Though I could understand why netizens are unhappy about the deviation of CITT from the webtoon, still, it is a kdrama, so we can’t blame the PD for bringing in the formulaic love triangle to spice things up a bit. But it was quite bizarre that Yoo Jung-Seol couple scenes were being dropped at the expense of developing In Ho’s arc, which constituted a great disservice to Seo Kang-Joon due to the snowballing hatred against IH and his piano. This is the first time in the history of Kdrama land when an instrument playing prince charming got shafted. While a violin playing Kim Hyun-Joong (Yoon Ji-hoo) in Boys Over Flowers who was a real contender in the love triangle involving Gu Jun-pyo and Geum Jan-di, and who was also given a lot more screen time than the original manga Hana Yori Dango, could earn himself quite a big fan following. All that pitiful IH got was hatred from CITT fans even though his love was only one-sided unrequited love. He may be better off by himself in a drama called Successful story of a Bright Boy/Piano Boy or something like that, than to come in between YJ-S and got himself embroiled in the messy controversy surrounding CITT.

Again, despite its ultra-modern façade, South Korea is still quite a conservative society at its core, therefore, it is understandable that the PDs of free to air tv programs have reservation about sending the wrong subliminal messages out to viewers. I’m no expert in Mass Comm 101, but didn’t we see in The Producers that PDs were being summoned to a media regulating authority for interrogation even when there was only the slightest inappropriateness in their programs? So CITT PD might have asked YJ to bear the brunt of his sociopathic behaviour for the sake of upholding “social responsibility”, and his “happy ever after ending” with Seol was purposely not made explicit as it would send the wrong message to girls that it is trendy behaviour to put up with a manipulative and narcissistic boyfriend. And because it did not have the capacity to delve into the domain of mental health like It’s Ok, It’s Love, we did not get to see how YJ sorted out his “disorder”. So the end result is a flawed adaptation of CITT. By dangling the cheese webtoon to get viewers enticed into a messy trap, no wonder CITT fans felt betrayed.

The CITT webtoon does feel a bit too “avant garde” to me, forgive me for my old-fashioned thinking, to borrow Javabean’s words, I’m a first generation Hallyu 1.0 fan, when Prince Charmings were still charming and cell phones folded in the middle, and the prince charming usually can play piano too! (eg. Jin-heon in Lovely Sam Soon, Song-joo in Stairway to Heaven, Joon-Sang in Winter Sonata, etc). The only Korean Manhwa I ever read was the simple and unsophisticated Pape Popo Memories and Pape Popo Together by Sim Sung-Hyun:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucUsZEJSlPk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-VRYdkAopY
https://www.youtube...

Happy Friday, everyone!

I'm really looking forward to seeing Jang Geun-seok again - he hasn't had the best of luck in choosing dramas, but he's a great actor when he gets to stretch his acting chops. I was so sorry to see that tax thing - that he evidently wasn't even involved in personally - drag him down, and I hope this drama is good and gives him some fresh exposure!

Come Back Ajusshi is the only drama I'm really watching right now.

I fell behind on Cheese and then decided not to catch up again on reading about bwhat happens later on here.

I also fell behind on Madame Antoine, which I loved in the very beginning - but then the heroine lost all of her savvy and her ability to read people, and it was basically all about the hero fooling her while falling in love with her, and the heroine having to learn from him (while he of course doesn't have to learn anything from her). I plan to check back in again though, in case she regains her edge and really turns the drama into an interesting clash!

Hello Beanies!!!!

It's been a tiring week with finals coming up so I had to take a break from a few dramas that needed some thinking HUHU

OMHE - it's an easy watch so this week has been too sweet HAHA Every time SH talks, it's full of sweetness that I can't help but cringe at every word HAHA

YOF in Africa - bromance! I LOLed at that incident with JY's nekkid scene....can we somehow get a glimpse of it?? hihihihi and I'd love to see JY in the future somewhere out there while he's travelling. He's the best travel buddy!

