[Official] SPARTACE COUPLE KimJongkook-SongJiHyo

[linzer03]

Wow. That's really interesting that they changed the caption. I'm not sure what that means.I highly doubt the people running the IG know if spartace is dating or not. There's no need for them to know and I'm sure RM's staff wants to keep it as quiet as possible right now. However, the spartace fandom is sizable and therefore the IG needs to appease us to ensure we'll tune in. But the caption and changing it is interesting. Perhaps since everyone knows the spartace fandom exists at this point and MC is sorta-maybe-over, the people running RM's IG might have thought it was okay to tag spartace in the post. But then a higher-up told them not to do that, because spartace cannot be connected romantically or perhaps the people running the IG saw the responses from spartace fans and realized it was too much (though "cutie couple" is worse than spartace in my opinion). 

[Guest athoughtcloud1]

2 minutes ago, linzer03 said:

Wow. That's really interesting that they changed the caption. I'm not sure what that means.I highly doubt the people running the IG know if spartace is dating or not. There's no need for them to know and I'm sure RM's staff wants to keep it as quiet as possible right now. However, the spartace fandom is sizable and therefore the IG needs to appease us to ensure we'll tune in. But the caption and changing it is interesting. Perhaps since everyone knows the spartace fandom exists at this point and MC is sorta-maybe-over, the people running RM's IG might have thought it was okay to tag spartace in the post. But then a higher-up told them not to do that, because spartace cannot be connected romantically or perhaps the people running the IG saw the responses from spartace fans and realized it was too much (though "cutie couple" is worse than spartace in my opinion). 

No, it is the other way around. First they put the captions with just KJK and SJH and then edited it to add "spartace KJK and SJH". I was wondering whether it was a response to seeing everyone say "Spartace" in the comments. But then even when they put the other spartace pics like the "cutie couple" one or the mission one of episode 300, they must have seen the "Spartace" in the comments. They did not edit their captions at that time. Either the person who runs the IG woke up to the fact that they were called spartace or wanted to acknowledge the fandom name. But I don't think the RM team are unaware of the fact that they are called that way by the fandom. Even the hotdog shop owner and the tanning salon lady knew that was their fandom name. Also, perhaps the reason they keep putting spartace pics is because they get a lot of likes. Whatever the reason, have to thank whoever is behind the account for putting some shipping-worthy pics. After the Xman episode pics they put of SA, this seems the SA pic with the most feels.

[linzer03]

@athoughtcloud1 Oh whoops. My misunderstanding. I guess I assumed so because the hotdog shop owner added spartace and then got rid of it. It's even more interesting. I don't think they suddenly came into awareness that the fandom is called spartace, so I wonder why they chose to change it this time. Oh well. We'll probably never know, but its nice to be acknowledged by name by an official source, especially after RM has gone so long trying to pretend that spartace and their fandom doesn't exist.

[Guest athoughtcloud1]

13 hours ago, nichecz said:

 

 Like @athoughtcloud1 said, maybe, KJK wasn’t able to measure his strength. But after watch again I was like  “was it really that hard?”. Please, correct me if I’m wrong, but, it’s look like SJH slightly lifted her leg to “help” the fall. (It’s just something that I notice, but I don’t know how to be sure about.) I already read a lot of comments about the scene but nobody said something about this, so, can be just my imagination. ( I happy that in the end he gave her the better room. )

 

Nice to read your observations. We have to always remember that the sound effects contribute to how we judge the hit. Since the sound effect of JK hitting JH is like that of a smack, we think it ought to have been really hard. That may not be the case. So perhaps like you said, the hit wasn't that hard as we think it is if we remove the sound effect. I have been re-watching the part you pointed out. However, I don't think JH was purposely lifting her leg to 'help' the fall. Since she was already off-balance trying to hit JK on the face, his counter-hit made her lose her balance fully. I thought her lifting the leg was a result of the process of her losing her balance on the pole. Btw can anyone interpret what Jae Suk is doing here at the end? I have been taxing my brain for some days now. He is crossing one arm, then another over it and then touching his lips with his fingers and then moving them away (seems to me almost like he is re-enacting what JK did -hugging JH and the last part kind of looks like a kissing gesture to me(?) and showing it to someone who couldn't clearly see what happened? Or is he asking JK to do that to comfort JH? Or asking JK to hug JH but not to speak? My scenarios seem too delu , so hope someone can give a more logical explanation for JS' gestures.

cre: as tagged

I had to cut the last second from this gif, but JS' hand moves away from his lips (which you can see in the last shot of the insta video).

