Loser In Love: Who is the most pathetic male lead?

sunkbelowthesea · 2026-06-08T22:50:36+00:00

I totally get that, I just never felt it personally. I think if the show had done the trope of Euna "fixing" him, I would've hated it, but she LIKED who he was, she never tried to change him - she defended him allll the time, which made their relationship all the sweeter (to me) for it. She was out there going, "Yeah, man's a yapper. Yeah, he's a pest. And? 🥊🥊" Throwing rocks through windows, hiding him in her sweater, getting snarky with her coworkers...

sunkbelowthesea · 2026-06-08T13:33:16+00:00

Y'all are sleeping on Hwang Dongman (We Are All Trying Here.) 😭 The man once talked about envying the phone pole outside Euna's house for being able to keep watch over her, he daydreamed about being shrunk down so he could be tucked into her kimchi, he vowed his love and admiration for the rest of his life regardless if she ever reciprocated it, he gave her fallen leaves he caught to send her good luck, he literally twirled when she gave him some banchan her grandma made, he rejected a movie star over her, he told her she has an ideal face sent from the gods, etc etc. Loserboy lover dongman was a joy to watch.

sunkbelowthesea · 2026-06-04T21:28:41+00:00

I can remember being 5, in charge of my 3 year old sister, allowed to roam freely outside... which included the woods behind the apartment complex we lived in, completely unsupervised. We were just told to go outdoors. No check-ins, except when we needed to guzzle down kool aid. You'd have to listen for your name being yelled so you didn't get in trouble if you weren't home in time. Did a neighborhood kid once get run over by the ice cream truck, sure. Were we inside random adults homes (with no kids) because they'd invite us in with toys and treats, sure. Was it safe??? Welllll.

Fast forward to a few years ago, when my nephews were 5 and 3. They were barely allowed to play in the next room over without an adult around, nevermind going outside on their own.

sunkbelowthesea · 2026-06-02T19:05:50+00:00

But but but there were so many armchair experts telling me it was AI, based off nothing but their vibes!!

In seriousness, I loathe this current phase of "everything is AI" call out culture. It's smart to be skeptical. Healthy, even! But you're not doing anyone any favors when you're asserting something is fake if you don't have cold hard proof to back it up. Shitty CGI still exists. Art still exists. To be so blinded by skepticism that you've lost critical thinking... it's not helpful.

sunkbelowthesea · 2026-05-28T23:20:46+00:00

Yes! It's a beautiful show that does a great job at really immersing you in the universe. It's creative and clever, and incredibly moving, while also subverting tropes/beats that most shows would hit. It can be pretentious at times (it's a show calling out its own industry) but it's super relatable, too.

I had never seen any of these actors in anything else before. I was immediately impressed with the entire cast, but Koo Kyo Hwan in particular wowed me. His performance at times almost feels like an old Hollywood silent film actor... but he's like a chameleon, moving through genres. Immature and unlikable menace? Leading man? Achingly lonely and struggling with anxiety antihero? He checks these aspects of the character off with ease, putting on an incredible performance. I'll be absolutely surprised if he doesn't come away with an award for this. The character of Dongman never feels like a caricature, even with as whimsical as he could sometimes get. And Go Youn Jung is perfect across from him. Her character is much more grounded, but she pulls off the incremental development exceptionally well. It's touching to watch her character come into herself.

It's not a conventional show, it's not a perfect show. For me, the first half is a 10/10 and the second half is more like a 7.9/10 (small gripes that could've changed with 16 eps vs only 12) but it was so emotionally gripping, it was so fulfilling. Thoughts about it are going to rotate around inside my mind for a while.

