I liked the overall concept but I think that without the whole final court case this movie would be much better. The final court case is a mess - there were no real arguments, just the defence attorney telling the story without any proof being presented. The prosecutor just steps in and interrupts whenever he wants... it was so unrealistic that I thought it was written by a child. Also Park Shin Hye's acting as the attorney was not that great here.
Apart from that some actions of the main character were really on the edge and I think it was unnecessary. If the writer wanted the audience to have any doubt about main character's innocence it didn't work out.
Anyway it's a solid tearjerker. The main cast did a great job. It's a good movie to watch if you want to cry 🙂
i finished binge-watching this my first wuxia drama and even though some things got on my nerves - FL's childishness…
Cool! I've just finished watching it as well and I agree with everything you've written. This is also the first wuxia drama for me. Probably not the last one, although honestly I don't know if I'm not too old for this kind of dramas. Oh well, I'll try some more and see ;) The story reminded me of "Beauty and the Beast" a lot. The opening song "Jue Ai" by Faye is very nice.
the couples were cute but at some point, things just dragged on and got bland for many of us.
The problem with KTL was that the main couple was... very good and mature and their relationship was healthy, no toxic weird things... and I loved it! At the same time I think that was one of the reasons for the show to drag near the end. I also agree that with 12 eps it would probably be better.
How does Yoonah keep getting roles?? Who is backing her? She is such a terrible actress. You’d think she’d…
Aigoo... I like Yoonah so I would like to disagree... but I can't. You're right.
As for who's backing Yoonah - there's a 2-letter company behind her called SadoMasochists or something... i don't remember 😉
I guess there are people out there who just like to watch her despite her very limited acting skills. And I can understand that. I personally liked her in King the Land as she was very cute there. So I guess I'm one of the people to take the blame.
But yeah I'd have to agree that she has no talent for acting. I believe she works hard, the directors and other cast members probably also try to help her a lot, but as a viewer I often get disengaged and reminded that "this is just a movie/drama" whenever her acting is weak/bad.
A very good slice of life drama. The pacing is a bit slow so some people may find it boring and drop out. And it's ok. Sometimes you need the right mood for a drama like this. I myself wanted to binge watch it at first but I couldn't. It was too slow for me. Instead I watched 1, sometimes 2 episodes per day and then I enjoeyd it. I totally understand the hype.
The story is interesting and very realistic, the chemistry between the cast is good. The story execution is slow but it's consistent. And looking back I think it's what it should be.
The only thing that I found weird/annoying at the beginning is the goat sound when something funny happens. I got used to it with time and I can say I prefer the goat laugh way more than fake audience laugh (which I dislike much more).
During the scene near the end of ep 15, a lot of the villagers are in Sam Dal's parents house I had this weird feeling. The intention of the scene was to show that the villagers are all worried about her and protecting her. That's so moving that makes the her happy. But for a moment, seeing her smile I had this weird thought "What if Sam Dal likes to be a victim and likes when people are worried about her? Maybe that's why she's not doing anything to protect herself?" Now that would be a plot twist! But maybe for some other drama 😉
Anyway, I enjoyed ep 15. The only thing that i actually skipped (and it was the first time I skipped a scene in this drama) was Yong Pil's conversation with Boo Sang Do as I got tired of this unnecesary love triangle bs.
At some very dramatic point near the end of ep. 15 I just couldn't stop laughing. It looked like a writer's bet "Lets see how many cliches can we execute in 5 minutes" 😉
See? Don't hate the father. As I've said when the series started, he's stuck in his own world. Either he spiral…
I still hold to my opinion that the father is poorly written. I like the story but not the way it was executed.
The first introduced villan (Bang Eun Joo) gets all the hatered because she's presented as a pure evil but one could say that (until ep. 14) she is better than MLs father - because her actions in reality make the leads reunite.
