The Director Who Buys me Dinner (2022)

I'm honestly SO confused...

The only episode I liked/started to understand was the flashback episode. It was also the only time the leads seemed in love.

This had potential to be good, but I will probably have to hunt down the manga for ANY of this to make sense.

What the HECK was that ending?

Who was Denis and why did he seem to be a paranormal being at times? I assume he was planted there via the curse to be the one who ultimately kills D. But like... why??? How specific is this curse bc they seemed to love each other?! They were dating!

The whole curse in and of itself just makes 0 sense. If the writers read the original story, I wish they had dumbed it down and picked one element of the plot and saw it through instead of throwing so much into so little time. There's no way for the entire og story to make sense in 10 minute increments.

I don't recommend this show just because you will only leave with questions, no answers, no conclusions, no closure, only confusion.

The actors, production, & editing were fine. I just think this should've been shelved as a whole since it couldn't be executed properly.

Leia Mais

An interesting little BL with a small twist

**Brief Synopsis**
B (Employee): Dong Baek
T (CEO): Yu Dam

Beginning: B is a new employee at T's company and the first thing T does upon meeting him is asking him out. This is not because of feelings however. This is because there is a curse on them and B will dies if T doesn't fall in love wit him on time. At first B doesn't believe a word T says but when he starts having dreams and his heart starts to hurt, he knew what T was telling was the truth. Not wanting to die, B starts going along with T's plan, spending more time with him. T truly wants to protect B and the feeling is starting to shine through because slowly, B starts to soften and starts developing feelings for T, despite not wanting to wanting to admit it at first. It is unclear if these feelings are new or because of something else.

Middle: Slowly, B gets used to the situation and somehow accepts T's advances and his intimacy. He admits he is willing to try dating him for real. It is later revealed that T and B met in a previous life and developed feelings for each other but that ended when B was shot. T opened an entertainment company thinking B would be an artist in this life and find him. After they start dating for real, T tells B about their past life and with everything cleared up, they kiss.

End: But before they could have their happy after, the curse strikes and time returns back to day one in a world where the curse doesn't exist and T doesn't remember their relationship. When B sees T for the first time in this time line, T asks him if they had met and B finally takes up the courage to ask T to dinner, which he agrees.

THINGS I LIKED ABOUT IT
- The montage of the time they spend together after B agrees to try dating for real, is super cute and fluffy. T's idea of dating is screwed because he wants to protect B but B is willing to show him the joy of enjoying life together.
- I actually like the Denis plotline where Denis develops an interest in B and wants B for himself.
- I liked the ending even if it's a little open minded but we all asume they would end up together anyway. Their first relationship started because of the curse and while feelings were involved later, it's still not a clean start. And if they want their relationship to last, it's better to start from 0 and make new memories together and not let old memories dictate their future.
- I like how B, once he makes up his mind, sticks through and is determined to see their relationship succeed.
- The acting is pretty nice and the production quality and writing as well. There isn't any awkward or cringe moment. The ensemble cast seem to be doing their jobs as well.
- The actors really do have nice voices which fits their identities really well. The actors also look nice together.
- I liked that they bothered showing us scenes of the characters at work. It makes the world feel more alive and not just a set on which the characters move around.

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE ABOUT IT
- The lack of communication. B doesn't want to make T worry so try to keep his feelings to himself. He doesn't seem to understand what T wants and his actions seems to cause more trouble then it prevents. T is also feeling lost because he doesn't know what B feels and if he's making B unhappy with this arrangement. He keeps those feelings to himself making B feel sad because T isn't spending as much time with him.
- The plot is cliche and predictable and nothing seems to happen if you are not interested in the main couple. The story happens to further their relationship.
- Their identity of CEO and employee didn't play much of a role in the story which is a dissapointement. I would have loved to see more of that.

**Conclusion**
An interesting little BL with a small twist.

Leia Mais

Too short for a wholesome story

The show was too short in length/episode and the number of total episodes.

There is a story to be told that spans the past and the present, but there is not enough time to explore it completely.

Why was Dennis so obsessive? Why was he in the present? Did he have a history with Yudam in the past - or was he just an assassin for hire? Did he have a romantic relationship with him? Why was he so adamant that Yudam would use and throw away Seol Dongbaek?

There is a parallel between the Seol Dongbaeks deaths - It seems like he is shot and stabbed in the same place. I wish the past and presents of Dongbaek and Yudam were more fleshed out.