[elevenpapitus]

http://www.sportsseoul.com/news/read/401814  There is a Korean Naver News posted today about spartace.It mentioned several times' spartace interactions.And we also guess if it's a hint or supports to the new society show cooperated by tieba and SBS..

[dragonlovers]

Hi everybody, here is a news I found just now regarding spartace. However, it is in Korean...Hope somebody can help to translate it....

I have used an online translator, seems the article mentioned the partnership of the two aces JK and JH is rare in running man but audiences have high expectations on their partnership...As we know that we cannot 100% believe in online translator (the wordings may not be accurate), we really need somebody to translate for us in order to understand the article. However, I am quite sure that the main message is about their relationship shown in running man.

http://www.sportsseoul.com/news/read/401814

Read some comments on Chinese social media, Weibo, Chinese fans think it is related to the traveling show shown in Baidu and SBS press conference on June 1 since the news said audiences have high expectations towards their partnership...Hope JK and JH can be the hosts together.

[androkia91]

Well at least, the title talks about the Spartace Strongest Siblings Chemistry and then talks about their recent moments so far.

[seabear11]

15 hours ago, athoughtcloud1 said:

Btw can anyone interpret what Jae Suk is doing here at the end? I have been taxing my brain for some days now. He is crossing one arm, then another over it and then touching his lips with his fingers and then moving them away (seems to me almost like he is re-enacting what JK did -hugging JH and the last part kind of looks like a kissing gesture to me(?) and showing it to someone who couldn't clearly see what happened? Or is he asking JK to do that to comfort JH? Or asking JK to hug JH but not to speak? My scenarios seem too delu , so hope someone can give a more logical explanation for JS' gestures.

 

I had to cut the last second from this gif, but JS' hand moves away from his lips (which you can see in the last shot of the insta video).

 

Good eye there over the JS interaction. Although tbh it could just be him adjusting his shirt, maybe it felt loose to him, and the lip touching could just be a habit. I don't really know. To be honest, i very much doubt you'll have JS telling KJK what to do, they have a very healthy respect and relationship together. KJK is someone who doesn't show his affection easily, he's admitted that on the healing camp and we can see through his interactions with guests all the time. 

I think maybe the idea of him to telling shush to the other members, haha and kwang soo are on the side of them. The both of them are probably closest to KJK after JS, so maybe they wanted to tease KJK saying like wow he's this kind of man now. The 2 of them are also most likely to tease KJK and SJH about having a couple moment. So maybe he's asking them not to say anything. You sharing that video again has made me really happy. I will repeat myself when you see LKS about to tell off KJK but immediately releasing he's not needed there but it is a couple thing. hahah maybe not a couple but a very close relationship which will be dealt with by the both of them and no one else. After watching it a couple of times again, i feel JSJ has a very telling smile while they cuddling, and we all know he's not a very good liar. 

Back in the day with the MC couple you would also see Gary saying something like "I would never treat you like that" or something along the lines. The fact he remains silent and just keeps saying wow. Surpise how brazen SJH is being considering how she hates it with him. Great clip tbh

[dragonlovers]

Watched the broadcast. Disappointed about the episode asl a running man fan. For me, the base of running man should be games and missions. Through the games and missions, we can see their friendship and teamwork. But the whole episode is a chaos for me.

