“It's petty with a capital P”

I don’t know what is it about petty male protagonists that is so hilarious and (for me, personally) quite appealing. Maybe it’s a George Costanza effect, like we are putting the Seinfeld’s hilarious sidekick into the body of hot Korean actors. …Who knows, lol! But everything about this King, all his little petty avenges against the heroine, I find it funny as hell!

“ROOOOOOOYYAAAAALLL FAAAAVOOOOR!” 😂😂😂😂 *smack in the head* 🤝🤝🤝

@hacja

I hear you.

For me, it’s easier to separate fiction from fantasy because my focus tends to be tightly shaped by expectation. If I’m expecting an isekai-style light rom-com with food porn, I can set aside any conflicting emotions as long as the series delivers on that front (and this particular show does.) In those cases, I can laser-focus only on those aspects.

By contrast, shows like Tree With Deep Roots or Six Flying Dragons would be harder for me to compartmentalize, since my expectations for them are as serious, epic dramas about real kings. So with BAYM, I don’t feel conflicted - I simply treat it as pure fantasy. I’m curious, though, to see how they’ll handle the more “historical” elements as the story goes on, and how that will play out in the end.

This is as unclear as unclear can get.

Same. The fight scenes in this sort of good vs evil story always make me wonder why that's the only way of representing "doing battle". It's more dramatic? For me, it becomes predictable and monotonous. I'll stay for PHS. I do like his wings and how he sweeps aside anyone who gets in his way.

From Nam Goon-min to Jinyoung... What happened, Jeon Yeo-bin?

This felt a bit like a movie chopped into pieces. With only 8 episodes and a short run time, I fear that it won't live up to expectations.

Agree that Seongjae's father will not be pleased with the idea either of his offspring marrying Jihyuk's siblings.

When will get more on his stepmom's mysterious interest in Eunoh? Will another wrench in his plans with her turn out to be that she's another sister?

Another name that is recycled is The Lynx Group (most recently in the recently concluded EAGLE BROTHERS). Not only is the name recycled but we get to see the exact same logo and even the same dummy wearing the same sports outfit in the office.

I do not know if Yeong-ra is Seong-jae's stepsister or his half-sister. Seong-jae's mother is never mentioned. Either way his father is likely to object to Yeong-ra being with Su-bin's brother. However, he has effectively trapped himself into accepting Su-bin as a daughter-in-law given the deadline made to Seong-jae. He cannot even claim that Seongjae does not know her real character given how long Su-bin and Seongjae have actually known each other- he practically watched her grow up and knows her family very well. Now that Su-bin wants to marry and Seongjae essentially has to marry they are a very natural pairing once Song-jae understands that he is not going to be with Eunoh. The only question will be which of them will hit on the desirability of the match first. Note that at this moment Su-bin does not have Song-jae on her radar even though he is the one man that she knows who actually matches what she says she wants. This is a good thing because she first needs to figure out what marriage really means beyond a set of perks.

PD from Kidnapping Day
FL from Vincenzo
Joo Hyun-young who has been an asset to shows like Extraordinary Attorney Woo & Story Of Park's Marriage Contract

Sounds promising so far, but Chaebol succession (again) and moving to small town (again). I'll have to try it anyway.

Oh gosh, the Penric stories! I would never have thought of them but they are perfect k-drama fodder!

Are on the writer’s radar. This is a unique stand alone story compared to the webtoon and I think the write has done a great job adding their own twist on the story.

Week 6

The drama I have looked forward to eagerly after thoroughly enjoying the first episode ends tomorrow. I am writing this before watching the final episodes because I have enjoyed this series so much. It has stuck with the brief of being a low stress and very silly drama. I am scared that it will have a weak and frustrating ending that will steal my joy. I have been here before with two other rom coms I was heavily invested in and I don’t want this to be the third.

I was so disappointed with one of the storylines in Sh**ting stars that I nearly dropped the drama. The tonal shift felt out of synch with the general comedic tone despite the plot point making sense in the world of the drama. I stayed after reading the recap which redirected me back to all that was good and I managed to enjoy the rest of the drama despite that inclusion. The latter episodes of my fun watch No gain, no love started to hint at where things would go wrong so I expected the diversion but I was still raging when they relegated the MAIN love story to a rushed end credits countdown.

In this drama the standard second female lead trope has been used as the main vehicle for angst which feels unnecessary when there is already a love triangle with the female lead’s second form. I am concerned that the far more interesting unique elements of the couple relationship will not be properly concluded because there are a lot of elements to tie up:

Jieun/Jihun needs paperwork for long term survival in an ID based society.

