Two much talked about Mon-Tues K-dramas ended today and I’m not going to say “I told you so” to those who stuck around for the entire journey, but even in my jaded and zero expectation left imagination I could not possibly have come up with more inane and unsatisfying endings than what these two delivered as a one-two punch. Spoilers after here, you are forewarned. Gu Family Book couldn’t even stick to its kindergarten level narrative and let the two leads Kang Chi and Yeol Wool skip off into the moonlight holding hands and frolicking under the stars. Nope, the drama actually killed off Yeol Wool without any compelling reason other than some monk foreshadowing from the beginning of the drama. It then time skipped 422 years into the future where the immortal Kang Chi is now living in a penthouse apartment and driving a fancy sports car and looking like Lee Seung Gi after a particular bad day picking out an outfit for a night out (black and white geometric print shirt?). Kang Chi meets up with Yeol Wool’s reincarnation (and earlier a bunch of other folks also showed up in modern incarnations) under the dang peach tree again, she’s a police officer and he recognizes her immediately. The end.
Put aside how utterly terrible this ending is, since modern Yeol Wool has no memory ergo she is NOT the same person, the incompetent writer of GFB (who also wrote Baker King Kim Tak Gu and Man of Honor, let’s not forget), not only ripped off Takahashi Rumiko’s epic Inuyasha but in totally lame ways, she also ripped off bits and pieces of Takahashi’s immortal The Mermaid Saga in this ending. HEADDESK. I want to go all Emperor Yongzheng and steam this writer….metaphorically, of course. I wrote the second the concept came out about GFB being a half human/half demon boy seeking to become mortal and wrestling with his mixed heritage that this was as K-drama rip-off of Inuyasha, one of Takahashi’s top-3 mangas and one of the modern classics of shonen fantasy manga. All this writer has to do was rip off Inuyasha entirely to have a great drama but by using her ineptitude to revise it she sucked all the intelligence and emotional depth from the journey. In the end, she posited the same Inuyasha delimma, the original love (Yeol Wool as Kikyou) is dead and the modern version comes into his life (modern Yeol Wool as Kagome). Except in Inuyasha the entire story was about him realizing they were different women and ending up accepting that he loves both but one is gone forever. GFB? This just sucked and blowed.
Oh yeah, Jang Ok Jung, Live in Love also ended. Jang Ok Jung died. Like in history. By poison. Blamed for a shaman ritual to curse Queen In Hyun, who died in the last episode and thankfully didn’t have to stick around until the bitter end. I wish I could say more, but there was no way Ok Jung could live. Even as a revisionist take on history, it can’t actually change history to the point where dead people are allowed to live because then SBS would actually offend all of South Korea rather than just the sticklers who were annoyed at this revisionist take to begin with. I wanted this story to have depth and nuance, to have delicate sensibilities and proper period sense. In the entire second half it had nothing other than painfully overwrought and unbearable to watch plotting and backstabbing. The drama made Jang Ok Jung just a woman who would do anything for love, but destroyed any semblance of her character for having her own dreams and hopes and wishes beyond loving Lee Soon. It started off so promising only to go off-the-rails so spectacularly. Her death felt like a release for poor Kim Tae Hee, who I now adore because she bravely took on this role and soldiered to the end like a dedicated actress. Now she can go off and have weekend dates with her man Rain whenever he’s got whatever is the equivalent of Korean military shore leave.
Gosh…. I waited so long for the ending just to see Kang Chi with that freaking printed shirt…… Disappointed : (
I didn’t see that printed shirt coming. It’s magic, there were whites, blues and boom! a crazy printed shirt. yay!!!
Pimp shirt LOL. aaahhh I knew I was setting myself up for seeing GFB through but I was at least hoping for a decent ending, sadly it did not deliver. Just for you LSG, just for you.
Oh I have to say I did like the eps with Choi Jin Hyuk in it. Now that’s one hot papa gumiho.