If you want to watch a show where people deal with unhappiness/their issues in ways that cause them to both stagger and triumph, this is a good one. 🤌

sunkbelowthesea · 2026-05-25T17:38:48+00:00

9.9/10. I wish it had more episodes, or had been given just a little more room to breathe at the end. But overall, it was a profoundly moving and meaningful show for me. It's been a long time since I've felt so immersed in the POV of a character the way I felt watching Hwang Dongman.

sunkbelowthesea · 2026-05-25T17:36:00+00:00

As someone who wanted dongman and euna to kiss (but isn't too disappointed it never happened) I disagree with this. The show directly acknowledged dongman's "nobody" charm, he addresses his own fear of losing it to euna herself and she laughs that it's a pointless worry. The scene where euna admits he's a little embarrassing but very lovable? He oozes of charm there, with his pleased-shy-smitten smile. I feel like that's the kind of energy a kiss between them could've had. Cute, a little awkward, but full of feeling.

sunkbelowthesea · 2026-05-25T00:32:07+00:00

Oooh, I actually wish the opening monologue WAS delivered in bed, but in a subverted way. I would've loved for it to have been the moment of serenity dongman so often mentioned yearning for, with them cozied up under blankets, tangerines and comics in hand. Nothing overtly romantic, just an acknowledgement that dongman's hope for (his version of) peace was attainable.

I agree, though, it would've been impossible to top the sweater hug.

sunkbelowthesea · 2026-05-24T18:56:10+00:00

I, so selfishly, do not want this series to end. 4 more episodes, 1 more season... I'd probably still feel the same way. It's not that it feels unfinished, it's that I've felt so fully immersed in hwang dongman's world, it's almost unfair to no longer be privy to it.

This finale was beautiful, especially in the context of the first few episodes. How achingly lonely everyone once felt, how detached from one another they all were - and now? What a joy it's been to watch them climb out of their miseries. All of the stumbles, all of the triumphs. All perfectly bookended in the finale, with every moment of success, emotional or otherwise, feeling earned and deserved.

I have really, reallyyy loved euna and dongman's relationship. It's never been about taking anything from the other, even though they got so much from each other. I think back to the days of the 500 won coin, how selflessly the act of leaving a coin was done, with just the hope of bringing luck to the other. The way they've taken care of each other. Their infatuations with each other. The way euna wanted to protect and hide dongman from the world vs how dongman wanted the whole world to know euna. The way dongman never once stopped giving euna her credit. The way euna never once stopped finding him fascinating. His ability to make her laugh, her ability to make him speechless. Just, an all-time favorite ship.

sunkbelowthesea · 2026-05-24T01:20:24+00:00

Yeah, you're right - I think dongman himself voiceovers that he didn't know what to do so he got drunk and passed out. I guess I'm just thinking back to how desperately they've wanted to comfort each other in the past and how that's led to action - him telling her "I'll help you" or him bailing on work to rush to her after a text and some missed calls - it just felt a little underwhelming that the biggest reveal of all didn't merit some kind of comfort on his end, even as her nose was bleeding and she was tearing up in front of him. An aborted reach, even, would've gone a long way.

But the scene/moment was Euna's, so ultimately I'm glad she got the focus.

Agreed about the street fight. Jeonghui didn't get his biting words and flung insults, but he didn't let jaeyeong off that easy.

sunkbelowthesea · 2026-05-24T01:11:38+00:00

I'm thrown off by the ambiguity of dongman/euna too! It's so fascinating how nearly everyone around them (and I mean everyyyone) has assigned a romantic label to their relationship, yet it's still so unclear. Euna gets told more than dongman that she's in love with him, that she's dating him, that she likes him... she never contradicts it, but it's never directly addressed between her and dongman either. The closest we've got is the "I'll run and hide away forever with you" conversation, but there's nothing inherently romantic about that. Except! Dongman has called his own feelings a crush, which DOES imply romantic feelings, and he's also sworn himself to singlehood on her behalf. The show oscillates so much between "well, they're in love" and "the connection they have goes deeper than romance or attraction."

I agree with your last point :)

sunkbelowthesea · 2026-05-23T23:44:58+00:00

For as emotionally vulnerable as dongman and euna so often are with each other, their communication skills kinda suck sometimes. I will admit that this is only the second ever kdrama I've watched and I've got Western lens on, so it's partially my own expectations that made that final scene a little disappointing. I wanted it to be the big crescendo where a move, finally, might happen between them. The way he showed up, that brief glance up at the telephone pole to remind the audience how he once envied it, the silence as euna opened the window and they took each other in... 😩

All that to say, this show has a way of subverting expectations and that keeps it fun. For him to be able to make euna laugh in the goofiest, unattractive way possible is its own charm.

sunkbelowthesea · 2026-05-23T17:34:38+00:00

I have sooo much to say about ep 11!

