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


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1 hour ago, kittyna said:

Which is yet another reason why I hope Min Hyuk makes some progress with Jin Gyeom soon: because most of his other relationships are turning out to be rather toxic for him.

You seem to invested a lot in the MY-JG relationship, it does makes sense though, since both are from 2050 and I too feel like JG will have trouble living in 2020 and may not lead a normal life. So, most probably he might go to the timeline where he belongs and the death of JG and TY and DY going to Spain is some kind of fore-shadowing, like JG will eventual go to the timeline in which he belongs to in order to lead a normal life which his mom wanted for him.

1 hour ago, kittyna said:

Yoo Min Hyuk figured out Park Sun Young was 2050-Tae Yi just from reading Jin Gyeom's family registry

He did time traveled using an unregistered time card, so he might have thought it might be TY's (2050), at least he had some kind of background story for this one, but the roof top scene was totally out of context, like when did they reach on top of the building , like, okay the assassin might have used the time card to bring her to the top of the building but why did he wait that long to kill her?

 

1 hour ago, kittyna said:

When you have a leader-type character like that, they're either incompetent (your take) or feigning ignorance to hide something shady (my take - hence my thought that he might be the Teacher). Either way, I feel like this is going to end with Min Hyuk kicking his butt at some point - figuratively or literally

One point does raise suspicious about him, that is, he is constantly defending Oh Young, like, I know he is her boss and needs to look after her, but a simple registry check can confirm her innocence, maybe he is in on it, but it is hard to say what his motives are, maybe he had a crush on PSY, just like Oh Young has on MY :P

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5 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

You seem to invested a lot in the MY-JG relationship

 

lol - You got me. It's not just for Alice, either: I just have a huge soft spot for stories about family relationships and dynamics. More than romance, at least. It's not something I can always act on in my writing (especially given the dynamics specific to, say, Seolleim in Salzburg), but it forms a big part of what I focus on when watching dramas :) 

 

5 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

it does makes sense though, since both are from 2050 and I too feel like JG will have trouble living in 2020 and may not lead a normal life. So, most probably he might go to the timeline where he belongs and the death of JG and TY and DY going to Spain is some kind of fore-shadowing, like JG will eventual go to the timeline in which he belongs to in order to lead a normal life which his mom wanted for him.

 

I'm not sure where Jin Gyeom's going to end up by the end - to be honest, I can see him being happy in either timeline, as long as he could have a healthy, loving relationship with someone there (possibly with Min Hyuk in 2050, with Tae Yi + Do Yeon + co. in 2020, etc.).

 

5 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

He did time traveled using an unregistered time card, so he might have thought it might be TY's (2050), at least he had some kind of background story for this one

 

Point. I actually had my own idea for an explanation from the start: maybe Min Hyuk and 2050-Tae Yi had brought fake IDs with them to 1992 (you know, in case of emergency), and "Park Sun Young" was Tae Yi's code name. Prior to what we see in Episode 9, Min Hyuk had no idea that Park Jin Gyeom's mother was called Park Sun Young, but once he saw that on the record (in combination with Jin Gyeom's clearly-not-someone-from-the-2020-universe abilities), it all clicked together in his mind. However, it's a common enough name that he still had to go to the cemetery to confirm his suspicions in person, which is why the reality only really hits him 100% when he sees the photographs on Sun Young's grave.

 

5 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

One point does raise suspicious about him, that is, he is constantly defending Oh Young, like, I know he is her boss and needs to look after her, but a simple registry check can confirm her innocence, maybe he is in on it, but it is hard to say what his motives are, maybe he had a crush on PSY, just like Oh Young has on MY

 

Min Hyuk and Si Young report to Cheol Am separately, so there definitely is a "the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing" feel to how "Alice" works. And if we were to use the argument that, as her direct superior, he has to trust Si Young...well, the same can be said for Min Hyuk - and maybe even more so, since it sounds like they were actually friends at some point (Min Hyuk calls him "Hyung", while Si Young addresses him more formally).

 

lol - Just watch this turn into a whole massive conspiracy involving both "Alice" and "Sigma" with only our main family being kept in the dark :P That's probably not the route that Alice will take - since it's rather cliché, and the writers so far have done a good job surprising us - but I won't say it's impossible ;) 

 

A bit more costume-related trivia

 

And JW's on a magazine cover!

 

Finally, given that a Chuseok postponement is quite likely (I noticed an announcement about it at the end of Episode 10), I will be posting a series of little interactives (scattergories, challenges, etc.) over this week to tide us over. Mostly, it's because we've gotten far enough along in Alice that I now feel comfortable actually playing with the characters a bit - so stay tuned ;) 

 

EDIT

 

Just came back to add this funny exchange between Kwak Si Yang and JW on Instagram, in response to this recent post from KSY.

 

(Rough English translation from putting both the Korean original and Japanese translation through Google)

 

KSY: [announcement about Alice] When will you laugh, Min Hyuk?

JW: I laughed :lol:

KSY: It's a foul to laugh alone. :joy:

 

Oh, dear - is Jin Gyeom turning out to be that sort of a kid? :naughty:

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So, I mentioned that I had some miscellaneous interactives planned, ready to be whipped out at a moment's notice. Well, I'm going to start us off with the one that's probably the silliest, but that's also the most directly related to Alice.

 

We now know that, for better or worse, Park Jin Gyeom seems to have the ability to temporarily stop time - he can't control when he does it, and he has yet to be able to stop it for more than a few minutes, but it's there. This is the first time we've seen anything like an actual superpower in JW's dramas, but it made me wonder: if there were some strange mash-up universe (like the Marvel universe, for instance) where ALL of JW's drama characters had superpowers, what would they be?

 

(Hey, I did say I was starting off with the silly one :P)

 

The rules here are simple: let your imagination go wild. You can draw inspiration from lists like this one or this one, comic or TV/movie franchises you know, make stuff up yourself, etc. The only rule here is that you can't repeat powers/abilities - each character must bring something different to the table ;) 

 

Basically, for this challenge, the crazier and the more outside-the-box, the better. So have fun! :) 

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12 hours ago, kittyna said:

lol - You got me. It's not just for Alice, either: I just have a huge soft spot for stories about family relationships and dynamics. More than romance, at least. It's not something I can always act on in my writing (especially given the dynamics specific to, say, Seolleim in Salzburg), but it forms a big part of what I focus on when watching dramas

I see, I assume you must had hard time watching "Bridal Mask" , since it is very little or not Family relationship, I think it is the only drama of Joo won's where family relationship is limited for first 2 or 3 episodes. :P

12 hours ago, kittyna said:

KSY: [announcement about Alice] When will you laugh, Min Hyuk?

JW: I laughed :lol:

KSY: It's a foul to laugh alone. 

It's funny that KHS is the one who is reprimanding Joo won, but in reality she the most mischievous one out of the three

3 hours ago, kittyna said:

if there were some strange mash-up universe (like the Marvel universe, for instance) where ALL of JW's drama characters had superpowers, what would they be?

Interesting and fun exercise, but I never heard of the American television series "Heroes", like I thought it was some kind of link to comic book series. Anyway here are my choices

 

Koo Ma Jun- I think Ma Jun will be more like villain with super powers, like Magneto from X-Men. But the power I will choose for him is of Shape shifting like Mystique form X-Men, like, it does makes lot of sense since he always wanted to frame Kim Ta Gu for the things he has done and always jealous of him, so I think we will use this shape shifting to create more obstacles in kim Ta Gu life and in the end he might change his attitude and become a good person like Mystique have.

 

Hwang Tae Hee-  I will go with super strength, not just because of the Job he does but there is this tendency of super heroes who has super strength will be like emotionally traumatized just like Tae-Hee and having such kind of powers will also make Baek Ja Eun happy since she is always worried about him getting hurt

 

Lee Kang-To- I think I will go Mohinder Suresh character, since Lee Knag To really doesn't fit in with super strength or able to fly, if he had those strengths we would have ended the Korean occupation in one month. So, I think we will have super power like agility, flexibility and these strengths need to be developed just like the character in the television series have developed.