Yes, this has a sort of open-ended happy ending, but it isn't really satisfying. I feel like there was too much covered, but it was all just on the surface. There was no depth.

This has so much potential. And it was all wasted.

Leia Mais

To short for real depth.

I’ve watched this short series trough Bilibili. I liked it, but it wasn’t super special. I don’t regret watching it. I got a hold of me in de end, because of an unexpected twist. but then the series was almost over. There were still a lot of questions to be answered after 8 episodes. The reason I think it wasn’t super special is because of it’s length. It needed more dan 10x 16 minutes to gain depth. A lot of time was wasted on the recap every episode.

Like most S Korean drama’s no real bed scenes or whatever. I don’t mind that. I liked the acting of Park Jeong Woo. (Seol Dong Baek) and Jang You Sung (Dennis Lee) the most. I think that Park Young Woon (Min Yu Dam) acted a little to flat. Maybe because of his character. The reason to date was "We have to date. If we don't, we die.". That’s a fresh idea. The title was a loose end in comparison of the amount of dinners.

Music was oké. There was a special layer of softness on the filming.

https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/2042471718 episode 1.

Leia Mais

I liked it but...

This is truly one of those dramas that you'll almost need to read the manhwa in order to appreciate it and understand. I read the book first before watching and without the context of what I'd already read, it would've been a bit hard to grasp some of the plot-points in this drama. I also agree with others that said the drama needed more run time. It did. There's a lot missing that would've made the viewing experience better. And the backstory about Denis is explained so much better in the manhwa whereas the drama skips over it completely and makes it seem like he's just crazy and obsessed.

As far as the actors go, I absolutely loved both of the mains. I think they were good choices. I do think because of the short runtime, we don't get to see exactly how much they both love each other like we do in the manhwa.

Overall, if you want to watch this then I recommend you read the manhwa first. Otherwise, you'll miss out on most of the actual storyline. Plus, the manhwa is crazy good and the characters are far more affectionate and loving.

Leia Mais

The ending made me raise the rating

While I felt like the series could have used more time to better show its multiple elements (everyone's characterization, the romance between Yudam and Dongbaek, Denis' overall situation and feelings, the details about the curse, etc.), I also feel that the time this series actually had wasn't used properly.
Every episode lasts about 15 minutes, yet 5 minutes are always spent for the opening sequence, a very thorough summary of the previous episode and the next one. When I say "thorough" I really mean it: I feel like one could easily just watch half the episodes (the even numbered ones) and not miss anything about the plot. The remaining 10 minutes of each episode are used showing the actual story, but the pacing is way too slow for the time an episode has: I often felt like I was watching multiple snippets of a much longer drama. I believe that they could have done a better job picking what was worth showing and what wasn't.

The only redeeming quality of this drama is the fact that Min Yudam and Seol Dongbaek make a very cute couple, one that made me sob out loud as I watched the last episode. That's the only reason why I would recommend this drama: if you're looking for a solid plotline that is properly shown, this is not for you.

Leia Mais

Though the storyline was a bit rushed, I feel the actors really brought the best out of their own characters and each other. I felt every bit of emotion from the actors which kept me engaged as a viewer throughout the 10 Episodes. The music was a nice addition but I felt the actors emotions brought more to the story. I liked how both characters embodied their characters perfectly where it felt genuine. One small personal preference I would have hoped more of ; was that the music could have a bit more dramatic to help draw more emotions during certain scenes, but overall it was nice. I truly enjoyed the drama and will definitely rewatch it and am hopeful for Season 2.

Leia Mais

Interesting Premise but Felt Rushed

It is hard to dislike this cute but rather short series. It absolutely is all fluff with very stilted love scenes. But there is something enticing about the story. I am, admittedly, a sucker for continuing love stories reincarnated from the past if you will. And this is one of those stories. There is an odd mixture of characters in here that make it entertaining for sure and had it been longer, they could have expanded on the story and made these characters more interesting and entertaining. Interestingly when it reverts to the past, it becomes a way more interesting story and better acted.

Leia Mais

TDWBMD

I've completely fallen in love with this drama. For me, it's in the top 3 of my favourite K-BLs to date. Everything hits the spot: acting, storyline, chemistry, visuals, and emotions. I also love how they changed up a few things from the webtoon but simultaneously followed the baseline. And the lead actors are just chef's kiss! They're a delight to watch not only in the drama but off-screen as well! The emotional scenes are so well done that it actually surprised me. It's one of the very few live-action adaptations that outsold the manhwa. The production itself was definitely above my expectations.
The only thing missing was time; I really wish we had more eps. Desperately hoping for a 2nd season!

