Joo Won 주원 [Current Drama 2024 - The Midnight Studio/ 야한(夜限) 사진관]

[kireeti2]

1 hour ago, kittyna said:

"Rodin" - he took the phrase "Knowledge is power" and associated that with the famous Thinker sculpture...he even linked the clue that the answer was a food item [bacon] with a Korean food [odeng

That scene never fails to make me laugh

 

2 hours ago, kittyna said:

 Happy Together talk show/interview where he's asked to re-enact an argument with one of the hosts and just lets it all out (you can tell they were expecting him to get flustered, but he didn't

He literally transformed into Gu ma jun from sweet Joo won like instantly, guess that's why Park ki-woong is scared of him, he can instantly get into character. And I have noticed one thing from that drama promotion and interviews, cast and crew keep on saying that Joo won's bread baking skills is better than yoon shi-yoon, that must have hurt

2 hours ago, kittyna said:

My Ahjussi - awesome drama, by the way

After Good doctor it is my favorite K-drama. I could barely recognize that it was IU, and the male lead was just awesome. What I see common about successful dramas is that, when all the cast members in drama give they best performance then the drama will always gets decent ratings and is like worth watching. Not like totally depending upon male lead/ female lead popularity, although they do help drama get the ratings kick-start for initial episodes, but for the rest of the series  it all depends on all the cast members performance

 

3 hours ago, kittyna said:

impossible to sit in kimono

Yeah good point

 

3 hours ago, kittyna said:

Point - I just watched 1N2D first, so that's where I first noticed it  

Yeah, but it's like chaos in 1N2D show, it was hard me to look for etiquette , but  Ojakgyo Brothers show it was like proper family structure of Korea, it felt genuine to me, like they only start eating after grandma starts, and they order of seating was also from Higher age group to lower.

[kittyna]

6 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

guess that's why Park ki-woong is scared of him, he can instantly get into character.

 

I remember them saying on Win Win that they both kept on accidentally scaring each other on set  Which might explain why the behind-the-scenes photos and videos tend to just look really crazy and random - they probably needed to go over-the-top with the aegyo and jokes just to stay sane.

 

6 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

And I have noticed one thing from that drama promotion and interviews, cast and crew keep on saying that Joo won's bread baking skills is better than yoon shi-yoon, that must have hurt

 

Yoon Si Yoon admitted it himself - he said that during their pre-filming baking master class, his bread came out burnt.  And the moment in the interview when that came out was really funny, too, because JW was just like, "Well, mine was good," and the caption that came out just said "Ma Jun-ie, neo...." It's the thing that Seo In Sook said every single time Ma Jun got on her nerves, so it was sort of like the editing team for that talk show was just like, "Well, here we go again."

 

6 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

What I see common about successful dramas is that, when all the cast members in drama give they best performance then the drama will always gets decent ratings and is like worth watching. Not like totally depending upon male lead/ female lead popularity, although they do help drama get the ratings kick-start for initial episodes, but for the rest of the series  it all depends on all the cast members performance

 

I like a solid ensemble cast when I see one, which is one of the things that appeals to me about family dramas like Ojakgyo Brothers, for example. I also like dramas that end up making me think and reflect, and My Ahjussi certainly did a good job of that  

 

6 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

but  Ojakgyo Brothers show it was like proper family structure of Korea, it felt genuine to me, like they only start eating after grandma starts, and they order of seating was also from Higher age group to lower.

 

For me, to be honest, Return of Superman was probably my first major exposure to Korean family dynamics. But I feel you

[kireeti2]

3 hours ago, kittyna said:

I also like dramas that end up making me think and reflect, and My Ahjussi certainly did a good job of that  

I did went beyond reflection for me though, in the series they show two kind of worlds: The usual corporate world or so called successful people and then we have our own warm group who had each others backs and always keep each other company for the sake of company, not as transactional purpose like in the former one. It showed progression of each and everyone of the cast members, not just the male and female lead. In the beginning I thought male lead was perfect but he had his own flaws, like he was unhappy with his job/loveless relationship and trying to a live a life according to social norms. On the other hand female lead has extreme pessimistic view on life and people and never trusted anyone. But in the end they find their balance, like finding a job they love, spending time with people they trust

The series did portrayed rigid hierarchy in South Korea, which was something very surprising to be, I knew it but watching it in animation was different experience

3 hours ago, kittyna said:

Return of Superman was probably my first major exposure to Korean family dynamics.

I agree, but this show is more tilted in favor of how to be a good dad/husband. This  show has lot to offer in terms of impact of having good quality time with dad and kids.Since in East Asia or for that matter whole of Asia it is seen as domain of Mothers to raise kids and father is just a head of the family and does not need to involve. While we are on this subject, Who's is your favorite caste member form the show? Mine is seunjae and Rawon and Raim sisters

[kireeti2]

By the way, while we are on topic of Joo won's drama friends-cum-co-stars . Have you seen the teaser of "Alice"? @kittyna  I think I heard Jung Man-sik voice in the teaser, while a detective was explaining to Joo won "how he was not able to catch his mom's  killer" That voice felt like it was Jung Man-sik voice, he is not listed in the cast, but there is tradition of not releasing full cast member details before the release of drama. So we have to wait and see. And also Joo won and Jung Man-sik' friendship is  adorable, especially their interaction in Happy together and 1d2n episodes were funny to watch , their interactions was not like senior-junior but like friends in same age group, and Jung Man-sik is such a fun guy to hang-out Like every time joo won messed up, he lost his temper and started cursing joo won, though in a funny. And every time when he had a fight in 1n2d, he just ends his argument by saying he is older person and also takes out his hat to show his bald head as proof

[kittyna]

11 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

In the beginning I thought male lead was perfect but he had his own flaws, like he was unhappy with his job/loveless relationship and trying to a live a life according to social norms. On the other hand female lead has extreme pessimistic view on life and people and never trusted anyone. But in the end they find their balance, like finding a job they love, spending time with people they trust

 

Yeah - but what really drew me about the male lead in My Ahjussi was how hard he still tried to be a good person despite all the crap and unhappiness life was dealing him through no fault of his own. And I loved how it was that goodness and kindness to others that helped his brothers, his friends, and the main female lead to find healing from their own troubles and traumas  It's a common trope in K-dramas, I know, but I think that the use of the wiretapped cell phone was a novel way of showing it, and really emphasized the drama's messages of soft leadership and everyday positive change.