For 14 episodes ML's father is the real main villain in this drama, at least that's how he's portrayed - he is the one who stands in the way of main leads happiness (and had been doing that for a very long time). As you've said he is in pain and deep resentment BUT the viewers don't know that - we just see a guy who seems to be resentful for no reason. And what did the writer do? Instead of building this character, presenting the situation and showing us how ML's father struggled with it, so we could better understand him and the pain he was going through all these years... instead of doing that the writer decided to troll the viewers for half of the drama with a mistery titled "why did they break up?".
And when this heaviest problem, the biggest obstacle in the drama, is finally revealed it gets solved right away... I mean we finally get to know the father's perspective in ep 13 and get to know him just a tiny bit and then the he decides to turn to be a good father in ep 14. It seems that you could watch ep. 1, then 8,9 and then jump straight to ep 13 and you wouldn't miss too much of main lead's story.. This pacing is just bad.
Don't get me wrong. I still like this drama (if I didn't I wouldn't waste time writing this). I like the story. I like the great acting. I like the FL's sisters stories - their stories seem more interesting than the main leads and I fear we may get a bit rushed ending as we have only 2 eps left and so many open plots. I was just thinking what could've been done better and i think what I wrote above may be the reason.
Just came here to increase my rating of this drama as I still think about it from time to time.
The funny thing about OST is that while watching the show i found TAEIL "Starlight" to be a bit childish and embarrassing. But after finishing the drama that song makes me tear up every time as it brings back the feelings I had while watching it. Wonstein "Your existence" is another one that entered my playlist.
I think as of ep 13 I'm tired of main leads crying all the time.I'm disappointed that Ji Chang Wook and Shin Hye…
This drama main weight is on ML's father but I find it weird that this character is so underdeveloped. I think that's the main reason that I do not care about him. He's just an annoying gumpy old man that stands in the way of our lead's happiness.
I think the healing process of ML's father should be the 2nd most important plot in the drama as he is also the foundation (or the main blocker) of the main leads love story. I think that might be the reason for some people to drop this show :(
We see a few scenes of him suffering but that's it. I don't know if anynoby feels sad for him. I don't. I didn't see any effort from his side to try to get up from his knees and be there for his son. This makes me believe that he's selfish and self centered. So I am disappointed that we will most probably see him changing in the next episodes because it doesn't seem to suit his character.
I think as of ep 13 I'm tired of main leads crying all the time. I'm disappointed that Ji Chang Wook and Shin Hye Sun (main leads) cannot show their full potential in this drama. Their acting is very good, but they act the same things over and over again.
I was surprised that the little girl telling her grandma that she's afraid the sea will take her away (a scene that lasts around 10 seconds) moved me more than all the main leads moments in this episode. Other than that FL's mom revealing her suffering was also very moving (Kim Mi Kyung acting is amazing, I'm happy she could shine in this one). And that's it.
I still like the show. Mainly because of the great acting. But I think it could be much better.
After watching the 1st episode my mind blew up 😀 I started treating this one like a slightly dark comedy (especially the first episodes) fantasy romance drama. Somewhere on the way I found it to be healing as well, especially for people who still live in the past and struggle to move on.
It's not too fast but not boring as well. I think the pacing is consistent.
Overall I think it was pretty good, I enjoyed it. It deserves the 8+ score in my opinion.
I couldnt get into the romance here really because lets be honest the ML is a monster and yeah he changes in like…
I agree. The ML acts like a douche all the time verbally abusing people around him. I guess in Korea that kind of behavour towards work collegues might be more common. It is not acceptable in Europe. Anyway when I see women falling for guys like that I pity them. In most cases the reality is that the guy will not change for better and they will end up in a toxic relation.
I think what this drama failed at is showing more clearly why the FL fell for the ML (other than pity towards his suffering - which would be a bad reason) and to show the good sides of the ML or anything that could help us justify/understand his bad behaviour.
