Hehhehheh!! But wait, where? I have been away from DB for a whole day (imagine that!!) and I need to know which oppa’s fans/ anti- fans are the next target!
Positive comments about Nam Joo Hyuk in BOTWG were getting lots of downvotes. And I saw a beanie who’s fan wall posts about Ji Chang Wook all had a downvote or two.
Yeah I just went through the fan wall posts… everyone seemed to be talking about the downvotes… Maybe it is time that the DB team rethinks this downvoting business!
While I am glad that Bride of the Water God deviates heavily from the manhwa, I do wish they had kept Habaek\’s child form in some way. There\’s so much comedic material they could\’ve gotten from that.
Does he like poof into a kid and poof back to being adult? If so, I would feel bad for the CG or whoever’s in charge of changing him to child form if they do that. It’s not convenient to do in a drama.
He is child in the day & can take adult form only at night but the female lead doesnt know.. causes a lot of hijinks and missed identity in the manhwa.
Would’ve been fun to have that done well in the drama.. but i dont see it being incorporated even later in the series.. unless some sorta curse befalls him from the kissing? Namsuri did seem worried bout his powers
Rainbow Unicorn explained it well, but I don’t think it’s necessary to show the transformation onscreen (I don’t think they really did in the manhwa). Personally if I were to write it though, I would make it so she finds out pretty quickly that Habaek and the kid are one and the same. It was really stupid in the manhwa that she couldn’t figure it out and in modern setting I don’t think it would make sense for her to just befriend a random kid. It’d be funny if she just ended up having to take care of him while in kid form knowing it was him and having to explain to the people she knows why she has a child following her around all of the sudden.
Done with The Bride of the Water God ep 1. I probably would\’ve liked a lot more if not for the boar attacking them, that left a bad taste in my mouth. Hopefully no \”vicious\” animals in the future.
Just when I was starting to like The Bride of the Water God they ruin it with a dumb scene of a wild boar attacking them unprovoked. And they had to shoot it, ugh that made me really upset.
Where\’s my fish out of water humor? Why are they just riding on the back of a truck like it\’s no big deal? Why aren\’t they the least bit fazed by modern technology???
Yeah it would’ve been hilarious, Habaek is such a stiff guy so far so I really wanted to see him freak out over something modern. I guess it’s because his world is fantasy so maybe he just thinks of it like magic and not out of the ordinary. The humor seems like it will come more from the vastly different values he has compared to modern values.
Right? I like him in funny more than serious roles. I also expected him to be clumsy but he’s pretty mature and has deep thoughts. I’m going to watch it again. I watched it earlier without subs. lol
OMG Why am I laughing so much? I was expecting them to just film his upper body/legs when he’s supposed to be nekkid like most dramas, but nah they are going for full body with a blur!
Lol what is this plot? This is nothing like the manhwa (not necessarily a bad thing because the manhwa is awful). This actually feels like a typical fantasy C-drama more than anything.
Yayy! I thought I was the only one who didn’t really enjoy that manhwa so much and was wondering what the great fuss was about.. I mean the story line had so much potential but it fizzled out in like 10 chapters.. no proper conflict or resolution!
Lol, yeah I was surprised about seeing mostly praise for the manhwa from beanies who’d read it because it’s pretty makjang in a way and has all the characteristics of what most of us would think of a really bad drama having (weak helpless female lead, cold abusive male lead, crazy second female lead, ect.). I think people are duped by the “pretty” art into thinking it’s a good manhwa, but if you’ve ever studied art formally then you can tell it’s not actually good at all. Her characters were always so stiff and don’t feel like real people, the clothing was not right, no knowledge of basic anatomy, inconsistent proportions, and worse the artist didn’t seem to know the very basics of paneling and how to tell a story with sequential art. I remember being so confused because the flow from panel to panel and page to page was so bad. Thankfully the drama is so far being pretty irreverent to the source material and only really taking the character’s names and the water god idea.
OMG Thank YOU! yes yes yes to all the criticism about the story characters and the art! I mean the characters always looked so lifeless… and then u have some really good manga artists like in Skip-beat where just the eyes can convey so much emotion!
I think most of us were excited about the pretty art, I didn’t finish reading the manhwa myself I was done after Habaek wouldn’t stop angsting after Nak-bin one million times. I loved Child Habaek too cause he provided a lot of funny moments with So-ah. We just really wanted to see the art translate into pretty moving pictures. At least, I did anyway.
I am the Queen of Downvotes apparently. Why don\’t comments that compare Yeonsangun to Hitler (a genuinely offensive and ludicrous comparison) get downvotes, but mine do?
Lol, for a few months I had less than 10, then the article about Lee Byung Hun getting cast in an upcoming drama came and it went up to like 65 because of my comments about how I like his acting and defended the decision to cast him (mostly by reminding people of the fact that he’s still very much a successful top star, not the scandal-ridden struggling loser they wish he was). After that I stopped caring and will now share all my unpopular opinions regardless of how much downvotes it gets me. It’d be nice if they’d just get rid of downvotes though, I don’t understand why that’s a feature but there’s no way to report genuinely offensive comments and spam.
I noticed that thread. Scandals and Kim Eun Sook tend to cause heated discussions.
I think it’s cool to stop caring about what others think and just speak your mind. Wish I could learn it one day…
I stopped caring about down votes and angering people with my opinions back when “Scarlet Heart: Ryeo” was airing and being recapped here… Apparently, calling out people (and sometimes, the recapped) for uncalled bashing of a show and it’s actors/actresses on things not even related about the drama is a bad thing XD
No worries and you aren’t queen of downvotes, I am, on netizenbuzz I am still getting negative comments which have 15-45 likes.
You made good points and I enjoyed reading your mini-history lesson, so don’t feel bad about it (and don’t try to make sense)
It’s not a big deal but I need to rant a bit about all the people tossing around the idea that low ratings for 7DQ are all because Koreans no likely romantic/sympathetic portrayals of Yeonsangun.
I think it gets at a larger issue which is the tendency of some people to act like they know everything about Korean culture and how Koreans feel about a given thing. I saw someone literally compare how Koreans feel about Yeonsangun to how Jews feel about Hitler. *facepalm* As a Jewish person myself I find that borderline offensive. I’m not going to make a big deal about it because the person probably just didn’t think about that point before they wrote it. Tyrants aren’t all created equal. Folks, Yeonsangun didn’t commit mass genocide. And he lived 500 years ago, so it’s not “too soon” lol.
Sure he had a lot of people killed in often gruesome ways for petty reasons, but like that’s pretty much normal bad ruler in a monarchy stuff, figures like him are in every country’s history. And because their victims aren’t alive today to get upset, there isn’t anyone who cares when they are portrayed sympathetically/romantically/heroically. An example would be Genghis Khan, he raped and killed a bunch of Chinese women and conquered the country, but China makes dramas/movies about what an awesome heroic dude he was all the time.
