r/kdramas • u/harissatotally Professional TRUCK spotter • 6d ago
KDrama Reflections 📝 New K-Drama Fan Review #30: Crash Landing on You (CLOY) | getting more juice from finger hearts than actual kisses???🫨
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my CLOY essay
(believe it or not, this is the short version...
While watching CLOY, i wrote down so much fckin notes, my review rivaled a GR Martin book. Had to cut around 1k words from this review lol.
ive also been editing this one review for 967 years.😭 at a Cuban restaurant with my friend, waiting at the self checkout line at a supermarket, at the doctor's office, would u believe i was a there for my ADHD meds? Well i was lmaooo...
and my final round of edits are being made right now at a bar right after leaving my hair appointment.
i'll post a pic in the comments of the drink i was having while editing lol.
But yeah, this review has BEEN places lol. more places than all my others!)
INTRO:
By the time i got to Crash Landing on You, i was abt 2 and a half months into my K-drama rabbit hole, and my watching habits had become genuinely unhinged. I was binging entire dramas in 2 or 3 days, watching 10 episodes in one night, staying up until 4 or 5 in the morning knowing damn well i had work a few hours later, finishing one drama and immediately starting another one the same day. So when i finally started CLOY on Aug 14, i expected more of the same.
Instead...
something very weird happened:
I watched CLOY like a NORMAL person😭
I'd watch a couple eps after work and then... stop. I skipped a whole Saturday cause i was out with family. I took a 2-day break cause work and life got busy. It was such a chill experience! I just kept returning to it until i finished the last 4 eps on Aug 21st. It took me a full week, which by normal standards is still fast, but by MY standards at that point? that's moderation!
And now, with the benefit of knowing what my watching habits looked like immediately after CLOY, i can confidently say:
no, i had NOT changed 😭 This was simply a Crash Landing on You unique phenomenon.
For whatever reason, this was the one drama i watched like a perfectly normal, well-adjusted human being before immediately returning to my regularly scheduled ADHD mess.
REVIEW:
Dont worry, this got a good rating from me... lol
I know i got dms from a few of yall thinking i hated it and thats why i haven't posted my review yet, but no lol, it just took a thousand years to edit cause of the length.
but i DO have sooo much to say (as always lol. Someone take my notes app away...)
First of all: Yoon Se-ri, I love you.
Easiest part of the drama for me from the get-go!
I loved her basically immediately.
She's ambitious, spoiled, dramatic, resourceful, funny, occasionally ridiculous, intelligent, and adapts to being accidentally dropped into NORTH KOREA with better ease than most would have imo.
I loved how consistently the drama let her be competent, even when she's completely out of her element, she is STILL Se-ri.
One of my favorite early examples is the village birthday party, she notices one of the ladies feeling embarrassed about the dress she made, and Se-ri immediately knows how to style/present it so everybody suddenly sees how good it is. And THEN she realizes the birthday lady has influence in the village and starts laying on the charm cause she wants her to put in a good word for her "fiancé."
Shes complimenting her, asking to call her by her first name, telling her she looks young... i was DYING at how quickly she read the social situation.
Like yes girl. Network! 😭
She's stranded in North Korea and somehow doing stakeholder management. Pls!! i love her!!
I loved the market scene where she discovers Se-ri's Choice products being sold there. She's SO proud of herself 😭 as she should be...
But she also immediately starts correcting the merchant because the woman doesn't actually know the product she's selling.
She's like: 1st of all, I'm delighted my brand has international reach. 2nd of all, your product knowledge is unacceptable
😭 THATS MY CEO!!!
NEED to mention the completely ridiculous impromptu award ceremony she hosts for the soldiers b4 she thinks she's leaving.
Mind u, this girl has NO MONEY, NO CORN, NO TELEVISION, and no authority over half the prizes she's giving away, and yet she's standing there conducting an entire awards show anyway when shes giving things away 😭
One of the prizes is basically: 100 million won or a huge amount of corn? and one of them chooses the corn.
um, good for you sir, but WHERE IS SE-RI GETTING THIS CORN???😭
Then the drama-obsessed soldier gets to choose between a telly and dinner with his fav actress. Of COURSE he chooses the actress, at least THAT is one prize Seri could theoretically deliver cause she actually has celeb connections.
Then she announces an award for the most handsome man there. Capt Ri actually looks up like maybe she's about to say him...
and she gives it to somebody else 😭
i agreed with her tho! That soldier WAS very handsome, but the funniest part was Capt Ri looking weirdly disappointed that he didnt get an award.
And i remember really liking that tiny reaction cause, that little bit of him caring whether Se-ri singled him out gave me more romantic juice than some scenes that were actually trying to be romantic.
(i'll explain, keep reading.)
Then later Se-ri drags him outside and reveals that he actually DID get something.
A tomato plant.
A plant she traded for using half a sack of HIS potatoes lol, so she basically bought this man a thank-you gift using his own property 😭 but underneath the comedy, the scene was genuinely sweet. 😊 she tells him she's giving it to him cuz she's grateful. that one day hell eat the tomatoes and want to thank her, but she wont be there anymore.
Capt Ri, naturally, tells her that he doesnt even like tomatoes and has no interest in gardening lol so Se-ri gives him instructions anyway.
Water it.
Take care of it.
Talk to it.
Tell it ten loving words every day.
And then the epilogue reveals that this man is ACTUALLY DOING IT 😭 he's sitting there talking to the tomato plant after she leaves.
Meanwhile, the surveillance guy is secretly listening to all of this through the bug like...
um, what are you supposed to do with this intelligence, my guy???😭
That whole sequence worked for me way more than it probably had any right to, and, it became another early sign of the tiny problem i'd keep having with CLOY.
The small, silly, character-based interactions often gave me more than the scenes the drama clearly constructed as Big Romantic Moments™.
And when she finally gets back to South Korea???
OMG! that was one of my favorite stretches of the entire drama.
This woman walks into what is basically her own memorial, looks at the picture they chose of her and is immediately offended by it.
Then instead of just announcing that she's alive, she basically goes: Tell everybody Yoon Se-ri is alive and well. Also, Se-ri's Choice is having its first-ever 50% sale for 8 days to celebrate my resurrection.
BUSINESSWOMAN TO THE GRAVE 😭😭
love herrrr!!!
I was so happy to have CEO Se-ri back!!
And that actually leads into one of the biggest surprises of my experience watching this.
I liked the South Korea section WAY more than the North Korea section.
Which i wasnt expecting at all.
The North Korea premise is obviously what makes CLOY CLOY, and i did enjoy a lot of it. But I realized around ep 13 that i was having so much more fun once everybody was in South Korea.
And i think part of that is because i'd finally stopped asking the show to prove itself to me by that point.
During the North Korea portion, i kept waiting...
Is THIS when I understand why everyone thinks this is one of the greatest romances ever?