The ending of GFB doesn’t really bother me because dramas love their reincarnation (who looks exactly like the old self) endings – see Yoochun’s Rooftop Prince. And, if done right, that sort of concept can be a lot of fun (Telugu movie Magadheera, the main characters of which are reincarnations, is one of my all-time faves). This said, it seems out of keeping with the generally breezy tone of GFB. Oh well…
(I loved Baker King, which was insanely addictive and wore its makjang proudly on its sleeve, and loathed MoH. Gu is sort of in the middle between the two, for me).
hey….are you from India??
Nope, just love Bollywood, Tollywood and Kollywood (I was born in Russia, where Indian movies were popular).
Wow, I didn’t realize that anyone who was not Indian would look past Bollywood movies…on top of that, Indian movies are popular in Russia? Mindblown.
@Anonymous
Yup, they were considered ‘women’s flicks’ when I was growing up. I got into Tollywood and Kollywood a few years after I rediscovered my love of Bollywood as an adult and have enjoyed both industries’ output immensely (especially Tollywood – those flicks hit all the right spots as far as I am concerned, plus the men are yummy).
hey, im not indian n nt from russian n i love bollywood movies!
Hi from another Bollywood lover from Germany. Fav actor is Aamir Khan.
@Dangermousie: I’m actually Tamilian myself, so it’s kind of neat to see non-Indians enjoy the movie culture from my state. I’m curious as to what kind of movies you watch, because I’ve never really thought of those movies as “women’s flicks” before.
Thank you for actually appreciating Gu Family Book.
Hey, Dangermousie, привет! I like old Bollywood movies, not so much modern ones. I think, reincarnation in Indian movies looks way more natural, because this knowledge is inseparable part of Indian culture.
I love old Bollywood (if by that you mean 60s and 70s). Tbh, Bollywood post 2008 or so has lost me – hence my interest in Tamil and Telugu flicks.
@ Anonymous.
Yeah, my parents say there was a popular joke in Russia: “Movies can be of 3 kinds: good, bad or Indian”. 🙂
Hmmm I loved Magadheera as well ….who could forget Anushka’s acting?
She was good, though I was too busy drolling over Ram Charan Teja to really appreciate it 😛
Drooling, not drolling, LOL
Anushka in magadheera? either u got the movie name wrong or actress name wrong. But I agree magadheera is the best reincarnation movie ever.. they should have had something like this for gu family book you know..
I couldn’t help and read the ending for GFB, even when I’m on ep 11…..but I don’t think I’ll watch it anymore….
I’m surprised that the same writer wrote Dalja’s Spring, which is an awesome show and I’m watching it parallel to GFB and there is soooooo much difference in narrative quality between the two.
SO True. I can’t believe this juvenile fluff, this huge pile of steaming s(tupid), was penned by the same author as Dal Ja’s Spring. Dal Ja’s characters were quirky, smart, flawed, and believable, the plot had fun twists but it all made sense. None of that is true for Gu Family Book. Some of the issues you can blame on the ham-handed directing, some can be placed on the severe limitations of Suzy as an actress (she can do cute, and she can do … more cute), but by far the blame for this mess has to be laid at the foot of Kang Eun Kyung. I am going to avoid her work from now on, same as I have put a red “avoid” signs over anything by Park Jung Ran, who wrote A Thousand Kisses, and Choi Soon Sik, who wrote that abomination Oohlala Spouses.
Ooooh, other people make ‘no go’ writer lists, too! After years of kdrama watching, I’ve realized that no amount of good acting or cinematography is going to compensate for an awful script, so I made a no-go list too.
Park Jung Ran is on the list, so are Yoon Ji Ryun (BOF) and a couple of others.
Yeah it’s so weird. Dal Ja’s Spring is a great rom com and actually reverses a ton of kdrama tropes, and yet for all the writer’s subsequent projects she’s relied on contrived makjang and stock characters to tell her ‘story’.
The same writer wrote Dalja’s Spring? WHAT IS THIS MADNESS? Wow…
I am surprised as well. WOW, maybe this writer had a writer block after Dal Jas Spring or maybe she got dual personality…
LOL wtfuckery.
GFB — The peach tree is such an annoying thing for them to go back on — history repeating itself? Nobody wants to see history repeat itself if this is what viewers get in the end.