The thing is nothing Yeonsangun really did had a significant and lasting impact on the Korean peninsula, so all he’s really thought of is as a really crazy Joseon era King. I’m pretty sure if he didn’t exist the Korean War still would’ve happened. No one is modern day Korea really cares how Yeonsangun is depicted in dramas except maybe history buffs who complain about every inaccuracy in sagueks. He’s more of a joke for how ridiculously insane and tyrannical he was (like making Sungkyunkwan into a brothel for his personal use), much like Caligula is to Italians. Caligula is actually the perfect comparison to Yeonsangun, both had major mommy issues and obsessed over avenging them, both were infamous for sexually deviant behavior, and both relished in having people executed in horrific ways for petty reasons. And trust me Italians wouldn’t care if Caligula was depicted in a romanticized way, been there done that.
The thing is sometimes dramas just get bad ratings just because. Often there isn’t really a discernible reason. So let’s not come up with nonsensical theories without any proof okay?
Like you said, they are theories. With concrete proof, they won’t be theories anymore but facts. I don’t think people are passing around that theory as facts. All we can say is those theories merit challenge, but I personally don’t think it’s fair to expect people to stop coming up with theories just because we don’t agree with them.
The theory that the Korean audience might find this particular whitewashing of Yeonsangun not to their taste has been offered since ep5 or so, but no one really paid too much attention to it, until a comment by a Korean themselves popped up in a recent recap thread. I would always avoid to conclude that their view is representative of the Korean viewer base, but it does offer an insight into what a historically conscious Korean might feel about the drama. It’s not the sole reason, but it’s definitely one of many reasons to consider. Then the Korean audience on which rating data are collected seem to love sageuks as the pattern of sageuks generally getting decent to high ratings has been observed for years. For such a group of sageuk-lovers to tune out of their favourite genre, there have to be some reasons. People at first speculated that it was mainly due to the sad ending, and this particular theory about reaction to Yeonsangun whitewashing was initially offered as a counter-argument to that speculation. It was never advertised or accepted as the only reason. I don’t know about other people, but I personally find it another plausible theory to add to the table, besides the lack of star-power and probably promotion and strong competition during the same timeslot. There is actually another theory that has been offered; that is Rebel recently portrayed the same figure and people might suffer from a Yeonsangun fatigue. I find that one plausible as well as another possible explanation.
Lastly, I personally don’t think it is a fact that knetz on Naver and Nate are from the households from which data are collected for TV viewing habits. I tend to treat them as two separate groups of Korean viewers and the view of one group does not necessarily represent that of the other. In discussion on ratings, I tend not to include knetz reactions for that reason.
If you are going to advance this theory passed on a comment by a single person claiming to be Korean, then how is the top comments from knetz not a more valid piece of evidence as to how the k-audience feels? It’s a simple numbers games, the top comments have 1000-2000 upvotes, so we know at least that many Koreans feel that way, which is a lot more than one person on here. I’m not going to say that knetz comments are 100% always represent the accurate viewpoint of k-audience, but they are at least more representative than that one person. In the end I think regardless of Yeonsangun’s portrayal in this drama it would not have done well with traditional saguek-viewers. It’s a not a traditional saguek after all, it’s a tragic romance that deviates from history in a lot of ways. And since it lacks star power it’s unable to draw in viewers who don’t typically watch saguek. And I have seen people claim this as the main reason parroting off the one comment from a Korean and getting defensive when I suggested they may be jumping to conclusions. Having read that person’s comments a lot of the things they said are just ludicrous, like that Koreans see Yeonsangun as just as bad as Kim Jong-un. That’s just not true, people are always going to feel much stronger about more recent leaders/tyrants, than ones from 500 yrs ago. And I think if a significant amount of people were really that offended by Yeonsangun in 7DQ there would be opinion articles on Korean sites about it, just like you get all the time in the US whenever there’s some controversy over a tv show or movie or something, but I’m pretty sure there aren’t any.
Just to clarify, I didn’t ‘advance’ that theory and I made it clear in my previous comments that I wouldn’t pass it on as ‘fact’. I also wrote that that one comment wasn’t representative of the whole Korean viewer base. I said explicitly that it was one more possible explanation to consider. In many respects it’s just as valid as other reasons, such as Yeonsangun fatigue, lack of star power, lack of promotion, late to competition etc etc.
When a person finds an explanation plausible to them, it is just natural that they will steadfastly hold on to that belief. They can be right, or they can be wrong, but then there’s no way to find out. At the end of the day, none of us here has access to the target Korean audience to ask them for the exact reasons why they didn’t choose 7DQ in the first place, and for those who did, gradually chose to tune out. All the reasons we’re suggesting here are mere speculations and finding explanations for ratings is therefore just a speculating game to me. We gain nothing and lose nothing from suggesting, accepting, or refusing to believe in a possible reason. I see what people are doing with speculations on ratings are just their own way to come to terms with the disappointing ratings and find some comfort in the fact that their beloved show is not popular among the audience it’s intended for. Regardless of how people think of this practice, I still find it much healthier than bashing the Korean audience for not appreciating the show, which I have seen elsewhere and personally found disturbing.
Anyway, the reason offered is just one among many explanations for the steady decrease in 7DQ’s ratings. Whether believing in it or not is completely up to us and we all have a choice in adopting or rejecting a view that we see here on this site. I understand your sentiment if you don’t buy that speculation, and I do think if you find problem with it being passed around as fact, it is your right to challenge it. However, just because it’s an unpopular opinion doesn’t mean it’s completely nonsense and that people cannot voice it out.
P.S., re. the articles about Yeonsangun’s portrayal in 7DQ. I might be wrong but I don’t think there are that many serious reviews of Korean dramas in Korea. Not just 7DQ, but other dramas as well. So there is a chance that people are indeed not offended by the portrayal of Yeonsangun in 7DQ but there is equally a chance that there is no serious review that captures that sentiment.
Sorry, I didn’t mean “you” as in actually “you”, just meant more generally people that were advancing the theory. Unfortunately many people do seem to take that one comment as representative, so my point was merely that from a statistical perspective, the k-netz comments are more likely to be representative of the overall opinion of k-audience. However it’s also possible neither is really representative. I agree with pretty much everything you said, so I don’t have much to say. I probably shouldn’t have called it nonsensical, I can see how that can upset someone. I was pretty upset over the truly nonsensical comparison of Hitler to Yeonsangun, so that lead to me being more angry/annoyed at those advancing the theory then I should’ve been. I’m sorry for that.
No need to say sorry. My job is a sub-branch of sociology so I understand how a comment which the writer thought was innocent can be hurtful to another person. It happens a lot in intercultural communication and sometimes for valid reasons one side would choose not to be confrontational about it. However having read through several case studies I know bottling up might not be the best solution since we would still feel upset and the other person would still not be aware and might make the same mistake again, though it might not be their fault either (because they might not have been there and might not understand the harm of their probably unwittingly offensive comment).
I also understand that by speculating ratings theories we are all assuming the voice of the actual Korean viewer base. Well if there was an actual case study on them they might surprise us all by quoting a reason we all don’t expect, so I’d personally just stick to whatever reasons I would buy to keep me distracted from the dismal ratings. The reason why I buy that explanation more than the others is simply because I refuse to believe that the Korean dislike the acting, writing and directing of 7DQ, which I personally like. But that’s just my biased mind talking rather than statistical facts 🙂
Also, another note to say I’m sorry a comment have made you feel offended because they assume your own opinion in a way you don’t think is true to what you feel. I understand your decision not to let them know about it, but I’d let the other person know that their comment doesn’t sit well with my POV if I were in the same situation as yours. DB is an international site where people of many cultures gather and discuss, and sometimes cultural misunderstanding happens. I think it’d be beneficial for us all to know where to draw the line in the future so that we won’t hurt other people unintentionally by touching on issues that might be culturally or politically inappropriate for some beanies.
