It was a good ep but I’m confused. If the king knew they were innocent, why did he allow Mungwoo and the others to be punished? It was never hinted he was even a little bit doubtful about their innocence.
He was King if nobody was against it. People could have ask that his nephew becomes the King later. His power was fragile. A lot of people saw him as a traitor because he negociated with Qinq.
Can anyone tell me why nobody knows who she is except for the lead? If they will say she changed completely from being a teenager to the current time I won’t give it any more chances. I’m also a bit confused about why the ML acts as a teenager when the story claims he is 32. It was cute at first and now it’s kind of weird and silly but many Beanies seem to like this so I’m wondering if there is a good reason for these facts.
I wish teenagers on my country acted like Baek Du. I wish men in my country acted like Baek Du. I wish everyone everywhere acted like Baek Du. 😂 The world would be a better place, there’s so much to learn from him.
For them a Seoul girl called Yu Something just appeared, they didn’t think that much about it. It’s not like she has to be the girl Du Sik from 20 years ago. She’s just a random woman.
I did that in the first ep and then I think the script became too heavy handed trying to convince me the guy was the purest soul and I should like him, which I already did, until I didn’t because he became a bit silly. He will get another chance though, let’s find out if he becomes more interesting! The FL so far is really unlikable and the murder mystery is just another empty filler of dramas.
It is a thing in that town because another female character grew up in the town too and nobody had recalled her either.
More townfolk are catching on though..
Yes, the main reason the show gives as to why only Baek-du recognizes Du-Shik is because she was a tomboy-ish girl but now is a traditionally beautiful and feminine woman so of course, the islanders’ provincial mentalities can’t recognize that she’s the same person. But I also think that their inability to see her for who she is works as a meta-critique of the myopic nature of small towns–the one that you’ll see Baek-du gloriously deconstruct in a later episode–where people use their senses only to confirm what they already believe to be true based on their own prejudices. So they miss the obvious all the time.
I think that the non-recognition is she left when she was a child and her family was driven out of town in shame. I think the townspeople can’t imagine that she would ever return because of that. Baek Du is the only one who sees her and immediately recognizes her spirit and soul in her adult form.
Also, I disagree that he acts like a teenager as teenagers try on all sorts of new characteristics and facades as they change from children into adults. Baek Du acts like an unarmored soul who doesn’t have any pretense or airs in his interactions with the world. That can make him seem unsophisticated, but his EQ is high and he is sensitive to others. And unlike teenagers and a lot of adults, he doesn’t care about being cool or admired by others. (The drama also doesn’t cue us to admire him. For example, there are no lingering eye candy shots of his body even though he is often shirtless and he seems completely comfortable in his skin.) That’s noticeably different and refreshing about his character.
There are plenty of ways the show is making him very likable, it’s kind of corny, which is probably why it gave me the teenager vibes. I get that he is a really nice guy, but sometimes it becomes heavy handed when he is too naive. If she left as a child I can accept people would not know her.
This drama is about anything except the title character. That is why she is NOT getting awed by modern technology or Soul or fancy food. She is not interested in anything for herself. She has no personal plans. She is not looking for her old friends and none of them reached out for her. NO media is chasing her although that story would probably be of international interest these days. NO. It’s all this big soap opera about the evil CEO, Psycho Cop and where is Ki-Ho, who is Ki-Ho and why he acts like a jerk. AS if anyone who knows anything about kdramas doesn’t know THAT. It’s so ridiculous. Somebody posted this drama had claimed to be surreal. No. Moon in a Day is surreal. This is just cheap melodrama.
As far fetched as one might consider it, how is wanting to become a singer not a personal plan?? That’s one of the reasons why Mokha is participating in that lipsynch deal with Ranjoo.
It’s like saying that any rom-com with the typical formula of boy meets girl and they fall in love is bad because we’ve seen it a thousand times before and we know how it is going to finish.
In the end it’s all about the specific flavor of a show, sometimes it will suit our tastes sometimes it won’t.
That’s barely there. In the first ep yes, she did want the career, the singing, the independence. After she was rescued she has not been the central piece of this story. In any halfway decent romcom we get to experience both leads falling in love, that’s the basic. In this it’s not about being predictable, if anything the denial of exploration of the one that should be the main lead is very unexpected.
She is doing it much more to help Ranjoo than anything, even though it could, if people found out, cause a big scandal for her too.
She doesn’t have singing lessons, or guitar, or a freaking hair cut. There is almost nothing there that is about the person Mok-Ha who has just spent 15 years in an island.
This drama is going downhill fast. It is a good thing because I thought it would drag the whole Ki-Ho lunacy for 10 eps but it became bad makjang so it will probably not have that power. It keeps throwing these absurd plot twists, cheesy attempts at melodramatic moments and insane behavior by characters that go against not only their personality and history but any kind of possible rationality.
It begins making fun at what should be a heavy moment, then we find out the agency doesn’t know about Ranjoo condition or where she lives. Crazy but that’s nothing compared to BG, who probably is KH, but spends yet another ep being bored, uninterested and annoyed by Mok-Ha whether she is present or not. If that actor was supposed to show any real emotion at any second, he is terrible. What a shame, the teen actors and PEB were amazing.
Later we find Psycho Cop is still chasing Ki-Ho even if that is absurd, it’s been 15 years, the kid just escaped, he didn’t kill anyone. Abusive parents, no matter how terrible, don’t act like that, terminator style. No, not even evil stepmoms would still be chasing Ki-Ho.
The director decides MH should just become RJ’s manager even if she knows almost nothing about Seul or the industry or modern technology, which is no problem since this is just some contrivance to make MH sing in her place so she will sell thousands, take away the company shares and finally make MH into a popstar! Yay! Now I know why this will only have 12 eps.
Before the end we get a long flashback of Ki-Ho being his amazing, tenacious, heroic self while doing even more for Mok-Ha, and that is the only nice moment in this entire episode. Too bad as he got a face change they took away his personality as well.
It’s surreal that even Moon in a Day now seems better than this when CD’s ep 1 was so heartfelt but that’s dramaland for you. The main thing is not the cast or production or director, it’s always the writing and this writer is a cheater. It is selling emotional melodrama using all the mistakes of bad makjang and pretending no one can tell.
Yes, it’s because of the emotional moments and connections established with characters from the first episode. The thing is what was nicely done at first later became lazy and manipulative. Some will drop this but majority will probably keep loving it because they will just ignore all the issues.
You make some good points that I had not considered. Food for thought.
I think the reason Psycho Cop is still looking for Ki-ho has to do with some Deep Reckoning he seeks (whether this will turn out to be a redemption reckoning or an evil reckoning is yet to unfold). I know I am just guessing at that right now, because (as you rightly pointed out) the writing is quite weak about why he is still hunting for his son.
Thanks for giving this rant a chance ehehhehe.
I confess I’m pretty sure Psycho Cop has less motivation than a robot but please tell me later if drama comes up with an acceptable explanation for all this chasing.
I’m not surprised. He always wanted to find the mother. He screamed in his son and hit him asking where she was. Now, it’s his son who left him and “made” him loosing his job, there is no reason his obsession will disapear like this.
Thanks @kurama! I had forgotten Ki-Ho had left a letter with revealing evidence about Psycho Cop and he was indeed obsessed with the mother so IF he believed KH went to her it would be enough to make him chase them for as long as any crazy stalker. It still doesn’t explain his coldness when there is nobody around or directly to MH but does explain the Psycho’s motivation.
For BG, I think they will give us his point of view later.
But KH wasn’t so nice when he was young. He became only nice to MH when he understood she was suffering like him. But otherwise, before he was pretty mean with her, took his phone back she was talking, etc.
He’s an abuser…what so weird about him still trying to find his son??
I mean, the whole show is based on a woman surviving 15 years alone on an island..it’s not the most realistic storytelling xD
It’s been 15 years, if he was just an abuser he would have quit long before, but I did understand a possible very nice explanation on the previous post.
I am beginning to feel tired. The charm from Ep 1 and 2 is wearing out. Why would RJ think lip syncing is a good way to sell her album and get company shares. If the CEO is a coward, she is even more of a coward and a fool. She is going to bring everyone down.
CHJ’s character seems to be the weakest with nothing going on, except for keeping him around for the Ki Ho mystery. The CEO is a typical morally, grey character who they are going to show as being misunderstood or keep him as a antagonist with redemption arc. I don’t even want to talk about the trick of keeping the audience in angst and fear by showing the abusive dad.
I like the moments they show of Mok Ha in the island and how they use that as a message in the present.
The psycho cop dad is very typical of obsessive abusers – they simply do not stop until their ‘jobs’ are done unfortunately. That’s becoming the purpose of their life unfortunately. It’s crazy but it’s happening everyday in this world, regardless of countries or nationalities.
