STORY - While this contains the usual Kdrama cliches (don't we love cliches?), the overload of cuteness, funny moments and its consistent lightness separates it from the rest of the dramas under the same genre. It has a certain pull to make you smile all through out. Each episode contains a subplot to keep you from getting bored while the main plot was just there, peeking from time to time but not revealing anything. It has some serious moments towards the end but unlike other dramas it didn't feel like a drag. I just love how the main plot was subtly shown in each episode and did not ruin the overall feel of the drama. If you're a scaredy-cat, be sure to watch it with a friend because some ghosts were really scary.
CHARACTERS - This is the first time that I've seen Taecyeon act and boy, isn't he good? Acting as a character that is a lot younger than your real age is quite a challenge but he nailed it! II am now a fan! Kim So Hyun on the other hand did a good job being so adorable. She's so cute I wanted to put her inside my pocket and bring her home :). These 2 actors, regardless of their age gap, created a beautiful romantic spark. From the beginning until the end, they were able to keep that wonderful chemistry that sent butterflies to its viewers.
Also, I have to commend Lee David and Kang Ki Young for bringing so much fun in this drama. They had me rolling on the floor laughing. FOR REAL! :) And let's not forget about Kwon Yool. Who would have thought that a handsome face like that was a villain? I certainly didn't!
MUSIC - This is the only disappointment in this drama. Usually, there's at least one song that sticks in my head but this one doesn't have.
REWATCH VALUE - This drama doesn't contains micro details that deserves a rewatch. However, I would definitely watch it again in times that I'm down and would like to feel good.
OVERALL - This goes on top of my list under RomCom genre for this year. I have a serious withdrawal syndrome that I think would last for weeks. I just feel sad not that it has ended :(
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The story evolves around this guy that can see ghosts and even touch them - therefore also fight them as they continue to bother him through his daily life. There then he meets this female student ghost who gets on bad terms with him, but in the end ends up fighting other ghosts together with him.
Most times the story is held lighthearted, although the ghosts appear to be really scary sometimes - remember the movie "The Grudge"? You'll certainly encounter some of those while watching the drama. But in the end every one of their unique stories seem rather pitiable or just sad than frightening and sometimes have a deeper meaning to it.
The acting was solid, convincing and also charming at some points. The fights were really good, enjoyable and even funny. They did a pretty good job on those. Also, CGI effects thumbs up. Quite the sight here. So, when it came to those dramatic scenes, they pulled those off really well.
When it comes to the final, be prepared. Suspense, intensity, thrill... you'll get everything. The whole story isn't stalling one bit but has a smooth flow and the way the mystery surrounding the leads is unraveling only bit by bit, keeps the tension.
So, like I said in the beginning: Recommended if you look for something like "The Master's Sun" or "Oh My Ghost". Have fun watching it if you haven't done it already ;)
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Story: [7/10] As mentioned earlier, this show is not very plot driven. In fact that was probably the weakest part of the show. Personally I did not watch this show for the plot. I watched it more for light-heartedness. I also liked seeing the relationship develop between the two main characters. It was very cute. These parts felt a bit like filler to me, but they still played an integral role in making me like this drama. I also had a slight disdain for the second half of the show because we begin to understand how Hyun Ji became a ghost. I wasn't a big fan of this because Bong Pal and Hyun Ji's relationship takes a turn. The writers decided to do something to Hyun Ji's character which basically takes away all of the ghost fighting altogether. This one major change, changes the story into something completely different. I felt that this change personally took away the best part of the drama and made it into more common and traditional Korean drama/story that has nothing to separate it from its'competition. I liked the last episode a lot as well. As it goes semi-back to its' traditional beginning again with the cute relationship between Hyun Ji and Bong Pal.
Cast: [9/10] The cast and acting was probably the best part of this show. Kim So Hyun is one of the best child actresses out there and it really shows. Hyun Ji's relationship with Bong Pal seemed very realistic because of Ok Taec Yeon and Kim So Hyun's great acting. I also really enjoyed the relationship bewteen the two support characters as well. Lee David and Kang Ki Young's bromance in Bring It On Ghost took the comedy and romance to a different level.