Well, it’s opinion and it’s not conclusive, and it is not based on research done by collecting data / surveys in why Korean don’t watch it (the rating itelf shows that only a small group of koreans watching it, they might watch it online etc but it doesn’t count in the rating) . It depends on individual to agree or not. No one knows what exactly caused the low rating, it is case by case. Some drama are terrible, so if their rating is low, it’s easier to be apprehended. I don’t find it is any wrong ppl trying to find out why for such quality drama doesn’t get the rating that it deserves and in fact keeps declining, especially when the competitions are not big enough. Of course there were some others quality drama which didn’t get a good rating, but sageuk is a genre that easily get audiences, at least around 6%-8% for public channels. Even when Hwarang another KBS sageuk was quite terrible, can even get higher rating than this drama. I think that’s why more ppl are curious about the low rating of this drama, hence few theories came up.
I mean it’s fine to come up with theories and analyze why a drama is getting bad ratings, but people are getting really defensive over this particular theory for some reason, when it’s just probably not true. People, who aren’t history buffs, usually only get offended about historical figures being depicted inaccurately when they are recent like within the past century or two. Historical distance does a lot to the perception of a ruler or other historical figure, they tend to become more and more cartoonish and the things they actually did become less relevant. The worst leader in Korean history for most Koreans is probably Chun Doo-hwan and yes they’d likely be VERY offended by any interpretation of him that leans towards sympathetic. But that’s because there are people who lived through it still around. Yeonsangun not so much.
You have a point..Some ppl might still have a strong hatred towards Yeonsangun but some might don’t really care.
In my opinion, speaking from the context of sageuk fans in Korean who prefer traditional type sageuk – something like Rebel Thief Who Stole the People, probably cannot connect with this drama since it is a heavy romance sageuk.
It’s also different with some other romance sageuk such as Moonlights, Moonlovers and Rulers – these drama had popular names in their drama, so it was easier to attract the non-sageuk fans to tune in for these drama because they are their fans. Based on my observation, to attract more viewers to tune it for these romance sageuk is by casting popular names. We will see if this theory applies to upcoming The King Loves since Yoona is also a popular name in Korea.
Actually, I don’t think the drama is trying to romanticize him. He’s still bad. Instead, they are offering possible reasons to his insanity. There’s always a reason behind every kind of behaviour. People don’t just become evil. I’m loving Lee Donggun’s portrayal and I think he’s so awesome but that doesn’t make me think lightly of Yeonsangun’s crimes. So yeah, I personally don’t get this romanticizing thing.
I agree and I think it’s more that they aren’t really showing the terrible things he did, his sexual deviancy, seonbi purges, violent executions, ect. But I think most Koreans know that, so it isn’t necessary to depict. I mean this is broadcast television, so they really couldn’t even get that graphic with the details and even if they could I think it would turn off a lot of viewers who don’t really need to see it to know the terrible things he did.
I do think they’re romanticising Yeonsangun. Not that I think romanticising historical figures is wrong or a bad thing to do.
Actually Rebel, a recently ended sageuk, also depicted Yeonsangun and was rather graphic with his violence tendency. There was a scene where he sat on the steps, blood splattered on his face, watching two blood-soaked sacks with his two concubines inside as their body twitched in pain, near death. Only the procedure leading up to that wasn’t shown. The show was on one of the ‘big 3’ public broadcast channels and viewers still faithfully stuck to it, with the number of viewers increasing towards the end when Yeonsangun sank further into madness and his insanity was full-blown. I therefore don’t think people would be deterred from the faithful portrayal of his insanity.
I have to agree with people saying that Yeonsangun in 7DQ is romanticised, though I understand that the move might be necessary considering the focus of the drama. It doesn’t hurt me personally anyway, since I’m not from Korea and detached from their history.
I like all the subtle hints that Grandpa was probably also a mob boss in addition to an entertainment CEO. Connections like that weren’t uncommon irl back in the 90’s entertainment business lol.
Yes drama, this is what you do best, parodying romance tropes not playing them straight. This was funny but it’s also been done before a lot and the trope isn’t even really played seriously anymore.
I know it\’s really early in his acting career, but can I get Cha Eun-woo as a main lead like right now? Pretty please! Maybe in a webdrama? He has so much potential.
I was mostly just jokingly shipping MJ-WS out of spite for the love triangle, but idk I think they are my fav now. Glad I won’t be sticking around to see poor MJ’s heart broken.
My very favorite scene of this entire tragedy so far was when Grandpa totally forgot Malsook’s name and he was trying to tell Bo Hee to pick her up from the bus. You know. There’s a little girl who lives with us. She’s about this big. Yeah. Yeah. Her.
The staff are completely justified in yelling at WS and not caring about her injury. She’s the one who broke expensive equipment and caused it to fall on someone else and injure them. I DUN CARE
I mean sure, but that equipment probably costs several hundred dollars, so they have a right to be angry at her. That could easily cost her job. And yeah she gets into accidents all the time but only so one of the guys can show up to save her. That’s why I’m so done with this show.
It was obviously done to show how cool Hyun-Jae/Woo Sung can be….I love this drama a lot, but this love triangle is ruining it for me. Super cool-can do everything Woo Sung gets in trouble every episode and boys take turns to save her.
We have so many good characters, interesting relationships (trainee Bros, Mc Drill and Vlive, biological father and his son), so why are we even spending time on some needless drama tropes?
I think, I would be okay if it happened in any other drama but for some reason I have too high expectations on this one…
Yep, it’s so contrived solely so Hyun-jae could show up and “save” her even though she really didn’t deserve to be “saved” in this moment. And this is like the 8th time this has happened.
It really gets me that with such good characters and all the relationships that can be explored they choose to focus on a love angle that really doesn’t make any sense and is the least interesting and well-developed. I mean I still don’t see HJ having feelings for WS or vice-versa, I know the drama wants me to believe it, but they aren’t doing a good job showing it at all.
I feel like it was warranted to have higher or at least different expectations for this drama, because from the beginning it was supposed to be a variety drama, so its reasonable to expect it not to follow typical romcom cliches. I think writers felt pressured to have romance be central because they think that’s what viewers want (and unfortunately judging by soompi and knetz comments they may be right).
Sorry, I need to whine a little more.
I agree about WS/HJ love line. People keep saying that Hyun Jae might not be the real father, but does it make it okay? Hyun Jae doesn’t know about it and stealing Kwang Jae’s (aka his best and only friend’s) son’s (who gave him a place to stay) crush isn’t right as well. Plus, it is bad for his character, I have low tolerance to childrish/selfish Hyun Jae and this tale should be about him growing up and not finding love/getting what he wants again.