 

11 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

I agree, but this show is more tilted in favor of how to be a good dad/husband. This  show has lot to offer in terms of impact of having good quality time with dad and kids.Since in East Asia or for that matter whole of Asia it is seen as domain of Mothers to raise kids and father is just a head of the family and does not need to involve. While we are on this subject, Who's is your favorite caste member form the show? Mine is seunjae and Rawon and Raim sisters

 

And I'm quite old-school, because I first started watching the show for Uhm Ji On (i.e. Uhm Tae Woong's family) and my ultimate favourites were the Song triplets   . Once some of the earlier cast members started leaving, I gradually stopped watching, since I wasn't as familiar with the new families - I did stick around for Eugene's family, though. Now, I tend to watch clips that KBS World uploads on YouTube according to my interests rather than work my way through a family's whole playlist.

 

4 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Have you seen the teaser of "Alice"? @kittyna  I think I heard Jung Man-sik voice in the teaser, while a detective was explaining to Joo won "how he was not able to catch his mom's  killer" That voice felt like it was Jung Man-sik voice, he is not listed in the cast, but there is tradition of not releasing full cast member details before the release of drama. So we have to wait and see.

 

I can't say I noticed that - but in my defense, the fact that I mostly watch dramas in Chinese dub (easier to do it that way when the whole family's involved) means that my voice recognition is probably not on par with most K-drama fans'.  But that being said, if JW is working with Jung Man Sik again, that would be a lot of fun to watch - I like seeing him collaborating with older veteran actors  

 

4 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

And also Joo won and Jung Man-sik' friendship is  adorable, especially their interaction in Happy together and 1d2n episodes were funny to watch , their interactions was not like senior-junior but like friends in same age group, and Jung Man-sik is such a fun guy to hang-out Like every time joo won messed up, he lost his temper and started cursing joo won, though in a funny. And every time when he had a fight in 1n2d, he just ends his argument by saying he is older person and also takes out his hat to show his bald head as proof

 

I definitely agree with Happy Together, but time for a quick confession: I never got far enough into Season 2 of 1N2D to see that episode (like, I know about it, but I haven't watched it). Since I didn't watch in real time (i.e. while it was aired) but afterwards on my own, I stopped watching it sometime in 2016(?) due to a scandal involving one of the Season 2 cast members that wound up leaving a bad taste in my mouth. And while I guess I could pick it up again at any time...somehow, I just never got around to it. Not really sure why - maybe it was just one thing leading to another and my interests moving on to other shows. *shrugs*

 

Finally, to end on a more uplifting note: is it just me, or does JW actually look genuinely good in a mask? Like, I know not everyone does, but I really think he does - maybe because the focus ends up entirely on his eyes 

 

 

[kireeti2]

36 minutes ago, kittyna said:

JW actually look genuinely good in a mask? Like, I know not everyone does, but I really think he does - maybe because the focus ends up entirely on his eyes 

I agree with that, Joo won really has distinct eyes, in bridal mask, the scenes with the mask made it look less intense because the mask use to cover his eyes as well, so it made the scene a bit bland. But those same eyes make him look sharp and cold in nature, he is kind of perfect fit for characters with serious personal wounds/loss like an ex-special soldier, ex-gangster etc , I hope Alice drama is also on same story line, wounded Detective with a personal loss.

36 minutes ago, kittyna said:

It's a common trope in K-dramas

Yeah, but in this drama they did not bring the love angle, thank goodness. It was more like gratitude towards each other rather than love or attraction. I like the part where drama was dark for like 15 episodes, but they ended with a bright theme

36 minutes ago, kittyna said:

how hard he still tried to be a good person despite all the crap and unhappiness life was dealing him through no fault of his own

Yeah, Female lead thought that his goodness is because he was better off financial than her, and she some how tried to justify her actions against him. I will not lie, on this one I was with female lead perspective , I thought it was easy for a person to be kind when he/she is comfortable, but act of kindness is a choice regardless of ones social/financial/physical status. This drama too like Good doctor gave me different perspective on life and relations

I have a bad news, I heard or came to know from an Instagram fan account that  Alice is going to air in September not in August, so we have to wait another 3 months , this is why I hate pre-produced dramas, one hiccup in the schedule, they have to push back release date by 2 or 3 months. But still it is good for health of the cast members as well as crew members, since they don't have strict deadlines

[kittyna]

8 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

I agree with that, Joo won really has distinct eyes, in bridal mask, the scenes with the mask made it look less intense because the mask use to cover his eyes as well, so it made the scene a bit bland. But those same eyes make him look sharp and cold in nature, he is kind of perfect fit for characters with serious personal wounds/loss like an ex-special soldier, ex-gangster etc , I hope Alice drama is also on same story line, wounded Detective with a personal loss.

 

It's funny - one of the major stereotypes about East Asians is that we have slanted eyes, but JW's one of the few Korean actors I can think of whose eyes actually do slant upwards, like a cat's  And I know he gets complimented on them a ton.

 

Like you, I wonder if that's part of what makes his appearance so versatile as an actor, since he could play good and evil roles with those looks, and everything in between. Actually...make that especially the in-between, since I like seeing him play meatier shades-of-grey sort of characters.

 

8 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Yeah, but in this drama they did not bring the love angle, thank goodness. It was more like gratitude towards each other rather than love or attraction. I like the part where drama was dark for like 15 episodes, but they ended with a bright theme

 

I seem to remember people being skeptical of My Ahjussi at first - because the only information they had to go by then was that Lee Sun Gyun and IU were the main leads, so of course a lot of people's minds went to romance and just went, "Well, that's kinda creepy." So kudos to the writers for breaking the mold by having a male and female lead in a relationship that was intimate and close, yet still platonic - it started off as shared pain, then became mutual respect, then this really deep form of friendship that words can't describe  

 

And, to be honest, this is partially why I'm hoping that Alice is playing it straight with the mother-son angle implied in the teaser. I think that would be fun to watch: like, if Kim Hee Sun's character is JW's mom, then did she somehow escape death by time-travelling into the future (i.e the present)? Or, was she someone who managed to time-travel to the past, have a son, then make it back to the present without him figuring it out until they meet again in said present? (I know the phrasing's convoluted, so I hope you're following.) OR, if she isn't meant to be his mom...can we have them as this awesome crime-fighting duo, working together to solve crimes involving time-travel? I know that's part of JW's role as a detective already, and that Kim Hee Sun is playing an astrophysicist who's got a strong knowledge of that sort of technology, so it'd be awesome.

