Just my opinion...

I know I'm going to get heat, but I REALLY disliked this drama. Kim Min Jae - I've loved him in everything I've seen him in, but what the heck? What was it for me, lack of chemistry? Bad writing? I don't know, but the secondary storyline certainly was more interesting than the ML and FL.

Add to that, in historical garb all the men look alike, and all the women look alike. I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out what was going on. I will be the first to admit that historical dramas are not my "go to" but I have watched a couple that I've really liked.

This drama had entirely too many episodes, apparently to fit in all the unnecessary ancillary storylines that they felt the need to inject into it.

In closing, even though I didn't like it, I'd say give it a try. Maybe I was in a bad mood while watching it, maybe all that satin was giving me some kind of trauma, maybe the beads on the hats made me think of abacus, which made me think of math, which sent me off the deep end. Remember, it's just my personal opinion.

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Very jumbled and rambling plot line

This show has been on my list for a while, and since I have enjoyed Bae In Hyuk in other things, I figured I'd give it a try. For me, it was torture to get through, and I've never been so happy to finish something in my life. I usually like to give all the positive aspects of a show, regardless of whether I ultimately ended up liking it, but hmmm, can't think of any here.

1) I found the Fl extremely irritating. Her bouncing around and then suddenly pouting about something, pick a mood and stick with it. This might seem like a small thing, but every time she said 안녕하세요 to someone, her voice went up about four octaves and she used this baby, breathy voice that was SO irritating!
2) STRONG triangle. It went on entirely too long and SML kissing her without consent, just no.
3) Why did ML and FL like each other? Never really saw development, they just suddenly liked each other.
4) The mystery. Why? I didn't care for it, and it went on for so long that once I got to the end I didn't care anyway.
5) The one "dance" they did throughout the whole drama. Their rehearsals revolved about that one arm-swinging movement, over and over again.
6) And can we talk about the costuming?! Oh, my gosh, the costume designer should have been forced to wear one of their own designs as punishment. It was really hard to take any of the conversations seriously while they were wearing their cheer costumes, they were so ridiculous. In real life, you would not have anyone want to be on the cheer team unless they were getting paid to wear those costumes. I can't get over how bad they were.

While I may not say run away from this show, I would suggest turning and walking away quickly, and find something better to watch.

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Might have been better as a series

Usually, I prefer movies because they leave out all the unnecessary filler. In the case of this movie, I would have preferred more information. I have not read the manga or watched the anime, so maybe it's my own fault. The biggest thing missing for me were the emotions of the main couple. When and why did he fall in love with her? Didn't see that at all. They spent time saying that he was a terribly mean person, and multiple women had already run away from him, but he was nice to her from the beginning, and I could never feel why he liked her specifically.

It was about time for some niceness to her, after the horror of the family that she had to live with.

The special effects in this movie were really good. There was a lot of action packed into it as well. I also liked the feel of the movie regarding the time frame. I tend to not like historical dramas, but here, the time frame was somewhat blurred, with the women in beautiful kimonos, and the men in suits. Shout out to the costume designer for the military uniforms and kimonos. And whoever was responsible for hair and makeup - the long silver hair was so effective on the ML, as well as the "tattoo" markings on their faces when they used their powers.

So, while I didn't absolutely love it, this movie has a lot going for it and it was time well-spent to watch it.

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Very pleasantly surprised

I watched this is two days, if that tells you anything. If you are looking for something fluffy and easy to watch, give this a try. There's nothing new and groundbreaking here, other than the fact that this show bypasses so many of the tropes that I hate. I do have to say that the tendency to make the FL a bad student is overused. The dubbing was terrible in places (their mouths weren't even moving with the words), but other than that, this show had me smiling, laughing, and I even cried a little.

Actors - Jun as Ling Chao. He was pretty one-note, as I've come to expect from most of the MLs in these types of dramas. There wasn't much acting required, really, since his character was pretty much the same throughout. His characterization was a terrific foil for the ebullient Xiao Tu (played by Zhang Miao Yi). She was outgoing and friendly, with a ready smile that absolutely lights up the screen. She is made for these school dramas, she's so tiny and youthful.