 

Han Gil Ro- Super Speed, because he has mature of child just like Dash and I think this would come in handy for his spy job

 

Park Si-On-    X-ray vision and telepathy, given that he already has some sort of spatial power, I think these two powers will augment him to become an exceptional doctor.

 

Cha Yoo-Jin-  Assigning super power to this character is hard, even if he had one, he would probably use it in way which might help him excelling as a conductor. But, I think he will be happy with the "Teleportation" power, since he can use to save time which will give him more time to practice

 

Kim Tae Hyun-  Super stretching ability, since he always does operations with any scrub nurse to hand him medical tools, it might come in handy for him to pick up medical tools by himself

 

Gyun Woo-  I think I will go with "Telepathy" and "Material Manipulation" powers, I know it coincides with Si-On, but in case of Si-On I assumed that he can only read the minds of his patients, but for Gyun woo, I assume that he can read, control, manipulate. So, I sort of think telepathy of si on and Gyun Woo is different

 

Park Jin Geom- Now, we already know that he control space and time, but I would also like to add another super power, which is "Regenerative power" , like, in drama we see he was hurt multiple times but was able to heal quickly, so my guess would be he should have some kind of regenerative power in order heal that quickly.

 

Stills from Ghost

 

 

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5 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

It's funny that KHS is the one who is reprimanding Joo won, but in reality she the most mischievous one out of the three

 

Kwak Si Yang's the one who said that last bit - so you can think of the kid's who's sassing off (Jin Gyeom), the dad who tries to reprimand him (Min Hyuk), and the mom who - if she were here - would join in in teasing the dad (Tae Yi) :lol:

 

5 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

I see, I assume you must had hard time watching "Bridal Mask" , since it is very little or not Family relationship, I think it is the only drama of Joo won's where family relationship is limited for first 2 or 3 episodes.

 

Well, I'm big on friendship stories, too ;) Basically, the dynamic that I'm the least interested in is romance - but I'm also up for that if it's done well.

 

5 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Interesting and fun exercise, but I never heard of the American television series "Heroes", like I thought it was some kind of link to comic book series. Anyway here are my choices

 

I haven't watched Heroes before either, but I do remember that it was a thing for a while - it pre-dated the majority of the Marvel movies (although not the comic books, obviously) and I seem to remember it being praised for its diverse cast.

 

But your answers overall were really interesting to read, because some were definite surprises for me. :) 

 

5 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Koo Ma Jun- I think Ma Jun will be more like villain with super powers, like Magneto from X-Men. But the power I will choose for him is of Shape shifting like Mystique form X-Men, like, it does makes lot of sense since he always wanted to frame Kim Ta Gu for the things he has done and always jealous of him, so I think we will use this shape shifting to create more obstacles in kim Ta Gu life and in the end he might change his attitude and become a good person like Mystique have.

 

Just want to point this one out as one of my favourite responses :) It's not what I thought of at first, but I could definitely see this working for Ma Jun, now that you mention it. You might also have some advantage over me here, because I never really got into superhero stories as a genre and don't know the actual characters very well beyond their names. So I can't draw inspiration from existing characters here and find parallels to JW's drama characters, whereas you can :) 

 

5 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Cha Yoo-Jin-  Assigning super power to this character is hard, even if he had one, he would probably use it in way which might help him excelling as a conductor. But, I think he will be happy with the "Teleportation" power, since he can use to save time which will give him more time to practice

 

lol - Yep, Yoo Jin's definitely a challenge :P At least some of the other characters (e.g. Lee Kang To or Park Si On) already had natural capabilities that lend themselves well to being extended into full-blown superpowers. Yoo Jin...that's harder.

 

5 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Kim Tae Hyun-  Super stretching ability, since he always does operations with any scrub nurse to hand him medical tools, it might come in handy for him to pick up medical tools by himself

 

Definitely wasn't expecting this one :lol:

 

5 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Park Jin Geom- Now, we already know that he control space and time, but I would also like to add another super power, which is "Regenerative power" , like, in drama we see he was hurt multiple times but was able to heal quickly, so my guess would be he should have some kind of regenerative power in order heal that quickly.

 

To be honest, that's one thing I'm not loving with Alice's writing so far - not because it's unrealistic (it's sci-fi and we have literal superpowers now, so they can do whatever they want), but because it's rather cliché and comes off like rather sloppy work. So hopefully they do offer some sort of explanation for Jin Gyeom's health/well-being soon, or else it's going to get ridiculous.

 

As always, I'm come back with my answers in a separate post, but in the meantime, some miscellaneous Instagram goodies:

 

JW's Instagram update

 

And I also found some Alice behind-the-scenes pics posted by Moon Ju Won (i.e. the child actor who plays 5-year-old Jin Gyeom).

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CFbHJMzDNDw/

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-tE7zglAJp/

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEvwxxGjl3f/ - Practicing for the Rubik's cube scene :) It's cute to see him gradually improving as you go from one video to the next.

 

Finally, for anyone who's interested, the child actor who played 3-year-old Jin Gyeom (i.e. the cute baby in the amusement park scene) has also been credited: Lee Jung Min. lol - he ends up breaking the "Moon baby" pattern (where JW's actually a Moon, as were the child actors who played the 5- and 12-year old versions of Jin Gyeom).

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12 minutes ago, kittyna said:

And I also found some Alice behind-the-scenes pics posted by Moon Ju Won (i.e. the child actor who plays 5-year-old Jin Gyeom).

I didn't know kid could solve cube under a minute in real life , that's pretty impressive thing for a 5 year old, I think in the first video he missed in 2 phase in solving of  the cube and I liked how calm he was even though he messed it up, I usually throw the cube away if I mess up a single step while solving cube,  But I hope he is doing this out of his own interest and not because his mom/dad wanted him to do.

17 minutes ago, kittyna said:

, because I never really got into superhero stories as a genre

In other words you are not a nerd for Marvel/DC universe :P

Now that we are in the Genre of  character with Super powers, I would also like to assign super powers to Female leads of Joo won's drama. Here it goes

 

Shin Yu Kyung-  Like Koo Ma Ju, she does also have few dark traits in her character, So, I would choose Storm from X- Men apocalypse, I know, in cartoon version and other version she from the good guys, but in reboot of X- Men, she does have an arch, she turns from bad to good in the end

 

Baek Ja-Eun-  Invisible Powers and mind controlling, like the female lead from Fantastic Four

 

Mok Dan- Phoenix powers form X- Men, because she also dies in the end and also has lot of uncontrollable energy in her

 

Kim Seo-Won- Black widow from Marvel,she really doesn't have any powers but she is not less than any other super hero in the marvel, and also they both are tenacious in nature and just like Black widow tames Hulk, I sort see Seo-Won taming Han Gil Ro

 

Cha Yeon-Seo-  Scarlet Witch from Marvel, no similarities between these two characters just their taste in men, like, not in a negative way, but they both well for guy who was almost like a robot and gradual helped them in transforming their robot like character

 

Nae-il- I am going with the female lead from Sky high movie, who can talk with animals and control nature(Layla Williams)

 

Han Yeo-JIn-  I will go with female version of Iron Man or Batman, since the list you provided also shows that superpowers can be attained through wealth also

 

Hyemyung- Mera from Aquaman, she is also a princess who falls for a commoner

 

Kim Do-Yeon- Again, I find it really hard to assign powers to this character also, but I think I will go with powers of Wonder Woman, again, no similarities, but I see her loosing JG in the end of the drama and Wonder Woman also losses her love interest in the end of the movie, and also both have strong personality and are no push overs

 
56 minutes ago, kittyna said:

Definitely wasn't expecting this one 

Well, I have given my reason for choosing this power to Kim Tae Hyun, so I also too the characters circumstances in my consideration while assigning them their powers :P

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2 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

I didn't know kid could solve cube under a minute in real life , that's pretty impressive thing for a 5 year old, I think in the first video he missed in 2 phase in solving of  the cube and I liked how calm he was even though he messed it up, I usually throw the cube away if I mess up a single step while solving cube,  But I hope he is doing this out of his own interest and not because his mom/dad wanted him to do.