 

(Going off on a tangent: I'm almost done Room No. 9, and, like you said, @kireeti2, it certainly didn't disappoint - and now it's really setting the bar high for my expectations re: Alice.)

 

By the way, I also think that Alice stands out from other time-travel dramas I've seen in that it's sci-fi rather than fantasy: the ability to traverse time and space isn't due to something supernatural (e.g. Nine, Signal, Chicago Typewriter, etc.), but due to major advancements in human science and technology. While that degree of technological advancement is something I'd definitely be skeptical about in real life for ethical reasons, I think it's really great material for a fictional story  

 

8 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

I have a bad news, I heard or came to know from an Instagram fan account that  Alice is going to air in September not in August, so we have to wait another 3 months , this is why I hate pre-produced dramas, one hiccup in the schedule, they have to push back release date by 2 or 3 months. But still it is good for health of the cast members as well as crew members, since they don't have strict deadlines

 

When you said "bad news", I was imagining something worse. I don't mind the release date being pushed back if they need more time to really put this together and make it good, but the longer it's held up, the higher our expectations will be as viewers. So here's hoping that the delays end up worth it in the end.

 

But now that I think about it: is JW setting a record for the longest gap between finishing his enlistment and making his comeback drama debut? I knew to expect a significant wait, since I figured that JW would want to choose his own comeback drama rather than let his agency decide (which means that looking over scripts, negotiations, etc. couldn't be made in advance on his behalf), but if we have to wait until September for Alice, that's literally a year and a half. That's got to be unusual, right???

[kireeti2]

1 hour ago, kittyna said:

By the way, I also think that Alice stands out from other time-travel dramas I've seen in that it's sci-fi rather than fantasy: the ability to traverse time and space isn't due to something supernatural (e.g. Nine, Signal, Chicago Typewriter, etc.), but due to major advancements in human science and technology. While that degree of technological advancement is something I'd definitely be skeptical about in real life for ethical reasons, I think it's really great material for a fictional story  

I too think it is unique story from rest of the time travel plots. Since most of the time travel in other story lines are based on un-expalined phenomenon or simply put they use destiny or coincidence a reason for time travel(Ex: Tunnel and signal). In "Alice" it is due to some kind of time travel machine, or an organization which built the time travel machine. I am sure there will be plenty of moral dilemmas in story, since time travel can be used to alter future by changing past. Theoretically time travel is possible, so I think Kim Hee-sun will be center of the story(since she is a physicist) when it comes to controlling of the Time travel and Joo won would be around Human centric  plot line

2 hours ago, kittyna said:

, I was imagining something worse

It is worse for me, I am  in the initial phase called excitement phase, I am kind of consuming all sorts of drama/fan fics/fan videos related to Joo won. So yeah it pretty hard for met to wait. To be fair you guys are waiting like for 3 years, my waiting is like 8-9months, since I came into K-drama world recently, like just last October

2 hours ago, kittyna said:

I know the phrasing's convoluted, so I hope you're following

Not at all, interesting take though, I never thought of like that, like kim Hee-sun goes in the past and has a son, perhaps she fell in love with someone on her assignment, but her fellow time travelers want her back, maybe because she is best in her field. So, if that's the case Joo won's future is kim hee sun present, does that mean Joo won is older than her? Oh my god! this is so mind-boggling, it is even hard to do a prediction, and I thought Avengers: End game story line was complicated

 

2 hours ago, kittyna said:

 Room No. 9, and, like you said, @kireeti2, it certainly didn't disappoint - and now it's really setting the bar high for my expectations re: Alice

If kim hee sun is there we can expect the rating to hit at least 10%-13% for initial episodes, but rest depends on story line and editing, and well the episodes are knitted together . In Room No 9 her acting and arch was just delight to watch and her initial Sassiness in the drama just awestruck me, like she is the real Sassy girl.

 

3 hours ago, kittyna said:

Well, that's kinda creepy.

I too get sort of creep out when the age is too high between leads. Especially between Young female lead and very old male lead, like my psychological acceptance of age gap is 4-8 years for young female lead and old male lead, but I am sort of biased when it comes to female lead having more age than male, I have no trouble if female lead is like 10-5 years senior than male lead, it sort of makes me feel like they'll have great chemistry if female lead is senior to male lead

[kireeti2]

7 hours ago, kittyna said:

but if we have to wait until September for Alice, that's literally a year and a half. That's got to be unusual, right???

Yes very unusual, typically k-drama takes about 7 to 8 months to complete, and one year for historical drama. But I exactly don't know when did the drama started it's shooting. As far as I know, it might have started in last year November, and given that this is time travel theme with action schemes, I guess the amount of time in making the drama is justified. I just hope it will not be messed up like The King of Eternal Monarch and Melting me softly dramas, both were come back dramas of A list K-drama actors I think the failures of these dramas were due to too much of banking on Lead's popularity, looks and fandom, not on story , although popularity is important but it needs to have an engaging story which needs to strike a chord with audience.

[kittyna]

9 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Theoretically time travel is possible, so I think Kim Hee-sun will be center of the story(since she is a physicist) when it comes to controlling of the Time travel and Joo won would be around Human centric  plot line

 

That sounds interesting - another aspect of this story, though, is that JW's character is someone who's not capable of feeling much emotion, so I wonder how that would be woven in as well.

 

By the way, I did get around to re-watching the teaser the other day, and while I can't help much re: voice recognition and whether that really was Jung Man Sik's voice, I did notice the rather sci-fi-looking weapon Kim Hee Sun has. Which is now making me wonder if she's got the means to essentially zap rogue time-travellers (e.g. those who make major, drastic changes to events or who commit crimes whilst travelling) back to the time they came from. I know it sounds cartoonish, but it's worth thinking about.

 

And we still haven't even gotten to the "Alice" hotel itself  I know it's stated to be a hotel that hosts time travellers, but maybe it's also the means through which it happens?

 

9 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

In Room No 9 her acting and arch was just delight to watch and her initial Sassiness in the drama just awestruck me, like she is the real Sassy girl.

 

More "iron lady" than "sassy girl" there, I thought - but definitely not a woman to be messed with, regardless. I hope we'll see similar moments from Alice, and it does appear possible if we just go by the teaser. 

