I couldn't disagree more with people saying that Lee Byung Hun was a miscast, and I don't believe the age gap (between actors or characters) made a significant dent at all on how poignant and heartbreaking of a love story theirs was; especially considering how well they tugged at the emotional heartstrings even with the strong lack of physical intimacy. Kim Tae-Ri was already made one of my favourite actresses from The Handmaiden, and nothing's changed since.
The way that they took the time for each other; learnt languages for each other, and said "See you." instead of "Goodbye."—the sacrifices they made for each other and the way their love visibly lit them up from the inside. It made me laugh a lot, but I sat there and bawled after I had finished, and several weeks in I'm still tearing up thinking about it.
I really loved how the foundation of their relationship was a respect, near reverence, and have found the interpretations of Ae-Shin symbolically representing the spirit of Korea interesting. I still have a lot to think about, and a lot more to learn about Korean (and more broadly, colonial) history, and though this may not be a nonfiction piece, the pain in that history is still very much real. Stories like this make me start thinking about how to keep the flame alive.
I finished watching this on New Year's Day, and it felt like the perfect way to close off on 2022. A lot of my favorite dramas are the more melancholic slowburn slices of life with thriller subplots (for example; My Mister, or One Spring Night, which both had significant stalking and abuse subplots in them, while still being healing and at a slower pace), and in general the merging and fluidity of genre is something that really draws me in about Kdramas.
I really, really loved the feeling this drama created in me—and I loved the ending so much. I really grew to love the characters (especially the two leading characters), and the setting beside the sea. It left me feeling very satisfied, and at peace with the world, and myself.♡
I followed on from Alchemy Of Souls and My Liberation Notes (both of which I have loved), and at the bequest/recommendation of somebody I know to watch this, and for the most part—I was impressed.
I think one of the largest strengths of this drama to me is how genuinely poetic it was; it had a lot of good and meaningful line-by-line writing, metaphors, subtext, and references to outside poetry. Another big strength was theme; within the scope of a fake marriage trope,
Expanding more on that—I found this drama had an interesting and refreshing take on the institution of marriage, unconventionality and compatibility. I was impressed by the way it had an exploration of feminism, patriarchy and women's issues as they exist in modern society and going back some generations, in workplace harassment, in following your heart's desires as a woman (as far as dreams, ambitions and love go), and a woman's role in marriage and in society as a married or unmarried woman.
I found the characters and, especially the friendships, very interesting—and I found myself caring about those a lot, and there was a secondary couple I loved (bra couple). Unfortunately, especially towards the end, I found myself not really caring about much of the other romance plots—and I think it's because I found a lack of compelling chemistry between them (especially between the main couple). Even if I liked elements of each character in theory, as a romance—I feel like it's a genre where (especially when the third act breakup/separation hits) I NEED to ultimately care about whether most of the couples ends up together or not by the end... and in this respect, I felt like this drama let me down.
Otherwise, I liked the more mellow element of it—and I like how it kept that feeling throughout, while never feeling too slow-paced to me. There were some scenes that were so well acted and well written, I felt winded. It was a good drama for me—it just fell short to me of being great, or exceptionally memorable.
when it come to portraying the autism spectrum, it's very important for me that it's done right. i don't want…
I'm autistic, and I was hesitant getting into this drama for the a similar reason, but (though I don't speak for every autistic person), I'm really really loving it.
Though it's maybe not a "perfect" representation for me and my own experiences (I've never found one), and it took me an episode or two to get into, I feel like it's a very sensitive, compassionate depiction so far—and without going into details, I think the FL is a very well-rounded character.
I really really love this drama. Even if the characters don't make a lot of sense or start off as unlikable, they unfold in ways that are really beautiful. I was practically screaming at the television for the FL to get a grip, and come to her senses and realise her situation – but as it went on, it became clearer and clearer to me how suffocated and exhausted she was, long before the story even began. It takes time to get yourself out of that kind of situation – and we got to see her process of waking up.
