Omg yes! I’m on episode 4 and I’m so mad at her mom. It’s so cruel what she’s doing (hiding the letters,…
I just finished the series, I noticed a certain irony to that. She positioned her actions as trying to prevent Yae from following in her footsteps, yet I intepreted her meddling as actually ensuring Yae did follow in her footsteps... parents can really make or break a childs life huh.
Series had really high potential, and despite the fact that I feel it did not reach its full potential, it was still really enjoyable as a whole. Few notes;
- This would have been perfect as 8 episodes, in many ways it was gearing up to finish on the 8th, but it seems the writer could not figure out how to do it, so they ended up extending the series by one episode with the highly contrived sudden change in direction with Namiki deciding to ditch both of the female love interests and go abroad. When this happened, it was an automatic loss in potential.
- In my view, to achieve 8 episodes, cutting the character of Otaro was necessary, I feel he featured too much without adding enough value which could have just been achieved through the main couples relationship.
- The other female love interest (Tsunemi) was completely wasted. My belief was that the only reason Otaro was in the plot, was to eventually pair him off with Tsunemi so that she does not have a disaster ending. It feels like the character of Otato, if he really is necessary to the story, did not serve as much purpose as could have done, and Tsunemi was given a terrible ending and then completely forgotten about. It's actually shocking how poorly Tsunemi was treated as a character. She did nothing wrong had a lot of redeeming features but was offered not even hint of redemption from the screenwriter. It's like they immediately forgot they existed the moment this relationship was over. This was disrespectful writing, it seems she was less human and served more as a writers 'obstable to the main couple'.
- The 'past scenes' were limitlessly charming and really fueled the nostalgic foundation of the series, I particularly thought the editing between the past and present was absolutely superb and genuinely rendered a really authentic world (especially incorporating real life events in the timeline of 21st century Japanese history such as the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami).
- The acting throughout the series was really impressive, especially young Namiki and adult Yae who both gave it their all. It is really easy to get invested in the series, because the main couples relationship is something you can root for with ease, because the on-screen chemistry is top notch. I like that, unlike many Korean romance dramas, there wasn't any 'evil exs' or people effectively trying to make the story as frustrating as possible to experience. Yae's mothers decision making although led to some frustration, felt authentic and not forced to me unlike many romance drama.
- Soundtrack was unusual (lots of English language songs), but it felt fitting.
Overall great, but with a few tweaks here and there to make it 8 episodes and it would have been a perfect 10.
she hasnt even acted yet and youre writing this essay lol stay mad
"They are too busy canceling and forcing all of their real actors to commit suicide, while replacing them with generic talent. "
Ironic that you're canceling this person before they've even debuted as an actor. I think it's time to look in the mirror and realise you are part of the problem.
Seven episodes in. Becoming harder and harder to watch. The main character (Ok Chanmi) is genuinely dumb as rocks. Almost every episode (sometimes multiple times) she’s duped into attending some phony meeting then completely outplayed by her adversaries and she NEVER LEARNS. She never has backup plans and despite stating clearly she ‘suspects everyone’ she never approaches anything with suspicion. She repeats the same mistakes over and over and is as interesting as a teaspoon.
All the characters (especially in the first four episodes) act weird, vague and often suspicious for NO REASON. There’s even a fisher price David Lynch amnesiac. This drama just sucks so far, even the acting is flat. The girl bully in their school is unimaginably cringe with some of the most embarrassing motivations for lashing out.
Bad guys = don't hesitate to kill all the good guys, brutally, and have no moral dilemmas to grasp. They are just comically evil.
Good guys = adamantly won't kill any major bad guy and spend half the drama in the most unserious manner whilst almost the entire good guy cast gets killed off. They take such moral high ground that they even call an ambulance for a bad guy that was involved with killing their friends. That said, what makes this all hard to stomach is that at the end of the day they are still working closely with a corrupt cop. The good guys just end up looking like naive morons in most episodes.
General comments = Even as the drama progresses towards the end there's an overwhelming feeling that the writers are doing everything possible to preserve the possibility of a season 2. Kim Sae Ron clearly edited out towards the end and replaced with another character. Usual tropes appear out of nowhere (white truck of doom) etc.
This drama was exceedingly average but is watchable because it has fun fight choreography pretty much every episode.
If you want to watch a drama where almost every single character is infuriating and has the most poor decision making imaginable.... this is the drama for you. The way these characters behaved at time made me question my sanity, seeing other users use words like... 'realistic' makes my jaw hit the floor. Am I living in some sort of alternate reality?
There is no doubt in my mind - this is the worst drama I've ever seen. So far.
The constant shift in tone that happens between scenes leaves you with whiplash, sometimes trying to juggle romance, comedy, and serious drama all at once. I feel like it failed on all fronts. Rarely can a drama manage all three successfully at the same time, and with near all of the characters in this story being cartoon characters, it was a dismal effort. Getting to the end of this was excruciating.
