Tag: Anonymous

Hello, so I’m asking this because you’ve seen Valid Love and I’ve been debating on watching it but I want to prepare myself, so basically on a scale from 1-10 how much is it going to crush my heart soul and body?

odilettanteLeave a comment

Um… is 11 an option? Because yeah.

I was trying to gush on and on about it, but my paragraphs of meagre words just didn’t seem to do this show justice. I’m fiercely protective of this show, though, because so many people dismissed it on the basic premise of a woman cheating on her husband, but that’s not the whole story, or the important story, or really the one you care about.

To quote myself:

While a one-line summation of the plot could be “a married woman has an affair with a carpenter,” the reality is there was so much more to it than that. In fact, the so-called “affair” was really not the main theme of the drama. This was not about a love triangle: This was about a woman (as portrayed by Lee Shi-young), who was the primary person keeping her family together — a family that didn’t even want her around, but also didn’t know how to survive without her. She humbly accepted all the tasks given her: caretaker of her paralyzed sister-in-law, primary bread-winner, maid, cook, chauffeur, and the general force of good-will and peace throughout her in-laws’ home. Even if it was difficult, she maintained a positive attitude — this was the life she had decided she wanted since she was young, and while it might not be as joy-filled and easy as she thought, it was still her choice and her life. Why be bitter about it?

[…]

In the end, this drama wasn’t about a woman considering having an affair. It was about family — the good, the bad, and the ugly. It was about the toils and tribulations we go through to keep family intact despite disasters and heartache. It was about how no one is perfect and everyone is just trying to get through each day as best they can. Relationships are hard — they’re weird and messy and often there’s no right or wrong answer, just the best answer for that person at that point in time.

I don’t want to spoil you on anything, but I had a lot to say about this show when it was airing, if you care to take a gander at the “Valid Love” tag.

I found it strange too that DF doesn’t have pied piper. I thought they had a deal with tvn. Are they really not gonna sub it? Do you have any info?

odilettanteLeave a comment

Yeah, they have an exclusive deal with tvn (for a few years, I think?). So it’s weird to me that they don’t even have a place-holder page set-up for Pied Piper. There’s nothing when I search for it. It’s not listed in their “Coming Soon” section (which lists a lot dramas, even ones that won’t air for a couple of months). On the random off-chance they don’t have exclusive rights for this particular drama, I have tried searching for it being subbed elsewhere but nope. There’s only a fanpage on Viki that’s pretty much dead.

So I have no idea why Dramafever is skipping this one, especially since it’s airing right after Cheese in the Trap ended so it’s not like they weren’t expecting it. More’s the pity, too, because I really enjoyed the first ep and knowing this production crew, it’s only going to get more intense.

Hey! I was wondering why everyone has a problem with DF subs? I’ve heard complaints about it ever since I got into dramas three years ago but I don’t understand the technicals of subbing/translating and really just didn’t think about it as long as I could watch a drama so I never joined the bandwagon with that. I was hoping you could enlighten me? Thank you!

odilettanteLeave a comment

There’s deeper history with how DF has usurped the fandom-run drama subbing community that I won’t really get into here, but just be aware that it’s there as an undercurrent to the frustrations with DF in general.

The subs themselves are… okay, I guess… but it’s more of a “here’s the gist” instead of a faithful interpretation. Like if you’re going to read the Bible and are happy with “The Message” translation, which makes for a good read, but isn’t as accurate as, say, the ESV translation (which maybe some don’t like because it’s not as easy/fun to read).

There’s often elements where the subbers decide how to translate something to interpret a scene but they actually are wrong by taking away from the actual wording. The Korean language is delightful in the way it plays with wording (so many puns!) and also there’s a vagueness to the language which often leads to misconceptions that further plots. I’ll direct you to my proverbial straw that broke my camel’s back (and let’s just say I never in my wildest dreams imagined I’d be arguing on the internet about condoms in a kdrama, but there you go).

