simmetra
Trope and juvenile
This is a juvenile drama and should be watched as such. It is trope and adolescent to be crushing someone. It is very innocent (or naive depending on your viewpoint) and pure as some reviewers have commented. It is refreshing even compared to some other teen dramas which nowadays focus on difficult themes like bullying or the stress/pressure of academic excellence or suicide ideation. However, I couldn't help but get vibes of paedophilic grooming especially in the first episode with the 14 yo Sang Zhi and developed a strong 'ick' factor.I seriously don't know how this drama can rate so highly compared to real meaty dramas. I watched hoping it would get more 'adult' and meaty but finally gave up. I really liked Zhao Lu Si and her portrayal of a high school student was spot on. Young love is pure and juvenile and one has to be in the right mood for it. Unfortunately, I'm not.
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Wasted potential
I don't know how people are saying that they've completed all 12 episodes when there are only 10 episodes broadcasted till today.Anyhow, I don't understand the high rating. This show has so much wasted potential. It could have been a mindf**k show with the time travel theme, it could have been the exploration of parent-child relationships, it could have been a show about an elaborate fraud scheme, it could have been a super-hero show, or it could been about mental health and healing. Or it could have been about an epic love story. Even Jang Ki Young was a disappointment if I was wanting to watch an 'idol' drama.
It has been NONE of these. At most I would class it as a somewhat interesting love story, sans romance. I keep watching and waiting for any one of these to emerge, but none has. The only reason I'm continuing is because I just want to see how bad it is at the end.
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Quirky and educational
This show starts off slow with a lot of over-acting but once you get into the hang of it, it's pretty entertaining. The drama starts off trying to be a comedy with a background of mystery. The premise is a top neurosurgeon (Jung Yong Hwa) comes in to help the police solve crimes related to the brain ailments. I'm particularly surprised by the over-acting of Jung Dong Hwan. He's such an established actor; there's really no need for over-acting.The pacing gets better around episode 3 when the mystery and crime-solving comes to the forefront instead of being buried in the exposition of each character. Having a story of the week really helps prevent the overall series from getting caught up in the over-acting. Once the show got underway, I enjoyed the weekly lessons and brain science that the neurosurgeon character played by Jung introduced.
Jung Yong Hwa hasn't acted in a lot of dramas over the years, and in this drama, he's as prone to over-acting as the other leads. I can't say that this drama is his best work (I still like Heartstring because the role reflects what he does best - being a kpop idol) but I do enjoy the wide variety of drama roles that he attempts. I got to give him credit for trying new things and sometimes they work out (Three Musketeers, the Package), and sometimes they don't.
In short, don't take the drama too seriously. Watch this drama for a light laugh and take it with a huge pinch of salt.
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Is this a teen drama?
I tried so hard to watch this. However, it’s a teen drama and I don’t do HS dramas. If I wanted to watch a HS drama, I would watch a HS drama. Friends told me I have to wait until epi 9 before it gets good. It’s already epi 5 and no Zo In Sung.Contrast this with the other superhero show broadcasting now, Uncanny Counter 2, which as been action from the get go. (That show suffers from other problems but action wasn’t one of them) No need for patience till almost midway through the season. And 20 episodes? Come on, do better with the editing seriously.
This is also a rip off Fantastic 4 and other broody teenage superhero movies trying to tame their super powers. Heroes, the American TV show, especially comes to mind. This is such a rip-off.
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Love and hate are two sides of the same coin
I have a masochistic relationship with this show. I hate what it does to me yet I can't stop watching. The show is about a couple who are in an abusive and messed up relationship. Things go so badly wrong yet they stay together because of their messed up pasts. They don't want to be together yet they don't want to be apart. They have no one else and so they stay together. They miss each other but don't want to see each other. They love each other for all the wrong reasons and their love often turns into hate. It is often said that it's worst to have no feelings for someone than it is to hate because hate is an extreme (though unhealthy) form of love.Similarly, I am abusing myself by watching it. So many times I've wanted to stop because the show was so messed up - not because the story didn't make sense (ok, at times it didn't) but because this love-hate dynamic is confusing. And I hate the show for what it did to me - despite wanting to tear myself away from the show, I couldn't stop myself from watching. Why? I already know the ending thanks to some of the reviews here and I know I'm going to be sad yet I still want to finish it. That's the power and the lure of this show that no show has had on me recently.
This show is a study in contrasts. The show is an examination of internal strife and conflict and is tantamount to self-abuse. It is a tortured love. Love it or hate it, it's worth a watch to decide.
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Disappointed
I tried so hard to like this show. I like Jang Na Ra, I like Jang Hyuk, and I like spy/thriller/action. I even like comedy. What I can't stand are family shows (the 50 or 100 episoder type). I thought I could tolerate the little kids altho I'm not usually a fan, but the daughter was cute enough. However, after 4 episodes, I am throwing in the towel because there are just too many better shows out there (Black Knight, Good Bad Mom, True to Love) which I love far more than Jang Hyuk and Jang Na Ra's chemistry.As usual, this show was trying to be too many things, often a fault with underperforming shows. To me, the greatest fault was in emphasising the family drama angle. It was cute in the first episode but soon got tiresome by the second episode. While the spy/thriller angle was there in the background, it was never interesting enough for me to want to know more or to get to the bottom of the overarching mystery (there was none).
It tried to be a Mr and Mrs Smith remake, and if it had the same spy pacing as that movie, maybe it could have worked. Right now however, I'd rather watch spy-thriller only dramas than this mixed genre. Maybe I will come back to this one day when I have nothing else better to watch because I have Disney subscription anyway. But for now, it will languish in my list of dropped shows.
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First impressions - Only for hardcore period drama fans
I am a sucker for period drama and especially those that are based on historical figures or events. This show was sponsored by the Korean government cultural bodies so as you can imagine, would be quite realistic at least from a sets and costume point of view. They do state that it is somewhat historically accurate (as compared to a lot of other period dramas) but still to be taken with a grain of salt for dramatic purposes.I love the character development and plot development so far, but it's really early days. Comparing this to My Dearest which is broadcasting at the same time, this drama is really only for historical buffs or diehard period drama fans, especially of war dramas. It doesn't have the emotions, flair and sympathy that My Dearest evokes with the on-going love story set within the tragic backdrop (at least so far).
There are some nuances of unusual relationships (son - mother and gay vibes; being gay is still not openly accepted in S Korean society today). So if that's not your cup of tea, you might want to give this a miss. In those days, it was perfectly normal for full blood siblings to marry (to maintain the purity of royal blood) so it was a different time and societal norms were different.
Trivia: Ji Seung Hyun has a role in both My Dearest and this. I am starting to feel that he does a better job in period drama than modern drama.
Will update my review again at the end.
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Very very dense
This will be a quick review as I'm struggling. I want really to like this show because it has a stellar cast. However, it is very very dense and needs your full attention. Even though my grasp of modern Korean history is so-so, it still didn't help me in this show.The first episode just drops you in and you don't really know what's happening and who everyone is. However, I can see the bones of a good story unfolding. One does need patience. I will update the review again at the end.
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