This second episode was way better! I can’t believe I’m posting praise to a makjang! Have I been abducted by an alien? Can I blame amnesia? Where are those constant questions about lack of logic that follow every kdrama? Somehow Somewhere this crazy mess did what almost no drama does, managed to make me not care about that. Amazing.
Does anyone know another like that? Yes, I have watched Secret, Mask, Money Flower. Please don’t talk about Nice Guy, Chocolate or that Come Hug Me thing. I want the drama to be crazy not make me crazy.
The first ep was quite good. Later I got a bit confused about some things, maybe someone can explain. It seems she was there on the island for 15 years? Is she supposed to be 30? She was around 15 when she got there, right? I think 15 is way too long for this kind of story and she looks 25 at most. The guy was also a teenager and just because he got a new name she won’t recognize him? That’s very stupid. I hate when dramas pretend people change a lot after they are teenagers when it’s pretty much the same face except, older.
Oh yes, “go with the flow” like all those colorful umbrellas + rainwater collectors + drinking water dispensers.
Got to 👏 for most awesome use of umbrellas in a K-drama!
I think they tried to convince us later that logically a lot of trash gets washed ashore nearby islands (that they need volunteer cleaning teams).
To make it more believable she could have been washed ashore an island which already had trash, instead of showing us a pristine beautiful beach.
After ep 2 I’m almost convinced. I thought she would be just a bit quirky but PEB is selling a little crazy and very lonely, so it’s easier to buy, though it should have been 5 years. I’ll just pretend Kiho had some work done to his face because that’s the only explanation.
I agree about the time leap, it’s too ling for me to connect her life together. I lived ep 1 and ep 2, but it feels like we needed some in-between episodes. I mean they might come later as filler flashbacks so I’m gonna have to see how that works.
We still have 10 episodes to go and she’s already been rescued and is adjusting to normal life. It feels like we should see quite a few flashbacks; otherwise what purpose do those 15 years as a castaway serve? I’m hoping we get flashbacks that show us her inspirations for writing songs, etc. 🤞
Given that it’s only a 12 episode drama I don’t think we will have any revisiting her castaway years. But we will see. I too wish we had spent a little more time on the island to have some connection to her lonely life. We should have seen some of her struggles, fear, loneliness etc.
on a serious note..
1. Yes 15 yrs, she is 31 now
2. She looks young because like i said, organic living and an active life
3. i don’t know about you, but i genuinely can’t recognize people whom i have not seen in years.. she has been alone on that island, how much her memories retain is another question.. plus korea is known for plastic surgery like growing cucumber in the backyard
3. Everybody has the same face, add a few wrinkles and maybe rounder or thinner cheeks and that’s that. Decades can go by but after people become teenagers they don’t really change that much.
First I want to give a warning to those that might not know this yet and be curious about it. It’s not a fluffy romance, if you don’t go in expecting that, maybe you will enjoy it more.
Spoilers for eps 01-05
small rant ahead
After a slow and a bit artificial first ep I think drama really found it’s way and I was really enjoying all the characters but ep 5 was confusing. A long time ago a beanie commented on the stupid trope of insta love caused by touch, that really used to be very common in dramaland. I don’t think that cliche is so easy to find lately but I’m thinking that’s what happened in this drama.
Won Jun was very convincing giving all the signs and talking about still liking JinJu, yes he was a bit attracted to Doona, that was there, but it was something superficial. She kisses him and suddenly he likes her? That’s so stupid and completely opposite to this character’s personality.
I noticed other signs. He believes his timing with Jin-ju was off, plus he sees the other guy making moves on her. Missed timing in a relationship is something Won-jun really believes in (more evidence of that comes later). Meanwhile, he decides to live in the moment and roll the dice with his feelings for Doona. That kiss was inevitable, and I didn’t really feel it was contrary to his personality. If anything, I sort of expected it sooner.
What were these other signs? He does know about the other guy but Jin Ju never said she liked this guy and he kept talking about liking her. Don’t get me wrong, I fully expected him to fall for her tricks, he doesn’t have the maturity or experience to avoid that, but I just felt the drama skipped a few events and jumped from one kiss to sudden romantic feelings.
Didn’t we see flash-backs of Jin-ju dumping/ghosting him in their high school days? She never told him why (yet), and it hurt him deeply. He never forgot that, it’s clear from how he acts towards her when their paths cross again. Plus, years have passed, and now when he sees the other guy talking about them being “soulmates”, he realizes his time has passed with her. Remember this trait about Won-jun, as you watch the rest of the show.
Yes, they were very close, after he confessed she hugged him but later ghosted him because she was embarrassed she could not date him. She was wrong to do it and he was very hurt, so their relationship was complicated. I was expecting he would be slower to forgive her but he kept talking and acting as if he had decided to try again with her. Perhaps when that guy said soulmate and Jin Ju didn’t contradict him immediately he was more upset than I imagined and from that moment on his feelings shifted more radically. That can happen. Thanks I had not thought much about that moment.
Maybe superficial was a bit strong but before the kiss she gave him, I would not call them romantic. There was sexual interest, curiosity, a little pity, a kind of friendship, but nothing close to being very romantic and by the end of ep 5 he’s rejecting the girl he said he liked and almost acting like a jealous boyfriend with Doona.
I would call it romance, tho. Even the 2FL noticed something. That’s why she was nervous when she talked to Doo Na. She’s been nervous for a while now, even before the stalker incident.
Maybe because she was in a similar situation? The 2FL was in this “some” relationship with her sunbae but she also liked Won Jun. At the end her feelings for Won Jun were stronger.
In Won Jun’s case he had lingering feelings for her, but he was in this other relationship with Doo Na (at that time friendship?). And later, he decided to give up on his first love. But his relationship with Doo Na continued and it had a strange development (I wouldn’t sleep holding hands with my friend, not even even if a stalker came to their houses).
After that, his focus was on Doo Na. Well, from my perspective he has always been focused on Doo Na even if it wasn’t in a romantic way, but maybe that’s just me.
And I think it makes sense that he got like a “confirmation of his feelings” after physical contact. I think that’s normal? Idk.
While watching Do You Like Brahms, I had a similar question. I didn’t understand why the FL acted like a jealous gf when 1. she wasn’t even dating the guy and 2. she was crying about another guy like seconds ago.
Beanies told me that’s actually normal, so I think that’s what is happening in this situation. I find the flow in this show (Doo Na) more natural tho. Since Won Jun and the 2FL didn’t see each other for a year.
I feel like they just needed closure.
I never even for one moment cared deeply about Won-jun’s motivations in this drama!
He seemed to me a foil for Doona’s emotions. I mean, what does he want in life? Unclear. To live a staid existence perhaps (nothing wrong with that, but it seems like his “default”).
So, I hear what y’all are saying, but for me, I don’t know that he has any strong motivation to love either woman!
How interesting! I’m still on ep 5 but to me he’s been the lead from the beginning! The story might be called Doona but it’s almost entirely about this guy. A nice and sort of naive young guy that meets his old first love and this mysterious, angry, vulnerable girl that fascinates him and makes him want to protect her. Doona is almost a symbol for every classic femme fatale from any noir movie. Her manipulative lines are so classic!
It’s nice to watch him fall in that spider’s web even though she’s probably doing all that in a much more intuitive and unplanned way than those characters I’m talking about here.
I don’t agree that any of his motivations were unclear, quite the opposite. We know everything about him! He is that trustworthy guy that will always run to the rescue of those is need. He feels guilty for things he shouldn’t. He gets embarrassed for being inexperienced sometimes but not so much that it might make him not say what needs to be said, he learns fast.
Meanwhile Doona does very little in the first eps except smoke, be fragile and act strangely. Later we know more about her but not that much, in order to keep the mystery, I suppose, so in ep 5 we still don’t know how much she’s into him or if she even knows or cares if she likes him or not even though he was very honest about that.
I don’t understand the connection between liking someone and life goals, unless they’re planning to get married or something. But maybe your talking about some other kind of motivation? I didn’t understand well, sorry.
I haven’t finished the show yet (episode 5), but for me Won Jun is just a kid that hasn’t figure things out. And that makes sense with his character, imo.
His family depended on his father, so after his death they started to have economical problems. And money is the best beach to destroy a kid’s dreams and motivations.
It becomes about what you “can” do, not about what you “want” to do.
He probably got in college and decided to study something that will help him have financial stability.
He just thinks the best he can do is have an ordinary and stable life. Without having to worry about his sister getting sick and her hospital bills, or his mom breaking her back trying to make enough money for the three of them. That’s his vision at the moment.
He doesn’t complain or cry, and we don’t see flashbacks to understand how sad his situation is (because this isn’t that type of drama), they just show him living his life. I think that makes it more realistic, too.
@enriquequierecagar No, it’s not that I don’t think that Won-jun’s lack of personal experience includes or excludes him from liking someone. I was just responding to @lixie‘s focus on Won-jun as the central focus of their attention.