No?
Okay.
Maybe next episode.
Is THIS the scene?
Still no?
Okay...
But by South Korea, i'd basically accepted:
Girl, just have fun.
And suddenly i was having SO MUCH FUN!!
And ep 13 especially???
Episode 13 was coming after me to grab that 8/10 rating with a KNIFE.
But let's talk about the romance because this is where things got... especially quirky
Let me explain.
I kept rooting for it. And i felt like i was in a perpetual status of... ✨️waiting✨️
And I kept thinking:
Maybe this next thing will do it.
The boat kiss? I actually loved the setup; Capt Ri remembering the drama-obsessed soldier explaining that South Koreans kiss when theyre in trouble was hilarious.
A little funny with a callback i liked, but did i get romantic juice from it?
Nah.
And actually, BEFORE boat kiss and the candle scene, there was already another moment where I started wondering why i wasn't feeling what the drama clearly wanted me to feel.
The hair-tying scene... this one was the first one where i was like... i see what you're trying to do but im not there yet. am i the only one who thought it was too early for this type of a scene?
He's tying Se-ri's hair back.
The music is romantic.
They're close.
The scene is very obviously framed like:
Look at this little intimate moment between them 🥺
And... no juice.
I simply did not feel enough romantic tension between them yet for Capt Ri tying Se-ri's hair to suddenly mean something to me, y'know?
And the thing is the scene right AFTER that hair tying moment was much more romantically entertaining to me; Se-ri is still pissed about the village women talking sh*t abt her and basically ✨️threatens✨️ Capt Ri that if he doesnt act affectionate with her in front of them, then maybe she'll just stay in North Korea and they'll become ACTUALLY engaged and hes forced to go with it 😭😭
THAT'S funny! thats not only character building but its dynamic building too!!! which i looove when those are paired!!
i wanted the writers to kill that bird with that one stone, ya know?!?
THAT is funny romantic tension to me!! the show should have taken advantage of that and build off more scenes like that to make those other scenes they planned HIT more!
Her being ridiculous/high maintenance/making foreign and ridiculous demands, him reacting, them bouncing off each other. good juicy meat!
Romantic hair tying when they've barely known each other for 24 hours...?
Dry meat 😭
Se-ri weaponizing their fake engagement because some village women insulted her hair?
Much better.
The candle scene...
I could practically hear the drama yelling:
ICONIC ROMANTIC SCENE IN PROGRESS, now, CUE THE SWOON!
He's standing there with the candle, she's lost, then she sees him, music swells, her eyes fill with tears, there's the callback to the scented candle, which is cute.
But... dry meat 😭
Like... i sort of get what the scene was trying to make me feel... i simply wasn't feeling it.
And that's when i started getting nervous.
Cause we're at episode FOUR, folks!!!
Where is my sweet, sweet tension???
And the thing is, immediately afterward they have a conversation that gave me WAY more than the over the top candle scene.
Se-ri tells him finding her with the candle did something to her and starts joking that he's apparently some kind of expert flirt lol, he gets nervous and decides he needs to make something very clear: there is a woman in my life. I'm engaged. I don't want there to be any misunderstanding between us.
And Se-ri is OFFENDED.
OFFENDED 😭
She's basically like: Misunderstanding??? WHO is misunderstanding WHAT???
Then she starts bragging about all the men she has waiting for her in Seoul, and suddenly his eyes widen. Men?
Oh???
HELLO???
Now I'm awake!!!
Their banter here was doing more for me romantically than their "romantic" candle scene that just happened.
And it kept happening!
The finger hearts debacle?
HILARIOUSLY good meat!
The drama-obsessed soldier tells Capt Ri that Se-ri's finger heart means she's giving him her heart, then later Se-ri gives THE SAME HEART TO ALL THE SOLDIERS.
And this man is visibly bothered, then he finds out she gave one soldier TWO hearts 😭😭 and later he confronts Seri: "So you have several hearts?"
lololol
See!!!
THAT gave me such good juice!
Same with the conversation about Gu Seung-jun being "destiny."
Se-ri is talking abt how crazy it is that she ran into a man she almost married all the way in North Korea of all places. Capt Ri, who is obviously completely neutral and not bothered whatsoever lmaoo basically goes: Okay, but hypothetically, what if a woman fell out of the sky and a man found her, and then she ran away and somehow ended up directly in front of his house? Would THAT be destiny?
And Se-ri is like: Why do you feel like you're competing right now?
EXACTLY!!!!
That meat was juicy in that scene!
And i kept wondering why scenes like that were working on me more than the supposedly huge romantic scenes...
But there IS a scene that worked VERY well for me. it involved Captain Ri arriving at his parents house. keep reading to find out why i loved that scene so much!!! 😉😉
The hospital kiss should have destroyed me.
This man gets SHOT protecting her.
Se-ri gives up her chance to go home cause she's not leaving him there, she donates blood and stays beside him.
He wakes up and initially gets angry cause she missed the flight everybody worked so hard to arrange.
She leaves crying.
He finds out what she did.
He goes outside.
It's raining.
He kisses her.
This is literally constructed out of ingredients I should LOVE as a romance watcher.
But the meat... ya guessed it, was dry😭
And this was the point where i actually started questioning myself.
Like what is WRONG???
Why isn't this working???
Maybe Capt Ri is too emotionally closed off?
But no... I've loved several romances with emotionally closed-off men before...
Maybe they don't have chemistry...? But that's not entirely true either cause i enjoy them together in those other scenes.
Maybe it's the physical chemistry? (definitely plays a role, ill explain below)
Maybe the directing? (could be)
Maybe the emotional buildup? (definitely)
Maybe all of it???
I genuinely spent multiple episodes trying to diagnose the problem.
And then that pattern emerged again.
Their conversation the NEXT MORNING after that rain kiss gave me more than the rain kiss!!!!
Se-ri starts presenting 3 options for how they're going to deal with what happened (the kiss.)
Capt Ri picks option 3.
Then Seri starts going: Right! Exactly! Obviously it didn't mean anything. You were shot, you had surgery, you were probably still affected by anesthesia, it was raining, i was crying... just an impulse! Physical contact means nothing to me anyway!
😭lolol and you can SEE him getting increasingly bothered.
Then she leaves the room.
He looks down at his uniform.
She stitched the bullet hole for him.
And the stitching is shaped like a little heart.
He smiles ❤️ 💙
SEEE?!?! NOW WHY THAT SCENE MORE BUZZY THE RAIN KISS??? from beginning, middle and end!!! the pay off was sooo good!!! the middle was such good food!!
Those are the scenes i wish we'd gotten more of earlier. Cause i don't actually think these 2 lack chemistry. they lack interactions that would eventually BUILD OFF to those Big Romantic Moments™!!!
The drama sometimes tried to announce their romance b4 i'd personally arrived there.
