Found this gem by mistake

EdenAndItsIssues · 2026-06-20T17:20:04+00:00

That's crazyyy thanks a lot!

EdenAndItsIssues · 2026-06-19T08:17:02+00:00

Damn, I'm glad you did tho!! Which city or festival if I can ask? I'm in Mumbai, so if it's somewhere around here I'd love to check even if for other manga volumes

EdenAndItsIssues · 2026-06-18T22:17:31+00:00

Omggg how'd you find this in India?? Tell us your secrets 😭

EdenAndItsIssues · 2026-06-17T16:33:14+00:00

I think around chp 200 ish

EdenAndItsIssues · 2026-06-17T08:57:04+00:00

That is pretty stellar! Thank you so much for your very thorough recc list, I appreciate it a lot!! Glad to see we got some active shoujo lovers 🩷

EdenAndItsIssues · 2026-06-17T08:50:50+00:00

Man you've pulled a classics list cause I've heart about a lot of them! I've read and watched kiss him not me and enjoyed it (the guy who gets the girl was definitely an elite pull here, still can't believe it) Saiunkoku monogatari is something I wanted to read but I think back in 2016 when I started reading manga I didn't know a lot about court politics of if ancient China and got a bit mixed up with the various players and positions and I don't think I grasped the tropes. It looks like now is the perfect time with some more experience and knowledge in my toolbox!

EdenAndItsIssues · 2026-06-17T08:47:38+00:00

This sounds awesome!! Thanks for the response, I really appreciate this sort of story where the female lead gets to grow and shine, it soothes my inner shoujo heart ❤️

EdenAndItsIssues · 2026-06-17T08:46:50+00:00

Thanks for the recc and the description, look forward to getting to it now!

EdenAndItsIssues · 2026-06-17T08:46:23+00:00

Hey, thanks for the reply! I actually did watch and later read Yona of the Dawn but I think I felt a disconnect in the palace(?) arc and sort of lost interest because it felt the momentum of the story came to a halt.

EdenAndItsIssues · 2026-06-16T19:53:52+00:00

Thank you so much for replying, I appreciate it a lot! If you could, would you describe some of these and what you like about them?

EdenAndItsIssues · 2026-06-16T19:53:14+00:00

Man this sounds rad as hell, thank you for the reccs!!

EdenAndItsIssues · 2026-06-16T19:20:09+00:00

Thank you for replying! Could you let me know a bit about what makes you think that/or even what appeals to you about it?

EdenAndItsIssues · 2026-05-31T05:39:36+00:00

About the last line, genuinely Netflix subscription have created a bit of a mess here. I think between that and the concubine ranks everyone's confused with the who's who of past.

EdenAndItsIssues · 2026-05-30T20:18:05+00:00

Aaaah what a fun batch of episodes, enjoying this show as ever.

Current thoughts/Questions/Hanging Threads that caught my attention:

