must see for lovers of historical-fantasy dramas
As a lover of historical dramas I'm suspicious to talk, but if you are looking for a historical drama with fantasy, amazing cinematography and a love story that makes your heart flutters, go for it.I was seduced by the fantasy plot and by the beauty of the deities and the story behind them. The cast was amazing, and all of them could portray very well the emotions of their characters, expecially the female main lead, who acts was simply superb.
It's a story that make your heart both happy and boken in the same time and it will make you want to know how it's going to end and if it's possible to have a happy ending.
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Pain is temporary
A poor fantasy that failed to establish a reasonable foundation from the very beginning, it even did a worse job with its brittle world building. The low budget visual effects weren't helping its case either. The cast may seems to be fine on the surface but the characters were as one dimensional as they could come. Its second biggest selling point after fantasy is the romance, of which was the least appealing aspect of the drama. By the end, I couldn't care the slightest about either of the leads and their fate. A cheap Chinese knock off fantasy with gods and dragons would have been better than this.Was this review helpful to you?
Only watch if you don’t have anything to watch
I’m kinda disappointed in this drama. The quality is not on par with the hype, rating. I like Kim Yoojung that’s why I watched this drama, and even her cannot save the drama.There’s a lot of holes in the story line, for a fantasy drama it lacks a lot of aspects. The female heroine character is unbearable, always act recklessly without thinking. Ahn Hyo-seop is very bad at acting as blind person. At some point in drama he didn’t even bother to act like blind person. The chemistry between main characters are pretty non-existent. The only good thing about this drama is the soundtracks, songs are good.
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This review may contain spoilers
Strong start, weak ending
I was super excited for this historic drama. The leads were actors/tresses I follow so I was looking forward to their pairing.Story:
The beginning story telling, CGI, and acting was really good, so I had high hopes. Was also surprised by episode 6 the main leads shared a kissed so early on! So, the drama felt a bit different in how they were telling the story.
Where it felt it went down hill was somewhere in the middle. It felt there were missing scenes and the flow of the story telling felt off, especially around the love story between the ML's. There were a lot of push and pull from the male lead and out of no where he gave her a ring and confessed his love for her, it just felt out of no where and didn't feel very smooth. It left me feeling like I missed an episode or something.
There were also some plots hole, like the sha min from the start keeps referring to the divine bowl and that it was the bowl that will seal ma wang, but the ended up he was sealed in the royal portrait? There were no mention of it towards the end and it left me confused. It was also more confusing to why the royal portrait of the old reigning king be what seals ma wang, why not a portrait of the ML?
Acting:
I thought the actor/ress acted well, there were some instances where I thought the male lead could do better acting blind, but other than that they expressed their characters emotion well.
I was pleased that it was an overall happy ending for the main characters and tied up some details. The last scene shows the infighting between 2nd lead and his brother I don't think there will be a 2nd season and was meant to show what happens to the evil brother. I do believe base on Korean history, the 2nd prince does become king so, yeah.
Would I rewatch it? Probably not the whole thing but some scenes earlier in the show.
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Definitely a must see KDrama
Episide 1 definitely caught my attention and since then, I kept waiting to see the next episodes. The plot is different from the othe other KDramas that I have seen so far. I enjoyed watching each episodes; it never disappoints me. I love the story. Great cliffhangers on each episode, it made me wish for a faster week so that I can watch the next one.Kim Yoo-jung, Ahn Hyo-seop and Gong Myung are amazing; the entire casts are great.
The other things I love seeing in this show are the paintings and details of the techniques based on how the painters use the diff types of brush; this even made me want to start painting 🥰 Overall, I love this KDrama.
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Strong start, awful middle, and strong finish
I won’t lie and say I’m not disappointed with how this drama turned out, because I was initially extremely interested in this drama and couldn’t wait for next week to come faster. While the drama has a strong start with an amazing cast, music, and special effects, the storyline starts dragging and repeating itself midway through. This loss in momentum is the main reason why I and so many other people ended up rating this drama a lot lower than it should have been rated. Additionally, the romance fell extremely flat for me, and while there wasn’t much character development and interaction, the leads seemed to have fallen in love almost instantly due to the one day they spent together as kids and a few strange encounters when they were 20 years older. This led to a lot of unclear character motivations since all laws of logic were pointing to the fact that they shouldn’t be this attached to one another after having met just a handful of times. Ignoring all that, I did think that the drama had a very strong finish. The last episode, while extremely cheesy at the end, was intense, heartwarming, and quite satisfying. I was not expecting much at that point and was actually pleasantly surprised. All in all, I’d only recommend this drama for those who can’t get enough of Kim Yoo Jung and Ahn Hyo Seop (like me!) or otherwise enjoy strangely paced historical fantasy with a million plot holes. Everything about this drama screamed perfect, and it’s a shame that the repetitive and dragged out writing had to let the drama down like that.Was this review helpful to you?
Too Good To Be True
I had high expectations on this drama.It started out great, but ended up crappy. I was disappointed with FL's character, there was no character development. Her character confused me that it started to annoy me. She's too gullible, naive, and childlike. Imo it's not a good pair with ML & 2nd ML's characters.
