The thread is now open.
In Episode 6, their literature teacher quoted a line from a famous poem that sent the whole class groaning. I held back from expounding about it because I figured if I waited till the end, the poem wouldn’t require any explanation.
Just like “The Little Prince” by Saint-Exupery is a must read for kdrama viewers, this poem should be part of the reading list, too. It’s a staple in high school dramas.
Flowers That Bloom When Shaken
by Do Jong-Hwan
Where have flowers bloomed but never trembled?
Even those most beautiful
all trembled as they blossomed,
and as they shook, stalks grew firm.
Where is there a love which is never shaken?
Where have flowers bloomed though never been made wet?
Even those most brightly sparkling
were soaked and soaked again as they blossomed.
Battered by wind and rain, their petals opened warmly.
Where is there a life which has never been drenched?”
credit: No Flower Blooms Without Wavering: 흔들리며 피는 꽃
by Jong-Hwan Do, Brother Anthony (Translator), Jinna Park (Translator)
Let’s enjoy the show.
I once saw a whimsical illustration of girl with flowers blooming from her hair. Too bad I didn’t take a pic of it. If I see it again, I’ll post it here. This is my version of it.
My new year’s resolution is to jot down less notes during meetings, and to doodle more in order to relieve stress. Some of my doodles however are not meant for public viewing (me cackling).
I just watched episode 14 last night (I didn’t want to wait a week for the final episodes so put off watching it). I must say, at this point in time, I wouldn’t mind if she ends up with the ML or the SML. They have both turned out to be good people. (Of course I haven’t seen episode 15 yet, which explains the breakup–I may not be such a big fan of Su Ho after that…).
Gosh I hope the FL isn’t going to become a big social drinker, like she supposedly is in the webtoon. I love her as the kind and innocent high school kid. I’m getting tired of seeing so much heavy drinking in k-dramas, even if it is a way of life in SK.
Young-Dae’s cameo in the episode 15, he still loves strawberries 😀 We ot the A3 in True Beauty,sadly Haru is too busy to sell cosmetics :p
Thanks @pkml3 and nice drawing!! I watched Ep 15 raw.
I don’t really think the forced separation did the show any favours. Perhaps it helped to make it 16 episodes long, when 14 or 15 would have done. I certainly need the subs to figure out why JK is so skittish. I felt it was an unnecessary twist.
A lot of loose ends are already being tied up and everything should be set for the end in, like, within 10 minutes, therefore the 1 plus hour final episode will be mostly getting the couple back together and then a few sweet moments before the end.
It’s good to catch a glimpse of Soo Jin again, but I’d like to see her having a proper talk with JK after she walked away from her.
JK’s family continues to provide the laughs. I don’t know why most of them had to be involved in a wedding proposal. And of course it had a twist of its own.
JK’s brother continues to over-act, but I believe he gets the girl, finally, after 2 years. And LOL the continued the gender role reversal of Hee Kyung and Teacher Han, where he’s the sensitive ‘bride’ who’s not getting adequate attention.
And with the passing of the 2 years, we get to see the ‘kids’ all sort of grown up, and Suho’s adult look which is very nice eye candy. True Beauty indeed!
Grrrr… Haru should have stopped by.
I’ll make a note to include the meta-ref to “Extraordinary You” for Ep 15. Thanks.
How’s Rowoon’s drama coming along?
@BethB and @pm3 yes to not liking excessive drinking in Kdramas. It’s almost like a licence to behave irresponsibly.
Speaking of behaving irresponsibly, can I say I didn’t like ep 15? There’s something called considerate behaviour which is sourly lacking on Suho’s part. So you randomly breakup and woo the girl again as is comfortable with you ? I don’t like where his character is going. The girl is saying she wants space. Kindly back off!
I may be wrong because I watched raw and of course I don’t speak Korean.
Waiting for @GB to watch.
Anxious to watch episode 15. I was taken aback by how much I enjoyed seo juns gaze at JK in the 2 year jump last episode.
Side note, will there be a thread for the newest mr queen episodes?
Oh @GB you already watched! I was whisking curry with one hand (coconut with quinoa) and typing with another. That took so long you already wrote by then 😂
I’m sad. I expected better character development.
Haru is still swoony, working hard to become a good employee and get the girl. This time, he has a home, 2 nice noonas and an adorable niece!
Oh my, this is the last week of TB? Didn’t I say I’m ok if it ended in ep13? LOL! I finally watched ep14 and found the beach date to be nice and sweet. And then the separation and 2 year time jump in the end threw me on the loop again. Let’s see how they will (re) tie this back together again in the last 2 eps. Will check it out tonight.
@packmule3, Thank you for the poem translation and your whimsical doodle. I always doodled at work meetings. The act is a great stress reliever. Your doodle would make a wonderful print. It’s so joyful.