 

I think he just learned for the purposes of filming that scene: if you look closely, the first practice video looks like he was just getting a feel for the cube, but in subsequent videos, he clearly works towards a particular configuration, after which he solves the rest easily. Regardless, though, I do hope he continues it as a hobby. :) 

 

2 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Now that we are in the Genre of  character with Super powers, I would also like to assign super powers to Female leads of Joo won's drama. Here it goes

 

lol - You already thought ahead to my next step, so kudos :) I think I'll still do the guys first (haven't fully decided on the girls yet). Also, Alice proves to be a challenge, because it's still a toss-up between Kim Do Yeon and Yoon Tae Yi. ;) 

 

Some of these, I worked off the character's actual talents/strengths, while for others, I tried to think of what extra capabilities might be useful to them. Also, some might look like I gave out two, but it's actually more a case of my not being sure what to call said superpower ;) 

 

Gu Ma Jun - Power absorption

Yeah, this is probably one of the most dangerous powers one could have, and I'm actually going there ;) So, this is the ability to temporarily or permanently co-opt and replicate someone else's capabilities - which I think serves a strong parallel for what Ma Jun wants to do in his rivalry with Kim Tak Gu. It's one of those superpowers that could be extremely effective if used for good, but also extremely destructive if the person possessing it takes a dark turn, but with Ma Jun, that's kind of the point ;)

 

Hwang Tae Hui - Enhanced Speed/Agility

I just think this would be useful to have for Tae Hui's job as a detective (like @kireeti2 did for super-strength), but I think focusing on the agility side of things is more in line with Tae Hui's actual combative style. I dunno; it's just a thought.

 

Lee Kang To - Supernatural senses (specifically sight and hearing)

This is simply an extension of the incredibly sharp senses (and subsequent quick reflexes) that Kang To already has in Gaksital

 

Han Gil Ro - Shapeshifting

I think this would be really useful ability to have as an NIS agent, especially since the ability to disguise oneself is already an important skill to have. 

 

Park Si On - X-ray Vision

We already see that Si On has a more practical/physically feasible version of this, given his ability to visualize objects in 3D from multiple angles. He jokes about having X-ray vision to Cha Yoon Seo in the drama, so I think it'd be fun to imagine what he'd be like as a doctor if he actually had that power for real. 

 

Cha Yoo Jin - Hypnosis/Siren Song

For Yoo Jin, I knew I definitely wanted something sound- or voice-related - it did cross my mind for him to have supersonic hearing, but combined with his absolute perfect pitch...yeah, that'd just be torture, given all the discordant sounds in the world :P So instead, if you don't mind me being weirdly specific, I would like to see Yoo Jin with something similar to the protagonist in one of my favourite novels, Phantom by Susan Kay It's a spinoff of the classic "Phantom of the Opera" story where the main character possesses extreme musical ability, but also a preternaturally beautiful voice - so beautiful, in fact, that he could almost bewitch people into doing his bidding despite his repulsive physical deformities. If Yoo Jin had something like that - either expressed orally or through music - I think it'd be an interesting extension of the abilities we already see in the drama.

 

Kim Tae Hyun - Phasing/Teleportation 

It did cross my mind to give Tae Hyun some sort of healing/regenerative ability at first, but he wouldn't be the skilled surgeon he is if he could heal people magically. So, instead, I thought of what might work well with his role as Yong Pal; it also doubles as a reflection of his ability to think fast and improvise his way out of sticky situations.

 

Gyun Woo - Mind-reading/Telepathy

Nothing much to say here, save that I thought this would be a good match for Gyun Woo's natural wit and intelligence, and that it'd be a really useful skill to have with all the slippery intrigue that happens at court.

 

Park Jin Gyeom - Telekinesis

We already know about the time-bending, so let's not repeat ourselves :P But I did notice that the time card did, in Episode 2 of Alice, have something along these lines as well (when all the objects in Jin Gyeom's apartment start levitating after he activates it the first time). If that continues onwards, I could imagine that'd be an interesting ability to have alongside his time-bending.

 

By the way, @flutterby06, I don't know when you'll get a chance to check this forum again, but when you do, I'd love to hear your take on this :) The original set-up and rules can be found here, so feel free to take a look at it whenever :) 

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On 9/28/2020 at 9:17 AM, kittyna said:

And here I am with my thoughts on Episode 10 of Alice.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

And, on a slightly lighter note, I love this newest dose of cast shenanigans: Kim Do Yeon's Instagram. Honestly, I just thought the group photo was posted on Lee Da In's Instagram when I saw it being credited to  "Do Yeon" - but nope. It's literally a fictional account for her character :) 

 

I plan to comment on Alice episode 10 reviews and comments by you and @kireeti2 later when my birthday celebration mode goes a bit down.. haa.. We have one week extra so I hope I will be able to catch up though a bit late.

 

But did you also notice that YTY follows KDY's IG.. ha ha..I found that detailing so cute.

 

Ei6BD9bUcAAsNcp?format=jpg&name=small

 

I believe it's possible for them to go on a trip together in future... Hopefully Jin Gyeom will be alive to see his favorite ladies bonding for real..without alcohol! :lol:

 

On 9/28/2020 at 11:09 PM, kittyna said:

EDIT

 

Just came back to add this funny exchange between Kwak Si Yang and JW on Instagram, in response to this recent post from KSY.

 

(Rough English translation from putting both the Korean original and Japanese translation through Google)

 

KSY: [announcement about Alice] When will you laugh, Min Hyuk?

JW: I laughed :lol:

KSY: It's a foul to laugh alone. :joy:

 

Oh, dear - is Jin Gyeom turning out to be that sort of a kid?

 

Aww... the cast are so sweet..Leaving comment at each others IG post and entertaining the viewers as well.

 

Was that Min Hyuk using Dad tone to Jin Gyeom.. :P

 

Theres also Kim Hee Sun.. She sweetly praised Joo Won in reply to his comment in her IG post on Amusment park picture.. 

 

So sweet of her!

 

it even become tabloid news : https://www.google.com/search?q=주원&source=lnms&tbm=nws&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwioz869kY_sAhWY4nMBHdoDBmMQ_AUoAnoECBwQBA&biw=1366&bih=657

 

8 hours ago, kittyna said:

Finally, for anyone who's interested, the child actor who played 3-year-old Jin Gyeom (i.e. the cute baby in the amusement park scene) has also been credited: Lee Jung Min. lol - he ends up breaking the "Moon baby" pattern (where JW's actually a Moon, as were the child actors who played the 5- and 12-year old versions of Jin Gyeom).

 

The first thing when I saw this baby was "awww... he's so cute..." and the next was "Surely he'll going to change the Moons playing PJG trend apart from the new born PJG whose name we do not know... ha ha ha.. This is probably first time in a kdrama so many kids played different stages of one role!

 

8 hours ago, kittyna said:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEvwxxGjl3f/ - Practicing for the Rubik's cube scene :) It's cute to see him gradually improving as you go from one video to the next.

 

WOW.. Baby Moon Ju Wonie needed a lot of practice to move rubriks cube smoothly. You did well, kid :thumbsup:

 

Also I don't think he actually learned to play Rubik'ss cube..I know some kids can do it from young age..but it looked like to me he just practice same 4-5 sequence again and again so he can do it smoothly for the scene. That's also a tough job for a kid I think.

 

Quote

By the way, @flutterby06, I don't know when you'll get a chance to check this forum again, but when you do, I'd love to hear your take on this :) The original set-up and rules can be found here, so feel free to take a look at it whenever :) 

 

@kittyna, the game sounds fun.. @kireeti2 already jumped from JW characters to JW's female counterpart characters..woah!

 

tumblr_muinkrUELm1qin0ego7_500.gifv

 

I will share my imaginations after a through brain storm because I'm not that imaginative in this respect.. I also do not watch a lot of super hero shows( The more I grew up the more I started leaning towards Animated shows and then kdrama also happened).. I will have to think a lot to imagine who should have what super powers. But I'll definitely share my thoughts.