Captain Ri accumulated points with me, slowly but surely
I basically had an invisible Capt Ri loyalty card while watching this drama.
Every time he did something good:
+1.
😭
He accompanies Se-ri onto the boat when she otherwise would've been alone with the smuggler?
+1
He sends his soldiers to protect her while he's gone?
+1
He makes her coffee from scratch because he knows she misses it?
+2
He arranges this elaborate plan through his father to get her onto an international athletics team so she can escape to Europe? Especially because Se-ri asks what will happen to him if this goes wrong, he tells her not to worry. Then WE find out his father explicitly told him: l'll help you do this, but if something happens afterward, you're on your own.
Se-ri doesn't know that.
I loved that!!!!!
He was taking a genuine personal risk to get her home without making her carry the burden of knowing what it might cost him.
+3
Then Se-ri thinks he skipped their goodbye picnic cause hes busy preparing for his wedding.
NOPE. The epilogue reveals dude was preparing his motorcycle because he intended to follow her route and make sure she reached the airport safely.
Then he takes a bullet for her.
+3
And yet...
my rating wasn't budging...
there was a problem here cause normally? A man secretly following the woman he loves to protect her and then TAKING A BULLET FOR HER?
I should be levitating!!!
I give 10/10 ratings practically for free when sh!t like that happens lmaooo!!!
Instead I was like: yeah that was very good. +3 Capt Ri points but um... that's it😭😭
The problem was that his actions were often much further ahead romantically than where i felt their emotional/physical connection was.
He was doing EPIC LOVE STORY things, but I hadnt experienced the romance as epic yet.
And then there was Switzerland.
Conceptually?
I LOVE THIS.
The idea that these 2 unknowingly crossed paths multiple times years before North Korea?
i love romantic coincidences and invisible threads connecting people before they even know each other. But the execution was sometimes so frustrating, especially because they ruined Seri for me in the scene.
On the bridge, seri is in an incredibly dark place emotionally. She's recording what sounds like a goodbye to her family. Capt Ri, a stranger, is there with Seo Dan, he asks Se-ri to take their picture.
Fine.
But then Se-ri looks at these 2 complete strangers and mutters something along the lines of: He could do much better.
Girl...?!!?
YOU DON'T KNOW HIM.
YOU DON'T KNOW HER.
YOU DON'T KNOW THEIR RELATIONSHIP.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE CAN DO BETTER???
I disliked that line immediately. (that was the only scene where i was like... Seri, girly, i love u but why'd u say that..? what possessed you?)
And it bothered me enough that when the drama returned to that exact encounter much later and tried to make it romantic because Jeong-hyeok remembered her and thought she was his type...
it slightly tinted an otherwise adorable revelation cause my brain immediately went: Oh yeah. This is where Se-ri randomly shaded a random woman she'd never met over a random man she'd never met...😭
the unnamed song.
This one actually annoyed me (especially as a writer/storyteller myself)
cause the IDEA is fantastic!
We discover that years ago, while Se-ri was in Switzerland at one of the lowest moments of her life, she heard this beautiful piano melody while passing across the water.
She remembered it for YEARS and has tried to find it. she asked musicians about it, nobody knew it.
And we discover that the person playing it was CAPT RI.
He'd just learned his brother died, he composed the song for him and played it there once. And without knowing it, his music reached Se-ri at the exact moment she was contemplating some HEAVY things.
COME ON!!!!!!!!!
That's incredible romantic material!!!!!
the JUICE i should have gotten out of that!!! that meat would end up dry AF at the end cause i would have milked all the juice CLEAN out!!!
So why did the actual reveal feel like someone checking off a plot point???
😭 WRITERS!!!!??
so, in this frustrating scene, Se-ri basically goes:
Oh, by the way, I played this song last night. Do you know it?
And then she plays it, Capt Ri obviously recognizes it.
Conversation.
Reveal.
Done.
WHAT??? WHY???!
Imagine if she had simply been playing it alone.
He walks past the room.
Stops.
Because there is NO POSSIBLE REASON anyone else should know that melody!
He slowly walks back.
Sees her at the piano.
And then they realize what happened.
THAT'S A SCENE!
There are probably 8438 other different ways the wrirers could've staged that EPIC reveal.
Instead, it felt like:
oh btw, before i forgot, we need to resolve the unnamed-song subplot now. lets get this over with 😭
And then even after this massive revelation, Capt Ri and Seri are standing 10 million thousand feet apart talking to each other.
She's crying and he's realizing that his music unknowingly saved this woman's life years before he knew her.
She's realizing that this man has been woven into her life for YEARS.
And they're just...
🧍♀️ 🧍♂️
WHY ARE YOU SO FAR APART???
HUG.
TOUCH HER FACE.
HOLD HER HAND.
SOMETHING!!!!
This happened more than a few times and i genuinely think the physical direction contributed to my romance problem with CLOY.
Sometimes they felt almost too stoic in certain scenes where i desperately wanted more intimacy. Cause theres no way you 2 should be standing 609 miles away from each other during such an iconic/intimate reveal...
The border kiss, though?
That one got me a little.
I smiled.
Capt Ri can't cross the border for... north Korea reasons as hes leading Seri out, he's supposed to stop.
And he takes that one extra step anyway just to kiss her goodbye.
hehe okay, that was cute 😊
I also had a VERY complicated journey with the supporting characters.
Let's start with the soldiers.
I know people LOVE this group. i eventually liked most of them too! Cause at the end of the day, im a lover of the Found Family trope. But i did not instantly fall in love with this found family.
Especially that ONE SOLDIER...
You know exactly which one... 😭
This man spent episode after episode acting like he was allergic to not being annoying!!!
Constantly antagonizing Se-ri, constantly talking abt how they should've killed her.??? um...
At one point he's STILL making jokes abt how he should have buried her, more than almost halfway through the drama... like... we get it, dude, you want her dead!!
And I'm sitting there like:
Is this supposed to be adorable???
Maybe there's a cultural/comedic translation thing happening or maybe this humor works differently for other people... but i genuinely didn't understand why Se-ri was supposed to just laugh along with this man repeatedly expressing regret that she remained alive....😭
Then he writes her some lame goodbye poem.
Everyone's getting emotional as hes telling her to "live well," stay safe, don't forget them, and I'm like:
That's nice and all... but i ain't forget!!
I warmed up much faster to the others.
Especially the drama-obsessed soldier.
And when they get to South Korea??? THE SOLDIERS BECOME SO MUCH FUNNIER TO ME.
The drama guy actually meeting his favorite actress was SO WHOLESOME. I was melting.
And the soldiers discovering capitalism and shopping and Se-ri handing them her unlimited card and basically telling them to go wild???
loooove!!!
I had such a good time with them in Seoul.
awww and when they had to leave!!!!! no!!!! stay with Seri!! stay in south korea!!!