I simply found Doona a far more interesting and deep character–I found her interesting pretty much immediately, but also felt she gets more complicated by the end…although the last 60 minutes or so become confusing for everyone 😉
Yes, but Jin Ju knows she did something awful and she still liked him so she’s got plenty of reason to feel anxious about a pretty and flirty girl downstairs. She’s got too much pride or vanity and that’s her main issue, it stopped her from doing the right thing in the past and in the present it made her fail to correct her sunbae when he said soulmates. I’m much more willing to accept the change in Won Jun after that conversation, it’s as if the kiss was a factor but not the major reason.
I do think the kiss had power, it helped him understand his feelings better. He asked Doo Na to not do that again, because he felt butterflies and he doesn’t want to that from a meaningless kiss.
It’s not that he liked Doo Na because of the kiss, he liked the kiss because he likes Doo Na.
Why is the fan wall so quiet about this one? That first episode was really good! I wasn’t even aware this show existed because nobody’s talking about it.
I’m not usually a fan of dark comedy in kdrama because they don’t know how to do it. Well THIS is how it’s done.
Yes, the lead isn’t the most likable person, but I still rooted for her, it’s easy to understand where she’s coming from and why she does what she does even if she’s a bit delusional sometimes.
Her friend is great and should have more lines. The mystery about what she did is intriguing and the one about who is her fan was the best cliffhanger.
Great pace, very good cast, not one boring moment.
Who knows where it’s going but it was a very entertaining first episode.
I do not post anything on my fanwall but let me share my thoughts since I already watched all episodes. It did its job of making the audience look at serious issues. All the characters are flawed and its difficult to root for anyone. To avoid any spoilers, I did feel bad for one character. She suffered the most due to the actions of others. Hopefully, this will make people think and actively make good changes to society.
I actually watched ep 1 for a good 20 min. I don’t mind flawed characters. But I draw limit on wanting what’s not mine to begin with. The moment she act on her crush/lust on a married man, I shut down.
if they didn’t call it a “black comedy”, i wouldn’t be so angry. i should’ve known better because Netflix had the movie “The Veteran” posted under COMEDIES…
it is NOT a comedy, by any means, shape or form. so if you watch it knowing this, then maybe you’ll enjoy it? i did not, because i was expecting something very different…
I watched all of MG. I thought the acting was great (especially by the younger actresses portraying the FL), but the script had so many problems that it eventually derailed the show into the “train wreck” category. At least for me. I went into more details on the Discussion comment that I posted on the Drama page for the show, if you are interested.
The Fan Wall is a free zone. I always knew that but never understood why people would not use even a title before talking about a drama
finale sometimes hours after it’s ending. It takes five seconds. It makes easy for people that want to avoid spoilers to skip that post if they have a title.
No, the answer was always that those should avoid the fan wall until they were up to date with the show. It seems a bit childish to me.
I’ve known dozens of endings before watching the eps because of that rule. I was always expecting people would only post if they liked it or not and explain in the comments but instead there were all kinds of details on the very first sentence in a post without title.
The mistery of Heartbeat’s ending escaped that fate! I know most beanies are ranting and I’m very curious but I’ll still get to have my vampire drama without any spoilers.
Thank you for those that tried to improve that rule, at least this time you saved one drama. Maybe others will follow!
Even more perplexing (to me, anyway) are the people (even unregistered ones) who feel the need to leave a review rating for a show before it finishes its initial airing. That just doesn’t seem fair, but as you stated, much of this DB site is a free zone.
When he becomes human, he’ll get amnesia. Right? He has to, it makes so much sense, he’s becoming a different creature! Why not quickly get past all this sucking FL thing and get to the nice super original angsty amnesia?
How will he become human? We know it will happen I just haven’t imagined what crazy rule CatMan will make up.
This has got to be the strangest amnesia in dramaland. I dare anyone to find out a strangest one. Yes, I know it’s a rich kingdom for such trope but I’m confident, I watched Nice Guy and all 3 of it’s amnesias seem very realistic next to this.
What really confused me was the logic behind it. I was surprised they came up with such a nice message. She cursed herself and it could take a long time until she was ready to let it go. I can forget most of the silliness in that first life just because of that. When she finally accepted the idea to forgive of course she would have to forget all the past lives but how, could, she, possibly forget the current one? How could she be happily waltzing on if she had no memory of her past as BJW herself? I can ask why Min Ki would remember anything, or worse, how could he know any of those rules that he never explained but honestly, these are just stupid plotholes that fade when compared to the Worst Amnesia Ever.
I disliked the ending so much. It made no sense for her to have no memories in the current timeline. I do not even know how she would be able to function normally. Most of her current life had been tied up in some way to the people from her most recent past lives. To forget everything would mean her mind would be a blank slate. I would not even expect her to have any sanity left. How could she explain the missing years between when she ran away from home and the main events of the drama? She was raised by Ae-gyeong–the woman who was both a mother figure to her and her niece from a past life. Their relationship was too big to just wipe away as if it had never existed. And not to mention her job…how is she back to her previous job, the one she left before working with Seo-ha? It’s not like we had some reversal of time because Seo-ha’s uncle is still in jail and the main cast of characters still remember Ji-eum. We did not go back in time. So how was she able to return to work? How does she explain the gap in her memory between when she left that job and then returned to it? So many questions. I do not think that she would be able to function with her memories swiped so cleanly.
I genuinely thought she would wake up at a hospital or something not remembering anything! Where does she live now that she doesn’t remember AeGyong? Did she go back to live with her brother and dead beat dad? And yes how on earth is she back at her old job! Why couldn’t she just remember them as her ‘acquaintances’? So stupid
I was saying all of this too loll 😭 It all made no sense! Who even is she if she can’t remember anything? She would basically be 10 years old again! It’s like she would be 25 but 10!
THIS.
It drove me nuts. Not to mention, couldn’t she have written down everything that had happened so she could read it after she forgot it? And no one can tell her about it, either. Oh just UGH! What we do for a Bean 🤦🏼♀️
Beanies, please remember you can post whatever you want as long as you are nice.
Well, at least, this has always been the rules.
Being nice does not mean you have to praise anything or agree with anyone or everyone. It just means be polite and don’t make any personal attack and please don’t take anything personally. Unless it’s personal kkk.
Which it really, probably isn’t, since this place has been filled with the most polite and nice commenters, even when they detest something they are so sweet about it, it is almost funny.
I should probably not be saying this, but maybe some newbie might profit from it.
Sometimes a drama can be terrible and most beanies will love it, sometimes it’s the opposite. It’s ok to think it’s strange kkk. It’s even better to post about it if you feel like it, you can have fun sharing your thoughts and someday, someone might enjoy that post. They might like what only that person could have said.
Please don’t let the fact you are that Other Voice stop you from posting or make you question why others insist on posting about any drama they might not like. They can have a million reasons to do it. They are as good reasons as those that post about liking the same drama.
Heartbeat ep 2 – Ok Mr. Vampire, if you throw time travel in the mix as well how can I possibly have an impartial opinion? Second ep was as adorable as first and I only have 3 minor complaints.
1- Why is he running around hungry after being locked for a century? Let him feed! He would have bitten something even if it was just a mouse!
2- How is he not amazed by phones?
3- Mr Ko as a human even looks like a cat but he is too convenient. He appears to tell him the hows and whys and move the plot along in the most shameless way. Do I care? Not really.
ps: His suits are even better than those of a certain hotelier making waves elsewhere and he doesn’t even need slowmo to do it. 😛
Dare I even say that it might be juuuuust possible that the costuming department did a more 1920’s era-appropriate fitting job on those suits for Taec than in a certain similarly-time-sited gumiho series of late?
The pants especially.
Also, in the final scene, Taec has on FOUR visible layers of fitted clothing not just three…so that’s simply just more than Junho.
Heartbeat – Sometimes comedies almost make me believe I don’t like comedy as a genre. Until something silly like Heartbeat comes around and my faith in my potential to laugh at simple jokes is completely restored.
Disclaimer: I love vampires. I like all kinds of monsters really but vamps are always at the top of that food chain. That’s it though. That’s all this drama had going for it. I don’t care about anyone on the cast, I’m sometimes convinced kdramas forgot how to do comedy, or even decent fantasy, and I don’t crave romance enough to make me ignore absurdities.
This had little chance of being any good and it certainly had no business making me laugh or becoming very curious and yet it did both!
Well done show! You did all you had to do. Just take a simple premise and explore many possible silly outcomes, laughing at the situations but not at the expense of character’s credibility or audience. Tell me some of the lore so I can get behind the reasoning of the fantastical element and become intrigued. Make me care about the main characters showing their motivations and throw them in each other’s path. Now, keep it up for the next 15 eps!
