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Started and ended well, but the middle...
Mirror of the Witch is one of those dramas that started and ended superbly, but had a few episodes in the middle that were quite boring and slow, meaning it was a slight chore to get re-invested into the story in the later stages. However, thankfully, I was re-invested into the story and I felt quite emotional with the last episode. However, this does not mean the story is perfect. It's not. It's quite confusing at times. However, when it wasn't confusing, it was a great story. The acting was perfect, and whilst I was unfamiliar with some of the main and supporting cast, I instantly became a fan of all. The OST was really nice to listen to. The rewatch value is just low because of the aforementioned 'slow and boring' episodes in the middle (I want to say roughly episodes 9 to 14, but I can't guarantee if it was all of these or a combination of these).I really liked the cinematography and costumes in this drama, and the SFX weren't too bad either. The fighting scenes left a little to be desired, alongside the editing, and there was one minor plot hole I unfortunately managed to find in the last episode. However, I have noticed quite a lot of the hate that this drama gets is unjustified, in my personal opinion. This drama isn't perfect, but it's definitely not bad. It could be argued that the FL could have been older, but surely the casting team would have casted an older FL if they desired to show physical romance. I personally preferred it like this, where the romance was basically all hinted or done in non-physical ways.
If it wasn't for the boring middle, I'm confident I would have rated this higher. I still recommend people to watch this, but are 'in the know' of the slowness of the middle.
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Secret Dealer
This drama was like a rollercoaster ride without the thrills or the rails. That first episode was unbelievably bad and a huge turn off to kick start the drama but I kept going regardless. The whole mystical shaman vibe in a historical setting turned out to be quite an unsuccessful combo in this case, it felt like they slapped on those elements without any real thought. The entire story felt so limited and restricted, even the cast, when taking into consideration its length. All of that was accompanied by poor pacing, you can imagine how they were trying to push it to reach the 20 episodes mark.Was this review helpful to you?
But it was disappointing, the pitiful end, no matter what they say ....
Perfect ending was the (The Moon that Embraces the Sun)
This was just so much sacrifice to have the same end, every plot was worth nothing, because it ended in this way, without joy, without happiness ......
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Too Much Dwelling On Black Magic
"Mirror of the Witch" was badly written script and too much dwelling on black magic and too little time showing Heo Jun learning herbal medicine. It is a fantasy historical K-drama series of "Hur Jun, The Original Story". "Princess Yun Hee"/Seo Ri is almost identical to a character in "Hur Jun, the Original Story", "Im Mi Hyun", a young daughter of an exiled royal physician that taught Heo Jun about herbal medicine in the first few episodes. Both Princess Yun Hee in "Mirror of the Witch" or Mi Hyun in "Hur Jun, the Original Story" is the first love of Heo Jun; apparently his first love lingers in his memory for a long long time.Both actress Miss Kim Sae Ron and Yoon Shi Yoon have promising talents. They have good on-screen chemistry in "Mirror of the Witch". Hope to see them grow in this entertainment industry that is saturated with excellent Korean actors/actresses.
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I love (almost) anything that has historical and fantasy elements, which was why I watched this. The first few episodes were great, and I felt like the pacing was good as it helped brought the story forward, even though it felt slow. The last few episodes feltl frustrating, and the last episode made me feel like I've given the show too much credit along the way, even though I could understand the choices the characters have made.
Acting/Cast:
2 words. SO. GOOD. Kim Sae Ron's acting is soooooo good. I know her age gap with Yoon Shi Yoon may be a turn off to some, but try not to let it bother you! I think it is also because I've never watched Kim Sae Ron's other shows (I know she started as a child actress, but I only watched like one episode of High School Love On) so the age gap didn't really bother me because she did such a good job here.
The other characters did a good job as well, providing some comic relief, and I think Do Hee surprised me the most. It felt like the character Soon Deuk belonged to her. The protaganists were good as well, portraying their flaws, and the reason behind it.
Music:
It was good and appropriate music was played at the right time and not overused.
Rewatch Value:
I only gave it 5 points because the plot got repetitive at the end. Although the characters developed from it, it wasn't really worth it and I don't think I could stand watching the last quarter of this show again.
I would recommend this if you love something with historical and fantasy elements and you don't mind the age gap between the casts because the acting was good. ????
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Certain aspects of the series are decent, respectable, even good, but others genuinely made me laugh at their poor execution. From poorly acted seizures, unabashed evidence of wires, to massive and unexplained gaps in side character plots, and sheer inexplicable stupidity in characters' actions in order to create a story, this show had a lot of shortcomings. But then it also has a pretty great soundtrack, and seriously well acted villains. Inexplicable stupidity aside, the characters were generally really well written, being interesting individuals who were all simply on their own side, rather than being divided into factions, and with the kind of inner conflict that makes you think 'I hate this guy, but okay, I get why they're like this'. The development of relationships progressed naturally, (although perhaps a bit fast for some) without being forced, or having to fight the drama - and in some ways those that were not explicitly defined stood out to me the most. Of course, that could only be pulled off with the skills of the actors and the rest of the practical crew, but I give the writers some points back for giving it that integrity.
Overall, a mixed review. Would I recommend it? Sure, for a light watch, if you can accept it being a bit all over the place. I think it's a show you can enjoy if you leave your expectations and critical mind at the door ^^ If you're looking for some intense, gripping, moving masterpiece however, then I'm sure you've already gotten the message to move along to the next thing and have a nice day.
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Was it worth it: For me, yes. For others, probably not.
What I liked the most: Yoon Shi Yoon. He beat out every other good aspect the drama had.
What I disliked the most: The directing was HORRIBLE. Also, I tend to find traditional Korean music more akin to “noise” than “music.”
Moment Meter: 1/10 – Only because the director didn’t know how to build tension. A lot of moments fell flat because of it.
Other thoughts: All visuals (effects, make up, sets) were done extremely well. Everything visual was top notch. The acting was great (mostly. Didn't care for Kim Sae Ron's acting). I hated Jo Dal Hwan’s character, so good job there. Some scenes were downright gross. The music could have been better. The story was also pretty good though the ending was unsatisfying. The directing sucked. Scenes dragged on longer than they should have. The writing and acting were there, but the PD was terrible at building tension. The story line moved along at a pretty good pace, but the individual scenes dragged if that makes any sense.
Conclusion: Probably wouldn’t have liked it too much if not for Yoon Shi Yoon. It had all of the potential in the world, but someone dropped the ball and the end result is a drama that feels slow, watered down and generally annoying.
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What I liked the most is that you didn't spend every episode saying, "Oh my god, that person is so evil, how can they keep getting away with fill-in-the-blank and no one picks up on it." You know those dramas where the bad guy/girl has such a complex evil plot and everyone is just too blind to see it. Well, here the evil is clearly evil, everyone knows they are evil, and the reason why they keep getting away with it is plausible.
The casting was fun. From (Welcome Home!!!) Yoon Shi Yoon who played the ultimate devoted man to the plucky Kim Sae Ron, the ridiculously lovable Lee Yi Kyung and his perfect partner Do Hee, Evil's Evil Step-Mother Yum Jung Ah and the endearing, emotionally torn Lee Sung Jae....it was fabulous. But the icing on the cake was throwing in some final episode cameos by two of my all time favorites Ahn Kil Kang and Kim Kap Soo. I literally squee'd.
The music was typical OST. Nothing to write home about so I scored it in the middle. And as for rewatch value, also lower because I don't really see myself watching the series again.
Watch this if you don't like historical dramas but want to dip your toe in the water, if you love a good, slow-building bromance story and if you missed Yoon Shi Yoon while he was serving.
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