Melancholia 멜랑꼴리아 [2021]

[abs-oluteM]

Almost forgot about this...after D&G ends I can focus more...

 

[mademoiselle]

Hahaha, here I am wondering whether I should start Melancholia first and leave D&G to tomorrow so I can binge both at once.

[mademoiselle]

I watched episode 1 last night. It was good. The scene the show chose to show us first was gripping.

 

But LDH makes me feel stupid hahahaha. I've no idea who those names mentioned too. I learned Maths but I was not taught of the people and the history.

[abs-oluteM]

3 hours ago, mademoiselle said:

I watched episode 1 last night. It was good. The scene the show chose to show us first was gripping.

 

But LDH makes me feel stupid hahahaha. I've no idea who those names mentioned too. I learned Maths but I was not taught of the people and the history.

I will start afterwards. 

Subbed BTS

 

[mademoiselle]

@abs-oluteM

Episode 2 is great too! Can't say I understand the thrills in solving Maths problems though. All I see is a bunch of gibberish! 😑 But Seung Yoo sees the world and everything in Maths, it's a world I'll never be able too see which is interesting.

 

There were good chemie between them too in the scene where they were just so immerse in solving Maths.

 

I think it's nicely written so far and I see how everything led to her being accused later on. However I do wonder how will the story goes after the time jump.

[abs-oluteM]

@mademoiselle Liked the 1st episode. For me I think the so called forbidden romance is just a tease and they were falsely accused due to jealousy of some sort. I think at the heart of the first few episodes  is really going to be some sort of social commentary about  parental expectations and an overly competitive sort of education. Pretty good chemistry between ISJ and LDH...I don't sense anything particularly romantic but I recognise her teacher's heart in discovering that he is the prodigy. Perhaps because of that she may have displayed favortism that didn't go down well with the others. 

 

The scene that struck me most was YeRin with him. While she's the "bad person" here , I felt sorry that she lied because the pressure on her to succeed was so great. She just wanted to be acknowledge and praised. Sadly I see this as a failure in our sometimes rigid Asian parenting and also results oriented education system. 

[mademoiselle]

@abs-oluteM Glad you liked it too. Yes, so far there's no romance and even if it develops later I believe it will be one-sided from Seung Yoo's side in 2017. Once we have the time jump and Seung Yoo is at legal age, I think that's where the romance will really start budding.

 

Yoon Soo hasn't shown favouritism (at least not yet) in these 2 episodes. She was mainly encouraging Seung Yoo to participate but once she finds out he's experienced some difficulties in the past, she immediately backs off. I was quite amused he couldn't shut his mind out in solving the Maths question she gave him. Her approach doesn't pressure him and she understands him because they are the same type of people who enjoy the thrills of immersing in solving the Maths problem at that very moment.

 

But of course from the views of others, it will look like she showed favouritism later if she spends too much time alone with him. He's not going to be sitting in the class with the other kids so I think that's where or how the rumour begins. Not to mention both Ye Rin and School Director Noh have been up to no good from the beginning.

 

Everyone in here seems to have to prove their worth through achieving something great, not just Ye Rin and the kids but also Director Noh to her family. The drive of her ambition to prove her worth stemmed from she was born from wedlock. I really hated Seung Yoo's Dad in episode 2 when he yelled at Seung Yoo to fill the cabinet up with trophies again. How horrible a parent is he? What does he see Seung Yoo as? Why is he treating his own son that way? I feel so sad for Seung Yoo at that very moment.

 

I'm not so sure I could like Ye Rin even though I understand her hardships and it was her parents' fault for her upbringing. It's like survival of the fittest and she has so much pressure from the adults, not just her parents but also Director Noh who threatens to dump her if she fails.

 

By the way, if Yoon Soo is this good in Maths, would that means she as good as a genius herself?

 

How do you feel about the presentation of Maths in the show? Yoon Soo keeps mentioning Seung Yoo is the next Srinivasa Ramanujan, so I'm looking it up xD. Still no sure why SY is SR... haha

https://www.britannica.com/story/interesting-facts-about-srinivasa-ramanujan

[abs-oluteM]

13 minutes ago, mademoiselle said:

How do you feel about the presentation of Maths in the show? Yoon Soo keeps mentioning Seung Yoo is the next Srinivasa Ramanujan, so I'm looking it up xD. Still no sure why SY is SR... haha

Seems legit to me. For me it is just like watching a medical drama. I don't really pay attention to the technicalities of things. LOL. Anyway it looks like it will be a 5 year time jump . This was set in 2017.