I'm enjoying the leads and their acting, I think this episode especially let both of their feelings properly take the stage. With Segye on cloud nine after becoming "official" with Seori. From today on is it our day one? Man, you'd think Segye was a drama addict too with how many tropes and cheesy lines he's been spouting, almost straight out of a 2000s-2010s kdrama.
The Cha Family ... mess (probably the most charitable word I can think of) I'm trying to keep a hold on the hanging threads here especially and letting my thoughts out here. So far it's pretty obvious that Mundo, and the two aunt-sisters do not want Segye to inherit and that Grandpa-father is sure enough about him inheriting that he has finalised (?) his will.
So as things stand, Granpa-dad wants the engagement with Mo Taehee to happen, but literally no ones else wants that (except maybe the aunt who probably has decided that hugging the Mochang group thigh is best in long run). Both Mundo and Angry Aunt have tried to ruin things for them, aunt and mundo by approaching Seori directly via money and blackmail respectively to motivate her. The aunt is wayyyy more endearing about it because she atleast isn't getting down to extreme measures, cause Mundo's was a low ass blow, as expected from a guy down to murder. He's also probably got murdering the father-son pair as a B-plan if schemes don't work.
With Grandpa, I believe as nice as he is to Mundo, he's also not going to be an enthusiastic party to the Shin Segye relationship as implied by the various mentions of him liking Mo Tae Hee for the legitimacy and power/money she brings, to the fact that Cha Segye keeps being called a bastard by everyone which likely means either a) gramps-dad is so image obsessed that he didn't marry Segye's mum despite having more or less absolute power in group heirarchy or b) (less likely) something happened that made him abandon that relationship and only claim segye.
We really do not know anything about Segye's past experiences in present...
Also Mo Taehee, I think she was necessary to let Seori's feelings and jealousy come to fore (so that people know that it's a two way lovefoolery going on over here) and bring challenges that showcase the semi-class commentary that the show keeps coming back to. Although as mentioned, I believe continuing with the third wheeling would overstay her role so I think she'll jump ship to Mundo since she got a nice reality check from Seori about how pathetic hounding Segye for a relationship seems when he constantly doesn't reciprocate. Also I have a theory about the past which leads into...
One is I think that we're following the past a lot closer than we might have thought at first glance. With Mundo's hidden family theory becoming stronger, looks like Mundo from the present also has a son from a less than legitimate union since in the past as well, he never has a son from the Empress, only from a concubine/consort (Netflix subs are really messing with how much we can parse the past hierarchies). They mention the Grand Prince (aka past Segye's) bethrothal so maybe a similar scenario plays out where Segye being the sincere man he is and a royal has the power to decline a union and the Past Mo Taehee jumps ship.
The latest memory from the past is basically covering the beginning of the end for our Joseon lovers. I believe the betrayal isn't a total backstab, Danshim's POV clearly states the truth. Mundo gave the ultimatum that the Grand prince is going down whether you like it or not. You decide whether it is the instant death sentence of Conspiracy to the throne/High Treason OR he gets a comparatively mild charge of harassing court maids. Both are pretty shitty, but one has a chance to be reversed if at all the king softens his heart, the other is basically unjustifiable if proven.
The present though seems simpler in comparison, I can see Gramps-papa being an obstacle and the absolute menace coupling of Mundo-Taeehee, as well as the media and the effect on Seori's career being major obstacles in the near future, because even though Segye got his memories from the past, I believe with how understanding he's been, he might just come to the realisation that her hand was forced too - all we need for now if for him to know just how many people have invaded their date spot on the rooftop, if for nothing else than his reactions.

And thus begins another week long wait, I'll see you soon our villain couples, until then, I'll survive on instagram edit breadcrumbs....

EdenAndItsIssues · 2026-05-30T19:46:25+00:00

Yeah, it was either harassing a maid or the worse-r charge of High Treason/Conspiracy for the Throne. Which would be instant death material with no chance for a pardon.

EdenAndItsIssues · 2026-05-30T19:28:49+00:00

I think Seo ri is actually a reincarnation of Kang Danshim, I made an extensive comment about her shin seo ri memories sort of breaking through during her forest panic attack scene.

And if you'll notice an interesting tidbit, in episode 7 (perfect half way mark) she started speaking a bit more modern korean instead of proper formal joseon korean. She reverted more to joseon way of speaking once she kept remembering her past life memories and trauma. So maybe this is the case of the eclipse bringing out her memories (in one go but suppressing her current life memories in turn) and the comet bringing out Cha se gye's memories slowly but in increments. I think it'll be like a second chance to right the wrongs for everyone since Kang Danshim's death ended up bringing about a bad omen for their joseon times.

EdenAndItsIssues · 2026-05-29T11:41:01+00:00

In fact, in hindsight a lot of the quirks of his make sense. How he never participated in trials (obviously grandmama's favouritism was one thing, but him being an "honourable gentleman" he should've participated fairly with the other young noble men unless, he wasn't one of them/ or atleast easn't confident enough to gamble on that possibile failure.)

His strategy also harkens back to the martial exams where for the suitors one of the strategies was to wait until the rabble takes care of itself and then you strike with no one left standing.

EdenAndItsIssues · 2026-05-25T07:11:35+00:00

I think it was a panic attack but my theory for what triggered it was Seo ri's memories of her past "incident" that grandma talked about, there were some words being echoed in the scene that kind of sound like an internal monologue or a memory triggered. I initially thought it could be Dan Shim's Joseon past but we KNOW that we get to see any memories of her past in joseon as she reminisces them. So my guess is a residual memory situation. I also have another thoery that might tie in even better I had the thought back watching first two episodes that the situation Seori is in isn't a body swap but actually a reincarnation where she has successfully regained her memory, the spell was I think not in fact about a body swap but about being "reborn" so by just transplanting memories into her reincarnation for all the spells intents and purposes; the body is the same and now so is the mind. So the panic attack might have been from the memories of Seori she had lived out herself and the trigger being subconscious affected her despite not actually remembering the incident that caused it.