Personally, I’ve always been fond of the fan-subs. My first encounter with dramas was through the WITHS2 community (and you’ll notice that on a lot of the pre-2011 dramas, DF uses fan-subs taken from communities such as those), and today my preference are the Viki subs. Of course, fan subs aren’t perfect, either, but I feel that they work hard to keep true to the original wording and intent of scenes than the so-called professional subbing of DF.

I always really want to support DF just because they’ve helped to make dramas so much more accessible, but their business practices, attempts at monopolies, and mistakes in subbing give me serious pause.

hi, i just tried to watch the first ep of local hero/neighborhood hero and the first scenes are just way too over the top soap opera.. does the rest of the drama feel like that? i cant believe soo hyuk would do a drama like that?

odilettanteLeave a comment

You mean all the stuff in Macau? That’s just the setting, really. You need that backstory to understand why Shi Yoon is so determined to figure out who outed his crew and mission.

The most fun is watching these old/retired spies be normal people (and watch the bumbling but adorable Chan Gyu [Soo Hyuk] attempt to spy on professional spies, like, good luck with that, dude). The charm for me is the characters and how they’re all underdogs banding together to save the neighborhood from being ruined by corporate developers. There’s more to it than that, but that’s the bit that most interests me – the spy stuff (as set up in Macau) isn’t, but we need that brooding mission underpinning the other stuff.

I’m pretty sure I’m not alone, though, in saying that Soo Hyuk is definitely stealing the lime-light. His character is just so adorkable you can’t help but root for him.

Sung Joon needs to move on to a better agency tbh as much as i dont want to put all the blame on the agency but looking at his past works before he sign with his new company the choices were pretty good and versatile. Now is just all pretty much the same going downhill except that i knew that it was his choice to be on HJM which his company totally disagree on

odilettanteLeave a comment

I haven’t really paid attention to if he actually changed agencies, but I do feel like someone keeps pushing him to play the romantic lead when I think he’s much more interesting when he’s not the lead, and preferably in some darker role. Most of the idol-actors I prefer to be supporting characters, actually, because I’m not all that convinced they can handle the weight of a leading role. Which is not to denigrate them because the majority of the time I watch dramas (or stick with a drama) for the supporting characters, generally caring little about what happens to the leads so long as their world lets the supporting characters be awesome.

I had no idea that it was his choice to do Hyde, Jekyll, Me, and even though that was a terrible drama, I actually really enjoyed his scenery chewing! It was a fun role for him to play with, and even though I’ve said it a million times already, I’d love him to keep pursuing roles like that.

I feel like his trajectory is the opposite of Soo Hyuk, who seems content to stick with odd side/supporting characters, going for roles that challenge him but also aren’t completely out of his wheelhouse. Not that all his dramas are necessarily good (pretty sure I’m never gonna watch Scholar That Walks In The Night), but he usually ends up being a scene stealer and making the drama that much better. I feel like Soo Hyuk is learning as he goes, even when it comes to lack-luster dramas, but with Sung Joon… sigh… his characters often feel like the same flat character as before, especially when he’s the lead. Yet I still really love him? That’s the power of the first impression, I guess.

Honestly with Sung Joon, as much as I’ve loved a few of his characters, I have to hear good things about any drama he’s doing before I watch it. His skill (or his company’s skill) in drama-choosing seems to be horrendous and I’ve just been burned too many times. Maybe one day he’ll be in something I like but until then I’ll only remember him in SUFBB, White Christmas, and Pluto.

odilettanteLeave a comment

Those are what I think of as his best roles, too! Although I also really liked him in Lie to Me. But what is important to note is that these are all from 2012 or earlier. He’s had his moments in later dramas, but nothing that compares to his earlier works by any stretch of the imagination.