This was quite a crazy strange mess of an episode. And not in Bulgasal kind of way. Was that on purpose? It begins as bad soap opera but it’s fine because that Joseon intro was just a story being told by an ahjumma lady in a corny style, so it was a nice meta joke, but then drama decides to go all in. It becomes an ordinary fantasy romcom, suddenly despite all best judgement it goes into craziest makjang territory and when it can not go any deeper just kills it. Literally. And becomes fantasy romcom again. Bizarre. It’s a melo/romcom with five murders in the first episode and that’s not even the issue. The teaser promises next episode it will try to be Goblin.
What’s up with bosses feeling free to court any person from their staff? It’s a thing in kdrama that is always puzzling. No character ever questions this so I’m always spending time thinking if Korea approves that or if it’s just plain stupidity from dramas.
Dear beanies watching It’s Beautiful Now, I’m still on ep 34 but I can imagine the next eps will be about the adoption of Mirae’s mom. It seems there will be angst but I can’t imagine the reason. Everybody knows Hyun Jae’s father was adopted so he has no blood relation to Mirae. What could be the issue against their relationship? They are still from different families.
I would also like to know if anyone has recommendations for kdramas similar to IBN? What I like about it is that most of the characters are nice people, the plot is too slow and meandering but the characters make up for it. The only other weekender I have liked was Father is Strange which was kind of similar but had better pacing. I tried Smile You but elders who are rude and bossy are to be avoided and I know weekenders have lots of those. KyungJa’s ridiculous behavior in IBN is the most I can tolerate from this kind of character.
Father is Strange is my favorite weekender but an older one I liked, by the same writer, is Ojakgyo Brothers. Two others I can think of that had characters who were mostly nice people are Five Enough and Once Again.
Dear Beanies, for the next days, please don’t post big messages on the wall which tell the finale on the first sentences? Some of us will take a bit longer to find out, must we really have to avoid the fan wall if we don’t want to know in advance? Is that an unreasonable request? I’m not saying don’t discuss or post, I’m just asking to make it in a way that people can skip the post without knowing the major facts. If you use a title which says which drama is being discussed, and a picture that doesn’t give much away, we could easily make choices.
I’m so sorry i made a post about Yumi’s Cells finale few hours ago. I may didn’t reveal anything but I have decided to delete it.
Once again, i’m sorry…
No need to be sorry, I did not find any posts about it yet. I was only thinking about this because it happened with other popular shows in the past. Thanks for understanding! Maybe repost it in an edited way?
I am curious. Can anyone who knows the webtoon explain the BaBi situation? Is he a mystery in the story or the drama has been making changes? It seems a strange contrast with Woong and the editor, we know too little about a big character and his behavior is inconsistent. I’m thinking it’s done on purpose but I don’t mind knowing if drama has been trying to improve something.
He is ruffled and shaken by the new girl. Yumi breaks up. They try to get back together but Yumi realizes she doesn’t lvoe him. He does end up marrying the other girl and run cafe together. She falls in love with a character Soonrok (now i am not sure if they have changed the name of the character in the show)…and the overall theme of Yumi’s cells is self-love. Yumi is someone who gives and gives up everything in love.. herself.. but it is a journey of self respect and always keeping that corner for yourself no matter how much you love other people in your life
i am disturbed by her (former college student) editor/boss who is creeping on her! that isn’t a good storyline, it is stalking and illegal for him to pursue her as his subordinate, isn’t it?
I’m sure it’s not illegal and while he wasn’t exactly a creep, it wasn’t a regular romantic situation either. I wish kdramas would talk about the strangeness of bosses having relationships with subordinates, instead they pretend it’s very easy.
Lixie
February 11, 2024 at 6:30 AM
Captivating the King ep 4
It was a good ep but I’m confused. If the king knew they were innocent, why did he allow Mungwoo and the others to be punished? It was never hinted he was even a little bit doubtful about their innocence.
Kurama
February 11, 2024 at 6:45 AM
I think his situation was already very precarious.
Helping people who made him a traitor would let others think he was actually one and was helping his friends.
Lixie
February 11, 2024 at 7:18 AM
He was already king. His personality was all about protecting the innocent and that’s not even thinking how much he liked Mungwoo.
Kurama
February 11, 2024 at 8:03 AM
He was King if nobody was against it. People could have ask that his nephew becomes the King later. His power was fragile. A lot of people saw him as a traitor because he negociated with Qinq.
Lixie
January 19, 2024 at 10:39 AM
FLOWERS – Ep 3
Can anyone tell me why nobody knows who she is except for the lead? If they will say she changed completely from being a teenager to the current time I won’t give it any more chances. I’m also a bit confused about why the ML acts as a teenager when the story claims he is 32. It was cute at first and now it’s kind of weird and silly but many Beanies seem to like this so I’m wondering if there is a good reason for these facts.
tabong has two different tears🍉
January 19, 2024 at 12:06 PM
I wish teenagers on my country acted like Baek Du. I wish men in my country acted like Baek Du. I wish everyone everywhere acted like Baek Du. 😂 The world would be a better place, there’s so much to learn from him.
For them a Seoul girl called Yu Something just appeared, they didn’t think that much about it. It’s not like she has to be the girl Du Sik from 20 years ago. She’s just a random woman.
Lixie
January 19, 2024 at 4:41 PM
I did that in the first ep and then I think the script became too heavy handed trying to convince me the guy was the purest soul and I should like him, which I already did, until I didn’t because he became a bit silly. He will get another chance though, let’s find out if he becomes more interesting! The FL so far is really unlikable and the murder mystery is just another empty filler of dramas.
tabong has two different tears🍉
January 19, 2024 at 7:41 PM
I hope you enjoy it more with time!
john
January 19, 2024 at 12:33 PM
It is a thing in that town because another female character grew up in the town too and nobody had recalled her either.
More townfolk are catching on though..
LaurenSophie
January 19, 2024 at 1:33 PM
Yes, the main reason the show gives as to why only Baek-du recognizes Du-Shik is because she was a tomboy-ish girl but now is a traditionally beautiful and feminine woman so of course, the islanders’ provincial mentalities can’t recognize that she’s the same person. But I also think that their inability to see her for who she is works as a meta-critique of the myopic nature of small towns–the one that you’ll see Baek-du gloriously deconstruct in a later episode–where people use their senses only to confirm what they already believe to be true based on their own prejudices. So they miss the obvious all the time.
Gum Shoe
January 19, 2024 at 1:43 PM
I think that the non-recognition is she left when she was a child and her family was driven out of town in shame. I think the townspeople can’t imagine that she would ever return because of that. Baek Du is the only one who sees her and immediately recognizes her spirit and soul in her adult form.
Also, I disagree that he acts like a teenager as teenagers try on all sorts of new characteristics and facades as they change from children into adults. Baek Du acts like an unarmored soul who doesn’t have any pretense or airs in his interactions with the world. That can make him seem unsophisticated, but his EQ is high and he is sensitive to others. And unlike teenagers and a lot of adults, he doesn’t care about being cool or admired by others. (The drama also doesn’t cue us to admire him. For example, there are no lingering eye candy shots of his body even though he is often shirtless and he seems completely comfortable in his skin.) That’s noticeably different and refreshing about his character.
bong-soo
January 19, 2024 at 4:29 PM
The wonderful thing about Baek-du is: (riff on Flip Wilson): “What you see is what you get!” There is no pretense with Baek-du.
Lixie
January 19, 2024 at 4:37 PM
There are plenty of ways the show is making him very likable, it’s kind of corny, which is probably why it gave me the teenager vibes. I get that he is a really nice guy, but sometimes it becomes heavy handed when he is too naive. If she left as a child I can accept people would not know her.
Lixie
November 7, 2023 at 11:12 AM
CD ep 4
Another small rant.
This drama is about anything except the title character. That is why she is NOT getting awed by modern technology or Soul or fancy food. She is not interested in anything for herself. She has no personal plans. She is not looking for her old friends and none of them reached out for her. NO media is chasing her although that story would probably be of international interest these days. NO. It’s all this big soap opera about the evil CEO, Psycho Cop and where is Ki-Ho, who is Ki-Ho and why he acts like a jerk. AS if anyone who knows anything about kdramas doesn’t know THAT. It’s so ridiculous. Somebody posted this drama had claimed to be surreal. No. Moon in a Day is surreal. This is just cheap melodrama.
Lelly19
November 7, 2023 at 2:11 PM
As far fetched as one might consider it, how is wanting to become a singer not a personal plan?? That’s one of the reasons why Mokha is participating in that lipsynch deal with Ranjoo.
It’s like saying that any rom-com with the typical formula of boy meets girl and they fall in love is bad because we’ve seen it a thousand times before and we know how it is going to finish.
In the end it’s all about the specific flavor of a show, sometimes it will suit our tastes sometimes it won’t.
Lixie
November 7, 2023 at 6:41 PM
That’s barely there. In the first ep yes, she did want the career, the singing, the independence. After she was rescued she has not been the central piece of this story. In any halfway decent romcom we get to experience both leads falling in love, that’s the basic. In this it’s not about being predictable, if anything the denial of exploration of the one that should be the main lead is very unexpected.