As much as I love Ji Hoon, his loveline with Woo Seung is also not developed. Like I don’t see any support or anything like that? When Ji Hoon gave up on his dream her whole response was “would you be okay with that?”, even Hyun Jae showed more concern.
I am also starting to feel uncomfortable with +5 years crushes in this drama, it is unhealthy. When guy walks with a sign “I love you” and girl doesn’t notice it it must be a red light (sorry Gwang Jae).
In the end every loveline annoys me, or I don’t like it that much to continue watching. I would probably drop this drama and check recaps time to time.
@nerdy yeah, I am seeing less Mcdrill lately, which means lesser fun portions, also da bong and his hilarious antics when he was new in the future world, and his discovery of slang talks, high-tech machines and etc were one of the biggest draw for me from the drama. One hour of the best hit means one continuous hour of a mad ride, which I haven’t seen in drama world for a long time, in terms of pure comedy so to say. Like peichi said below, maybe the writer is making ways for more romance stuff in the show, to lure the audience, and if it is the case for real, then that would be very disappointing indeed.
If you were to ask me exactly what moment TBH really lost me it would be the moment HJ walked out of the hair salon. It\’s at that moment the drama became a romance more than a comedy.
I mean if you think about the ONLY reason to have HJ get a modern makeover is to make him more appealing to WS and the audience as a romantic lead. But doing so greatly detracts from HJ’s comedic role.
I caught just about the last 15 minutes of TBH live stream and I think I\’m dropping this show. Another stupid contrived ending and the plot is going nowhere. I actually dislike WS now too.
Yeah that’s how I felt in the beginning, but now with the focus on the love triangle it’s not even destressing anymore, but very stressful and the laughs are becoming fewer and farther between. I was not that interested in the money and disappearance mysteries, but I did want to see JH and HJ bond as father/son and HJ interacting more with GJ, BH, making amends with the people he left behind that sort of thing. Sadly it’s not happening and what little attention they give to the plot is mostly focused on the mystery elements.
I’m dropping too probably lol. I was hoping for more JH-HJ bonding too but seems like that ain’t happening. Also the grossest and ridiculous fact that they decided to fake (?) it that HJ was JH’s father, so the love triangle is creeping me out, father or not, it seems inappropriate to me that someone KJ’s age would have a loveline with WS. Also as you said, the comedy part is given less attention now and the focus is shifted to the love triangle. I had better expectation of the show, sigh. To add, it’s not like I dislike WS, but I think she has better chemistry with JH. Plus I expect a better pair for YSY, totally shallow and selfish reason lol.
I actually really think that HJ is JH’s father and the writers just want us to accept that he can waltz into JH’s life, mess it all up and steal his crush. There’s probably going to be some gross angst about HJ feeling guilty and being all I JUST LOVE HER TOO MUCH SON. Or they are just going to drag this love triangle out until the last episode and not deal with the consequences lol. Maybe I shouldn’t say I dislike Woo-seung, because it’s not really her fault, but she’s made to be stupid and helpless at random moments just so the guys can compete over “saving” her. I really didn’t expect this show to be so cliche. I thought they were going to poke fun at drama cliches and subvert them, not play them straight and poorly at that. The cliche moments here are just that “moments”, they don’t really fit into the show, even the most cliche romantic dramas can at least provide some context for all it’s moments so they don’t feel so out of place.
Yeah I don’t get the so-called fated relationship trope either, at least in this case, since it’s happening so random. And before I was thinking the writer is taking a dig at the dramaland cliches, but now they are using those conventional tropes, like see how WS doesn’t see JH as a man, but she has this awe whenever HJ is ‘saving’ her. What’s annoying that the writer is actually teasing us with team HJ and team JH, so at the end of each episode there is a 1-1 win for both of them.
I would be glad if they stick to HJ being the father, since I found it so refreshing that someone same age of JH is responsible for his life lol. It just brings out the scope for more laughs and unique relationships. I am not sure but there is just one thing which could be the proof, that is both the clocks of JH and JH stopping at the same time. If JH was not his son, I don’t think their clocks would both start dysfunctioning all at once. Also, there is some godly connection to all of it too I think, like the cryptic messages that keep coming to hyun jae, out of nowhere. Anyway whatever it is, I guess they are going to drag the triangle till the end, for which I have no patience left lol. And yes, girls acting all weak and guys being their savior, it’s getting too repetitive by now, and that run legit reminded me of reply. I seriously had more hopes from the writer.
peichi
July 4, 2017 at 8:08 AM
What?? You are giving other Oppas downvotes? You are making Lee Byung-hun Oppa jealous! He needs those downvotes to maintain his youth~
Pickwick12
July 4, 2017 at 8:26 AM
*snort* bahaha
gem28
July 4, 2017 at 9:33 AM
😂😂
ObsessedMuch
July 4, 2017 at 10:38 AM
Hehhehheh!! But wait, where? I have been away from DB for a whole day (imagine that!!) and I need to know which oppa’s fans/ anti- fans are the next target!
peichi
July 4, 2017 at 11:25 AM
Positive comments about Nam Joo Hyuk in BOTWG were getting lots of downvotes. And I saw a beanie who’s fan wall posts about Ji Chang Wook all had a downvote or two.
ObsessedMuch
July 4, 2017 at 11:56 AM
Yeah I just went through the fan wall posts… everyone seemed to be talking about the downvotes… Maybe it is time that the DB team rethinks this downvoting business!
peichi
July 3, 2017 at 9:22 PM
While I am glad that Bride of the Water God deviates heavily from the manhwa, I do wish they had kept Habaek\’s child form in some way. There\’s so much comedic material they could\’ve gotten from that.
earthna
July 3, 2017 at 10:53 PM
Does he like poof into a kid and poof back to being adult? If so, I would feel bad for the CG or whoever’s in charge of changing him to child form if they do that. It’s not convenient to do in a drama.
Rainbow Unicorn
July 4, 2017 at 12:16 AM
He is child in the day & can take adult form only at night but the female lead doesnt know.. causes a lot of hijinks and missed identity in the manhwa.
Would’ve been fun to have that done well in the drama.. but i dont see it being incorporated even later in the series.. unless some sorta curse befalls him from the kissing? Namsuri did seem worried bout his powers
peichi
July 4, 2017 at 8:48 AM
Rainbow Unicorn explained it well, but I don’t think it’s necessary to show the transformation onscreen (I don’t think they really did in the manhwa). Personally if I were to write it though, I would make it so she finds out pretty quickly that Habaek and the kid are one and the same. It was really stupid in the manhwa that she couldn’t figure it out and in modern setting I don’t think it would make sense for her to just befriend a random kid. It’d be funny if she just ended up having to take care of him while in kid form knowing it was him and having to explain to the people she knows why she has a child following her around all of the sudden.
peichi
July 3, 2017 at 5:57 PM
Done with The Bride of the Water God ep 1. I probably would\’ve liked a lot more if not for the boar attacking them, that left a bad taste in my mouth. Hopefully no \”vicious\” animals in the future.
peichi
July 3, 2017 at 5:48 PM
Just when I was starting to like The Bride of the Water God they ruin it with a dumb scene of a wild boar attacking them unprovoked. And they had to shoot it, ugh that made me really upset.