Really, my heart only goes out to kang chi who had to wait a freaking 400+ years just to see his reincarnated version who may or may not remember her past. This writer thinks leaving it to be open-ended would have more profound feelings but that’s the least of this show’s problems. So many loose threads and things promised but never full-filled. Weakest part of GFB was writing, with directing being a close second. Even Baker king had a better ending than GFB, imho.
JOJ — I have no words for a show that sucked this badly to the very end.
You know that I laugh it off a whole night, even any airen can’t avoid that. WTH writer!!
Oh boy. i love seung gi but even he couldn’t keep me going through this show t_t.
@ilikemango:
My dear, my tips and trick after episode 14: fast forwarding except Kang Chi-Gon, Kang Chi-LSS,Kang Chi-Seo Hwa, Kang Chi-Gong Dal and Kang Chi-MBC..
GFB is bland storywise and the ending is unimaginative, but I did finish it. JOJ failed after a deceiving great start, but KTH impressed me too, though I abandoned ship.
Since my drama thirst is quenched by Cruel City, I Hear Your Voice and Monstar, no impact from the 2 shows ending.
I hear you.., how cares when you have Doctor’s Son!
<3
Still gotta check Cruel City but I’m with you with the last two.
GFB ended at ep21 for me.
It’s such an amazing short story if it was only Ep 1,2 & 21.
KangChi’s story COULD have been so many sparkling possibilities…
But now the parents’ story totally wins the whole show.
I hate they put too much effort in first two episodes and then let the rest be wasted
Agree, so disappointed!
Strategy to win the viewers over. 😛
Man the first episodes were SO GOOD.
Everything about it was just AMAZING.
I would even watch it if they’d make a remake movie of it.
I stuck with “Jang Ok Jung” until the bitter end. It’s a pity that somewhere along the line they lost focus of what the story was about. I mean, I’m not complaining about the shippy scenes with our OTP, but all the other interesting plot points were gone. I did gain new respect for Kim Tae Hee though.
“Gu Family Book” – I abandoned that sinking ship right after the first episodes and only skimmed through the rest. But that ending… REALLY?! Writer-nim, I am so disappointed in you. This drama was such a bad choice for Lee Seung Gi… it was like a step back in his career.
Yeah, i told myself i would stick through JOJ to the bitter end because i loved it so much(dropped after ep 12) — and that was before JOJ started making me NOT care for its characters. I’ll stick to a show if it has at least one or the other; Good story + emotions detached, or emotions attached + bad story. JOJ evidently had none after ep 8.
GFB was a hit domestically and internationally so I don’t think it’s so much his career being a step back since i’m sure alot more CFs will be flooded his way as if he wasn’t King of CFS already…
It just sucks that he had to choose a project that (for us personally) is just not good qualitatively. Compared to K2H, yes, that would definitely be a step back.
My goodness! The writer behind GFB is totally going on a downhill spiral! I actually liked Baker King (although I would have changed some aspects of it) but Man of Honor was a mess and GFB is a total train wreck… I’m so glad I dropped it early on. Who has time to waste on bad dramas nowadays, I certainly don’t! >.<
Ended GFB in 2nd ep, gave up on JOJ at ep 12…
now back to fantastic ep 10 of Cruel City MsK!
Koala, would you consider making some Baby Recaps for “Heartless City”? I really want to hear more of your thoughts on each episode!
Also, are you watching “She is Wow”? It’s such a hilarious drama that makes fun of itself!
Or open threads for Cruel city would be pretty cool too.
i have absolutely no place to vent my feelings for this awesome show.
Twitter.., I know huge No of ppl who adore show beside me.
There is usually a thread for ep discussion for the amazing CC at omonatheydidnt.livejournal.com
You can also find squeecaps at The Problematic of the Unproblematic. They’re quite fun 😀
http://forums.soompi.com/discussion/2017874/current-drama-2013-cruel-city-%EB%AC%B4%EC%A0%95%EB%8F%84%EC%8B%9C/p110
http://akikosmorningcoffee.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/heartless-city-episode-10-recap/
Thanks all for the reply! 🙂
It’s funny because the only reason I kept watching this embarrassment of a drama (GFB) was because I wanted some mindless fluff (FFing a lot too) inbetween the heaviest fare in my viewing plate, only to have useless death for the lady and descent into cheesy gigolo territory for the guy. I endured painful attempts at “acting” and “EmoTInG!!” by the leads, all for the cute *sigh* When I read how it ended, I just couldn’t stop laughing at myself for my poor drama choices.