She is doing it much more to help Ranjoo than anything, even though it could, if people found out, cause a big scandal for her too.
She doesn’t have singing lessons, or guitar, or a freaking hair cut. There is almost nothing there that is about the person Mok-Ha who has just spent 15 years in an island.
Lixie
November 5, 2023 at 7:53 AM
Castaway ep3
This drama is going downhill fast. It is a good thing because I thought it would drag the whole Ki-Ho lunacy for 10 eps but it became bad makjang so it will probably not have that power. It keeps throwing these absurd plot twists, cheesy attempts at melodramatic moments and insane behavior by characters that go against not only their personality and history but any kind of possible rationality.
It begins making fun at what should be a heavy moment, then we find out the agency doesn’t know about Ranjoo condition or where she lives. Crazy but that’s nothing compared to BG, who probably is KH, but spends yet another ep being bored, uninterested and annoyed by Mok-Ha whether she is present or not. If that actor was supposed to show any real emotion at any second, he is terrible. What a shame, the teen actors and PEB were amazing.
Later we find Psycho Cop is still chasing Ki-Ho even if that is absurd, it’s been 15 years, the kid just escaped, he didn’t kill anyone. Abusive parents, no matter how terrible, don’t act like that, terminator style. No, not even evil stepmoms would still be chasing Ki-Ho.
The director decides MH should just become RJ’s manager even if she knows almost nothing about Seul or the industry or modern technology, which is no problem since this is just some contrivance to make MH sing in her place so she will sell thousands, take away the company shares and finally make MH into a popstar! Yay! Now I know why this will only have 12 eps.
Before the end we get a long flashback of Ki-Ho being his amazing, tenacious, heroic self while doing even more for Mok-Ha, and that is the only nice moment in this entire episode. Too bad as he got a face change they took away his personality as well.
It’s surreal that even Moon in a Day now seems better than this when CD’s ep 1 was so heartfelt but that’s dramaland for you. The main thing is not the cast or production or director, it’s always the writing and this writer is a cheater. It is selling emotional melodrama using all the mistakes of bad makjang and pretending no one can tell.
Midnight
November 5, 2023 at 8:06 AM
I’m not watching, but it is intriguing how vastly different people’s reactions to this show are!
Lixie
November 5, 2023 at 8:24 AM
Yes, it’s because of the emotional moments and connections established with characters from the first episode. The thing is what was nicely done at first later became lazy and manipulative. Some will drop this but majority will probably keep loving it because they will just ignore all the issues.
🌸 Cera (@Seeker) 🌸
November 5, 2023 at 1:29 PM
Exactly. I have a whole laundry list which should couple of red flags “to ignore” if I want to continue watching.
Ghost of Tim (eccentric observations from a male perspective)
November 5, 2023 at 8:14 AM
You make some good points that I had not considered. Food for thought.
I think the reason Psycho Cop is still looking for Ki-ho has to do with some Deep Reckoning he seeks (whether this will turn out to be a redemption reckoning or an evil reckoning is yet to unfold). I know I am just guessing at that right now, because (as you rightly pointed out) the writing is quite weak about why he is still hunting for his son.
Lixie
November 5, 2023 at 8:27 AM
Thanks for giving this rant a chance ehehhehe.
I confess I’m pretty sure Psycho Cop has less motivation than a robot but please tell me later if drama comes up with an acceptable explanation for all this chasing.
emsel
November 5, 2023 at 10:53 AM
Your reason seems possible because he even took out a life insurance.
Kurama
November 5, 2023 at 12:49 PM
I’m not surprised. He always wanted to find the mother. He screamed in his son and hit him asking where she was. Now, it’s his son who left him and “made” him loosing his job, there is no reason his obsession will disapear like this.
Lixie
November 5, 2023 at 1:45 PM
Thanks @kurama! I had forgotten Ki-Ho had left a letter with revealing evidence about Psycho Cop and he was indeed obsessed with the mother so IF he believed KH went to her it would be enough to make him chase them for as long as any crazy stalker. It still doesn’t explain his coldness when there is nobody around or directly to MH but does explain the Psycho’s motivation.
Kurama
November 5, 2023 at 2:04 PM
You’re welcome 🙂
For BG, I think they will give us his point of view later.
But KH wasn’t so nice when he was young. He became only nice to MH when he understood she was suffering like him. But otherwise, before he was pretty mean with her, took his phone back she was talking, etc.
Lelly19
November 5, 2023 at 2:40 PM
He’s an abuser…what so weird about him still trying to find his son??
I mean, the whole show is based on a woman surviving 15 years alone on an island..it’s not the most realistic storytelling xD
Lixie
November 5, 2023 at 3:48 PM
It’s been 15 years, if he was just an abuser he would have quit long before, but I did understand a possible very nice explanation on the previous post.
🌸 Cera (@Seeker) 🌸
November 6, 2023 at 2:12 AM
A line on the poster for the drama says it all.
A surreal drama for those who are tired of reality.
emsel
November 5, 2023 at 11:03 AM
I am beginning to feel tired. The charm from Ep 1 and 2 is wearing out. Why would RJ think lip syncing is a good way to sell her album and get company shares. If the CEO is a coward, she is even more of a coward and a fool. She is going to bring everyone down.
CHJ’s character seems to be the weakest with nothing going on, except for keeping him around for the Ki Ho mystery. The CEO is a typical morally, grey character who they are going to show as being misunderstood or keep him as a antagonist with redemption arc. I don’t even want to talk about the trick of keeping the audience in angst and fear by showing the abusive dad.
I like the moments they show of Mok Ha in the island and how they use that as a message in the present.
Lixie
November 5, 2023 at 12:55 PM
Yes, I forgotten that, even if she doesn’t have a singing career anymore, if MH does that and it gets out, she also goes down.
loveblossom🌸
November 5, 2023 at 11:36 AM
Yeah… I felt less enamored after the 3rd EP.
alasecond
November 5, 2023 at 11:54 AM
Th eunuch ghost from goblin disagrees.. you follow for revenge for years..
oh wait.. even the ML is day in moon disagrees 😛
PYC
November 5, 2023 at 4:21 PM
The psycho cop dad is very typical of obsessive abusers – they simply do not stop until their ‘jobs’ are done unfortunately. That’s becoming the purpose of their life unfortunately. It’s crazy but it’s happening everyday in this world, regardless of countries or nationalities.
Lixie
October 30, 2023 at 6:09 PM
Perfect Marriage Revenge
This second episode was way better! I can’t believe I’m posting praise to a makjang! Have I been abducted by an alien? Can I blame amnesia? Where are those constant questions about lack of logic that follow every kdrama? Somehow Somewhere this crazy mess did what almost no drama does, managed to make me not care about that. Amazing.
Does anyone know another like that? Yes, I have watched Secret, Mask, Money Flower. Please don’t talk about Nice Guy, Chocolate or that Come Hug Me thing. I want the drama to be crazy not make me crazy.
john
October 30, 2023 at 7:29 PM
Glamorous Temptation (2015)
Lixie
October 31, 2023 at 6:23 AM
I liked the cast! The 50 eps thing is a bit scary but I’ll give it a chance!
emsel
October 31, 2023 at 12:00 AM
Agree with Secret, Money Flower.
Haven’t watched Mask, Come and Hug me, so no opinions.
I dropped Nice Guy after 3 or 4 episodes. It was boring.
Blue (@mayhemf)
October 31, 2023 at 6:00 AM
Graceful family.
Lixie
October 31, 2023 at 6:27 AM
Tried. The characters seemed unreal so fish family was not for me but thanks for the rec!
Lixie
October 29, 2023 at 6:20 PM
Castaway ep1
The first ep was quite good. Later I got a bit confused about some things, maybe someone can explain. It seems she was there on the island for 15 years? Is she supposed to be 30? She was around 15 when she got there, right? I think 15 is way too long for this kind of story and she looks 25 at most. The guy was also a teenager and just because he got a new name she won’t recognize him? That’s very stupid. I hate when dramas pretend people change a lot after they are teenagers when it’s pretty much the same face except, older.
Ghost of Tim (eccentric observations from a male perspective)
October 29, 2023 at 7:51 PM
The answers to all your questions above is “yes”. I agree it’s not realistic but we are being asked to suspend logic and flow with the plot.
🌸 Cera (@Seeker) 🌸
October 29, 2023 at 9:05 PM
Oh yes, “go with the flow” like all those colorful umbrellas + rainwater collectors + drinking water dispensers.
Got to 👏 for most awesome use of umbrellas in a K-drama!
Blue (@mayhemf)
October 30, 2023 at 5:04 AM
I think they tried to convince us later that logically a lot of trash gets washed ashore nearby islands (that they need volunteer cleaning teams).
To make it more believable she could have been washed ashore an island which already had trash, instead of showing us a pristine beautiful beach.