I loved the way our romantic teachervrecited the poem. I obviously don’t speak Korean. But from the cadence and his physical expression,the feelings came through. I love spoken poetry. My eighth grade English/homeroom teacher assigned us tomemorizeand recite 100 lines of poetry. We then had to recite before the class. We could choose whatever poem/poems to recite. Among the poems I remember choosing poetry by Poe (Annabelle Lee, especially because I loved the doomed romance), Edward Arlington Robinson(Richard Corey), Edna St. Vincent Millay (I forgot the title but it was about the loss of a father, spoken by a mother to her children-very resonant to me) and Emily Dickinson (I’m Nobody and Reverie). Our teacher was Mr. Chin who had us perform MacBeth for assembly-we obviously could not do the entire play-had us write a novella and hadbusbparse sentences using empamples from old English and Shakespeare. He was really tough, but very creative. He challenged us but it stuck. Our junior high class had our 50+ reunion and we all remembered him fondly. He used to tell us stories of how he translated English letters for Chinese immigrants in tbe thirties when he was a young man. He got his college degree via the GI Bill of Rights and then he became an English teacher at our school that was on the border of New York City’s Chinatown teaching students who were not only like him but others representing neighborhood immigrant groups from Little Italy, Eastern Europe, Greece, Puerto Rico and the African American migration from the south. My eighth grade experience stood me in good stead. In college, I took a speech course where we also had to read and recited poetry. I don’t remember what I chose to recite but I knew I did well thanks to my eighth grade teacher. And your translation brought back some wonderfuo memories.
NamJu appeared (cameo) and dropped strawberry drink at Namsan Peak😂. He still loves strawberries (just like SuHo giving JK the strawberry drink). Meta alert – Sleepless in Seattle. Namsan Peak when it first snows.
SuHo scribbled on the wall of the comic book store
“I am not a crybaby. I am Lim SuHo. When will you remember who I am? When the first snow falls, I will go make a wish at Namsan Peak. A wish for you to remember who I am.”
JK goes to Namsan Peak each time it snows.
Meet me at the top of the Empire State Building on Valentines Day? Then she forgets her purse and doubles back only to see SuHo for real this time. Just like Tom Hanks and his son forget his backpack and double back…and he meets Meg Ryan then. Fate is bringing them together. And for those who are wondering whether SuHo is ML…he is…because NamJu (Male Lead translated) was mistaken to be SuHo at Namsan Peak by JK. First snow. Fate. So she does sort of date SeoJun for a bit – he confesses and tells her he will take her out for 3 dates. There’s an almost drunk kiss but thankfully it didn’t happen. But it’s clear her mind/heart is with SuHo. Stand off cliffhanger outside the comic store at the end of the ep after they go on their second date? Does the confession count as the first? SeoJun hugs JK (she doesn’t hug back) just as SuHo appears from the store. SeoJun hugs her even harder as he sees SuHo. I think the end will be the fated pair (SuHo and JK). It’s written in the snow. 😂
😂 The couple who’s together during the FIRST snow ❄️of the season is the end game.
You can’t fight against this superstition in kdramas.
Note: NOT Christmas Day. Snow on Christmas Day doesn’t count. 😛👅
@packmule3 🍪🍪🍪.
@pkml3 @Arihsi @nrllee
LOL that Sleepless in Seattle meta. I’m glad I recognised a few meta moments.
I looked again at @pkml3’s drawing and thought about how the drama winds are blowing in more shows and we just get blown along with them, sprouting plants/flowers along the way LOL.
I did start off today’s comment on a more sour note, but having to stop and do a bit of manual work got me sprouting Patience instead of weeds, and so I’ll change the tone of my post.
While it’s true that re-watching Ep 15 with subs, did not help to endear the episode to me, and how I still feel that Show should have ended in Ep 14, without the separation and with just a 5 minute epilogue of how everyone has grown, moved on, gotten married etc, I’m guessing that there may be a return to the source material, in the resurrection of the love triangle, and have decided to be more flowery and less weedy.
Since it seems JK did date SJ for a while, let’s see how that plays out. I do not like the going back to the love triangle trope after the guys had reconciled. I’d hoped the writer would be more creative and move on from that, but anyway. I also find it annoying that. Seo Jun, after caring so much that he is loyal to Suho must suddenly go back on his commitment, just because JK kept bugging him to see the horrid ‘Chen’. I do also deplore that the actions of the guys, keep causing JK confusion, but they are unaware or not bothered by it. But since the drama had to commit to 16 episodes, I guess all this was to be expected.
Understanding Suho
My previous hope that this show would not be like so many others where the separation meant zero communication, only partially came true. At least they did communicate for some months instead of inexplicably forgetting that mobile video chats, email and assorted social media are possible.
The last talk they had, Suho called JK and says that they should break up.
SH : “I don’t know when my dad’s going to wake up. And I’m sure it’s hard for you to wait for me until I return.”
JK : “What are you talking about? I’m totally fine. I can wait. I’m fine.”
SH : “I just feel so bad. I can’t be there for you. And that makes me feel so sorry. So …”
JK : “Who says you need to feel sorry? I told you I’m fine. Why are you overreacting? … I don’t want to break up. You can even stay there forever. I’ll save up and visit you instead.”
SH : “I can’t let you do that.”
JK : “Why not?”
She refuses to accept his call as the last call and says she’ll pretend that she never picked up the call or heard him asking to break up.
It will probably surprise some that I agree with what Suho did in initiating the breakup. I would have done the same if I felt that I was tying down another person indefinitely, unable to commit to a time or a future. Both being still students, not yet out in the world and not having much control over some major parts of their lives, the possibilities were endless. Tying down someone to a specific single person when he/she would end up meeting so many others, would have been selfish and limiting.
However it should have been a mutual thing. JK was not included in the decision making process. They could have discussed it and it could have been a decision that they could come back to in the future, if either party felt the need to break free. However, in typical kdrama style, it was an unfair unilateral decision, and SH stopped replying to JK. JK, we understand, continued to text him for at least another year.