PBG and RJY's talk at Dune 45 makes me cry! and JY's kindness to the staff was the sweetest thing a star can do in a travel program.

Can't wait to see episode 3, it looks like they will separated into two groups?

Happy Friday!
Quite a week for CITT viewers, wasn't it? So many Park Hae-jin articles out there-looks like he is the winner after all?
Like JB mentioned, last 2 episodes felt like a typical Korean drama. But I am still grateful that the show gave me Kim Go-eun. I just adored her as Hong Seol. Some from interview with Kim Go-eun (25).

Even from the casting time, she was center of gossip which criticized she had the different look from the original webtoon character Hong Seol. About her being new to TV (Her debut was movie 'Eungyo'), and being accused not having same looks as the heroine of a popular webtoon, she said "Doing a drama was burden for me. I didn't know about Drama shooting atmospheres/settings. At first I turned down, but Lee Yoon-jung PD asked me with assurance to do together, so I didn't hesitate. After receiving the offer, I read the webtoon all night. I didn't think I couldn't portray the character because she was similar to me and a very common person."

In CITT, Seol and Yoo-jun's love line has conflicts as if taking psychology tests, and the people around her cause too much trouble, making things more complicated. Seol is the person who suppress those feelings rather than getting in trouble even if she has to make a sacrifice. "Seol is so frustrated. I can't live like that. Having difficult time is ok, but I can't take being done wrong/being unfair. There was time I could not understand Yoo-jung."

About playing Seol, "When I portray a character, I take out myself. I tried to talk with Seol's mind. How can you act a character with 100% understanding when you don't even understand your own family 100%. At first, I thought Seol was like a comfortable friend. I thought she was a realistic character and she was like a real person who actually live around us. During the filming, thoughts like 'why my face expression was like that in that situation? Was my feeling shown correct in that situation?' 'I should have thought more seriously' made me feel dissatisfied with my acting, but I kept going as I intended." "For her outfits (Her outfit was loved by Knetz), I went to the shopping mall where college students frequent, rather than using a brand name to look pretty and natural, with the concept 'outfit you can find anywhere easily'."

Also My beloved show 'I have a lover' ended. Since I’d been an avid fan, I can't help but leaving a comment.
(Am I in minority?)

(With a little Spoiler) From an article(and me): This drama showed how not to be a Makjang drama with makjang elements. The show received criticism of being a Makjang drama in the beginning because of the affair plot, but now hardly anyone calls IHL as a Makjang drama. The reason it was able to avoid this insult was because the show didn't use the affair just to pull the attention from viewers.
In the process for one couple- Choi Jin-eon(Ji Jin-hee) and Do Hae-gang(Kim Hyun-joo) re-building their hopelessly ruined relationship (and become family/couple again), an affair was just one of things happened. Through husband's affair and its consequences, they were able to reflect on themselves and realize their significance to each other. The reason he fell for the other woman(Gang Seol-ri) was because of their daughter's death (who died due to what his wife did, which made the couple become even more distant), in addition to Gang reminded him of his wife whom he fell in love with when they were young (His wife became cold and ambitious after they were married). If they stayed together without mending their problem, they'd have continued living without soul and love. But through these and related incidences, his wife/Do lost her memory, lived as her twin sister, and became young innocent herself again (And Choi fell in love with his wife again. Well actually he was in love with his wife all along).
Even with the Makjang elements (Affair, Amnesia etc), the reason IHL was different from others was that it was able to persuade audiences. It showed why those Makjang elements were needed for their romance convincingly- thanks to Top notch acting from the leads.

I think weakest part of this drama are a few first(affair) and last(repeated plot points) episodes. btw if you want to watch, skip like ep 3-8 to avoid frustration. Has great OST (my fav along with 'Youth' from Reply 88)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuI4NTUpEUE

My comment posted above about CITT is awaiting moderation... why's that?