Spoiler

 

The mission line is really unclear throughout the whole episode. Initially, guests are in the chasing team and rm are being chased. When both team met, they are chatting with each other comfortably instead of just greeting and escape (which is what we ususally see in early episodes). Being the strongests, gary and JK are the first two to be out. They join the guests team and help in chasing other members. However, for the remaining screen time, JK only appears when driving (JK and Gary seldom appear when chasing the remining members even they join the guest team). For rm team, the screen for HaHa and JH "jumps" a lot that I cannot really relate all the points and understand why they will meet in the end (They are eating somewhere while others are chasing/be chased...) And JH seems "disappeared" in this episode, she have least screen time. The main focus is on the 3 bad luck members again, instead of the guests. The guests actually performed well and being funny when they joined rm before...pity for them. At last, five people are chasing KS and none of them can catch him, which is kind of weird...

Maybe I have high hopes to this episode as chasing theme is one of my favourite for running man thus I am really disappointed.  I love to see the tensions between two teams, but I cannot feel it throughout the episode. In my opinion, the bad luck brothers are funny yet it can hardly be the center all the time, especially for two continuous episodes. Well, the screen time problem is really serious recently. Hope the situation is not as bad as I think after I watch the sub one...

 

 

[Guest athoughtcloud1]

I think the news article that suddenly popped up focusing on JH and JK as the powerhouse sibling team of RM is interesting. I do feel something is afoot. Unless someone worded it that way, I don't see it being written like that. I have never come across articles which describe them as siblings before, have you? KwangMong have been called siblings, but JK and JH's relationship have always been described as that of colleagues and in some cases friends. So either it is an attempt to divert the unwanted attention on their relationship by describing them as siblings or else it heralds something more. It ends with asking us to expect more from them as if we are going to see them interacting together more as a team in the future. From the way things are going, it is not going to be in RM where we barely get to see their interactions unless God forbid, they suddenly position them as siblings. Asking the viewers to look forward to the work of the mentioned artist are usually routine in such articles, but based on my experience of following other k-actors and actresses, such news articles usually come up when a project is about to be announced. So I can't help but think of the Chinese show being co-produced by SBS which is courting them both to be its MCs. This sudden positioning of them as a powerhouse sibling team seems like a conscious choice for me. May be I am over-reading, but something smells fishy. This article is not just a random article focusing on spartace interaction in one episode, it backtracks and even analyses their interaction in a not so recent episode. Seems like a conscious way of positioning them before the show is announced so that it won't lead to any unnecessary rumours at this stage. It has come in Sportseoul which is quite mainstream regarding k-ent news. Let's see.

@dragonlovers Yet to watch the episode, but I am kind of getting tired of the extreme focus on the luck quotient of the different members. What about their skills?

@seabear11 LOL Only JS knows what he was doing there. KS' face has a totally tell-all expression for me.

[mary-ann]

I just can't help but post some pictures of Song Ji Hyo attending shanghai festival yesterday, she looked soooo beautiful, just out of this world.

[dragonlovers]

FYI, heavy screen time is placed on KS, followed by the 3 bad luck members. And the content is splited up into 2 episodes (the chasing will be continued next episode). After watching this, I would like the producer team split last episode into two rather than the content aired today...Following the pattern today, the screen time for JK, gary will also be short in next episode (they are out in the first 20mins of today's show, and do not have much screen time later on). Or else, the 2 episodes will be inconsistent and cannot really linked up. Finger crossed, hope I was wrong and the producer team can do better than that...

Btw, don't know why but most of the pic posted on rm official ins are edited out...(it last for a few episodes already)...

[piggyjoshua]

Great thread..

 

 

Prada

[Guest athoughtcloud1]

Watched the episode. I wonder whether there was some talk between KS and the team about re-positioning him in RM or whether it was coz KS turned out to have the most interesting arc during the shoot that it was edited this way making KS Yooruce Willis 2. I think it was time that we got to see the athletic KS since it has been pretty apparent that he has been holding back from displaying that side of him to play the goofy betrayer. I am glad KS, at least for one episode, is out of playing the unluckiest member of RM and need not hold back from displaying his competitive side.