The other thing we might factor into SH’s painful decision to breakup was JK’s mum’s telling him that JK was in hospital with an upset stomach, likely due to her studying a great deal and suffering stress. Mum had commiserated with him over his dad, saying, “Yes, you’re having a hard time as well, “inadvertently communicating that JK was having a hard time.
He made the decision to breakup, likely hoping that they would be able to find their way back to each other again. We know this, because he kept her saved on his phone as Girlfriend, and when he returned to Seoul, upon hearing that it’s likely to snow, the first thing he dids, was to visit Namsan Tower. Meeting JK there by chance, under circumstances that were so unlikely (since he’d only just arrived), was a sign to him that they were meant to be. Fate was on their side. It was like the heavens were approving the resumption of their relationship.
Since JK was shocked by the suddenness of seeing him and unwilling to jump right back into a close relationship, SH had to woo her again. He engineered more ‘fated’ or chance meetings.
At the breakup, he had said: “Don’t wait for me to call you anymore” but now he reverses this by communicating with her often.
He’s showing, kdrama-style, that he’s the man who deserves JK by making up for the separation by every means in his power. Not only that, (see The Namsan Chat and Wall Messages below) he’d also been the one who remembered her challenge from some 10 years previously, and who had acted on her dare.
The Namsan Chat and Wall Messages
After the breakup, JK recalls her childhood meetings with a crybaby boy in Prince Comics, not knowing that it was Suho.
The message on the wall from Suho: “I’m not a crybaby, I’m Lee Suho. When will you finally remember me?”
He had added later : “On the first day of snow, I’m going to go to Namsan and make a wish hoping that you’ll remember me.”
JK is stunned that he had never told her they had met there as children.
Child JK had said to child Suho : “You know how they say your wish comes true on the first day of snow? That means everyone who sees the first snow should be happy. But why are there so many unhappy people in this world?”
Child SH : “I can’t believe you believe that.”
Child JK : “I’m sure they say that for a reason. … I think the only person whose wish comes true is the very first person that the snow hits.”
Child SH shakes his head : “That’s nonsense.”
Child JK decides : “So when it snows for the very first time this year, I’m going to go to the highest place and be the first one to touch the snow.”
Child SH : “The highest place? Where?”
Child JK : “I’m going to Namsan. … Isn’t that the highest place in Seoul? … You wait and see. If my wish comes true, you’ll find out I was right.”
This worked for both of them. JK and SH met each other again at first snow at Namsan Tower, therefore their kdrama wishes were bound to come true.
Adult JK reads the wall messages and is touched that he’d remembered what she’d said in their childhood. But later we see that she writes a rejoinder to his last message. “After all this, you want to break up? Jerk. I hope you get constipation.” (LOL, the hope rebounded on JK because she was the one to get constipation.)
Understanding Ju Kyung
She had not wanted break up. She denied that they had broken up all the way through to after high school. We see that she’s still wearing the scarf SH made her after she completed the College Scholastic Abillity Test (CSAT). It starts to snow and she goes up to Namsan Tower on her own. She finally decides to accept the breakup with a final text.
“I took the CSAT today. If I do well in the practical section, I may be able to go to the college I want. So this is how it feels to get closer to my dream. I’m excited and happy. Did you start studying music there? Someday, somewhere, it’ll be nice to hear music that you create. I kept texting you to whine about how hard things were, but now that the CSAT is over, I’ve lost that excuse. Suho, it’s snowing here. I hope it’s warm and not cold where you are. I won’t contact you anymore. Goodbye.”
However, she retains her emotional attachment to SH. When Seo Jun’s confession bothers her, she opens her memory box. In it are the scarf, the worry doll, the necklace, the hair clip all from SH, plus the keychain that she bought.
At the next first snow, she goes to Namsan and looking out for SH, so that when someone looks like him, she approaches calling his name. Seeing the strawberry drink reminds her of him. But an imaginary re-meeting is one thing, when she sees him in the flesh, she rubs her eyes in disbelief, and does not know how to react.
I’m guessing she needed some time to sort things out. It’s not entirely clear how long she’s been out of school and has been working with Selena, or how long it’s been that she’s gotten used to not expecting SH to be in her life. After the time it took her to accept the breakup, she was not willing to jump back in.
He holds her face the way a boyfriend would. She slaps his hands away.
JK to SH : “Why are you here?
SH : “Because I missed you.
JK : “But we broke up. So why did you miss me?” They are both in tears.
SH : “Still, I missed you. I missed you so much.” He takes a step forward and reaches for her hand, but she backs away.
JK : “I haven’t missed you at all.” And she runs away. She was probably in denial and being defensive.
Before she collapses in humiliating constipation pains, she says : “I don’t want to see you right now.”
She’d been hurt and was still angry with SH. She probably did not like it that he’d so cavalierly said they should break up but now treats her like a girlfriend, picking up where he left off, without some degree of closure for her.
At the same time, she’s just been faced with a new Seo Jun. He confesses to her and tells her to sway a little. Although he’s not asking for an answer at the moment, it’s still pressure on JK. He’s also imposed 3 dates on her. She suffers from indigestion at that confession meal, a sign that the confession is difficult to swallow, but instead of being the thoughtful Seo Jun of old, he wants her to be uncomfortable and as aware of him as he is of her. In other words, to suffer like he did!
So both SJ and SH who kept turning up to see her when she wasn’t ready to see him, were being rather a pain to JK. They were both in a hurry and didn’t give the confused JK time to come to terms with the suddenly very different situation between the three of them.