 

9 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

It is worse for me, I am  in the initial phase called excitement phase, I am kind of consuming all sorts of drama/fan fics/fan videos related to Joo won. So yeah it pretty hard for met to wait. To be fair you guys are waiting like for 3 years, my waiting is like 8-9months, since I came into K-drama world recently, like just last October

 

O_O - 8-9 months? And you've already watched how many dramas? Dang....

 

Sorry, just had to say that - because I've been surprised several times that any drama I name in conversation is something you've already seen and have an opinion for. And I'm even more surprised now given you just started last fall.

 

But I understand. I didn't really have that super-strong excitement phase with JW because I was aware from the start that his enlistment was coming up and I'd have to save up and space things out so I wouldn't run out of materials to watch/read/write (in my case)/etc. Not to mention that I normally already like to spread out the things I like rather than go through them all at once - so I'll watch a drama in one genre or with one actor/actress, then move on to something entirely different for a while before coming back. The only time I watched two of JW's dramas back-to-back was watching Good Doctor immediately after I finished Gaksital - because I needed cute Park Si On fluff as a chaser for all that dark violence and angst.  All together, though, it took me somewhere between 3-4 years to watch all 8 of JW's dramas this way, with only My Sassy Girl being produced/broadcast after I started.

 

5 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Yes very unusual, typically k-drama takes about 7 to 8 months to complete, and one year for historical drama. But I exactly don't know when did the drama started it's shooting. As far as I know, it might have started in last year November, and given that this is time travel theme with action schemes, I guess the amount of time in making the drama is justified.

 

What I meant was that JW's taking a really long time between finishing his enlistment (Feb. 2019) and making his drama comeback (c. Sept. 2020 for now). A lot of actors start filming their comeback dramas almost immediately, especially in instances where the agency - I assume in consultation with them electronically - is able to sign them on to a project while they're still in the barracks. Whenever you see headlines about comeback dramas even before the enlistment ends or so soon afterwards that there's no way the actors realistically reviewed the scripts/offers themselves, that's most likely what happened. But JW wasn't like that. His comeback was already delayed from the start because he insisted on making his own choice - and came out to find around 70(?) scripts waiting for him to choose from. He said he'd narrowed it down to 10 during a fanmeeting in Japan in May 2019 (which means most probably didn't survive his initial quick scan), but those 10 must've been really good for him to hold off on officially signing onto Alice until the fall.

 

So definitely a long time - but one that's understandable given what we know about JW as an artist.

 

As for filming, I think that's been going along at a reasonable pace as far as pre-produced shows are concerned. If I recall correctly, shooting started late last fall (so, yeah, maybe November), and I assume that changes had to be made due to COVID-19 regulations (e.g. shorter shooting times, scenes chopped up into smaller chunks so there are fewer actors on set at any time, fewer crew members allowed so prep takes longer, etc.). So that part is justified, in my opinion.

 

9 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

I too get sort of creep out when the age is too high between leads. Especially between Young female lead and very old male lead, like my psychological acceptance of age gap is 4-8 years for young female lead and old male lead, but I am sort of biased when it comes to female lead having more age than male, I have no trouble if female lead is like 10-5 years senior than male lead, it sort of makes me feel like they'll have great chemistry if female lead is senior to male lead

 

For me, it's more about the actual age of the actors/characters and what stage of life they're in than the gap: because a 10-year gap is huge when, say, one person is in their 20s and the other in their 30s, but it isn't as big a deal if one's in their 40s and the other in their 50s. But if one person's in their teens, and the other is in their 20s, then even a five year gap doesn't sound entirely right.

 

There are dramas that are deliberately controversial with their age gap (e.g. Secret Love Affair), where, yes, the main romantic couple has a massive gap, but it's supposed to cause alarm and provoke discussion rather than just being romanticized. However, the vast majority of dramas I've seen seem to aim for characters who are similar in age, even if the actors aren't (e.g. since I'm watching Room No. 9, Kim Hee Sun and Kim Young Kwang are 10 years apart in real life, but their characters are only 3-4 years apart).

 

As for an older female lead with a younger male lead, I'm totally okay with that as long as the guy doesn't end up coming across like a total child alongside the girl - which, to be fair, is where Level 7 Civil Servant failed in selling its romance to me, to be honest.

 

5 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

I just hope it will not be messed up like The King of Eternal Monarch and Melting me softly dramas, both were come back dramas of A list K-drama actors I think the failures of these dramas were due to too much of banking on Lead's popularity, looks and fandom, not on story , although popularity is important but it needs to have an engaging story which needs to strike a chord with audience.

 

I haven't heard much about Melting Me Softly, but I will say that The King Eternal Monarch still genuinely baffles me: how is something a total flop in one context (TV ratings) but one of the top in another (Netflix and other online streaming sites)? I know you said that its social media presence could just be a case of super-vocal fans hyping it up, but that doesn't account for the disparity in stats.

[kireeti2]

38 minutes ago, kittyna said:

O_O - 8-9 months? And you've already watched how many dramas? Dang...

Lol!! I think I have watched like 10-20 dramas in 8 months, but hey, it's not like that I have spent like 16 hours for 16 episodes of drama, I usually skip the scenes,if an episode is one hour I use to complete it within 20-25 mins.  At one time I think I had pulled an all-nighter and completed 4 seasons of Game of thrones and Sherlock Holmes (And yes I did skip the scenes from GoT ), the only drama that I hadn't skipped a single scene is "Good Doctor",  maybe that's why I have became a fan of Joo won. His knack for taking roles with diverse background and even if it meant specially challenged. It's not like that I have watched all the K-dramas, I am very picky when it comes to drama of any genre, if doesn't keep me engaged I usually drop it.

45 minutes ago, kittyna said:

but I will say that The King Eternal Monarch still genuinely baffles me: how is something a total flop in one context (TV ratings) but one of the top in another (Netflix and other online streaming sites)? I know you said that its social media presence could just be a case of super-vocal fans hyping it up, but that doesn't account for the disparity in stats.

To be fair, I think it was Lee mi ho's popular which at least gave those 8% rating, and it was his popularity in overseas which made the drama to be trending in Netflix top 10, but partly it was also because the Netflix algorithm, it just shows the popular shows in top 10, not the shows with content. So, it was not usual with the popularity of lee mi ho, The kind of Eternal monarch had at least had a saving face on online steaming sites, but it is mostly in outside Korean, in Korea I think it is a disaster.