peichi
July 3, 2017 at 5:17 PM
Where\’s my fish out of water humor? Why are they just riding on the back of a truck like it\’s no big deal? Why aren\’t they the least bit fazed by modern technology???
earthna
July 3, 2017 at 5:56 PM
Too bad they didn’t use that trope. I think Nam Joohyuk would have acted well in such situations.
peichi
July 3, 2017 at 6:02 PM
Yeah it would’ve been hilarious, Habaek is such a stiff guy so far so I really wanted to see him freak out over something modern. I guess it’s because his world is fantasy so maybe he just thinks of it like magic and not out of the ordinary. The humor seems like it will come more from the vastly different values he has compared to modern values.
earthna
July 3, 2017 at 6:15 PM
Right? I like him in funny more than serious roles. I also expected him to be clumsy but he’s pretty mature and has deep thoughts. I’m going to watch it again. I watched it earlier without subs. lol
peichi
July 3, 2017 at 4:35 PM
You\’d think after 2 dramas where Nam Joo-hyuk is a swimmer I\’d get tired of seeing him almost naked. But you\’d be wrong.
peichi
July 3, 2017 at 4:31 PM
OMG Why am I laughing so much? I was expecting them to just film his upper body/legs when he’s supposed to be nekkid like most dramas, but nah they are going for full body with a blur!
peichi
July 3, 2017 at 4:08 PM
Lol what is this plot? This is nothing like the manhwa (not necessarily a bad thing because the manhwa is awful). This actually feels like a typical fantasy C-drama more than anything.
Rainbow Unicorn
July 3, 2017 at 6:12 PM
Yayy! I thought I was the only one who didn’t really enjoy that manhwa so much and was wondering what the great fuss was about.. I mean the story line had so much potential but it fizzled out in like 10 chapters.. no proper conflict or resolution!
peichi
July 3, 2017 at 6:47 PM
Lol, yeah I was surprised about seeing mostly praise for the manhwa from beanies who’d read it because it’s pretty makjang in a way and has all the characteristics of what most of us would think of a really bad drama having (weak helpless female lead, cold abusive male lead, crazy second female lead, ect.). I think people are duped by the “pretty” art into thinking it’s a good manhwa, but if you’ve ever studied art formally then you can tell it’s not actually good at all. Her characters were always so stiff and don’t feel like real people, the clothing was not right, no knowledge of basic anatomy, inconsistent proportions, and worse the artist didn’t seem to know the very basics of paneling and how to tell a story with sequential art. I remember being so confused because the flow from panel to panel and page to page was so bad. Thankfully the drama is so far being pretty irreverent to the source material and only really taking the character’s names and the water god idea.
Rainbow Unicorn
July 3, 2017 at 6:52 PM
OMG Thank YOU! yes yes yes to all the criticism about the story characters and the art! I mean the characters always looked so lifeless… and then u have some really good manga artists like in Skip-beat where just the eyes can convey so much emotion!
Ek Ladhki Thi
July 3, 2017 at 10:21 PM
I think most of us were excited about the pretty art, I didn’t finish reading the manhwa myself I was done after Habaek wouldn’t stop angsting after Nak-bin one million times. I loved Child Habaek too cause he provided a lot of funny moments with So-ah. We just really wanted to see the art translate into pretty moving pictures. At least, I did anyway.
peichi
July 3, 2017 at 3:54 PM
Bride of the Water God is up on Dramafever now.
peichi
July 3, 2017 at 11:48 AM
I am the Queen of Downvotes apparently. Why don\’t comments that compare Yeonsangun to Hitler (a genuinely offensive and ludicrous comparison) get downvotes, but mine do?
ST
July 3, 2017 at 12:12 PM
Wow, never seen so many downvotes!
Fighting! It shows you’re not afraid to state your opinion and stand behind it. And that is good.
peichi
July 3, 2017 at 12:24 PM
Lol, for a few months I had less than 10, then the article about Lee Byung Hun getting cast in an upcoming drama came and it went up to like 65 because of my comments about how I like his acting and defended the decision to cast him (mostly by reminding people of the fact that he’s still very much a successful top star, not the scandal-ridden struggling loser they wish he was). After that I stopped caring and will now share all my unpopular opinions regardless of how much downvotes it gets me. It’d be nice if they’d just get rid of downvotes though, I don’t understand why that’s a feature but there’s no way to report genuinely offensive comments and spam.
ST
July 3, 2017 at 12:52 PM
I noticed that thread. Scandals and Kim Eun Sook tend to cause heated discussions.
I think it’s cool to stop caring about what others think and just speak your mind. Wish I could learn it one day…
Nessa (Bebe) 🌹
July 3, 2017 at 3:17 PM
I stopped caring about down votes and angering people with my opinions back when “Scarlet Heart: Ryeo” was airing and being recapped here… Apparently, calling out people (and sometimes, the recapped) for uncalled bashing of a show and it’s actors/actresses on things not even related about the drama is a bad thing XD
Nessa (Bebe) 🌹
July 3, 2017 at 3:17 PM
*recapper*
nerdy
July 3, 2017 at 12:19 PM
No worries and you aren’t queen of downvotes, I am, on netizenbuzz I am still getting negative comments which have 15-45 likes.
You made good points and I enjoyed reading your mini-history lesson, so don’t feel bad about it (and don’t try to make sense)
isa: I'm not a serial killer I'm just really passionate about things
July 3, 2017 at 5:51 PM
You’re nifty and opinionated. People who cannot be called the same will ALWAYS hide behind something like a downvote.
peichi
July 2, 2017 at 7:42 PM
It’s not a big deal but I need to rant a bit about all the people tossing around the idea that low ratings for 7DQ are all because Koreans no likely romantic/sympathetic portrayals of Yeonsangun.
peichi
July 2, 2017 at 7:43 PM
I think it gets at a larger issue which is the tendency of some people to act like they know everything about Korean culture and how Koreans feel about a given thing. I saw someone literally compare how Koreans feel about Yeonsangun to how Jews feel about Hitler. *facepalm* As a Jewish person myself I find that borderline offensive. I’m not going to make a big deal about it because the person probably just didn’t think about that point before they wrote it. Tyrants aren’t all created equal. Folks, Yeonsangun didn’t commit mass genocide. And he lived 500 years ago, so it’s not “too soon” lol.
Sure he had a lot of people killed in often gruesome ways for petty reasons, but like that’s pretty much normal bad ruler in a monarchy stuff, figures like him are in every country’s history. And because their victims aren’t alive today to get upset, there isn’t anyone who cares when they are portrayed sympathetically/romantically/heroically. An example would be Genghis Khan, he raped and killed a bunch of Chinese women and conquered the country, but China makes dramas/movies about what an awesome heroic dude he was all the time.
The thing is nothing Yeonsangun really did had a significant and lasting impact on the Korean peninsula, so all he’s really thought of is as a really crazy Joseon era King. I’m pretty sure if he didn’t exist the Korean War still would’ve happened. No one is modern day Korea really cares how Yeonsangun is depicted in dramas except maybe history buffs who complain about every inaccuracy in sagueks. He’s more of a joke for how ridiculously insane and tyrannical he was (like making Sungkyunkwan into a brothel for his personal use), much like Caligula is to Italians. Caligula is actually the perfect comparison to Yeonsangun, both had major mommy issues and obsessed over avenging them, both were infamous for sexually deviant behavior, and both relished in having people executed in horrific ways for petty reasons. And trust me Italians wouldn’t care if Caligula was depicted in a romanticized way, been there done that.