Poor JK’s inner emotional turmoil manifests in digestive upsets. She gets tummy pains, indigestion, and constipation. She’d been eating improperly too … beef jerky and soju, not great for the bowels! LOL. So we have one last episode to iron out her digestive strife.
I agree @GB. I would’ve been happy for it to end at Ep13-14. Minus the separation. And the consolation prize for SeoJun that happens in Ep15 with the confession and imposed dates. It’s a war he’s never going to win? His acts only serve as reminders of SuHo for JK. He tries to bandage her hand? And she gets a flashback of SuHo bandaging her knee. She can’t forget him. So there can only be one ending despite the trolling in the preview. 😂
I do love JK’s unwavering belief in all things good. Her positivity is infectious. She is kind to a fault. She’s the sort of person who always tries to look on the bright side. She will give you second, third, fourth chances. Any normal person would probably never speak to SooJin again even if she extends the olive branch. But not JK. She will forgive, no questions asked.
But yeah I can understand JK’s outburst that she doesn’t miss him (SuHo) at all. A lady’s got to salvage her dignity. She gets to say when she will accept him again. Especially when she was so unceremoniously dropped. He had assumed that she would be better off without him. Noble idiocy. He didn’t listen to her at all.
@nrllee
Yeah, SH should get to sweat a bit before thinking that matters with JK should just continue, just because he now decides that they should continue. He didn’t listen to her at the breakup and he’s not listening to her now. Quite a change from the thoughtful boyfriend that he’d been.
As for SJ, I agree that he’s just doing something that’s a total waste of time and so undignified, plus as you say, the things he does backfires because SH had done them too and he inadvertently reminds JK of SH.
Both he and JK know that she’d friend-zoned him from forever … what’s the point of trying to be a ‘guy and girl’ on a date. I wish kdrama nice girls could be written to say no to such a foolish request to give a guy they are not interested in romantically, a chance. A chance at what? To be humiliated?
Forget about sprouting nice flowers in my hair. I shall continually roll my eyes at their ‘wooing’ antics and enjoy watching the guys suffer, for all the stomach aches they give poor JK. I hope she gives them a hard time.
@GB and @nrllee 🍪 for you.
I’ve been wondering why I was irritated and annoyed with Suho throughout ep 15. I couldn’t emphasize with him even when he seemed to be doing the right thing by taking care of a parent (also the element of sacrifice – essential in kdrama) and suffering the most out of the three – alone with a sick parent. He was given the part of a noble idiot – the ultimate lead part in Kdramas. I don’t know why anyone would argue about him being the lead.
Anyhoo, from our discussion elsewhere @GB, I could figure out why it was so. It is to do with Cha Eun Woo’s emoting or the lack there of. I’m unconvinced of his character’s pain or loneliness or the helplessness behind the decision of a break up. Episode 13-15 breakups in Kdramas are a staple. However, some make you cry with them whereas others are just an eyeroll. This was a case of the latter for me probably due to the flat emoting and direction that had to work around it.
If you notice, in certain parts (example where JK’s mom picks up the phone coz she’s in the hospital – right before the break up scene) they’re having to rely on make-up to show a “washed-out” or exhausted Suho who is worried for JK. Compare this with CLoY/MoA Hyun bin, IOTNBO’s Kim Soo Hyun etc where the makeup is consistent throughout the drama. Not to be forgotten, LJG in FoE – he is a different league of amazing. They don’t have to alter the makeup even when his character is dying 😂. No washed up look needed when he isn’t supposed to be breathing 😜
In all of the above, the make up doesn’t need to spell out the emotion of the actor. With CEW, makeup has been used before in the drama to indicate his distress.
All this is not to berate Eun Woo. Let’s say he is an improving actor. But because of his ongoing learning process, I couldn’t enjoy ep 15. I was really irritated at his character and didn’t feel sad at his situation at all (which was the goal of the episode and a LOT of the entire drama.)
@nrllee I didn’t like that Suho didn’t listen to JK regarding her wishes to wait at all ! And after all that unnecessary misery (and constipation) he put JK through, he just waltzes in and expects her to do what! Run to him arms outstretched? say that she loves him ? He is refusing to give her the space she demands. And what is his excuse? That he missed her ? Ew. Just ew.
Also, I don’t understand what’s this big deal about unrequited love. Haven’t we all been there some time or the other ? Move on irritating man #2 Han So Jun. Move on. It’s high time.
Although, I can still forgive So Jun inspite of his irrational behaviour in ep 15 and that is solely because of the actor – he is a fast learner. He can easily convince me of how hopelessly smitten he is for JK, unlike Suho. No wonder there are fan wars and teams inspite of the fact that everyone knows CEW is the lead. It’s just sad.
I watched Ep 16 raw and it was a pretty good tying up of all loose ends, even including those of the side characters.
Hee Kyung’s wedding was one of the most hilarious ever. A parody of a wedding to die for. Loved how Hee Kyung enjoyed every moment of it notwithstanding the contraption around her neck, and that her dress was simple and just the type that suited her.
I liked that show gave time for the concert in which Se Yeon’s song was sung in full. Suho, Seo Jun and JK were all actively contributing to it even from behind the scenes, and that was poignant.
The scenes of SH and JK reading together in Prince Comics through the years was also poignant. However the furnishings for the times when they were younger did not seem right. The new furnishings only came in when JK was in her final year.
It was a far better finale than some others, which is a relief, and a joy at the end of another series.