He should fire his agency (or hire someone to be extra picky about what roles and dramas he chooses). I think he has the potential to be a decent actor, but as drama after drama goes by and I’m once again disappointed, well… sigh… I just can’t quit him like I can quit his dramas. *cries*

Glad to be a part of the ‘club’ then, hahaha. I’ll probably rewatch it too when I have extra time, or next year, or next week, or whenever. I’ve honestly thought about the main question posed in the drama quite a lot, since I watch Criminal Minds regularly. I really didn’t understand why the Doctor said ‘I won’ before he fell. I mean, what game did he win? Did he manage to make them monsters, is that what he meant? Because as far as I know, it wasn’t a game, he just asked the question.. -S

odilettanteLeave a comment

Fun fact: the original title of the show was going to be Monster. As in, “are monsters born or made?”

As Moo Yul said at the beginning of the show (and each episode), this was the story of how he became a monster in order to defeat a monster. That’s the “game” (really, psychological experiment) the doctor won, or believed he won. Yoon Su might have opted out of the experiment by choosing a different path, but the other students had to tap into their inner monster and destroy someone outside of of the law in order to better their lives. 

I believe that’s the generally accepted viewpoint, although as I said, it’s ambiguous enough that you can start up a whole new debate about who was the “true” monster or if the doctor really won or if it was just hubris or what. Which, I guess, is another way the doctor kinda won, since that’s the conversation he wanted to have in the first place.

I just finished White Christmas. Oh my god. I’m blown away, I have no words. Totally didn’t expect anything that happened in the drama at all, it was a mixture of everything, and I agree, the music was AMAZING. Got me thinking quite a lot.. -S

odilettanteLeave a comment

YAAAAAYYYYYYYY! Welcome to the cult club!

I’m glad you liked it! And I think you can now appreciate how difficult it was for me to explain why I love this drama so much without giving away any spoilers. There’s a handful of us who like to rewatch it every year around the Christmas holiday time (because it’s, y’know, so very… festive… yeah…) and there’s always so much to still think about and discover with every rewatch.

Okay, this is the last ask and I wont bother you anymore its 3 am anyways. I love Sung Joon so much its unbelievable. I watched Hyde Jekyll Me only because of him even though I barely made it to the end. And so far I think this role fits him well! -S

odilettanteLeave a comment

I like you, S. Because I, too, only watched that drama for Sung Joon. And by watched it only for him, I mean that pretty much literally. I didn’t start until someone told me that he turned out to be this crazy villain which is exactly the kind of role I want him to play (although in a much better drama, ideally). So I started watching around episode 9 and then when I heard we didn’t see him again in the last couple of episodes, I didn’t bother finishing it. I just wanted to see him play the villain, because he’s so good in those darker roles.

And no worries about asking questions, although you reminded me that I need to be doing other stuff right now, too. :p

I wanted to ask you about White Christmas (if you wanna write about that), what made it so special for you? I only just watched the first episode, so please don’t spoil it for me. Just the general gist of it? I hear many comments about the OST. (2)-S

odilettanteLeave a comment

I think you’ll need to watch the whole thing for me to really explain. I don’t want to spoil it for you. Part of what I love about it is that it’s this compact and complex story that is beautifully shot (I’m such a sucker for artistic cinematography) with these students who are such incredible archetypes and it wrestles with all these philosophical questions about life and it’s also just riveting to watch and, yeah. You’ll need to watch it (it’s only eight episodes, so it’s not a huge commitment if you’re still unsure!).

I also love noir-esque shows and especially noir-esque shows involving teenagers, and this is one of the rare shows that fits that bill.

Yes, the OST is amaaaaaazing. Any show that sounds like they’ve really thought about the emotional impact of the music makes me want to hug it so hard. Music is so important in my life and once upon a time I wanted to be that person who got to pick the songs for movies and stuff – carefully crafting mixed CDs for various themes/attempt to tell a story was a passionate pastime during my teenage years, so I love how music is used to tell and amplify the story.

I’ve got a link here to a youtube playlist (it’s been a few years, so not sure if all the songs are still available). I love it.

So basically this show hits all the things that generally make me love a show and it also has ridiculously pretty people to act in it (*cries over Sung Joon and how he seems to get stuck with mediocre drama roles lately but he was so brilliant as Chi Hoon*). It’s just… kinda this unique special show that doesn’t seem to fit in any specific genre/niche.

Except it’s just good.