As for the romance part, idk, I'm not feeling the chemistry. It felt forced, and I feel like the drama can continue with just a subtle touch of romance.
There are still questions left unanswered, but I guess that's how historical dramas work. Though I was really surprised with the ending huh, it's a new concept of open ending lol
Still, kudos to all the casts especially to Kwak Shiyang & Gong Myung!
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Overall I feel satisfied, because during this drama there are many moral messages that we can apply in our lives today.In addition, the background music is very suitable with the acting scenes of the actors/actresses, no wonder if in several episodes I was carried away crying and moved. And yes, as I watched in the last part, I thought that this drama was not finished or it could be said that there might be a season two, ohh I can't wait.. You have to finish this first or you will regret it :*
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Thank you.
This is really good. I loved it and I will go back to rewatch it. The fantasy was all there! I love Ha Ram and Hong Chun Ki. This is a must-watch... I don't want to give any of this story away but it was absolutely wanted to make someone focus on every single minute.1. Kim Yoo Jung whose character is Hong Chun Ki was absolutely believable in this role. She was awesome playing this character. I would like to see her more.
2. Ahn Hyo Seop whose character is Ha Ram, wow what a handsome man this one is. This is my first time seeing this actor I want to see more of him in other dramas. I will be added some of his drama.
3. Gong Myung who played Prince Yang Myung / Lee Yul did really well in his role. He was a softy.
The visuals were great and on fire! The location set was great. The costumes, I loved. The Martial artist had that little fantasy to it and I loved it. Everyone did great in the drama...all the support actor/actresses Thank You. To the Screenwriter... I applaud you.
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This review may contain spoilers
Decent Show that doesn't have a Rewatch Potential
This is the first time I've watched a historical drama with a hint of a magic plot. So far, the story from the beginning will leave you intrigued for a couple of episodes. The chemistry between the two leads was good, as well (giving a plus since it was quite refreshing to encounter that the ML is an astronomer & the FL is an artist). I like how they finally portray the artistic side of the Joseon Dynasty. However, when I finally got to the peak of the series, I'm slowly getting disinterested for some reason.It may be because of the unending repetition and prolonging of the events of plotting the sealing of the demon. It is really true that this show would have the potential to be one of the best historical dramas, but it ended up being a letdown for us. Some of the characters' backstories should also have been shown since most of the scenes were basically about revenge and figuring out all about the demon. Also, most of them have an importance in the development of the story, and that's one of the things this show has screwed up. I should also be allowed to complain why the pretty old deity and the tiger girl have a little screentime even though they're always the ones who save those lovers.
Their love story was somewhat pure and fast-paced (ep 1 was their encounter in childhood, and their love quickly progressed when they met up in the following episodes). I just kind of wished that they focused a bit more behind the works of the Baekyu Painters Society & Gohwawon because it is one of the reasons why I continued to watch this through & through. The scenes where the ML and second lead are together with FL are kind of cringy, but it's still bearable compared to other shows that dramatically prolong a romantic scene. The visuals/shots are also superb, especially when the two leads are on a date in a specific setting. For the CGI? I don't know how to describe it, but for me, it was fine... I guess?
Also, the way the two leads deliver their lines when they express their love for each other somehow makes it memorable and touching. One line that struck me was when Chun Ki mentally vocalized her feelings towards Ha Ram: "Ha Ram, you asked me to forget. But I cannot forget you. Like a brushstroke already drawn cannot be undone."
The ending expects us to be happy and satisfied, but the series should have properly managed those loose ends for us to be not disappointed with its outcome.
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Perfect ending ,no flaws
I love it ,all actors and their acting ,too good.Even the one old couple most of the time shows affection too each other that was cute. At the ending part of the drama they had seen where they were showing their love to eachother by saying eachother by the name wife and husband.
Ha Ram was too good both the part of acting ,good and bad (devil) both are too good . Specially the seen when the devil said ne nun (my eyes) .
Cheongi acting specially in the last part when she got blind and her father came to say goodbye to her ,Oh God so emotional ,.even I got tears .
The king's third son,I forgot his character's name but he was just perfect felt bad that his love story remain incomplete.
Cheongi's the two companion were also very good ,the way they support her.
At last the tiger's spirit and Shamshin they got little scenes but the good one.
Is there second season of this drama because of the very last scene , I think . Music and songs were also very good. Two or three episodes had romantic scene ,I wanted to see more but the second thought that story was so good ,other thing become not so important
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Engaging so please do not mind the low rates given by some people!
This story takes you on a smooth ride till the end.It's a relaxing watch with beautiful ML and FL.
I will recommend it as a light watch and a dreamy ML who appears ethereal.
He was good in yhe Abyss too!
Over-all, nice story and beautifully done but still not to the level of dramas such as Eternal Love, Ashes of Love, Mr Queen, The Joy of Life, Alchemy of Souls, The Eternal Love, Love Under the Moonlight and Reborn Rich !
Still a nice watch! Almost felt like there shouldn't be a season two!
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