yeou_bi

I thought both seasons were great with a cohesive, gripping story but the ending felt so westernized. The lack of a random cliffhanger with a new big bad villain is exactly why I prefer Asian dramas over western shows with 100 seasons that slowly decrease in quality because the makers run out of ideas. It was a perfectly decent plot without the necessity to explain where the flowers came from.

I guess it's all a question of interpretation then

Yeah, I know the drama tells us that he must be smart but the way he's written, we don't really see so much of that tbh. I think that's what struck me as weird. I also understand why he was written as the comic relief because in stories with a group cast, that's a classic role. But it's just so weird when you're basically saying that he's not just pretty smart (which he very likely is) but EXTREMELY intelligent. I mean, there's difference between "not stupid" and "literal genius".

Yes, that's very true. Education is very important and it's important that young people learn critical thinking skills. I'm for example not at all in favor of censorship because everyone should be able to form their own opinions. Problematic media can be enjoyed if the viewers have the tools to discern something as problematic. So i definitely agree with you on that. However, I also think that the creators of fiction also a responsibility to a certain degree.

It's not her actively deciding on that but everyone keeps pulling her into it. I understand that Thyme wants to change for her and from that perspective, it makes sense for his character growth. But the problem is that his character growth depends on her. Without her, he wouldn't change. If she turns away from him, he was shown as being likely to hurt her. She also actively tried to stop him when he lashed out at a random student after seeing her with Ren, so she clearly feels some responsibility. She encountered a lot of physical violence after meeting him. So what the story tells us is that he actively needs her. That without her, he won't be good. But what he really needs is professional therapy.

I understand what you mean but the issue I see is that we see a lot of toxic behavior like this especially in romance. If it was just this drama, it wouldn't be an issue (despite being problematic) but we see this a lot. Critical thinking has to come from somewhere and if all the stories tell boys and girls that violence can be romantic, they might model their behavior after that. I mean, fiction doesn't exist in a vacuum. It's based on real life societal structures and can have an influence on them.

Okay, I mean, I think I get where you're coming from and from Thyme's perspective it makes sense. But I disagree with the notion of needing therapy in form of a romantic partner. Someone like him needs professional help by a therapist who knows how to deal with issues like his. That burden shouldn't fall on a teenage girl.
Anyway, what I'm saying is, I understand that there are people who find this romantic. But the people who disagree do so because stories like this can harm impressionable children who see this and think this is OK. Throwing chairs at someone is not a sign of love. Sure, it's just a drama but there is a real danger of people who see this and think that this is what the world is supposed to look like.

I think the issue people have is that this is the kind of toxic storyline that can actually harm girls irl. The message the drama sends is that it's the role of a girl to save a guy who clearly needs therapy because he has almost zero impulse control. Real women are caught up in relationships with abusive partners because through "romantic" storylines like this they learned that it's on them to make their partner a better person. But why should they? Just because a bully fell in love with her, doesn't mean that Gorya owes him anything, let alone to make him a good person. But the way the story works, it's kind of on her. One misstep and he might physically assault her. That's a really terrible message to young viewers who might think that that's what love is supposed to look like.

Exactly my thoughts. They were doing relatively well at first, so I thought we finally had a version of HYD/Domyouji that was acceptable but this just proves that this is the kind of outdated storyline that should not continue to be remade.

Tbh, while I don't think the ending was bad, I would have preferred it if there had been no supernatural elements, i.e. if the twin sister had really just been an abused kid and if this had been about a man and his followers killing girls for nothing but a baseless belief. That would have suited the tone of the beginning of the movie more imo.

My only complaint probably is that they didn't just all buy a house in the end though. They had this great found family idea where you raise children together to not overburden one single parent.... And then they return to separate households? Sharing facilities obviously worked for them, so why not continue that? I'm sure that's cheaper, too and you'd never have to worry about having to work overtime (which was a problem they addressed early on).Also, I know Japan has a strong view on blood family ties, so it makes sense that the owner's biological family takes priority. But I don't like that they had to include that at all. Why did they give us a non-traditional family, only to then break that up for the sake of a 'real family' (that was very quick on abandoning one member and only came back when they failed at building a business)? It's like the writers took one step forward and two steps back.