55 minutes ago, kittyna said:

back-to-back was watching Good Doctor immediately after I finished Gaksital - because I needed cute Park Si On fluff as a chaser for all that dark violence and angst.  All together

Same here, initial I have watched Good Doctor on Netflix , but after that I have realized that translation on Netflix was not accurate, so, I had again re-watched it on VIKI streaming site, So, it as like some kind of real time comment sections, where audience can comment simultaneously while watching the episode. So, they were like keep on mentioning that Joo won totally transformed from "Bridal Mask" drama series, like using the Bridal Mask drama series reference as jokes in few scenes of, like when he threw a punch on the "psycho" who was trying to kill a little girl. And when Park ki-woong cameo for finale, comment section as lost it, like that character was best friend of Joo won in Bridal Mask. So, like that I ventured into K-drama world, starting with Good Doctor to My Sassy Girl, and Baker king last on my watch list, like people were saying that they hated his character in it, but after watching it I also ended up hating his character .

1 hour ago, kittyna said:

What I meant was that JW's taking a really long time between finishing his enlistment (Feb. 2019) and making his drama comeback (c. Sept. 2020 for now)

My interpretation is that, maybe he did not want repeat his past mistake, like for Naeil's Cantabile(though it was decent series) he relied on it's Japanese popularity, but failed to replicate it in Korean version, and for My sassy Girl, I think he was forced by his agency to do the drama, like the production was also done by his agency, with the same yong-pal director, but it had also ended up as a below average series. If you see other Actors who have discharged in the same year as Joo won did, they started the shooting right away, but ended up giving sub-optimal dramas. So, I think Joo won wanted to give his come back with a drama which has strong story line.

1 hour ago, kittyna said:

Kim Hee Sun and Kim Young Kwang are 10 years apart in real life, but their characters are only 3-4 years apart

Yeah, but Kim Hee-sun looked younger than Kim Young Kwang. Only she can pull that

1 hour ago, kittyna said:

JW because I was aware from the start that his enlistment was coming up and I'd have to save up and space things out so I wouldn't run out of materials to watch/read/write (in my case)/etc

At least you knew that he was going to be enlisted, I ended up watching all the dramas of his. After that I came to know  that he just got discharged from the Army, got into relationship and then broke-up at the same time

1 hour ago, kittyna said:

All together, though, it took me somewhere between 3-4 years to watch all 8 of JW's dramas this way, with only My Sassy Girl being produced/broadcast after I started.

Wow!! 3-4 years? You did  took  your sweet time. As of me when I sit for to watch a drama, I try to end it in one go, I just cannot do an on/off thing.

1 hour ago, kittyna said:

where Level 7 Civil Servant failed in selling its romance

For me romance was okay in the series, it was the execution of the story. I really did feel the age difference between Joo won and Choi Kang-Hee, since Joo won was known to play as 30 year old in Ojakgyo brothers, and Choi Kang-Hee baby face had made the age gap redundant.

[kittyna]

6 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Wow!! 3-4 years? You did  took  your sweet time. As of me when I sit for to watch a drama, I try to end it in one go, I just cannot do an on/off thing.

 

Oh, when I decide to watch a drama, I usually do one episode a day (or two, if it's one of those with the paired half-hour-long episodes). I meant that I'd finish one of JW's dramas, then wait a few months before watching the next one, and so on - so it took me 3-4 years to watch all of his dramas in total.

 

6 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

So, like that I ventured into K-drama world, starting with Good Doctor to My Sassy Girl, and Baker king last on my watch list, like people were saying that they hated his character in it, but after watching it I also ended up hating his character .

 

lol - King of Baking was my first JW drama, followed by Level 7 Civil Servant, Gaksital, Good Doctor and Nae Il's Cantabile. Then, since he was already well into his enlistment at that point, I started really waiting long periods of time before watching Yong Pal, Ojakgyo Brothers, and finally My Sassy Girl.

 

6 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

since Joo won was known to play as 30 year old in Ojakgyo brothers, and Choi Kang-Hee baby face had made the age gap redundant.

 

JW is actually really versatile as far as playing different ages is concerned - he played a 30 year old in Ojakgyo Brothers, and I'd argue he could still play a 30 year old now. Most of his characters are either the same age as he is or older, with the only exceptions being Nae Il's Cantabile (JW was 27, and Cha Yoo Jin was 22 by international reckoning), and My Sassy Girl (JW was 29 and Gyun Woo's actually supposed to be 19  - in the screenwriter's defence, though, people did mature emotionally and socially faster back then than they do now). 

 

Speaking of which: I don't think JW's particularly baby-faced - sure, he's got the chubby cheeks, but that's about it. Everything else makes him look close to his actual age - especially the eyes. But, yes, Choi Kang Hee definitely is baby-faced for her age  

 

6 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Yeah, but Kim Hee-sun looked younger than Kim Young Kwang. Only she can pull that

 

And, apparently, Kim Hee Sun is baby-faced, too - or, not so much baby-faced as just ageless/timeless.

 

I know I'm not responding to much this time, but just for the record, I will be coming back later with another one of my planned "Father's Day" related goodies (lol - at this rate, it's turning into "Father's Month" ). So stay tuned!

[kittyna]

Well, I already did a tournament-style poll relating to JW's drama characters as dads, so if I want to continue this whole "dads" theme with another interactive...you guessed it: it's another round of Scattergories:

 

Spoiler

Scattergories - Father's Day Edition

 

Quick rundown of the rules:

• Read the prompts carefully: questions might be about the JW drama character (i.e. the male lead JW plays), the JW drama dad (i.e. the father of JW's character), or both! (I'll put those words in bold to make it easier)
• Don't overthink this - just go with your gut response
• You are allowed to repeat or leave out any characters of your choice
• You are allowed to answer TWO characters maximum for any one prompt (just in case there are any ties out there)
• In instances where JW's character had multiple fathers (e.g. King of Baking, Kim Tak Gu - his biological father and the CEO who he took to be his father), either one is fair game
• You are invited to provide reasons or further explanation for any of these, but just the names or a description (e.g. "so-and-so's mom" - since not all of them are actually named) is fine

So here goes - enjoy!

