waylt

Eleven episodes in to Playful Kiss, and I'm ending up more frustrated than anything. It's not the lack of development in Seung-jo and Ha-ni's relationship, or the continued presence of He-ra as a rival for Seung-jo's attention, really. I actually... wouldn't mind all that much if Seung-jo and Ha-ni ended up with a sarcastic, playful, sibling-like relationship - they pretty much have that right now, except for a few odd moments of tension. What bothers me is the way Ha-ni seems to have given up every other aspect of her life in order to follow, stalk, and moon over Seung-jo.

Even Joon-gu's devotion for Ha-ni doesn't parallel Ha-ni's obsession with Seung-jo: Joon-gu is at least following his culinary dreams, too. Ha-ni doesn't even bother to study for (or attend, if a few throwaway lines are any indication) any class she doesn't share with Seung-jo. I think it's all the more disappointing because it's a regression. When the show started, Ha-ni had a life outside of Seung-jo. She had other interests, her very existence didn't revolve around Seung-jo and what he thought of her, and I miss that Ha-ni. :(

Also, I won't lie. A lot of what Ha-ni does (often with the help of Seung-jo's mom) comes across as just plain creepy. Following him home from work and then waiting outside for more than an hour? Following him on a date? Since when is that kind of behavior okay? (And yes, Joon-gu is every bit as bad as Ha-ni in this case. The difference there is that Ha-ni's dad seems to recognize that this is not okay behavior, instead of encouraging it the way Seung-jo's mom does.) I know I'll never get it, but what I really want to see in the next few episodes is for Ha-ni to back off from Seung-jo, and focus on her own life. I really don't care how Seung-jo reacts to that, I just want to see Ha-ni mature on her own, as her own person. Uhm, yeah, and seeing her finally become competent in some area of her life? That would be pretty awesome, too. :|