amrita828 wrote: Yours isn't too long, so I quote you: I need to. :D

What? Ma Ru's illness? Are you telling me he's sick too? Can I laugh?

I totally agree with you on the non-empathy. The ancient dramatists had very well defined those plot devices capable of stirring the audience's emotions. Climax and anti-climax are the most important factors of all. If the whole drama is played over the line, a step ahead won't even be noticed. A horror film is scary only when the monster appears out of the blue, a love story is romantic when there are moments of realisation, a drama is tragic when on a sunny day comes the earthquake. But if we have a storm all the time, a lightning more or less leaves me quite cold.
There is no true respite in this drama, which renders me insensitive to the destiny of these characters. As I see it, they are all more or less doomed, so I'm just waiting for the next step they take towards their distruction.

Perhaps I sound overly critic, and I apologize for this. As I said, I AM hooked, but not at all for the right reasons. :(


Jeaniessi wrote: So many words up there... LOL

I actually am starting 8 right now. and I am invested in the main pair. I care about them and what happens. I am doubtful though because I watched I'm Sorry, I Love You and this drama comes from that writer.

I want Ma Ru to have some redemption and freedom from the weird hold and flimsy connection to Jae Hee that is all in his mind...

I could break this Melodrama/Makjang down to it's barest bones and pick it apart like a Hyena after a religious fast. But it comes down to one question ultimately... Even with it's flaws am I enjoying watching? The answer is yes. Is Song Joong Ki is a good actor and does he give good Face? Oh Yes. But I knew what to expect going into this drama because again, the writer is the same person who wrote I'm Sorry, I Love You. I knew I was going to get selfish rich chaebols who think they own the world. I knew I was going to get tortured anti-hero that I sympathized with but wasn't sure why. I knew I was going to get those annoying moments of heroic sacrifice or 'Lets just destroy each other' or even the 'I am on this evil path and my evil has been discovered but I can't stop now'. Korean melo formula 101.

I still like this for more than Song Joong Ki though... and p.s..I am in NO WAY shallow and SJK has a really cute bum... OMO! so cute!


I am in a dilemma here !! Can it be possible that i agree with you both?! I have a crazy mind when i judge dramas if they're still airing :D

Rita, you're not over critic because what you said is a fact, i feel that all the time with many dramas even this one but what matters the most that you're hooked. I was shallow to only drool over Joong Ki for a period of time and I used to wish everyone a mass distruction since there are a lot of melodramatic emotions i lost the sense but then i moved to Jeani unni's side, i was invested Eun Gi's an Ma Ru's relationship, I wanted to know what will happen next, I was moved by Joong Ki's acting and yes I started to think there's more than JK's face to drool over and finally, I am enjoying this drama no matter how many flaws out there but in the same time i am on Rita's critic side because this is not how a melodrama should be set and there's no way a revenge plot can be like this.

Okay, now can you divide me between you two? :D Hurry up, and finish episode 9-10 then give me your opinions especially on episode 10.

P.S Rita is going to hate what will happen near the 9th episode's ending : another typical boring melodrama cliche *Amnesia*
Oh dear... let me go watch the last available episodes so that I can either build that bridge between my position and Jeanie's, or bomb the fragile one Rou's been trying to build in the last half hour. ;) LOL

Seriously, I think critics and love can live in the same thread, and even in the same body. ;) I too was prepared for melodrama and for sure I'm getting it. I wanted the bycycle... now I need to pedal, I guess. :P

I will come back, promised. :D
Ahhhhh........ here's what I think of episode 9 and beginning of ep.10:

The not-seen accident was spectacular, and best of all is the outcome. Needless to say, both of them come out of a head-on collision more beautiful than ever. The scars are in their hearts... someone kill me now.
Just read thru Rita/Rou/Jeanie comments too long to quote :D I am watching for the spectacle of it all & of course the drool worthy SJK I am not analysing it as a cogent work of literature translated to the screen, I find that doesnt work with most Kdramas lol I agree that some parts of it remind me of Bad Guy especially some of the music & the staging of certian scenes as far as revenge goes it seems to not be in Ma Ru's plan at all....i think the writers are trying to keep us guessing as to his real motives but in the end that just results in nothing really happening.... EVERYONE in this drama seems to have an injury/disease this is excessive even by Kdrama standards lol But overall I LOVE this drama its keeping me netertained & thats all I ask :)
Just read thru Rita/Rou/Jeanie comments too long to quote :D

I am watching for the spectacle of it all & of course the drool worthy SJK I am not analysing it as a cogent work of literature translated to the screen, I find that doesnt work with most Kdramas lol

I agree that some parts of it remind me of Bad Guy especially some of the music & the staging of certain scenes as far as revenge goes it seems to not be in Ma Ru's plan at all....i think the writers are trying to keep us guessing as to his real motives but in the end that just results in nothing really happening....