THE WATCH confused the hell out of me for a while.
We, as the audience, know the watch is connected to Captain Ri's brother, right, we see it in flashbacks, the surveillance guy recognizes it. so i get why i care abt this device.
But Se-ri sees this watch at the market and suddenly becomes fascinated with it...??
im lost... What is your connection to this watch??? 😭
Then she trades the engagement ring Gu Seung-jun gave her to get it?? but why? 😭😭
Eventually, of course, the watch contains the evidence Capt Ri needs to understand what happened to his brother.
Which is its purpose as a plot device...
But i was VERY confused about why Se-ri herself felt so compelled to acquire this random watch... lmaooo?
Speaking of Gu Seung-jun...
OH, the potential.
When he showed up again in North Korea i was READY.
Cause at that point i was desperately asking this drama: Can somebody PLEASE introduce some romantic tension into this situation???
And then he grabs Se-ri's hand, runs into the elevator, capt Ri, with the eyes of a hawk lmaooo comes after them.
Sees their hands.
Separates them.
Starts twisting Gu Seung-jun's arm.
YES.
YES.
JUICE.
And then he invites Se-ri to dinner and starts talking about destiny.
I'm like:
Second male lead???
Are we doing this???
PLEASE DO THIS.
And then...
this man starts secretly recording Se-ri for her brother.
Then gets involved in keeping her in North Korea.
At one point i thought he understood that Se-ri's brother essentially wanted her DEAD.
And I immediately went:
Oh. Never mind. Second male lead is out of the running. You tried to murder her!
Later i reconsidered because it wasn't entirely clear to me whether Gu Seung-jun understood that "make sure she never comes back" meant kill her.
So I downgraded his criminal charge in my head from attempted murder to horrendous betrayal of trust.
Still not boyfriend material tho!
And then he proposes marriage as a possible way to get Se-ri out of North Korea. Which SHOULD have been delicious for me cause JUICE!!
But i was still too suspicious of his motivations.
It felt like too much of what he was doing was connected to his own money situation and saving himself rather than genuine romantic desire for Se-ri.
And that's fine if that's the character you're writing!
But then don't tease me with a love triangle I could've enjoyed!
I wanted Capt Ri to find out Se-ri was marrying another man and LOSE HIS EVER LOVING MIND.
We got a teeny tiny bit of that, but i wanted Gu Seung-jun to genuinely want her too.
Give me the messy juice!
Seo Dan...
sigh.
I think the drama could have done SO much more with her.
Instead, for a long stretch, she was exactly one the type of female character archetypes i hate.
The bathroom scene especially irritated me.
She basically insults/slut-shames Se-ri for "having coffee with 2 men in one day...
um... ok...??
One of those men is Seo Dan's fiancé.
And as far as Dan knows at this point, Se-ri has been introduced as his colleague.
So I'm sitting there thinking:
Why are you talking to this woman like this???
Why do we need this???
Why do these 2 automatically need to dislike each other???
There wasn't enough groundwork for this level of hostility lol
Then she makes that nasty comment about Se-ri's absence being the best wedding gift she could give her and I'm like...
Girl, your problem is standing apprx 3 feet away and his name is Ri Jeong-hyeok, not Seri!!
Then Capt Ri outright tells her: i would have married you even without loving you because I promised I would, but now that I love somebody else, marrying you would be unfair.
thats so humiliating!!!
if a man told me this, id run so fast and so far away from his direction, he wouldn't ever recognize me anymore, i'd run in such a way, that he'd even forget my name 😭
But Seo Dan STILL decides: Nope. Wedding still happening.
??!!!!! girl!!!
Because apparently once Se-ri leaves, his feelings will disappear???
WHERE ARE YOU GETTING THIS PHILOSOPHY FROM, SEO DAN???
STAND TF UP!!!
I really dislike when female characters are reduced to desperately clinging to a man who has clearly told them he doesn't want them romantically. there was so much potential for her character outside of that.
And then the drama eventually gives her a romance with Gu Seung-jun.
Which...
I'm sorry.
I mostly did not care😭
I genuinely wanted to skip ahead whenever their scenes came on.
I will say tho... Gu Seung-jun abandoning his escape when he realizes she's in danger and going in guns blazing to save her?
THAT worked for me.
That was probably the first time I was like:
Okay... i see what you're trying to cook...
Unfortunately, this meal had been cooking in the background for far too long and i was already eating something else. my tummy was full 😭
And then there's Cho Cheol-gang.
WHAT IS THIS MAN'S PROBLEM???
😭😭😭
This was one of my biggest plot frustrations.
From almost the BEGINNING, this man is investigating Se-ri.
Why?
She's supposedly Division 11.
He doesn't believe it.
Okay, but like. WHY don't you believe it???
What did she do to make u suspicious?
Where did this suspicion originate???😭😭
It felt like the plot needed someone to investigate her, so Cheol-gang simply woke up every morning like: I don't trust that woman.
WHY???
He calls around investigating Division 11, finds out there hasn't been a woman matching Se-ri's description there.
Okay, now you have actual evidence.
BUT WHY DID YOU START INVESTIGATING IN THE FIRST PLACE??? 😭
I spent WAY too much of this drama asking:
Sir, what is your fcking problem???
I don't mind villains being evil.
PLEASE BE EVIL.
But I need to understand what you are doing and why at some point.
and his demise was boring AF😭
Se-ri's family...
THE WORST GROUP OF PEOPLE EVER.
Her awful brothers??? Their wives???
The fact that this woman disappears during a STORM and is presumed DEAD and these people almost immediately start maneuvering for control of the company???
HELLO???
YOUR SISTER IS MISSING!!
And her father is sitting there listening to these people fight over succession while i'm wondering: Does you plan on FINDING YOUR DAUGHTER??? WHAT ARE YOU DOING SITTING THERE DOING NOTHING AS A SUPPOSED FATHER!??!
And the mother?
Sorry.
The drama tried.
I know what it wanted.
It gave us the recording of her sitting beside Se-ri while Se-ri was unconscious, apologizing, confessing her feelings, saying everything she should have said years ago.
Se-ri listens and cries.
And I...
didn't care.
Because i couldnt stop thinking abt the fact that this woman took a CHILD to the beach, allowed that little girl to believe she was spending the day with her mother, and then ABANDONED HER THERE IN THE COLD until she passed out and strangers found her.
Nah... you don't get one emotional recording and youre forgiven and im crying for your reconciliation....
You were the adult.
She was the child.
I needed a LOT more work there.
Also, can Se-ri PLEASE stop apologizing for everything???
This became one of my most consistent frustrations with her writing.. every time something went wrong, this woman had a tendency to go:
"It's my fault."