 

1. My favourite JW drama dad

2. My least favourite JW drama dad

3. My favourite father-son relationship in a JW drama

4. The JW drama character I would most want to see as a dad

5. The JW drama character who is most likely to be the "fun" or "lax" dad

6. The JW drama character who is most likely to be the "strict" dad

7. The JW drama dad(s) who's the most like mine

8. The JW drama dad from whose perspective I'd most want to re-watch the drama's events

 

 

But, but, but - there's still another week before Father's Day. Don't worry; I know. I've already got plans for that, but you'll have to wait and see what they are  

[kireeti2]

5 hours ago, kittyna said:

JW was 27, and Cha Yoo Jin was 22 by international reckoning

22? I thought we was playing role of 24 or 25, like post-grad student, where as Naeil was an under-grad

5 hours ago, kittyna said:

(JW was 29 and Gyun Woo's actually supposed to be 19

What?! 19? But in the drama they have showed  that he had cleared Imperial civil service of China, to cleat that one needs to be not only smart but also emotionally mature(which in my Public Administration course said to be one of toughest and first of it's kind to select bureaucrats rationally) I know they said he is some kind of prodigy, like he was referred as "National treasure", I thought he was supposed to be between 22-25 age group.

5 hours ago, kittyna said:

I usually do one episode a day (or two, if it's one of those with the paired half-hour-long episodes). I meant that I'd finish one of JW's dramas, then wait a few months before watching the next one, and so on - so it took me 3-4 years to watch all of his dramas in total.

Wow! You have lot of patience, I cannot imagine myself doing that

5 hours ago, kittyna said:

I know I'm not responding to much this time, but just for the record, I will be coming back later with another one of my planned "Father's Day" related goodies (lol - at this rate, it's turning into "Father's Month" ). So stay tuned!

Hmmm. I thought we were already through with that? Is it going to be  tie breaker, between Si-on and Kim Tae-hyun?

[kireeti2]

9 hours ago, kittyna said:

 JW drama dad

Gosh!! Most of them are  messed up barring Dads from "My sassy Girl and 7th Grade civil servant"  dramas. But still I'll play along since it is about sharing perspectives

9 hours ago, kittyna said:

My favourite JW drama dad

I thought I would go for dad from Baker King: Kim tak goo, since he accepted Ma Ju  even though he knew that he was not his son, but he had an affair with another woman, for kind of unknown, like it was not like he was attracted towards her, but he had an affair because he was horny(please, excuse my language) adultery is something which doesn't sit well with mean, no matter how great a person is, if he/she is in a loveless relationship they can always break-up or get a divorce. That's messed up, So, I am going to choose dad from My sassy girl drama, because not only he is a good father but he is also like a friend to Gyeon Woo, he kind of shares everything with his son and listens to his son very well, a keep aspect in father-son relationship is communication, so that both can understand each other and act accordingly.

9 hours ago, kittyna said:

2. My least favourite JW drama dad

Well, there are dads not dad, but if I have to choose least favorite of them all, it'll be Park si-on's dad, I know that his behavior is due to lack of understanding of special needs of his son and lack of education, but to be kind you need to be a good person, education and understanding doesn't matter.

9 hours ago, kittyna said:

3. My favourite father-son relationship in a JW drama

7th level grade civil servant, although they use to fight all the time, but their arguments is more like manifestation of the love between them. His dad was right in his own way trying to protect his son and want him to take over business so that he doesn't have to face any problem in his life and Han Gil-ro is right in his own way trying to build his own identity and live a righteous life. So the relationship is dynamic between them which is closer to real life.

9 hours ago, kittyna said:

4. The JW drama character I would most want to see as a dad

Park si-on and Kim Tae-hyun,

9 hours ago, kittyna said:

5. The JW drama character who is most likely to be the "fun" or "lax" dad

Han gil-ro, he got all the signs, wants have fun,doesn't like responsibility I would like to think he would change once he becomes a father, but still old habits die hard, even though kim seo-won would do the most of the heavy lifting in raising kids, I think there will be plenty of case where he would lax and let the kids have loose.

9 hours ago, kittyna said:

6. The JW drama character who is most likely to be the "strict" dad

cha yoo-jin, not like his dad like strict, but in reasonable way and I do hope Nae-il will make sure that he'll learn to have fun with kids, like polar opposite parenting in terms of MOM-DAD if we compare them with Han Gil-ro and Kim seo-won couple.

9 hours ago, kittyna said:

7. The JW drama dad(s) who's the most like mine

I think I my dad is kind of mix of dad's from "7th grade civil servant, My sassy Girl and Naeil's cantabile" dramas, a little less from Naeil's cantabile to be precise

9 hours ago, kittyna said:

8. The JW drama dad from whose perspective I'd most want to re-watch the drama's events

It's tricky, because most of the dad's were not aware about what they are sons are up to, but I'll choose Cha Yoo-jin's dad , since it would be fun to know  how a person like him will react to the things Naeil will say or do along with Cha yoo-jin and his friends , it'll be fun to watch as well.

[kireeti2]

After depressingly recalling about Joo won's messed fathers in his dramas, here's a happy note, Joo won's musical fans still hasn't forgotten about him, even though he kind of went AOWL in musical acting for past 5 years. They still remember him and his musical acting

 

[kittyna]

5 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Gosh!! Most of them are  messed up barring Dads from "My sassy Girl and 7th Grade civil servant"  dramas. But still I'll play along since it is about sharing perspectives

 

You may want to go back and read the prompts again - half of them are about JW's own characters rather than their fathers  That should be easier  

 

8 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

22? I thought we was playing role of 24 or 25, like post-grad student, where as Naeil was an under-grad

 

His studying abroad to be a conductor would be post-grad, but he's supposed to be in his final year of undergrad in the drama itself. lol - Korean age reckoning is a bit weird, so officially, Cha Yoo Jin was 23 and Seol Nae Il was 21; but once I actually tracked down their birth dates (a lot of pausing and zooming in on documents shown in the drama there ) I found that Yoo Jin was born in 1992 and Nae Il in 1995. Since the drama is set in 2014, I did the math that way to conclude that they're actually 22 and 19 years old respectively.

 

Mind you, Nae Il actually does carry herself like a 19-year-old (albeit an extremely naive one), while Yoo Jin is meant to feel older than he actually is (due to his upbringing, personality, leadership role as a conductor, etc.). So in that sense, it makes sense that they'd cast an actress who's close in age to her character and an actor who's several years older.