This was an enlightening experience, though. Never again I’ll watch just for the OTP, dammit.
I stick with JOJ till the end JuST for the OTP. Their chemistry is no joke. Sizzling, breathtaking! This is the first drama that make me feel like this. And yeah KTH rocks her role. Who ever keep put her down and same level with Suzy surely never watched this show
Looks like the fans of JOJ on Soompi are actually writing a letter to SBS for some sort of director’s cut… haha, good luck with that. This drama would have fared slightly better with viewers w/o the introduction of Choi Suk Bin as a one note villain – the historical figure was the mother of King Yeong-jo, one of the most beloved kings of Korea – did the producers think that this would go down well with older viewers?!
Both dramas could have been so awesome.
I know JOJ was based on a romantic fiction novel and still they epically failed. My main problems was all the characters, the king a lovesick puppy who can’t even rule a country only pines after one woman, Jang who first starts as a Candyesque character and then goes all crazy, Inhyun who seemed to be the most normal even though she was made into a giant bitch and finally Dong Yi was made into a Lolita as well as the whole script. The crazy fangirls over soompi are hilarious, they seemed to think this drama is actual and represents history. What I’ve read about Heebin is that historians suspect that she actually poisoned Inhyun which actually seems logical considering what she and her brother conspired.
Gu, started out so well. I loved mommy and daddy gumiho but then it went of the rails. Leading characters with no romantic tension at all and a great supporting cast wasted. Sidenote, I loved Inu Yasha. I always wanted it to become a love action with a good cast.
A live-action Inuyasha is a pipe dream. Who could POSSIBLY be awesome enough to be Sesshomaru? And the whole Rin subtext just doesn’t work in live-action without everyone going ewwwwwww….. Plus all the demons, monsters, transformations, unless someone had a budget of a couple of hundred million dollars it will look so dorky we will all cry. But the Kagome-Inuyasha-Kikyou love triangle is so much <33333333333. I cried and cried when Inuyasha and Kikyou realized they had been played by Naruku. And the whole Kagome being her own person but always connected to Kikyou but rising above it to love Inuyasha on her own and without any reservation. When Kikyou died AGAIN I was whimpering in pain, just because of how thwarted her love with Inuyasha was. A priestess giving it all up for a half-demon. And its not like she looks at Kagome and thinks "oh, she looks just like me, she's my reincarnation so if she gets with Inuyasha it's all the same" because its not! Kagome and Kikyou are two different souls. Gah, the angst, the angst! Inuyasha feeling this immense guilt that he let Kikyou die, and fell in love with Kagome, and that's like a double betrayal even though he did nothing wrong. It just hurts like the dickens for all three of them. And the ending! Such a good ending. I love that ending, it made the time-travel, the reincarnation, everything work because Kagome made a willing choice. GFB? Is just crap wrapped in bullshit dipped in manure.
I know, it would be impossible to make. I had a huge crush on Sesshomaru during my Inu Yasha fangirl days. I was so happy when Inu Yasha finally realized his feelings for Kagome, especially since in the beginning he still had feelings for Kikyou. I always ranted to myself over that, being all dude wake up and smell the roses!!!
Haha at GFB, it really was.
The budget would need to be $$$$$$$$ and there really isn’t a director talented enough to do the job even though Japan proved it could do a good live action movie with Kenshin.
China did an Inuyasha ripoff called The Holy Pearl, which I found very entertaining (if objectively not ‘quality’).
I was just coming to comment on the lameness of The Holy Pearl but Dangermousie got it
*sigh
So much feels and nostalgia thinking about inuyasha. That was my childhood.
