I totally get that this is a parody and meant to be somewhat absurd and exaggerated… but there are well done method of doing so and then this. Feels like they wanted “so terrible its hilarious” and landed up with “so terrible”. Which is such a pity because kimmon and copter can do so much better
started this show for ahn bo hyun but kept watching and finished it for Kim woo seok. I don't think I can get over how amazing he was in this show.
and the writers did the best job with his character too, in my opinion, and actually managed to write a believable and acceptable redemption arc for noh tae man. I appreciate how much they committed to fleshing out his character growth from all angles, with giving away bolt and company shares, working at a dog shelter, and also the letter for se na (and I especially like that we don't see her read it, or even receiving it).
not me just randomly re-watching all the History series and wondering why the one friend in MODC and CTY looked so familar only to realize Shi Cheng Hao plays Li Gong here lol. Cheers to him getting a main role! Been enjoying the show and his (and Max Lin’s) acting in it so far
the woman was his stepsister, there was a deleted scene where they addressed this, not sure why they cut it in…
kinda late to respond to this, but I believe it was left out because of audio issues while filming, probably something they didn’t realize till the post-production, so they coudn’t re-shoot the scene
Are TT and Second Chance BL's??? What show does TT stand for?
yep, TT is TharnType, where Tong play the male lead's older brother (fairly minor role), while in Second Chance, Tong is one of main characters. Both are BLs
Thank you for your comment!You are right, if we consider artistic liberty almost all the titles mentioned in the…
hmm I'd actually say it is quite logical. In English, if you just have a stand alone phrase with "'A' over 'B'", it implies the choosing of one over the other, and not a comparison ('A' is like/unlike 'B') per se.
One could easily say, "music over boys" or "football over girls" -- in both cases we're putting two unlike things (playing/listening to music or playing football over pursuing boys/girls), and the clarifying verbs ("playing" and "pursuing") are excluded, but we can contextualize the preceding verbs to understand that this person is saying they prioritize that activity/hobby/whatever over romance. To use your example from the piece, one could certainly say "mothers over boys" and it would be understood as " prioritize your relationship with your mother rather than with boys" or "love your mother more than you love that boy."
That all said, I agree that "meteor garden" is far prettier of a title, as well as that BOF loses out on the cultural significance/idiomatic expression of the original title. There are certainly better ways of conveying the actual idea, but it's still a logical title.
((thought this was a really great article though!))
Absolutely agree! Tong is a great actor and I'm obsessed whit his character in KP!!!
totally! I mostly don't like and avoid shows set in high school but I'm glad I decide to watch second chance anyway. It was sweet and Tong managed to pull off playing a young character really well, which I remember being surprised by at the time
so many great things so far, but I don't think any of it can surpass how fabulous of a job Tong has done with his character. The range of acting he's shown from just three roles (TT, Second Chance, and now this) is incredible!!
ok but like damn kim woo seok basically stole the show for me, I'm so impressed by his acting, particularly through ep 14, in the direct aftermath of what happened. also glad about noh tae nam's character trajectory, this is probably one of the most believable turn arounds of a character I've seen, eap considering he starts off so evil (though I don't think he's completely redeemed, if that kind of thing is even possible.)
on another note, there were some questionable scenes/plot lines in earlier episodes and overall I wasn't loving the writing, and TBH i mostly skip through scenes (except no tae nam’s) cause it pretty flat and predictable, but the writing/direction specifically in eps 13 &14 were really good. It sometimes feels like no tae nam’s story is the one they really wanted to tell but they cushioned with the more standard plot and characters
unsurprisingly, very high quality. such great cinematography and I was rather impressed by the acting (initially mixed feelings in the trailer but was totally wrong, they did a great job, and had great chemistry). highly reccommend, and it’s def worth just getting iQiyi. Despite limited budgets/being from smaller production companies that can’t put out their work on free networks, they’re making genuinely top tier work.
hmm, could be too optomistic, but so many crazy problematic story lines actually seem likes maybe they were going for a dark comedy / satire piece? Even the choice of Sammy and Yacht who have been on the periphery of countless BLs in comic roles as the “narrators” of this seems to fit that. i don’t expect anything decent from this, but am hopeful that it’s at least an intentional attempt at satire and funny self awareness as opposed to an intentional attempt at romanticizing toxic / criminal behaviour.
So based on what I’m reading, the original, longer script is really set in the whole 6 years later time frame,…
Also, writing aside, I liked the lighting, overall filming style, and thought the acting was good with a lot of potential! I really hope they can secure a budget for their full script
So based on what I’m reading, the original, longer script is really set in the whole 6 years later time frame, and they took a small section of that which would have been a flashback part or something into the past and used it as the script for the 4 eps, and then added a really short epilogue episode 5 set in the “present”. I did a rewatch with that in mind (frankly its so short that this was doable lol) and it did make it less confusing.
I think the issue was that they may have integrated flashback scenes in the original script, but instead of smoothly stitching then together and writing more content for this as a stand alone work, it feels like it was just cut and pasted from the longer script without realizing that its lacks cohesiveness and jumps too much. And yet…. I’d like to give it the benefit of the doubt and say it was intentional, and that they were perhaps actually going for the very arthouse feel, with disjointed flashback-esque jumps…? Not just lazy writing. Because I see the efforts put in it otherwise so it seems like a discrepancy for the writing to have simply been lazy…
Yeah the leg amputation was a bit over the top. No way he would have survived that without any IV, anesthesia,…
I think you need like 10-14 days post surgery before you can put on a prosthetic limb though, and it doesn't seem like two weeks went by? idk, if they really wanted to sell the amputation plot line, they should have worked it in better with a proper timeline, seemed more absurd rather than a plot twist.