 

image_readtop_2020_1006346_1601361095437

 

JW's latest IG photo..His get up, I like it.. @kittyna your probably talking about that chain hanging with mask JW wearing before.. Apparently it's a fashion among K celebrities now.. it holds the mask when one wishes to keep it down also look fashionable without it being under the chin.. watched it in Running Man..Two members there were given punishment to make this mask chain with beads.  

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6 hours ago, flutterby06 said:

I believe it's possible for them to go on a trip together in future... Hopefully Jin Gyeom will be alive to see his favorite ladies bonding for real..without alcohol! :lol:

 

Hm...maybe, if Park Jin Gyeom does succeed in, you know, staying alive all the way to the end, it'll turn into a three-person trip :P Okay, that's more than a bit of wishful thinking, but it's still fun to imagine.

 

6 hours ago, flutterby06 said:

The first thing when I saw this baby was "awww... he's so cute..." and the next was "Surely he'll going to change the Moons playing PJG trend apart from the new born PJG whose name we do not know... ha ha ha.. This is probably first time in a kdrama so many kids played different stages of one role!

 

Maybe. We have a total of five people playing six ages (just born, 3 years old, 5 years old, 12 years old, 17/8 years old, 27/8 years old), so...yeah, that's getting into almost movie-like scale.

 

I also have to give the producers kudos for finding kids who all actually bear a reasonable resemblance to JW and for the same features so that the actual transition from one stage to the next is convincing.

 

6 hours ago, flutterby06 said:

WOW.. Baby Moon Ju Wonie needed a lot of practice to move rubriks cube smoothly. You did well, kid :thumbsup:

 

Also I don't think he actually learned to play Rubik'ss cube..I know some kids can do it from young age..but it looked like to me he just practice same 4-5 sequence again and again so he can do it smoothly for the scene. That's also a tough job for a kid I think.

 

Yep, that's exactly what happened :) Maybe not with the first practice video, but in the rest, I can definitely make out a repeated sequence of patterns. The caption on the Instagram post confirms it, too, saying that the family (his hyung and his dad, I think) came up with that sequence and he just had to memorize it. Which is doable since, every time he solves the Rubik's cube, a family member offscreen could scramble it in a specific sequence of moves so that it's always in the same configuration when it's finally passed to him, at which point he finishes the sequence and we end up with a consistent end result. Once he's got that down, it's just about committing it to muscle memory so that he can do it quickly and naturally.

 

6 hours ago, flutterby06 said:

JW's latest IG photo..His get up, I like it..

 

Yeah, I really, really like this look on him, too :) 

 

6 hours ago, flutterby06 said:

your probably talking about that chain hanging with mask JW wearing before.. Apparently it's a fashion among K celebrities now.. it holds the mask when one wishes to keep it down also look fashionable without it being under the chin.. watched it in Running Man..Two members there were given punishment to make this mask chain with beads.

 

I see. I figured it would be used to hang the mask around his neck if he ever had to take it off, but it's just funny because no-one thought to do that where I live - people just pull it straight down to their chin, or take off one ear strap. Still, given that wearing masks has been a thing in East Asia since well before COVID-19, trust them to come up with creative solutions like this ;) 

 

6 hours ago, flutterby06 said:

@kireeti2 already jumped from JW characters to JW's female counterpart characters..woah!

I will share my imaginations after a through brain storm because I'm not that imaginative in this respect.. I also do not watch a lot of super hero shows( The more I grew up the more I started leaning towards Animated shows and then kdrama also happened).. I will have to think a lot to imagine who should have what super powers. But I'll definitely share my thoughts.

 

Yeah - I think I tapped into something that @kireeti2's really good at. Or, at least, he's better than the rest of us :P 

 

For me, I picked up a smattering about superpowers here and there - more often in relation to fantasy than to superhero or sci-fi stories, though. So...think things like the Lord of the Rings series, for example ;) 

 

But anyway, just thought I'd finish up my part and get on with the girls in this unofficial second round! Again, @flutterby06, feel free to share your ideas whenever you want - just include a reminder that you're responding to the superpowers prompt, and I'll remember :) 

 

(Also, just for the sake of argument, I'm throwing in 2020 Yoon Tae Yi as well - since regardless of who, if anyone, Jin Gyeom ends up with, I do have a good idea for her that I want to share.)

 

Shin Yu Kyung - Phoenix powers/Regeneration

I think this is a good match for Yu Kyung's general resilience and determination. Considering all the physical and emotional abuse she puts up with throughout the course of the drama, it seems like something she'd have.

 

Baek Ja Eun - Art Generation

This is getting a bit obscure (hence the link above), but the gist is the ability for anything Ja Eun draws to actually become real. So, similar to what you see in W: Two Worlds, if anyone has seen that drama, except that the power is manifest in a person rather than a tool or object.

 

Oh Mok Dan - Invisibility

This is based on the fact that as a member of the resistance movement, Mok Dan is way more effective as a spy/agent than as a fighter - except that she has a tendency to get caught in the act. So, I think this would be a really useful skill for her to have in the grand scheme of things, as it would allow her to reach her full potential :) 

 

Kim Seo Won - Memory Manipulation

This is an extension from Kim Seo Won's innate ability to lie convincingly, even under pressure: a skill that is highly sought after in the NIS and one that marks a "natural spy". What if, in addition to being able to lie, she is able to actually reach into someone's memory and alter it, such that the lie she tells ends up becoming the truth in that person's mind? Yes, I know it's creepy - so let's hope she only uses it for good ;) 

 

Cha Yoon Seo - Healing Touch

There are a number of variations on healing abilities (see below for another one), but I think that for Cha Yoon Seo, the most basic form is the best fit for her. I think this would be more about physical healing rather than emotional (again, see below), and it would augment her abilities as a doctor.

 

Seol Nae Il - Musical Healing

This is based as much on Nae Il's personality as it is on her talents: she's the perfect mascot/atmosphere maker in her circle of friends with her bubbly and caring nature, and we can see that even though she can't heal people physically in the drama, she is able to heal them mentally or emotionally. :) So I'd like to see an extension of that, while still within the confines of her musical skills.

 

Han Yeo Jin - Ice powers

Yes, I'm drawing inspiration from Frozen - problem? :P But my basis here is that I want Yeo Jin to have something that closely fits her regal, almost intimidating, air: something that can potentially be very dangerous if used as a weapon, but that is predominantly reserved for self-defence. So, I knew from the start that I'd want her to have power over one of the key elements (fire, water, earth, air, etc.), and out of all of those, I thought ice fit her darker side best: cool, calculating, and more than a bit Machiavellian.

 

Hye Myung - Light powers

Again, I thought of something elemental here, and the mental image I actually wound up with is Princess Eilonwy from The Chronicles of Prydain (a book series I actually hadn't read in its entirety, but was familiar with via the Disney film The Black Cauldron). In that series, Eilonwy had a magical golden bauble that could emit light on its own, and I think that having a magical light source like that (either as an object or as something generated from within herself) would be really useful for Hye Myung on her escapades. It'd also serve as a material reflection of her desire to shed light on (pun intended) what was really going on in the palace.

 

Kim Do Yeon - Truth inducement

In short: the ability to make people unconsciously tell her the truth of events to the best of their knowledge. I think that this is a close fit with her aspirations to become an investigative journalist (I say "investigative" because exposing corruption seems to a huge thing in her stories), as well as being in line with her personality. If she did have this ability, I imagine she'd use it a ton to help Jin Gyeom along with his cases - and she'd probably use it on him a lot as well :P 

 

Yoon Tae Yi (2020) - Force field generation

If nothing else, Tae Yi's ability would have to involve science. Personally, if I could really just go nuts with this, I'd want her to have something similar to what you see from Honey Lemon in Big Hero 6 (not a superpower per se, but a quick enough brain that she could combine elements on the spot to manufacture a whole host of different chemical weapons). However, Tae Yi's a physicist rather than a chemist, so I should adjust to think along those lines. And I figured, well, if Park Jin Gyeom could manipulate time, what if Yoon Tae Yi could manipulate space and use it to contain or shield whatever/whoever she wants to protect? And, well, if she could do that, we all know what she'd use it for, don't we? ;) 

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40 minutes ago, kittyna said:

Han Yeo Jin - Ice powers

This one is brilliant, fits with her character and situation.:thumbsup:

5 hours ago, flutterby06 said:

But did you also notice that YTY follows KDY's IG.. ha ha..I found that detailing so cute.