Would you recommend this drama , and why/why not? (I haven’t watched yet but I love the cast)
If you love the cast you will probably end up watching it :)
I think waiting for all episodes and binge watching might be a good idea.
For me this drama is a bit too slow (it's one of these dramas that probably could have been successfuly compressed into a single movie) and the main plot is a bit too predictable.
On the other hand the slow pacing let's you enjoy it for longer and the acting is good (as much as the story allows it to be).
The thing I wonder about is that they clearly dated and possibly lived together in Seoul but for some reason came…
They had broken up twice. First she broke up with him because of ML's father blaming FL's mother for his wife's death... I hope there is some more argument for that breakup because blaming the kid for her mother's mistake is really weak.
Then they got back together, went to Seoul, where after some time he broke up with her. With this one I see two possibilities: 1) He broke up with her because he thought he stands in the way of her career. 2) He broke up with her because he found out about her mother's illness and went back to keep an eye on her and protect her. Both possibilities are a bit silly in my opinion.
The final court case is a mess - there were no real arguments, just the defence attorney telling the story without any proof being presented. The prosecutor just steps in and interrupts whenever he wants... it was so unrealistic that I thought it was written by a child. Also Park Shin Hye's acting as the attorney was not that great here.
Apart from that some actions of the main character were really on the edge and I think it was unnecessary. If the writer wanted the audience to have any doubt about main character's innocence it didn't work out.
Anyway it's a solid tearjerker. The main cast did a great job. It's a good movie to watch if you want to cry 🙂
If you're a girl sleeping with a different guy each night you need to move to the Czech Republic? 😉
This is also the first wuxia drama for me. Probably not the last one, although honestly I don't know if I'm not too old for this kind of dramas. Oh well, I'll try some more and see ;)
The story reminded me of "Beauty and the Beast" a lot. The opening song "Jue Ai" by Faye is very nice.
At the same time I think that was one of the reasons for the show to drag near the end. I also agree that with 12 eps it would probably be better.
As for who's backing Yoonah - there's a 2-letter company behind her called SadoMasochists or something... i don't remember 😉
I guess there are people out there who just like to watch her despite her very limited acting skills. And I can understand that. I personally liked her in King the Land as she was very cute there. So I guess I'm one of the people to take the blame.
But yeah I'd have to agree that she has no talent for acting. I believe she works hard, the directors and other cast members probably also try to help her a lot, but as a viewer I often get disengaged and reminded that "this is just a movie/drama" whenever her acting is weak/bad.
The pacing is a bit slow so some people may find it boring and drop out. And it's ok. Sometimes you need the right mood for a drama like this.
I myself wanted to binge watch it at first but I couldn't. It was too slow for me. Instead I watched 1, sometimes 2 episodes per day and then I enjoeyd it. I totally understand the hype.
The story is interesting and very realistic, the chemistry between the cast is good.
The story execution is slow but it's consistent. And looking back I think it's what it should be.
The only thing that I found weird/annoying at the beginning is the goat sound when something funny happens. I got used to it with time and I can say I prefer the goat laugh way more than fake audience laugh (which I dislike much more).
The intention of the scene was to show that the villagers are all worried about her and protecting her. That's so moving that makes the her happy.
But for a moment, seeing her smile I had this weird thought "What if Sam Dal likes to be a victim and likes when people are worried about her? Maybe that's why she's not doing anything to protect herself?" Now that would be a plot twist! But maybe for some other drama 😉
Anyway, I enjoyed ep 15. The only thing that i actually skipped (and it was the first time I skipped a scene in this drama) was Yong Pil's conversation with Boo Sang Do as I got tired of this unnecesary love triangle bs.
The first introduced villan (Bang Eun Joo) gets all the hatered because she's presented as a pure evil but one could say that (until ep. 14) she is better than MLs father - because her actions in reality make the leads reunite.