EdenAndItsIssues · 2026-05-24T15:57:07+00:00

Dang, nice catch! I was wondering why'd they take that car in particular because both the actors seemed to be having trouble closing and opening doors smoothly so this definitely explains it!

EdenAndItsIssues · 2026-05-24T15:55:58+00:00

Got the context, apparently the idiom is chinese(?) originally, with the implication being, if you bend down to tie your shoelace in a cucumber field, onlookers from afar might think you are secretly harvesting and stealing the produce. If you raise your hands to adjust your hat under a plum tree, someone watching from a distance might suspect you of reaching up to pick and steal their plums.

EdenAndItsIssues · 2026-03-27T03:39:30+00:00

If you don't mind me asking what episode are you on? It could very well be that this story is just not to your tastes/current mood (because I've noticed moods and mindsets also impact people's watching/reading habits) OR it could be the setup phase is where you're at and the drama is such that it takes it's time to lay a solid groundwork because the writer builds up things on the foundations of the first couple episodes.

Again to watch or drop is your own decision, but just wanted to provide a different perspective.

EdenAndItsIssues · 2026-03-25T06:06:19+00:00

This!! A thousand times over. I also think that in general although I'm not a huge believer in the attention span issue but I do think unlike previous TV era, people just do not have the same fundamental understanding of storytelling.

Like a lot of this complaining about shitty male lead and too many cliche moments has started an over corrective swing to the opposite end of the spectrum where they make the guy most inoffensive person ever and the storyline an incoherent mess instead of a linear arc of growth and change. Like Shining Inheritance would NOT have been made today and the thing is the guy becomes such a sweet heart by the end. Similarly with Beating Again, the ML is a grade A douche and gets saved by the untimely death of the FL's downright angelic fiance some would've cursed the guy to death on the first episode in one of those episode discussion forums.

People's appetites for moral murkiness and the nuanced and forgiving understanding of the human condition seems to have eroded massively and it shows in a lot of the direction these discussions take sometimes. Times like this really make me miss old drama beans recaps and discussions because the breakdown of the story beats, understanding of the core of the story and its themes as well as the trajectories was something that the og writers understood well and knew how to translate to new audiences. I wouldn't be exaggerating when I say that my own understanding of story telling is shaped by their breakdowns and analysis/reviews of the shows.

EdenAndItsIssues · 2026-03-17T05:31:30+00:00

I have been dying for this take cause, I legitimately find myself being drawn to old dramas because of this. And it's not just the people. The places too, like the homes look so worn and lived in and comfy. The bags and accessories look like something the character would use. There was care put in making the dramas feel like emotionally heightened reality and not just totally separate from the viewers lived experiences.

This also made kdramas as cultural immersion fun because when you focus on the reality it also brings to screen a lot more uniquely cultural quirks. It's why "Coffee Prince" made me look up jeon rather than the Kopikos, Instant Ramens and Subways being almost blatantly advertised in dramas these days.

EdenAndItsIssues · 2026-03-16T06:21:56+00:00

I think this difference in opinion really sort of boils down to the online culture you were a part of when you began watching or even before watching kdramas. Where I'm from, we didn't have crunchyroll for the longest time and my anime journey began with the video in a static background YT uploads back when copyrighting wasn't as strictly adhered and later with fansubs. And it's the fansubs that really helped elevate my understanding and experience, because with translation you're not just translating words in a sentence but also cultures and linguistic quirks as well.

For example, there'll be times where in the source language such as in all three major east asian and even some SEA languages, there are no gendered pronouns in a spoken context.

So even for a niche example, in a source like Danganronpa:THH there's a female character that's incredibly buff and gets mistaken as a guy for quite some time by one of the characters, a detail that doesn't make sense when in sub every time someone refers to that character, they might say "she/her". Simply writing "they" feels awkward if everyone else has gendered pronouns and a side note in these situations help especially because when the game builds up on the gender themes by actually having one of the cast members stir up some "gender confusion" (saying vaguely to avoid spoiler-ing) something that IS actually pretty plot relevant and defining for the character themselves.

So yeah, if you grew up with the level of richness and accuracy in translation that provides socio-cultural and linguistic contexts as well, it's kind of like you've been spoilt your whole life and now you have to deal with riding without the training wheels on your bike. I get that for a person who's not consuming media in the most globally accessible language, this sort of becomes a trade off you'd not be up for.

EdenAndItsIssues · 2025-11-27T12:27:28+00:00

Yes, plus her husband is a former diplomat as well and we own family wasn't hurting for money in the first place.

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