[Discussion] Gu Family Book

All the characters are endearing, it's not only about the eyes candy with them these actors are seriously doing a great job. I just think that it's a little bit easier to feel bad for the parents because they truly had no one but themselves to help them, and Kang Chi as a bunch of people supporting him so it's quite easy to overlook the fact that he's also pitiful in a way.

_VIP_ wrote: tragic for kangchi because he'll live on

Still wouldn't call it a tragedy... She'll be old, I doubt he would be that interested anyway.

cityhunter83 wrote: i would be less put off with the love square (poor kon and taeso, they never stood a chance), gender consfusion (after all those episodes of build up amounted to only a single awkward boob grab and three minutes worth of someone thinking kang chi was gay) and family secrets (which we only got five minutes of real tension out of) if they had amounted to anything significant, but they didnt. they were just used to fill time instead of using that time for character and plot development.

chiches can be used to great effect. in arang and the magistrate for example, the magistrate's cliche "a member of my family is responsible for something horrible that happened to you" family secret effectively and interestingly added to the plot and character development.

in coffee prince the nonsenical gender bender plot device (which is so prevelant it has become it's own genre) carried an entire 17 episodes and provided an excellent platform for plot and character development.


King flower (or substitute princess) just finished airing and used a love traingle so effectively it was practically the only thing keeping viewers tuned in to an others wise not that great show.

it's not that i expect the cliche should be avoided, i expect that they should be used well, not just thrown together.

Now let's think for a second.

Coffee Prince plot: Gender Bender.
Arang and the Magistrate plot: Find out how Arang died and who killed her.
No idea about King Flower.

As you can see, the clichés in those dramas were not just something random they came up with for the sake of making another episode or 2 nor to make things funny, they were the whole damn story.

Coffee Prince had 16 or so episodes of Yoon Eun Hye pretending to be a dude and no one ever noticed it.

Arang and the Magistrate was a ghost and came back to life to find out why and who killed her.

Gu Family Book? Those things are barely relevant to the story. At least from my point of view, the whole Yeo Wool being mistaken for a dude thing was only added in for the comedy, it didn't influence the story in any way. Unless they had instantly fallen in love with each other the first time they met and ran away together.

The "your dad killed my dad" thing wasn't all that important either, not to mention that when Kang Chi found out about it, he had already met his dad, which happened to be alive and thus not making a big deal out of it. In the end no one killed anyone.

I'm not going to talk about the love triangle because it's not even a cliché anymore, it's just part of dramas.

TL;DR

You're comparing dramas where their whole plot is a cliché vs a drama that uses said cliché for only a few episodes, certainly said cliché will be better worked on when it's the main plot of the drama and it goes on for over 16 episodes.

I not even going to try on taking part of the cliché debate lol I just wanted to say that even to I like eyes raping Wol Ryung his looks are not what making me tune in every week, it's is story the fact that I want to know what fate has in store for him. Kang Chi story to me is not that tragic like I have said, he is loved by many so even if he'd died he would not be in total loneliness.
As for the priest prediction I sure that there's going to be a twist to it. Maybe Wol Ryung will sacrifice himself for his son, earning thus his redemption.

I would agree with everyone who believes that the parents story is more interesting; it's a story that you don't know where it's going and how will they get together but as for Kang Chi and Yeo Wool; things are clearer.

@DiaNine, you sort of make my point for me, these cliches and oversued plot devices were not important. they werent needed. the writers chose to use them instead of giving Kang Chi and Youl the character and plot development they deserve.

This drama has its own uniquess forget about the "cliches" and comparing to other dramas.. GU FAMILY BOOK its THE BOMB DIGGITY hehehehe (I know i sound stupid). I love everything about this drama but I am looking forward to Jo Gwan Woong's fate.. Ughh he's making me angry with his evil ways.

SH and WR's story, as i mentioned before, follows in the foot steps of some of the oldest and most told stories of all time. these are stories we all instinctively respond to, which is why so many people seem more enamored of thier tale than would be expected, since they are really supposed to be nothing more than back ground. with Kang Chi (and not just his romance) i feel like the writers are grasping at staws and arent coming up with a lot. i get the feeling they are just throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks. many of the actors are turing in great performances that i feel are being wasted on unsure writing.