I'm pretty sure people just want to see the pretty faces of the ML/FL and turn their brains off to everything else.
This drama is absolutely ridiculous in many ways, but I found it entertaining. It is one of the most 'anime-like' dramas I've ever seen. I particularly liked that they did not try to redeem any of the bullies as the writers left them all in a state of ruin (especially Harin) by the end.
That said, this should be a once and done story. The very last scene comes out of NOWHERE to intentionally kick the door open for a potential season 2 whereby a second pyramid game will be driven by new villains. This left a bitter taste in my mouth. It is far beyond how much I am willing to suspend disbelief and it completely undermines any positive reflections you might take from this drama knowing the producers are primarily thinking about making money out of hardcore bullying.
Did the lead (Jian) drive anyone else insane? Her character in the first few episodes was interesting, and it felt like she would embark upon a compelling journey. However in the last three episodes her character genuinely become absolutely trash. Bad decision after bad decision and then that moment when she started running away (dashing past guns) whilst all her comrades (including the Gollum guy) were sacrificing themselves really as a viewer expected a comical suspension of disbelief as to why all these people are mindlessly ending their lives to keep this brat alive (or kill her). Honestly. Spending 8 episodes in the house with countless """"ex-military""" who acted like Elder Scrolls NPCs was exhausting.
The ending where the bloke turns up again after all that was just the cherry on the rotten cake.
The viewers deserved better. You have to drop acid to rate this show so highly.
You have to suspend untold levels of disbelief when it comes to Jin Mu/Fake Queen somehow retaining credibility throughout the series despite being comically evil and even towards the end publicly involved in a serious scandal (which is immediately forgotten about in the world - and Jin Mu somehow escapes anyway lmao). The character of the Crown Princes kinda falls apart in the final episode too. The series could have been much better with some minor changes to the writing.
Very difficult to take Seo Yul seriously as a character when he is largely not expressive throughout almost every scene he appears in, seemingly only in it to be a friendly prince-like guy with nothing else to offer.
Mu deok, Jang Uk and Maidservant Kim absolutely carried this drama so hard. When they were center to the scene the drama was really enjoyable. When they weren't present or sidelined, it was often exhausting. The production values were really high and I loved the costuming and choreography. However the soundtrack was totally forgettable and I can say the drama as a whole doesn't have much rewatch value.
Jang Gang being hinted at all drama long and then him stumbling around drunk for a few episodes only for him to finally make his grand appearence only to commit suicide felt like the point where the drama nosedived in quality.
The prospect of season 2 scares me. I hope they can get the ending right.
IMO it's a step down from season 1, but still really enjoyable because none of the characters are annoying and there's some fun/touching scenes. I did not feel that any of the main characters besides the Captain developed much in the second season. The Captain takes a more prominent role in season 2 if viewers already liked him. There is a General whose actor gives off dad energy which makes it hard to take him seriously as a villain.
The door is left open for a season 3, but I have concerns about what more the series has to say. Yeah the Korean military and mandatory service is broken, what more does the writer have to offer? Because I didn't see much more in season 2 based on what has already been said in season 1.
I'm not sure if my opinion is related to me watching this drama 4 years after it was aired but I have to disagree…
I'm almost half way through and the plot is made up practically every episode, there's no sense of anything being planned up to the end, it's like they've just winged it.
The schizophrenic tone of the drama coupled with the 80 minute episodes which feature at least 20 mins of close-up zooms and slow mos of the characters is killing me. How this is rated 8.9 is beyond me, people must simp for the cast...
Episode 3 Eun Soo: "Because I finally understand what you meant about unrequited love."
If next episode wasn't the final episode I would have canned this series right there and then. To drop this line after you've just spent the night on a date with another dude who confessed his feelings and you didn't reject them is abysmal writing. Especially since the guy you're saying you understand has been feeling this way for many years and has been utterly committed. I understand the limitations of the 4 episode structure but this was inexcusably jarring and made her character utter trash.
- This would have been perfect as 8 episodes, in many ways it was gearing up to finish on the 8th, but it seems the writer could not figure out how to do it, so they ended up extending the series by one episode with the highly contrived sudden change in direction with Namiki deciding to ditch both of the female love interests and go abroad. When this happened, it was an automatic loss in potential.
- In my view, to achieve 8 episodes, cutting the character of Otaro was necessary, I feel he featured too much without adding enough value which could have just been achieved through the main couples relationship.
- The other female love interest (Tsunemi) was completely wasted. My belief was that the only reason Otaro was in the plot, was to eventually pair him off with Tsunemi so that she does not have a disaster ending. It feels like the character of Otato, if he really is necessary to the story, did not serve as much purpose as could have done, and Tsunemi was given a terrible ending and then completely forgotten about. It's actually shocking how poorly Tsunemi was treated as a character. She did nothing wrong had a lot of redeeming features but was offered not even hint of redemption from the screenwriter. It's like they immediately forgot they existed the moment this relationship was over. This was disrespectful writing, it seems she was less human and served more as a writers 'obstable to the main couple'.