I didn't even notice it was an Instagram post, but what's funny is that DY has allowed YTY to follow her, because I am pretty sure DY would keep her account private and will allow followers only if she knows them :joy:

44 minutes ago, kittyna said:

Or, at least, he's better than the rest of us :P 

What you mean better? Some of my choices were terrible when I compare with yours :P. I will agree that I am more enthusiastic when it comes to super humans genre :D

 

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Happy Birthday Joo Woo! Hello everyone ~
 
Today is a special day - so I want to drop by to thank everyone here for keeping this forum active, and for sharing so many goodies / links!
Happy to see familiar names @flutterby06 @kittyna @valinor500 and I wonder if there are other long-time fans out there?
I have been watching Alice and trying my best to catch up with all your comments and detailed analysis! I really enjoy reading them every night after a busy day. Sorry for being a silent reader - I have so many to say but can't write well and fast enough :(
 
My thoughts on Alice - 
The super loooooonnnng wait is worthwhile because Alice really is a special sci-fic human healing drama, something I have not seen before in my 20+ years watching korean dramas. So I can understand why JW thinks it's special enough to be as his come-back drama. I'm so happy that JW has a strong female lead to partner with too. In fact, my favourite female lead among all his dramas. He had been the titular character in most of his previous dramas and I think he felt the success of the drama weighed heavily on him. Therefore, he (in my opinion) tend to have an overly high expectations of himself, which then affected his enjoyment of the work. This time round, I'm really glad that he has his Hee Sun noona to carry the drama with him, to the extent (I can almost feel) he enjoys relying on his noona to carry the drama while he enjoys the ride. I had seen Kim Hee Sun in more serious dramas (Sad love song, Angry Mom, Faith) and movie but I didn't know she's such a cool and cheerful person in real life! I believe spending so much time with HS has influenced JW too. His happiness and enthusiasm on set / during interviews really shines - something that I also wasn't expecting from him post-military. Thought he may be more reserved after being away from the limelight for so long. But I love love love this side of him as well. I'm really happy he seems to love himself more than before. He enjoys getting onto interviews, he shares more often in IG, he loves his current works - Alice and Ghost. In fact, doing another musical was something I was hoping for as one of his come-back works post-military. Again, thanks to casting gods but no thanks to the current pandemic which has prevented many international fans from attending the musical - me included! How nice if they have a paid online Ghost musical..
 
I wish I can personally thank Alice director as well. Thank you Director-nim for showing us JW's uncommonly-seen side, not once but twice. Thank You for adding the "dance" and karaoke song segments to showcase JW's talents. These links (here and here) are definitely my go-to when I need a breather from work lol. Thank you for all the close camera-shots to showcase his multitude of subtle expressions. He's so natural on screen and detailed in his acting skills that I'm so proud to be his fan.
 
I am slightly disappointed with the ratings though and hope the "romance" concern among many viewers isn't the cause of declining ratings. I shared some online comments with my hubby who watches Alice with me every weekend and here's his POVs as a male viewer. He said it's obvious JG sees his mother in 2020 TY and doing all he could to protect her. Undeniably, it's possible for 2020 TY to feel something for someone who's often so protective of her. The producers are trying to show / build their connections / concerns with one another as they discover more secrets together to deal with the dilemmas / challenges ahead of them. Hopefully, the viewers are patient enough to watch how the plot progresses if they are really interested in the drama. 
 
Of course rating isn't the only measurement of a drama's success. But for Joo Won's sake, I pray the drama stays strong and well-received in the second half of its run. This results in better media coverages and more kdrama viewers will tend to check out this drama (come on, it really is under-rated!). To me, this is important because Alice will forever be labeled as JW's post-military work.
 
Hoping to re-watch Alice if there's no new episodes this weekend *cries*
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First things first:

 

Happy birthday, Joo Won!

 

ff1d924b0b0a8286d6deece3270d5532.jpg

 

(That's the official greeting from his agency, if anyone's wondering ;))

 

@sagaseed - Thanks for coming out to share your thoughts on Alice! I'm definitely with you re: Jin Gyeom and Tae Yi's relationship, but I don't blame people who think it looks romantic and end up being putt off by it - society now tends to condition us to prefer romance over all other relationships, and so we tend to forget that intimate platonic relationships are still possible :) 

 

3 hours ago, sagaseed said:

In fact, doing another musical was something I was hoping for as one of his come-back works post-military. Again, thanks to casting gods but no thanks to the current pandemic which has prevented many international fans from attending the musical - me included! How nice if they have a paid online Ghost musical..

 

I, too, was hoping he'd do a musical as part of his comeback, because we know that's something that JW is really passionate about. So even if that means it'll be a bit longer still before his second post-comeback drama, I'm okay with the wait if it means he gets to do something he loves.

 

Speaking of Ghost, here's the birthday greeting from Theatre plus+ magazine.

 

Also, I came across this cute fanart for Alice as well. Hm...any chances we'll actually end up seeing a moment like this? :P 

9 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

This one is brilliant, fits with her character and situation.:thumbsup:

 

Thanks! I didn't get around to saying it before, but my favourite from your take on the girls was Nae Il's (ability to communicate with animals). It suits her :approves:

 

Finally, here's some new behind-the-scenes footage :) 

 

 

 

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4 hours ago, sagaseed said:

Of course rating isn't the only measurement of a drama's success. But for Joo Won's sake, I pray the drama stays strong and well-received in the second half of its run. This results in better media coverages and more kdrama viewers will tend to check out this drama (come on, it really is under-rated!). To me, this is important because Alice will forever be labeled as JW's post-military work.

This is the most disappointing thing for this drama, it has everything except rating and I know TKEM had better drama production, cast members, but it lacked good story and writing. Alice has everything but it is struggling with the ratings. I think it has to do with the so called "Love Line" between JG and TY(2020). I swear whenever I try to find genuine criticism, I end up with this love line in the comment as criticism, like, it is the main reason they give for dropping the drama. It was a surprise to me as well, like I was thinking TY(2020) might treat JG as a little brother, just like Cha Yeon Seo treated Park Si-On in Good Doctor, which everyone liked in that drama and were okay with no romance between them and few viewers even complained about when Cha Yeon Seo and Park Si-On ended up together. In the Alice it seems to be the opposite situation, viewers are upset with the story line in particularly Romantic angle between TY and JG. I hope last episodes might have repaired the damage done by episode 7 and 8, in which it showed that TY was  like falling for JG. But, I do think Alice still has the chance to pull up to 15% viewership which is gold in today's environment where mini series , especially from SBS,KBS and MBC are struggling to get even 8% or 9%, or that matter struggling to maintain double digit ratings consistently. And where as dramas from tvN, JTBC are doing pretty well, recently 18 Again K-drama is doing pretty well, despite getting low ratings in initial episodes, which sort of proves that viewers are looking relate their life with dramas, even if it has science fiction or magic, viewers will always go for dramas which has human angle in it and this sci-fi and magic things should be merely used as a tools to drive the humancentric story. I am also worried that, if Alice doesn't do well, Joo won will have lot of pressure selecting his next drama, or worse his agency might interfere in the selection of his next drama. I really hope Alice at least able to get double digit ratings in it's  remaining episodes:cold_sweat:

In the second pic I genuinely thought he had a small cake in his hand, and I was like, did they celebrate his birthday in advance during Alice shoot

1 hour ago, kittyna said:

Finally, here's some new behind-the-scenes footage :) 

Lol, Kim Hee Seo failing to Huge joo won was most hilarious thing I have seen in whole video. And I might add, black really suits Joo won, I wish he select his next project in which he is some kind of assassin who kills for money, something like "Man from Nowhere" or like "John Wick" type story line, it'll be dope to watch him killing and beating the crap out of everyone, after watching Alice fights scenes, I want of him take roles in which he has to lot of fight scenes.