So great set up, so many things wasted *le sigh
Frankly I think the plot of Joj was terrible, the second half was 100 times worse. The fact that the ending was terrible had nothing to do with the fact that it was tragic and involved death or followed history. It was just an all together really poorly written and executed ending. Good riddance… I am glad it’s over and everyone involved has been liberated. They should have just gone the moon sun route and used fictional characters.
Since its the end for Gu Family Book, i wished you wouldn’t hate it or say it “sucked”. I love your recaps, but reading this one made me really angry and sad. Whatever its your opinion and mine.
Well, what did you like about it? Can you refute any of the opinions made here, on soompi, or on other sites? This is koala’s site, it is her right to say exactly what she pleases about any show, and it is only our privilege to be able to voice our opinion. So instead of bashing koala, you should be thanking her for allowing you a space to voice your opinion, and then be polite enough to explain exactly why you disagree.
Koala has always elaborated on why she thought a show “sucked” and any well thought opinion despite me not agreeing with it should be appreciated.
Don’t be angry or sad, not everyone has the same opinions. Reality
Never really liked gu but never disliked it either but the ending was sooo freaking bad I want that entire day of time I wasted back now please … I mean not only did you not let him become human but you thought killing her off only to show her hundreds of yrs later maybe or maybe not with old memories was an ok ending HELLO he is still not human so what about him not aging but she does the problems still aren’t solved hundreds of yrs later uugghhh soo mad
Seriously? Gu Family Book was good. The ending was eh, but satisfying. Why are most people here hating on it. It annoys me. I loved this drama, sure it wasnt the best, but still. sheesh, learn to keep things to yourself instead of making the fans feel bad.
This is a site for opinions. Koala states her opinions, we are allowed to politely agree or disagree. I can tell you why people are hating on it – because they didn’t like it, and they can provide several detailed explanations of why they feel this way. That’s why people read these sites. Generally I suggest to butt-hurt fans that they go to soompi if they want a lovefest, but this time you are out of luck because even on soompi they are angry and critical.
And to call you out on the passive-aggressive stuff, we are not here to make you feel bad. We are stating an opinion, and if it makes you feel bad it is because you have chosen to take these opinions personally. So I think you need to blame yourself for all of these hurt feelings.
You loved this drama, and your widdle feelings are hurt because Koala dares to say she doesn’t?
Then go to a fansite instead of coming to a recap site where the author has an opinion. Or start up your own damn recap site and make it clear you don’t like opinions that are not those of a fan.
Just because you love/like something doesn’t mean everyone had to feel the same. And this is an open comment section where people are free to post whatever they think about the show. And this is the Koala’s personal blog and she can write whatever she wants to.
And even fansite also find it ‘meh’ last night
LOL “learn to keep things to yourself instead of making fans feel bad” …
Some people can be so sensitive it amazes me. This post is not a direct hi to you personally but rather to a show that thousands of people watch. Im sure there’s going to be alot of hate going on at DB too once GF posts the final recap for GFB. People can admit they enjoyed the show(which is fine) but they don’t deny its horrendous quality.
This is a blog run by Koala. You know koala does not like GFB so if i were a diehard fan i would have avoided her website. Especially with a post that is titled ” GFB/JOJ end with a what and a whimper “.
direct hit**
Ok I dont mind gu ‘s ending but where do we go from here he coulnt be with her then , and now? He is still a gumiho !!! U KNOW
actually,I don’t love or hate the ending of GFB..but I wish the writer just stick to one ending,whether it’s sad or happy.or maybe they plan for second season?since the title was actually changed into Kangchi,The Beginning not Gu Family Book anymore since it’s first airing..
Even though I knew what the ending would be for JOJ. I’m so glad that I didn’t watch from start to finish. It just lost interest in it in the middle and now I’m probably just gonna go to the last episode and watch KTH’s death scene. My feelings about KTH’s acting has changed just a lil but I think YAI should choose more historical drama.
I’m so thankful I bailed out GFB after ep14 and JOJ after ep4.
