It’s the finale.
Can’t they just date??
gifs from gifsetc’s tumblr
So awkward.
Then, this scene.
Yes, please.
I’d be annoyed with an open-ending.
Let’s enjoy the show.
12 Comments On “Today’s Webtoon: Eps 15 & 16 Open Thread”
Comments are closed.
It’s the finale.
Can’t they just date??
gifs from gifsetc’s tumblr
So awkward.
Then, this scene.
Yes, please.
I’d be annoyed with an open-ending.
Let’s enjoy the show.
Comments are closed.
As I was telling @nrllee in the other thread, Quadrangle, p 2, if we expect a love match between Goo and MaEum, a credible love match and not just Goo’s one-way affection, then I wouldn’t mind a time leap in Episode 16 to give her time to fall in love and reciprocate his feelings.
Episode 15 seems to have wrapped up the arc of MaEum’s professional relationships with Goo, Artist Shin, her boss DCC, and the editing team (of course, she’d get hired as a regular).
MaEum must step up her game. Watching “Once Upon a Small Town” alongside this drama, I can’t help comparing the two heroines. There’s no question that JaYeong in OUaST is besotted with the vet. But MaEum, considering she’s all-heart in her other pursuits, doesn’t seem to be all-in with the idea of dating Goo despite her friends and family matching the two of them.
She’ll have to make her own decision.
@packmule3 I started watching Once Upon A Small Town. I like the vet. The policewoman…I find overbearing. I hope to warm up to her soon. But I agree with your assessment of OME. She doesn’t seem to be interested in moving the relationship forward at all. She’s just happy with where it’s at so far? Just good friends? 🤔
Or maybe it’s more realistic this way? MaEum has had a major upheaval in her life. She ended her judo career. Then, she started on this new job and had to deal with the issues of the job. To fall in love with somebody at the same time all these things are happening would put too much pressure on her.
Maybe she’ll need to grow up too like Yumi in “Yumi’s Cells” before “settling down” with one guy.
Maybe that’s the *current trend* in kdramas now: the heroine not ending with anybody.
Maybe the drama is more about her self-actualization than romance.
Sigh. I still feel sad for Goo.
Yeah. They went for self-actualization.
Nice but unrewarding.
Like dressing up to go a steak-and-lobster dinner and ending up with tacos at Chipotle’s. Sure, food is food and the belly’s filled. But it’s still not the same happiness…unless you’re vegetarian.
@packmule3 😑. I skimmed the last ep just to see how everything wrapped up. Open ending…as far as the romance goes. But I guess it was consistent and we knew she wasn’t in the same frame of mind as Goo. Still he bravely confessed and is waiting. I don’t think ME was looking in the first place. Which is why she missed all the signs from Goo and from DCC. She was confident in herself and self fulfilled. She didn’t need someone else to “complete the picture”. At least there was no overt fight over her (like Start Up). What rating would you give this drama? Mine is a “B”. I liked all the new insights I got into the whole webtoon world. The characters didn’t particularly stand for me. I know ME was supposed to be the main focus but for me Goo was the MVP in this drama. And shout out to the highly unusual functional dynamic in the On household which was a nice change (and which I actually enjoyed immensely).
@nrllee, I liked the On family as well. It was nice to see the parents supporting the younger daughter in her influencer job towards the end.
Episode 16 contained Artist Shin’s colourful and hopeful ending to his grim autobiographical story. The marketing research Ma Eum did for the travel series mentioned the importance of a healing story to young people. The fact that the edits to the travel webtoon DIDN’t change the sex to a man and DIDN’T throw in a bunch of serial romance probably were clues that I should have seen pointing to the open ending. As you say, she wasn’t looking. Unless I missed something, Ma Eum was almost an asexual type of character – at no point in the drama do I recall her talking or acting like she is interested in romance. Having said that, she didn’t reject Goo. I was hoping at least for her to walk closely with him as they left or to show a bit of secret handholding under the table in the conference room. Just something as simple as that. *Sigh*
Editor Seok was left with some romantic possibilities: his ex-girlfriend who seems to be on the path of being loyal as well as being a bit hitter in the industry, and the PD Ki Yu-Mi who has the same obsession he does with webtoons.