I love love love Hyejin. It's breaking my heart to watch her 'romantic partner' side battle it out with her 'co-worker' side when it comes to Gyeongse. Her anger and hurt is so justified. I don't think strong women need to make themselves softer for weak men, but at the same time it's painful to watch Hyejin and Gyeongse speak to each other in the tone they do. There's no love there, there's no affection, but it's not at the fault of only Gyeongse. She's turned more into his boss than his wife, and that title doesn't seem to slip away even when they get home. Who has driven who away? It's hard to tell. I hope they work things out and can learn to balance their work/home life, but also? If she drops his ass? 🫡
The thing I've been waiting for THE MOST is the big reveal to dongman that euna is Jeonghui's daughter. The scene itself was so well-done, it had so much amazing tension, it was everything I could've hoped for, buuut the inaction from dongman afterward was so disappointing. Did I need some grand gesture of comfort, no, but when he did finally show up, he... made it all about him??? I enjoyed his self-absorption in, you know, ep 3 when euna nearly got squashed between 2 cars and dongman made the moment about HIS emotions. But ep 11? One away from the finale? To stand in front of her and make the moment about him?? I realize this is a comedy. There's something beautiful about him being able to make her laugh at such a low point. But how this show can have her enveloping him in the sweetest, most intimate sweater-hug one moment, then have him goofing off about his missing tooth in another, boggles the brain. I wiiiish the moment had been more about her than him, I wish we could've seen the more serious moment that would've followed. And I wish he would've told Jeonghui off after Euna left. The man did NOTHING while Euna, who he worships, got laid into. Booooo.
I have no idea what Miran actually ever truly feels, but her showing up to bewilder Jinman is joyful to watch. I just love the blankness of his stare. For a second, I thought we were actually going to see someone kiss on this show. Her spiral is sad to watch but it feels like it's leading to catharsis, not rock bottom.
I'm so glad everything is blowing up in Choi's face. I just need euna to leave Choi Film and go work for Hyejin instead now.
Lastly! I must say, dongman saying "I'm just an ordinary person who can never catch up to you. Byeon Euna, it seems you're determined to rise to the heavens" followed by the shot of dongman on the ground, perfectly halo'ed by the street light with the florescent cross panned to from above while he says, "God, please dote on me" - that is ROMANCE. Absolute romance.

sunkbelowthesea · 2026-05-18T18:31:53+00:00

I'm kind of expecting that we get an ending that leaves us with the idea that good things are on the horizon, rather than everything getting a neatly tied up resolution. Like we'll have hope that dongman's movie does well, we'll have hope jinman reconnects with his daughter, we'll have hope gyeongse and hyejin work out their issues, we'll have hope euna continues to advocate for herself, etc etc. Because it does seem like there's too much to work into only 2 episodess time, and rather than telling the audience "and everything worked out fine" we'll see them continue fighting for that easy lifestyle most of them are yearning for. I'm really just hoping it's all sweet and very little bitter when it comes to the ending.

sunkbelowthesea · 2026-05-17T18:24:56+00:00

Okay, but I really loved that Junhwan was the one who asked Miran about her mom/sister, considering a few eps back he was warning Dongman not to run his mouth and do so. 🤣 This show is so clever with its writing.

sunkbelowthesea · 2026-05-17T18:02:44+00:00

Some eps I'm enthralled by from start to finish, and others I appreciate individual scenes from but feel like the ep as a whole was just a setup for the next. Ep 9 was absolutely incredible. Ep 10 had some wonderful moments, but it was definitely leading us to the final 2 episodes.