Lixie
October 30, 2023 at 5:44 AM
After ep 2 I’m almost convinced. I thought she would be just a bit quirky but PEB is selling a little crazy and very lonely, so it’s easier to buy, though it should have been 5 years. I’ll just pretend Kiho had some work done to his face because that’s the only explanation.
owl 🦉 🫰
October 29, 2023 at 8:16 PM
I agree about the time leap, it’s too ling for me to connect her life together. I lived ep 1 and ep 2, but it feels like we needed some in-between episodes. I mean they might come later as filler flashbacks so I’m gonna have to see how that works.
Ghost of Tim (eccentric observations from a male perspective)
October 29, 2023 at 8:29 PM
We still have 10 episodes to go and she’s already been rescued and is adjusting to normal life. It feels like we should see quite a few flashbacks; otherwise what purpose do those 15 years as a castaway serve? I’m hoping we get flashbacks that show us her inspirations for writing songs, etc. 🤞
Blue (@mayhemf)
October 30, 2023 at 5:06 AM
Given that it’s only a 12 episode drama I don’t think we will have any revisiting her castaway years. But we will see. I too wish we had spent a little more time on the island to have some connection to her lonely life. We should have seen some of her struggles, fear, loneliness etc.
Lixie
October 30, 2023 at 5:45 AM
I’d have loved to get more of her life on that island! I’m crazy about Crusoe kind of stories.
owl 🦉 🫰
October 30, 2023 at 8:25 AM
Me too!
alasecond
October 30, 2023 at 2:38 AM
They are promoting organic living.. it is a big thing on korean varieties too 😛
35 but 25
alasecond
October 30, 2023 at 2:40 AM
on a serious note..
1. Yes 15 yrs, she is 31 now
2. She looks young because like i said, organic living and an active life
3. i don’t know about you, but i genuinely can’t recognize people whom i have not seen in years.. she has been alone on that island, how much her memories retain is another question.. plus korea is known for plastic surgery like growing cucumber in the backyard
Lixie
October 30, 2023 at 5:48 AM
3. Everybody has the same face, add a few wrinkles and maybe rounder or thinner cheeks and that’s that. Decades can go by but after people become teenagers they don’t really change that much.
alasecond
October 30, 2023 at 7:24 AM
they change or not.. but you may or maynot recognize them.. two different things
owl 🦉 🫰
October 30, 2023 at 8:27 AM
I am hoping the to leads will return to the island.
Lixie
October 22, 2023 at 2:59 PM
Doona! ep 5
First I want to give a warning to those that might not know this yet and be curious about it. It’s not a fluffy romance, if you don’t go in expecting that, maybe you will enjoy it more.
Spoilers for eps 01-05
small rant ahead
After a slow and a bit artificial first ep I think drama really found it’s way and I was really enjoying all the characters but ep 5 was confusing. A long time ago a beanie commented on the stupid trope of insta love caused by touch, that really used to be very common in dramaland. I don’t think that cliche is so easy to find lately but I’m thinking that’s what happened in this drama.
Won Jun was very convincing giving all the signs and talking about still liking JinJu, yes he was a bit attracted to Doona, that was there, but it was something superficial. She kisses him and suddenly he likes her? That’s so stupid and completely opposite to this character’s personality.
Ghost of Tim (eccentric observations from a male perspective)
October 22, 2023 at 3:34 PM
I noticed other signs. He believes his timing with Jin-ju was off, plus he sees the other guy making moves on her. Missed timing in a relationship is something Won-jun really believes in (more evidence of that comes later). Meanwhile, he decides to live in the moment and roll the dice with his feelings for Doona. That kiss was inevitable, and I didn’t really feel it was contrary to his personality. If anything, I sort of expected it sooner.
Lixie
October 22, 2023 at 6:18 PM
What were these other signs? He does know about the other guy but Jin Ju never said she liked this guy and he kept talking about liking her. Don’t get me wrong, I fully expected him to fall for her tricks, he doesn’t have the maturity or experience to avoid that, but I just felt the drama skipped a few events and jumped from one kiss to sudden romantic feelings.
Ghost of Tim (eccentric observations from a male perspective)
October 22, 2023 at 6:29 PM
Didn’t we see flash-backs of Jin-ju dumping/ghosting him in their high school days? She never told him why (yet), and it hurt him deeply. He never forgot that, it’s clear from how he acts towards her when their paths cross again. Plus, years have passed, and now when he sees the other guy talking about them being “soulmates”, he realizes his time has passed with her. Remember this trait about Won-jun, as you watch the rest of the show.
Lixie
October 22, 2023 at 8:04 PM
Yes, they were very close, after he confessed she hugged him but later ghosted him because she was embarrassed she could not date him. She was wrong to do it and he was very hurt, so their relationship was complicated. I was expecting he would be slower to forgive her but he kept talking and acting as if he had decided to try again with her. Perhaps when that guy said soulmate and Jin Ju didn’t contradict him immediately he was more upset than I imagined and from that moment on his feelings shifted more radically. That can happen. Thanks I had not thought much about that moment.
tabong has two different tears🍉
October 22, 2023 at 4:28 PM
I don’t think his feelings for Doo Na are superficial. I started feeling the development of their relationship in episodes 4 and 5.
Lixie
October 22, 2023 at 6:23 PM
Maybe superficial was a bit strong but before the kiss she gave him, I would not call them romantic. There was sexual interest, curiosity, a little pity, a kind of friendship, but nothing close to being very romantic and by the end of ep 5 he’s rejecting the girl he said he liked and almost acting like a jealous boyfriend with Doona.
tabong has two different tears🍉
October 22, 2023 at 8:04 PM
I would call it romance, tho. Even the 2FL noticed something. That’s why she was nervous when she talked to Doo Na. She’s been nervous for a while now, even before the stalker incident.
Maybe because she was in a similar situation? The 2FL was in this “some” relationship with her sunbae but she also liked Won Jun. At the end her feelings for Won Jun were stronger.
In Won Jun’s case he had lingering feelings for her, but he was in this other relationship with Doo Na (at that time friendship?). And later, he decided to give up on his first love. But his relationship with Doo Na continued and it had a strange development (I wouldn’t sleep holding hands with my friend, not even even if a stalker came to their houses).
After that, his focus was on Doo Na. Well, from my perspective he has always been focused on Doo Na even if it wasn’t in a romantic way, but maybe that’s just me.
And I think it makes sense that he got like a “confirmation of his feelings” after physical contact. I think that’s normal? Idk.
While watching Do You Like Brahms, I had a similar question. I didn’t understand why the FL acted like a jealous gf when 1. she wasn’t even dating the guy and 2. she was crying about another guy like seconds ago.
Beanies told me that’s actually normal, so I think that’s what is happening in this situation. I find the flow in this show (Doo Na) more natural tho. Since Won Jun and the 2FL didn’t see each other for a year.
I feel like they just needed closure.
Seon-ha
October 23, 2023 at 7:09 AM
I never even for one moment cared deeply about Won-jun’s motivations in this drama!
He seemed to me a foil for Doona’s emotions. I mean, what does he want in life? Unclear. To live a staid existence perhaps (nothing wrong with that, but it seems like his “default”).
So, I hear what y’all are saying, but for me, I don’t know that he has any strong motivation to love either woman!
Lixie
October 23, 2023 at 7:32 AM
How interesting! I’m still on ep 5 but to me he’s been the lead from the beginning! The story might be called Doona but it’s almost entirely about this guy. A nice and sort of naive young guy that meets his old first love and this mysterious, angry, vulnerable girl that fascinates him and makes him want to protect her. Doona is almost a symbol for every classic femme fatale from any noir movie. Her manipulative lines are so classic!
It’s nice to watch him fall in that spider’s web even though she’s probably doing all that in a much more intuitive and unplanned way than those characters I’m talking about here.
I don’t agree that any of his motivations were unclear, quite the opposite. We know everything about him! He is that trustworthy guy that will always run to the rescue of those is need. He feels guilty for things he shouldn’t. He gets embarrassed for being inexperienced sometimes but not so much that it might make him not say what needs to be said, he learns fast.
Meanwhile Doona does very little in the first eps except smoke, be fragile and act strangely. Later we know more about her but not that much, in order to keep the mystery, I suppose, so in ep 5 we still don’t know how much she’s into him or if she even knows or cares if she likes him or not even though he was very honest about that.
tabong has two different tears🍉
October 23, 2023 at 11:46 AM
I don’t understand the connection between liking someone and life goals, unless they’re planning to get married or something. But maybe your talking about some other kind of motivation? I didn’t understand well, sorry.
I haven’t finished the show yet (episode 5), but for me Won Jun is just a kid that hasn’t figure things out. And that makes sense with his character, imo.
His family depended on his father, so after his death they started to have economical problems. And money is the best beach to destroy a kid’s dreams and motivations.
It becomes about what you “can” do, not about what you “want” to do.