Enjoyed:
1) Main actors and their chemistry. I love that they'd known each other for years, more like brother and sister. It was fun to watch their relationship and watch them try to navigate the uncharted territory of their newly discovered feelings for one another. There was a lot of handholding and there were quite a few kisses, which started out as the eyes-wide-open fish kisses, but they definitely got better. I loved how well he knew her - giving her a bouquet of snacks rather than flowers, because she was constantly eating.
2) I thought the constant snacking of the FL was cute, I don't know why.
3) Second couple. Here's where things usually fall apart for me. They tend to have a second couple that is extremely irritating. I loved this couple. Granted, their breakup was pretty ridiculous, but their scenes were touching and made me cry. Again, their relationship grew from friendship. The relationships of both couples felt very organic to me and made sense.
4) No triangle to speak of. There was a girl that liked him throughout, but I think even she knew she was deluding herself. I appreciated that they had her be caught up in the fantasy of liking him, yet she wasn't trying to break them up all the time.
5) Parents that didn't disapprove of their relationship. Her dad had a hard time of letting her go, but other than that, they were supportive.
6) Friendships. The friendships of these characters, from birth all the way through school and into their careers, was special. I was just caught up in the fact that there were no overly irritating characters!
7) A surprising antagonist (that didn't go on too long).
8) We got to see a bit of marriage and kids.
9) I thought the scenes at the end on the carousel, from children through to their wedding, was lovely.
10) The music, that stayed in the background for the most part, went with the show well. Every so often you'd hear Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star or some other music reminiscent of childhood.
11) The time skip. It was used just to move the storyline at all, and there was no drama associated with it.
12) No stupid breakups for the main couple.

I liked this show for all the things it DIDN'T have, I guess. It's one of those shows where there's not a lot of drama, and really not a lot going on at all, we are just privileged to be able to watch them in their daily lives. An easy watch.

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Could have been much better at only 12 episodes

I'll start this review by saying this is only my personal opinion, so I would appreciate if people would refrain from being ugly. This review is also full of spoilers, so if you don't want to know them, don't read past the portion about what I liked about the show.

What I liked:
1) Rowoon - visually and professionally. I felt that his portrayal of Shin Yu was very understated, yet he put his emotions out there when it mattered. The episode where they FINALLY explain the back story fully (maybe episode 12?) was wonderful. You could feel his love and despair. When he was uptight and self-centered, he was funny in a non-over the top way. Once he and the FL got together, I loved their chemistry and the cuteness factor. And the costumers did an awesome job with his wardrobe.
2) Bromance between ML and 2ML - they were antagonistic, but their encounters with one another were always amusing.
3) Chemistry between ML and FL - yup.
4) The CONCEPT of the script. The idea felt original and interesting when reading the synopsis and watching the trailers.
5) I like how they resolved the "curse".
6) The fireworks scenes, just beautiful. The costuming in the historical part of the drama. The cinematography in the snow (the spreading of the blood) in the historical part was beautiful.

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

What I didn't like:
1) The EXECUTION of the script. The whole thing felt very repetitive. The storylines ran on too long. Especially the stalker storyline. How many different scenarios did they come up with for him to get away, be on the loose, and terrorize her? I mean, how many times did she really need to break up with him "for his own good"? This would have been more compelling if the script had been tightened up.
2) FL's character. I love Bo Ah as an actress. This character was working my last nerve. So many drunk scenes, and that was the only time she spoke up. She was just a pitiful doormat of a person, letting everyone walk all over her. Her trying to be cute when she was around someone she liked, changing her voice and her mannerisms. Then she moved WAY into stupid territory - which ended up making me angry, like yelling at the tv angry. There is a stalker out to kill her, yet she's alone in the park, alone at the hospital, alone in the neighborhood. He's tried numerous times to kill her, but by all means, open the door when he rings the doorbell! Then, when she finds Shin Yu bleeding in the stairway, she just spends an inordinate amount of time saying his name. Maybe you should call EMS? There was another time that she managed to drag his dead weight to the car (when she's half his size) to drive him to the hospital - wow, that's strong. Then the bleeding in the stairwell scene - not a character problem, but he'd have been dead if he'd lost that much blood.
Her constantly saying that she wasn't going to see him anymore for "his own good". Then, who drags someone all the way to the snow to break up with them??!?! That would have been an amazingly uncomfortable ride back to town.
3) Crazy gf, and I mean crazy!! I know that, for him, it was an arranged relationship, but she apparently didn't get the memo. That her behaviors were allowed to continue on through all 16 episodes was painful to watch.
4) Her coworkers. Oh my gosh!! They were awful! They were mean, loud, and entirely too over the top. Eventually I skipped their scenes, they were so intolerable. Also, there was no need to use up as much time as they did with the office romance of the bosses - no one cares.
5) His family - his mom was portrayed as an airhead, and his dad was just downright verbally abusive. In fact, there were an inordinate number of unlikeable characters in this show.
6) Costuming for the women - what is with the short shorts as work outfits? Then, add boots. Just not a good look.
7) The character of Shin Yu at times. I really didn't like how he kept breaking up with the GF but then kept meeting with her. He didn't say anything when a wedding date was sent. He knows that the gf is pretty much terrorizing Hong Jo, but doesn't really address it. Also, the way he allowed everyone, including his family, treat Hong Jo. I know that respect is valued in Asian cultures, but, to me, respect needs to go both ways. There were so many times that I was waiting for him to "man up", but he never did.
8) The relationship between the leads was very messy, I thought. Was he affected by the potion, was he not? Her becoming attracted to him - that didn't totally make sense either. Then they went from push and pull to not being able to be without one another and crazy in love. It didn't really flow well, I didn't think. That said, I loved their chemistry was lovely.