No actually you guys are right, my bad, look at these super offended knetz:
http://netizendrama.blogspot.com/2017/06/spoilers-seven-day-queen-rating.html
The thing is sometimes dramas just get bad ratings just because. Often there isn’t really a discernible reason. So let’s not come up with nonsensical theories without any proof okay?
Hye Mi
July 3, 2017 at 4:28 AM
Like you said, they are theories. With concrete proof, they won’t be theories anymore but facts. I don’t think people are passing around that theory as facts. All we can say is those theories merit challenge, but I personally don’t think it’s fair to expect people to stop coming up with theories just because we don’t agree with them.
The theory that the Korean audience might find this particular whitewashing of Yeonsangun not to their taste has been offered since ep5 or so, but no one really paid too much attention to it, until a comment by a Korean themselves popped up in a recent recap thread. I would always avoid to conclude that their view is representative of the Korean viewer base, but it does offer an insight into what a historically conscious Korean might feel about the drama. It’s not the sole reason, but it’s definitely one of many reasons to consider. Then the Korean audience on which rating data are collected seem to love sageuks as the pattern of sageuks generally getting decent to high ratings has been observed for years. For such a group of sageuk-lovers to tune out of their favourite genre, there have to be some reasons. People at first speculated that it was mainly due to the sad ending, and this particular theory about reaction to Yeonsangun whitewashing was initially offered as a counter-argument to that speculation. It was never advertised or accepted as the only reason. I don’t know about other people, but I personally find it another plausible theory to add to the table, besides the lack of star-power and probably promotion and strong competition during the same timeslot. There is actually another theory that has been offered; that is Rebel recently portrayed the same figure and people might suffer from a Yeonsangun fatigue. I find that one plausible as well as another possible explanation.
Lastly, I personally don’t think it is a fact that knetz on Naver and Nate are from the households from which data are collected for TV viewing habits. I tend to treat them as two separate groups of Korean viewers and the view of one group does not necessarily represent that of the other. In discussion on ratings, I tend not to include knetz reactions for that reason.
peichi
July 3, 2017 at 11:20 AM
If you are going to advance this theory passed on a comment by a single person claiming to be Korean, then how is the top comments from knetz not a more valid piece of evidence as to how the k-audience feels? It’s a simple numbers games, the top comments have 1000-2000 upvotes, so we know at least that many Koreans feel that way, which is a lot more than one person on here. I’m not going to say that knetz comments are 100% always represent the accurate viewpoint of k-audience, but they are at least more representative than that one person. In the end I think regardless of Yeonsangun’s portrayal in this drama it would not have done well with traditional saguek-viewers. It’s a not a traditional saguek after all, it’s a tragic romance that deviates from history in a lot of ways. And since it lacks star power it’s unable to draw in viewers who don’t typically watch saguek. And I have seen people claim this as the main reason parroting off the one comment from a Korean and getting defensive when I suggested they may be jumping to conclusions. Having read that person’s comments a lot of the things they said are just ludicrous, like that Koreans see Yeonsangun as just as bad as Kim Jong-un. That’s just not true, people are always going to feel much stronger about more recent leaders/tyrants, than ones from 500 yrs ago. And I think if a significant amount of people were really that offended by Yeonsangun in 7DQ there would be opinion articles on Korean sites about it, just like you get all the time in the US whenever there’s some controversy over a tv show or movie or something, but I’m pretty sure there aren’t any.
Hye Mi
July 3, 2017 at 11:56 AM
Just to clarify, I didn’t ‘advance’ that theory and I made it clear in my previous comments that I wouldn’t pass it on as ‘fact’. I also wrote that that one comment wasn’t representative of the whole Korean viewer base. I said explicitly that it was one more possible explanation to consider. In many respects it’s just as valid as other reasons, such as Yeonsangun fatigue, lack of star power, lack of promotion, late to competition etc etc.
When a person finds an explanation plausible to them, it is just natural that they will steadfastly hold on to that belief. They can be right, or they can be wrong, but then there’s no way to find out. At the end of the day, none of us here has access to the target Korean audience to ask them for the exact reasons why they didn’t choose 7DQ in the first place, and for those who did, gradually chose to tune out. All the reasons we’re suggesting here are mere speculations and finding explanations for ratings is therefore just a speculating game to me. We gain nothing and lose nothing from suggesting, accepting, or refusing to believe in a possible reason. I see what people are doing with speculations on ratings are just their own way to come to terms with the disappointing ratings and find some comfort in the fact that their beloved show is not popular among the audience it’s intended for. Regardless of how people think of this practice, I still find it much healthier than bashing the Korean audience for not appreciating the show, which I have seen elsewhere and personally found disturbing.
Anyway, the reason offered is just one among many explanations for the steady decrease in 7DQ’s ratings. Whether believing in it or not is completely up to us and we all have a choice in adopting or rejecting a view that we see here on this site. I understand your sentiment if you don’t buy that speculation, and I do think if you find problem with it being passed around as fact, it is your right to challenge it. However, just because it’s an unpopular opinion doesn’t mean it’s completely nonsense and that people cannot voice it out.
P.S., re. the articles about Yeonsangun’s portrayal in 7DQ. I might be wrong but I don’t think there are that many serious reviews of Korean dramas in Korea. Not just 7DQ, but other dramas as well. So there is a chance that people are indeed not offended by the portrayal of Yeonsangun in 7DQ but there is equally a chance that there is no serious review that captures that sentiment.
peichi
July 3, 2017 at 12:15 PM
Sorry, I didn’t mean “you” as in actually “you”, just meant more generally people that were advancing the theory. Unfortunately many people do seem to take that one comment as representative, so my point was merely that from a statistical perspective, the k-netz comments are more likely to be representative of the overall opinion of k-audience. However it’s also possible neither is really representative. I agree with pretty much everything you said, so I don’t have much to say. I probably shouldn’t have called it nonsensical, I can see how that can upset someone. I was pretty upset over the truly nonsensical comparison of Hitler to Yeonsangun, so that lead to me being more angry/annoyed at those advancing the theory then I should’ve been. I’m sorry for that.
Hye Mi
July 3, 2017 at 12:31 PM
No need to say sorry. My job is a sub-branch of sociology so I understand how a comment which the writer thought was innocent can be hurtful to another person. It happens a lot in intercultural communication and sometimes for valid reasons one side would choose not to be confrontational about it. However having read through several case studies I know bottling up might not be the best solution since we would still feel upset and the other person would still not be aware and might make the same mistake again, though it might not be their fault either (because they might not have been there and might not understand the harm of their probably unwittingly offensive comment).