I’ve recently finished watching Because It’s The First Time, it is simple and refreshing, showing that a love triangle can be amicably settled without feelings of resentment from shippers. Choi Min-ho deserves a mention here, his acting skills improved a lot, making him much more likeable in BITFT than in To The Beautiful You. Have also finished watching Falling For Innocence as I couldn’t get enough of Song Soo-hyuk(Jung Kyung-ho) in OMHE, but was quite disappointed that he looked and acted quite the same in both dramas. I don’t know exactly what went wrong with recent rom-coms, I somehow got bored half-way through even though I like both the lead actor and actress, eg. OMHE, OMV, FFI, etc. It feels as though the endearing couple scenes were dished out in a perfunctory manner by the writer, quite unlike those Hallyu 1.0 dramas which have more sincere elements and heart-felt conversations which could touch the viewers’ heart. Or could it be due to the law of diminishing marginal utility? As we see more of the same kind of drama with similar tropes, the gratification and satisfaction we get out of it diminishes more and more.

I am currently watching Who Are You? which feels like a slower-paced version of I Remember You merging with Oh My Ghostess as it’s about a dead police inspector uncovering the mysterious conspiracy surrounding his death. So Yi-hyun(Yang Shi-ohn) paired up very well with both Ok Taecyeon(Cha Gun-woo) and Kim Jae-wook(Lee Hyung-joon). Again, there is no need for shipping here as KJW is the dead boyfriend from the past who are hovering around to assist and protect Shi-ohn while she and Gun-woo go about solving the mystery surrounding his own death. Probably the hardest part of dealing with the death of loved ones and of oneself is to let go of people and things which are closest to heart. KJW’s character of Hyun-joon from the netherworld is very different from the bubbly Soon-ae(Kim Seul-gie) in Oh My Ghostess. He could only be seen but not heard by Shi-ohn and he does not go around possessing anyone, so he could only communicate through facial expression and body language. It is quite challenging to ‘silently’ express the emotional turmoil of avenging a wrongful death, and the angst of helplessly witnessing his loved one falling in love with someone else. In this regard, KJW did a good portrayal, I also like flashbacks of his heart-warming couple moments with SYH. Of course, Ok Taecyeon is the male lead, the commanding presence of a bubbly and upbeat boyish Gun-woo and his constant banter with Shi-ohn balanced the sombre mood of Hyung-joon’s tragedy.

Just one more.
Love Signal. Can't wait to watch next ep. Casts and staffs already left for their celebratory trip (without giving any interview. I wanted one for Jo Jin-woong). Here is one interview with Lee Dong-ha/Han Se-kyu (Murderer of singer trainees, 3rd cold case) from Signal.

Lee Dong-ha (33) who played Han Se-kyu, the Nam Gyu-man No.2 in Signal is an actor with 8 years of experience who debuted in musical but has only 2 years of acting experience in front of camera. He says he feels happiest when he delve into the character who he plays. Han Se-kyu was a psychopass who committed evil acts like-rape, murder, drug etc. and got away because of his rich background. Viewers loathed him and couldn't stand him. He kept saying it was real honor. "I was honored just being able to work with the director, writer, and senior actors. When I think about it now, I feel like I had a dream. It was not a huge role, but when I walk in the street, people recognize me saying 'That is Han Se-kyu!" I am so happy I was remembered by playing his character. He portrayed Han Se-kyu realistically as the culprit in the 3rd cold case. "I am grateful for the interests given to me, even though I feel dissatisfied a little... My biggest regret is that I should have shown more flexible and unique evil character. Then again you can't avoid having regrets after the acting. I tried to portray the character, watching the movie like 'American Psycho' and studied what mind and feelings those actors acted with.

In Signal, Han Se-kyu beat up, raped, and murdered women. This type of acting is naturally hard on the actors. "When we filmed that scene raping and beating a woman felt so realistic that I felt such a burden, ended up fainting due to excessive breathing problem. Shooting stopped for about an hour. Lee Eun-woo noona was playing the victim character, and she encouraged me to do whatever I want without hesitation, that way good scene could come out. That made me feel at ease, and I am so thankful to her."
About filming, he said "I was only in 4 episodes, but because shooting wasn't done on regular schedule, I had to live as Han for 4 months. There was even a time that I waited for one month until I shoot my next scene. When there was no shooting, I studied watching other shows. That was hard so I drank a lot. It was hard time mentally and physically, but people around me helped and I have learned a lot."