For 14 episodes ML's father is the real main villain in this drama, at least that's how he's portrayed - he is the one who stands in the way of main leads happiness (and had been doing that for a very long time). As you've said he is in pain and deep resentment BUT the viewers don't know that - we just see a guy who seems to be resentful for no reason.
And what did the writer do? Instead of building this character, presenting the situation and showing us how ML's father struggled with it, so we could better understand him and the pain he was going through all these years... instead of doing that the writer decided to troll the viewers for half of the drama with a mistery titled "why did they break up?".
And when this heaviest problem, the biggest obstacle in the drama, is finally revealed it gets solved right away... I mean we finally get to know the father's perspective in ep 13 and get to know him just a tiny bit and then the he decides to turn to be a good father in ep 14. It seems that you could watch ep. 1, then 8,9 and then jump straight to ep 13 and you wouldn't miss too much of main lead's story.. This pacing is just bad.
Don't get me wrong. I still like this drama (if I didn't I wouldn't waste time writing this).
I like the story. I like the great acting. I like the FL's sisters stories - their stories seem more interesting than the main leads and I fear we may get a bit rushed ending as we have only 2 eps left and so many open plots.
I was just thinking what could've been done better and i think what I wrote above may be the reason.
The funny thing about OST is that while watching the show i found TAEIL "Starlight" to be a bit childish and embarrassing. But after finishing the drama that song makes me tear up every time as it brings back the feelings I had while watching it.
Wonstein "Your existence" is another one that entered my playlist.
I think the healing process of ML's father should be the 2nd most important plot in the drama as he is also the foundation (or the main blocker) of the main leads love story.
I think that might be the reason for some people to drop this show :(
We see a few scenes of him suffering but that's it. I don't know if anynoby feels sad for him. I don't.
I didn't see any effort from his side to try to get up from his knees and be there for his son. This makes me believe that he's selfish and self centered. So I am disappointed that we will most probably see him changing in the next episodes because it doesn't seem to suit his character.
I'm disappointed that Ji Chang Wook and Shin Hye Sun (main leads) cannot show their full potential in this drama. Their acting is very good, but they act the same things over and over again.
I was surprised that the little girl telling her grandma that she's afraid the sea will take her away (a scene that lasts around 10 seconds) moved me more than all the main leads moments in this episode. Other than that FL's mom revealing her suffering was also very moving (Kim Mi Kyung acting is amazing, I'm happy she could shine in this one). And that's it.
I still like the show. Mainly because of the great acting. But I think it could be much better.
I started treating this one like a slightly dark comedy (especially the first episodes) fantasy romance drama.
Somewhere on the way I found it to be healing as well, especially for people who still live in the past and struggle to move on.
It's not too fast but not boring as well. I think the pacing is consistent.
Overall I think it was pretty good, I enjoyed it. It deserves the 8+ score in my opinion.
I haven't watched it yet so I don't know if it's better or worse than original.
Anyway when I see women falling for guys like that I pity them. In most cases the reality is that the guy will not change for better and they will end up in a toxic relation.
I think what this drama failed at is showing more clearly why the FL fell for the ML (other than pity towards his suffering - which would be a bad reason) and to show the good sides of the ML or anything that could help us justify/understand his bad behaviour.
I think waiting for all episodes and binge watching might be a good idea.
For me this drama is a bit too slow (it's one of these dramas that probably could have been successfuly compressed into a single movie) and the main plot is a bit too predictable.
On the other hand the slow pacing let's you enjoy it for longer and the acting is good (as much as the story allows it to be).
It's worrying and sad.
First she broke up with him because of ML's father blaming FL's mother for his wife's death... I hope there is some more argument for that breakup because blaming the kid for her mother's mistake is really weak.
Then they got back together, went to Seoul, where after some time he broke up with her.
With this one I see two possibilities:
1) He broke up with her because he thought he stands in the way of her career.
2) He broke up with her because he found out about her mother's illness and went back to keep an eye on her and protect her.
Both possibilities are a bit silly in my opinion.