Music: [8/10] The music is above average. It's not overly bad or overly good. Nothing to write home about.
Overall: [7.5/10] This show is not really known for its' plot. It's another one of those light-hearted shows that aired this season.
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Some scenes were scary, but don't worry. In the middle of the scary scenes, there will always be some form of comic relief. The drama ended perfectly. I would not have ended it any other way.
It has an amazing story despite some awkward acting at some points and I would recommend this drama.
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This review may contain spoilers
I watched "Oh My Ghost" a while back, and that series is infinitely superior to this one. It had intelligent characters, a great plot with some good twists, and a cast that was first-rate, led by Bo-Young Park, who is one of the best in the business.This series is a poor imitation by comparison. It actually starts out quite strong with interesting characters, for the most part, and an interesting story. However, much like a house of cards, everything falls to pieces in the last 4-5 episodes when one is expecting things to continue strongly.
Bong-Pal Park is a young college student living on his own, majoring in Economics, and yet he has an interesting ability: he can see, hear, and even fight ghosts. In fact, he's earning money by being hired as an exorcist. This isn't your "western" exorcist who recites prayers and performs silly rituals, but a man who literally beats up ghosts until they disappear/move on. Yeah, I know...it's a bit silly too. Bong-Pal is a loner who doesn't interact with anyone except for a disheveled and inept monk who feels responsible for Bong-Pal's situation.
Bong-Pal is called to exorcise a ghost at a haunted high school. It's there that he meets Hyeon-Ji Kim, a rather weak, vain, and pesky ghost.
After a fight, she begins following him all around, and they end up teaming up together to fight ghosts. Yes, she can fight them too.
Meanwhile, we have Professor Joon Hye-Seong, who has a way of making any girl sway in her shoes, but is far more diabolical than meets the eye.
There is a connection between all three characters which attempts to drive the story.
The series is intriguing while Bong-Pal and Hyeon-Ji are together. However, a twist unfolds that shakes things up. You can't very well have a K-Drama without a wedge that drives them apart, can you?
We find that, for some reason (unexplained) that Hyeon-Ji is an even weaker and more pathetic young girl than we thought. For some reason, her personality changes, and she's a 24-year-old woman living under the heels of her overbearing, controlling mother. Yes, she has no say in her life, which unfortunately, is very typical of Asian mothers. I ought to know as I've worked as an ESL teacher in China, Korea, and Taiwan. Hyeon-Ji may be 24, but she acts like she's 14, and her mother treats her as such. Some of the worst parents in the world are Asian and American parents. Neither one knows how to empower. One rules by complete control, and the other spoils their kids with everything under the sun. Both are pathetic.
To make matters worse, she's a typical 24-year-old woman who acts 10 years younger than she is, because she's so immature. She gets upset if calls/texts aren't immediately returned (also typical of Korean women) which are followed up with threats of being cut-off permanently if an immediate response isn't given, and she gets upset if all of the attention isn't on her. She pouts and constantly asks, "Did you miss me?"
A 24-year-old woman (who's actually a couple of years older by now) having to ask her boyfriend to ask for permission to date, is one of the saddest and most pathetic things in any culture. This isn't the 1900s!
Episode 15 finally gives us a silly, unconvincing climactic battle. At one point, Hyeon-Ji is asked to get the weapon that will kill the evil spirit. She sits on the ground for 5 minutes before being told again. She literally says and does nothing during the whole battle. The series should have ended here.
Instead, we're giving a completely useless and unnecessary Episode 16 that will challenge even the most hearty viewer to sit through as we are lulled to sleep because it took the writers a whole episode to sort things out with Bong-Pal and Hyeon-ji. We're given scenes that any decent editor would have scrapped! I couldn't even get through the final episode. I finally shut it off with, "Enough!"
If you're looking for a good series to watch, I highly recommend the vastly superior, "Oh My Ghost." Leave this one to the exorcists, as that's what it would take to sort through this contrived mess of a series!