- The 'past scenes' were limitlessly charming and really fueled the nostalgic foundation of the series, I particularly thought the editing between the past and present was absolutely superb and genuinely rendered a really authentic world (especially incorporating real life events in the timeline of 21st century Japanese history such as the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami).
- The acting throughout the series was really impressive, especially young Namiki and adult Yae who both gave it their all. It is really easy to get invested in the series, because the main couples relationship is something you can root for with ease, because the on-screen chemistry is top notch. I like that, unlike many Korean romance dramas, there wasn't any 'evil exs' or people effectively trying to make the story as frustrating as possible to experience. Yae's mothers decision making although led to some frustration, felt authentic and not forced to me unlike many romance drama.
- Soundtrack was unusual (lots of English language songs), but it felt fitting.
Overall great, but with a few tweaks here and there to make it 8 episodes and it would have been a perfect 10.
Ironic that you're canceling this person before they've even debuted as an actor. I think it's time to look in the mirror and realise you are part of the problem.
All the characters (especially in the first four episodes) act weird, vague and often suspicious for NO REASON. There’s even a fisher price David Lynch amnesiac. This drama just sucks so far, even the acting is flat. The girl bully in their school is unimaginably cringe with some of the most embarrassing motivations for lashing out.
Good guys = adamantly won't kill any major bad guy and spend half the drama in the most unserious manner whilst almost the entire good guy cast gets killed off. They take such moral high ground that they even call an ambulance for a bad guy that was involved with killing their friends. That said, what makes this all hard to stomach is that at the end of the day they are still working closely with a corrupt cop. The good guys just end up looking like naive morons in most episodes.
General comments = Even as the drama progresses towards the end there's an overwhelming feeling that the writers are doing everything possible to preserve the possibility of a season 2. Kim Sae Ron clearly edited out towards the end and replaced with another character. Usual tropes appear out of nowhere (white truck of doom) etc.
This drama was exceedingly average but is watchable because it has fun fight choreography pretty much every episode.
The constant shift in tone that happens between scenes leaves you with whiplash, sometimes trying to juggle romance, comedy, and serious drama all at once. I feel like it failed on all fronts. Rarely can a drama manage all three successfully at the same time, and with near all of the characters in this story being cartoon characters, it was a dismal effort. Getting to the end of this was excruciating.
I'm pretty sure people just want to see the pretty faces of the ML/FL and turn their brains off to everything else.
That said, this should be a once and done story. The very last scene comes out of NOWHERE to intentionally kick the door open for a potential season 2 whereby a second pyramid game will be driven by new villains. This left a bitter taste in my mouth. It is far beyond how much I am willing to suspend disbelief and it completely undermines any positive reflections you might take from this drama knowing the producers are primarily thinking about making money out of hardcore bullying.
The ending where the bloke turns up again after all that was just the cherry on the rotten cake.
The viewers deserved better. You have to drop acid to rate this show so highly.
https://media1.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExZjczbHFoeHF0bzJ5eW1zYm1hdTNjMndnMmszYzI3aG1sdTRuMGZjeSZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/3oEjHCWdU7F4hkcudy/giphy.gif
Very difficult to take Seo Yul seriously as a character when he is largely not expressive throughout almost every scene he appears in, seemingly only in it to be a friendly prince-like guy with nothing else to offer.
Mu deok, Jang Uk and Maidservant Kim absolutely carried this drama so hard. When they were center to the scene the drama was really enjoyable. When they weren't present or sidelined, it was often exhausting. The production values were really high and I loved the costuming and choreography. However the soundtrack was totally forgettable and I can say the drama as a whole doesn't have much rewatch value.
Jang Gang being hinted at all drama long and then him stumbling around drunk for a few episodes only for him to finally make his grand appearence only to commit suicide felt like the point where the drama nosedived in quality.
The prospect of season 2 scares me. I hope they can get the ending right.
The door is left open for a season 3, but I have concerns about what more the series has to say. Yeah the Korean military and mandatory service is broken, what more does the writer have to offer? Because I didn't see much more in season 2 based on what has already been said in season 1.
The schizophrenic tone of the drama coupled with the 80 minute episodes which feature at least 20 mins of close-up zooms and slow mos of the characters is killing me. How this is rated 8.9 is beyond me, people must simp for the cast...
If next episode wasn't the final episode I would have canned this series right there and then. To drop this line after you've just spent the night on a date with another dude who confessed his feelings and you didn't reject them is abysmal writing. Especially since the guy you're saying you understand has been feeling this way for many years and has been utterly committed. I understand the limitations of the 4 episode structure but this was inexcusably jarring and made her character utter trash.