Should you watch it? Again, it's personal taste, but I found a lot to be lacking. But if you are all about Rowoon and can put up with a frustrating script, go for it!

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Great premise

When I read the synopsis for this show, I was excited about the original concept. Add to that, I love the actors that are in it, and I was really looking forward to it. I was let down by the writing. I thought the acting was terrific, and if they had taken out all of the repetitive scenes/dialogue, this would have been excellent.

The FL went from being a strong character to a person that just kept saying "Haru" in practically every scene. They couldn't think of other lines for her? It was written in such a way that intimated that she only had strength when she was the main lead, but as a secondary person she had no control.

My biggest problem was the repetitiveness of the whole thing. I'd still say watch it, but keep your fast forward button ready. The acting was very good.

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My brain hurts...

Don't hate me because I didn't love it. It's a personal taste thing. I liked the acting in this. I also like that this has convinced me not to go back and try to watch Some Day or One Day. I'm apparently a superficial watcher and don't want to have to think too much. It's a shortcoming, I know, but there you have it.

I love me a good destiny show, but this is the first time that I felt like the universe was trying to tell them that they should NOT be together. Together, tragedy, together, tragedy. I guess the ending had to be the way it was, but I was disappointed in the lack of payoff. Though it did border on a happy ending, which I appreciated.

And what was with her telling everyone that she was time traveling?! Her telling the murderer guy was random. I didn't get the impression that they were that close, and just why?

I actually made a flow chart to try to keep up with this while I was watching it, and even that confused me. My biggest problem was when the two versions of the ML met. That just didn't make any sense to me. Also, the random gay storyline (though seeing Rowoon and Ahn Hyo Seop together on screen was a treat!) was confusing, because weren't the two versions of the ML the same in each timeline?

I now need to find me a simple love story to watch. Since I'm WAY in the minority here, you might want to read everyone else's reviews and give the show a try.

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A good show to watch, but irritating at times

I was looking forward to seeing the leads together. I've loved her in everything I've seen her in, and he was my favorite part of Alchemy of Souls. They were extremely cute together. They had some serious scenes, and they also had a lot of scenes that just made me smile. For instance, once they were dating and they were deciding what to call one another. Their shyness with each other was very endearing. I didn't necessarily feel "chemistry" from them. Watching them as a couple, the word that comes to mind is "comfortable". I don't know if this is because they both just so extremely young, or what.
LIKED:
1)The storyline was interesting, but sometimes they used the gong sound for truth, as well as for lies, so that was confusing.
2)Kim So Hyun as Sol Hee was good for this part. Aside from being beautiful, there is something about her that men and women are both drawn to, men want to date her, and women want to be her friend. Those are my favorite type of character. Hwang Min Hyun was okay in this. He was very understated, and I did like his ability to portray distrust, fear, and loneliness. There wasn't a lot of range from him, but I think that was more because of the way the part was written.
3)I think my favorite part of this show was Seo Ji Han as Lee Gang Min. He has very expressive eyes and was able to portray a lot of emotions with just his eyes. This character was a classic example of perfect boyfriend material. He loved her so much, he wanted to be with her and protect her, but the most important thing to him was her happiness. At the end, when he was on stakeout and was watching her walk by, his face just showed every emotion.
4) I loved the gang leader. There was a sort of a gray moral code about him. Him sticking up for Sol Hee and helping her was heartwarming.
5) I liked the OST, but I especially loved the background piano playing throughout, moving from Chopsticks to classical pieces. It was very subtle and playful.

