I’m seeing comments about Ji Chang Wook and Kim Yoo Jung’s ‘Convenience Store Saet Byul’ and they’re already negative. I thought it’d be mostly about the age gap but it’s seems to be about the source material. It’s problematic? I haven’t read the webtoon and most likely won’t and the synopsis doesn’t seem problematic so I’m curious. Beanies who are aware, please clue me in.

I’ve been unenthusiastic about the show which is very hypocritical of me. Yoo Jung is an adult. She turns 21 this year and as long as they’re both adults (the characters and the actors), there’s nothing wrong with it. I know that. My brain knows that but I still feel icky because I’ve seen her grow through dramas and while I’m happy she’s taking on older roles, I still can’t shed off that ‘young image’ I have of her. The image she’s most likely trying to shed since she used to be a child actor. If she’d been paired with male actors in her age group, it’d be marginally better. But it’s Yoo Jung! She’s a veteran actor and apart from Yeo Jin Goo, I cant think of other male actors that can match her. Anyway, older female actors are often paired with younger male actors. I guess it wouldn’t have felt icky if she were in her late twenties and paired with a much older male actor.
Anyway, I’m most likely going to check it out. Ji Chang Wook, apparently, is just too irresistible to me. It’s beyond me and I’ve accepted my fate. I watched Melting me Softly (okay, I skimmed through it) up until the 12th episode and while I disliked it, I found myself subconsciously looking forward to it the next week. Won Jin-A didn’t help. She, too, is irresistible.

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    Lee Da Hee is 35, Lee Jae Wook is 22, and the whole DB has been swooning over them for months and the couple has been all over the fanwall these past few days in various favorite catagories. I didn’t like WWW and I’m probably not going to watch Convenience Store, so I’m trying hard not to engage in this battle at all.

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    I feel like the age gap issue is more emphasized by the fact that there’s a power imbalance in “Convenience Store”. He’s the manager and she’s his underling (based on the synopsis). I think that’s part of why it’s being received less favourably.

    I watched Melty also for JCW – and felt like the lead actors weren’t the problem, everything else was. Given this show has a reportedly decent PD (I’ve actually never watched Fiery Priest, but have seen lots of raves about it), and a much simpler premise, I’ll likely tune in and reserve final judgment after I’ve watched an episode or two. (Or all…)

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      Exactly, the age gap is not an issue for me, but the fact that there can be an imbalance here: a boss and his employee.
      I don’t know anything about the webtoon, and I find the premise zero interesting. Promising comedy all over the place seems like a promise that will be broken (IMO).
      Do you know when you have the feeling that even if you really want to like something you know it’s not going to be ok? Well, that’s the feeling I get from this one.

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        Reasons why I watch with only one easily attainable expectation: Do I get to look at JCW’s face? Y/N? Y? GREAT!

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    I’ve taken a glimpse of the webtoon before (it doesn’t have a translation yet, as far as I know) because of the uproar from k-netizen. Apparently it has a very strong sexual undertone (with female characters being drawn with exaggerated boobs and all that). The female character is shown to be sly and very experienced in “flirting” despite her age, and she continuously teased the naive male lead in a very inappropriate way (like making the male lead “accidentally” touching her body) in the first couple of chapters.

    I think the drama would shave off all that and only using the webtoon’s basic plot as the source of its story. But I guess people just don’t want Yoo-jung to be associated with the risky source material.

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