The 'annoying voice' that you are referring to is part of acting. The young Chae-gyung grew up in the countryside so she has that accent. I personally think its charming.

I am sorry to comment like I am beaten the dead horse but I can't see how the camera is lagging or bad in the action scenes, can you say when it happens?

One of the things that I appreciate a lot in this drama is how clear the action scenes showed. When the fighting happens in a muddy place and has a lot of body roll, the view is as blurry as the character so we can see how every move can't be precise and how people can get stabbed accidentally like in the ep after Yeok needs to go to the countryside.

When the fight is in clear ground and precise we see who hurts whom and how it happened, like the arrow scenes and the confrontation.

If what you mean is the "looked at the floor angle" when someone is slashed, it because of the PG 15, can't do much about it.

For all respect, I can see why it's not for everyone but I can't see that the directing is why people can't love it.

Also, I am not sure if we preview make us can't love something, yes it's frustrating but many drama previews also misleading from the actual things that happen and I think we all know that preview isn't mean to be taken literally, besides this drama had been doing it from the starts, that's the style they choose and we are not unguarded.

If someone don't like your favorite, that's not means that you better than them. Favorite is just something that hard to explain. For a drama or movie or anything else, there's must be at least a viewer/people love it, that doesn't mean anything.

That mixture of lowbrow humor and high tragedy is very characteristic of sageuk though, I can't think of a single sageuk that doesn't have it to some degree. Just look at King and Clown which is set in the very same historical period. It's very Shakespearean actually, calling it tonal whiplash when it is actually a feature of the genre is imo a misnomer.

> I went in expecting a tragic love story

I think the 1st episode actually make it quite tragic as they show what the show gonna be, the beginning is intense like how park min young with tears want to stab yeon woo jin while hugging him,
iirc, they also have the intense sign of cruelty by yeonsangun, the horse ride that is intense, the hate love to the boy who just wants to do a ceremony on his own?
1st episode is introduction, isn't it too much to ask for tragedy even when we don't know who is who.

> Obviously it takes a while for a show to set things up and get the plot moving, but first impressions are really important.

you've said it, it takes a while yet the almost stab you while hugging isn't a plot?
I mean, it's the 1st ep, shouldn't you wait if you know it takes a while?
the child story does take a while but it also tragic,

I am sorry that I couldn't understand how that early minutes is what makes the most memorable in the 1st impression as opposed to what gonna happen in the future that we've seen in the opening (the almost stab you while being queen- things),
the complete opposition is the tragedy that they want to convey

How do you expect it to be tragic off the bat...Even in other tragic sageuks you still need the introduction and usually it is a bit lighthearted in the beginning. At least in this drama it shows how tragic it will be right from the opening (most just start off being all happy lol). I mean i respect that this might have not been the drama/humor for you, but I think it is a bit much to expect tragedy, angst, and heartbreak from the very beginning. If you aren't willing to "waste time" watching to see if it is worth it just wait for the drama to finish or reach it's climax. I purposely didn't start 7DQ until 14 episodes were aired already cause I know sageuks take a long time to get to the climax and interesting portion of the plot. You can't expect a 20 ep drama to get dramatic from the start...you need character development and buildup.

If they had the Razzie equivalent in Korea, I'll nominate the writer and PD of Ruler!

I think that's about the only thing Ruler deserves.

For Rebel, I'll go for Kim Sang Joong but the chances are zilch if based on voting.

Based on previous years, Daesang is given based on votes especially on MBC, not sure other stations based on fully votes or not.

These days I think it's more of an appreciation award for the high ratings.
It's almost rare if they'd picked someone deserving of it like the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Kim Hye-ja is probably the most decorated Daesang winner of all time with about 7 wins.

I'm not fan of yoona's acting but I'll check the 1st ep of the king loves to see how siwan intepreted his role.

I watched first epi, but have to say the spoiler at the beginning kinda turn me off a bit.. I love the ladies, so definitely will check it out.

They already did it in episode 12 with 5.5%

Thank you! I'll definitelt check it out.

No, I am not. I just based my prediction mostly on hype and popularity of leads.

somehow I agree with you. King Loves had bunch of idols with massive fans, especially Yoona and Shiwan, like you said, are quite well liked idols, of course everybody going to watch and talk about it. Not that I mind thou.

The only drama that I'm predicting would top the Mon/Tues slot is "Falsify" which will premier on July 24.
Idols are not much of a draw in sageuks and legal dramas are their peak right now with the current politics in Korea.
Falsify has great solid actors for a serious drama. Namgung Min is also at the height of his career after the successful "Chief Kim."

I gave school the lowest ratings because of the genre and the cast are relatively unknown although I love both Kim Jung Hyun and Jang Dong Yoon in what I've seen them in so far.

I doubt that I will watch School 2017 - for me that entire School series is getting a bit stale. But Korea seems to follow idols vs story/directing than many countries, so it might do OK there.

I hope so too!

I am hoping Falsify will be good. I like Yoo Joon Sang a lot in Pied Piper and looking forward to Nam Goong Min in a thriller for a change. But after FOS, it's harder these days to watch a thriller/crime drama if the quality isn't really all there.

"Save me", starting in August might also be a sleeper hit. Overall, the upcoming season looks a lot better than the current one. Of the dozen or so that I started, I dropped 3/4 of them less than halfway through. FOS is pretty much my only Must See one airing now.

You may be right - when ever I see that "coming of age" line in the hype, I suspect it is going to be just another formula cliche based drama.

No, but I'm guessing you could pretty much do the same on the Open Thread, or even your wall--sometimes you get a bite or two.

Yes I remember that! It's called Drama Hang-out ?

I missed an entire weekof drama because I was really busy or almost two because FoS is on weekend, had to do the same with 7 Day Queen too then I think, if the audience accidentally missing an ep or two, it can be hard to swallow as we don't really remember much if we are not discussing it with anyone, especially people who watch it live.

Then the audience finally catches up and there is no little victory. I don't think it about my taste right now, I didn't realise how much I missed this little moment of "here's the truth" before a bigger truth until now. Seo Dong Jae part is the kind of a little victory I've thought but it hasn't been much.

Perhaps next week will have more things achieve in the good guys way but I understand why the rating isn't as big as I thought it should be based on how I enjoy it.

Believe me, there are a lot of reasons for k-drama viewers _not_ to like FoS. A lot of people don't like political or legal thrillers or crime procedurals. Many people only watch romance dramas. A lot of people want to watch shows casually with no penalty when they miss an episode or three. Many viewers don't like to have to keep track of the motives and doings of more than a handful of characters. And many more reasons ...

On the other hand, there are not a lot of reasons why a regular k-drama audience _should_ like FoS. Its main strengths are impeccable writing and great acting, two things that are absent from almost all successful k-dramas, meaning that they are unnecessary and unimportant to the majority of viewers.

FOS is clearly not for everyone.
Don't make ppl's opinions influence you that much, at the end of the day if is based on your own taste and preference. Ppl love and not love any show for reasons.

You're not alone, I guess, in sort of way. I started watching FoS last two weeks, and I'm just at episode 3. The show is interesting, but it doesn't really give me enough hype to continue watching the next episode. But I'm still gonna give it a try until ep 6 and see how it goes.

Agree with everyone here! There is nothing wrong with you or the people of South Korea.
It's pretty much understandable why the ratings is where it's at. It's good for it's timeslot and there is a lot of competition during the weekend.
I'd be grateful if it'll hit 5% for this amazing cast.