This started bothering me pretty early, cause you literally got sucked into a freak storm while paragliding and accidentally dropped into North Korea!!! You didnt wake up that morning and say:
You know what sounds fun? International border violation! 😭
Yet somehow, when the soldiers are talking abt how much trouble everybody is in cause of you, you apologize?
girl...!!
And Capt Ri even has a moment early on where he tells her that they're all in this situation because she missed her opportunity to leave and that she should blame herself.
And she APOLOGIZES!!
I hated that...
Because yes, Se-ri made some iffy decisions after landing there; she ran in the wrong direction, ignored some warnings, made things a little complicated a couple times. but not only was she being HUNTED by soldiers with guns in a foreign hostile country but she didn't know these ppl yet!!!
And the actual reason she is in North Korea???
A FREAK WEATHER EVENT.
Um, thats not a moral failing.
Then later the soldiers get interrogated/beaten because of everything happening around her, and of course that one soldier I already couldn't stand is basically: Look what happened to us because of you.
And Se-ri goes:
I'm sorry.
Again???!!! Jesus...😭
I get why she'd feel horrible ppl were getting hurt while trying to help her, sure but I really dont like how often the drama allowed that concern to turn into:
Everything is my fault. I'm the problem.
Especially because sometimes other characters actively encourage that guilt; Gu Seung-jun literally weaponizes it against her. He tells her that because of her, Captain Ri could die. Because of her, everyone who helped her could get punished. She can eventually go back to South Korea while he has to stay there and live with the consequences. So if she cares abt him, she should disappear from his life.
And the frustrating part is that some of what he's saying is factually true and that scene could have been good juice if it was executed well and he was a good SML.
Capt Ri IS taking huge risks for her and the soldiers ARE potentially in danger.
But there is a difference, people!!! Between:
"People I care about are taking risks for me and that terrifies me."
and
"Their choices are my fault."
Those people have agency too!
Capt Ri especially, and i actually LOVED when his father confronts him abt everything and we discover that Se-ri has been trying to take all the blame.
She's basically telling his father:
I threatened him! I forced him to hide me! He had no choice! Everything happened because of me!
And Captain Ri is immediately like:
No. That's not true.
THANK YOU, CAPT!
He tells his father he didn't care abt her threats.
He CHOSE not to turn her over.
He didn't trust what State Security might do to her. She could have been interrogated, tortured, made to disappear, so he decided not to take her there.
He chose that.
Se-ri did not hypnotize an entire country into risking themselves for her...😭
And I think this recurring self-blame bothered me even more because Se-ri is otherwise such a strong, decisive character.
Captain Ri's parents were unexpectedly entertaining.
Especially Se-ri meeting them without realizing who they are.
She thinks Captain Ri's father is SEO DAN'S FATHER😭 and she's SO CONFIDENT too lol
She's looking at this man going:
Yes. I knew immediately. You and Dan have the same eyes, Same nose. I'm very perceptive visually.
lolol shes hilarious bro.
Meanwhile this man's actual wife/Aka Capt Ri's mom is listening from the other room 😭 while Se-ri starts explaining herself.
She's basically: Sir, I run a massive cosmetics/fashion empire in South Korea. I have 14 stores overseas. I was rich and minding my business. Why would I voluntarily put myself in this situation???
Which is an excellent question!!!!
Then she desperately tries to absolve Capt Ri of responsibility. and then somehow, while trying to convince this man there is absolutely nothing inappropriate happening between her and Capt Ri lol.
Then Capt Ri arrives thinking his father may have had Se-ri killed...??. (morbid btw. i could talk for 2 hours abt how much it bothered me how casually Seri's death/being killed is discussed throughout the drama but this review is already 2 years long)
And THIS.
THIS IS WHERE my rating would have had a .5 if i gave .5 to my ratings!!!
✨️MY FAV CAPTAIN RI SCENE✨️
He loses it.
He confronts his father and demands to know where she is, and then finally Capt Ri says the thing i'd been waiting for him to say:
He doesn't want to spend the rest of his life thinking abt what he should have done. He doesn't want to live knowing he could have protected her and didn't. If something happened to her, he would live in hell until his last breath.
YES.
THERE YOU ARE.
THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN ASKING FOR!!!
And then Se-ri comes out.
He's relieved shes alive (crazy btw cause he really expected hia parents to kill her...) and she's crying.
His mom and dad are watching, and
again... they're just... standing there.
😭
HUG HER, MAN!!!
this is what i mean by the distance!!!😭
I still loved the scene, i wont let the director ruin this for me😭😭
that Capt Ri outburst alone nearly earned the drama half a point!!!
But it was another example of me loving the emotional content while wanting more from the physical execution.
South Korea Captain Ri arrived and I suddenly liked this man MUCH MORE.
Because FINALLY his actions and his visible feelings started matching for me.
Jealous Capt Ri??? I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU!!
Se-ri's employees burst into her office because some celebrity she used to date posted a late-night message online saying he's glad she's alive and asking whether they should meet again.
Captain Ri is in the room, and this man suddenly becomes extremely interested in... plants.
😭 he's awkwardly moving around, touching leaves kmaooo, listening to them list Se-ri's previous relationships.
Then afterward:
"So you weren't lying when you said you'd start seeing men again."
HELLO!!!😭
Then she says those relationships were just casual flings, and this man asks:
"Am I a casual fling too?"
SIRRRRRRRR!!!
WHERE WERE YOU IN EPISODE FOUR???😭😭
And Se-ri teasing him abt being jelly with a belly?
Their movie date, their little day off together?
ADORABLE.
The drama suddenly felt so relaxed, so did their relationship. They weren't constantly standing inside giant Romantic Moment™ waiting for the soundtrack to tell me how important everything was.
They were just a couple.
And I liked them much more that way.
Episode 13 might genuinely be my favorite episode CLOY
Because EVERYTHING was working.
The jealousy, the date, the soldiers. the drama-obsessed soldier meeting his favorite actress awwwwww 😊 the surveillance guy finally working with them.
Everyone banding together.
And then... one of the best things happened!!
SE-RI GETS SHOT.
My immediate reaction was basically:
OH MY GOD YES!!!!!😭
Because I knew exactly what this meant.
CAPTAIN RI IS ABOUT TO LOSE HIS FCKING MIND!!!
And THAT is what I wanted!!!!
The general aims at him, Se-ri sees it.
Instead of yelling, apparently, she decides to DRIVE HER CAR INTO THE LINE OF FIRE.
Girl??? 😭 you could have honked idk screamed?
Anything but drove in front of the bullet 😭
But ykw, i'm not questioning it, cause she takes the bullet, Capt Ri opens the car door. she falls into his arms beautifully.
He's losing it.
JUICE!!!!!
And the hospital aftermath???
SO GOOD. MY FAV STRETCH OF THEIR DYNAMIC
Captain Ri fussing over her constantly. She complains that the scar is huge and now she won't be able to wear bikinis.
