K-viewers got a midweek treat this Wednesday with the arrival of jTBC Wed-Thurs drama Thirty Nine, adapted from a hit C-drama and with the female character led cast navigating the trials and tribulations of being on the cusp of forty years old. Age is for sure just a thing but I can see a culture fixated on women’s age mining those landmines for a compelling drama while throwing in a big of happy ending cotton candy possibilities with a male lead paired up with a female lead. What grounds this drama is the strong cast with the ladies side having Son Ye Jin, Jeon Mi Do, and Kim Ji Hyun and the men led by veteran Lee Moo Saeng along with Yeon Woo Jin and Lee Tae Hwan. The first episode is off to a promising ratings start of 4.406% but the reviews have not have effusive. It skews positive with strong praise for Son Ye Jin and Jeon Mi Do, separately and together, but dissatisfaction with the music choices and the directing, plus concern for the script which is good enough for now but not compelling right out of the gate.
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Hmm Idk, I really loved the original C-drama. Very distinct characters and storylines that were relatable, well-acted. I'm usually very cautious of Korean remakes cos they don't really capture the essence of the original well, and tend to gloss over issues or insert some useless storyline or romance nobody asked for. The posters/teasers for this already seemed boring but will check it out to see how it compares I guess.
This is not a remake of Thirty but Nothing. It's an original script.
Original or not, it is still adapted and based off the C drama version. So there will be inevitable comparisons
The plot is nothing like Nothing But Thirty. Only similarity is there are 3 friends. Not sure why people keep saying its a remake.
Agreed! It's 2 completely different dramas w/ only 1 similarity in that it's 3 friends. To say that is an adapt would be a waste of $. I don't remember reading anything about it being an adaptation from it either.
The word "adapted from" is literally in koalas post so yall clearly dont read things properly. And if this were really super original, the characters and general plotlines wouldn't be so similar to the c drama version. Three women navigating issues at their ages and navigating love.
Just admit that the idea was taken from the chinese version and modified (aka adapted) and go home.
Yeah I see that claim and IDK where Koala got that info from and I see people repeating it but the claim doesn't hold.
Which of 39's storylines is reflected in Nothing But Thirty?
"Three women navigating issues and love" can be said of any 3 female friendship drama. You might as well say 39 is adapted from And Just Like That.
The premiere ratings exceeded my expectations given how jtbc's situation. To top it off it's a weekday drama that airs quite late at night.
I haven't watched the first epi yet but based on the spoilers on Twitter ,the show looks promising atleast so far their friendship part. I do have reservations related to the writer and honestly don't know how they are going to proceed with the story. This is more like a character driven drama without a definite plot.
All JTBC dramas air late at night MT airs at 11pm, WT at 10pm and SS at 10:30pm. JTBC is picking up this year in ratings even weather broke 5% already. 39 airs without any competition at the moment.
I won't say there is no competition. Yesterday South Korea had qualifying matches for curling and short track . Their ratings came out to be pretty high.
Weather airs on weekend and it's premier episode stood at 4.5pc.
Anyways we will get to know after today in which direction 39 is heading towards. It's predecessor artificial city ended with a personal best of 4.6 pc.
PS : WT slot is at 10: 30pm. Same as Sat-Sun
PMY+YYS new romcom drama! I'm glad for the pairing but another romcom for PMY is getting boring! She needs to stop doing romance dramas all together!
I'm not fan of the actress Kim Ji-Hyun. I don't think she suits the innocence of her character.
Otherwise, I like it.
I wonder if it was really a funeral or a wedding.
I thought she was fantastic. JooHee's character is such a mood.
I didn't like the script. Very cliche. All roads led to Yeon Woo Jin. What a joke. If the first bat is off to this start, I dont have high hopes to continue the drama. Not one character is particularly charming or one dialogue particularly memorable. Premise to fit its title feels forced. Will see how the reviews and ratings pan out before deciding to pick it up again I guess
Huh...did we watch same show? The three leads are very charming and show great chemistry together, and there were lots of memorable lines already. Reading a lot of good reviews on Twitter and reddit kdrama so I'm confused about Koala mentioning criticism, and for music choice. What was wrong with the music of all things?