Wasn’t the whole point of Gu Family Book was for Kang Chi to go on a quest to turn human? Sigh
Actually, the whole problem was because of an ancient, tragic misprint; a drunken monk accidentally wrote “Gu Familly Book” when it was supposed to be “Gu Family Boot.” The magical boots that could have given humanhood to all gumihos were in the closet under an old overcoat.
LOL Gu Family Book just reeks of Season 2. Gon appearing in front of Kang Chi’s door and revealing that he’s a secret agent?
There’s totally going to be a season 2. TOTALLY.
Is this actually the first time that a K-drama will attempt multiple seasons, one story arc and same characters a la American dramas?
Love the idea of KTH going off and dating Rain now that his epic sadness is over for her!
Couldn’t watch Gu and bailed in the middle of JOJ.
I may have to go watch her die, poor thing.
What did you think of YAI’s portrayal?
Went from not bad to good to pretty darn good to hit-the-skids-character-go-crazy-imma-overact-now-to-compensate BAD and then to smarmy and then to do-not-care-anymore-just-collecting-a-paycheck.
You can actually see the ebbs and flows of Yoo Ah In’s “acting” range through the entirety of JOJ. That was extraordinary in and of itself.
JFC, I think I just died a little bit in my office!!!! That acting spectrum!!! XD
Did you see the END END of GFB? with the door? and the badge? I missed it the first time. Makes me wonder if there will be a part 2 with at least some of the other characters…
No sequel please!
If there is, I hope LSG doesn’t do the sequel. Absolutely no confidence in the writer.
oh god no
I would not wish an entire second season of this mess on any of the actors, Sung Joon is too good for this.
Seriously WTF ending to GFB. Absolutely no purpose to YW’s death. If it’s to be a happy ending anyway via reincarnation, then might as well not let YW die in the first place and its still a happy ending. If show wants to go sad then make it meaningful and poignant.
I’m going to imagine my own ending. YW says 3rd wish is that KC becomes human (because that’s what the first half of the drama was all about, thst KC wanted to become human, and his motivation for wanting to become human wasn’t even for YW at first!). So KC goes about doing those 3 things… don’t eat meat in the 100 days, show him helping humans in the 100 days, he had no contact with anyone whom knew him before. .. then time jump of say 50 years, show him old and with white haired (which means he became human) at the lantern festival, reminiscing about his lantern date with YW, thinking of her, show some flashback of their happy times and show that he never married cos YW was his only one love. The end.
Oh… and iny imaginary ending… he found the phantom Gu Family Book in whatever form that it might be.
So where hell is the f****** gu family book (i mean the book not the drama)?lol.
Sigh. I will be more satisfied w/ the ending if the reincarnation and fast forward to the future were not narrrated. With the actual ending, i dont think the entire tale of kang chi in joseon period make sense. -_-
Haha
As soon as I read how the Gu ended “Interview with the vampire” was what came to my mind, without the reincarnation stuff of course.
I feel bad for jang ok jung crew and cast….
Even YAI and KTH’s acting getting wotse when drama goes all makjang and start illogical
Remember the good days of JOJ when it first started? I’ll keep thinking about that stuff. I remember waiting so much for Jae Hee to appear and when he did – major disappointment. JOJ never did have great ratings but it had a great start and then took a nosedive into the palace bacchanal. On the other hand, if it’s one person I adored throughout the drama, it was Prince Dongpyung (Lee Sang Yeob). It was sad to see him constantly heartbroken but he remains the only character I’ve never hated. And well, Ok Jung and Lee Soon’s adorable son, Yoon. For some reason, I appreciate the ending of JOJ because it still showed what the drama was first about – the love between Ok Jung and Lee Soon. And I really love that he told her to never forgive him for failing to protect her even though both of them made huge mistakes in their relationship. Still, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. (Though I have yet to actually watch it yet.)