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2 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

This is the most disappointing thing for this drama, it has everything except rating and I know TKEM had better drama production, cast members, but it lacked good story and writing. Alice has everything but it is struggling with the ratings.

 

7 hours ago, sagaseed said:

I am slightly disappointed with the ratings though and hope the "romance" concern among many viewers isn't the cause of declining ratings.

 

7 hours ago, sagaseed said:

Of course rating isn't the only measurement of a drama's success. But for Joo Won's sake, I pray the drama stays strong and well-received in the second half of its run. This results in better media coverages and more kdrama viewers will tend to check out this drama (come on, it really is under-rated!). To me, this is important because Alice will forever be labeled as JW's post-military work.

 

I actually feel like there's no perfect combination for a high-rating drama anymore. There may have been at one point, but not in the past 4-5 years or so (hence why it's now called a "low ratings environment"). There are a number of factors involved - people switching to online streaming rather than watching on TV, a broader range of options to choose from as cable networks slowly catch up to public networks, etc. - but it's why I don't pay a whole ton of attention to ratings anymore as a general whole.

 

lol - What's funny, though, is that I recently noticed that another Friday-Saturday drama, Homemade Love Story, got 20% ratings right off the bat. I didn't know anything about it at first save that Jeon In Hwa (i.e. Seo In Sook from King of Baking, Kim Tak Gu) was one of the main actresses, so I actually had this moment where I thought, "Dang...did Ma Jun-ie just get owned by his own mom?" :lol:

 

(But then it turned out that there was no actual overlap in the showing times - i.e. no competition between the dramas - so never mind :P)

 

Of course, there's competition across networks - which is mostly determined by ratings - and then there is also competition within the same network for things like the end-of-year awards. And while it's true that ratings play a huge role in determining which dramas/actors get the awards (there's an argument that ratings rather than his own performance was the reason behind JW's Daesang for Yong Pal, for example), I think that Alice is still a strong contender even with the ratings as they are. So far, most SBS dramas have been about the same ratings-wise, with Dr. Romantic 2 being the big runaway winner, so it's still a fairly even playing field.

 

2 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

I am also worried that, if Alice doesn't do well, Joo won will have lot of pressure selecting his next drama, or worse his agency might interfere in the selection of his next drama.

 

JW's actually pretty stubborn when he wants to be, so if his agency wants him to change directions for his next drama, they have to persuade him to do it - they can't just go over his head and sign the offer (which I suspect is how a lot of the other comeback dramas came about, given the timing). I think the fact that he 1) took so long to choose Alice out of all the 50-odd scripts he got, and 2) decided to take yet another break from television to do Ghost now indicate that JW's got more power in making his choices than is the norm ;) 

 

Also, it's worth noting that regardless of where the ratings go for Alice, JW's own performance as Park Jin Gyeom appears to be well-liked across the board. Given how rapidly his Instagram following has grown these past few weeks, it seems like many people are just now discovering his work. And even if Alice does end up flopping, well, it won't be the first time that he personally is praised despite being in a poorly-rated drama. So I think he'll be fine in terms of his own staying power.

 

2 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

I think it has to do with the so called "Love Line" between JG and TY(2020). I swear whenever I try to find genuine criticism, I end up with this love line in the comment as criticism, like, it is the main reason they give for dropping the drama. It was a surprise to me as well, like I was thinking TY(2020) might treat JG as a little brother, just like Cha Yeon Seo treated Park Si-On in Good Doctor, which everyone liked in that drama and were okay with no romance between them and few viewers even complained about when Cha Yeon Seo and Park Si-On ended up together. In the Alice it seems to be the opposite situation, viewers are upset with the story line in particularly Romantic angle between TY and JG

 

The key difference here is that Alice did such a great job in creating the mother-son relationship between Park Sun Young and Park Jin Gyeom that it's possible that the writers might have overdone it. Again, I don't think they seriously intend for there to be romance - to put it bluntly, you can only date someone when he's actually alive for you to date. However, we as viewers are so strongly aware of Jin Gyeom's feelings for his mother that we are primed/conditioned into seeing his relationship with Tae Yi through his eyes - and yet, as omniscient viewers, we also see Tae Yi's growing feelings in a way that Jin Gyeom doesn't. This creates, for many viewers, an uncomfortable paradox: we're seeing moments and interactions that would normally look cute in a romantic drama, but we see them as frightening and bizarre because we're hyperaware of Jin Gyeom's perspective (that Tae Yi either is his mom or looks like his mom). My point is: I feel like the concern from viewers isn't that Tae Yi has feelings for Jin Gyeom, but that Jin Gyeom might reciprocate (because that'd be incestuous or quasi-incestuous).

2 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

And I might add, black really suits Joo won, I wish he select his next project in which he is some kind of assassin who kills for money, something like "Man from Nowhere" or like "John Wick" type story line, it'll be dope to watch him killing and beating the crap out of everyone, after watching Alice fights scenes, I want of him take roles in which he has to lot of fight scenes.

 

Or just playing someone dark(er) - Park Jin Gyeom's already darker than most of JW's characters, so I'd love to see where else he could go in that direction.

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21 minutes ago, kittyna said:

Or just playing someone dark(er) - Park Jin Gyeom's already darker than most of JW's characters, so I'd love to see where else he could go in that direction.

What? Darker? He could have turned into a dark character, but people around him sort of tamed him and made him look like Park Si-On. You know, I had this theory before the beginning of Alice. Like, in synopsis we know that his mom dies and he is some what playing a character who really doesn't have any emotions and quite strong and capable of taking down 3 to 4 persons at a time. So, I thought after his mom dies, he will sort of take a darker turn, like , I was expecting that he might get involved with criminal gang members, working for dirty cops, killing people for a living sort of things. And then he would stumble upon the a contract in which it will lead him to TY(2020) and find the people who were behind his moms death. And, sort of expected DY would be like person who will hate JG and in the end falls for him(I know its cliche, good girl falling for a bad boy:P). I thought story would offer lot of arch in the characters, especially the main characters. But, I like this version of JG also, I got to see heartwarming scene with DY and JG, and TY(2020) and JG

 

29 minutes ago, kittyna said:

My point is: I feel like the concern from viewers isn't that Tae Yi has feelings for Jin Gyeom, but that Jin Gyeom might reciprocate (because that'd be incestuous or quasi-incestuous).

What? Lol! JG would never do that, in fact he really can't like any woman/man for that matter. Up until now we were able to his emotional side only when it comes to his mom, other than that , he is pretty stoic in other matters

30 minutes ago, kittyna said:

JW's actually pretty stubborn when he wants to be, so if his agency wants him to change directions for his next drama, they have to persuade him to do it - they can't just go over his head and sign the offer (which I suspect is how a lot of the other comeback dramas came about, given the timing). I think the fact that he 1) took so long to choose Alice out of all the 50-odd scripts he got, and 2) decided to take yet another break from television to do Ghost now indicate that JW's got more power in making his choices than is the norm

Yeah, I know. But, Joo won's agency is well

 

established one and has a house hold name. I know for a fact that, when the organization is well developed, it will hardly give any room for creative things to do for it's employees or people in the organization. And have pretty rigid structure in place to achieve revenue targets. So, if Joo won was in a agency which is new and yet to establish itself, I can imagine him having autonomy over his projects, but a well established organization is pretty rigid and will sort of like to control every aspect of it's artists' projects and image

35 minutes ago, kittyna said:

lol - What's funny, though, is that I recently noticed that another Friday-Saturday drama, Homemade Love Story, got 20% ratings right off the bat. I didn't know anything about it at first save that Jeon In Hwa (i.e. Seo In Sook from King of Baking, Kim Tak Gu) was one of the main actresses, so I actually had this moment where I thought, "Dang...did Ma Jun-ie just get owned by his own mom?"