Just commenting about that the Namsan Tower/Empire state building meet up as a meta for Sleepless in Seattle. The Sleepless In Seattle meta is actually a meta for the Cary Grant-Deborah Kerr movie, An Affair To Remember, where they arrange to meet at the Empire State Building, but she’s hut by a car and paralyzed and he’s there, but she’s not and tragic misunderstanding ensues. And that movie is a remake of a Charles Boyer Irene Dunne movie. Just live how film is reverently referential. And also how international it all is.
@GB I agree with you. Ep 16 made me feel all warm and fuzzy. ❤️
@Old American lady 😳 you have an immense knowledge in this area. I couldn’t reach till sleepless in Seattle meta itself. I’m a dweeb. So glad to be a part of this blog. I learn something new every time.
@Arihsi, I’ve been movie crazy since I was a kid and I’m OLD. Just happy that I’m not senile. And I’m happy to be a nerd and a dweeb. After being a mortified teen who envied the popular kids, I’m glad I always was nerdy. We just have more interests and more fun!
From watching True Beauty, I wonder what are the male and female staqndards of beauty. As a westerner, I look at our non-traditional beauties like Meryl Streep and think she’d never make it as a lead in Korea. And so many of the younger men are on the pretty side. Here they’d be given androgenous roles. It’s just interesting to see the cultural differences.
.
The Language of Drinking with a Friend
Suho catches Seo Jun hugging JK and they go for drinks to ‘talk about it’.
1st Seo Jun pours a drink for Suho, Suho returns the favour, they clink glasses and drink. All fair and square and starting off on a give and take footing, willing to talk it out.
SH : “Do you still like JK? Did you ask her out?”
SJ : “No. We’re going out.” (a half-truth)
SH tries to look cool : “I know you’re lying.”
SJ : “What do you know?”
2nd round Suho pours for SJ, SJ pours for SH, they clink glasses and drink. SH does not want to believe him and is giving him the benefit of the doubt.
SH : “I told you I met her yesterday.”
SJ frustrated : “Why did it have to be yesterday?”
SH : “Because of the first snow.”
SJ : “What’s that supposed to mean?”
SH acts cool : “You guys aren’t going out, are you?”
SJ gives SH a challenging look : “You must be a little nervous.”
SH gives SJ the ‘eye’ : “No.”
SJ annoyed : “You little punk.”
3rd round SJ pours for himself. SH pours for himself. They do not clink glasses but just drink. They are fed up with each other.
ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ
Seo Jun as Flower
Dad arranges the pretty yellow flowers SJ had gifted JK, in a vase. She had forgotten about them completely, a true sign of her lack of attachment to SJ.
Dad: “Flowers are pretty when they’re in a vase. But I feel bad for them when they wither without receiving any love.”
Her dad’s words strike JK. She goes to wait to speak with SJ. It’s possible that she wants to tell him that he should not be like those flowers, withering because she cannot love him.
He guesses that her coming is not good news and blows her off. He gives her a long hug and his face changes … ie he knows this is the end of any chance with her. He lies that SH is leaving that night and tells her to catch him before it’s too late. (⌐■_■)
SJ’s friendship with SH and JK was more important to him, and he knew that he didn’t have a ghost of a chance with her either. It was a waste of time for him to have tried, really!
The Apology I Didn’t Think We’d See
SH : “Do you hate me? Won’t you let me see your face?”
JK : “You were coming back anyway. You came back anyway. So why did you do that?” (She refers to him imposing the breakup.)
SH : “Because it would be too hard for you to wait.”
JK : “It was much harder than waiting.”
SH : “It was so hard for me too. That’s why I was looking for a way to come back. Even if my dad didn’t wake up, I would have come back to you.” (So her question is perfectly valid, why break up?)
JK : “What if I had gotten over you?”
SH : “I would have followed you around.” (Stalker alert! LOL.)
JK : “What if I still said no?”
SH : “I would have cried and begged, and tried to seduce you. … I’m sorry for making you suffer. …. I’m sorry for hurting you.”
This is one of the first times I’ve heard a character apologising for noble idiocy. Congrats to this show!!!
PPL
I don’t normally bother to notice the product placement but I was soooo tickled to see PPL of the oyster sauce that we use over here, and which I have at home, in a kdrama. LOL. The exact same brand and label of sauce. And JK went on to ask if the food was seasoned with magic! Great PPL.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SGb6uy6uFVQ9vEul7GSV9AHd9e4VtJYW/view?usp=sharing
I’m glad I stuck with this drama, initially going to dump it because of the awful adults and stiff acting but the overall theme shone through.
Ep 15-16 were sweet but unnecessary, definitely could have ended in Ep14. I’m seeing people say they want a season 2, I understand the webtoon is still running but I feel like the plot has been completed so no thanks.
This drama is one of the few times where I actually liked the SML. Hwang In Yeop is honestly mesmerising. His eyes were so emotive! Han Seo Jun always glanced at Ju Kyeong like he was begging her to notice what he was never able to say with his words. It took me a while to realise who else’s gaze is that intense, Park Hyung Sik, especially in Strong Woman Do Bong Soon; another drama with questionable motherly characters but I digress. I wish he’d gotten over his feelings. Although I understand why he finally confessed and luckily everyone got over it, but I feel like it took the story backwards, why are we revisiting old news? The unrequited love was difficult to watch after a while.
I’m done with CEW playing a sweet but stoic teen/college boy. I’d like to see him in action next. Shirtless😝, shooting guns, scaling walls and chasing bad guys. Based off the few Master in the house clips I’ve seen, he has the body and agility for it. On a serious note, I want him to play a more complex character that is more than a pretty faced chaebol with daddy issues. His acting can only get better if he stretches himself and as he is paired with good female leads like Moon Ga Young.
