The curious case of Big...

[dangermousie]

Big is all sorts of cute (and miles better than the shrill horror that was Best Love) and makes me giggle but I am left emotionally uninvolved. Perhaps it's that while I liked Daran/Kyung Joon, I don't go for Daran/KJ in YJ's body at all. I don't think the leads have much chemistry, but also, this is just not the vibe I get - it's more of a 'he's a lonely boy who needs a family and she'd be a great older sister.' I am not feeling more from either of them and that's a bit of a problem.

Comments

[algelic.livejournal.com]

I really WANT to love "Big"... but I can't.

I love Gong Yoo's acting, I love the story, I love the kid.... but I despise the heroine. Everytime she's on screen I want to punch her. She has the IQ of a jellyfish and the emotional maturity of a 5 year old. Gosh, won't someone shoot her?
Even Mari, even though she's played by an emotionless robot, is loads better than her.

Hate the heroine and feel no emotional connection to the story. Probably if the heroine wasn't so dumb and childish we'd get some more mature love vibes.

Also, is it just me or did the beginning of the drama remind you of "Majo no Jouken"? When he took her on the motorcycle to comfort her. Except, you know, "Majo no Jouken" was loads better than this.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yes, it made me think of MnJ but I was obsessed with MnJ and this is...pleasant but unmemorable.

I am OK enough with Daran (let's face it, it's Hong Sisters, they haven't done a smart/powerful heroine in years) but the whole thing is kinda a pleasant blah...

[iheartkleenex.livejournal.com]

Well you might not have to ship them at all seeing as she might be his 'mother'. Which is completely insane but that's almost everyone's theory at the moment.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Bzuh? Did YJ have a kid at 11? That's kinda insane. Half-siblings, sure, but father and son?

[iheartkleenex.livejournal.com]

I know! That's my reasoning behind it as well. Unless the character chart is lying to us....even then it would be insane. I think they might be brothers, if not maybe uncle and nephew? At thins point I don't even know who I'm supposed to ship. But overall I love the drama. Better than any of their latest ones.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, brothers or uncle I can see.

I don't really ship anyone in this but the drama is adorable.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, BIG is fun and cute, but, but, I don't feel the KJ and DR couple!

I see no chesmitry! I see a brother and big sister together, not couple.

It is funny because I do ship YJ and DR (I think they have more chesmitry! lol And is the same actor LOL)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I agree, I see siblings only. Not sure why.

[(Anonymous)]

**
I meant chemistry...

lol

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

:)

[puion.livejournal.com]

I totally agree...I just don't feel any connections between the leads.
As much as I love GY...and he's so hot...
I just don't feel much for the girl...hahaha, maybe being GJP's fiancee ruined it.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I loathed her as fiancee but here I am just not feeling the chemistry.

[jsharia.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I have to agree. I do see some of the chemistry between the characters, but when I think about what Kyung Joon needs, I think it is a sister. I think he craves familial love and safety more than anything else. I think, and kind of hope, that that is maybe what this drama will focus on. I think that could be interesting!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I think that would be really good. He needs family more than romance.

[rectherapyfreak.livejournal.com]

YES! This is what I am hoping for!! I am so hoping it goes this way! I feel the flash backs are showing that their really was love between Daran and the Dr and he wasn't just doing it because he felt he had to.

[lysblack.livejournal.com]

i agree with you, i'm loving BIG so much, but i'm not shipping the lead girl with any of the guys, i just don't feel any passion opr romantic conenction of her with any of the guys.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, surprisingly I like it despite not shipping at all.

[lysblack.livejournal.com]

btw did you see that ji hoon got the drama after all! i'm so damn happy!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I saw! I will now watch a 50-ep majang (I occasionally like majang but the writers in this one tend to go insane) just for him. I really hope the ratings are decent. Pls pls pls.

[lysblack.livejournal.com]

i don't even like majangs very much or dramas that are too big (ojakgyo brothers was the only over 25 eps drama i ever had the patienc eand pleasure to watch) but for him i will, i missed him so much, he's such an amazing actor and he screwwed up but it was his life i still don't get the korean society, people have done worse but had comebacks.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Ojakgyo was marvelous, wasn't it?

Yeah, there are active popular stars out there that killed people racing/drunk-driving etc. Taking drugs doesn't injure anyone else so it's small fry in comparison. Plus, he paid any societal debt by now!

