oldpeople

Boring and superficial. Fast forwarded 75% of the time. Only the 2nd couple kept me watching to see what happened. Their closure was weak as well.

I heard people says it's a sad story. I think it's the opposite. I think this is as happy a real story as you can write.
Ae Sun lost her father but she has a loving mother, a loving grand mother, and a fairly kind (although useless) step father, and to top it all on the parental side an understanding step mother. Her childhood had challenges but she always has someone to fall back on.
She got a loving partner in life who puts her first at all times, who lives and thrives with her until old age.
She got children who she made mistakes with but it's also like any other parents, life moves on the kids turn out ok. However, they love her and their father with all their heart and put the parents first. They also married decent loving spouses and have beautiful children. What else can you ask for?
So, with all the ups and downs of life, this is still a wonderful and successful life. They lived happily and will pass on from this world happily.

I think The Light in Your Eyes is a masterpiece so I was expecting a lot from this. Maybe I shouldn't have. This is good show but it doesn't quite have the depth and impact that TLIYE had on me. Could it have been just the time in my life that I received TLIYE? Maybe. But here is what I like and things that I am ambivalent about Heavenly Ever After.

Don't care for:
1. The characters are just a little bit too cutesy for me. I can't explain it but it just seems the characters (even Hae Suk and Nak Jun) just don't feel real even though there are a lot of twists and turns in their back stories. In contrast, the characters in TLIYE seem has more depth and they were more believable.
2. The show started strong but certainly dipped into the cliche in the middle, came back up strong in ep. 11, then 12 was just ok. The conclusion was a bit forced imo. Did Hae Suk new family have any connection to her previous one? I couldn't tell since it's barely talked about. What about her new husband? Who was he? When Nak Jun cam to Hae Suk at the end, where is her husband? Maybe I have to watch that ep. again.
3. There are just too many characters that come and go so the central story felt diluted. I did not have enough to become invested into any of the side characters story (the pets, etc.).

Likes:
1. Naturally, the performances are all good. There is no actor/actress that I could say was not good.
2. The back story of Nak Jun, Hae Suk, and their son was so so sad. I was crying on my flight while watching this.
3. All the secondary characters tie back to the main story. The way the story of the dog that chased Eun Ho away from the church that led to the unfortunate developments was well written. No miraculous saving. Just real brutal life. That, I feel, is the signature of this writer.

Here is my delusional hope... that Hae Suk and Nak Jun would be Hae Ja and Jun Ha meeting in heaven. Their son who was harmed by the car accident would reunite. I think it could still be.

That's all for now.

If it wasn't for NJH, I would have dropped it too. However, if I did, I would have missed a wonderfully profound story and the best plot twist since Inception. Obviously, I am a fan now.

1. I enjoyed the fight scenes, the music, the acting a lot. I rewatch the show for those.

2. The story tries to be nuance and it is; but the story telling, I feel, misses the final oomph that would have realize the potential of the whole story. I don't usually like super heroes type of story (ironman, Captain America, etc. are not my type) so I actually appreciated the moral nuances this story has. Just wished it had reached the needed depth for the nuance to be recognized.
3. A lot of people questioned the main character's choices (like not wearing mask) but I think those are how he was in the comic book and the production tried to be faithful to the original material. That said, I wished that the show would have given us the reason. The reader of the comic might be able to deduce the reason for not wearing mask from the content but the audience of the show had to guessed at why. That I think is a somewhat clumsy execution on the producer/writer side.

So, I enjoyed the show a lot and I am always up for more NJH. Is it good? It depends on your expectation.

Just rewatched and realized that both Yi Jin and Hee Do are the type to keep their feelings to themselves. It's well documented the struggles that Yi Jin kept from Hee Do to not burden her. However, I don't think I have seen it said about Hee Do keeping her struggles before the Madrid game from Yi Jin as well. We never saw her sharing that with him. In fact, after the game as she and Yu Rim were hugging, she told Yu Rim that only the two of them knew the struggles they went through. It seemed that if the struggles were in fencing, she only shared that with Yu Rim. In that case, Yi Jin is the same. He kept all the struggles related to his work to himself and thus the experience in NYC were not shareable.

Conclusion, they both were strong professionals who were too used to struggle and overcome on their own. They couldn't share those. They could only share the mundane. So, when they grew up and work became a major part of their lives, they could not relate anymore.

I get the competitiveness. However, the kiddish behavior and the shouting/screeching, is that normal? I don't have that many Korean friends, but those I know don't do that. Just wondering if it's only in drama or actual people in Korea act a little kiddish and yell like in Kdrama, especially the women.

I like Jung Hae In but this is so so so boring. The beginning was promising but the story is a bunch of old recycled tropes. I probably fast forwarded most of the episodes. The relationships of the parents were actually more interesting.
And what with grown people acting as if they are still preteens? Is this really how Koreans in Korea act?