I also understand that by speculating ratings theories we are all assuming the voice of the actual Korean viewer base. Well if there was an actual case study on them they might surprise us all by quoting a reason we all don’t expect, so I’d personally just stick to whatever reasons I would buy to keep me distracted from the dismal ratings. The reason why I buy that explanation more than the others is simply because I refuse to believe that the Korean dislike the acting, writing and directing of 7DQ, which I personally like. But that’s just my biased mind talking rather than statistical facts 🙂
Hye Mi
July 3, 2017 at 5:10 AM
Also, another note to say I’m sorry a comment have made you feel offended because they assume your own opinion in a way you don’t think is true to what you feel. I understand your decision not to let them know about it, but I’d let the other person know that their comment doesn’t sit well with my POV if I were in the same situation as yours. DB is an international site where people of many cultures gather and discuss, and sometimes cultural misunderstanding happens. I think it’d be beneficial for us all to know where to draw the line in the future so that we won’t hurt other people unintentionally by touching on issues that might be culturally or politically inappropriate for some beanies.
⭐ Sera The Ms Temper ⭐
July 2, 2017 at 8:13 PM
Well, it’s opinion and it’s not conclusive, and it is not based on research done by collecting data / surveys in why Korean don’t watch it (the rating itelf shows that only a small group of koreans watching it, they might watch it online etc but it doesn’t count in the rating) . It depends on individual to agree or not. No one knows what exactly caused the low rating, it is case by case. Some drama are terrible, so if their rating is low, it’s easier to be apprehended. I don’t find it is any wrong ppl trying to find out why for such quality drama doesn’t get the rating that it deserves and in fact keeps declining, especially when the competitions are not big enough. Of course there were some others quality drama which didn’t get a good rating, but sageuk is a genre that easily get audiences, at least around 6%-8% for public channels. Even when Hwarang another KBS sageuk was quite terrible, can even get higher rating than this drama. I think that’s why more ppl are curious about the low rating of this drama, hence few theories came up.
peichi
July 2, 2017 at 8:55 PM
I mean it’s fine to come up with theories and analyze why a drama is getting bad ratings, but people are getting really defensive over this particular theory for some reason, when it’s just probably not true. People, who aren’t history buffs, usually only get offended about historical figures being depicted inaccurately when they are recent like within the past century or two. Historical distance does a lot to the perception of a ruler or other historical figure, they tend to become more and more cartoonish and the things they actually did become less relevant. The worst leader in Korean history for most Koreans is probably Chun Doo-hwan and yes they’d likely be VERY offended by any interpretation of him that leans towards sympathetic. But that’s because there are people who lived through it still around. Yeonsangun not so much.
⭐ Sera The Ms Temper ⭐
July 3, 2017 at 12:07 AM
You have a point..Some ppl might still have a strong hatred towards Yeonsangun but some might don’t really care.
In my opinion, speaking from the context of sageuk fans in Korean who prefer traditional type sageuk – something like Rebel Thief Who Stole the People, probably cannot connect with this drama since it is a heavy romance sageuk.
It’s also different with some other romance sageuk such as Moonlights, Moonlovers and Rulers – these drama had popular names in their drama, so it was easier to attract the non-sageuk fans to tune in for these drama because they are their fans. Based on my observation, to attract more viewers to tune it for these romance sageuk is by casting popular names. We will see if this theory applies to upcoming The King Loves since Yoona is also a popular name in Korea.
earthna
July 2, 2017 at 9:20 PM
Actually, I don’t think the drama is trying to romanticize him. He’s still bad. Instead, they are offering possible reasons to his insanity. There’s always a reason behind every kind of behaviour. People don’t just become evil. I’m loving Lee Donggun’s portrayal and I think he’s so awesome but that doesn’t make me think lightly of Yeonsangun’s crimes. So yeah, I personally don’t get this romanticizing thing.
peichi
July 2, 2017 at 9:27 PM
I agree and I think it’s more that they aren’t really showing the terrible things he did, his sexual deviancy, seonbi purges, violent executions, ect. But I think most Koreans know that, so it isn’t necessary to depict. I mean this is broadcast television, so they really couldn’t even get that graphic with the details and even if they could I think it would turn off a lot of viewers who don’t really need to see it to know the terrible things he did.
Hye Mi
July 3, 2017 at 4:44 AM
I do think they’re romanticising Yeonsangun. Not that I think romanticising historical figures is wrong or a bad thing to do.
Actually Rebel, a recently ended sageuk, also depicted Yeonsangun and was rather graphic with his violence tendency. There was a scene where he sat on the steps, blood splattered on his face, watching two blood-soaked sacks with his two concubines inside as their body twitched in pain, near death. Only the procedure leading up to that wasn’t shown. The show was on one of the ‘big 3’ public broadcast channels and viewers still faithfully stuck to it, with the number of viewers increasing towards the end when Yeonsangun sank further into madness and his insanity was full-blown. I therefore don’t think people would be deterred from the faithful portrayal of his insanity.
I have to agree with people saying that Yeonsangun in 7DQ is romanticised, though I understand that the move might be necessary considering the focus of the drama. It doesn’t hurt me personally anyway, since I’m not from Korea and detached from their history.
peichi
July 1, 2017 at 11:24 PM
I like all the subtle hints that Grandpa was probably also a mob boss in addition to an entertainment CEO. Connections like that weren’t uncommon irl back in the 90’s entertainment business lol.
peichi
July 1, 2017 at 11:05 PM
Yes drama, this is what you do best, parodying romance tropes not playing them straight. This was funny but it’s also been done before a lot and the trope isn’t even really played seriously anymore.
hannaehh
July 1, 2017 at 11:59 PM
This scene is really funny!!! 😂
gumgum
July 2, 2017 at 2:40 AM
I love how they made fun of this cliche, too funny!
kayedrama
July 2, 2017 at 3:17 AM
Grandpa did in TBH what he say he’ll to Bonghee in SP 😂
peichi
July 1, 2017 at 10:52 PM
Malsook being like the most woke character in all of kdramaland lol.
kayedrama
July 2, 2017 at 3:17 AM
Yes! And she’s also the younger Choi Aera in FMW!
peichi
July 1, 2017 at 10:09 PM
I know it\’s really early in his acting career, but can I get Cha Eun-woo as a main lead like right now? Pretty please! Maybe in a webdrama? He has so much potential.
kayedrama
July 2, 2017 at 3:20 AM
I won’t mind if he continues he’s love line with Wooseung 😂
peichi
July 1, 2017 at 10:05 PM
I was mostly just jokingly shipping MJ-WS out of spite for the love triangle, but idk I think they are my fav now. Glad I won’t be sticking around to see poor MJ’s heart broken.
peichi
July 1, 2017 at 10:21 AM
These two are becoming the only characters I care about much in the The Best Hit now. They better not make Grandpa sick.
isa: I'm not a serial killer I'm just really passionate about things
July 1, 2017 at 4:17 PM
My very favorite scene of this entire tragedy so far was when Grandpa totally forgot Malsook’s name and he was trying to tell Bo Hee to pick her up from the bus. You know. There’s a little girl who lives with us. She’s about this big. Yeah. Yeah. Her.
peichi
July 1, 2017 at 10:18 AM
The staff are completely justified in yelling at WS and not caring about her injury. She’s the one who broke expensive equipment and caused it to fall on someone else and injure them. I DUN CARE
earthna
July 1, 2017 at 10:20 AM
They could have asked her if she was okay too but she really gets into accidents every time. I agree that she’s at fault too.
peichi
July 1, 2017 at 10:27 AM
I mean sure, but that equipment probably costs several hundred dollars, so they have a right to be angry at her. That could easily cost her job. And yeah she gets into accidents all the time but only so one of the guys can show up to save her. That’s why I’m so done with this show.
fay17
July 1, 2017 at 10:43 AM
LOL. The damsel in distress.
nerdy
July 1, 2017 at 11:19 AM
It was obviously done to show how cool Hyun-Jae/Woo Sung can be….I love this drama a lot, but this love triangle is ruining it for me. Super cool-can do everything Woo Sung gets in trouble every episode and boys take turns to save her.
