Absolutely brutal, a series you cannot ignore

Just finished watching and I have to say, this was very well written. Amazing acting with perfect ending. I don’t think this series was very populair but to me it deserves world wide recognition.

I often predict what can happen next in almost every K drama, but this show gave me unexpected revelations with every episode. The satisfaction after completing the series is unexplainable… wow.
Much appreciation for the team that worked hard to fulfill this. Strongly recommended!

The flashback scenes about bullying in school gave me chills, it was rough to watch but panoramic and comprehensive. It showed everyone in everyone’s perspective. When you watch this you can’t help but long for payback and righteousness, and feel sympathy and understanding for why one of the friends is doing what he is doing(revenge).

The perspectives subtly change from scene to scene until in the end of the series your whole perception of what you though was going on shifted. In the beginning you have two main characters, the one a cop the other a serial killer. You come to think you understand clearly who the bad and the good guy is but after several episodes you will see it is not that simple.

The acting was perfect, the actors did not need to say much, it was shown. The word “ crazy” came on in itself. Kim Dong-wook acts with his eyes. When I watched him I was almost out of breath. I liked the series because it felt so dark and distinctive, but deep and compendious.

I also feel like this show is criminally underrated and do not understand why?
This show is absolutely a thrill.
The ending was such a masterpiece, I cried a lot. One of the best I have ever watched this year. I was so impressed with the ending, it was by far the most touching feeling.
Kim Cheol (Choi Hyun Jin) carried the show. The scene where he stands up for jung jong-suk and hwang kyung-min is brilliant. When Cheol was fighting he looked so cool. Much commendation to the child actor who played him. Cheols roof fight, I was moved by his determination to win and how he would not give up for his friends.

The character Cheoli inspired me so much, as a christian he had likeness to Christ, but ofcourse he is not. It seemed symbolic to how in the christian faith, Jesus was willing to sacrifice himself and fight for us when we fail to overcome the trouble that comes in our way.
But at the same time He also motivates us to stand up ourselves and follow in His footsteps for righteousness and victory. Now Cheol’s character is a human student who cannot save anyone, but this was the symbolism that I recognized. It was beautiful.

Overall, this show is a masterpiece. It shows the frightful effects of severe bullying and class discrimination. And how it can make a child feel hopeless and give up. You always have a choice to stand up for righteousness or to just stand by and do nothing about it, or even accept it and join in. It made me reflect to my own life and the bullying in my past. It shows that victims can bear the emotional scars for a lifetime and the psychological effects are so severe, that it could drive a person to insanity and hallucinations. It is a clear warning sign what carelessness can do for the future. Where some lose hope and give up, others keep on fighting and go forward to what they want to do and want to become.

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Healing comes when someone starts to care

You want to know what a mother’s heart is like, in this drama it is shown that becoming a mother starts with caring for a child, not just giving birth to one.

This left me crying from shock, happiness and sadness. So many emotions come over you. Beautiful story and interesting topic. It shows different perspectives of family, and tackles topics like adoption, abandonment, abduction and child abuse. I was in tears for most of the series. Much of the scenes and acting were too graphic and shocking for me, but the ending made up for it. The feeling of what a mother is was well transferred!

The actors did their job very well, the emotions were amazingly conveyed. Becoming a parent can be a scary and difficult thing and this drama showed this in many ways. It made you understand the story from different perspectives, and brought people together. There are broken families all over the world, but this series gave me hope that there can always be a way to be united again, or rescued, when someone is daring and wiling to care. Loved every character, and although difficult to watch, even the bad characters how evil they may have been, I could understand. The drama does show very bad abuse towards children, but still does not condone it or sensualize it. The drama gives a deeper understanding of motherhood and the importance of family, while having shown revelations of the past. I have rewatched it several times. Would recommend this drama.

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My name : a lost person seeking justice through revenge

The main character was let down by authority figures. First her father, then her teachers and after this the authorities. And when her life really comes crashing down, she’s lost herself, and seeks revenge and justice herself, because no one else helped her when she most needed it. That is until…..

This drama really was an intense and dark experience. The music was very well put together, perfectly in sync with the story and the setting, the feel of the scenes. Some of the evil characters were so extreme, it made me question life. The story was so dark, it was hard to find a light hearted moment while you constantly hope for it. It was hard to watch but suspenseful. My heart ached for the main characters. The ending seemed like a cliffhanger, so I hope there will be a second season. Anyway, I am not satisfied with the way it ended if it really is the definite ending of the story.

I came to like the music, it fitted well with the mood of the drama. The scenes were very intense that I could not watch every minute, but it was worth the watch. This is one of my favorites.

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Beautiful and constructive

Precious drama, beautiful story! It shows you that how bad the circumstances may be, there is always something you can do to make life better. Believe in yourself regardless of what others say, what you do is more important than how you seem to be.