There are several strong themes at play in the core of this – that in a world where women's wants, needs and boundaries are disrespected because of what they can be perceived to give and sacrifice to men; that they can live for themselves, and can begin again – can find healthier lives and build better relationships for themselves. It's not just a drama for women, but for men too – in a society where the ML is constantly looked down upon for his life circumstances, he finds strength, empowerment and fulfilment in his new relationship as much as she does.
I think this has easily snuck it's way into being one of my favourites. In my opinion, it's a masterpiece of writing, direction and acting. It spoke a lot to me, and is definitely a story that will live with me for a long time.
I really think this was a modern masterpiece... Park Hae-Young strikes again with the heartfelt, sombre and healing slice-of-life dramas of characters making better lives for themselves—but it wasn't just her; the direction, the acting, the lighting, the set design—everything added so perfectly to make something that meant so much to me. A big thank you to everybody who was a part of this.♡
I'm very much the type of watcher who appreciates what something can give me in terms of revelation, or perspective. Everybody thinks differently, and it's always interesting to me to watch a story and new sets of ideas and ways of living unfold in me. Stories sit with me for a long time, and as that kind of watcher, I thought this was a really, really beautiful drama that spoke a lot to me.
I found the way that the characters progressed in many ways, and were finding new areas they needed to liberate themselves very true to life. You can really imagine a life beyond the screen for them; seeing life less in the preliminary lifestyle of "I will be happy when I get to this destination", or "I will be happy when I move out of this place", and instead building a life that makes way for happiness, and finding ways to take it in as you're living in it.
I think the ending was more symbolic than open—it referred to previous conversations, and states in the characters and previous visual or spoken metaphors (birds, coins, homelessness, liberation, Christianity, determination); I think the more I've sat with it, the more it's come to me.
There are a lot of very interesting people who have engaged and grappled with this drama in many places, and I think those who resonated a lot with it would benefit from trying to find them where they can.
This director's really talented! My Mister was a masterpiece, and the direction captured the "beauty and healing in the mundane/slowburn" and "realistic, gritty everyday life" dichotomy so perfectly. It was wonderfully atmospheric, and a really very transformative work of art.
There was a lot of discussion at the time about that being a translation issue. Not sure what subs you were watching…
I'm autistic too & the words they used, like "cures" and "treatments" bothered me too, as somebody who would be horrified at the thought of either—but the show grew on me as it went (and it spoke to a lot of my experiences, as somebody who adapted more and more as I grew older).
It's been a couple months and might not be relevant—you might've seen it, and you might not agree with me, but I think they did a good job of showing how learning to live as an autistic person ("functionality", it's often called) is something he had to learn, is not linear, and when he struggles, is generally more of a response to stress, or a lack of control in the external world. It's not something I've seen explored a lot outside of this, and I related to a lot of the ways he thought about the world as the show went on. I never expected to find the depiction as nuanced as I did.
TLDR; if you (or somebody else checking the comments) looking for an entirely perfect and flawless representation; it's probably not. The way that the language was used and/or translated made me uncomfortable sometimes.
However if you want something where an autistic person grows (doesn't "overcome" or "outgrow" his traits), but is still seen as valuable both for his work ethic and caring, thoughtful "outside of the box" personality, and where pretty much everybody has a progressive arc—it's pretty good on that front, and I liked it a surprising amount.
The way that they took the time for each other; learnt languages for each other, and said "See you." instead of "Goodbye."—the sacrifices they made for each other and the way their love visibly lit them up from the inside. It made me laugh a lot, but I sat there and bawled after I had finished, and several weeks in I'm still tearing up thinking about it.
I really loved how the foundation of their relationship was a respect, near reverence, and have found the interpretations of Ae-Shin symbolically representing the spirit of Korea interesting. I still have a lot to think about, and a lot more to learn about Korean (and more broadly, colonial) history, and though this may not be a nonfiction piece, the pain in that history is still very much real. Stories like this make me start thinking about how to keep the flame alive.
A lot of my favorite dramas are the more melancholic slowburn slices of life with thriller subplots (for example; My Mister, or One Spring Night, which both had significant stalking and abuse subplots in them, while still being healing and at a slower pace), and in general the merging and fluidity of genre is something that really draws me in about Kdramas.