 

I like that she's gentle in her approach in how she draws him out to come back to Maths. I watch half of eps 2 just now. But will break for a bit to find some spoiler for The Red Sleeve first. 

 

Looks like the Director herself has her own insecurities too given that she is competitive with her own sister. 

 

 

[mademoiselle]

@abs-oluteM Hahahahaha I feel like I understand some medical terms (or can learn from it) better than Maths. When they did this scene, I was like "Are they writing or drawing many triangles (I was sitting far away from my screen)?"

The actors would have to memorise them when it's a direct shot ... I think I'd be so confused xD

[mademoiselle]

Nearly forgot... @JenL first 2 episodes are good!

[JenL]

Thank you for the reminder! I've seen the stills and I'm in! (But currently watching the first 2 eps of Happiness and LOVING it. Zombies are my thing, especially during covid )

[mademoiselle]

1 minute ago, JenL said:

Thank you for the reminder! I've seen the stills and I'm in! (But currently watching the first 2 eps of Happiness and LOVING it. Zombies are my thing, especially during covid )

Yep loving Happiness too 😃

[ktcjdrama]

Just finished ep.1. This week been quite busy with some unexpected things came up that I need to attend to urgently. I haven’t even treated myself to the sweetness of Dali ep.15&16 (Don’t spoil me! Been staying away from the thread. It will be my weekend treat)

 

1st episode was just okay... I can’t say that it captured my heart. I think it’s because I’m not a math person as well so a lot of the excitement in the narration is lost on me. But I can totally understand the thrill and excitement of Yoon Soo for finding a kindred spirit in Seung Yoo. Hopefully the story will pick up more in the present time. 
 

I agree that we should not bother too much with the technicalities of the field. It will be easy for me to do so for this drama because all is Greek to me 😆 Way too chim for me! I also cannot understand the thrills in solving math problems. 
 

One complain though, which I really really hope will not happen again, is the makeup of LDH. Gosh, I just came out of One The Woman with bad ML makeup which really distracted me. Please o please tone down the makeup here with LDH 😓

[JenL]

I've started and I'm liking this one because of the drama with the crazy school and the beautiful soft vibes of this drama. 

 

Episode 1

 

It's definitely never ok for a high schooler and teacher to have a romance while one is underage and in the care of the other in school. But for this story, I wonder if the relationship between the two is actually more pure and the school has framed them? I do see that they are attracted to each other...and it's at least better that they met on a train as strangers, not knowing their future roles, rather than in the classroom which would be hella weird. 

 

But yeah, have to admit I'm drawn to this series because of the soft mysterious vibes and backgrounds of the 2 characters. Ms Ji seems like one of those inspirational teachers that is going to end up as a scapegoat for the conversative school - a bit like Robin Williams' Mr John Keating in Dead Poet's Society. She's going to inspire them, but then something goes wrong because the students are not use to being this respected and cared for and she discovers the school is pretty much a corrupt business not a place for personal growth...and then she's going to be punished. She graduated from this school though and seems to be of the world given her fiance/ husband looks like he's well off and their house looks somewhat fancy, but she also seems to be on the peripheral? 

 

Lee Do Hyun looks super pretty here - lots of close up shots of him gazing sadly  Maybe it's coz I haven't seen him in awhile since I didn't watch Youth of May ...but he is really drawing me in as a sad character. This kind of reminds me of DDSSLLS..why do I always like characters with truamatic pasts involving some death that their parents won't allow them to grieve over??? 

 

Who would have thought I'd watch a series about Maths btw? I hate maths  I have no idea what they're talking about when they talk about the numbers. Good thing there's drawings 

[SilverMoonTea]

Hahaha seems JH folks all also have math anxiety. I want to love this drama, but too bad it didn't do the magic for me. The ep 1 barely got my attention. I didn't root for the OTP as well. So I won't continue this. 

[JenL]

Episode 2

 

I'm curious as to whether or not an affair actually happens. They seem so pure right now, but there is a deep tension between them too. I do think some of her actions do make things suss and easy for the principal to accuse her though...like early, early morning detention alone? Er, I'm sure any teacher can tell you that's not a good look. I did laugh when the guy said they "spent the night" though because he spotted them in the early morning, not at midnight...and they were just doing maths, which is not illegal...but maybe they were so passionate about it that it looked super flirty 

 

Suprisingly for me, I feel just as intrigued about the politics of the school as I do about the main characters. Maybe coz I have also had somewhat of a similar experience, but I understood Ye Rin's pressure to have to do well and to hold yourself to really ridiculous standards. Even though Ye Rin feels a lot of pressure, at least her parents haven't been shown to hit her. But they have an unhealthy opinion of intelligence...they're of that 'fixed mindset' where you're either smart or not. Looks like they don't realise that succesful people have a 'growth mindset', where they pick themselves up when they make a mistake and keep trying until they are the best.  