EVERYONE in this drama seems to have an injury/disease this is excessive even by Kdrama standards lol

The * Eun Gi amnesia although a kdrama staple i like that they made her have some learning difficulties which is more realistic than the usual waking up after an accident being perfectly fine in every other way except the memory....btw Ma Ru's brain injury is a sign of Im Sorry I Love you death knell for our (anti)hero *

But overall I LOVE this drama its keeping me entertained & thats all I ask :)
i thougth i was the only one who noticed he has a GREAT butt. i need to catch up on the last few episodes.
cityhunter83 wrote: i thougth i was the only one who noticed he has a GREAT butt. i need to catch up on the last few episodes.


He is the only man I have seen in skinny jeans that just makes go all touchy, feely mode
mangagirl wrote: He is the only man I have seen in skinny jeans that just makes go all touchy, feely mode


Come on, it's not just about HIS BUTT! He's the full-option pack: flawless features, silky hair, milky skin, fit body, smart and talented. Ugh, the almighty one wanted us to suffer when he created just one man like this on earth. Sighs.

As for the story itself, I don't know where we're going and what to expect exactly, but I can't wait to see. I loved how symbolic and powerful Maru and Eun Gi's re-rencounter was. She was all dressed up in white, writing his mispelled name with a white chalk while Maru came up all dressed up in black (very classy with that coat, must I add), picking up the black chalk to write his name correctly on the wall. She's the light in his world of darkness, but he has yet to fully realize it. He pushed her away so she could run from his personal hell but I'm sure he didn't expect her to turn out so damaged... Right now, I'm rooting hard for them and I hope the writers will find a way to offer redemption to Maru and spare his life. I could be wrong, but I think announcing his brain illness was just a way to purposedly mislead us. My guess would be that he'll survive the surgery but with side effects. The guy can't live without paying the price of his actions you know... and that would be the grey area of it all. What do you think?
I think MaRu's little speech to the doctor: "I will undergo the surgery, don't worry. I JUST NEED to attend to a couple of things and then I promise I'll come here" sounds very ominous to me. Honestly, I doubt he'll ever make it to that surgical table.
Don't hate me, it's just my feeling, luckily for everyone I'm not writing the script. ;)

On a side note to RF. You raised a very true point: to fully appreciate and love a drama, one should suspend the critical sense. One of the reasons why I've gone through a long watching stagnation is that instead of simply immersing in the pleasure of watching, I started analyzing every drama I watched from minute one.
But even if I try to do so (and it's hard, idiot me), this is not the kind of drama I can simply bask in with unadulterated pleasure. It's more painful than pleasurable. It surely will help me appreciate whatever silly thing I'm going to watch next.

Joong Ki's butt - and looks in general - still stand. ;)


OMO! but in all seriousness ~ Song Joong Ki...Like Graphicfighter said...is the FULL PACKAGE. Looks, acting chops and a very nice backside.

Anyway... I am just enjoying the acting. I haven't really analyzed everything but this discussion has made me more cognizant of the plot holes or the lack of true, deep, passionate foundations for Ma Ru's motivations. I mean...The revenge part I would totally get. The man went to JAIL for her. After he got out she again accused him of black mail. She had him beat to a bloody pulp, she jumped off a bridge to mess with his head, then had herself beat up and lured him and tricked him into coming to her rescue... THE REVENGE STUFF...I get it.

The lingering feelings of love He may have felt for her up until episode 8/9... I am at a total loss. That's all the farther I can go. I just want to watch it and enjoy because for whatever reasons... I am enjoying this.