 

8 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

What?! 19? But in the drama they have showed  that he had cleared Imperial civil service of China, to cleat that one needs to be not only smart but also emotionally mature(which in my Public Administration course said to be one of toughest and first of it's kind to select bureaucrats rationally) I know they said he is some kind of prodigy, like he was referred as "National treasure", I thought he was supposed to be between 22-25 age group.

 

I was surprised by that age, too - but again, I figured it out from doing the math. The deposition of Hye Myung's mother happened when Gyun Woo was 10 (9 by international reckoning), and that's explicitly stated to have happened 10 years prior to the main events of the drama (a clue being that the young prince looks to be about that age). I initially thought he was more like 11 or 12 in the flashbacks at first, but then Gyun Woo's father comforted him by saying, "You were only ten years old then" and I realized that both Gyun Woo and Hye Myung were younger than I thought. 

 

So how did Gyun Woo manage to pull off everything he did at such a young age? Joseon has its own civil service examination, and there's a ton of prep work that needs to be done to complete it - including time spent taking classes at Sungkyunkwan (it's an old drama, but if you've ever watched Sungkyunkwan Scandal, that's what the students are there for). However, age isn't as big an indicator of progress then as it is now, so while most people probably wouldn't start studying at Sungkyunkwan until they're adults, it's not impossible for a younger child to get in if he passes the admission exams: the prince who served as the model for Park Bo Gum's character in Love in the Moonlight, for example, made it in when he was 11.

 

I tried to look up how the whole system works, and found that boys from aristocratic families were expected to go to school to learn the Confucian texts and reading/writing skills they would need to get there. Performing at the top of one's class at each preparatory step (e.g. at the local school, at the Sungkyunkwan, etc.) also grants students exemptions from preliminary rounds of the civil service examination. So since we know that the young Gyun Woo was 1) really smart; 2) something of a workaholic, considering how often his brushes wear out, he runs out of paper, etc.; and 3) the son of a high-ranking Confucian scholar and government official who, it's implied, overseas the exams to begin with (his father's called the Minister of Education in some translations and the Director of Personnel in others)...it's likely that we have a child who genuinely enjoys studying and who probably receives accelerated tutoring from his father.

 

So, in my own personal imagining, I think Gyun Woo could have made it into Sungkyunkwan by the time he was around 13 or 14 years old (by international reckoning now, since that's how my mind works), and completed the final exam by the time he was 16. Then, in the interests of continuing his studies further rather than taking a government post right away, he goes to China and stays there for three years before coming back when he's 19 with the hopes of becoming appointed as the Prince's tutor. Why that goal specifically? Besides the fact that that's ultimately what happened, I recall from some other period dramas (e.g. Moon Embracing the Sun) that top young students in the literary and military civil service exams (they're different, and Gyun Woo did the literary one) can be appointed to serve the Crown Prince as tutors and bodyguards, respectively - which, if all goes well, gives them a foot in the future monarch's court.  

 

[kireeti2]

19 minutes ago, kittyna said:

You may want to go back and read the prompts again - half of them are about JW's own characters rather than their fathers  That should be easier  

Lol! My apologies, I should have read more carefully(I had changed my the wrong responses).

22 minutes ago, kittyna said:

the prince who served as the model for Park Bo Gum's character in Love in the Moonlight, for example, made it in when he was 11.

I guess there can be few exceptions, maybe Gyeon Woo was an exception now that you mentioned that he use to read lot of books and was able to recite some kind of poems at the age 10, So it is possible that he had cleared  Chinese civil service examination.

24 minutes ago, kittyna said:

watched Sungkyunkwan Scandal

I didn't watched the series, but I know the story, like it was about a girl who enters the school to study because the then establishment did not let girls have education, let alone become a civil servant

[kireeti2]

5 hours ago, kittyna said:

a lot of pausing and zooming in on documents shown in the drama there

Wow! You have good eye for detail, I didn't even know they were documents in drama, all I did was try to understand they performance of classical music, I never had any exposure of classical music, so the drama was kind of confusing when they got into technical details

 

6 hours ago, kittyna said:

Nae Il actually does carry herself like a 19-year-old (albeit an extremely naive one),

Lol! She can pass as a high school student, but as the drama progresses I started to notice her maturity. At one point she acted more maturely than cha yoo-ji.

 

6 hours ago, kittyna said:

Korean age reckoning is a bit weird

At first I was also baffled as well, like in Return of Superman show they use to show international age and Korean age, and international age always one year less than Korean. So I thought maybe they had separate calendar like their evil brother (NK, I don't want to mention that countries name) , then I came to know that they count the time in the womb as well, I guess overtime in East Asia starts from mother's womb(A light joke, not to demean the culture or generalise whole of the region, I'll respectfully remove it if anyone got offended)

 

[kittyna]

13 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

I thought I would go for dad from Baker King: Kim tak goo, since he accepted Ma Ju  even though he knew that he was not his son, but he had an affair with another woman, for kind of unknown, like it was not like he was attracted towards her, but he had an affair because he was horny(please, excuse my language) adultery is something which doesn't sit well with mean, no matter how great a person is, if he/she is in a loveless relationship they can always break-up or get a divorce.

 

Marriage - especially in the context that we see with King of Baking, Kim Tak Gu - was oftentimes not done out of love, but out of what was socially/politically/financially beneficial for the family; in that case, falling out of love (or never having been in love in the first place) was seldom seen as reasonable grounds for divorce - and divorce could be actively discouraged due to the collateral damage it could cause to relatives on either side. And, because of the uber-patriarchal society this family was in, it was, in fact, socially acceptable for the man of the household to take a mistress/concubine in order to have a son - I'm not saying that it's morally right, just that it happened and wasn't perceived as a problem (so, for instance, you see the grandmother actively condones the husband's affair). And it wouldn't necessarily count as cheating (although, in this case, it was, since there was the emotional aspect of the affair as well) because that was the husband's right.

 

However, for the wife of the household to do the same thing (even though, in her case, it really was just a physical affair and not an emotional one), was universally condemned and even, for a time, illegal in Korea. Is it a double standard? Yes. But that's how it was back then, and knowing that context enabled me to see just how messed up Ma Jun and his mother's situations were.

 

13 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

7th level grade civil servant, although they use to fight all the time, but their arguments is more like manifestation of the love between them. His dad was right in his own way trying to protect his son and want him to take over business so that he doesn't have to face any problem in his life and Han Gil-ro is right in his own way trying to build his own identity and live a righteous life. So the relationship is dynamic between them which is closer to real life.