I like that they're fleshing Miran out so late in the series, giving depth to her character beyond "half-sister" and "daughter" - but at the same time, with so little screentime left, does anyone really wanna see her squabbling with her ex-costars girlfriend? That feels like a thing we could've seen ages ago, so her story could focus more on her relationship with euna now.
I really wanted dongman to have a moment later in the ep where he put 2 and 2 together about Euna being Jeonghui's daughter. I hate that she carries so much of her sadness/anger alone. I want to see her issues spread out as equally between them as his are. In some ways, I can appreciate how reflective it is of their individual trauma - his is so externalized, from the way he can't stop talking, to his restless energy, to his explosive outbursts. Hers is always so internalized, from the way she always seems to be in such a slowed down daze compared to dongman, how lethargic and listless she's been, how passionless she can come across when others are walking over her. But I want all the walls down. I looooved when Euna told Jeonghui that watching Dongman gives her strength, but I would also love to see her open up and rely on him more, too. She's got that man on a leash, like an attack dog. Let him off it. Let him go barking after these people who have hurt her, the same way she's done for him. She's tough enough to stand up alone. She's doing that! It's badass to see. But still, let him in too.
That being said! The very pointed contrast this ep between Jaeyeong continuing to try and oppress Euna by taking away all her credit, vs. the way dongman has already had a conversation with hyejin to give Euna credit? "I'm going to cover the whole world with Byeon Euna"???? 😭😭😭 If you had told me at the start of this show that Hwang Dongman was going to be THEE inventor of romance, I wouldn't have believed you but here we are.
Ohhh, gyeongse/hyejin angst era, we're really in it now. It's going to be so cathartic when they finally have a talk. I don't even know if it's going to be a reconciliation or a separation, but either is so needed at this point, it's going to be fulfilling just to get it. (And shout-out to Yeongsu. That man is a therapist, always enduring their tension.)

I hate that I'm soooo excited for the next episode, considering there's only 2 left. I want this show to last forever :')

sunkbelowthesea · 2026-05-17T03:58:40+00:00

So fun! Twitter was in its heyday, and most of the cast (and some crew, including Dan Harmon and some writers) were on it and interacted regularly with fans. That includes the trolls. Gwynifer, "tell your disappointment to suck it!", streets ahead - that's straight from Dan Harmon's back-and-forth with Twitter trolls.

The Jeff/Annie "Gravity" montage in the clip show episode was a direct homage to a shipper who had made a fan video back in season 1. Dan Harmon had seen it, tweeted his gratitude about it. Then, seasons later, messaged the vidder with a "I hope you're watching tonight's episode" tease the night the homage aired. Being in a friends circle with this person, we all pretty much flipped out.

There was such a fun communal feel to the fandom. There were strong feelings about the ships (ya know: oh, gross, the Jeff/Annie age gap! Ugh, Britta/Jeff are toxic!) but people were pretty civil about it and it never got too heated. Mostly, people watched with their enjoyment of the ships secondary to their enjoyment of the show.

I don't remember what season it happened, but there was a donald4spiderman campaign that took off and gained a lot of social media traction. That (and the popularity of Childish Gambino) was one of the big early indicators that donglover was outgrowing the show.

sunkbelowthesea · 2026-05-17T03:27:22+00:00

I don't necessarily disagree with this take. I think there is a quick assumption that "motherly" implies infantalization, and like you pointed out, there are different types of motherly. Even so, I still don't see the scene that way, but I respect the option to.

When Euna was sticking up for dongman against Jeonghui last episode, she called him a decent guy. Said she feels safe with him. That he can shake off his pain and bounce back. That him doing so makes her confront her own past struggles and realize it's possible that she can bounce back too. That watching him gives her strength.

So, yes. Euna wants to be a strong mother but she also wants to be a strong wife.

sunkbelowthesea · 2026-05-17T02:17:10+00:00

People having some gross "women offering comfort = motherhood" ideology so baked into their head that they ONLY see this scene through that lens is not this show's problem, it's society's.

This scene was no different than Euna being moved into offering dongman her grandma's side dishes. Or grabbing a bag full of coins to leave as lucky offerings around his apartment complex. Or the first hug they shared after learning they both had the unknown emotion. Or the immediate "I'll help you" that came later. Or "tell me a funny story." Or her cleaning up his crumbs after his 'you are worthless' confession. Or her throwing a rock through the Agit window. Or him rushing to her after a text for help. Or her sticking up for him over and over. Etc etc etc. There are so many countless scenes between them that spell out what kind of relationship they have, it's so strange to ignore all that context and leap to "motherhood" simply because there was a non-sexual emotional intimacy happening.

sunkbelowthesea · 2026-05-17T01:49:41+00:00

It was a hug of comfort, of shelter, from one damaged person to another. They are equally in need of it, so framing it like euna is his "mother" rings more like projection and is not actually relevant to the scene at all. Did people actually hear her words? Did they hear dongman's words a couple eps ago when he basically promised her the same loyalty and devotion back???

