough for a source material that literally took me just that long to read :(
They didn’t have to focus on that Hana character for a full episode, she was really insignificant in the book to begin with. There was no need to make an episode about Hansoo’s past when it wasn’t in the book. Don’t get me wrong, it’s interesting and all and I enjoyed the episodes that I watched, but as someone who’s read the book already, I think I will have forgotten about this by the time season 2 arrives. And who knows, maybe there will even be a third season or it will be cancelled midway. After all, the actors are pretty sought-after and have packed schedules.

What a ride it’s been in the comment section :D I didn’t mean do start such a big discussion. Of course Hollywood fits the global taste a lot more than Chinese productions do. But because this drama is Korean and people watching it are interested in Asian productions, I would guess that the comparisons would rather arise to Chinese historical fantasy than Hollywood. After all,the style, vibe and cultural references (swords, spirits, warriors etc.) is what China specializes at. That’s what I meant when stating that comparisons will come up because China is the role model for this kind of genre. As for the question Hollywood vs. China for historical fantasy in general, you and I live in European countries where it’s considered weird watching Asian shows at all and people’s taste is more in favor of Hollywood. But I’ve lived in an Asian country before and the preferences are mostly very different there. While you may appreciate a work that sparks your imagination, someone else might expect emotional engagement from a drama show and family/friendship/community oriented themes. So I think we should rather say that both Hollywood and China excel at this genre, but they execute it in very different ways and both have their own audiences :)

As for American shows, I feel that they on the other hand lack identity and direction. They always start out great and end up having no substance as the seasons go. Don’t get me wrong, they do a splendid job in every technical matter. But the scripts always end up disappointing me. Not that it never happens with Chinese historical dramas. But at least they end at some point and aren’t dragged on for multiple seasons without knowing where they’re headed. In the end, I guess it’s a matter of preference and what everyone enjoys most individually.

Regarding the costumes: I agree that they should be free doing it however they feel fits the vibe they want to go for. But unfortunately, as you also pointed out, people are angered easily, so production teams are somehow restricted.

I meant historical fantasy, not urban ;) I do think that no one does it like China. And I agree, nationalism is a huge topic in both Korea and China right now. Btw I’m aware this is supposed to be a fantasy realm and not Joseon, I was pointing at the costumes and which style they seem to have decided on :)

There’s not really a controversy yet, only people pointing out that the drama reminds of the chinese wuxia/xianxia genre and Koreans are very sensitive about their culture/media getting mixed up with China. Joseon Exorcist was cancelled due to historical distortion (Chinese artifacts on the set and negative portrayal of King Sejong). Lovers of the red sky had to be heavily rewritten and I think even re-filmed because of alleged “cultural plagiarism” aka “stealing concepts and costumes from other Chinese historical dramas”. But I don’t think it’ll be that serious in this case. You can tell they tried their best to find an entirely different look.

I’m really looking forward to this. But tbh, I knew people would have some issues with the costumes and hairstyles. It just seems too much like they were trying to avoid any comparison to Chinese culture and be cancelled over it. But comparisons will come up because 1. China has mastered the historical fantasy genre and 2. Korean clothing used to be highly influenced by Chinese fashion until the Joseon dynasty. Now, had they chosen the Joseon dynasty fashion, there would have been backlash due to historical distortion. And had they opted for a Goryeo/Silla dynasty look, people would again criticize it for looking too much like Wuxia/Xianxia. I think that’s why they decided to just make it look vaguely historical and yet modern enough to not stir any controversy. And I’m sad that they had to do this cause the outfit and hairstyle choices could have been so much better. I’ll definitely be watching, but I do hope the show will make up for that (at least initial) lack of visual appeal with other qualities.

omg I hope so! But we all know yg...

Exactly, it’s too unrealistic, even for fiction

Thyme himself said he fell for her when she kicked him and throughout the show, she went on beating him so many times. I know it was meant to be playful and funny and she didn’t really hurt him, but if you think about it, if the roles were reversed and it was Thyme beating Gorya all the time when he got angry, even if it was in a playful way, it wouldn’t have been funny at all. So I think it’s not okay to portray that as cute bickering. Physical abuse may seem like a strong word, but in a way, it’s precisely that. And Thyme, too, acts impulsively so many times. Just a few minutes before he regained his memories, he had grabbed her by the collar and pushed her away violently. The show justifies that by characterizing Thyme as an a**hole unless Gorya is around to tame him. That’s highly problematic, I think. And he’s obsessive until the end, so there’s a certain degree of emotional abuse in there too. He told his friends to pick her up from and to school so no other guy would talk to her. And the drama totally romanticizes all those things and by doing so, does everything exactly like all the other adaptations.

The average rating is way too high! This show didn’t make anything new or fun with the old cliches and only reproduced them. There were some funny scenes, but the thing as a whole was almost painful to watch, especially the last three episodes. I liked the cinematography, but in terms of script, acting, music, the chemistry between the leads and the sub-plots, this drama doesn’t have much to offer. It’s not even guilty pleasure anymore at this point cause there are too many cringey moments and unrealistic character portrayals. Sure, no one watches a show like this for its realism. But you still need to identity at least a tiny bit with the characters and the relationships depicted on screen. Based on this show, you fall in love with abusive people (Gorya/Thyme) and friendship is all about doing everything you can to ensure your friend gets the girl. The F4 squad seems to live for Thyme’s love life. Sorry for this angry rant, but I had to let it out somehow

Has anyone read the novel and could tell me in what ways it differs from the drama adaptation? I somehow feel that a couple of things were censored based on a few plot holes, but I can’t find anything about the novel…

Thank you so much ♥️ Then I’ll watch it!

I would like to watch this, but I've heard that the second season is not as good as the first. So I would like to know, can the first season stand on its own plot-wise? Or is there a cliffhanger making you have to watch the second season as well?

I rarely hate a drama. Hate is too much of a strong word for something that’s made for entertainment. Being indifferent / not liking sounds appropriate. Not in this case though. I’m back here after almost a year to declare: I hate this show :S I get that science is dangerous and humankind is greedy…but I’ve never seen that depicted in such a pessimistic and hopeless way. There’s absolutely no light at the end of the pitch dark tunnel that is this show. Okay, bye! I‘ll be back again in a year.