Whoo boy..."What would Anthony Do?"

It's funny that they havent even completed writing the story before filming ?

And that's why i loved the original and can't seem to get really, truly excited over this version.

It's the storytelling and the mood and the characterization that I can't truly get behind on.

They have only retained the cute and the fluttery and the charming but lost the angst and the pathos and the unexplained longing that DaRen has for You Qing in every smile, touch and glance which she remains clueless about.

In the original version, you seem to understand the reason why Da Ren has kept his feelings hidden for so long and there is a general acceptance that he's naturally a wimp when it comes to You Qing even if there are times that you get frustrated because it was shown that giving way and keeping things bottled up is inherent in his nature, while You Qing is the ballbuster, tough as nails best friend.

They lost that here and somehow it just makes Won look like a scaredy cat who has very shallow reasons for not telling Hannah his true feelings when she seems to reciprocate the same and willing to go the distance if only he asks her.

The netizen might surmise that Ha Ji Won's team had something to do with it; that her team wanted more of X and less of Y, whatever that might be.

But regardless, it will be hard to shake the feel of artificiality in the story now.

If something happens to HJW's character now, I will wonder if it was written in because someone told the writers to put it in after the fact, or because it was there from the beginning (organically, if that means anything anyway).

My preference is that the story, if it is a good one, is told the way it should be told. Yet what happens if the story is boring or nonsensical? Shouldn't new writers have a chance at fixing? I dunno, I guess so.

Maybe none of it matters.... if cynicism should rule the day.

And suddenly my vague fear that Jin Wook has a serious medical condition is looking a lot more likely.

This saddens me immensely for LJW's sake who's doing really well as Won.

There is something bothering me.

In the original, the female lead was really strong, selfish and harsh, difficult to handle. That is why *spoileeer* when they were young the male lead who had 2 strong woman in his house, said he would never fall in love with a 3º difficult woman. He would never fall in love with strong headed female lead who did and said what she wanted. (SPOILER ENDS)

So, in the korean one, Hana isn't as difficult as the tw female lead, and there isn't much to understand WHY Won would say "I'll never love you" seems like the korean version is going by "mother issues" and etc.

I don't see much fear by Won. Why he can't confess? In the tw version, he really had fear of losing the girl, because he had no idea how she would react.

I've watched the original Taiwanese version.

I actually like the characters in this drama more. You Qing was one headstrong woman and while I can resonate with the character, I think the writers took her to one extreme. Li Da Ren on the other hand is a real doormat. I much prefer the Korean version of Won.

Having said that, the new character dynamics make it seem even odder that Won couldn't confess to Hana. But then, I also couldn't understand why Li Da Ren couldn't do so with You Qing as well considering their many years of friendship.

There were many comments that praised the TW version saying that it dwells on the friendship aspect more and the realization of love came later. I beg to disagree. Li Da Ren realized that he love You Qing right from the start. It's his own fear and cowardice that prevents him from confessing. To be frank, I didn't like both characters very much in the TW version but I like the friendship aspect and that's what held me on to the story. In the K version, I like both characters and the friendship aspect. I just didn't think the premise works for these two characters when they have to explain why Won didn't confess; unless they are going to pull one of the famous K tropes.

This makes me really sad because I just love how Lee Jin Wook plays Won. Well, Lee Jin Wook's performance in general. Hopefully this doesnt drastically change how he'a doing things. :(

This is Anthony way, He will swap the writer, then suddenly they are sibbling, and Hannah got accident, have an amnesia, in the end jump into the future and she been telling this story when she already old woman. This will be happen if the next 4 episode if it doesn't got ratings wise.
Like Empress Ki, suddenly JJM got a less and less screentime, and in the end it became a Makjang Sageuk, with every male in the both kingdon fell for Empress Ki.
Poor Lee Jin Wook ...poor...poor poor LJW, if the 2nd lead appear, and they got rating rise, we can bet LJW will have his screenless time.
drama...drama...drama..#sighed...runtopreferotherchannelwithadorablenonhuman

For me, the past weekends episodes were the worst - they portray Won was manipulative of HaNa's feelings and controlling of her life by pulling her away and not allowing her to get closure from a past relationship.

In the original, Li DaRen was angry with her decision but still a supportive and loving friend because it was HER choice...

I'm bowing out here but I hope it gets better for everyone, I mean, it's not hard writers...it's already written for you!

They are both acting well. I think the problem is just this sloooooowww plot more than anything. Literally nothing happens in this drama besides the endless "are they friends or more than friends" angle.

Makjang type drama still reigns supreme every weekend. I think SBS think that this drama will get the same rating as the other makjang-type drama hehe

Why they didn't work with I Need Romance franchise writer? She already proved she's pretty good with romance series especially her last writing Discovery of Romance which showed very strong headed female lead character. I think she's pretty good handling the story without villain, amnesia or makjang components with more realistic story around younger generations.