I’ll keep my eyes peeled for future dramas the cast members are in!
@Esst3, I agree that CEW needs to up his game and learn now to ugly cry and not worry about being pretty in every possible scene. If Moon Ga Young can do it, so can he, and be damned to his shallow fans who criticise him when he’s not perfect. And yes, Hwang In-Yeop is very charismatic and I’m looking forward to his career. Him singing Leo’s song and thinking of So Yeon was very convincing.
All in all, I was very satisfied with the end. Soo-jin redeems herself and gets back with her friends, Soo-ho apologises as @GB points out so well above.
@Old American Lady, yes about Western actresses whose character portrayals make them beautiful, rather than starting with the beauty standard and trying to act.
@GB, I noticed the switch in manners in the drinking scene, too. So funny. At least they were honest about it.
A much better ending than DDSSLLS, right?
Hi @Fern, I’m afraid I didn’t watch DDSSLLS, therefore I cannot compare the ending scenes, but since I heard complaints about DDSSLLS, I guess TB did do better in it’s finale.
Of all the scenes to stand out for me though, it had to be the crazy wedding of Hee Kyung and Teacher Han. I don’t think I stopped laughing from the moment the ring rolled under the table.
Seo Jun’s rendition of Se Yeon’s song made me tear up too, especially with the stills of the 3 of them together.
I’m much relieved that the love triangle redo didn’t go anywhere, and that Seo Jun also apologised to JK for confusing her. He jolly well knew what he was doing, but went ahead to be greedy. I’m glad that all got ironed out and they are all friends ‘forever’.
I was definitely relieved with the finale. I’m still suffering from underage ddsslls. I wished SJ would’ve confessed a year into the absence so we could’ve seen that in flashbacks instead. That way their friendship could’ve been reestablished and SH could’ve been jealous over the time he missed with them.
Again, are we quitting mr queen discussion?
Another day another drama whose finale not only doesn’t stick the landing but feels like a bonus feature rather than an actual episode. Heck, make it 8 bonus features cause it was really over when Su Ho and JK became a couple. The rest was threading waters. The mandatory 16 episode format kills another momentum but what’s new? Also, the tendency to make longer and longer episodes the less material they have to fill them with. Why were 15 and 16 about an hour and 20 min long? Nothing ever happened!
Controversial opinion: FL got really annoying with he repetitive OTT comedy shtick and inability to reciprocate feelings on the level of ML/SML. Like in other dramas of this kind, male character loves/likes FL/SFL much more than she loves/likes him. Also, FL always overacts while men are more grounded when doing comedy. I see this tendency on Boys Over Flowers which I’m binging on Netflix. FL is so OTT and “Look at me I’m the star!” but it’s LMH who’s the real MVP and effortlessly so and no wonder he became a superstar. Likewise, HIY is such an effortless charisma and runs circles around the rest of the cast. I hope he has a great career (translation: get into movies, dramas are no real challenge with her formulaic nature and audience demands dictating the course of the story and characters rarely for better).
Controversial opinion #2: Idols can’t act, don’t have screen presence nor they have viewership pull (Rowoon shows are all ratings flops). So why are they given leading roles over real actors who outclass them and have more charisma? It’s not fair and it certainly doesn’t improve the quality.
In conclusion: TB was just Poor (Wo)Man’s My ID Is Gangnam Beauty, a show that knew what it was about and that stick the landing, unlike TB that is an aimless mess turned an endless filler around ep 8 already. And CEW was more beautiful on MIIGB than here if we talk about eye candy. At least it put HIY on the map and that’s something. Just cut that mullet, please. You are a doll but mullet is a NO!
@Anonymous I beg to differ. I liked the ending. And I believe it delivered on the message of True Beauty. For me FL killed it with her acting. Ordinarily I would cringe at her sugary whiny voice and roll my eyes with the bug eyed innocent look and constant crying but MGY made JK palatable and believable and I was firmly in her corner from the beginning. I didn’t finish Gangnam Beauty. This drama I finished.
True beauty for SeoJun. Choosing friendship and kindness over possessing the girl he wanted? True beauty.
True beauty for SooJin the “mean girl”. Yes. She chose to seek out the people she wronged to apologize and make amends. True beauty.
True beauty for SuHo. Leaving his girl to be with his sick father and rebuilding that bridge (and offering forgiveness? Not explored in the drama
but I guess it was implied). True beauty.
To add to your comment, @nrllee, I think it’s hard for adults to go back to playing teenagers, but all of the leads did well.
True Beauty as well for JK’s family who all appreciated her for what she was by the end.
True Beauty for JK who can look past current or past actions and still empathize with Soo Jin despite SuJin’s cruely and SuHo who shut her out while he was gone. I like the scene when JK and SuHo spoke about it in the car.
My only quibble was with the last episode when JK spent the night and this is completely my opinion: I wondered why the director didn’t have her look like the feelings were completely mutual? If she had even touched his face or made some move herself, I would have found it less odd. Unless the version I saw was somehow edited?
JK never looks like her feelings are mutual because all she can do is exaggerated wide eyed comedy. Sorry but that shtick got old by episode 4 and there were 12 to go. I understand fans of the performance but her range was really just repeating the same thing over and over as appealing as that might be at first I got bored quickly. That’s not a real character, that’s an overlong shtick. Same as FL in FOB. Not a fan of that kind of a character. CLOY FL started out in similar fashion but got more grounded later and I ended up liking her a lot. This TB girl never evolved.