 

But I'm really hating Seung Yoo's mum and dad atm....in fact, they are much worse than Ye Rin's show off parents. They're just banking on their son's intelligence for their own pride because they're desperate to boast to the other parents that they are the best. They probably do want the best for their son and hopes he doesn't end up not working in hospitality like them, but more than that it seems like they have a huge inferiority complex especially since he was apparently once seen as a genius and then something happened. I mean, the dad bashed him and said he wanted to see trophies and the mum just simpers to the mother's club at the school when there's no need to bother interacting with such annoying people?? Such horrible parents! 

 

Enjoying this series, but still don't understand the maths at all 

 

On 11/13/2021 at 12:29 AM, mademoiselle said:

Everyone in here seems to have to prove their worth through achieving something great, not just Ye Rin and the kids but also Director Noh to her family. The drive of her ambition to prove her worth stemmed from she was born from wedlock. I really hated Seung Yoo's Dad in episode 2 when he yelled at Seung Yoo to fill the cabinet up with trophies again. How horrible a parent is he? What does he see Seung Yoo as? Why is he treating his own son that way? I feel so sad for Seung Yoo at that very moment.

 

Yes, there's a lot of external pressure to do well even for the Director who seems to be the less favoured child to her father. I think it's implied they have different mothers too, since the sister said someting about her mother and grandfather.  

 

On 11/13/2021 at 12:29 AM, mademoiselle said:

Yoon Soo keeps mentioning Seung Yoo is the next Srinivasa Ramanujan, so I'm looking it up xD. Still no sure why SY is SR... haha

https://www.britannica.com/story/interesting-facts-about-srinivasa-ramanujan

 

Hahaha it looks the similarities are because Ramanujan used to fail a lot before he was seen as a smart maths person. Also Seung Yoo liked the numbers 1729 which is known as the Hardy-Ramanujan number for some maths reason I can't explain to you all 

 

On 11/13/2021 at 3:05 AM, ktcjdrama said:

One complain though, which I really really hope will not happen again, is the makeup of LDH. Gosh, I just came out of One The Woman with bad ML makeup which really distracted me. Please o please tone down the makeup here with LDH 😓

 

Hahaha I thought he looked ok. Which scene had the bad make up? 

 

6 hours ago, SilverMoonTea said:

Hahaha seems JH folks all also have math anxiety. I want to love this drama, but too bad it didn't do the magic for me. The ep 1 barely got my attention. I didn't root for the OTP as well. So I won't continue this. 

 

Yes, maths was my worst subject  Hahaha I'm surprised this affair drama didn't grab you. But I think it's because LDH not your Oppa right? Also this seems to be super slow burn in the romance department...in fact seems only be hinted that it may or may not happen at the moment.

[SilverMoonTea]

32 minutes ago, JenL said:

Hahaha I'm surprised this affair drama didn't grab you. But I think it's because LDH not your Oppa right? 

Not an oppa also can become an oppa at anytime  But yes LDH have not managed to charm me. And I just realised not all affair dramas will pull me to watch it 

[mademoiselle]

@JenL One day, some day... @SilverMoonTea will tell us, "Why ah~ at that time I didn't think LDH is ?" ... just like how she's in love with RJY now and goes back to watch all his projects.

[JenL]

Hahaha I'm waiting for the day that @SilverMoonTea is finally enlightened, @mademoiselle 

[mademoiselle]

26 minutes ago, JenL said:

Hahaha I'm waiting for the day that @SilverMoonTea is finally enlightened, @mademoiselle 

Me too and I'll be ... and probably by then lost interest in LDH and not interested to gush about him with @SilverMoonTea

 

By the way, this scene... I feel so sorry for Seung Yoo! How could a parent forced their child to fill up the cabinet with trophies? At times like this, I'm glad my parents never pressure me like this (not that I'm genius enough to win that many trophies LOL)

 

Edited November 15, 2021 by mademoiselle

[mademoiselle]

 

 

Episode 3

 

Yoon Su encouraged Seung Yoo to take the Maths quiz too so Seung Yoo and Ye Rin (who cheated by memorising the answers given by the Maths teacher) both got full marks and are given the opportunity to compete in the Maths Olympia thingie. Because Director was being ambitious, she wants Seung Yoo to help her lifting the school's reputation too so to calm Ye Rin's father down she presented another opportunity for Ye Rin an internship. So Ye Rin's attention was directed to that (and she knows she has no chance in the the Maths competition with Seung Yoo there) and this leaves Seung Yoo spending more time alone with Yoon Su.

