Wait why was this series banned? Can someone explain it to me? I'm not familiar with Chinese law, is it illegal…
@desertbanshee In terms of censorship, it sadly doesn't matter what else the series features as long as there's a gay theme :/ LGBT content is still unaccepted by the government over there. Unfortunately the quality of the story and its depth is of no relevance to censors, that's how it works...
Wait why was this series banned? Can someone explain it to me? I'm not familiar with Chinese law, is it illegal…
@peacewon "BL has nothing whatsoever to do with anything gay"
...eh? It definitely does. Just because it caters to girls doesn't change the fact that it's at its core about M/M lovelines. Or do you mean it's "not gay" = not campy? because that's not synonymous with that...they make out and sleep together in the drama, how much more gayness do you want before you see it for what it is lol
With all the History changing that he's doing I really hope that Lee Jae Han get save in the year 2000.
Agreed with the other commenters. The show's already set the trend so that criminals are brought to justice through the system, but I doubt they'll start playing god with the victims' deaths.
I mean, I love that drama, but... How can the case be already solved man? There will be a copycat or something?…
There's still so much more that hasn't been investigated thoroughly yet, like the story about his brother, Lee Jae Han, the inside job, etc. And also the possibility of changing the present for the worse/better because of the walkie-talkie. They only touched the tip of the iceberg in the first case so there's lots more to be revealed
Why is everyone so fixated on the husband? The husband search really was just another side story. The main story…
@ceres haha don't apologize, I liked your essay :p
JH is very male-lead material, I think that's the main reason why everyone was rooting for him - because based on all their experience from other Kdramas, he fit the description. Mind you, that doesn't mean he's a good candidate or anything, it's just that according to what the average viewer expects - he was the endgame. And if a person's watching an unusually long drama just for one love story, the disappointment must be even greater (I've had that happen to me recently with a vague otp I loved and to say I was crushed would be an understatement).
Yeah, I really don't think they changed anything at the last minute, just like with R1994 - the writers knew how it'd end right from the beginning. But at least in 94/97 the amount of screentime didn't change abruptly towards the end, the male lead was always there at the forefront.
"I just can’t see how it’s all that much of a sad ending because DS and JH never really… had anything between them"
They bickered all the time and acted hyper-tsundere towards each other, that's key for "romance" in most of Asia :p So when the exact same formula is seen over and over again, until it doesn't - it messes with people's head. But yeah if you ask me, it'd be nice if there were more diversity in Kdrama male leads where the guy is something other than the exact same abusive pigtail-pulling man-child
" I mean, didn’t we see this coming, anyway?"
lol we should've. Most Kdrama viewers prioritize the loveline above everything else because that's what Kdramas are known as specializing in, so I'm not sure if they expected R88 to divert from that. And also I think from what I've seen, some people speed-watched this drama, tuning in only for the love story...so if that's what they're into from the get-go, it makes sense they'd be upset because they didn't want anything else from the story to begin with
" the argument of the ending being a "happy" one is subjective, all depending on whether or not you chose to get attached to a certain character/pairing"
The writers made it really hard to have the freedom to choose, since once again, the Kdrama mating ritual was laid out right from the start (lots of bickering and hot-and-cold moments between JH & DS) - it's not subjective when the framework follows those tropes to a T, it's deliberate emotional manipulation that writers are well-aware of. But if we're to put all that aside, there's no right or wrong here of course - it's just a different type of storytelling style they went with. Main network Kdramas on the other hand would never dare to shift away from the typical love story fantasy with their bigger projects lol even tvN's not quite there yet
Why is everyone so fixated on the husband? The husband search really was just another side story. The main story…
@ceres The story was built so that the viewers felt an attachment to JH and his interest in DS. If it were truly subjective, there wouldn't be this many viewers who feel let down. It's not about what the characters' motives are or who's more deserving, it's ultimately about the fantasy the viewers were given to live vicariously through, and that fantasy involved JH & DS.
That's the thing about the Reply series, the other dramas in the series were also written in this same way that's meant to be bittersweet, exploring the ups and downs and nostalgia of the characters' youth. It's not wrong to write a story that way. But in the context of a drama, it is expected that viewers will be disappointed if the final arc doesn't give them the happy ending to the pairing's narrative (and I think we can both agree JH&DS was the main pairing throughout the show).