Nah, it's different genre and we really can't compare it with Joo won's drama. It's like daily soap opera show, where we will have 100 plots of all the main characters and lot of expected twists and cliches, but I and most of the viewers still watch it because it has this feel good factor and relatable with commoners like me. And it is also because of the base effect, like it's predecessor drama "Once Again" has done well, so it is enjoying such great ratings in initial episodes, on the other side Alice is facing the same base effect because of the negative ratings of "Back street Rookie", if Alice had aired before it, it would have easily got 8-10% viewership in initial episodes. And also, she stopped following Joo won on Instagram, I don't know what happened, I hope it is because of mistake or something and nothing serious. :fearful:

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10 hours ago, sagaseed said:
Happy Birthday Joo Woo! Hello everyone ~
 
Today is a special day - so I want to drop by to thank everyone here for keeping this forum active, and for sharing so many goodies / links!
Happy to see familiar names @flutterby06 @kittyna @valinor500 and I wonder if there are other long-time fans out there?
I have been watching Alice and trying my best to catch up with all your comments and detailed analysis! I really enjoy reading them every night after a busy day. Sorry for being a silent reader - I have so many to say but can't write well and fast enough :(

 

Oh..it's good to see.. Glad you thought of visiting here.. :)

 

10 hours ago, sagaseed said:

Therefore, he (in my opinion) tend to have an overly high expectations of himself, which then affected his enjoyment of the work. This time round, I'm really glad that he has his Hee Sun noona to carry the drama with him, to the extent (I can almost feel) he enjoys relying on his noona to carry the drama while he enjoys the ride. I had seen Kim Hee Sun in more serious dramas (Sad love song, Angry Mom, Faith) and movie but I didn't know she's such a cool and cheerful person in real life! I believe spending so much time with HS has influenced JW too. His happiness and enthusiasm on set / during interviews really shines - something that I also wasn't expecting from him post-military. Thought he may be more reserved after being away from the limelight for so long. But I love love love this side of him as well. I'm really happy he seems to love himself more than before. He enjoys getting onto interviews, he shares more often in IG, he loves his current works - Alice and Ghost.

 

Yeah glad KHS is here to share the burden with him..

I also find him a bit more relaxed.. before he went to MS he seemed to had a idea to change his persona and acting path so he can take  more challenging or age appropriate role. When he talked about this so much I almost thought---what if he feels so much pressured that he force himself to go out of his nature... But thankfully he doesn't seem to be doing that... In fact I loved how he took a long break from major projects, toured around here and there which means he gave himself some of his own time.. He has been so busy acting, that 1 year break after MS may have given him a lot of relaxation and personal time. 

 

Now that he is back he seemed more confidence on himself..He has this "I am who I am vibe" which was present previously with a large dose of shyness but now he seems more relaxed. 

 

10 hours ago, sagaseed said:
Of course rating isn't the only measurement of a drama's success. But for Joo Won's sake, I pray the drama stays strong and well-received in the second half of its run. This results in better media coverages and more kdrama viewers will tend to check out this drama (come on, it really is under-rated!). To me, this is important because Alice will forever be labeled as JW's post-military work.
 
Hoping to re-watch Alice if there's no new episodes this weekend *cries*

 

We know JW dramas are mostly fun regardless of rating..but still..we need rating..we want him to have strong come back that can give him more assurance. I really really am wishing for consistent double digit rating in second half...Please Alice do something to bring back the viewers.. Please...:tears:

 

6 hours ago, kittyna said:

(That's the official greeting from his agency, if anyone's wondering ;))

 

Any idea why they changed agency name? Is there any change in ownership? From Sim Entertainment-Huayi Brother- Studio Santa Clause Entertainment... what's ahead.. :huh:

As long as they treat JW the best...

 

6 hours ago, kittyna said:

Speaking of Ghost, here's the birthday greeting from Theatre plus+ magazine.

 

 

Spoiler

 

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Like how they mentioned that they're wishing him with a picture that's not included in the magazine book...That's so thoughtful of them. :blush:

 

6 hours ago, kittyna said:

Also, I came across this cute fanart for Alice as well. Hm...any chances we'll actually end up seeing a moment like this? :P 

 

Isn't that what most Alice viewers whishing right now, family reunion! :approves:

 

4 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Alice has everything but it is struggling with the ratings. I think it has to do with the so called "Love Line" between JG and TY(2020). I swear whenever I try to find genuine criticism, I end up with this love line in the comment as criticism, like, it is the main reason they give for dropping the drama. It was a surprise to me as well, like I was thinking TY(2020) might treat JG as a little brother, just like Cha Yeon Seo treated Park Si-On in Good Doctor, which everyone liked in that drama and were okay with no romance between them and few viewers even complained about when Cha Yeon Seo and Park Si-On ended up together. In the Alice it seems to be the opposite situation, viewers are upset with the story line in particularly Romantic angle between TY and JG. I hope last episodes might have repaired the damage done by episode 7 and 8, in which it showed that TY was  like falling for JG. But, I do think Alice still has the chance to pull up to 15% viewership which is gold in today's environment where mini series , especially from SBS,KBS and MBC are struggling to get even 8% or 9%, or that matter struggling to maintain double digit ratings consistently.

 

So true..:(

 

2 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

What? Lol! JG would never do that, in fact he really can't like any woman/man for that matter. Up until now we were able to his emotional side only when it comes to his mom, other than that , he is pretty stoic in other matters

 

I know he lacks in understanding emotion or expressing them in general.. But I don't think he's unable to actually love- be it romantic or familial.. Because we can see he can develop deep attachment with people who are not biologically related to him..

 

let's for a moment forget that there's no Park Sun Young-Yoon Tae Yi at present.. But Jin Gyeom actually cares deeply for Go Ajusshi and Do Yeon (I am also not implying romantic attachment here just friendly, family type attachment) at present.. He can developed enough love for them that he sometime over look common sense..If he can feel family bond, I bet he can develop romantic attachment too.

 

The only reason I believe he's unable to think about having relationship with opposite gender is because his mind is going in one track- finding the killer of this mother,  find out about the reason why his mother got killed, protect his mother(!) by hook or crook.. He is someone who has no time or luxury to be in relationship.

 

My focus point from latest bts released..

 

 

In every JW birthday I can't help but remember this scene.. Tomorrow Cantabile team threw him a surprise birthday event by making him work in conducting scene that wasn't supposed to be done that day..and JW seems to be saying that he remembered already shooting that scene but director nim said to do it again! And it took him some time to understand that they are playing him HBD tune... after understanding it he soon cutely started conducting with the tune with cake in hand! So sweet of TC team...:wub:

 

 

 

And September 30th is almost gone in my area...so Happy Birthday again. Joo Wona..Hope you had a fun birthday!

 

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

What? Darker? He could have turned into a dark character, but people around him sort of tamed him and made him look like Park Si-On

 

lol - You got me. I guess I'm so used to mentally associating JW with characters like Park Si On that I have a pretty low threshold for what constitutes a "dark" character for him :sweat_smile: It probably doesn't help that he's also so cute and fluffy outside of his acting, too :P 

 

2 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

You know, I had this theory before the beginning of Alice. Like, in synopsis we know that his mom dies and he is some what playing a character who really doesn't have any emotions and quite strong and capable of taking down 3 to 4 persons at a time. So, I thought after his mom dies, he will sort of take a darker turn, like , I was expecting that he might get involved with criminal gang members, working for dirty cops, killing people for a living sort of things. And then he would stumble upon the a contract in which it will lead him to TY(2020) and find the people who were behind his moms death.

 

I didn't think quite that far - since I knew really early on that he was a police detective who was big on seeking justice - but going from the trailers, I also anticipated more of a revenge-type storyline. And then we saw the director's comments at the press conference about it being predominantly a "family" story and I wound up having to rethink all that :P 

 

2 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Yeah, I know. But, Joo won's agency is well

 

established one and has a house hold name. I know for a fact that, when the organization is well developed, it will hardly give any room for creative things to do for it's employees or people in the organization. And have pretty rigid structure in place to achieve revenue targets. So, if Joo won was in a agency which is new and yet to establish itself, I can imagine him having autonomy over his projects, but a well established organization is pretty rigid and will sort of like to control every aspect of it's artists' projects and image

 

38 minutes ago, flutterby06 said:

Any idea why they changed agency name? Is there any change in ownership? From Sim Entertainment-Huayi Brother- Studio Santa Clause Entertainment... what's ahead.. :huh:

As long as they treat JW the best...

