Webtoon de Hoje (2022)

Great moments rather than a great story.

This could have been a perfect warm, cheerful, positive and destressing show with some fun and quality characters and great messages and dialogues, if it only had a solid direction of the plot. But it turned out to be a bit of a mess, with few gems here and there and a lot of unresolved frustration for me.

At first, they set the stage perfectly. We know who the main characters are and what their goals are. Who they need to fight against and what are the stakes. And then it all gets sidetracked and everything loses focus as we get more and more not well established side conflicts that are resolved in a half-assed manner.

Instead of truly diving deep into these underdogs trying to survive and strive in the company, keeping their webtoon team on board, we got a lot of random side stories and problems that were loosely related to the overall plot. Honestly, it’s the first time when the villain did not have to do anything, because the issues kept showing up even without his involvement. Things started moving forward in that aspect only in the last few episodes. Quite a weird and not engaging plot progression, if you ask me. Overall, there were just too many side plots and characters, so nothing felt truly developed and all conclusions anticlimactic.

The good point in how some messages were delivered was the fact the viewers get the "lecturing" and life lessons WITH the main character, and not delivered BY main character. Thanks to that, it never came across as preachy.

Onto the characters, On Ma Eum was amazing, until she wasn’t. Extremely optimistic and hardworking. What's important - she did not think things would just go well, she believed she could work hard to make them go well. She bet on her work, not luck. While she is a bit stuck in her "positive" world and attitude and fails to instinctually see how other people might have different approaches, once confronted, she tries to understand other people and act according to the new information.
Where her character failed was any and all interactions with Shin Dae Ryuk. Calling her approach as “ignorant” would be a compliment to how it truly went. On the surface it was all cute, nice and uplifting, but by the end, I just wanted this girl away from this child.

Seok Ji Hyung and Jang Man Cheol were amazing seniors and great mentors. I appreciated how I got no romantic vibes from Ji Hyung and Ma Eum. I loved to see their mentor-mentee dynamics. They tried to stir the pot with previews, but I learned not to trust them early on. I think we as viewers are conditioned to see romance everywhere, so even deep, platonic relationships seem to hint at romance for us.

Goo Jun Yeong might have seemed like this asshole cold main lead, but he was actually quite cute and harmless. He was straightforward with what he said, reacted well to people guiding him and took suggestions and advice to heart. He was far more open to new things than I thought he would be. It’s true that he had his ups and downs, but that’s what made him an interesting character.

All that said, with the great cast of the main characters, the one that truly stole my heart was Shin Dae Ryuk. It’s literally a crime how such an interesting character with such a complex background was not more of a prominent figure in the show. That wasted potential just makes me sad, and the conclusion to his story - mad. I don’t say it a lot when thinking about dramas, but this was truly offensive. It was so bad, I cannot even simply dismiss it as an ignorant take.

I don't have that much to say about the acting - everyone did a great job. Kim Se Jeong's existence is just unfair to us all. Not only is her singing just phenomenal, but she is also an amazing actress. She is so natural, no matter what role she takes. Also, the scene stealer, show stealer and hearts stealer - Im Chul Soo.

Production wise - typical kdrama. It was not breathtakingly beautiful, but it had some great moments screenshot worthy. Can’t remember one song, so that sums up the OST quiet well.

Overall, it was a nice watch. You know how there are some books with amazing quotes, but when you have to talk about the plot, you have barely anything to say? This drama is similar.

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Take the 50-50 chance.

Created by ‘Studio S’ and combinedly produced by ‘Binge Works’ & ‘Studio N’, “Today’s Webtoon ()” is a coming-of-age office drama with urban settings based on famous 2012 Japanese manga series “Juhan Shuttai!” authored by Naoko Matsuda which has been previously adapted as a Japanese drama with the same title in 2016. Written by debutant writers Jo Hyun Joo & Cho Ye Rang and directed by Jo Soo Won, the drama was broadcasted on SBS TV.

The story follows the lives of a webtoon editorial team that is on the verge of being dismissed due to mediocre performance in profiting a top IT company, NEON, which acquired it 3 years back. It begins with On Ma Eum (Kim Se Jung) and Gu Jun Young (Nam Yoon Su) joining the team as new recruits and soon becoming PDs in order to assist different artists. As the drama progresses, we see them struggling do their individual tasks and worrying about the team’s issues along with others, as everyone attempts to save their positions while also putting best of their efforts to comply with the artists.