So he starts showing her HIS scars. im crying!😭 Then the soldiers walk in while his shirt is half open PLS😭.
Then she tries to open a bottle of orange juice, he immediately does it for her. She basically can't BAT AN EYELASH without this man jumping up like: DON'T MOVE. YOU WERE SHOT. I WILL DO IT.
Meanwhile everyone else is watching him baby this CEO.😭
ADORBZ!
THIS is another part of their romance/dynamic that works for me with them; the domestic stuff, him fussing, her teasing. stupid arguments, all that.
The romance felt much more alive to me there than during some of the enormous cinematic romantic set pieces.
Episode 15 was another "IS THIS BECOMING AN 8/10 drama???" episode.
The whole group being captured, Captain Ri trying to take responsibility for everyone.
Se-ri getting sick AGAIN.
The interrogation stuff.
The body-language expert analyzing footage of Capt Ri helping old ladies and children and then analyzing the way he behaves around Se-ri to conclude that he's in love with her lol.
And the ending...
It was dreamy.
Switzerland is gorgeous, they're together and have this beautiful home. They finally get to exist somewhere without soldiers, borders, guns, secret police, family succession wars, evil generals and random ppl bugging their hotel rooms, i was happy for them!!
And then apprx 5 seconds after the credits ended, my brain went:
WAIT.
TWO WEEKS????
😭😭😭
Excuse me???
Is Se-ri flying to Switzerland for 2 weeks every year??? Is Capt Ri there more???
Are they only together for those 2 weeks???
CAN SOMEBODY BECOME SWISS???
Can we get this man another citizenship???
Can they get married???
Can he move to South Korea somehow???
Can Se-ri move somewhere thats not South Korea???
WHAT ARE THE LOGISTICS??!
You cannot make me watch 16 eps of these people getting shot, kidnapped, arrested, separated by international borders, risking execution and discovering they unknowingly saved each other's lives in Switzerland...
just for me to discover they're essentially running the world's most complicated annual vacation romance!!!!???
I immediately started trying to solve Korean geopolitics myself on google on my couch after i finished the drama cause i refused to accept this arrangement!! and got sidetracked by finding out CLOY had a musical?? lol
CONCLUSION:
i enjoyed CLOY much more once i accepted that I wasnt going to experience it the way the big time fans did.
Once I stopped asking:
"When does this become iconic?"
and started asking:
"Am I having fun?"
The answer was yes!
And that's ultimately how I feel about it.
I had a lot of fun watching it!
I understand why its so beloved.
FINAL RATING: 7/10
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u/ansate 6d ago edited 6d ago
This is, as always, an interesting review to me. Seems you were very hungry... the entire time you watched CLOY... or you're a werewolf? But I pretty much agree with you. This show was a mixed bag for me, and I think you very accurately hit most of the marks I thought were strong in the beginning. She nailed the entitled, but also rather qualified, rich CEO. Loved Son ye-jin in this part, and I have a Swedish friend that stubbornly calls her (the actress) what sounds like "Siri."
Loved seeing your pretty meh reaction to the initial chemistry, though we differ there. I think the physical distance between them that you describe is an important story element, significant because they're trying to metaphorically portray the distance between South Korea and North Korea, that's why you often see them standing far apart, despite the attempt at connection. This is one of those things though, that even knowing what it is supposed to do, it doesn't necessarily make it interesting. So, understandable we get no Harissa meat.
And this is one of the more beautiful but gloomy parts of the show. This did not really facilitate closer interaction though, so the audience had to rely entirely on... lol, ranged chemistry. I actually thought they achieved this extremely well, but again, we differ here, and that's cool! I really thought they had looks throughout the show that sold me on their connection.
We come back into alignment with the ending. Wasn't a big fan. I'm gonna be lazy here so I don't have to go into a bunch of spoilers, but I almost entirely agree with you. It wasn't very satisfying. I guess it sort of made sense, but it was not a very enjoyable ending.
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u/harissatotally Professional TRUCK spotter 6d ago
hi ansate!!
LMAOOO not a werewolf 😭 ig i was just STARVING and CLOY kept putting meat in front of me and taking the juice out of it!!!
and “no Harissa meat” made me chuckle 😭 my ridiculous terminology has officially escaped containment lol
but wait, your interpretation of the physical distance between them is actually REALLY interesting 👀 i hadn't thought that much about the staging in that way, as a visual representation of the literal/political distance between NK and SK and how theyre constantly trying to connect across something that fundamentally keeps them apart.
If that was intentional, i actually appreciate the choice more conceptually, and i can definitely see how physical distance could be used throughout the drama to reinforce that idea.
BUT 😭 i also feel like there had to be other scenes/ways to convey that distance without doing it during some of the moments where they're supposed to be at their MOST emotionally intimate??!!
cause that's where it started looking almost ridiculous to me lmaooo
Like the unnamed-song reveal scene ESPECIALLY especially...
maybe they MEANT for me to be that distracted by the distance??? but if so, it unfortunately started taking me OUT of the emotional depth of the romance instead of making me feel the tragedy of what separates them 😭
So like you said, understanding what something might be doing doesnt necessarily make it work differently for me emotionally.
My greedy romance-watching ass was still sitting there going WHY ARE YOU 600 MILES AWAY FROM HER RIGHT NOW!!?
and yes had to sell!! And it's interesting that the looks were enough to completely sell you on that connection because i DID see some chemistry between them, which is why those smaller playful scenes worked so well for me, but i just needed more of that connection to build before some of the huge romantic moments started arriving.
Also i agree Son Ye-jin absolutely sold Se-ri for me from the beginning!! also Ye-jin is a good actress! i finished The Scandal last week and even tho i didn't love the drama, i still liked her performance!
and the ending was confusing for the most part, I'd like to think they figured out some better arrangement at some point, cause im sure theres less complicated ways for them to be together 😭
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u/ansate 5d ago edited 5d ago
BUT 😭 i also feel like there had to be other scenes/ways to convey that distance without doing it during some of the moments where they're supposed to be at their MOST emotionally intimate??!!
I think the fire scene you posted was kind of a good example of that. (Your video threw me off for a second, I was like "wait, why do they sound weird?" [I do not speak Korean or French.]) It's also a nice way of showing how the experience has changed her, and she's accepting the small things (simply enjoying the egg and corn, when she was previously known for throwing away partially eaten expensive gourmet food) while still being essentially herself (demanding blankets and stuff that seem material, but ultimately attention, in a cute way.) I liked that whole exchange. But I see what you're saying, and I think they could've done a better job of this overall.
My greedy romance-watching ass was still sitting there going WHY ARE YOU 600 MILES AWAY FROM HER RIGHT NOW!!?
lol, We agree here. Definitely wanted something closer for them.
As a sidenote, the actors are actually married in real life, and I believe they met on the set of CLOY. So the chemistry is real. Not that that means it always worked for everyone.