However, I have problems with the editing of the episode, especially with JH's and Haha's parts. I can understand KJK and Gary getting out early and not getting much screen time as a result, but to edit out the only members who actually survived the first name-tag ripping doing their missions was really sad. Without getting to see JH or Haha doing their missions (Haha is at least shown using his guts to escape the chasers) or seeing them meet up (which they must have done after lots of cross-checking where the chasers were and would have been an epic moment to film) and then to show them casually having their lunch makes them come through as really lazy. Even if their clue-hunting parts were aired, it is likely that Haha and JH might have  perhaps reacted to LKS' plea for help in a similar fashion where they don't take him seriously (used as they are to his betraying history and lack of definite knowledge about his real situation plus perhaps their own self-interest to win it on their own), yet without showing JH and Haha being that desperate to get their clues, they come across as lazy asses who are not even letting KS win (as I can see in some of the comments for this episode).

I also thought it was a huge coincidence that the unlucky trio ended up together again. They were the first out of the van and were off as a different team altogether. Why were JK, Gary, JH and Haha not as desperate as the other three to get away or to find the clues? Was it because they were more confident of their abilities to get away? I don't get it. Yeah, their car key was with JS, but if they were so desperate, they could have taken a cab as JH does later. Instead, they came back to wait around at the same spot for god knows what? (for JS to come back and give them the key? LOL)  In the beginning, there was some talk among the chasers about catching JSJ first, so I wonder whether some of the members thought there was some order in which they were going to be captured (based on who opened the box first). Since the guests couldn't get JSJ first, perhaps they went for whoever they could and the episode got edited this way? Or was the plan all along for KJK and Gary to be put on the chaser team which except for Yeri and the other young guy, do not have any member who can actually give a proper chase?

I am glad LKS is getting re-positioned (if he is allowed to get out of his unlucky image), but I hope the team thinks about the positioning of the other members too. In one way, I hope the news article is hinting at a re-positioning of JK and JH in RM - making up the sibling excuse (since they cannot obviously be called a couple) to put them in the same team. For a change, I would like JK and JH to be in one team where they get to do some really difficult mission (since they are two members who are really serious about the game and are competitive), Haha and Gary to get a slightly quirky but interesting challenge (they would play off each other) and the other 3 who are good at the banter to do something like what they did last episode. But if KS is going to be re-positioned (and this is not a one off thing), then I wonder what the PD has in mind for the others. This episode did mark a tonal shift from the usual RM (even KS was not joking around much and showed a very earnest and hardworking side of his personality - it was like KS really wanted an image change  - he might be tired of being tagged as the unluckiest member all the time?).

I enjoyed the episode for the thrills and loved seeing the serious and athletic side of LKS, but the editing and worries about the positioning of the others did mar some of the enjoyment. Compared to many other variety shows, RM's strength has been that it has been able to create more or less co-dependent images and equal character arcs for all the 7 members. I hope the team remembers that.

The SA pic of JK and JH seems to have been taken at night, so perhaps we would get to see it in the next episode. As an SA fan, can I hope for a RM hunting episode where JK does not get out right at the beginning (the Choi Min Soo episodes would have been more of an equal fight if JK had not been forced to give in to his sunbae out of respect and allow his name-tag to be ripped)? Can I also hope for a SJH-centric episode like the Charlie's Angels one or the Spy one? Hope the next episode can give JH more screen time! Still, RM team seems to have worked a lot for this episode with the set up and creating the challenge of finding out the locations from their decades-old shots. It also had a coherent narrative arc which reminded me of some of the classic RM episodes. But I wonder why the PD decides to cut every episode into two (is KS going to be caught in the first 5 mins of the next episode? Or will they let him win?). It does give a slightly clunky feeling to see two episodes with different tones getting clubbed together for the next episode.

What are your thoughts, Spartacers?

Edit:

One of the funniest bits was when JK gets his nametag ripped and the chaser team says they did that so that he could join them and JH's worry is not about JK chasing her, but about him having to change his shirt again. Talk about priorities! Or are these the simple things that actually occupy one's thoughts when one is  a couple with someone?

Edited June 13, 2016 by athoughtcloud1
To add something

[dragonlovers]

Being a rm fan, I actually appreciate the effort made to reposition for KS (if this is the case), since having unlucky image can be funny yet it brings negative side too. Indeed, Gary need repositioning the most among the members. Understand that maybe the team still haven't figured out his new role and position, however being ripped off first and getting few screen time doesn't help. When he doesn't have a role or image that audience can remember, having less screen time actually leads him to "fade out" in audience's mind...

