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ockoala's awesome blog, which has turned into a MK-central zone of sorts, I started thinking why MK is not having me frothing at the mouth.
Even though MK ends this week at 16 eps, I have not yet watched any eps past 9. I enjoy the show whenever I watch it, but in-between the episodes I forget all about it. And so when I find myself with free time, I find myself devouring SKKS and Giant raws or Daemul and Gloria subs.
I keep trying to articulate why MK is my equivalent of 'pleasant but forgettable.' Let me try to put it into words.
I think, more than anything, it is because there are no stakes in MK. Nobody will die or get their life ruined or their child taken away or end up homeless or in psychiatric care or anything else of any magnitude in even the wildest worst-case scenario. What is the worst that can happen? Hani and Seung Jo don't get together. But it's pretty clear Hani, once outside of SJ's orbit, will move on. And SJ will continue his functional and placid if emotionally dull existence.
There is no edge of your seat here at all.
"But wait, Mousie," points out a reader. "Most of romcoms don't have life-or-death stakes and aren't some of your favorite dramas slice-of-life ones?"
Correct, my hypothetical strawman, correct. I love slice-of-life dramas like Aishiteiru to Itte Kure and Brand to bits, and my favorite drama of all time is, in fact, a slice-of-life one - Worlds Within. And it's true that in most romcoms the worst that can happen is that the couple won't end up together - there is no threat of a lunatic assassinating Chae Gyung from Goong, and Gong Chan from My Girl is unlikely to die of a terminal illness whether he gets to live happily ever after or not.
And now we come to a second but. A successful romcom (or a romantic slice-of-life) works by convincing me that even though the worst thing that can happen is the OTP not being together, their love is so profound and life-changing and strong, that this would be a horrible tragedy (and by extension, a general slice-of-life also shows you that whatever bad mundane outcome can happen is devastating - by making you care so much for the characters' success). I bawled my way through the last three episodes of Aishiteiru to Itte kure, screamed at my screen with Worlds Within. But I do not get that feeling of emotional urgency with MK at all. MK, with all its charm, fails to sell me on the protagonists' relationship being profound, life-breaking, the most amazing thing that could happen. MK's very realism is against it there - unlike the other dramas I mentioned, which all deal with adults and complex and fascinating ones too, MK's protagonists are realistic everyday teenagers. That leads not just to my finding them less interesting or relatable (if MK has any overarching theme, it's growing up, but it's not something that is often interesting to me outside of some extra stressors thrown into the mix) but their love doesn't come across as soul-searing or stronger-than-death either. This is not helped by the chemistry between the leads - it's sweet and friendly but hardly toe-curling, the way it was in the Taiwanese version. Acting abilities factor in as well, of course. For example, Coffee House is a mellow romantic slice-of-life about little things but its star is the amazing Kang Ji Hwan who owns me with every look.
MK is enjoyable and well-drawn but it fails to obsess me because - how shall I put it - I can live without it because the characters can live without each other too.
ockoala's awesome blog, which has turned into a MK-central zone of sorts, I started thinking why MK is not having me frothing at the mouth.Even though MK ends this week at 16 eps, I have not yet watched any eps past 9. I enjoy the show whenever I watch it, but in-between the episodes I forget all about it. And so when I find myself with free time, I find myself devouring SKKS and Giant raws or Daemul and Gloria subs.
I keep trying to articulate why MK is my equivalent of 'pleasant but forgettable.' Let me try to put it into words.
I think, more than anything, it is because there are no stakes in MK. Nobody will die or get their life ruined or their child taken away or end up homeless or in psychiatric care or anything else of any magnitude in even the wildest worst-case scenario. What is the worst that can happen? Hani and Seung Jo don't get together. But it's pretty clear Hani, once outside of SJ's orbit, will move on. And SJ will continue his functional and placid if emotionally dull existence.
There is no edge of your seat here at all.
"But wait, Mousie," points out a reader. "Most of romcoms don't have life-or-death stakes and aren't some of your favorite dramas slice-of-life ones?"
Correct, my hypothetical strawman, correct. I love slice-of-life dramas like Aishiteiru to Itte Kure and Brand to bits, and my favorite drama of all time is, in fact, a slice-of-life one - Worlds Within. And it's true that in most romcoms the worst that can happen is that the couple won't end up together - there is no threat of a lunatic assassinating Chae Gyung from Goong, and Gong Chan from My Girl is unlikely to die of a terminal illness whether he gets to live happily ever after or not.
And now we come to a second but. A successful romcom (or a romantic slice-of-life) works by convincing me that even though the worst thing that can happen is the OTP not being together, their love is so profound and life-changing and strong, that this would be a horrible tragedy (and by extension, a general slice-of-life also shows you that whatever bad mundane outcome can happen is devastating - by making you care so much for the characters' success). I bawled my way through the last three episodes of Aishiteiru to Itte kure, screamed at my screen with Worlds Within. But I do not get that feeling of emotional urgency with MK at all. MK, with all its charm, fails to sell me on the protagonists' relationship being profound, life-breaking, the most amazing thing that could happen. MK's very realism is against it there - unlike the other dramas I mentioned, which all deal with adults and complex and fascinating ones too, MK's protagonists are realistic everyday teenagers. That leads not just to my finding them less interesting or relatable (if MK has any overarching theme, it's growing up, but it's not something that is often interesting to me outside of some extra stressors thrown into the mix) but their love doesn't come across as soul-searing or stronger-than-death either. This is not helped by the chemistry between the leads - it's sweet and friendly but hardly toe-curling, the way it was in the Taiwanese version. Acting abilities factor in as well, of course. For example, Coffee House is a mellow romantic slice-of-life about little things but its star is the amazing Kang Ji Hwan who owns me with every look.
MK is enjoyable and well-drawn but it fails to obsess me because - how shall I put it - I can live without it because the characters can live without each other too.