Suddenly had a recommendation pop up forPuppy Honey 2 that has the scene with Sing hugging a sobbing Gun and I’m stunned at how well YT knows how much I’m enjoying they’re scenes together in Not Me lol.
But just on that, Black and Todd’s relationship is so fascinating, I mean we have a series full of really interesting and developed characters actually which is so rare but their relationship in particular intrigues me so much. I wonder it its something like the characters of Double Mint, if any of you all watched that? Like wayyyyy toned down, but I considered the two leads in that to have this odd necessarily toxic relationship? Like the only way the two could exist, could be whole, was to be to with each other, in rather destructive ways. Black and Todd give off a similar vibe, they can’t be together (friend/partner/whatever) but can’t be apart either (they keep going after the other, then giving in/up at the last moment).
I completely can't understand why the FL is freaking out that the CEO might possibly be interested in the SL and be gay? like I get it that those scenes are meant to be comedic (not unlike strong woman do bong soon, but it made sense there! she liked the SL and didn't want ML to take her man). On the other hand, this is low-key offensive at how against she is at the idea of this vague possibility of a love interest. I like this cast and their acting (both in general, and here), and these are tropes I usually can enjoy but the show writing is not good at all. I barely made it through the third episode before dropping, which is unfortunate. Would have liked to been able to stick around for these actors.
I don't think they want us to sympathise with him? Plenty of victims of abuse (if not most) don't turn into abusers…
like I said, I agree that I don’t think they’re trying to justify his actions, I’m just curious , and thinking very specifically on the filmaking/director standpoint, because there’s a very particularly sentimentality towards the way they show how he breaks down as his hair is getting cut, or how he hugs bolt as he’s about to go into the training camp…. even the preview hints that we’re going to be seeing a lot more of his struggles in the military, not just from the perspective of general public (ie., the pov of yes, he desevers to suffer), but also his own perspective, where it’s reflective of his trauma. all of these scenes could have been shown with different angles, music, etc. and would have changed how we feel about the character… they don’t want us to sympathize with him, but they want this feeling of conflict, is my bet?
(and like obviously from a storytelling/narrativ view they’re rounding out his character, telling the audience why he is the way is, etc., but the way it’s directed is intriguing, and not something that done too often in drama, in my opinion)
yeah im interested to see how it plays out because regardless he has done terrible things and i doubt he will…
agreed! and even if he does atone/regret it wouldn't redeem his character in anyway, I don't believe in redemption for the nature of the acts he's done. I'm just a little fascinated because I think normally, while I can almost always recognize the trauma that has made a villain (thinking broadly, in like a gazillion other shows), I'm rarely inclined to feel bad for them, but something about the drama's portrayal of NTM (or woo seok's portrayal of NTM) is doing that for me. I wonder if the writers are trying to hint at an ultimate reversal of character where he helps Do Bae Man et. al, but that's seems doubtful
and the writers did the best job with his character too, in my opinion, and actually managed to write a believable and acceptable redemption arc for noh tae man. I appreciate how much they committed to fleshing out his character growth from all angles, with giving away bolt and company shares, working at a dog shelter, and also the letter for se na (and I especially like that we don't see her read it, or even receiving it).
And in TharnType he plays Thorn (Tharn’s older brother), and in KinnPorsche he plays Tankul (Kinn’s brother, the crazy one that loves watching dramas)
One could easily say, "music over boys" or "football over girls" -- in both cases we're putting two unlike things (playing/listening to music or playing football over pursuing boys/girls), and the clarifying verbs ("playing" and "pursuing") are excluded, but we can contextualize the preceding verbs to understand that this person is saying they prioritize that activity/hobby/whatever over romance. To use your example from the piece, one could certainly say "mothers over boys" and it would be understood as " prioritize your relationship with your mother rather than with boys" or "love your mother more than you love that boy."
That all said, I agree that "meteor garden" is far prettier of a title, as well as that BOF loses out on the cultural significance/idiomatic expression of the original title. There are certainly better ways of conveying the actual idea, but it's still a logical title.
((thought this was a really great article though!))
on another note, there were some questionable scenes/plot lines in earlier episodes and overall I wasn't loving the writing, and TBH i mostly skip through scenes (except no tae nam’s) cause it pretty flat and predictable, but the writing/direction specifically in eps 13 &14 were really good. It sometimes feels like no tae nam’s story is the one they really wanted to tell but they cushioned with the more standard plot and characters
I think the issue was that they may have integrated flashback scenes in the original script, but instead of smoothly stitching then together and writing more content for this as a stand alone work, it feels like it was just cut and pasted from the longer script without realizing that its lacks cohesiveness and jumps too much. And yet…. I’d like to give it the benefit of the doubt and say it was intentional, and that they were perhaps actually going for the very arthouse feel, with disjointed flashback-esque jumps…? Not just lazy writing. Because I see the efforts put in it otherwise so it seems like a discrepancy for the writing to have simply been lazy…
But just on that, Black and Todd’s relationship is so fascinating, I mean we have a series full of really interesting and developed characters actually which is so rare but their relationship in particular intrigues me so much. I wonder it its something like the characters of Double Mint, if any of you all watched that? Like wayyyyy toned down, but I considered the two leads in that to have this odd necessarily toxic relationship? Like the only way the two could exist, could be whole, was to be to with each other, in rather destructive ways. Black and Todd give off a similar vibe, they can’t be together (friend/partner/whatever) but can’t be apart either (they keep going after the other, then giving in/up at the last moment).
(and like obviously from a storytelling/narrativ view they’re rounding out his character, telling the audience why he is the way is, etc., but the way it’s directed is intriguing, and not something that done too often in drama, in my opinion)