The writer has an interesting idea for this episode. However there are execution problems. For the start of the game, wonder what will happen if a member really didn't open the box? JK open the box only when JS said there have hints inside and ask the others to open the box. So the team actually wants all the members to open the box? Then why this session is needed for the first place? (They don't have enough broadcasting time already)

As an ace and the luckiest person who always find clues first among the members, hard for rm fan to believe JH cannot find any. With the four of them, JK, JH, Haha and gary, it is not hard to find at least one clue (given that we can see it is easy and eye-catching in JS KS and SJ part). When seeing gary being ripped off, JK, the one with high reflex and seldom shows his back to others (as he mentioned in other program) shake hands with guest, show his back and get ripped off. For whom just watch this episode, it makes sense but not for rm fan. Why not placing them in chaser team initially? It will do good to gary's position as well by showing his ability as a chaser.

To let the guests comfortable, JK teams up with the elder ones is good actually as one guest are friend with JK and the other join variety show for the first time. But gary is not really ready for leading two young guests who have little variety experience. Maybe this is the reason why their team has less screen time and only show up when the chaser team unites.

As shown in the triller, the chasing will be continued next episode but there are two new guests as well. Thus we can see that the chasing will not be that long. And the part with new guests will be short as well. So why brother to extend it into 2 episodes? Guests spare their time to join recording...(usually half day or one whole day) if the team often cuts out the screen time of guests ( as shown in almost all episodes recently), it is kind of disrespect for them. It will be more balance if the chasing ends in one episode and the two new guests have their episode seperately (the guests are in rm to promote their new drama named doctor, which has nothing to do with this episode's guests).

Maybe I am thinking too deep as I am really worried that rm will end very soon with the low ratings and lots of people decided not to watch rm due to low expectations. But the team has a long way to go. The situation will surely turn if they can improve the editing, balnce the screen time and reposition the members, especially gary.

This year will end soon and I can still remember JS said rm needs to go back to the first place in the broadcasting time in SBS Award Ceremony last year. It is cruel to focus on ratings but if rm keeps being the last, high chance for rm to end, which I don't want that happen...:(

Rm team fighting! JK and JH fighting!

@athoughtcloud1 Didn't notice that scene. Will re-watch again. They are really the cutie couple~~~~~Love to see they take care of each other unconciously^^

[kaycxn]

hi guys i was checking out jongkook's news and i saw this http://www.soompi.com/2015/06/03/kim-jong-kook-promises-to-get-married-before-age-45/ which summarize that jk will marry before the age 45, this can be inferred that he already have a partner that he wants to marry and has reasons why he cant marry now?

being delusional as always, can it be because they are filming now, but judging from the fact that MC lovelin has long ended, we might not need to wait for 5 years for a confirmation lmao

and now that the running man instageram page calls them spartace, i am pretty worried that our ship might be commerialize and might be another MC lovelin what do you all think about it

[Guest athoughtcloud1]

Agree with all your thoughts @dragonlovers. They spend too much time on the openings. They could have opened with all of them blind-folded in that booth and use the time saved to show some of the more interesting clue-hunting sequences. Like you, I too don't know what was Plan B if some hadn't opened the chests. Would those who didn't open have automatically become the chasers? But if that is the case, then you would have had around 4 members added to the chasing team (assuming JK, JH, Gary and JS  choose not to open). That would have led to a situation where an 8 member team chases around three of them which doesn't sound very thrilling. So, I can't imagine what was Plan B. If they actually wanted only a few to open the chest, then they should have been put in booths far from each other (like it usually happens), not in a place where they can talk to each other and influence each other's opinions.