Props to HIY for not fixing his eye to be rounded like an anime impersonator. I dig his unique look.
@anonymous
Wow, you really did not enjoy MGY. Just out of curiosity, who are the female leads that you think act best? And/or would have done better in this role?
@Anonymous, I agree that there are idols who can’t act, but other who act very well. I’m thinking of Kyung Soo, IU, Bae Suzy, Im Siwan, Kim Se-jeong, Choi SiWon, etc?
Wouldn’t it be ironic if this show leads to Hwang In-Yeop having a recording career? Btw, we may not like it, but, like giant flares, mullets are on trend atm.
Re: drop the drama. I was doing my friend a favor and watched so that she could have someone to (trash)talk it with. She watched for CEW eye candy. 🙂 BTW, a drama that I had to drop is Extracurricular. Boring beyond reason plus how the heck you make a drama about sex trafficking without sex? The whole show was will ML be discovered and if yes by whom and how? Zzzzzzzz.
Re: MGY – I enjoyed her for about 4 episodes but there were 16 of them with her doing the same tired routine.
Re: Female leads – loved Kingdom, Sweet Home, Uncanny Counter ladies. CLOY one was good once her character stopped being a snob caricature. TOTNT secondary FL was adorable and stunningly pretty and much better than a flop FL who was the worst I’ve ever seen. That’s most recent I can think of.
I don’t understand defensiveness cause my OP clearly stated Controversial Opinion so I acknowledged that mine was in minority. 🙂
Mullet trend/fad needs to go poof right now this moment. 🙂 Sorry men who can’t say no to the worst fashion gimmicks but that hair was bad in the 80s and is bad now and will be bad in the future. Just give up.
@Anonymous no not defensive. Just asking clarifying questions about why you persisted in watching which in turn gives us context as to where your opinion is coming from. I usually drop dramas if I can’t stand the acting or if the plot line doesn’t enthuse me. So your underlying reason to watch this whole drama was to trash talk. Which explains where you’re coming from. I trash talk some dramas too (usually in the beginning) but I don’t finish them. Trash talking in of itself doesn’t carry enough value to me to persist in viewing. But to each its own. And I see you were obviously watching Space Sweepers with another lens on, hence the rave reviews in the other post.
I believe because this is a webtoon adapted to drama, we need to give it a bit more leeway with the caricatured characters. The “over the topness” and exaggerated expressions. The well worn tropes. The styling. What school allows that much variation in uniforms? Same with the mullet hair. The characters were styled to look like the webtoon characters. And whilst I am not a fan of mullets personally I understand that HIY’s mullet hair was part of the characterisation process. MGY’s characterisation of IJK was your stereotypical sugarsweet ingenue. She said so herself (in her usual adult voice) in an interview. IJK to her was like “candy”. Did she portray that character well? Never mind the fact that the character’s cluelessness drove me to insanity most times (how could she NOT know that SeoJun liked her all those years 🙄). Did she make IJK believable? For me it was a yes. So she “acted” her part well.
@nrllee, I like your inquiry of @Annonymous. One thing about BOD is the passion this blog evokes. Frommy experience here, I’ve learned to respond to questions about how we’ve come to our opinions because the answers are very enlightening. We all view these dramas from so many perspectives, including but not limited to our ages, nationalities, life experience, interests,etc. The true beauty of this blog is how much much enrichment this blog provides from musical compositions, poetry, art,everyday life tips, romantic encouragement or not. So please, @Annonymous, dont take inquiries the wrong way. They are not meant unkindly. And please look at the past posts for @packmule’s rules for engaging with the blog. You won’t go wrong. I have occasionally to my mind, iverdone it-right now in the Lovestruck in the City discussion, but I’ve tried to say what I mean limiting trash talk because I value being able to communicate here. And one last thing, fyi, many of the posters have been brutally attacked in other forums to the point of it not being safe for them. Another most truly beautiful thing about BOD is that it’s a safe place to discuss favorites.
And my end comments on True Beauty is that its lessons were that true beauty lies within character, deeds, friendships and relationships; that beauty is within the eye of the beholder;that people can learn to treat ine another better; that creativity is beautiful,etc. And the humor, when it happened was great, especially the wedding. It left me in the happy place that I needed during this horrible pandemic.
Ep 16 is a decent ending, very trope-y though on ML and FL getting back together with some white lie from SML. They stretched that love triangle to the very end. But kudos to SH and SJ for not fighting like lions and keep the friendship.
The closure with SJ was what I was waiting for and you can deduce how she has matured. The best part in ep16 is the wacky wedding and pinnacle of the role reversal with teacher acting more of the bride (reminded me of Dodosol bridal room, BTW). On the side, I also liked that the classmates stayed connected as friends, with even have romantic relationships within their circle.
On MGY as JK, I liked her acting and embodiment of JK character. Even her exaggerated ugly cries seemed appropriate though I understand some folks may feel it can be too much. I felt that she is limited by the script though. I expected more maturity from her after 2 years in dealing with her issues, but she still ran away from SH multiple times like before! I’m like, when will this end? Finally, they had the discussion scene in the car. That’s more like it. She should have stood her ground (say she was shocked he is back but she is not ready to see him yet) even in Namsan Tower.
A lot have already commented on SH acting and I concur. SJ was pretty good and charismatic. He can be leading man material. I was touched by his staircase cry. Poor guy.