I really, really loved the feeling this drama created in me—and I loved the ending so much. I really grew to love the characters (especially the two leading characters), and the setting beside the sea. It left me feeling very satisfied, and at peace with the world, and myself.♡
I think one of the largest strengths of this drama to me is how genuinely poetic it was; it had a lot of good and meaningful line-by-line writing, metaphors, subtext, and references to outside poetry. Another big strength was theme; within the scope of a fake marriage trope,
Expanding more on that—I found this drama had an interesting and refreshing take on the institution of marriage, unconventionality and compatibility. I was impressed by the way it had an exploration of feminism, patriarchy and women's issues as they exist in modern society and going back some generations, in workplace harassment, in following your heart's desires as a woman (as far as dreams, ambitions and love go), and a woman's role in marriage and in society as a married or unmarried woman.
I found the characters and, especially the friendships, very interesting—and I found myself caring about those a lot, and there was a secondary couple I loved (bra couple). Unfortunately, especially towards the end, I found myself not really caring about much of the other romance plots—and I think it's because I found a lack of compelling chemistry between them (especially between the main couple). Even if I liked elements of each character in theory, as a romance—I feel like it's a genre where (especially when the third act breakup/separation hits) I NEED to ultimately care about whether most of the couples ends up together or not by the end... and in this respect, I felt like this drama let me down.
Otherwise, I liked the more mellow element of it—and I like how it kept that feeling throughout, while never feeling too slow-paced to me. There were some scenes that were so well acted and well written, I felt winded. It was a good drama for me—it just fell short to me of being great, or exceptionally memorable.
Though it's maybe not a "perfect" representation for me and my own experiences (I've never found one), and it took me an episode or two to get into, I feel like it's a very sensitive, compassionate depiction so far—and without going into details, I think the FL is a very well-rounded character.
There are several strong themes at play in the core of this – that in a world where women's wants, needs and boundaries are disrespected because of what they can be perceived to give and sacrifice to men; that they can live for themselves, and can begin again – can find healthier lives and build better relationships for themselves. It's not just a drama for women, but for men too – in a society where the ML is constantly looked down upon for his life circumstances, he finds strength, empowerment and fulfilment in his new relationship as much as she does.
I think this has easily snuck it's way into being one of my favourites. In my opinion, it's a masterpiece of writing, direction and acting. It spoke a lot to me, and is definitely a story that will live with me for a long time.
I found the way that the characters progressed in many ways, and were finding new areas they needed to liberate themselves very true to life. You can really imagine a life beyond the screen for them; seeing life less in the preliminary lifestyle of "I will be happy when I get to this destination", or "I will be happy when I move out of this place", and instead building a life that makes way for happiness, and finding ways to take it in as you're living in it.
I think the ending was more symbolic than open—it referred to previous conversations, and states in the characters and previous visual or spoken metaphors (birds, coins, homelessness, liberation, Christianity, determination); I think the more I've sat with it, the more it's come to me.
There are a lot of very interesting people who have engaged and grappled with this drama in many places, and I think those who resonated a lot with it would benefit from trying to find them where they can.
It's been a couple months and might not be relevant—you might've seen it, and you might not agree with me, but I think they did a good job of showing how learning to live as an autistic person ("functionality", it's often called) is something he had to learn, is not linear, and when he struggles, is generally more of a response to stress, or a lack of control in the external world. It's not something I've seen explored a lot outside of this, and I related to a lot of the ways he thought about the world as the show went on. I never expected to find the depiction as nuanced as I did.
TLDR; if you (or somebody else checking the comments) looking for an entirely perfect and flawless representation; it's probably not. The way that the language was used and/or translated made me uncomfortable sometimes.
However if you want something where an autistic person grows (doesn't "overcome" or "outgrow" his traits), but is still seen as valuable both for his work ethic and caring, thoughtful "outside of the box" personality, and where pretty much everybody has a progressive arc—it's pretty good on that front, and I liked it a surprising amount.