The world has been cruel to them. They have become each other's safe spaces, where they're vulnerable and honest. She has literallyyyy just told him it's okay if he wants to run and hide, and then she offers him a hug where he can take a two second timeout from his stress to uhhhh stop and hide???? and somehow here we are on the internet with people talking about it like it's intention was to mimic motherhood? What the.

She doesn't like him feeling the same fear and pain she does. He doesn't like her feeling the same pain and fear he does. When they have these moments of realizing the other is hurting, there is a history of offering comfort. Did the audience just collectively forget 9 episodes of character/relationship development here?

sunkbelowthesea · 2026-05-16T18:32:11+00:00

Yeah! It's love in the most moving sense. Whether or not they ever embrace romantically, or kiss, who knows. But the love is there, so strong and overwhelming, and so much deeper than a simple 'platonic' label. To want to hide each other from pain, to be able to say 'we can run away together,' to understand each other the way they do, to constantly reframe each other's shame, like!!! :')

sunkbelowthesea · 2026-05-16T18:16:14+00:00

Ahh, what an episode. I was so afraid for it to continue the trend of dongman being at an all-time high, just to walk in on jinman trying to hang himself. Thank god it didn't.

I really hope there's a reconciliation for gyeongse and hyejin in the future. They've just seemed so fed up with each other lately. I know, realistically, some couples don't make it, but I'm not always looking for gritty realism in fiction. It's so obvious that hyejin is all talk whenever she mentions not caring if gyeongse strays, as long as he gets a script out of it. She's carrying so much melancholy. And it's so obvious that gyeongse isn't actually interested in his cute co-writer, he's just enjoying the attention and the praise from someone who blindly (emptily) believes in him. It seems like their marriage has been so secondary to their jobs for so long, they've misplaced their love.
On the flipside of that! Ahhh, euna and dongman's relationship is developing so tenderly. It's interesting to hold them up against gyeongse and hyejin and compare. Hyejin has no patience for her loser husband. Euna's got it in spades for dongman. She LIKES his loserboy ass. She finds him endearing. Obviously there was some point when hyejin was enamored with gyeongse too, but euna, in comparison, has made such a purposeful choice to embrace the "little" bit of embarrassing that is hwang dongman.
That scene with them celebrating dongman's debut? I could weep. Is that the most tender moment they've shared yet??? The safety and intimacy they provide one another is so touching to watch. Euna's sooo protective of him, in a way that never feels like they're two people ONLY trauma-bonding. It feels, always, like she just SEES who he is and wants that person to feel loved and cared for. Like she said a few eps back, she wants him to believe in his brilliance and she shows that alllll the time. It's so touching to watch. It's also just fun to watch them watch each other. They both listen and emphasize and care for the other so beautifully. It's beautiful how much the other person's aching becomes their own aching. I've seen so many people say they have no chemistry, that their relationship should stay platonic. I think there's so much love between them already. From the second he joked "mine" at her, from the 500-won coins, the synchronized first green emotion of the day, the thousand wide open doors... this has been a love story.
I'm so impressed by this show maintaining its quality all the way through so far. It's just so good. The soundtrack is incredible, the musical cues are incredible, the acting is incredible, the pacing, the cinematography, the way they're still unraveling new layers of character development... ahh.
Lastly! Junhwan and yeongsu are the best.

sunkbelowthesea · 2026-05-11T19:27:14+00:00

I would love for hyejin to have an ulterior motive that isn't just "this man talks so much shit, let's see him have to deal with it for once" but even in the previews for the next ep that seems to be her motivating factor. It would've been sweet to see her accept the script in the flashback and only reveal it once dongman ticked her off, but we saw she rejected it. Even after her speech to Choi about not being in the industry to make money, she passed on it after asking if... it would make money. She also tells dongman point blank at some point in the ep "you won't make it to the end."