Again, I was already happy with ep13 as ending. 😉 I was really emotionally touched by the closures there vs ep16 felt a bit flat and stretched compared to it.
@nrllee, ah so that’s where mullet comes from! 🙂 Thanks. I think that might have worked when he was meant to be a douche (it’s a douche hairstyle like wifebeater is a douchebag shirt), but once he became a fan favorite, they turned him into a guy worth rooting for without a payoff. I don’t care what’s in the webtoon cause drama should stand on its own and it was really weird that they made him an underdog who was led on (JK should have told him she couldn’t get over Su Ho instead of accepting dates that she wouldn’t follow through with anyway). So whatever.
Heh heh, I love Space Sweepers because sci fi is one of my fave genres unlike comedy (outside of Talladega Nights and Marvel movies I don’t care for that genre) and I’m a sucker for band of misfits saves the day trope which was done so well with GOTG. Also rogue(s) with the heart of gold bond with a kid (see Mandalorian). So that worked for me. Not a bad effort considering it’s the first K space opera flick.
@Old American Lady no worries I’m not taking it negatively. I put the “controversial opinion” warning so that my opinion wouldn’t be taken the wrong way either.
@Janey everyone is limited by the script and mandate to always act asexual which is why we get exaggerated comedy to deflect any unintentional seeping of sexual desire on screen. I gotta say that older shows (FOB for example) were sexier cause characters acted in sexual way and were aware of that kind of attraction that even comedy couldn’t hide. Here, everything is so platonic they could as well just film shop window mannequins. That includes the “sex scene” (LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL) from the finale. Yes, fish kiss on the bed while fully clothed and then next morning eating breakfast together apparently meant sex. I wouldn’t have guessed if I hadn’t read the explanation on the Internet. Seemed like the standard drama BS where male and female character just sleep side by side w/o contact.
I enjoy reading all these comments even if I don’t always agrree with them and OldAmericanLady you’re right it is a safe forum for expoundng theories etc. from an old Australian lady, I’m surprised to find I seem to be the only one who thought that when SH said to break up he was suffering a form of depression. SH had spent months sitting alone by his comatose father’s side not knowing what the outcome would be and then he hears that his girlfriend is in hospital and he can’t be there to comfort her. I found all through the series that SH is a comforting person, see his dealings with Soo Jin, SJ’s mother and JK, he has been the calm support for all of them so it would be devestating for him to not be able to be by her side when she was ill so thought it better to cut off communication in what my grandson calls a brainfart moment, where you do something contrary to what you want knowing you will hate the outcome.
@Noela Farley, that is a good point. Especially if he were feeling hopeless about his father. It may have been too subtle for me.
Haha. Brain fart. I thought that was when you forget your mother-in-law’s birthday.
@NoelaFarley and @Fern, Depression can cause a person to act against one’s interest. And SH has a very noble, caring character. He was making a sacrifice by breaking up with JK because he had no way of knowingbhow long his father would takevto recover, and heaven forbid,live. We see it took two years and in teen time, that’s an eternity. Here, the coursevof trueblovevdefinitely did not run smoothe.
But right now, I’m having a hard time unseeing brain farts in all their glory. It’s making for lots of humorous thoughts that are not suitable for children. Thanks for making mynday.
Yes, @Old American Lady, teen time is another factor. I still have teens at home, so am very aware. Worse with one than the other, however, particularly when hangry.
I know a lot of people think this drama could have ended at episode 13, but I appreciated the final episode, because it helped tie things up and showed a maturing of the characters. I love IJK’s kind heart and how so she easily forgave Soo-jin (IJK must have remembered that Soo-jin had told that her dad hit her when she also confessed that she liked Su Ho, which is why I think IJK was more empathetic towards her). And I really liked that wedding. IJK’s kick-ass sister is a character we’ve rarely seen in k-dramas. I love how confident, outspoken, and assertive she is. She goes after what she wants without any hesitation. (I don’t like her habit of heavy drinking but, hopefully, she was doing less of that once she was in a committed relationship).
Sometimes after I finish a k-drama I’ll go back and zip through the episodes (not watching everything, and sometimes skipping from scene to scene), to watch the story progression and to see any foreshadowing, etc., I might have missed during the first viewing. In doing this with True Beauty I realized how they had bookended the first and last episodes:
• The first episode begins with three flashbacks of IJK’s life: in the baby carriage, at a family event, and on a playground where she is dressed as an anime princess. In each scene, she was called ugly and made fun of.
• The last episode ends with three flashbacks of IJK and Su Ho: as children, as high schoolers, and as young adults, each time sitting together in the comic book store. Unlike the first three scenes, this was a place where she found acceptance and love.
• It’s also worth noting that in the first scene in the first episode that is not a flashback, IJK is at school, reading the Cursed Mask all by herself. (The Cursed Mask is the book that Su Ho asks her to lend him after they meet again in the bookstore as teenagers).
• I also hadn’t noticed that when IJK is sitting at the bus stop waiting to go to school, on the day she will make her confession to the cafeteria worker, there is a poster of Se-Yeon, covered with sticky notes from people saying how much they miss him. Se-Yeon is a presence that will continue throughout the series.
————————-
I know this show wasn’t a masterpiece by any means, yet it touched me in an unexpected way–perhaps because it reminded me of being an awkward and unaccepted teenager in high school who also managed to get through it all, with kindness (and a sense of humor) still intact.
Great review, BethB. Thanks!!