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Hotel del Luna korean drama review
Completed
Hotel del Luna
0 people found this review helpful
by rizz
Sep 2, 2019
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 8.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 5.0
This review may contain spoilers
Hotel Del Luna started off as something dark, mysterious, fascinating and glamorous. Episode 1 was an amazing watch which got me hooked on this show. The music, fashion and acting were stellar. However as the story progresses, the first few episodes were mainly content with few scenes of romance, while towards the ending, we get many scenes of romance without much content. I find that it doesn't balance out too well for me.

I came from watching Absolute Boyfriend starring Yeo Jin Goo, and he was very well suited for that role. In HDL, his character doesn't have much progression, just mostly acting like a wimp and then being brave and manly (Yeo Jin Goo's acting is in fact really good, and it is somewhat a waste for him to portray Ku Chan Seong). IU's character on the other hand, had much more to portray, and I must say, she is the best person to act out Jang Man Weol. The small details such as eye contact and also the instances of being hilarious while putting on a straight face is something IU does very well.

Halfway through this series, I rated it a 9, and after completing it, dropped it to 8.5. There is much more to be developed, such as the backgrounds of the other hoteliers and how Hotel Del Luna came to be what it is today. All these were briefly explained, which I feel didn't make the cut, as some of them like Ji Hyun Joong and Kim Sunbae have interesting stories behind them which were poorly developed. There was a lack of romance/chemistry between the two main leads, such that my favorite couple has to go to Hyun Joong and Yoo Na.

The story is mostly simple, but at the start, there are many random introductions of ghosts with again, poorly developed storylines. The first 2 episodes were really solid, but somehow thereafter the series became lackluster. It was only with IU's acting, the OST and the cinematography that the drama was somewhat saved. On an overall, Hotel Del Luna is a breath of fresh air from mainstream K-dramas, intriguing and breathtaking at times. However, I give this a low rewatch value as it does not impress. Hotel Del Luna is something special and unique, only that if you are expecting a strong story plot, it might have fell short.
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