 

It didn't get much screentime, but the father-son relationship in Level 7 Civil Servant was my favourite aspect of that drama. I was far more drawn into the evolution of Han Gil Ro's perception of his father (from rebellion to a desire to protect him to finally understanding the love that's hidden underneath the surface) than I was into either the spy story or the love story  

 

7 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

I didn't watched the series, but I know the story, like it was about a girl who enters the school to study because the then establishment did not let girls have education, let alone become a civil servant

 

Girls could be educated, but it was usually done at home and the actual things they could study were severely limited. So, yes, trying to write the civil servant examination or become a government official, teacher, etc. weren't options. But if I recall correctly, yangban women were literate (not just in Korean script, but in Chinese characters) and had access to some of the ancient scholarly texts; however, like what we see with Hye Myung's little rant on the subject in My Sassy Girl, the expectation was that they'd just know the parts that applied to women directly (e.g. the "Three Obediences" - to her father, her husband, and her adult sons) with the hope that they could raise the next generation well.

 

2 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Lol! She can pass as a high school student, but as the drama progresses I started to notice her maturity. At one point she acted more maturely than cha yoo-ji.

 

Well, my first impression of Nae Il was that she was in her first year - so acting like a teenager's pretty realistic on that front  

 

And now, for my own Scattergories responses:

 

1. My favourite JW drama dad - Gyun Woo's father

 

I went back and forth on a couple, but I'm going to go with Gyun Woo's father here. Out of all the drama dads we're talking about, he's the one with the most well-rounded and balanced approach to raising his son: he cares more about whether his son is a good person than whether he is smart or wealthy or successful. Because of that, I find that even in the times when he does make mistakes (e.g. trying to hide the truth about what Gyun Woo did from the rest of the family or opposing his relationship with Hye Myung), he's doing it with good intentions (e.g. shielding Gyun Woo from people who'd use his past to hurt him if they ever found out or trying to spare him the massive guilt he'd end up feeling if he remembered).

 

2. My least favourite JW drama dad - Kim Tae Hyun's father

 

To be frank, this would be a tie between him and Park Si On's father, but you already talked about that, @kireeti2, so let's not repeat ourselves  I'm going with Tae Hyun's father here because not only is he physically and emotionally abusive towards his wife and kids (or, at least, Tae Hyun), he seems to be completely oblivious to how that's wrong or how much long-term physical and psychological damage that caused. He expects Tae Hyun to respect him simply because he's his father, and also tends to assume the worst about his son's intentions (e.g. assuming that Tae Hyun's freakout at finding So Hyun on the 12th floor is because of jealousy or stinginess without even asking him why) - and that makes any sort of reconciliation close to impossible, even if Tae Hyun ever sought to try.

 

3. My favourite father-son relationship in a JW drama - Ojakgyo Brothers and My Sassy Girl

 

These two are tied for my favourite father-son relationship because both of them are based so strongly on love and mutual understanding. In both cases, the father loves his son unconditionally and will always have his son's back. However, the key difference here is on the part of the son: while Gyun Woo frequently takes the initiative to share his thoughts and ideas with his father and ask him for advice, Hwang Tae Hui is much more guarded. Instead, Tae Hui ends up becoming the one his father goes to for advice - which I guess is what works well for them. Most of the time.  

 

4. The JW drama character I would most want to see as a dad - Gyun Woo

 

Maybe because he got booted out of the poll way sooner than I thought  No, just kidding. I'm really just genuinely curious about what he'd be like as a parent. He's got a good role model to look to in his own father, he's got experience with kids while acting as the prince's tutor, and he's got Hye Myung to balance out some of his stick-in-the-mud tendencies. Overall, I really would have liked a chance to see how the next generation for My Sassy Girl could turn out.

 

5. The JW drama character who is most likely to be the "fun" or "lax" dad - Park Si On

 

Han Gil Ro's a good answer, too - but unfortunately, I just can't see him as a dad, period. So out of those who I could envision like that, I'm going to go with Si On here. He's great and fun with kids, and he also tends to assume the best in them, so I can see Si On as the sort of dad who'd like for his kids to be able to run around and have fun even as he wants them to be good and kind. Would he want his kids to work hard and make something of themselves? Of course. But he's not about to micro-manage their schedules or get obsessed about their schooling or anything else like that. And, to be fair, neither would Cha Yoon Seo - so this just might turn out to be the chillest family ever  

 

6. The JW drama character who is most likely to be the "strict" dad - Cha Yoo Jin

 

No contest on this one here (even though Gyun Woo would be a close second). Again, like @kireeti2, I do think Cha Yoo Jin would be able to strike a balance where his own father failed - like, he's not about to become the helicopter parent with unrealistically high expectations of his kids, nor (unlike his dad) do I think he'd care all that much if any of his kids chose career paths that were different from what he'd initially imagined. However, I do see him still being the "Type A" sort of parent: with set schedules and clearly defined rules and boundaries for the sake of maintaining a sense of order in the house. Life as a classical musician is irregular enough as it is (no job security, uncertain work schedules, anything-that-can-go-wrong-will-go-wrong situations, etc.), so I think Yoo Jin would crave that stability in his home life and raise his kids accordingly.

 

7. The JW drama dad(s) who's the most like mine - Hwang Chang Sik (aka Hwang Tae Hui's dad)

 

Personally, I'm way closer with my mom than with my dad, but my dad has the same combination of good intentions and clumsy execution that we see in Ojakgyo Brothers, especially now that I'm an adult (he was stricter when I was little, though).

 

8. The JW drama dad from whose perspective I'd most want to re-watch the drama's events - Cha Dong Woo (aka Cha Yoo Jin's dad)

 

I know he's not physically around for much of the drama, but I really genuinely want to know what's going on in his head regarding his career, his marriage, his son, etc. Although I do tend to describe Cha Dong Woo as emotionally abusive (if nothing else, I do so in my fics since that's how some of the characters see him), I don't think he's a bad person at heart or ever intended things to turn out this way. Instead, I see him as someone who honestly believed he was doing what was best for his son, due to a life that's led him to truly believe in the things he says (e.g. that what's most important is to get to the top, that there are no real friends in a competitive world, that showing one's heart will just lead to being hurt by others, that talent leads directly to loneliness, etc.). So I would have loved for the drama to go more into his head and flesh him out as a character.