Ma Eum is a former Judo player who could never look back after a hiatus following a major accident, while Jun Young is a fresher with high qualifications. Jang Man Chul (Park Ho San) and Seok Ji Hyung (Choi Daniel) are the Chief Editor and Asst. Editor of the team. Other familiar faces in the drama in major roles are: Yang Hyun Min, Ha Do Kwon, Im Chul Soo, Kim Gab Soo, Ko Chang Suk, Hwang Young Hee, Kang Rae Yeon, Ahn Tae Hwan, Kim Do Hoon, Jeon Hye Yun, Hal Yu Ri, Baek Suk Kwang, Jang Sung Yoon, Son Dong Woon, Baek Hooo Hee, Nam Bo Ra, Jang Hye Mi and Yoon Seo Ha.

Plot development is not very unusual, rather follow a feel-good flow in the premise of the office. The pilot episode created a good impression for me and the follow-up was nice. The basic elements and simple issues used to portray the odds and evens of a office worker in a webtoon editorial team and their interactions with the artists were in fact beautifully introduced and explained. The progression was smooth for a long time. I was honestly tip-toeing from the very beginning bc the comments on MDL were not very kind, but I enjoyed it till the 9th episode. However, the visible regressive changes in the flow and the quality of the story took place and that’s where you know that the writers are gradually losing it. By the 11th episodes it actually becomes boring and few aspects becomes weary and exaggerated. The ending was okay.

IMO, the debutant writer duo has done their best and it is natural and okay to be average on your first attempt, though the others in the production team could have guided them for better. The script is like half good and half bad; the first half was actually likable with good amount of creative efforts but the second half fell through badly. This is because the writers were free-minded at first but realized around the interval the manga has too much left to be told in another 8 episodes. I don’t know how good the original work is but I think I’d have not liked it much if the basic plotline of the story is actually like this. Nevertheless, the screenwriters have done a good job pouring the Kdrama essence into it.

Maker of many modern dramas of both light and intense genres, Jo Soon Won PDnim took charge of an office setup for the first time but the feel-good essence is surely preserved. The premise has been well-developed and the screenplay is well-executed. The urban vibes of the show with mostly light hue was very much suited. The sound production and screenplay editing were decent. So the directorial values remain consistent throughout.

There are 5 OSTs in the drama…
# “I FLY” by Jihyo
# “Bring it on” by Layeon
# “Today You” by O.WHEN
# “How is your day” by Kim Tae Woo
# “Walking Girl” by Kim Ye Ji

Unlike a lot of watchers who’re on this drama, I am very glad with the amount of romance. They never mentioned romance or tagged the show with romcom at all, so it’d have been okay with none of it. But its appreciable how there are several dynamics to portray workplace likings, love, attractions, confusion, infatuation, admiration, etc.
All these came in different versions and shown between different characters. Also, funny how some were mad about the makers confusing the audience with the first male lead to be paired with On Ma Eum, but no! the show wasn’t about it and their concerns were not to find lovers. The kind of chemistry Ma Eum has with the two male leads separately was beautiful; one being friend and the other being a superior. And, the way it was shown to have been both admiration from working together and attraction from spending time together, was actually realistic in many ways.

The main problem with the show was they introduced so many contexts but they failed to finish them in their due times, instead exaggerated each of them till the very end. The situations that could have been dealt with immediately and solved in a blink of moment, were unnecessarily and horribly dragged to a point that it became shabby and shoddy by the end. Extending Shin Dae Ryuk’s story and giving unnecessary twists just to fill the gaps was something I hated the most. Even Ju Young’s back story was a inessential element.

Typical tropes like family reunion, terminal illness, public opinion as well as appeasement, etc. did annoy me at points, provided that all these were accumulated in the 2nd half only. Some scenes were unnecessarily longer than required,

Final Remarks… Not a must watch but ypu could try either for the leads or if you are fond of feel-good office dramas, but don’t expect a lot because it actually turns choppy in the latter half. Anyways, I would not discredit the entire effort and the fact that it was simple and decent for 9 episodes, my overall rating will be a fair 6.5.

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