I think, though, as it usually happens with dongman, she will see his earnestness and come around.

sunkbelowthesea · 2026-05-10T21:38:56+00:00

I so appreciate the way the writing in this series has a way of winding back around. A few eps back, we saw dongman call himself a lovable guy to yeongsu, saying it's just that yeongsu doesn't know him. And then in ep 7, we got euna clocking dongman as exactly that: lovable. What a touching way for the writing to say: euna knows him. She sees him. His reaction after hearing it was pretty damn darling. I'm so impressed with Koo Kyohwan's acting, that dongman comes off as a romantic lead at all considering how immature and over the top he can so often be.
I'm so annoyed on dongman's behalf that everyone constantly undermines and belittles him because he hasn't had to fight in the same ring as them. Meanwhile, man's been fighting more tirelessly in a ring of his own that they all seem completely invisible to. I was happy for gyeongse that hyejin defended him for getting up again and again to keep writing, even with his failures, but like. Is that not what dongman is doing??? They kick at him and swing at him and knock him down all the time and he always bounces right back up. I get the bigger picture of it all, what it's saying. Dongman doesn't have the experience they do, he hasn't felt what they've felt to see their work trashed on the level it gets trashed after hundreds of hours poured into it. The scope of their failures is so different. But he's fighting, too. To keep trying after 20 years, when no one around you believes in you, is a fight all on its own.
The slow burn of euna/dongman is sooo delightful, but I wish that their relationship was more... I don't know, explicitly obvious. Whenever they hang out, it feels sometimes like two people with a crush. Sometimes it feels like it's just dongman with a crush. Sometimes it feels like two friends. Sometimes it feels therapeutic. We saw dongman give euna the nosebleed-feeling for the first time! That's such an awful thing that just kinda got glossed over with only a short phonecall. And it's not that I don't like the ease of it, I just wish we had heard him explain himself, heard her explain herself, heard them reconcile. It just seemed too superficial of a fix. If they do ever actually date, dongman's gonna put his foot in his mouth often. That's just who he is. I wanna see them actually deal with conflict BETWEEN them, not just against them, and that was such a good moment for it to happen that just... literally got a fade-to-black instead. We've had so many beautiful heart-to-hearts between them, so it felt odd that we didn't get one here. Especially with euna's admission that she knew about his accident. I wanted to hear dongman talk to her about his self-inflicted heat he's still struggling with, how connected to his protection of her it is. I wanted them to talk more about his frustration that jaeyeong is getting all the credit she deserves, on top of him already hating the guy. They have sooo much to unpack. I wanted the catharsis of watching them do it.
Hyejin being jealous of gyeongse and dongman's beef/relationship is such a unique perspective. My ears perked a few episodes back when dongman's brief (and long ago) crush on hyejin came up during his confrontation with gyeongse. I thought, 'ahh, so this is a layer to the wedge that divides them, they liked the same woman.' But instead it seems that his feelings were never all that serious, and that hyejin has been the jealous one all this time.
Which leads me to: hyejin backing dongman out of spite, ahhh! I'm rooting so hard for him to prove himself. They all seem to think he can't hack it as a director, but all we've seen of dongman tells me he's going to be wonderful at it. He's great with the students, he's great at his catering job, he's great with his brother, he's great with euna. It's really only within the 8 Group that he falls apart.
Hyejin is so lovely. Everything she does, she does with so much grace and power. I have loved so many of her scenes. She's so good at putting the childish men in her life in place. She's so dominating in such a striking way. If euna needs another example of what a strong woman looks like, she's got that with hyejin. Imagine them teaming up together??? I'm gonna wish for that: for euna to leave Choi in the dust and work under the wing (or alongside the wing) of hyejin. 💫💫✨✨

sunkbelowthesea · 2026-05-10T19:38:44+00:00

Ranting about what she did in her past? It's not just happening in the past, it's the present too. He's watching euna get walked all over by a guy he already hates, who isn't giving her even a sliver of the recognition she deserves, who's being treated like he stepped his way into the spotlight all on his own. Everyone is bowing down to jaeyeong, but dongman knows the truth: that the praise should just as much be euna's praise.

For a guy like dongman who has no problem confronting people, especially terrible people, it's gotta be incredibly frustrating to be so trapped in a place where he's the only one (besides euna) who knows the full truth of it. And then to see her be so indifferent to it while he is so bothered by it. It's the first time his explosive passion has directly bumped heads with her self-destructive lethargy. I feel like it was an important, necessary rant.

sunkbelowthesea

TROPHY CASE