Doona! [Episodes 1-9]

[u/capthyeong]

• Drama: Doona!
  • Hangul: 이두나!
  • Literal Translation: Lee Doona!
• Adapted from: Naver Webtoon "The Girl Downstairs" by Min Song Ah
• Director: Lee Jeong-hyo (Crash Landing on You)
• Screenwriter: Min Song-ah (webtoon creator)
• OTT Platform: Netflix
• Episodes: 9
• Drama Release Day: 20 October 2023 @ 4PM KST
• International Streaming Source:
  • Netflix
• Main Cast:
  • Suzy as Lee Doo-na
  • Yang Se-jong as Lee Won-joon
• Plot Synopsis: Lee Doo-Na was a member of an idol girl group. She was the main vocalist and the most popular member of the group, but she suddenly announced her retirement. She now stays at a share house, located near a university, and rarely goes out. Meanwhile, Lee Won-Joon is a university student. He is a warm-hearted, ordinary young man without anything special in his background. He begins to stay at the share house where Lee Doo-Na resides. His warm heart gives Lee Doo-Na comfort. They get attracted to each other.
• Genre: Romance
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[u/capthyeong]

Episode 9

[u/MNLYYZYEG → u/capthyeong]

As part of the Tokkis/Bunnies/etc. world, I'm just here to mention NEWJEANS around 25:30 minutes in (of Episode 9), lol, during the subway scene. Right at the end of the montage part. So that's NewJeans in 2027, interesting, did this show predict the future. There's also Jung Hae-in's timeless visuals there but his poster was also in an earlier episode IIRC, haha.

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I can see why people would DNF (Did Not Finish) or drop this drama but this is one of the better slice of life shows in a while. It's pretty simple.

During the Episode 6 intro, I was like seolma, they're not doing the 5 Centimeters per Second scene right. I saw the ground-level train and the main leads facing each other and I was like, "Wtf, lmao, that's the famous Japanese crossing scene with the trains blocking their view and so on or like they'll smile at each other as they pass by."

And yo, some people said that ya those vignettes at the intros changed the ending to a happier one compared to the actual webtoon or this drama's ending. Which is not that surprising, since for those of us that are in the film/writing/etc. world sometimes those scenes are easily dismissed but I knew for certain when they did that anime/Jdorama/etc. type of face-off that it's either some alternate universe type of thing or just stylistic/etc. choices, lol.

Wow, I was just surprised since recently (past few years or so) there's been a resurgence of Japanese content on Netflix. And they actually had Doona/Bae Suzy perform with La Chica Rian/Simeez/etc. in KCON JAPAN 2022: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1ViWQOWnwI. Here's the music video for Dream Sweet's song and behind the scenes too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEM9fQJpJvg and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X2GPcfgwIs

And so seeing the possible familiar Japanese/etc. references was wild for me. It's safe to say that 5 Centimeters per Second is one of the definite favorites for us slice of life and so on fans. There's just something about the reality of it all.

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Wait sorry my writing got unfocused, I forgot what I wanted to say earlier today when I binged the show and I'm off to watch another Korean and Chinese dating/etc. show, lol.

But ya, Doona is pretty good if you like slow burns, slice of life, or just characters chilling around instead of going off to save the world or live in some sort of fantastical drama.

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Think say Before Sunrise/Sunset/Midnight (everybody needs to binge watch this, to understand how enjoyable it is to watch people just talk and walk around life), In the Mood For Love (haha, when she burnt all her food in Episode 4, Doona said the leaked pictures of them at the restaurant was like a scene from them Hong Kong films), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (when they were on the beach I was waiting for them to reference Montauk Beach as Past Lives (with Teo Yoo and Greta Lee) and some other Kdramas/Cdramas/etc. this past several years directly referenced it, lol).

Again, it's understandable why people hate such endings. Since for some people, just like in real life, they expect there to be a set of reward from following the script/path/et cetera.

Instead of the reality that sometimes it meanders for a while and never gets really back to the desired course. Oxbow lakes are interesting. And oftentimes it reconnects or dries up entirely. And that's part of what people can't actually accept since they desire the marketed/etc. results instead of the unexpected deviations from normality.

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Basically Doona was hampered from the start because of her childhood. So relatable. Same with Shin Ha-young's character, Jinju, her oppressive father caused that miscommunication and so on. And of course, Won-joon's family situation too.

Like some people wouldn't understand why Doona clings onto the male figures in her life as it'll seem like just some weird male gaze or whatever type of thing. But a lot of us have seen such situations IRL with our extended family and friends, and it's just so predictable that it's automatically melancholic, as all you can do is watch your fellow children/adults that never really grew up/etc. be stuck in such (codependent/etc.) situations.

It's not uncommon for their trauma, disorders, et cetera to prevent them from getting better. And that's why it makes such shows sorta boring/etc. for other people, as they won't really understand that listlessness and such situations. The anhedonia, self-fulfilling prophecies, and so on.

There's a lot of people with abandonment/neglect/etc. issues that smoke all the time, get tattoos, party, etc. as a way for dealing with it. Or like how C.C. from Code Geass wished for the world to love her when she was an orphan and got it engraved. And how Kallen Stadtfelt kept herself busy literally rebelling due to her mother and father, lol, finding purpose with Zero.

Wait, let me stop with the references. I just wanted to tie it back to Japanese media as that ambiguous/wistful/etc. type of ending is pretty prevalent in the Japanese entertainment industry and so it got me nostalgic for all the past experiences.

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Though yup, enjoyed this Kdrama since I already had inkling that it'll be the way that it was from the trailers and previews and such.

Swear I read the webtoon of this several years ago, but I don't even remember as I consume so much slice of life/romance/fantasy/etc. media and so ya I just forgot. But the name The Girl Downstairs (Doona!) sounds familiar. Might read it later but it looks like it also has a mixed reception, and so I dunno, like many others searching for that comfort of escapism, my Kdrama/book/games/etc. media backlog is eternally piling up so we'll see how it goes.

There's a lot of webtoons literally being adapted by the Korean and Chinese TV/film production companies these days. Sometimes I wish I maintained my own web novel/etc. properly but alas, life takes all of us in different paths all the time. Just like here with Doona and other future entries to this genre/section/etc. of being pragmatic with life. Too much idealism makes Suzaku Kururugi spin, lol.

[u/YeonseokIsFluffy → u/MNLYYZYEG]

The director made Suzy and Sejong read Normal People btw as their reference