A Good Day to be a Dog ep 8: drama vs webcomic

Things are really going off of the rails now, in terms of fidelity to the source material…

@seeker @jls943

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    – The vice principal is just, well, a vice principal in the comic. No connection to Bo-geum.
    – There is no storyline about almost getting caught at school. Seo-won and Hae-na do keep it a secret at school, but it’s not high stakes. It’s actually really funny, because in the comic everyone knows they’re dating even though they think they’re keeping it so secret.
    – Seo-won is warned by the shaman girl not to tell Bo-geum about the relationship, so he hides it from him (hence why he hides Hae-na when she’s at his apartment)
    – There is no Woo-taek, so that whole story doesn’t happen.
    – Again, no dog uncle in the comic. Hae-na overhears Yoo-na expressing sadness and envy that Hae-na has found love when she hasn’t; she tells Seo-won, and that’s when he talks to her about figuring out how to end the curse.
    – There is no closet making out, lol. Bo-geum and Yul show up, and Hae-na hides in Seo-won’s room until she can sneak out.
    – There is still some stuff with the former bully in the comic; he tells Seo-won to tell Hae-na to be careful because he still has to watch her for the rest of the year (remember his senior is making him do this).
    – The drama so far hasn’t touched on Seo-won’s family drama, which has already been a big part of the comic at this point.
    – Shaman girl is not in the past lives, so that whole storyline with her doesn’t happen.
    – Shaman girl fully knows about Bo-geum and his real identity, as well as a general idea of what he’s up to.
    – Bo-geum never holds up a sword to Seo-won.
    – The past lives scene looks VERY different. There is an accident–I can’t go into more details or I’ll spoil it–but it’s not really violent, dramatic, or high stakes.
    – As I’ve mentioned, in the comic the genders are reversed: Hae-na’s ancestor is male, and Seo-won’s is female. I find it so interesting that the drama adaptations of Lee Hye’s comics don’t keep the gender differences in the past lives.
    – As I’ve also mentioned, in the comic Ms. Yoon is not exactly thrilled about Hae-na and Seo-won’s relationship but she doesn’t actively try to sabotage it. Remember, she’s the one who encouraged Seo-won that Hae-na liked him. The drama makes her more of a black and white villainess.
    – I don’t recall Seo-won and Hae-na sneaking around at school in the comic.

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      I really don’t understand “any” of these changes and how they are “better” for the drama. Webtoon is also a visual medium (common excuse against novel adaptations) and has impactful storytelling with fewer words. There may be a limit to “visual effects” in webtoon but enhanced visualization in dramas does not require modifications in storyline by changing the characterizations.

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        I don’t get it, either. Like I said, I think people like Lee Hye’s comics because they’re pretty laid back, and it’s like drama teams don’t trust them to be interesting enough.

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      I think the thing that I like the least is the past life changes. It was honestly not my fav part of the comic, I liked it much better in the present day, and because they made it so much more dramatic and violent I think we’re going to have to spend a lot more time there (proportional to the rest of it) which for me is a bummer. The part that I don’t really mind is the combining of the shaman girl and the past life friend/love interest of our mountain spirit. I was never sure what the point of the shaman girl was in the comic, She always felt sort of added on, so to me it makes sense that they would combine her character with someone else.

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        I kind of mind it because I feel like it changes their dynamic too much. But we’ll see.

        Yes, the past life change also annoys me and I don’t get how it’s gonna match up to the end result (Hae-na’s family getting cursed).

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          That’s fair. I would find it a little strange that he is so dead set on punishing these two humans who had nothing to do with the original incident if he is not also still in love (or whatever) with the reincarnation of the girl from the past (who also has nothing to do with the incident). And that would introduce a weird dynamic because she’s in high school and he’s a teacher and lots of other things (that are better explored in other dramas).

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      – changing the VP. so unnecessary.
      – I think everyone knowing they were dating and being quietly supportive to various degrees is kinda sweet. hopefully, they keep that in but we’re not in that part of the story yet, or whatever the drama’s version of it is.
      – I actually could do without Seo-won’s family drama tbh
      – The shaman girl and Bo-geum star-crossed Joseon lives love story is so very weird.
      – their Joseon lives backstory looks even more convoluted and messy than in the webtoon.
      – I mean, Ms. Yoon doesn’t try to sabotage their relationship (now that they’re together) in the drama either. I think her scene with the student crushing on Seo-won (yikes) was actually kinda funny.
      – it feels very unprofessional that Seo-won and Hae-na is doing all of this at their workplace ngl but that’s probably just me.

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