I agree with your idea that Goo was the MVP although he couldn’t be named and his larger role in the downfall of Heo couldn’t be revealed to Ma Eum. It’s a pity that she couldn’t see him as the hero he was. I was thinking about him as a possible son-in-law, using the dad’s perspective. I would definitely say there was enormous potential for the future.
@Fern I agree about ME being asexual. I was dreading deep down that they would do some final reveal about her “coming out”. And that was why she was ignoring all the advances by men (because she just wasn’t interested in men). But I think she just wasn’t looking. Her family give her enough love and she seemed self fulfilled enough to give as much as she does to everyone around her? I think that was her allure. She was a self confident woman who could handle herself and give of herself consistently to others around her. She may have periods of being down but she didn’t really need anyone to bail her out. Words of advice and other encouragements was enough to get her going again. She didn’t wallow.
How would you grade this drama? I have given it a B.
@nrllee, @packmule3, it’s a solid B to B+ for me because, although not thrilled with the open ending. I really enjoyed the premise of the structure and struggles in the webtoon industry, something I know very little about but appreciate whole-heartedly now. I can’t imagine the sort of pressure the artists go through on a weekly basis and how it affects their physical and mental health. It wasn’t overloaded with tropes, either. I also enjoyed the growth arc of all of the characters, from the CEO across to Ma Eum’s family.
If she had come out, I wouldn’t have been any more surprised than how it ended. I don’t know how the Japanese version ended. Even a self-fulfilled confident woman has hormones, right? 😊
I DO think that the writers teased us with Ma Eum’s last interaction with Deputy Seok and her expression as she took the taxi home. You could say they teased us with Writer Shin’s makeover, too. There was a lot of teased potential love in the air between various characters. I wonder if open endings are a trend, as if there could be another season if there was enough clamour. There have been a number of dramas lately with open endings. Damn, Goo was so worthy, though…
Perhaps it’s also a trend reflecting today’s workplace performance pressures and cultural changes in Korea and elsewhere that are leaving many single young people not looking to marry or procreate at all? We don’t know the CEO’s status, and editor Ki seems to have stayed single up into her 30s, if she is a peer of Dep. Seok.
@Fern I know. 🙄. I did not appreciate how the writer suddenly increased the one on one interactions between DCC and ME in the last few eps? I know he kept his boundaries well and stayed away from pursuing her but I thought it was unnecessary on the writer’s part to keep teasing us (and him). SDL was never going to be a competitor but DCC’s character had a foot in the door. ME obviously looked up to him and trusted him. And they did have several meaningful encounters in the beginning. Hence our confusion initially thinking that he was a contender. But he faded out as Goo stepped up. Whatever. It ended as we sort of thought anyway because none of us could see any reciprocity coming from ME towards Goo’s affections. Were they hoping for a second season? That seems to be the trend nowadays. I see even Poong the Joseon Psychiatrist got a second season? Wae?
Poong got a second??? It wasn’t THAT highly rated, was it? I started it, but dropped because I was too busy. I’m not interested in a second season of either of these, tbh.
Annyeong,
I enjoyed this show because it was refreshing to see inside the webtoon industry like @ fern said. I mean, the struggle is real for sure. wow. I like how they ended the show… and how open ended some things are… like OME’s love life or lack of it haha. I didn’t even think that she’s Asexual. how interesting. I guess that would explain it. oh my. yes, i applaud Goo – i agree with @nrLLee that he played the MVP.
Regarding POONG, i watched this show too and the season ending shocked me. no wonder -they also left his lovelife open ended. so i guess i’ll be watching the S2 when it comes out. i like the show coz it’s like joseon medical drama 🙂