Career development for Jieun/Jihun. We know Jieun has inherited the literary skillset so could potentially gain an income working in that field.

The main couple long term survival plan in the face of the prejudice and uncertainty they will have to endure. Who will need to be included in the inner circle of people who know the truth to help them overcome the challenges e.g. military service, choices re marriage and children.

Yunjae’s study abroad and future career plans.

Jieun’s sister and friend have potential changes in their relationship status that need to be addressed.

We could do with a bit more on Jieun’s family history re how far back this curse has been present and how they managed the situation long term. There is a massive gap in information around Jieun’s mum’s experience. At least we know great grandmother gained an income from poetry, but we don’t know what happened to her husband. Grandmother has her own business and people who have only known her in her male form so has been accepted in her community. We don’t know if Jieun’s grandmother’s husband was aware of the family history when he met and married his wife and if he maintained contact with his daughter. We don’t know if any of the other women had siblings to know if it only shows up in one child, there is no guarantee that Jieun’s sister is not going to experience a similar fate later in life like her grandmother.

We will see whether these or other issues...

Yes, amfalula! A college flashback had Eunho and Juihyuk with a group, where she asked if he wouldn't marry even if he met the love his life. Someone else said what if met a pretty, educated, rich woman. He laughed it off and said something about why would a woman like that ever be interested in him. It makes me wonder if, at least in part, his reasoning for rebuking Eunoh is because he doesn't think he's good enough for her? We know she thinks the opposite right now.

As for "Haneul", I just wondered if K-drama writers do little things like that since US writers do.

I watched Cinderella and the four Knights. Hanuel is the company name for Boa's dad and Hanuel house was the name of the home in Cinderella and the Four Nights. (Ahn Jae-Hyun and Jung Il Woo were both in that). Hmmm.

Love on his terms, I'm not sure. Didn't Ji Hyuk say something about---who would ever marry/love him (I can't remember exactly, but it was a flashback friend group conversation). I was thinking there is something in the past---something that has to do with the cafe since the cafe is supposed to be a kind of safe space. Our heroine also mentioned a woman that he cared for back in college. I thought it was also interesting that Boa said that Ji Hyuk wasn't the kind of person that loves----that is a serious indictment of someone. (if I understood the dialog correctly). Is he a fool for trying to protect himself emotionally? A fool for thinking he had people he could trust? A fool that he could live a decent life?

It's fun to contemplate while we wait for more episodes.

well, i couldn't finish the chicken nugget one - so this might be a good change to undo her typecasting. she's so adorable - i worry about these child actors, i hope she has fabulous parents and a good agent/manager watching over her.

Six episodes in, I’m liking the cases and the characters…. All except for the portrayal of the FL. I think the actress for the FL is the weakest of the entire cast— and I do mean the entire cast— even the supporting and side characters are acting circles around Li Lan Di (the FL actress) ☹️ The main struggle I’m having right now is that during the autopsy scenes, it’s written all over Li Lan Di’s face just how unsure of herself she is in acting out the scenes and how stiff her motions are, completely unlike the experienced person she’s supposed to be in autopsies and medical procedures.
Hopefully this improves with 24 more episodes to go!

With episodes only being 45-49 minutes each, they were watchable and quick to digest. But there needs to be more plot within that short amount of time.

Tae San hugging the familiar old man and how Geum Soon was calling him Ahjussi were cute and touching.

For a non-Korean viewer, it wasn't immediately clear who was which Zodiac animal. I could decently guess who was which by their names (I also skimmed the cast list from a while ago).

Ma Rok is human, but I was surprised to see him during the olden times looking the same. I wondered how much time had passed.

DaebakGrits is not wrong about dark and sexy demon Park Hyung Shik. x] Just a few of his facial expressions and the narrowing of his eyes has me anticipating more.

The first fight scene was nothing special. I guess the thugs were supposed to be average. They seemed extra slow and clunky with their punches and swings. I get that usually in movies/dramas, they show thugs fighting one vs one to highlight the single protagonist and/or out of fairness, but in this case, the scene felt a tad long and it would have made more sense if the rest of the thugs started attacking Tae San at once by the end. They don't have to play fair and if they saw the other members losing, they should start double-teaming (XD). Maybe this is a minor quibble. The second fight scene with the 3 Zodiac Angels was better. They looked tough and mighty against the regular humans, but not so strong against the supernatural.

I was interested and curious while watching this drama. However, after the episodes were over, I was left feeling unsatisfied. Even more so due to the short episode lengths! We don't have time for filler or lengthy fight scenes.

Well, I'm going to continue for now due to the short length and see more of Park Hyung Shik (gimme a break, I tried Buried Hearts for him and couldn't last. D;)