The story was more shown and seen than told, and it’s setting different from what I am used to. The scenes felt slow and dragged but sometimes cut off as well, like there was more to it than shown. The main characters were portrayed by actors who had been in historical drama’s before, particularly Saimdang. The actress of the female lead seemed similarly to Jang Geum, a character from another historical drama that she played. Nonetheless, was this a drama where the present was linked to the past and the other wat around, it was interesting and impressive. The traditional clothing most beautiful, even the ordinary cotton clothing, as always. It was interesting to learn more things about the old korean culture and specifically those times when art and science and education was rapidly developing in cultures all across the world. And it is shown how the Korean culture has always had unique colors. Although I had wished to have seen more of Saimdangs painting and art. Definitely a must watch.

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A mixture of light hearted sweetness with simplicity and a more heavy undertone

My second favorite drama of all that I’ve watched. This one was precious to my heart. It was warm, sweet-hearted, and funny. It had sad moments, and moments where you could relate very well, despite it’s fantasy atmosphere. The romantic plot is beautiful and it leaves room for imagination till the end. There were many possibilities and was not necessarily predictable. Loved the main characters and the side characters made it complete. It shows how love can be more simple than we humans often make it but also in some aspects hard, and it takes work and sacrifice for eachother. It shows next to the romance other sides of love as well, like friendship and family. Loved the female character, made me laugh many times.

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THRILLING!

“It’s train to Busan.” “Zombies should be in movies, not in our school.” “Humanity has never defeated a virus” . These lines describe how relatable the series is, as if you yourself as a student suddenly landed in a zombie apocalypse.

So many things to think back about with this mind blowing series. And with so many amazingly unique zombie series that came out recently, this zombie series wasn’t the best I’ve ever watched. (With Kingdom being the only one to top this and make me tremble.) Koreans are very good at story telling, and I’ve noticed this especially in recent zombie- series. But it was 10 times better than what I had initially expected. The story line, cast, plot, teamwork just showed to be great. Classic zombie plot with surprisingly intriguing differences from a usual zombie story. Bloody zombie scenes with a fine mixture of everyday high school relationships. Great character development. Risk taking and lots of very painful moments. And it’s nice to see that this drama did not sell itself out into the world through explicit sexual scenes and good looking stars, but instead kept it (despite the zombies) real and relatable for the viewers, with normal looking actors and sensible writing for the characters. It makes it all about the emotions and good quality of acting

1. Great story: It was turbulent in all ways possible. The plot of the series was going in all kinds of directions and somehow it meshed well together. It had so many twists and turns, and cliffhangers. My honest opinion (as a zombie binge watcher) is that this show was so complex. So many different and difficult topics were handled with so many surprises. The different ideas and concepts of the zombies and how it’s filmed, makes you feel like you are part of the show. The zombies are really terrifying. It seemed a very well thought out story, while there were many moments where you were left guessing where it would go next, and a lot left open for a second season. But that makes it all the more sustainable to continue. This show has a really deep meaning in the sense that it’s more than just zombie killing and action scenes. This show teaches that we fear monsters because they remind us of ourselves. “The worst monsters are the ones we create.” It reveals the arrogance of mankind and the horrifying but inevitable consequences of the actions taken in the story, an avalanche of build up events that ultimately was unstoppable. And the ignorance paired with that gave us a deep insight into the dark but all too real nature of this zombie series. If you enjoy zombie series, don’t miss out on this. It’s definitely worth your time watching it, and it does not contain overly long and dragged on episodes, so you won’t turn into a zombie yourself when you binge-watch it. ?

2. Well written characters: I felt realistically embedded with all of the characters in this. The characters had you rooting for them and against them! When the series ended I actually missed seeing them. Once you start watching it’s almost impossible to stop, you’re so drawn in with their amazing acting and invested in their story. I wished there would be another season soon with some of my favorite characters coming back to the screen. The actor for Cheongsan’s character truly deserves an award for the next level acting. His character was (despite all his flaws), the most fitted for leadership, with taking the necessary risks and jumping front forward onto the steering weel. Very impressed with this particular character! The entire cast was incredibly good at portraying emotions. Almost all characters are relatable and likeable, and absorbing. The villains are grippingly scary. And what I liked the most is how they showed the “human” aspect of every situation. You feel connected with every single one of them.
3. Awesome locations: the places seemed very realistic and fitting for the situations at hand. It started with one place and moved from there to broader grounds. It wasn’t just the school but other places that were eventually involved in this mess too.
4. Total terror, blood and gore!!! I personally am not a fan of very gross and bloody scenes. The details of the “zombie activity” shown were way too much for my taste. However, this series is not just about the zombie scenes, and contains much more areas to uncover.

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Horror and gore, but genius plot!