Leia Mais

Oh! come on series, I need answers

I was pretty excited when I read the synopsis of the series as you don’t find a lot of BL series with a supernatural theme. Someone who enjoys such storylines, this was certainly a must watch for me. That being said, although there is some hint of supernatural, it is so vague and sprinkled so far between that you forget about it after some time. In fact, even the show forgets about it mid-way and brings it back in the final episode

The story is about Min Yu Dam, a man who has lived for 300 years waiting for Seol Dong Baek his long dead lover to be reincarnated. Seol Dong Baek returns as an employee in his office and they have to fall in love again in order to break the curse. As a plot synopsis this had all the ingredients of being a great BL series but somewhere the ball was dropped and with the short run time the story moves at a fast pace and leaves you with a lot of questions.

With a series like this, what you need is a well established back story of the two characters. The series spends just 1 episode going through that and it is a rushed version. We want to know more about these characters to make sense of what is going on in the present. The questions that the series fails to answer through this backstory are
1. Why Min Yu Dam decides to name an unknown person?
2. What is the problem in naming that person? Mind you the series does try to give a half-baked answer that makes little sense and has no bearing to the following events
3. Why does Seol Dong Baek die but Min Yu Dam gets to live eternally?
4. Who is the entity that possesses Seol Dong Baek briefly?
5. What is the curse and who placed it and how does Min Yu Dam know how to break it?
6. Why does God interfere in their life to this extent where they are punished?

If the decision was made to make this a full fledged series instead of a mere 15 min each episode, they would have had enough time to explain what the hell is going on and we would have been saved from the effort of trying to figure out the answers ourselves

In conclusion, this series isn’t one of the best although it had all the potential of being one. You can give it a watch as it isn’t that bad but be ready to leave this with many a question answered.

Leia Mais

only bad thing about the drama is that its so short

i had no expectations going into this since i didnt even read the summary nor watched the trailer, i went in blind and i gotta say i was pleasantly surprised

first i'd like to say i may be biased towards the story because im a sucker for "lovers in a past life that ended tragically". id say this bl did a good job with the little time they had on their hands. their past life is explained just fine for the viewers to understand it, although it is not explained why the curse happened. i think the actors did a good job in portraying the characters and surprisingly i didnt find their acting cringey like i do with most bl's i watch.

the ending. i loved the ending because it just felt right because of the whole situation. first dongbaek didnt remember anything and the director needed to bear the burden of his past memories and dongbeaks tragic death in his past life, but at the end it was the opposite. i really loved the ending because in some ways it is an open ending because we dont know how their relationship would develop afterwards and its up to the viewer (although we all know they would end up together either way with or without their past memories)

whole time i was watching this i was kicking my feet because of how cute it was. i love the soulmates trope and to me they really felt like soulmates because even after 300 they still found a way back to each other

only thing bad about this bl is that its so short! i really wish the episodes were at least 30 minutes because it would give time for the characters to fully develop and show more of their relationship

i would recommend this for people to watch because its short and very easy to watch. the fluff was just so cute !! (although i did shed a tear at the end nonetheless i love bittersweet endings!)

Leia Mais

I hate everything. :'(((

What was that ending??? I just finished the last episode and I am so....frustrated. And upset. That doesn't mean it's a bad ending. On the contrary, it was a very good ending. They get a reset. But at what cost?

If you take out all the credits and previous episode scenes and such, you get maybe an hours worth of scenes. Honestly, that's not enough to flesh out what could be a really good story. Like Denis. What's up with him? There's so much more there than we get to see. And whatever fate that decided to make a "child of God" have to suffer as he did, not to mention the suffering of Yu Dam.....I mean, I could come up with parallels between this story and Christianity, but I don't think that is where they were going with this. There's so much of the story missing or only hinted at, and you have to fill in the blanks. I honestly feel that I wouldn't be quite so upset if I had more of Denis' backstory and an explanation of his current role within their work and private lives.

The acting was phenomenal in my opinion. Especially Jang You Sung, the actor who played Denis. I've never seen someone actually make me feel like I was watching a caged animal in human form. And the pain and anger and panic that he portrayed was amazing! But also, Park Young Woon and Park Jeong Woo did fabulous jobs in emoting so many different emotions, just in that short time frame.

I have so many questions......

Leia Mais