Hi all:

It's been quite a week wading through this new batch of writing contest entries.

Finished the fantasy entries. I encountered had so many twists I felt like calling Chubby Checker. (Old joke that youngsters won't get.) I so wish writers wouldn't do that twist ending thing. Twists for twists' sake. Another story that was unique in narration and had all the storytelling elements but was way too nihilistic and cruel for my taste. Luckily she was a bit messy with her dialoging so I could low-rank the story on issues other than my emotions. There was also a flaky fun story about an evil villainous cat. Fun witty and tongue in cheek. It was seriously strange. Would make a great picture book or chapter book if the vocabulary wasn't so adult.

Now working on fairytale entrants. So many writers flipping tropes IN THE SAME EXACT WAY with THE SAME EXACT CHARACTERS. I want to say to these folks, "Now look here! you are NOT that original. Stop trying to write the "not your mother's fairytale." You are obviously not up on what's happening in the specfic community or else you wouldn't be coming up with such a banal everyday idea!" But no. I'm in mentor maternal mode..and just gently gritting my teeth and saying stuff like, "This story is very predictable. Have you considered writing your own fairytale with your own original characters? Originality trumps adaptation anytime." I swear! If I see one more good witch and evil Cinderella/Snow White or feminist/divorced Sleeping Beauty.

​Six Flying Dragons: Don't get me wrong but I'm sitting around waiting for YeonHee, Jeong DeJeon, and Crown Prince to be murdered. I feel so evil. On the other hand, I'm hoping for a love story between oori MooHyul and SeGwang. Hoping Nameless leaves her alone but one never knows.

Cheese: Ah, PD-nim! You were either in love with our second lead (or actor playing second lead) or you disliked first lead (or actor playing first lead.) I thought your ending of this drama was like a royal f*ck-off to viewers. It's as if you did everything to imply and kiss off any possible romance. You couldn't bring yourself to even let us hope ​for a happy ending between Jung and HongSeol. You did everything to imply she was falling out of love with him and to make the most closed open-ending I've ever seen.

​Descendants:​ I really hate women slapping men! But these dramas are full of that kinda thing. And gets away with it cause ya know..she was all emotional and angry and stuff. It's like I want to shout at the screen, "Why are you laying your hand on someone's face so harshly? And director-nim, PD-nim, find another way to show passionate anger!" In real life, I would have no problem with a guy returning such a slap. Woman or not, she shouldn't be allowed to hit someone. Okay, rant over. Other than that, this is a very romantic drama and I had forgotten how hot cocky men in uniform are! Dayum, Song Joong Ki! ​I'll also say..the women running around...

Wow after the horrid ending of CITT I feel to tired to watch anything but I managed to watch DOTS and Signal. DOTS is quite good with episode 4 being very strong. We got to learn a lot about YSJ and his speech to KMY about his military law was amazing. The chemistry is extremely strong and I find myself loving KMY more and more.
Signal is just A+. So scared for how it is all going to end

Hi everyone happy Friday!

I've only been seriously watching Six Flying Dragons these days, but out of curiosity I caught the first two episodes of Tree With Deep Roots. I didn't have patience to keep watching and I didn't want to confuse myself with it, but I can finally understand what the hype about young Sejong/Song Joong-ki was about and why some people still hate Taejong with a passion while watching SFD. Song Joong-ki portrayed the helplessness of a powerless young king so well. He's gained a new fan in me! (Although I'm still swearing off DOTS because... I think Song Hye-kyo is overrated.) Now I'm praying he gets to cameo in the last episode of SFD. Although Yoo Ah-in as his dad would be a hilarious sight to see.