Kingdom

A gore and shockingly scary series where some scenes left me in horror! Could not watch some scenes, but the political and environmental and historical elements did it for me. The shock of the first zombie scenes were exciting to watch, but after a while it was just too much for me. I love the main characters, and them working together. The villains were for real! The actors were amazing. Genius plot, and interesting background of the zombies that makes you want to watch more! I’m am still eagerly waiting for a third season.

I did not remember the music, even though I have rewatched this drama several times. This tells enough of what my mind thinks of the music, it was average. Background music often suspenseful.

Basically, overall the series made me want more! Especially now that a new actress will join the cast hopefully in a third season, from Ashin of the North. I say this is one of the best “zombie”- series I have ever watched, the best part is that the zombies were not the main part of the story, there were many different elements to it. And everything was connected and put together so well. Even the background of all the characters and when and how they would meet and continue the story was perfectly put together, it made sense. It is not a romance focused drama, more about politics, power, the different positions and groups in a society back then, and a zombie virus with an riveting origin and background. Still after two seasons, my curiosity is still not satisfied and I can not wait until further revelations come. I am most excited about what will happen when the actress from Ahsin of the North comes. This drama left me with many speculations and expectations and hopes that need to be fulfilled.

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This drama is a wild ride, brings out intense emotions!

Extremely frustrating, but I just kept wanting to watch! only watched it because of one of the female leads, sim su ryeon, a true hero and legend in my opinion. A mother that greatly cares for her children and is righteous at heart. Does what needs to be done to protect her children, and to have justice return. She was the only character who was almost perfect and good in every way. All characters besides her were neither good or bad, but very dimensional. There were only a couple where I felt, ok these guys came straight from hell! But seeing more of their background, it starts to make more sense. It was very sad some of the characters stories, and extremely frustrating how bad they were communicating and misunderstanding each other. Their view on others and life seemed so small, it became insufferable. But nonetheless, very well acted, and a story worth watching. The twists and turns and revelations and schemes were breathtaking, and seeing justice finally come was satisfying. You never know whats happening next, which is what makes you want to keep going. If you watch this, I tell you, I wish you patience and calmness because it is likely gonna make you extremely angry and frustrated. But eventually relieved.

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Truly a jewel of a drama, the music and story is one of a kind

My all time favorite drama, even though an old one, it was full of wisdom and encouragement. Just like saimdang, an historical drama. This one tops every other drama I have watched, from the characters, the setting, the story. It contains beautiful moments and you learn a lot. Some scenes were repetitive, and some of the acting too. However, the large amount of episodes were not a problem for me! It is a gem.

The found out about this drama through the soundtrack. When I heard the music I just had to find out about where it came from, the music gives this pure feeling of historic times with beautiful asian cultured melodies, and the most amazing traditional songs. The most beautiful song to me was onara(오나라 |). This drama was unique in every way. You won’t find another like this, likely. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

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A very clever made romantic comedy drama with combined themes

The most important elements in a romantic comedy is the story(setting), the characters(roles and acting) and the theme(s) of the drama(in this case traditional and modern themes combined). All of these elements have a above average score for me. Everything, except for the music, (which does set up the atmospheric tone for any drama) caught my instant attention. I found it harder to skip scenes (and I can be a very impatient viewer) and loved every minute of it, bit to bit. Even rewatched certain scenes because of the references and funny scenes. As a long experienced watcher of k-dramas(especially romcoms), I can say this is one of those iconic and timeless romcoms, just done right with the right flavor of emotion and slapstick humor. It surely will be remembered. So here is my review divided by several important elements:

1. Story

I find it a very interesting storyline and the way it was set up with the setting and the characters, it really brought everything to life. I felt sort of nostalgic because it has this feel good taste to it that reminds me of the older, more iconic romcom dramas from years before, that always remained memorable to me and gave me warm feelings. The story also has much variety in it like comedy, romance, mental issues, superstition and mystery. I look forward to how to the story will continue, but interesting it will be for sure.

2. Characters

Adore the characters, played by very favorable actors who bring their characters to life. It felt like they belong in these roles, and the actors came off authentic and pure in their acting. Until now I can see much chemistry between not just the main leads, but all the characters. I also love the backstories of the characters, they are interesting and original, maybe not too realistic but that would not make it interesting if it was. I look forward to see where it goes from here, but I am very pleased with how the characters are written and shown on screen. I do wish if I must have some criticism in this review, that the main character the king would become more dynamic and come to have more depth and variety to his role. Because in the first two episodes he seemed to be constantly the same and putting out repetitive vibes that could become tiring if it continues like this. But I have hope that this will change.