He probably got in college and decided to study something that will help him have financial stability.
He just thinks the best he can do is have an ordinary and stable life. Without having to worry about his sister getting sick and her hospital bills, or his mom breaking her back trying to make enough money for the three of them. That’s his vision at the moment.
He doesn’t complain or cry, and we don’t see flashbacks to understand how sad his situation is (because this isn’t that type of drama), they just show him living his life. I think that makes it more realistic, too.
Seon-ha
October 23, 2023 at 11:55 AM
@enriquequierecagar No, it’s not that I don’t think that Won-jun’s lack of personal experience includes or excludes him from liking someone. I was just responding to @lixie‘s focus on Won-jun as the central focus of their attention.
I simply found Doona a far more interesting and deep character–I found her interesting pretty much immediately, but also felt she gets more complicated by the end…although the last 60 minutes or so become confusing for everyone 😉
You all enjoy Won-jun to your heart’s content!!
tabong has two different tears🍉
October 23, 2023 at 1:40 PM
Ahhhhh. I get it.
Feel ya, Doo Na is a nice character. I really like her.
Lixie
October 23, 2023 at 7:19 AM
Yes, but Jin Ju knows she did something awful and she still liked him so she’s got plenty of reason to feel anxious about a pretty and flirty girl downstairs. She’s got too much pride or vanity and that’s her main issue, it stopped her from doing the right thing in the past and in the present it made her fail to correct her sunbae when he said soulmates. I’m much more willing to accept the change in Won Jun after that conversation, it’s as if the kiss was a factor but not the major reason.
tabong has two different tears🍉
October 23, 2023 at 11:19 AM
I do think the kiss had power, it helped him understand his feelings better. He asked Doo Na to not do that again, because he felt butterflies and he doesn’t want to that from a meaningless kiss.
It’s not that he liked Doo Na because of the kiss, he liked the kiss because he likes Doo Na.
Seon-ha
October 23, 2023 at 11:56 AM
It was also cute the way she pushed him back up onto that counter. I don’t usually like “reversals” like that, but this one was pretty cute.
Lixie
August 29, 2023 at 8:16 AM
MLL 9
It’s a romcom. I know, we all know it, but should we have to keep telling ourselves that?
The ML gets a call from the guy who has just kidnapped his friend. That guy, the one who stabbed him in the back and keeps promising to kill him.
Does he call the police? Get a gun? A smarter human? No! He goes to meet the lunatic alone in an empty place.
I’m not asking you to be realistic drama! Just less crazy!
mmmmm
August 29, 2023 at 8:54 AM
Yeah, I rolled my eyes at that.
firefly
August 29, 2023 at 9:25 AM
I fast forwarded through the whole thing. It made no sense. It doesn’t have to be smart but some logic would have been nice.
Cecee
August 30, 2023 at 6:54 AM
perfect k drama logic, what are you complaining about? lol
Lixie
August 22, 2023 at 12:05 PM
Mask Girl
Why is the fan wall so quiet about this one? That first episode was really good! I wasn’t even aware this show existed because nobody’s talking about it.
I’m not usually a fan of dark comedy in kdrama because they don’t know how to do it. Well THIS is how it’s done.
Yes, the lead isn’t the most likable person, but I still rooted for her, it’s easy to understand where she’s coming from and why she does what she does even if she’s a bit delusional sometimes.
Her friend is great and should have more lines. The mystery about what she did is intriguing and the one about who is her fan was the best cliffhanger.
Great pace, very good cast, not one boring moment.
Who knows where it’s going but it was a very entertaining first episode.
Peridot
August 22, 2023 at 1:52 PM
I only finished the show yesterday. The main character’s life, while to some degree the product of her own choices, was quite tragic.
haruloves
August 22, 2023 at 8:02 PM
I do not post anything on my fanwall but let me share my thoughts since I already watched all episodes. It did its job of making the audience look at serious issues. All the characters are flawed and its difficult to root for anyone. To avoid any spoilers, I did feel bad for one character. She suffered the most due to the actions of others. Hopefully, this will make people think and actively make good changes to society.
Cay_sbtgoG
August 22, 2023 at 8:51 PM
I actually watched ep 1 for a good 20 min. I don’t mind flawed characters. But I draw limit on wanting what’s not mine to begin with. The moment she act on her crush/lust on a married man, I shut down.
spazmo
August 24, 2023 at 12:08 AM
if they didn’t call it a “black comedy”, i wouldn’t be so angry. i should’ve known better because Netflix had the movie “The Veteran” posted under COMEDIES…
it is NOT a comedy, by any means, shape or form. so if you watch it knowing this, then maybe you’ll enjoy it? i did not, because i was expecting something very different…
Ghost of Tim (eccentric observations from a male perspective)
October 21, 2023 at 6:26 AM
I watched all of MG. I thought the acting was great (especially by the younger actresses portraying the FL), but the script had so many problems that it eventually derailed the show into the “train wreck” category. At least for me. I went into more details on the Discussion comment that I posted on the Drama page for the show, if you are interested.
Lixie
August 17, 2023 at 7:45 AM
Heartbeat thank you note
The Fan Wall is a free zone. I always knew that but never understood why people would not use even a title before talking about a drama
finale sometimes hours after it’s ending. It takes five seconds. It makes easy for people that want to avoid spoilers to skip that post if they have a title.
No, the answer was always that those should avoid the fan wall until they were up to date with the show. It seems a bit childish to me.
I’ve known dozens of endings before watching the eps because of that rule. I was always expecting people would only post if they liked it or not and explain in the comments but instead there were all kinds of details on the very first sentence in a post without title.
The mistery of Heartbeat’s ending escaped that fate! I know most beanies are ranting and I’m very curious but I’ll still get to have my vampire drama without any spoilers.
Thank you for those that tried to improve that rule, at least this time you saved one drama. Maybe others will follow!
Ghost of Tim (eccentric observations from a male perspective)
October 21, 2023 at 6:29 AM
Even more perplexing (to me, anyway) are the people (even unregistered ones) who feel the need to leave a review rating for a show before it finishes its initial airing. That just doesn’t seem fair, but as you stated, much of this DB site is a free zone.
Lixie
August 8, 2023 at 2:57 PM
Heartbeat Theories
When he becomes human, he’ll get amnesia. Right? He has to, it makes so much sense, he’s becoming a different creature! Why not quickly get past all this sucking FL thing and get to the nice super original angsty amnesia?
How will he become human? We know it will happen I just haven’t imagined what crazy rule CatMan will make up.
Lixie
July 24, 2023 at 12:06 PM
SYIM19L 12
This has got to be the strangest amnesia in dramaland. I dare anyone to find out a strangest one. Yes, I know it’s a rich kingdom for such trope but I’m confident, I watched Nice Guy and all 3 of it’s amnesias seem very realistic next to this.
What really confused me was the logic behind it. I was surprised they came up with such a nice message. She cursed herself and it could take a long time until she was ready to let it go. I can forget most of the silliness in that first life just because of that. When she finally accepted the idea to forgive of course she would have to forget all the past lives but how, could, she, possibly forget the current one? How could she be happily waltzing on if she had no memory of her past as BJW herself? I can ask why Min Ki would remember anything, or worse, how could he know any of those rules that he never explained but honestly, these are just stupid plotholes that fade when compared to the Worst Amnesia Ever.
Peridot
July 24, 2023 at 2:22 PM
I disliked the ending so much. It made no sense for her to have no memories in the current timeline. I do not even know how she would be able to function normally. Most of her current life had been tied up in some way to the people from her most recent past lives. To forget everything would mean her mind would be a blank slate. I would not even expect her to have any sanity left. How could she explain the missing years between when she ran away from home and the main events of the drama? She was raised by Ae-gyeong–the woman who was both a mother figure to her and her niece from a past life. Their relationship was too big to just wipe away as if it had never existed. And not to mention her job…how is she back to her previous job, the one she left before working with Seo-ha? It’s not like we had some reversal of time because Seo-ha’s uncle is still in jail and the main cast of characters still remember Ji-eum. We did not go back in time. So how was she able to return to work? How does she explain the gap in her memory between when she left that job and then returned to it? So many questions. I do not think that she would be able to function with her memories swiped so cleanly.
RenOIshi
July 24, 2023 at 4:39 PM
I genuinely thought she would wake up at a hospital or something not remembering anything! Where does she live now that she doesn’t remember AeGyong? Did she go back to live with her brother and dead beat dad? And yes how on earth is she back at her old job! Why couldn’t she just remember them as her ‘acquaintances’? So stupid
mindy
July 24, 2023 at 4:48 PM
I was saying all of this too loll 😭 It all made no sense! Who even is she if she can’t remember anything? She would basically be 10 years old again! It’s like she would be 25 but 10!
Wait, Shin Hye-sun already did that drama.
bbstl 🧹
July 24, 2023 at 8:48 PM
😆
Peridot
July 25, 2023 at 1:37 PM
LOL
bbstl 🧹
July 24, 2023 at 8:50 PM
THIS.