I just finished this series over the weekend and wanted to jot down a few thoughts:

I picked this up because of the hype. While I understand the reasons for the buzz, it didn’t live up to my expectations.
I get why So-ah had to work for Jang Ga, but her extreme loyalty doesn’t make sense. If someone destroyed your only family, you’d resent them, not become devoted to them at the expense of your last remaining family member. In the final episodes, Chairman Jang says he despises her for being so easily manipulated into loyalty despite everything, and I agree—she feels brainwashed. I wish she had gone to the ML and helped him instead.
YiSeo is problematic. Her obsession with the ML was excusable when she was younger and dealing with her first crush, but continuing to pursue her boss at work is a textbook example of workplace harassment. Refusing to take "no" for an answer and assuming you know how the other person feels isn’t strength, it’s the opposite. Society tends to glamorize aggressive behavior, but there’s a huge difference between being strong-willed and being obnoxious. YiSeo is mostly just obnoxious, though she does mellow out a bit.
There’s plenty of unrealistic elements in the show, but one that stood out is the ease with which they expand into a franchise. Building a franchise requires consistent, replicable results—not just in terms of decor or menu, but in the product itself. The show never delves into this, which makes it feel lazy. That said, I realize it’s fiction designed to make a point, so I can overlook the "magical" events leading to their success.
The show takes on heavy topics—like gender identity, Korean centrism, and belonging—which I think contributed to the hype. But these issues are treated more like boxes to check off rather than being explored with depth. If some of the time spent on the love triangle was used to dig into these themes, it would’ve made for a much stronger show.
Overall, I’m a bit disappointed. I hadn’t picked up a new series in a while and decided to give this one a shot, but it didn’t quite deliver.

I think this is a comic based series so a lot of things are exaggerated. In real life, there wouldn't be someone like Cho Heon. And if there was a real vigilante like the one here, he would not survive long.

I just rewatched and realized there is parallel thoughts between Yi Jin's broadcast about the burden of being told one can do it, and his inability to receive support when he was in NYC. When we are at the the bottom of the pit and we know it yet unable to get out, hearing encouraging words without a real actionable recommendation is very hard.
I am thinking about the scene where Yi Jin was on the bench outside in NYC and Heedo called. She said "It's growing pain" and he replied he did not want this kind of growth (or something like that). That's where her and his life experiences are breaking them apart. She could not understand his depth of despair, and he was unable to get out of that despair and basically lashed out at her, and ineffective assistance, instead.
I thought of what would have been the kind of support Yi Jin could use at that time. Would she just saying "I know you are in pain. I can't fix it but I am here to listen when you are ready. I have faith in you." be the right thing? I don't know and I have years on me.

You are not the only one.

Glad you brought this up. I am disturbed too. However, I have seen workplace abuse in almost all the shows I watched. In fact, the only one I don't any yet (still watching) is Reply 1988. I was just assuming that it's so normal in SK that no one bate an eye.
In Start up, I was disturb at the scene where Dalmi's dad was beaten up in E1 but I chalked it up to over dramatization. However, if you kept watching, you will see scenes where a non-villain character literally stripped naked one of his employees in the middle of a crowded hallway/public place just because the boss wanted the shirt. WTF is that? There are so many HR moments in the show and even the boss of the boss, who is portrayed as a capable, wise and kind character, did not bate an eye. How is that possible?
AND, the craziest thing is that the audience still love this abusive character. Why is that?

I think it depends on the definition of ML. This story is about weak, flaw people learning and growing. Both ML characters start at different point in their lives and learn to be the better version of themselves. HJP is the typical mean CEO who learned to be humane that KD usually have. NDS is a person who was weak and became strong. Which one is the FML or SML is dependent on the point the writer wants to make. In this case, the writer wants to promote the growth of a weak character to grow through love, conviction, and courage. Thus, NDS is the FML.

I have heard a lot about the lessons from this drama. I want to add one more. It's about conviction, a firmly held belief or opinion, and courage.
Nam Do San has conviction, his belief of what fairness is and his belief in his goal, whether it is to grow his business in the face of reality or to love a person. Nam Do San has courage, which is defined as the ability to still take action when you are afraid.
As a study in comparison, HJP doesn't have a conviction nor courage. He always plays defense. There is nothing wrong with being like him. However, the world changes due to the works of people like NDS, not HJP.
That's what I love about the story being told here.

I agree it seems almost superficial and lacking depth. My suspicion is that season 1 is the set up season for the whole show with multiple seasons. So, the depth of characters will be explored and stories that are not told in S1 will be in subsequent seasons.

The reason for this will be explained in subsequent episodes. I found it dumb at the beginning too but I was able to accept it in the end. Plus, I heard that the MC doesn't wear mask either in the webtoon and the show wants to stay true to the original content.

Your information is false and your comment is negative for no purpose. If you can't say something kind, don't say anything.

Just curious... why do you think so?

Yes it is. Very different than all other shows I have seen in term of execution. A lot less filter and so the camera works look a lot more like western shows. Is it perfect, I don't think so but I always find something I don't like. :)