 

Yoon Su takes Seung Yoo to visit her dementia father - for Maths related stuff. Yoon Su also takes Seung Yoo to exhibitions for his Maths speech presentation. They spent some time in the library and ate dinner together.

 

Another male student became jealous of Seung Yoo as he didn't make it into the Maths club but Seung Yoo did. He also witnessed Seung Yoo and Yoon Su walking on the street late after one day trip to exhibition, library and dinner.

 

I don't know @abs-oluteM @ktcjdrama ... is Yoon Su's action inappropriate? I see that she is just helping him as a teacher but is it wrong for them to spend time alone like this especially that library scene, sitting so close to each other...? And she took him to see her dad for Maths but is it also inappropriate because that's pretty private (like meet the parents haha)...

[mademoiselle]

BTS

 

 

 

 

[JenL]

Hahaha that post of outrage from the maths tutor who did the blackboards..."Not the best ones appeared"....

 

What is even meant by the best maths? 

 

The Director probably got confused and was like, screw it, we're using the best shot with the actors 

[laurisse]

I’m loving this drama. I just noticed that most of Do hyun’s on screen partners are noonas. 

[JenL]

Episode 3

 

Watched this last night...I thought I was up to date and turned out I got mixed up with Happiness. So it seems like there's a lot of elements here which will probably lead to a boiling pot where an affair either happens because Seung Woo and Ms Ji only have each other (and their love of maths LOL) for support or nothing happens but people think that an affair happened so strongly that it will be hard for the teacher to deny:

 

- Ms Ji is strong in her ways and super passionate about maths and kids who want to study it because they also love it, so she rubs up against the parents, teachers and students the wrong way as most of them just see maths as a way of getting results and achiving other ambitions in the world. As a result, she's getting a lot of hate or people looking for opportunities to get rid of her 

- Ms Ji is also lonely in her own way since the only other person who understood maths like her was her father and he's clearly not the same anymore. Her partner doesn't care about maths at all, her colleagues only care about it like regular people or for career amibitions. And all the students are rote learners. She's excited to find raw talent in Seung Woo and wants to encourage him, but may also subconciously be doing more than she should because he's the only one who shares the same passions and makes her feel less alone in the world 

- Seung Woo has overly egotistical parents who need to 'prove' his genius to the world rather than support their son's actual interests and mental health. So it looks like he's developing a crush on Ms Ji, who does both and shares his deep love and interest of maths. She makes him feel less odd and lonely 

 

So far it seems like the bully kid started the rumours and now they're doomed regardless of whether or not they have a real affair because the thought is in everyone's heads. It's leverage for those who want to get rid of her like Ms. Noh, it's an excuse for the other kids at the rich school who feel like they need a scapegoat for their failures and are use to favouritism and people pulling exchange-favours and it may have even planted the seed of 'liking' each other in Ms Ji and Seung woo's heads, whethereas before it was just maths. 

 

Oddly enough I'm liking this story quite a bit despite the maths. I think it's the way they try to link maths to art and literature. So many books! They're showing that there's lots of beauty in the world even within numbers. I laughed that the task was a 'maths speech'...what even is that?  Also love Asung High School...Ms Noh's office is like Dumbledores' ....magical and full of plants  I don't know how she gets work done...must be why she's never shown to work 

 

As for Ms Ji's actions, I agree it's super gray...she's so encouraging to Seung woo and passionate about maths. But there's a number of things teachers can't do in real life. Definitely can't take kids to visit your parents outside of school ( @mademoiselle I didn't even think about how it was like meeting the parents! LOL)  Acts like that can be misread. But even the physical touching - like holding a teenage student's hands. My friend teaches Primary students and you can't even hug little kids back for fear it's misread these days, which is a bit sad, but probably for the best 

 

11 hours ago, laurisse said:

I’m loving this drama. I just noticed that most of Do hyun’s on screen partners are noonas. 

 

Hahaha LDH's on screen partners are not just noonas....they share like 8-16 year age gaps which is quite a range! But he's a good actor and pulls it off even with his youthful looks!

Edited November 20, 2021 by JenL