This is all good information, and good context so thank you for patiently laying it out. I'm old and I should have more patience for this dubbing tradition in cdramas. But to me, it's on the actor to better their voice delivery as part of their skill set -- after all, if LYN totes an acting coach with him to every drama challenge (and look at the results), others can learn too or at least make the effort.

OTH, I recently had this experience. I rewatched KUNNING PALACE, which was own-voice dubbed. I very much like the plot, it's a challenging story. But on rewatch I noticed the line delivery was flat, emotionless, as if the actors were disconnected from the story itself. Disembodied might be a better word for it. My conclusion was a) missed that first time around and b) even own-voice dubbing can fail a production. There must be a lot of technical details about own-voice dubbing that make it effective or fail to do same.

That is what I am afraid of- that this is just a cameo and indeed it would be a waste of her talents.

But by the way; You get a flash-forward as the very first thing in episode one.
He asks an interviewer if she promises he will be anonymous, and she confirms that. Then she ask something like "You were a Chef at the Blue ... [ whatever that royal thing is called], right?"
And he says "Not "a" chef. The first. "
The interviewer is confused a bit, but the interview starts.
So that's the show's future Bong-hwan.

Tang Jun-sang's first look as L in the musical adaptation of Death Note *gasp* That faint smile got me mesmerized 😊

I didn't know he was a musical actor as well, and L is his first work on stage after a nine-year absence, and his first leading musical role.

I am not so sure Bong-hwan was happy about switching back, really ... the way he laughs when he looks in that old history book is very mixed up with crying, if you ask not just me, but actually also some of the Viki-commentors.

In real life, that king had several children (five, I think?) who all died in infancy. It was tough being a baby back then , but also, there was probably strong interests at stake making it a severe risk to be a little prince or princess.
Cheol-jong died in his thirties.
But this is fantasy, so luckily ... I have a flow chart for the future, coming in a post near you very soon!
Everyone can choose the ending they like, and if they don't find it among my suggestions, they can make one and tag the rest of us!
From my earlier Flow Chart and my comments I think you'll pick up a hint of what I think about the So-young's return to her former body, and prioritising a meeting when they were children as the right basis for a life together, including sex and babies, rather than falling in love when you are a (young) grown-up fighting corruption and cruelty side by side.
I knew of course how it ended, and with that, I could see how Shin Hye-sun subtly let So-young be there once in a while, though I do not agree with the Viki commentors who see So-young every time there is attraction or love. I most firmly do not agree. When it's Bong-hwan ... and that's most of the time ... there is for a long time his struggle with himself because he is NOT ready to have those feelings. He does SO much to negate what he does, even when he first defended the King who was out incognito, and when the same morning he wanted to touch the sleeping King's face but then rolled away the moment the King opened his eyes.
He didn't roll away because "Bong-hwan came back"; he rolled away because the King was awake, and he suddenly had an "audience" also making it more real for himself.
Later, when Bong-hwan stops fighting it, you can recognize his love sometimes in a pause where he kind of ... wonders about his own feelings, not as
"Do I feel this?" but as
"Huh. So I feel this, very much. I never knew ... ".
But even after the last kiss, when he correctly feels that it's now or never, he goes "Well, it was just ... " I don't recall what he says, but he is very shy about being so emotional.

I think maybe the contradiction you noticed is true: Maybe the artists making this story really wanted the story of Bong-hwan and the King falling in love in spite of ... nearly all things, really, ... but couldn't get a prime time spot and get the show financed without delivering a nice hetero-cis ending.

I watched the mini serie Miss Austen and it was a beautiful story about the stong bond between 2 sisters. Being a woman in this era really sucked if you were surrounded by weak brothers...

Dear Dorotka, if or when you later can pick this up again, please tag us back so we can talk again about each episode!

Thank you! I love Honey Lee, that trailer looks amazing, and the show is on Netflix! You are my MVP today. 🥰

@dorotka Mine sometimes does the same on Brave too. It's like it's scanning the collapsed replies to find the one it's looking for.