We have so many good characters, interesting relationships (trainee Bros, Mc Drill and Vlive, biological father and his son), so why are we even spending time on some needless drama tropes?
I think, I would be okay if it happened in any other drama but for some reason I have too high expectations on this one…
peichi
July 1, 2017 at 11:32 AM
Yep, it’s so contrived solely so Hyun-jae could show up and “save” her even though she really didn’t deserve to be “saved” in this moment. And this is like the 8th time this has happened.
It really gets me that with such good characters and all the relationships that can be explored they choose to focus on a love angle that really doesn’t make any sense and is the least interesting and well-developed. I mean I still don’t see HJ having feelings for WS or vice-versa, I know the drama wants me to believe it, but they aren’t doing a good job showing it at all.
I feel like it was warranted to have higher or at least different expectations for this drama, because from the beginning it was supposed to be a variety drama, so its reasonable to expect it not to follow typical romcom cliches. I think writers felt pressured to have romance be central because they think that’s what viewers want (and unfortunately judging by soompi and knetz comments they may be right).
nerdy
July 1, 2017 at 12:12 PM
Sorry, I need to whine a little more.
I agree about WS/HJ love line. People keep saying that Hyun Jae might not be the real father, but does it make it okay? Hyun Jae doesn’t know about it and stealing Kwang Jae’s (aka his best and only friend’s) son’s (who gave him a place to stay) crush isn’t right as well. Plus, it is bad for his character, I have low tolerance to childrish/selfish Hyun Jae and this tale should be about him growing up and not finding love/getting what he wants again.
As much as I love Ji Hoon, his loveline with Woo Seung is also not developed. Like I don’t see any support or anything like that? When Ji Hoon gave up on his dream her whole response was “would you be okay with that?”, even Hyun Jae showed more concern.
I am also starting to feel uncomfortable with +5 years crushes in this drama, it is unhealthy. When guy walks with a sign “I love you” and girl doesn’t notice it it must be a red light (sorry Gwang Jae).
In the end every loveline annoys me, or I don’t like it that much to continue watching. I would probably drop this drama and check recaps time to time.
fay17
July 1, 2017 at 12:00 PM
@nerdy yeah, I am seeing less Mcdrill lately, which means lesser fun portions, also da bong and his hilarious antics when he was new in the future world, and his discovery of slang talks, high-tech machines and etc were one of the biggest draw for me from the drama. One hour of the best hit means one continuous hour of a mad ride, which I haven’t seen in drama world for a long time, in terms of pure comedy so to say. Like peichi said below, maybe the writer is making ways for more romance stuff in the show, to lure the audience, and if it is the case for real, then that would be very disappointing indeed.
peichi
July 1, 2017 at 8:43 AM
If you were to ask me exactly what moment TBH really lost me it would be the moment HJ walked out of the hair salon. It\’s at that moment the drama became a romance more than a comedy.
peichi
July 1, 2017 at 8:47 AM
I mean if you think about the ONLY reason to have HJ get a modern makeover is to make him more appealing to WS and the audience as a romantic lead. But doing so greatly detracts from HJ’s comedic role.
peichi
July 1, 2017 at 8:11 AM
I caught just about the last 15 minutes of TBH live stream and I think I\’m dropping this show. Another stupid contrived ending and the plot is going nowhere. I actually dislike WS now too.
CrimeFighter
July 1, 2017 at 8:14 AM
I think it’s only good for some laughs and destressing. The plot isn’t that intrigue imho.
peichi
July 1, 2017 at 8:32 AM
Yeah that’s how I felt in the beginning, but now with the focus on the love triangle it’s not even destressing anymore, but very stressful and the laughs are becoming fewer and farther between. I was not that interested in the money and disappearance mysteries, but I did want to see JH and HJ bond as father/son and HJ interacting more with GJ, BH, making amends with the people he left behind that sort of thing. Sadly it’s not happening and what little attention they give to the plot is mostly focused on the mystery elements.
fay17
July 1, 2017 at 8:46 AM
I’m dropping too probably lol. I was hoping for more JH-HJ bonding too but seems like that ain’t happening. Also the grossest and ridiculous fact that they decided to fake (?) it that HJ was JH’s father, so the love triangle is creeping me out, father or not, it seems inappropriate to me that someone KJ’s age would have a loveline with WS. Also as you said, the comedy part is given less attention now and the focus is shifted to the love triangle. I had better expectation of the show, sigh. To add, it’s not like I dislike WS, but I think she has better chemistry with JH. Plus I expect a better pair for YSY, totally shallow and selfish reason lol.
peichi
July 1, 2017 at 8:58 AM
I actually really think that HJ is JH’s father and the writers just want us to accept that he can waltz into JH’s life, mess it all up and steal his crush. There’s probably going to be some gross angst about HJ feeling guilty and being all I JUST LOVE HER TOO MUCH SON. Or they are just going to drag this love triangle out until the last episode and not deal with the consequences lol. Maybe I shouldn’t say I dislike Woo-seung, because it’s not really her fault, but she’s made to be stupid and helpless at random moments just so the guys can compete over “saving” her. I really didn’t expect this show to be so cliche. I thought they were going to poke fun at drama cliches and subvert them, not play them straight and poorly at that. The cliche moments here are just that “moments”, they don’t really fit into the show, even the most cliche romantic dramas can at least provide some context for all it’s moments so they don’t feel so out of place.
fay17
July 1, 2017 at 9:21 AM
Yeah I don’t get the so-called fated relationship trope either, at least in this case, since it’s happening so random. And before I was thinking the writer is taking a dig at the dramaland cliches, but now they are using those conventional tropes, like see how WS doesn’t see JH as a man, but she has this awe whenever HJ is ‘saving’ her. What’s annoying that the writer is actually teasing us with team HJ and team JH, so at the end of each episode there is a 1-1 win for both of them.
I would be glad if they stick to HJ being the father, since I found it so refreshing that someone same age of JH is responsible for his life lol. It just brings out the scope for more laughs and unique relationships. I am not sure but there is just one thing which could be the proof, that is both the clocks of JH and JH stopping at the same time. If JH was not his son, I don’t think their clocks would both start dysfunctioning all at once. Also, there is some godly connection to all of it too I think, like the cryptic messages that keep coming to hyun jae, out of nowhere. Anyway whatever it is, I guess they are going to drag the triangle till the end, for which I have no patience left lol. And yes, girls acting all weak and guys being their savior, it’s getting too repetitive by now, and that run legit reminded me of reply. I seriously had more hopes from the writer.