The thread is open.
I’m not sure if Kim SeJeong will continue her success. She got good exposure from “The Uncanny Counter” (2020) and she hit it out of the park with “Business Proposal.”
But I’m rooting for her.
And the actor who’s playing Master Lee in “Alchemy of Souls.” Here he is.
It’s showing on Viki.
Let’s enjoy the show.
Thank you, @packmule3. I am looking forward to this for some more light summer fare.
Thanks @pkml3. I caught the first episode and Kim Se Jong is as winning as ever, with that enthusiasm, openness and megawatt smile. Show managed to introduce the characters we will want to get behind, and make us care that their little Webtoon Planning Department does not get closed down.
Looks like On Ma Eum needs to have a proper talk with her dad to make her position clear. I wonder if he is even aware that she started work and does not want to return to judo.
I gather that her disinclination is not so much that she got hurt, but that others got hurt by her.
OME looks set to be the one who rights the errors and brings the Webtoon Planning Dept out of its doldrums.
I think the other new guy, the business and techie guy, will find a way to generate income for their dept too, @GB.
Happy weekend!
@GB and @packmule3, the other newbie will have to get used to being a team player first. What a miserable personality he has atm! I’m looking forward to seeing how OME gets past the problem of the hater posts for the veteran artist. A low-tech approach may work best?
I’ve watched episode 2 now. I’m glad that something low tech like a letter writing campaign wasn’t used, but rather a co-ordinated effort that lets Baek Eo-jin continue to grow despite his age. Well done, show!
Joon-Young still can’t see the bigger picture, but from the previews, it looks like Ma Eum will try to keep things afloat now that Joon-Young has told her that the team could be terminated. I think she will refuse to give up.
“The soft overcomes the hard. Make a world where people help each other.” This is the message on the wall in the dōjō where Ma Eum practices judo. She seems to have taken this to heart and will bring this ethic into the workplace. I hope that she can reconcile her father to her decision.
@pkml3 and @Fern
I am imagining that OME will definitely refuse to give up on both the new guy, Goo Jun Yeong (GJY) and on the Webtoon Planning Department. She’ll probably bring GJY around to sticking to the job and to becoming more positive in his attitude. It will only be then, when he has an opportunity to shine (and possibly be acknowledged for his certs/badges of honour), that he will start to contribute more, and more willingly.
His pessimism is understandable, though. He comes from a well-off family, with good qualifications, but ends up doing manual work that does not utilise his talents, in a department that seems likely to be axed. He does not have the physical stamina of OME, nor her optimism to begin with, and the situation he finds himself in will not help. He has to change his mindset but that’s easier said than done. However I’m sure OME is up to the challenge! LOL
GJY’s mentor, Kwon, is also to blame. Kwon has a lousy attitude towards the newbies. He didn’t bother to assign work that could motivate GJY. Instead he made use of him to avoid the unpleasant work he was supposed to do together with GJY. He didn’t give GJY any compliments for all the extra time he put in. Kwon claims he did compliment him, but by saying ‘Good job, Mr Unclogger’, it was a backhanded insult rather than a compliment. I’d feel very ill-used too.
@Growing Beautifully, I think that for once, GJY is in a situation where he doesn’t shine. Instead, at the office, at meetings with authors and even in social situations he is being outpaced by OME. It would be hard to adjust for him. I don’t think that he actually feels threatened by her (like the rookie attorney in E A Woo), but it’s not helping his ego at all. I believe you are correct that OME will figure out a way to motivate him and make him productive.
SPOILERS BELOW:
At the moment, I am thinking that her mentor is good, but descriptions of the drama tend to intimate that he is either pathetic or unreliable. From HITC.com:
“The lead cast of Today’s Cast includes Kim Sejeong as On Ma-eum, the former judo athlete turned webtoon editor, Choi Daniel as Seok Ji-hyung, On Ma-eum’s mentor and an unpredictable deputy editor, and Nam Yoon-su in the role of Goo Jun-yeong who puts his heart and soul in everything he does.”
It looks like these people will change quite a bit, if this is accurate.
@Fern, thanks for the information!
It’s interesting that the write-up says it’s GJY who “puts his heart and soul in everything he does.” I would be more likely to say that of OME and instead say that GJY does what he is ordered to/has to do, and somewhat begrudgingly. It’s more the case that GJY is of the opinion that he’s trying his best, but I’m not convinced of that, because of his attitude.
Yes, I agree that GJY finds himself outdone by someone with little credentials and is out of his element. In addition he knew from the start that he had been assigned to a ‘dead-end’ department, and this made his attitude even more negative. He probably feels ‘pathetic’.
OME has to tackle getting that attitude changed so that he’ll be a happier camper like herself. I trust that his apprising her of the expected demise of the department won’t bring her down, but instead propel her to find ways and means to bring up it’s ratings and keep it going for the long-term.
Her mentor said that he didn’t know what Jang Man Cheol saw in her that made him want her on his team, but it was her sunny disposition, her love for Ginger Toon, her good reflexes and her exuberance, I feel, that won the job for her. She is full of positive energy.
The sincerity she shows at work, however, needs to be brought home with her dad. He’s probably not at all an easy person to speak to, but she cannot avoid him forever.
Her mentor, Seok Ji Hyung, is a good mentor to shadow, but he does seem a bit strange in not remembering where he parks his car. Some kind of selective absent-mindedness?
Yes, these characters will definitely change. I watch these kinds of character driven dramas, precisely to see how people change. Their good growth and improvement keeps giving me hope! LOL.
@Growing Beautifully, Yes, the write up either is mis-informed or there will be much change in store for these characters. I agree about the father. I think that OME is very intimidated not just by him, but probably by the amount of hope and work he has put in to help her to accomplish her goals in judo. I see this with some athletes my daughter trains with – it’s very hard for the adults (whether coaches or parents) to give up on a dream that may have changed.
The mentor Ji Hyung may be a person who gets distracted easily. It happened twice, right, while he was speaking with OME after visiting Mr Baek.
I have rather quite a bit of house envy towards Mr Baek. He must have done very well in his career – it looks like a very expensively furnished place. It’s nice to see this actor again; my first viewing since Hospital Play List.
I liked episode 3. OME respects GJY’s decisions by saying her own opinions without denigrating his plans. She appears to be more mature than he is about making an effort and gaining experience through it, even if it may not last long. They are both getting polished slowly in the professional world.
I like how OME lists quotes from different series to put near the books in her family’s café.
Whoops, Sorry, @Fern. I’ll open a new thread and repost your comment there.