@zindigo, @isagc - what a mess! At this point there is way more drama and mystery around distribution than both shows combined.

@cliosservant1846 modern and costume dramas are not comparable, I'm afraid - standards for the latter are much higher, not it the least because there is a different type of speech required. Hence why modern shows are overdubbed nowhere near as often. And WHD, bless him, was criticized heavily in every drama he dubbed himself. Not only for his thick Sichuanese accent (that was left in DAFENG deliberately as self-irony, I believe, his Mandarin has gotten way better lately), but also not clear enough diction. There are many elements to good voice acting, according to Chinese audience, so here's that.

I'd say they ARE overreacting a bit, but let me give you more close to home example: there's this comedienne-turned-actress in my country and the movie she's FL in was in theaters not long ago, with its ads and trailers everywhere, so even totally uninterested me couldn't escape it... and her line delivery in those trailers is ATROCIOUS: she dropped her trademark "country" accent for it, but delivers her narration flatter than a robot, lifelessly and monotonous, like she's reading a microwave manual in a language she doesn't really know. It was hysterically bad and made me think back to all cnetz complaints about why some actors NEED to be dubbed. I still think it's the case of "give them a chance to learn" rather than flat out dismissal early on, but perhaps we need to wait a few more years until this relatively new idea of "everyone should dub themselves" takes a root properly. And certain actors actually listen to feedback on their performance and make an effort to improve.

@nivar
I have no problem with that, but I have to wait a bit - like, it takes me to the page, waits a second and then jumps to the comment.
(I use Brave as a browser.)

@anne18
Hugs... and come back 😘
(Or you can lazy around with us in the new weekender hangout 😉🙂)

Thank you for tagging me every week. 😘
I unfortunately had to give up, Real Life got way too busy.
I hope you guys had a blast, I remember that especially during the first half I laughed a lot... and that I really enjoyed a lot of actors here, not only the great Shin Hyesun.

How would the Beanies know what to vote on? We have all been caught out with a drama that looked good on paper but then turned into a nightmare and vice versa. The recapers need time to plan their watch and write time so may only be available for a certain shows run time, or prefer a specific genre etc. They have often signed up for a show and then been trapped with a dud Heavenly idol, Bad memory eraser, DNA lover…. The list is long.

A fun drama, except for the one episode. I enjoyed this rewatch. Everyone went back to their respective eras and revenge was had. I liked this drama then and I like it now!!

I guess we can't always get everything we want and must be happy with what they can offer @dorotka

@midnight
I see it as work in progress 😊
(At least I hope the plan IS to have back the multilevel discussion threads.)

What seems to work now is the referring to a comment further than on the first page (the page2 curse is broken 🙂).

@amnesiayawns @zindigo

I love this theory🥰 it definitely fits for a fairy tale. We need a flashback to the origin story and I bet we will see a Joseon era love triangle with annoying girl’s ancestor putting a curse on Jieun’s family because Yunjae’s relative chose Jieun’s relative over her😬

In Good day to be a dog they had to be kissed while they were in the dog form and if it didn’t happen within a set time they stayed like that forever. I wonder if it will be about endurance e.g. the male form has to feel loved and receive a genuine kiss or their partner staying with them long term to demonstrate that it’s a permanent love.

I don’t get if that’s why she only had a short period where she returned to being her normal self. Is there two tests and Yunjae passed the first hurdle but now he needs to hang around for a designated period of time to show he will be there for the long term? It is soooooooooooo frustrating not knowing the story of parents or grandparents. Now is the time they need to start talking, there are no excuses.

At least in Good day to be a dog the kids were told the problem and the solution while they were children. They also knew about the long term consequences.

@ceciliedk @dncingemma @sonai @mazarin @unaspirated @kafiyah-bello @mmmmm @jhonsberger @dorotka @claire2009 @xococo @abalyn @23new2kdrama @amnesiayawns @minniegupta1 @joanna