It drove me nuts. Not to mention, couldn’t she have written down everything that had happened so she could read it after she forgot it? And no one can tell her about it, either. Oh just UGH! What we do for a Bean 🤦🏼♀️
Lixie
July 13, 2023 at 2:06 PM
Beanies, please remember you can post whatever you want as long as you are nice.
Well, at least, this has always been the rules.
Being nice does not mean you have to praise anything or agree with anyone or everyone. It just means be polite and don’t make any personal attack and please don’t take anything personally. Unless it’s personal kkk.
Which it really, probably isn’t, since this place has been filled with the most polite and nice commenters, even when they detest something they are so sweet about it, it is almost funny.
I should probably not be saying this, but maybe some newbie might profit from it.
Sometimes a drama can be terrible and most beanies will love it, sometimes it’s the opposite. It’s ok to think it’s strange kkk. It’s even better to post about it if you feel like it, you can have fun sharing your thoughts and someday, someone might enjoy that post. They might like what only that person could have said.
Please don’t let the fact you are that Other Voice stop you from posting or make you question why others insist on posting about any drama they might not like. They can have a million reasons to do it. They are as good reasons as those that post about liking the same drama.
Lixie
June 28, 2023 at 7:27 AM
Heartbeat ep 2 – Ok Mr. Vampire, if you throw time travel in the mix as well how can I possibly have an impartial opinion? Second ep was as adorable as first and I only have 3 minor complaints.
1- Why is he running around hungry after being locked for a century? Let him feed! He would have bitten something even if it was just a mouse!
2- How is he not amazed by phones?
3- Mr Ko as a human even looks like a cat but he is too convenient. He appears to tell him the hows and whys and move the plot along in the most shameless way. Do I care? Not really.
ps: His suits are even better than those of a certain hotelier making waves elsewhere and he doesn’t even need slowmo to do it. 😛
Seon-ha
June 28, 2023 at 9:38 AM
Dare I even say that it might be juuuuust possible that the costuming department did a more 1920’s era-appropriate fitting job on those suits for Taec than in a certain similarly-time-sited gumiho series of late?
The pants especially.
Also, in the final scene, Taec has on FOUR visible layers of fitted clothing not just three…so that’s simply just more than Junho.
Lixie
June 27, 2023 at 8:32 AM
Heartbeat – Sometimes comedies almost make me believe I don’t like comedy as a genre. Until something silly like Heartbeat comes around and my faith in my potential to laugh at simple jokes is completely restored.
Disclaimer: I love vampires. I like all kinds of monsters really but vamps are always at the top of that food chain. That’s it though. That’s all this drama had going for it. I don’t care about anyone on the cast, I’m sometimes convinced kdramas forgot how to do comedy, or even decent fantasy, and I don’t crave romance enough to make me ignore absurdities.
This had little chance of being any good and it certainly had no business making me laugh or becoming very curious and yet it did both!
Well done show! You did all you had to do. Just take a simple premise and explore many possible silly outcomes, laughing at the situations but not at the expense of character’s credibility or audience. Tell me some of the lore so I can get behind the reasoning of the fantastical element and become intrigued. Make me care about the main characters showing their motivations and throw them in each other’s path. Now, keep it up for the next 15 eps!
alasecond
June 28, 2023 at 12:01 AM
Comedy is so well done in this.. and Taec is pulling it off really well.. director played well
haven’t warmed up to FL yet
Lixie
January 28, 2023 at 5:23 AM
Kokdu ep 1
This was quite a crazy strange mess of an episode. And not in Bulgasal kind of way. Was that on purpose? It begins as bad soap opera but it’s fine because that Joseon intro was just a story being told by an ahjumma lady in a corny style, so it was a nice meta joke, but then drama decides to go all in. It becomes an ordinary fantasy romcom, suddenly despite all best judgement it goes into craziest makjang territory and when it can not go any deeper just kills it. Literally. And becomes fantasy romcom again. Bizarre. It’s a melo/romcom with five murders in the first episode and that’s not even the issue. The teaser promises next episode it will try to be Goblin.
ladykrueger
January 28, 2023 at 8:37 AM
Okay, so I wasn’t the only one who got major whiplash from that episode. Great! I really hope it finds its footing though, for Kim Jung-hyun’s sake.
Lixie
January 20, 2023 at 6:35 AM
The New Employee
What’s up with bosses feeling free to court any person from their staff? It’s a thing in kdrama that is always puzzling. No character ever questions this so I’m always spending time thinking if Korea approves that or if it’s just plain stupidity from dramas.
Lixie
August 2, 2022 at 8:04 AM
Beautiful and suggestions
Dear beanies watching It’s Beautiful Now, I’m still on ep 34 but I can imagine the next eps will be about the adoption of Mirae’s mom. It seems there will be angst but I can’t imagine the reason. Everybody knows Hyun Jae’s father was adopted so he has no blood relation to Mirae. What could be the issue against their relationship? They are still from different families.
I would also like to know if anyone has recommendations for kdramas similar to IBN? What I like about it is that most of the characters are nice people, the plot is too slow and meandering but the characters make up for it. The only other weekender I have liked was Father is Strange which was kind of similar but had better pacing. I tried Smile You but elders who are rude and bossy are to be avoided and I know weekenders have lots of those. KyungJa’s ridiculous behavior in IBN is the most I can tolerate from this kind of character.
miss h
August 2, 2022 at 9:05 AM
Father is Strange is my favorite weekender but an older one I liked, by the same writer, is Ojakgyo Brothers. Two others I can think of that had characters who were mostly nice people are Five Enough and Once Again.
Lixie
July 22, 2022 at 6:33 AM
Yumi’s Request
Dear Beanies, for the next days, please don’t post big messages on the wall which tell the finale on the first sentences? Some of us will take a bit longer to find out, must we really have to avoid the fan wall if we don’t want to know in advance? Is that an unreasonable request? I’m not saying don’t discuss or post, I’m just asking to make it in a way that people can skip the post without knowing the major facts. If you use a title which says which drama is being discussed, and a picture that doesn’t give much away, we could easily make choices.
bbstl 🧹
July 22, 2022 at 6:56 AM
That would be really kind if Beanies would do this👍🏼
Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️
July 22, 2022 at 7:06 AM
Thanks for flagging this I think most people are going to be respectful ❤️
la wants to feel liberated too
July 22, 2022 at 7:12 AM
I’m so sorry i made a post about Yumi’s Cells finale few hours ago. I may didn’t reveal anything but I have decided to delete it.
Once again, i’m sorry…
Lixie
July 22, 2022 at 8:14 AM
No need to be sorry, I did not find any posts about it yet. I was only thinking about this because it happened with other popular shows in the past. Thanks for understanding! Maybe repost it in an edited way?
la wants to feel liberated too
July 22, 2022 at 9:45 AM
I’ll just comment when the recap is out.
Thank you for reminding us!
wapz
July 22, 2022 at 8:02 AM
Spoiler tags in DB would be so helpful. Thanks for this.
Lelly19
July 22, 2022 at 8:36 AM
I just watched the eps raw as soon as they were available just to avoid being spoiled at all lol!!
But that’s a very great suggestion and totally fair request!
I hope everyone can be considerate! ^^
Cindy Mahri
July 25, 2022 at 9:20 AM
Oops. I read this post too late and ranted a bit on my wall already. Hope you weren’t spoiled. Just in case, I’ll just delete it for now. 😅
Lixie
July 4, 2022 at 8:23 AM
Yumi 7-8
I am curious. Can anyone who knows the webtoon explain the BaBi situation? Is he a mystery in the story or the drama has been making changes? It seems a strange contrast with Woong and the editor, we know too little about a big character and his behavior is inconsistent. I’m thinking it’s done on purpose but I don’t mind knowing if drama has been trying to improve something.
alasecond
July 4, 2022 at 11:23 AM
He is ruffled and shaken by the new girl. Yumi breaks up. They try to get back together but Yumi realizes she doesn’t lvoe him. He does end up marrying the other girl and run cafe together. She falls in love with a character Soonrok (now i am not sure if they have changed the name of the character in the show)…and the overall theme of Yumi’s cells is self-love. Yumi is someone who gives and gives up everything in love.. herself.. but it is a journey of self respect and always keeping that corner for yourself no matter how much you love other people in your life
spazmo
July 4, 2022 at 7:25 PM
i am disturbed by her (former college student) editor/boss who is creeping on her! that isn’t a good storyline, it is stalking and illegal for him to pursue her as his subordinate, isn’t it?
Lixie
July 5, 2022 at 6:15 AM
I’m sure it’s not illegal and while he wasn’t exactly a creep, it wasn’t a regular romantic situation either. I wish kdramas would talk about the strangeness of bosses having relationships with subordinates, instead they pretend it’s very easy.