3. Style of writing and how it played out in the scenes

This sense of style is very interesting to me, it is just the perfect combination of emotional and psychological writing with humor and light hearted scenes. It brings proper balance and makes it feel well rounded and interesting to watch. I can also appreciate the humoristic parts as it makes the heavier parts lighter/ Humor is a double- edged sword in writing. Used well, it elevates your work, creating a connection between you and the reader. A connection between emotion and relatability. It’s a human element that let’s you(as a viewer) be more easily absorbed by the work. Used poorly, it becomes a burden. Because humor is subjective, there is a large risk that we as viewers just won’t get it or won’t like it. The jokes might even fly right over my head. With this drama it dit not even go there and even if I did not get the joke immediately, It was so interesting that I watched the scene again when I did get it. Because I am not korean, and not very familiar with every cinematic work from Korea, some drama’s I just do not get no matter how many times I try to watch it. But this drama does not leave many people out and made it enjoyable so that anyone could get the story(with subtitles ofcourse). Watching earlier works from the same writer can help as well, or seeing as it is an historical romcom, being familiar with the korean traditional culture and superstition can make it more enjoyable. The writing has a lot of unexpected depth to some scenes as well, which makes it feel even richer to watch. There is noting like a comfy night watching a romcom with deep emotions and hilarious moments. The lines were well understood and not too cheesy or repetitive, there was always an element of surprise and variety to what was said and what was going on. Despite the story being a romcom with over exaggerated happenings at times, the lines still felt real and authentic. It fitted the characters well. It had a very rich sense if humor, with surreal humor where it takes advantage of the audience’s expectations and perceptions, flipping them over to create unpredictability. Making use of illogical thinking, absurd characters and events and nonsensical themes. The humor here is derived from the ridiculousness and unrealistic situations created by it’s unpredictability.
Wordplay, as suggested by it’s name, is a form of wit that plays around with the meanings and ambiguities of language for humorous results.

4. What I expect from this series?

Before this came out I initially did not expect much, I did capture my attention and interest as I find these sorts of rom coms with different elements to them very interesting and watchable. I personally do not have much patience so I like that the story keeps me going and keeps my attention. I also enjoy the touch of mystery in it, and the fact that it is an extra point to it and not the main thing, but just all different kind of point brought and set up together, it is very cleverly done and enjoyable to watch. Definitely recommend this series as it is appropriate for several different genres that you may like. I expect it to be endearing and have an unpredictable ending.

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Happiness makes you feel both happy and frustrated, enjoyed it! Hope you will too.

I was infatuated with this drama from the beginning, especially because of the main lead actors and it’s interesting storyline. Here below are my main thoughts:

1. I expected the series to be slightly different and unique in comparison to other apocalyptic works. And my goodness it was.
2. The dynamic between the characters was very well put together, and the chemistry between the leads was amazing. But, the contrast between the scenes( when one scene ends and it goes to another scene) was a bit different from what I’m used to, it was kind of shocking every now and then.
3. The drama does not shy away from the dark reality of some people in the world and shows that often the most unexpected surprises can arise from a new environment and the people that live around you.
4. I was on the edge of my seat for most episodes, in the beginning the episodes had a slow pace , towards the end : faster and more suspenseful. However, the ending was rather sudden and seemed cut down and short. While I can see why they did that, considering the style of the series, it left a rushed feeling in me afterwards and I wished they could’ve expanded it a bit more.
5. The title seemed like an appropriate description of the goal of the main leads. All they wanted was to find their happiness and especially towards the end they fought for it. And helped others find their happiness as well. (SPOILER)
6. It holds a warm place in my heart and (SPOILER) I was happy that the series ended happily for most characters that mattered to me. The last episodes made me think that it might not end happily after all, and that the title would’ve had an ironic meaning.

Long story short: I would recommend Happiness to you. Yes, you might become frustrated with some of the characters, and shocked with some of the scenes or revelations that come up very sudden. But, it’s slice of life moments and heart warming scenes. The badass lead characters and loving relationships, makes it all an experience worth the time. The music I came to like on the way, but it was some getting used to.

I came to this at first because of the main male lead actor and, I was on a zombie- binge- watch for weeks(mind me, this was not the first time ever that I was actually watching zombie series, but I was intrigued with this for a short while.) (SPOILER): Interesting fact: the zombies in Happiness were different from most portrayed in other series and movies. These zombies had stages, where the virus infected them slowly, and suddenly they could get outbursts, but ussually they seemed normal despite the sick look in their faces. But they could still think and talk and “act” normally. The person was still inside. Which was interesting and a bit creepy. It showed a unique perspective of the infected and humans, sometimes the humans acted worse. (SPOILER END). This series is my favorite zombie-apocalypse drama until now, with Kingdom next. I don’t need a season 2, but a PREQUEL expanding on the lead characters past and how their experiences were before (what made them to be how they are), would be great. It was one of the few things I missed in this drama, a more in depth background of the lead characters, where they came from and how they came to be such strong characters. A more extensive ending I would greatly appreciate. This was my review, thank you for taking the time to read and hopefully you had a use for it.

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