I personally don't care for either otp in this drama, but when I'm invested in a story that backs out of a well-developed romantic pairing at the last moment, I don't care what the characters' reasons were - an emotional attachment can't be broken off that easily for the viewers. In a main network drama the writers would gradually shift the loveline in the other male character's favor, because that's how the initial emotional attachment can be broken off. But R1988 writers want more realism so it was to be expected that they wouldn't want to follow the typical Kdrama formula.
Why is everyone so fixated on the husband? The husband search really was just another side story. The main story…
Because they feel cheated, so of course it makes sense that a lot of people are upset. I'm sure a lot of people feel just like you do about the show overall, but when the expected happy ending doesn't come it leaves a bad taste
...eh? It definitely does. Just because it caters to girls doesn't change the fact that it's at its core about M/M lovelines. Or do you mean it's "not gay" = not campy? because that's not synonymous with that...they make out and sleep together in the drama, how much more gayness do you want before you see it for what it is lol
https://www.youtube.com/user/j2skyj/videos
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4L8Imgd9S54istHvLFpTFw/videos
Raws: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4qEU3esgzyOatDGUrzhFQsbcNAOoTUj7
JH is very male-lead material, I think that's the main reason why everyone was rooting for him - because based on all their experience from other Kdramas, he fit the description. Mind you, that doesn't mean he's a good candidate or anything, it's just that according to what the average viewer expects - he was the endgame. And if a person's watching an unusually long drama just for one love story, the disappointment must be even greater (I've had that happen to me recently with a vague otp I loved and to say I was crushed would be an understatement).
Yeah, I really don't think they changed anything at the last minute, just like with R1994 - the writers knew how it'd end right from the beginning. But at least in 94/97 the amount of screentime didn't change abruptly towards the end, the male lead was always there at the forefront.
"I just can’t see how it’s all that much of a sad ending because DS and JH never really… had anything between them"
They bickered all the time and acted hyper-tsundere towards each other, that's key for "romance" in most of Asia :p So when the exact same formula is seen over and over again, until it doesn't - it messes with people's head. But yeah if you ask me, it'd be nice if there were more diversity in Kdrama male leads where the guy is something other than the exact same abusive pigtail-pulling man-child
" I mean, didn’t we see this coming, anyway?"
lol we should've. Most Kdrama viewers prioritize the loveline above everything else because that's what Kdramas are known as specializing in, so I'm not sure if they expected R88 to divert from that. And also I think from what I've seen, some people speed-watched this drama, tuning in only for the love story...so if that's what they're into from the get-go, it makes sense they'd be upset because they didn't want anything else from the story to begin with
" the argument of the ending being a "happy" one is subjective, all depending on whether or not you chose to get attached to a certain character/pairing"
The writers made it really hard to have the freedom to choose, since once again, the Kdrama mating ritual was laid out right from the start (lots of bickering and hot-and-cold moments between JH & DS) - it's not subjective when the framework follows those tropes to a T, it's deliberate emotional manipulation that writers are well-aware of. But if we're to put all that aside, there's no right or wrong here of course - it's just a different type of storytelling style they went with. Main network Kdramas on the other hand would never dare to shift away from the typical love story fantasy with their bigger projects lol even tvN's not quite there yet
That's the thing about the Reply series, the other dramas in the series were also written in this same way that's meant to be bittersweet, exploring the ups and downs and nostalgia of the characters' youth. It's not wrong to write a story that way. But in the context of a drama, it is expected that viewers will be disappointed if the final arc doesn't give them the happy ending to the pairing's narrative (and I think we can both agree JH&DS was the main pairing throughout the show).
I personally don't care for either otp in this drama, but when I'm invested in a story that backs out of a well-developed romantic pairing at the last moment, I don't care what the characters' reasons were - an emotional attachment can't be broken off that easily for the viewers. In a main network drama the writers would gradually shift the loveline in the other male character's favor, because that's how the initial emotional attachment can be broken off. But R1988 writers want more realism so it was to be expected that they wouldn't want to follow the typical Kdrama formula.
http://thaiseriescineplex.blogspot.com/2015/08/eng-sub-love-sick-series-season-2-ep-23.html
http://kissasian.com/Drama/Stay-The-Series