I do not know about the chinese fans, but among some of the i-fans, I have been seeing this tendency to dub JK and JH as useless for some time now (Gary as well and Haha at times). They say things like JK and JH are not entertaining enough, that is why their air time is less. For this episode too, I saw comments like 'only those who work hard should get screen time" and "the four of them were so stupid and were just standing around while the other three were busy collecting clues" etc.. Of course, people are speaking from their biases, but I have to admit that the way this episode was edited made JK, JH, Gary and Haha look like fools since they were just standing around for the chasers to rip off their tags. That is why I wondered whether there was some order of ripping name tags in the beginning that made the four of them feel so relaxed about their getting caught while the other three were desperate to get away (not even sharing the clues).If the RM team didn't have the confidence in their chasing team, it would have made better sense to bolster their strength by placing JK and Gary as chasers in the beginning itself (like you suggested in case of Gary). Instead, like in usual RM hunts, JK had to be eliminated again in the silliest way to give the chasing team a fair chance. 

 Not all members can be the same - some may be good with the games,some may be good with the banter. The success of the team is in finding the balance - giving members who are good at games time to shine with that and for those who are good at the banter time to bring in the laughs. But if you don't give any airing time to the missions, then the action-oriented members lose much of the screen time and end up looking useless. Much of the tension of this episode came from RM replicating what it used to do in the early episodes - highlighting the mission where a member just refuses to give up the fight (like JH and Jae Suk used to do in early RM). If the action-oriented members are also allowed to play to their strengths by giving them challenging missions (instead of giving airing time to only those missions where there is entertaining banter between the cast members like it happened in the last episode), then something similar can happen in most episodes. The team may also not have to worry that much about the members' positioning then!

From SA naver - JH changing her direction to run after JK.

Initially JH's direction is different from JK's

JH is now back on track - after JK

@dragonlovers This is what I was talking about - JH worrying about JK having to get changed again. LOL

 

cre: as tagged

 

[elevenpapitus]

I try translating some naver netizen comments to the korean news about spartace.[+:support/agree -:don't support/disagree]

1.[+1270 -31]Miss the nametag ripping game!!

2.[+1248 -40]SJH is pretty beautiful...

3.[+1175 -61]Last week after KJK beating SJH on the pillow game,he hugged her.. being touched/felt heartbroken 

4.[+809 -28]SJH is beautiful and cheerful,love her!~~

5.[+640 -24]Nametag ripping game is  the most interesting game~~

6.[+106 -6]The cooperations of rm members are the best,but the power of production team is regrettable

7.[+95 -11]Needless to say,the strongest commander KJK and SJH who is both ACE and the most lucky one,it's great for their cooperation.kkk If runningman has the weakest cp,they are the strongest cp. hhh KJK sometimes plays jokes on JH ,but he sometimes worries her,looks after her,and comforts her.When JH plays games,she sometimes is afraid of the commander,sometimes believes and relies on him,so it's why they are the strongest cp! hhh 

8.[+76 -7]SJH is sooo beautiful~~~I'll watch runningman today's episode on time

 

[mary-ann]

http://voteformost.com/most-beautiful-korean-actresses-2016-poll/

Vote for Song Ji Hyo as th most beautiful korean actress, she was voted the most beautiful korean actress last year in this poll let's make her win it again this year it only takes a few seconds to vote, so please take that time to vote for her and show your support

 

[dragonlovers]

@athoughtcloud1 For Chinese fan, there are quite a lot comments saying JK and JH did not get much screen time because they are not working hard. After this episode aired, some also mentioned JK is not needed anymore cause he is old and has lot of wounds, KS is young and can take up the role...even though the one mentioned this is KS biased and I am glad that KS can show his ability this time, it is sad to read these comments...

In fact, the harmony and chemistry between members make the show shines. But the harmony is missing from the show long time ago. As I know, lots of JK Chinese fans do not watch rm anymore with the decreasing session for JK to shine, shortening screen time and huge amount of negative comments and hates JK gets from other members fan. (JK Chinese fans discovered that other fans think it is JK's duty to do all the hard work without appreciation, his effort in rm is not really appreciated among Chinese rm fans). Thus, they usually just watch the cut part and seldom watch the whole episode. For those who watch broadcast, they ususally get diasppointed and do not watch the whole episode. Don't know whether the situation will be similar for other members' fans. Even JK chinese fans are starting to point out JH got the least screen time this year...

Not able to gain new audience, rm is losing support from member's fandom as well. So it is essential for the team to think about the balance and harmony of members in the show.