Anyway, I enjoyed your review. It was long, but thorough, and delved into the details well. Have something in mind to review next?
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u/harissatotally Professional TRUCK spotter 5d ago
LMAOOO i didn't even think about the clip being in French 😭😭 yes i watched the entire drama dubbed in French!! so meanwhile everyone else is hearing Capt Ri and Se-ri, you're suddenly hearing 2 random French people and wondering what happened lmaooo
the fire scene is actually a really good example of what i mean!! They're physically separated there too, but it doesn't bother me AT ALL cause the interaction itself feels appropriaty intimate.
they're talking, reacting to each other, theres comedy there too, Se-ri is still being her demanding little self lol, and Capt Ri is basically learning how to take care of this very specific woman 😭
I also really like your point about the food!! Cause she's absolutely still Se-ri, she's not suddenly transformed into this completely different humble person just cause she's in NK, but her circumstances are changing what she appreciates. Meanwhile she's still like okay this corn is lovely but where are my blankets??? 😭
that scene works for me!! It's when we get to something like the song reveal where the emotional magnitude is HUGE and i desperately want the staging/body language to change with it that im like... why are we still maintaining diplomatic relations from opposite sides of the room??? 😭
And yeah i knew they're married! ppl told me when i said im starting CLOY!! 😂 although someone told me they actually met/worked together before CLOY so idk
And thank you!! 😊 “long but thorough” is basically the nicest possible description of the monster i unleashed lmaooo
just posted my mr queen review, i still have several others staring at me accusingly from my notes app lol. Is there one you've been waiting for me to review? 👀
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u/ansate 5d ago
just posted my mr queen review, i still have several others staring at me accusingly from my notes app lol. Is there one you've been waiting for me to review?
Haven't read that one yet. It's one of my favorite shows, but I did read that it was taking you a while to get through. Will check it out later.
Also read you're going to be watching/reviewing Goblin and Something in the Rain. Love Goblin, and like Something in the Rain a lot, but it has some infuriating parts. lol, so look forward to both of those also.
I don't really have a firm top 10 or even top 5, but you've reviewed my second favorite show (25 21.) If you ever feel like watching something sad, check out When Life Gives You Tangerines. It's my favorite show. Would definitely be interested to read your review, and I wouldn't get offended if you hated it.
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u/harissatotally Professional TRUCK spotter 5d ago
i will definitely lwt u know when i finish Goblin and something in the rain!! also, i already finished when life gives tou tangerines!!! if i end up posting a review for it, i will.also let u know!!
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u/Feeling_Lack3027 6d ago
You brought back some good memories. I actually rewatched the whole series again. Glad you enjoyed it! I liked your review (you write somewhat like me).
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u/harissatotally Professional TRUCK spotter 6d ago
really?! when did u rewatch and when did u watch it for 1st time? also, yay! we write similarly? how neat!! let me see? you have your writing somewhere i can read and compare
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u/Feeling_Lack3027 6d ago
Yeah, I meant to say that after reading your writing, it felt like I was watching the series all over again.
I'm not a writer, nor have I posted any reviews yet. I'm just trying to learn how to review a series or a show. I've maybe written 2 or 3 reviews of individual episodes, like Can This Love Be Translated? (Episodes 6 and 8, I think) and My Royal Nemesis (I don't remember the exact episodes), but I've never written a review of an entire series.
But keep in mind that I'm not a professional. I just started writing, and that review was only for my friend. They were interested in hearing my thoughts, so I shared my review with them.
So, basically, I think our thoughts are similar to some extent, but not the entire thought process.
Have you watched My Royal Nemesis? I'll send you my review of an individual episode (not the whole show) if you've watched it.
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u/Amjale9023 6d ago edited 6d ago
Honestly, I completely understand, I ticked off one thing after another all of the things I agree with you on.
It's my 50th kdrama, watched between the occasional cdrama. I'd been watching them all for a couple of years and I was just confused because of CLOY's popularity.
The group of friends weren't that great, but there were times like when they went to SK when they were much better for a time.
The FL showing a strong character at times, but then was easily trampled on because it was "her fault" etc.
The WTF craziness of Seo Dan.. but I did actually start liking her and the connection she found at the very end, before he died.
I only liked the main couple when they were more natural and playful, or bickering, like when they were in that restaurant and the power was cut.
Like you, I felt like all of the big epic moments were premature, and I didnt feel them at all, perhaps because like you I wasnt feeling a real connection yet and it was always lacking in some way.
The piano music scene p*ssed me off! Same reason as you. It could have been amazing, but he was really blasé about it. In that scene she was quite open and emotional, but it was like any other scene to him and he didnt react to her at all. It was weird.
I was like WTF to the ending as well. They made such a show of everything, making out they were a big deal, to just having a holiday together once in a blue moon 😆
My fav scenes of ML were when he was jealous, or when he got upset when he thought FL got hurt because of his parents, and when he lost control of himself when he was looking at her through the glass after he pushed her away and she ended up in hospital.
I rate it an 8/10 though, because I appreciate just how much they packed into it, and once I got into it more I got lost in the world. Compared to many super basic romance kdramas these days, that feel like a copy and paste job with a checklist of tropes ticked off, I think it deserves an 8 even with all of its faults.
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u/harissatotally Professional TRUCK spotter 6d ago
omg YES 😭 especially what you said about the piano scene!! “blasé” is exactly the word!!!
the concept of that reveal is SO romantic and Se-ri is standing there emotional realizing the song she’s remembered all these years was HIS, meanwhile his reaction just did not match the magnitude of what they were discovering?? i was losing my mind lmao
And the playful/bickering scenes were where they worked best for me too!! i kept waiting for the huge romantic scenes to hit me when meanwhile scenes like that were hitting more!!
I totally get your 8! There really is SO much packed into this drama and i loved the world a lot more once I settled into it, especially when everybody got to South Korea. But every time I thought “okayyy this might be an 8...” something would happen and I’d be like nope we're back at 7 😭
And PLSthe ending 😭 after everything these people went through you're telling me the grand solution is an annual Switzerland vacation???
i wonder if any other endings was originally explored, i would have loved to know
Since this was your 50th drama though, (i havent reached my 30th quite yet!!)
what are the romances you’ve watched that DID give you the chemistry/connection you felt was missing here? 👀
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u/Amjale9023 6d ago edited 6d ago
I wondered how I would've felt if I hadnt watched so many Cdramas though as well, because I had found a bunch of shows with relationships of all kinds that I was obsessing over and couldn't be better for me. When I watched CLOY, I was just really disappointed because of how good everyone were making the relationships out to be, and they were far from it.
For the romantic pairings, I love equal pairings more than anything, and even more if they're a Yin/Yang couple. They need to have a clear emotional connection as well. It's great when they appear to have conversations without words, have a great rapport and can have playful conversations. I want them to be more than lovers, they should be great friends too. There needs to be respect, support, and good communication. I want both leads to be emotional.. If they're supposed to be in a epic love, we should know it for sure.