Now…Gu Family Book. I’ll admit, I wasn’t the hugest fan of GFB after watching probably 5 minutes of the first episode. I preferred JOJ to it. But then when JOJ delved into its palace not-so-intriguing intrigue, I decided I’d try GFB again. I started from episode 12 and promptly was captivated by papa gumiho, Wol Ryung. From then on, I watched the episodes religiously if only to see Choi Jin Hyuk dressed completely in black with that gorgeous long mane and sexy smirks. Lee Seung Gi, Sung Joon and Suzy were cute and I enjoyed the drama. Up until episode 22 which was the end of Choi Jin Hyuk’s time on the drama. I have yet to watch episode 23 and 24 but reading this ending? NO. WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS? This drama was actually good and I’m shocked that they’d doing something like this. Would it have really killed them to NOT follow the old monk’s prediction or find a loophole?
The point of the drama was a gumiho – whether it be Wol Ryung or Kang Chi – trying to find the Gu Family Book to become human because they fell in love with a human girl. And yet, until the very end, no Gu Family Book? Doesn’t that make the title slightly pointless? I’ll watch but I’m disappointed. I kind of wish they’d continued with the Wol Ryung/Seo Hwa storyline. Eh. I dunno. I may be kind of biased.
Choi Jin Hyuk totally stole LSG’s thunder! Kind of like the Terry Train from King Flower (yes, Koala, this Terry reference is for you!!!). CJH’s acting and charisma was so good his storyline over shadowed the other one (something about a book) that never happened. Everyone (bloggers and viewers) was betting on a happy fluffy ending for KC and YW (at least in their lifetime) and got sucker punched by the writers! I think she grabbed the wrong bottle of meds before writing the last episode. Or she’s just sadistic to her fans. And wtf would the director and producer even allow this to happen? Or maybe it’s vice versa-producer to blame. Well, I’m done-moving on now….
Totally disagree on CJH. His character was well written and that’s all. Never thought he acted well or has charisma in this drama. Actually fast forwarded his scenes in the drama.
@anon:
Hi5! I’m sorry that I skip his too, maybe because I’m annoyed with the first two episodes which take too much time
lol the ratings disagree with you. highest rated scenes were always Kangchi. CJH’s endless media play doesn’t change that fact. Even during the parent’s farewell episode (21) the highest rated scene was LSS and Kangchi.
Ahahha! I read Softy’s live recap of GFB and she got over the shockingly bad finale pretty quickly but I haven’t recovered quite yet. Now i am waiting for Girlfriday on Dramabeans to flip out but Koala already voiced my exact opinion of GFB’s ending. The ending was so bad, it would have been better if Kang Chia got with Chung Jo after Yeo Wool died….lmfao!!! That’s how bad the ending was!!! It would have been better if KC stayed with SS to help save the country and live with PJ as a devoted son-in-law to help comfort him bc he felt partial to blame for YW dying. Chung Jo also stays by KC’s side even tho she knows YW is his true love and KC only thinks of her as a sister now. KC becomes a shell of a man and a fighter for justice and doesn’t care for love or finding the stupid book….yada….
Yeesh, and I thought that I’d see Kang Chi and Yeo Wool with cute little babies or something. So what’s the story about, sorry? I mean where is the book then? Has he found it? The title makes no sense at all. So he’s just the same-not entirely human as he’s still alive for 400 something years. So what’s with that ending?
what !!!! Gu Family Book end just like that !!!!
I guess I’m the ONLY one here who stuck through JOJ until the end despite the poor writing in the second half or before that. I can say that plot wise it really failed but there were some good character development between LS and OJ, it started in episode 21. I especially loved the scene when OJ admitted that she was behind the poison incident to LS and the latter kept it a secret that he knew it but pretend he didn’t to protect OJ.
It’s such a same that the drama didn’t maintain its goodness, but still I’m glad I was able to finish it and felt satisfied. I’ve come to love KTH as an actress and my love for YAI continue to grow. 🙂
I wonder what would’ve happened if they didn’t change the writing and continued its magnificence. Will we still feel the same way as it is now? I wish we could turn back time.
Oh well I have CDA and Monstar to heal my heart and fill mel with a lot of cuteness and craziness. 🙂
nope, you’re not the only one that stick with JOJ until the very end *grin*
it has sucks time, ups-and-downs-downs-downs-ups-downs-downs-flat-flat time in its story, but i’m proud to have finishing JOJ aside my major rants through the second half of it for the sake of my newest found respect to KTH, my newest girl crush of 2013 and off course my OTP crack of the year, SukJang Team XD
JOJ finished and i’m now moved on 🙂
The ending of Gu Family Book was soo freakin’ random!It just literally came out of no where.