Meanwhile, I'm also catching Youths Over Flowers Africa for Park Bo-gum. I cried along with him when he started to cry during his heart-to-heart talk with Ryu Jun-yeol. Ahh. But I have to say, I don't think the Reply Me boys have as much chemistry as the Iceland rocks-for-brains haha. They are just tooooo epic.

Signal: It's awesome, horrifying, and also heartbreaking. Inju case was horrible (though the real case is even more horrible) and the police willingness to make such an elaborate stage for their cover story was terrifying. What kind of powerful parents that was behind that 'one boy'?

CiTT: I felt cheated. It should've become a great romcom this year and top my favourite drama list. Sigh, the what-if scenario would be never ending. Well, while I still treasure the first half alot, it's relieving to finally part way with this show.

OMHE: Ah, you cute sweet little show. I love your sweet moments and also all your antic silliness. And I especially love the way you poke fun at all those old tropes. Let's hope we'll get a satisfactory ending next week.

Hi Everyone! ....... I hope you are all doing well today.

While I didn't watch Cheese In The Trap, it was certainly interesting to read about the situation that developed. It's unfortunate that things turned out as they did and that fans, viewers and the people directly involved with the project, were left frustrated and disappointed.

Watched this week:

Six Flying Dragons - Up to episode 36 and still as awesome as ever! ....... She's on screen for only a few minutes at a time, but the Cheok Sa-kwang character is fantastic and interesting to watch.

Remember - I've hung in there with poor Jin-woo and only have 2 more episodes to watch. Poor guy, what else can go wrong at this point?

Descended From The Sun - Just started this and so far, I like it. ....... Song Joong-ki certainly knows how to work that gaze of his. Big time.

One More Happy Ending - Decided to check this out also. Watched bits and pieces of the first 2 episodes. Not super great, but not super awful either. I don't think I'll be continuously watching it, but I may just check in on it now and then.

Signal - I did watch episode 1 in its entirety. It's certainly intriguing and interesting and I want to continue watching it. The thing is, I can see how this requires the viewer's complete attention and I'm not sure if I can be that dedicated to it right now.

That's all for now. ....... Everyone take care and have a great Friday!

So I guess the lesson of this week is don't adapt stories that don't have endings yet. Or if you do, figure out an ending that makes all the parties happy before you start filming. Because creating an intriguing set up that you have no idea how to resolve is a recipe for disaster. Especially if you literally throw your heroine under the bus in the final episodes and take away all of her agency. I can live with open endings. I can live with unhappy endings. I can't live with an ending where the protagonist gets no say in what happens to her.

On the other hand, I'm very sad that Six Flying Dragons is down to its final episodes. Unlike many viewers, I actually get where all of the characters are coming from, and really appreciate the fact that the show has refused to provide easy heroes and villains. Regime change is messy, and it's refreshing to see a show that acknowledges that there are no simple solutions that provide utopia for everyone.

Cheese in the Trap - this cheese was so great at first, then it started to stink.

And then it started to REALLY stink, and there were some who claimed it was supposed to be a stinky cheese anyway and we just couldn't appreciate the merits of a good stinky cheese. But we can smell the difference between a great ripe French cheese and a cheese that has just been taken over by mould.

Too burned by this to watch any more airing kdramas, though I want to give Page Turner a shot when it finally gets here, for the sake of Ji-soo and Kim So-hyun. And I'll finish out Signal - thank god it has a PD who didn't get drunk on his own hype.

I may start East of Eden this week because I want to se more Park Hae-jin on my screen. But I wish I could find sources that play decent-quality video and are actually available to stream in my area :(

CITT is finally over ... It was my first time live watching and commenting on DB and it was a complete hoot! It kind of took over my real life. Thank you guys for making it such a wonderful experience

Out of the current on air shows, i'm only watching DOTS. Nice and breezy. It hasn't got its hooks into me and thats a plus. I just don;t have any energy left after CITT

Can i ask for some recommendations here? I want to watch some historicals. I have just seen 'faith' partially and QIH's Man.

I'm looking for something that not more than 30 episodes long and something preferably recent like post 2010 bec i like good production visuals. Any ideas please ???