I really enjoyed it. Very humorous and the hour flew by pretty fast. I think scenes between the women definitely showed more chemistry than those with the men, though. I do hope they keep the plot more focused on the friendship.
Knetz we're criticizing those things from what I saw.
I don't think it can get more cliche than orphanage volunteer guy = YWJ. Classical concert guy = YWJ. Fav pub turned into chinese restaurant new bosses friend = YWJ. New cosmetic doctor to join her clinic =YWJ. If this is not bad writing... I don't know what is anymore. Forced serendipity? *smh*
@Jenna oh yes that part is a bit much and definitely in "Serendipity" territory. Kind of reminds me of how in CLOY Seri and Ri Jeong Hyeok met several times before in Switzerland, then of course she crash lands on him in NK. And then he manages to find her on the streets of Seoul. The whole fated lovers trope is never too believable but im willing to overcome that if everything else clicks for me.
At least with CLOY, they built an interesting premise, very charming side characters (NK F4), strong story telling that unravelled the serendipity episodes in the past only towards the end to explain the irrefutable destiny for the star crossed lovers. This one got dumped on us all at once in ep 1. I am getting Record of Youth vibes from the writing so shall avoid further time investment. Happy to keep checking in on site to read updates though so I can live vicariously through everyone else still catching it to see if its worthwhile to catch up later :)
As much as i like Yeon Woo Jin (i'd like to see him leading more dramas), i think that this one is not for me after watching 1 episode . And i may be the only one person who isn't fond of the actress Son Ye Jin .
Says the person who thought HB and SYJ had no chemistry in Cloy ?
I loved her in CLOY and I liked her in SITR at first but got turned off and annoyed when I watched her chew with her mouth open several times in the drama. Just my pet peeve. Sorry.
This drives me crazy too but literally everyone in kdrama talks with their mouth full of food. I had to get used to it real quick lol
@Lola Right?! I think she did it in Cloy too but it didn’t happen as much as in SITR where she was eating in a lot of scenes. Btw, I saw SITR after CLOY.
From watching a lot of Kdramas, it was only with her that I got turned off , I don’t know maybe because even when she was not talking , she still chews with her mouth open. LOL.
Just finished episode 2. The music wasn't as jarring and the story is settling. It isn't horrible and it isn't over the top good but then most k-dramas are right in the middle if we're lucky. So far, I'm sticking with it.
Just finish watching 1st and 2nd episodes and it's very cliche and bland. I'm not enjoying any of the characters or the plot so I'm dropping it.
Have only watched episode 1 so far but I'm really enjoying it, especially the friendship between the three girls. My Hosplay and Cloy heart is in heaven and Mido and YeJin are as good together as I imagined.
I can't believe these days the Korean Dramas like to promote "one night stand" or sex before dating.
Son Ye Jin and Yeon Woo Jin had sex after just meeting for 2nd time?
This happened in "Now We Are Breaking Up" too. Why these days, the dramas like to emphasize this type of relationship? Is this really common in our younger generation?
I think this kind of behaviour is more common in South Korea than you think. South Korea, Japan, Chinese, is the most western in Asia . My Country is way more strict than them, but still when you dig deeper into my surrounding, this kind of think happened in my country too, they just don't said it in public, just in private because it's still too taboo .
I think that's more than common . As a French watcher i used to see SKorea via the prism of dramas in the years of 2002/ 2010. But i watched documentaries and my vision changed . Th new generation is not much different from the western one Bullying, sexual assaults, drugs, ... it's the same, it's just that asians are more protective about their privacy . And if in France we are great consummers of legal drugs as Xanax , Valium,... Skorea has the highest rate of suicide cases . We are all humans after all . With that said , "one night stand" was never my thing, but others can do what they want .