On a side note, Lee Seung Ki looked soo hot in the future of the show!
Agree! He’s so hot. He should do a modern drama, but please with better writer next time !
I decided to not watch GFB and now know I made the right decision. Ends like this are the worst possible end for any given drama.
Stopped JOJ right in time after ep 10.
Lucky me. 😉
*starts searching for subbed ep 10 of CC*
4 things WHY i watched GFB:
1. OST’s I LOVE all of the ost in the drama I MEAN ALL!
2. Wolryung and seohwa’s LOVE story
3. I just love how GON’s late reaction on things LOL
4. Pretty suzy and hot seungi BAd acting which makes it entertaining lol
have to agree about the bad acting from the 2 main leads… really made me cringe
What I love about GFB are the two leads, LSG and Suzy. IMO, LSG was great and Suzy ain’t that bad. Her acting was better than many idol stars out there. Long live the Kangdam couple, will always remember you fondly.
She’s actually in the bottom 10% of idol actors when it comes to acting ability, even with the slight improvement in GFB (she’s gone from horrible to merely bad, which is a win by her standard). Most idol actors I’ve seen in lead roles are better than her, with the exception of Taecyeon. But she’s cute, and cute always sells in Korea.
Huumm….
Would you mind to explain the bad acting? I mean Seung Gi’s, because I just feel it proper, not a grand, but proper act
Gu family book really heartbreak that i never expect it ‘ll happy end. First , it’s funny for their fate. I love last two part. I never regret . I really cry for this story , maybe it give me of sad, fun, excited . It’s most melon. I miss it so much. This drama not perfect but really most drama hard forget. Dear anti for this drama. Because you hate it since first , no matter because you never start love it , you only find critizen it after it will become bad for you. Seunggi and suzy really better their job. Because you know real credit them in real live. it make you hard beleive their act. Seunggi and suzy are idols ! What if you don’t know who are they?
lol @this entire comment and everything about it
lol.
Most melon, oh yes!
Gu Family Book is a great drama! It has an innovative plot so different from the other Kdramas.
Unlike most dramas that I’ve watched, you really do not know the ending until the last episode. That makes watching it with lots of anticipation.
Although I hoped that Yeol wool didn’t pass on, but at least this is consistent with the plot from the beginning. Their relationship is bound to have one of them dying. Yeol Wool knows this well and decided that she is going to face it.
In fact, I like the fact that Kang Chil remains as a Gumiho.. At least for a considerable period of time.. rather than be a human immediately. So this end is good. Now they can reunite in a new time.
Doesn’t matter if Yeol Wool remembers him or not. . Coz like how it is in the beginning, It’s Yeol Wool who remembers him first and fell for him. This time, let the roles switch. There’s nothing wrong with that.Kang Chil has found a reason to be human again 🙂
The only reason I survived 24 episodes of this drama (actually 22 since I skipped the first two episodes of the parents’ story) is Lee Seung Gi. I can’t imagine anyone else acting as Kang Chi. I can’t explain my addiction to this young man, just that I like everything about him. Hope to see him in a variety or a movie next.
I think the ending was changed for GFB because the writer was being requested to sell the phone……so back to the future! Argh…the whole YW died and the end thats far better. Thought I was watching BBJX towards the end.
LMAO – this is the best article ever and 100% true.
Modern Kangchi was hot. That’s all I care about tbh. Now realize how most of the drama was totally pointless though. The parent’s story especially, since YW and KC got a worse ending than they actually did (20 years apart, together forever vs 422 years apart and totally new YW) even though they did everything in the world right while the parents did nothing at all right ever. What’s the point of all the parallels? Anyway, I’d watch a S2 for sexy Kangchi and Gon adventures.
Yeah, but for me, Gu Family Book is such an amazing series!!! 😉
By the way, for those who want the OST CD2 for GU Family book
You can download it here: http://tambay.nazuka.net/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=16