[lysblack.livejournal.com]

it really was, i hope to see the OTP together again in a drama (their coffee cf didn't do it for me i need more).

pretty much all of that! free joo ji hoon! he went to army, he is clean, he's incredible talented! one of my dreams is to see him acting with eun hye or min ah again.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

"Free Joo Ji Hoon!" Maybe we can get this on t-shirts :)

I still need to finish OB (I am on ep 42) but iTH/JW are so adorable! I don't care about the rest of the stories, but theirs makes up for it.

[lysblack.livejournal.com]

start an international campain to support him would make korea love him again, becuase then he would be a part of hallyu and what not.

they really are 5the best part of the drama, along with JE and the mom.

[rectherapyfreak.livejournal.com]

Nerdly butting in to this conversation to also squee about this!! So excited he is returning to dramas!! I hope it does great and the other networks work with him again!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I know, so excited!

[rectherapyfreak.livejournal.com]

Even if the drama sucks we have to watch it to support him!!!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yessss

[sisterjune.livejournal.com]

BIG is honestly boring me. I know you hate Hong Sister's zaniness, but it usually while being very stupid is entertaining to watch. Best Love was very entertaining to me. But BIG is boring the shiz out of me. Its not the understated vibe cause I'm fine with that, but like you said its a love story and there's no chemistry. Even if it was the boy and the teacher I am not sure I'd see the romance but I would still watch cause its a novel idea and I enjoy noona romances but its not even that since the kid is in Gong Yoo's body so you just have Gong Yoo acting cute and childish and its not that endearing tbh. frankly the plot just isnt that eventful. and I'm more interested in Choong Shik's and Mari's goofy relationship. It kind of reminds me of one of the adorable side romances in Flower Boy Ramyun Shop (which I know u also didnt like XD)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I don't mind zaniness when there is something else to it beside pure slapstick (see Hong Gil Dong). I've adored three of their dramas - HGD, My Girl and DGCH and they had mixed degrees of zaniness but they all had characters I truly was invested in (hmmm, maybe time for a DGCH or My Girl rewatch). Big is nice but I don't really care for any of them. BL drove me nuts because I didn;t care for them and the hamminess drove me nuts.

[village.livejournal.com]

Big is such a weird drama for me because while I love the hell of GY, I have zero desire to watch the drama. Body swap romances are a bit iffy for me in general. In terms of entertainment value, I like them, but I don't like the up in the air aspect of them when it comes to shipping. I don't like shipping uncanonically - it's just too depressing - so this kind of things always leaves me wary.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

You are clearly my drama twin! I loathe uncanon shipping and in all my years of drama watching only did it thrice - Bad Guy. BOF and Dream High. I think if I uncanon ship, there is a major flaw with the writing, because it takes a lot for me to do that.

I love GY but he has no chemistry with LMJ so...

[village.livejournal.com]

Why would you bring up Bad Guy? WHY? I have bad memories of uncanon shipping hell.

I can't imagine GY not having chemistry with one of his co-stars. Weird. Oh, well. Maybe it's one of those dramas that gets better as it progresses. I'm holding out hope because I do plan on watching it eventually.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I always wondered in in BG they were supposed to end up together after KNG's death - remember, they were going to have 4 eps post his death but it got cut.

[firthgal.livejournal.com]

I am really enjoying Big, but my problem is that I just don't know who to root for. I feel like there isn't enough POV from Da Ran, so it's hard to tell exactly what she's feeling and who she's feeling it for. I can't even really tell if she was truly in love with YJ. I love that they are showing that relationship in a new light through the flashbacks, but the flashbacks are all colored by the perception of the person talking about/remembering the event, so it's hard to make out whether they had anything going for them or not. But this last ep really made me enjoy their dynamic (with YJ being shy and a little socially inept and only showing her admiration when she wasn't looking). So, while YJ seemed to like her for her quirkiness, DR only seemed to like him because he was a handsome, well-mannered doctor. She literally knows nothing about him and was about to get married to him. But she wanted that relationship to work so much that you can't help but hope that he truly loved her. So... I guess I'm invested in them? A little bit? But not with Da Ran and the student as YJ. I actually feel like Gong Yoo has way more chemistry with Suzy. They were playing off of each other beautifully, and you can feel what their romance was like when he was in his original body, and it just feels right. Whereas his interactions with Da Ran are more along the lines of brother/sister and the show isn't being very clear about who Da Ran is going to fall in love with. Is Gong Yoo as YJ the second lead? Or is Gong Yoo as the student the second lead? It's just so warped and I love that the show is trying to defy convention with that, and to be honest, that's probably what will keep me watching.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I am not really feeling either couple, which is interesting because I am still enjoying the humor and the mellow vibe.