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The Story
Bong-pal (a college boy who sees ghosts) and Hyun-ji (a high school ghost girl) who paired up to exorcize evil ghosts is good enough to create a lot of bickering and hijinks to our story. It's a plus that there's a bit of a cohabitation to lead the romance between our leads. It's entertaining to see how Bong-pal doesn't want to be affected by other people but can't help care for Hyun-ji (who wouldn't find Kim So-hyun adorable anyway?). The drama is formatted to have weekly ghosts to fight and surely, the ghosts here are super scary. I've seen a few Kdrama with ghosts but this might be the scariest I've seen so far (I've warned you!).
What I don't like about the plot is that the drama couldn't execute the suspense in the way I expected. The story became a bit predictable early on in its run but I just enjoyed the events as they happen.
For me, the value of this show actually comes from how much I adore its cast more than from how the story or plot was written.
The Cast
I'm actually worried a lot when they casted Kim So-hyun as Hyun-ji (the ghost girl) because she's still too W young. How will I be able to get those witty and comical situations between our OTP a la Oh My Ghost if our lead is still minor? But surely, Kim So-hyun is an amazing actress whose now ready to take on her lead role in a show. She is so adorable as a caerefree and strong-willed ghost.
I'm not really picking on Taecyon him being an idol-actor. It's a bit of a let down that whenever there's an emotional scenes for his character, he's unable to pull me in with his acting. Other than that, I felt that he did a good job on his action scenes and the scenes with Kim So-hyun. I do find him adorable, despite being the big guy that he is, when he is with her.
Of course, I wouldn't forget to mention our crazy soondae soup crew. Cheon-sang and In-rang (Kang Ki-yang and Lee David) is that unique source of joy found in this show. This crazy duo never failed to make a single situation extra hilarious than it should have been without them, it's a different kind of bromance. I've seen both actors in other shows bit this is my favorite so far.
Rewatch Value
I think I'll be skipping a bit on those ghosts.
Overall
I loved this show for its adorable cast and eady to watch story.
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The story had such potential. The idea that a college student and his ghost girlfriend help with supernatural problems sounds very interesting. And at first it was. I liked the meet cue between the ML and FL. It was fun with a hint of scare and a bit of action, what's not to like? But instead of continuing with this main theme it gets lost somewhere in the telling of the personal story. It would have been much better if they had been able to integrate the ghost fighting in with the personal stories better. Yes, they did have an evil spirit that connected everyone but it felt like two different shows to me. Someone else said the pacing seemed off a little and I agree with thought completely. It really wasn't that scary either, which is good for me. I don't do true 'horror'. There are some jump scares and at first the ghosts are creepy but that gets old quickly because they all looked and moved exactly the same. I often got bored with in some of the episodes but not enough to drop it. The story kept going just enough to keep me interested overall.
The acting was decent. I really liked the two goofy friends who are a bit over the top but it felt like it fit to me. Kang Ki Young, who plays Choi Cheon Sang, really does this kind of character well. The main couple did a good job. Taecyeon had that cool, outcast, badboy with a heart of gold part down pat. And I liked how Kim So Hyun played the sassy sidekick. None of the characters had any depth and depth wasn't needed.
The beauty of this show was in its lack of depth. Don't ask questions, just accept it and you will be entertained.
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Now what I didn't like about this drama was the story line. While the concept initially hooked me in at first, I thought the drama could have been a lot better story wise. The drama started to drag towards the middle and it eventually became focused more on romance. The end of the story kind of felt flat to me as well.
Overall though it was an enjoyable and average drama to watch. It won't go down as a "great great" drama but it's worth the watch if you're a fan of Taec-yeon and Kim So-hyun.
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In fact, I had a childish grudge on Kim So Hyun after I watched "Moon Embracing the Sun"-- that sort of held me back from watching this drama for the first few after this drama ended.
BUT I AM SO GLAD I WATCHED IT!
From the get go-- THIS WAS AMAZING!
I love Kim So Hyun as a female lead (although I am tired of her hairstyle) and I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE Ok Taecyeon! His smile, his face, his shoulders, even the way he talks! It's amazing and he is so brilliantly gifted as an actor!
This show was so good I even found myself loving the villain because he looked like such a small adorable boy.
My say? Watch it you all! Trust me! If you enjoyed "Master's Sun" -- you'll enjoy this for sure!
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