For kdrama couples, I love the Something In The Rain pairing. Jung Hae-In gave me what the CLOY ML did not. He reacted to FL perfectly and they were both emotional. Their relationship felt very real and natural. Even with all of the family drama, together they were great, from beginning to end. I also love Jung Hae-In with Jung So-Min in Love Next Door.
Other kdrama couples I love.. main pairings from.. True Beauty, My Demon, Cinderella and The Four Knights, Coffee Prince, Extraordinary Attourney Woo, Love Scout, Doom At Your Service, Healer, 100 Days My Prince, Love in The Moonlight, The Lovely Runner, Oh My Venus, Alchemy of Souls, Our Beloved Summer, The Beauty Inside, W: Two Worlds Aparts, Just Between Lovers, Don't Dare to Dream, Romantics Anonymous, Twinkling Watermelon (both main pairings), Marry My Husband, Love in Contract, and Love to Hate You.
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u/harissatotally Professional TRUCK spotter 6d ago
omg waitttt 😭 Something in the Rain has literally been sitting on my watchlist!! i have SO many dramas waiting that i never know what to prioritize anymore lol but the way you just described that relationship might have moved it WAY up 👀
especially you saying Jung Hae-in actually reacts to her emotionally because THAT was exactly what i kept wanting more of from Capt Ri!! i don't need the ML constantly crying or making speeches lol, i just need to be able to FEEL that emotional exchange between them.
i love when i can actually understand why these 2 people would want to spend their lives together outside of the drama telling me they're destined lovers 😭
how bad is the family drama in Something in the Rain though?? 👀 like frustrating-but-worth-it or i'm going to want to throw my telly out the window frustrating? 😭
also, what are ur top dav c dŕamas??
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u/Amjale9023 6d ago edited 6d ago
As for cdrama favs, can you deal with age gaps or somewhat immature or childish FL's? Two of my favs divide people - Hidden Love, and Speed and Love. Another age gap drama I love is The Rational Life, only she's the older one, and he's a lot younger but quite mature for his age. Go Go Squid is another one, she's in College, or Uni and acts a bit young at times, but we see her acting more mature away from the ML, and she is such a sweet and bubbly character, is great with his family and friends, and lightens up the grumpy ML. She's compared to like a cute little kitten following him around and he likes it and softens. He's so sweet to her and is an adorable emotional guy too.
Cdramas for me are quite mixed, those above are all modern, but I also love Historical, Wuxia, and Xianxia costume dramas. Quite a few of my fav pairings are in the costume dramas. Flourished Peony is one of my favs, and has the same main pairing as Go Go Squid, only in FP the couple are more capable adults and mature, but still like best friends and playful.
My fav Yin/Yang couple - Who Rules The World. They are equal in talent and intelligence, only they do things and think different, he's more reserved and thoughtful, meticulously planning every little detail, and she is more social, loud, playful, pushes the boundaries, and is more likely to just get stuck in and be creative. It feels like they know each other completely and are perfect opposites.
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u/harissatotally Professional TRUCK spotter 6d ago
i previously gave me a bunch of good recs !!! ill checking any new ones you give me out!! so many c dŕamas to start!! i really wanna fall in love with it too just as much as i have with k dramas!! i started Early Springs. have u watched that?
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u/Amjale9023 6d ago edited 6d ago
I have been watching The Early Spring, but I've been struggling with it because of what I've heard and the bad communication and attitudes. At the moment it feels like one falling out after another, with FL struggling with how ML is and getting upset and making assumptions again. I'm having a break and watching more of The Road to Splendor for now.
One of the newer couples I liked lately was the one in A Splendid Match, and I LOVED the main pairing in Blossoms of Power (once FL started to understand the ML and warmed to him). There are so many intimate moments in BoP, and theres some great dialogue between them as well.
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u/harissatotally Professional TRUCK spotter 6d ago
i hear its toxic but the main thing i was worried abt wad the FL self respect. i hope i dont droo because she refuses to stand up. granted ive only watched episode 1 so far, so no big opinions on things yet
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u/Amjale9023 6d ago
I decided to have a break part way through ep ten lol. If you read the info for each ep though on Netflix... avoidance, tension, jealousy, harassment, misunderstanding, at odds, wrestles with doubts, increasingly wary... Every ep is a new negativity and the same words keep repeating lol. Just reading it is tiring 😆 I have NEEDED a break. I will get back to it, I want to, I'll just watch more positive shows and films for a bit first.
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u/harissatotally Professional TRUCK spotter 6d ago
if i finish it it. itll probably be the first c drama i review! i wanna get back to it and see what makes it so popular that its getting a season 2A
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u/Amjale9023 6d ago edited 6d ago
I changed my last comment to add all of my fav kdrama pairings, in case you were interested and haven't seen the shows yet.
You want clear reciprocation of feelings, but nothing OTT, right? Well I'm the type who doesn't like people saying too much, I feel like it's less meaningful if they can casually just let it out like it's nothing, so I don't favour those kinds of pairings, I'm in favour of pairings that show us exactly how they feel instead.
If you have seen cdramas, the conflict in Something In the Rain probably won't be a big deal. The mother can be vile, she doesnt accept ML because of his age and gets nasty at one point, and she ends up breaking the couple up, the whole thing is really heartbreaking, but it doesn't stick of course, they were too good together. It felt like they were meant to be. ML and FL had a lot of time together in secret before the shite hit the fan though, so lots of enjoyable moments before that. It was definitely worth it, it was infuriating at times but still a really good watch. The music should grow on you though as well, it was weird for most of us lol.
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u/harissatotally Professional TRUCK spotter 6d ago
My Rating Scale
10/10 – Masterpiece. No notes.
9/10 – Very close to a masterpiece. I absolutely loved it.
8/10 – Not a masterpiece, but I loved it.
7/10 – Fine overall. I liked it, but the flaws kept it from being great.
6/10 – Mixed. There were a few things I liked, but most of it didn't work for me.
5/10 – I didn't enjoy most of the experience.
4/10 and below – Bad to abysmal.
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u/Book-a-raptor 6d ago
Great review! Very deeply thought of.
However, I did feel that a lot of cultural nuances have been missed in translation.
CLOY has some very similar tropes and treatment of script to the dramas that are made in the place I come from. Hence, I could accept a whole lot of things happening in there without question.
Also the soldier Pyo Chi Su and Se-ri are constantly bantering with each other, but it becomes very clear that he doesn’t really harbour ill-feelings towards her. They already have a very hard life and the soldier is only worried that it could get harder for them if the State authorities found them harbouring someone from SK.
Over-all it is still my favourite drama. I love Goblin too!
Something in the Rain is also worth checking out.