 

Yeah, I'm definitely confused about what's going on with the agency - since they still use the Huayi Brothers label in a good chunk of their posts on Instagram. @kireeti2, I think a part of me still remembers when it was this really small actors-only agency (i.e. Sim Entertainment) and I tend to forget that things can change with its expansion over time. So JW had a lot of autonomy prior to his enlistment, but it is, as you pointed out, harder to judge if that's actually the case now. On the one hand, with a bigger company, there's going to be more focus shifting to revenues and shareholders and whatnot, but on the other hand, JW himself played a huge role in the agency getting this big to begin with, so....

 

38 minutes ago, flutterby06 said:

We know JW dramas are mostly fun regardless of rating..but still..we need rating..we want him to have strong come back that can give him more assurance. I really really am wishing for consistent double digit rating in second half...Please Alice do something to bring back the viewers.. Please...:tears:

 

I keep thinking that the ratings are lower all across the board simply because fewer people are watching television. Remember that ratings are calculated by approximately how many TVs are tuned to a certain channel at any given time - but that also probably includes all the ones that were never turned on at all ;) The reason why I think this is because even with ratings on the lower side, there's nothing that's beating Alice either - it's still 1st or 2nd place in its timeslot, even with c. 8% ratings, so clearly there's something in the equation that we're not considering, and I wonder if a broad shift away from television viewing might be it.

 

Like, I see a lot of people now describing Alice as an "underrated" drama - but something can only be underrated if it's being overshadowed by something that's more popular while also being poorer in quality, and that doesn't seem to be happening either.

 

38 minutes ago, flutterby06 said:

I know he has lack of understanding emotion or expressing them in general.. But I don't think he's unable to actually love- be it romantic or familial.. Because we can see he can develop deep attachment with people who are not biologically related to him..

 

Same. I can also add that I never fully thought that Park Jin Gyeom was incapable of feeling emotion, either. I understand that that's how "alexithymia" is defined in the drama, but in reality, it occurs on a spectrum. So we do see that Jin Gyeom struggles to explain what he's feeling, or struggles to assess whether he's reacting to a situation with the appropriate emotion, but all that means that he must feel something throughout.

 

38 minutes ago, flutterby06 said:

let's for a moment forget that there's no Park Sun Young-Yoon Tae Yi at present.. But Jin Gyeom actually cares deeply for Go Ajusshi and Do Yeon (I am also not implying romantic attachment here just friendly, family type attachment) at present.. He can developed enough love for them that he sometime over look common sense..If he can feel family bond, I bet he can develop romantic attachment too.

 

As for love, I'd argue that Jin Gyeom's capacity for love has been heavily shaped by his experiences. When we think about his upbringing, love for him existed on two extremes: either a complete unconditional love (his mother's), or a relative absence of love. He doesn't have much exposure to or experience with more superficial forms of love - even those who love him now (Do Yeon for sure; and I'd even argue Go Hyung Seok, as it appears the order to kill Jin Gyeom genuinely pains him) do so unconditionally.

 

So I actually think that Jin Gyeom may have a hard time with all the intricate push-pull elements of a romantic relationship (he won't know how to flirt or how to recognize flirting, for example), but he's more than capable of loving unconditionally as well. In fact, that may turn out to be the easiest form of love for him to express, because it's the sort of love he knows (people with alexithymia tend to "learn" emotion by observing and following social cues) ;) 

 

38 minutes ago, flutterby06 said:

My focus point from latest bts released

 

And my favourite was when, during rehearsals for the birthday song, he just randomly started singing in his full-blown "musical theatre" voice. 

 

Yep, this pretty much sums up what it feels like to watch Alice right now :lol:

 

Yoon Tae Yi's house - It's designed by the same people who did the "Alice" hotel :) 

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15 minutes ago, kittyna said:

OMG! I am in love with Yoon Tae-Yi's Bookshelves:love:, her house has one in common area and one in her personal room

16 minutes ago, kittyna said:

I never expected that so many memes could have been made from Alice drama, I sort of expected Alice would be a dark theme drama, since it involves time travel and lot of killings and murders

17 minutes ago, kittyna said:

Go Hyung Seok

And his wife also loves JG  unconditionally, like she is excited to see him whenever he shows up and always tries to set him up with DY and always asks him to eat, lol! she totally checks out all the boxes under  Asian mom

20 minutes ago, kittyna said:

So I actually think that Jin Gyeom may have a hard time with all the intricate push-pull elements of a romantic relationship (he won't know how to flirt or how to recognize flirting, for example), but he's more than capable of loving unconditionally as well. In fact, that may turn out to be the easiest form of love for him to express, because it's the sort of love he knows (people with alexithymia tend to "learn" emotion by observing and following social cues)

I think JG is like a mirror, he sort of reflects the kind of emotions which was shown to him and experienced by him, so if he had been exposed to some other anti-social behaviors, perhaps, he would have been an different guy altogether

1 hour ago, flutterby06 said:

But Jin Gyeom actually cares deeply for Go Ajusshi and Do Yeon (I am also not implying romantic attachment here just friendly, family type attachment) at present.. He can developed enough love for them that he sometime over look common sense..If he can feel family bond, I bet he can develop romantic attachment too.

Yeah, that's a total possibility, that JG can have romantic feelings or at least he will try his best to keep DY happy if they are in relationship. He knows he can reciprocate feelings completely but at least he will try read the situation and act accordingly. So, yeah if writers wants give an happy ending to DY and JG, they should definitely make them end up together.

 

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6 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

OMG! I am in love with Yoon Tae-Yi's Bookshelves:love:, her house has one in common area and one in her personal room

 

Yeah, and I also love that whole "sculpture" of books she has in her office. It's hardly practical (like, what does she do if she needs to grab one of them?), but it's rather eclectic while still giving off a "scholarly" vibe - just like her :) 

 

Which makes me wonder: what do the places we see in Alice tell us about the characters who live in them? Like, we have Tae Yi's house, Jin Gyeom's apartment (I mean the one where he lives alone), Jin Gyeom's childhood home, the "Alice" hotel/centre (which I personally associate as being Min Hyuk's space), Seok Oh Won's office.... I feel like all of these spaces were designed very deliberately to reflect the characters - does anybody here think so, too?

 

6 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

And his wife also loves JG  unconditionally, like she is excited to see him whenever he shows up and always tries to set him up with DY and always asks him to eat, lol! she totally checks out all the boxes under  Asian mom

 

Point. From what we've seen so far, Captain Go's wife is just an adorable ahjumma who has no direct involvement in any of this "Alice" vs. "Sigma" business :) I can also imagine her being the sort who, after Jin Gyeom moved out on his own, would show up to his place unannounced with weeks' worth of kimchi and other side dishes - and then, as she's putting them in the fridge, she'd start teasingly nagging at him to eat and sleep on time and not to let her husband boss him around too much :lol:

 

6 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

I think JG is like a mirror, he sort of reflects the kind of emotions which was shown to him and experienced by him, so if he had been exposed to some other anti-social behaviors, perhaps, he would have been an different guy altogether

 

That's a really good point! :approves:

 

Given that, I think it's worth noting just how Park Sun Young raised Jin Gyeom, then. I think she realized that if she couldn't use emotion as the basis for guiding his sense of right/wrong (which is how most kids learn - e.g. If you do X, your friend will be sad, so don't do it), she could go straight to moral rules and principles. And personally, I think that's what she did: both through overt instruction and leading by example.

 

6 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Yeah, that's a total possibility, that JG can have romantic feelings or at least he will try his best to keep DY happy if they are in relationship. He knows he can reciprocate feelings completely but at least he will try read the situation and act accordingly.

 

He knows the general rules of a relationship - and seems to be more conservative or cautious than Do Yeon in terms of setting boundaries for said relationship -  so if he acts accordingly, maybe the feelings themselves will come with time. I know he's slower to recognize and express emotion than most people, but there is such a thing as neuroplasticity ;) 

 

Some more birthday fanart:

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CFw8VQMMbd-/

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CFuoDkBpz1W/

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