I have a very very ominous feeling about Ma Ru's life expectancy. DUN DUN DUN!
Oh and yes...one more thing. I do love that they didn't make her bump her widdle head and forget everything she's ever known... her amnesia isn't really amnesia to me. It is a pretty major, all encompacing brain damage from a severe car accident. She didn't just forget her past. She had to re-learn language, identifying simple objects and people. Thanks drama for injecting a little bit of reality into this that I can get behind. LOL (althought I do love that she just remembered Ma Ru and that she loved him.) LOL Totally silly, but Guilty!
Haha that was her Heart that remembered him not her brain buahahhahaha Kdramas lack of logic gotta love it or learn to live with it... Ma Ru's fate is on a downward spiral I keep getting Bad Guy/ Im Sorry I Love You flashbacks :(
RainFlower wrote: Haha that was her Heart that remembered him not her brain buahahhahaha

Kdramas lack of logic gotta love it or learn to live with it...

Ma Ru's fate is on a downward spiral I keep getting Bad Guy/ Im Sorry I Love You flashbacks :(


ditto and oh my gat... I am just going to think the worst for poor Ma Ru and it can only go up from here. LOL scared!
Jeaniessi wrote:
OMO! but in all seriousness ~ Song Joong Ki...Like Graphicfighter said...is the FULL PACKAGE. Looks, acting chops and a very nice backside.

Anyway... I am just enjoying the acting. I haven't really analyzed everything but this discussion has made me more cognizant of the plot holes or the lack of true, deep, passionate foundations for Ma Ru's motivations. I mean...The revenge part I would totally get. The man went to JAIL for her. After he got out she again accused him of black mail. She had him beat to a bloody pulp, she jumped off a bridge to mess with his head, then had herself beat up and lured him and tricked him into coming to her rescue... THE REVENGE STUFF...I get it.

The lingering feelings of love He may have felt for her up until episode 8/9... I am at a total loss. That's all the farther I can go. I just want to watch it and enjoy because for whatever reasons... I am enjoying this.

I have a very very ominous feeling about Ma Ru's life expectancy. DUN DUN DUN!

as much as there are holes here and there, the majority of the story make sense to me as well, which is why it pulls me in so much. Unlike most ppl who have this personal bias for SJK, this is one of my first sjk drama and i got to say he is awesome!
Jeaniessi wrote: Oh and yes...one more thing.

I do love that they didn't make her bump her widdle head and forget everything she's ever known... her amnesia isn't really amnesia to me.

It is a pretty major, all encompacing brain damage from a severe car accident. She didn't just forget her past. She had to re-learn language, identifying simple objects and people. Thanks drama for injecting a little bit of reality into this that I can get behind. LOL (althought I do love that she just remembered Ma Ru and that she loved him.) LOL Totally silly, but Guilty!

i was really worry about that plot change and feard for the worst when i saw the end of 9 ... altho 10 dragged abit it really made up for all the worrying i had. The relationship development with EG and MaRu is def the highlight of the show for me
amrita828 wrote:
1. What are all those mysterious illnesses going around? Would it be too hard on the part of the writer to ONCE give us a scientific name?
-The old man is sick and needs a transplant. Whatever he has, I hope he kicks the bucket soon and in the most horrible way.
-His daughter is sick with some heart malfunctioning, but once again we are kept in the dark. Heart deficiency in your 20ies? Wow, I'd say SHE needs a transplant, not the old fogey.
-Choco is sick and can't stand in the rain (hmmm, I'd call it K-drama desease), however she stands in the rain at every possible chance.
-Second Madame is sick in the head as well as in the back. For once we have an idea why, thanks god.
-Maru isn't sick (not clinically, at least), which I'm afraid will not prevent his premature departure, if this keeps on.


Thats really interesting, havent thought about how many sickness is in this drama, however i feel the only one i would question is Choco, since she doesnt seem sick at all and like you said goes around in the rain and running around doing whatever she wants. and i guess maybe EG sickness might be questioned too, but i thought she was just overworked/over stressed and not enough sleep, not exactly a disease but just sick at that time
all other sickness seem to be reasonable to me even tho they dont give a name to it ;x
i remeber some one def. saying Eun Gi has a heart problem, but for me i dont really see her illness as being mysterious. i have a heart condition that i was diagnosed with in my 20s. i am fine most of the time, but some times, esp in times of extreme mental or physical stress or if i dont follow the medical reccomendations i can becomes seriously ill, possibly even fatally so. i require no medication (though my mother and sister have needed it for the same issue) no surgery and you'd never even be able to tell by looking at me that my heart could explode. i doubt EG has SVT, but there are heart problems that can be serious but not debilitating.