I'm honest, I laughed way too hard at Endo Kenichi as the OL who wanted to settle the dispute by playing twister

Man, Jinsung reappearing was honestly such a relief. For one, I wouldn't have liked Aejin and Hoin together because they struck me more as crime-solving friends than a potential couple and as much of a bitch as Haneul was at first, the drama made a point to show us that she had a reason for being that way and that she genuinely liked Hoin. Taking him away from her would be been super cruel from a narrative standpoint.
But mainly, it just happens a lot that a drama introduces a character (usually the SML) who is just super kind and who then gets nothing in the end but a broken heart. Jinsung was genuinely the only person in school who was nice to Aejin before the whole Genie debacle. Why should a girl end up with a guy who initially stalked and threatened her when she can have someone who saw that she ate lunch alone and decided to be best friends?

I kept thinking that if she ever ended up with anyone, it should be Mutsumi because he had been nice to her from the start and had always ensured that she was the one making her own decisions. So it's nice to read that they at least got together in the manga.

I'm so relieved she ended up with Mamura because anything else would have been really creepy. Like, the story with Shishio maybe is cute from her perspective because she's what, 16? 17? Having a crush on an adult isn't so strange, especially someone like Shishio who was very in her face from the start. But wtf was he thinking? He was totally leading her on. That wouldn't have been cool for any adult but he literally was her class teacher.
And Mamura's actions weren't always perfect either but dude is in a romcom and the average romcom hero's actions tend to be 50% toxic, so all in all he was a really good guy and good guys in high school romance often get dumped by the girl, so that makes it even better. So yay for the ending!
(although I do think Suzume's uncle should have punched Shishio in the face for turning up there like "haha, your niece, who is a minor, just rejected me, a dude around 30, so give me food")

There were a couple of really creepy romcom things that bothered me, like Karasuma pretending to take advantage of Minato, the whole first stages of Toru hitting on Mina, the whole way Toru had treated Minato that was just brushed aside when they dated for real, also the fact that they had to include marriage although Minato literally had hated cohabiting with that guy for years.
Also, what happened to her OCD? This just reaked of misogyny. She had OCD because of him but people joked that he had to suffer because of her cleaning. Girl literally had a disorder.
Also, the way he just casually told her to wear makeup? Fuck you, dude. Being hopelessly in love with someone is no excuse for being an objectifying ass.

Tbh, I probably could have overlooked some of those things though, had I not assumed this to be a more complex story than it was. See, the thing is called "Liar x Liar", so I assumed that he knew that she was Mina. I thought he pretended not to know because that was the only way for him to be with her and to be kind to her. I thought they both lied to each other and that they were both desperate and that broke my little melodrama-loving heart. And then it turned out he had no clue and it all suddenly just seemed creepy. Homeboy literally got a whole phone contract for a minor he met on the street. Homeboy also seemed pretty ready to sleep with a girl who looked like his sister (I mean, let's face it, why else did he get the apartment, give her the key and assume she was gonna stay over?).

The more I think about it, the more this whole storyline bothers me.

Okay but I can't help thinking about it from Suwa's perspective. He built a life with her but he's so aware of the fact that she can't get over a high school crush who killed himself, that he comes up with the idea to convince his past self to get the mother of his child and her crush together. Suwa's whole life is overshadowed by Kakeru. I think that's cruel to a degree that it maybe does make sense for Kakeru to survive and get together with Naho, just so that Suwa can move on. I get that this is about fighting depression and the power of friendship but oh man, stories like this often only work because a random side character has to make sacrifices.

So, I know Inocchi is a singer but if I had not known that, I probably would have been very confused at the large number of long scenes of the band on stage.

I'm glad I didn't look at the poster more closely because that kinda gives one twist away. Call me oblivious but I had no idea that little boy was dead. Him ominously staring at me from the poster probably would have been a hint though.

Okay but... Here's the thing, I love Ohm, I really do but the last episode is basically telling us that he has superior intelligence and that's why he ended up in the Gifted program but...?????? I mean, Pang? Sure, he just couldn't care less about studying. Punn, Wave, Namtarn? Objectively the smart kids. Claire? Is that kind of girl you underestimate for being pretty and who then cuts you. The twins, Mon and Korn? We don't know enough about them to make assumptions. But Ohm????