NOT SO MUCH:
1) Wow! There were so many unlikeable and irritating characters! The stalking singer, both moms, the "friend" that keeps extorting money from Do Ha, plagiarism company guy, as well as Do Ha's ex-girlfriend in flashbacks. I was especially irritated by the singer that was following him around, paying people to find him, etc. I really don't care for the trend in Asian dramas about the scheming woman willing to do whatever to get the man. They did, ultimately redeem her.
2) Again, the gong sounding at different times.
3) I also felt like they had so many characters to keep the mystery moving forward, to keep us guessing. But after the mystery was revealed, there wasn't much going on. This could have been a couple of episodes shorter.
4) I guessed early on who the perpetrator was, but the reasoning was a surprise.

So, I can definitely recommend this one, frustrations and all.

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Cute retelling

This was a re-telling that was fun. It has a happy ending, yet leaves the door open for future re-telling. As is often the case with Japanese productions, there are always one or two people that overact. The witch was such a person, but finally settled into her role.

There was a fun twist to the story that I didn’t see coming. The actress playing Little Red Riding hood was very good. I just wish they hadn’t made her hair red, it blended too much with her cape. Small quibble. Since there is a requirement for a certain number of words in reviews, I’ll say that I would recommend this if you don’t want to make too much of a time commitment.

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I am exhausted!

This show was so well done and I'm glad that I finally took the time to watch it. My brain feels somewhat fried, trying to keep up with the twists and turns in the story line, and attempting to keep the past and the present sorted out. I'll admit that time travel, butterfly effect shows are hard for me to grasp. Since this show is from 2016, the whole thing is kind of grainy in its film quality, both in the present and in the past, so it was sometimes hard for me to figure out which time period I was watching. A lot of the characters looked pretty much the same in both time periods, which you wouldn't expect from a 20-year time difference.

Corruption, unfortunately, was a big part of the drama, and that seemed to be the cause of so many unsolved cases. That got a little old. Plus, working under people that you know are corrupt was very hard to watch, their efforts were stymied more often than not.

The acting was excellent, most notably Jo Jin Woong as Jae Han and Lee Je Hoon as Hae Young. Especially impressive was the fact that so much of the time they were acting alone, with just the walkie talkie, and not face to face with other actors. I felt a whole gamut of emotions watching this, excitement, fear, sadness, and hope.

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VERY unpopular opinion here...

Don't hate on me, and please remember that reviews are just the opinions of the reviewers. This reminded me of A Love So Beautiful, which I didn't care for either. I was so looking forward to watching this, based on all the glowing reviews. Part of the problem might have been that I watched this right after Hidden Love and enjoying it so much. Maybe it just couldn't live up to my expectations. I was looking forward to this drama because it was supposedly low angst, and I was drawn to that. That being said -

WHAT I LIKED:
-It was, in fact, low angst
-the storyline of the second couple. I loved how he liked her alone and was always trying to help her in whatever way he could, even though his heart was breaking because she didn't like him.
-no stupid misunderstandings
-when the typical storyline started of a female trying to get the ML showed up, I LOVED how the FL shut that down. She knew her man, had faith in him, and went straight to the woman to resolve the issue.
-a wedding. Though, for me, it didn't work here, I always appreciate a wedding after watching a couple get together.
-ML and his dimples

THE THINGS THAT DISAPPOINTED ME
-FL. Supposedly cute and bubbly, she came across as a stalker (she was sure she liked him after seeing him once, and never tired of telling him that she liked him) and immature. The actress was cute as a button, but between her voice, her mannerisms, her clothes, and her bouncing around all the time, she just reminded me of a hyperactive puppy. Plus, her way of talking was very fast and staccato, like she was blurting out phrases, one after another.
-her calling him "Rang Rang" all the time. It was cute at the beginning, but by episode three I was ready to make a drinking game out of it - hear her say Rang Rang, take a drink!
-why did the ML like her? When did he start liking her? I get that he probably appreciated her energy compared to how repressed he seemed to be, but I didn't see or feel the attraction between them.
-I admit that I wanted low angst, but I also wanted something to move the story along. There really wasn't anything going on. I felt like I was watching a documentary of the life of a teen in China. I was bored.
-the parents fawning all over him was somewhat cute, but I can't believe they would have been fine with their daughter living with a man before they got married.

In conclusion, if you are still reading this, I'd say if you want something mindless to watch that doesn't have a lot of the typical tropes, you might enjoy this. It just didn't have enough going on for me.

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Main actor was captivating

There was a lot to like about this drama. There always seemed to be something going on (sometimes too much), yet I still felt the need to fast forward through a bit of it, mostly because of the storylines that bothered me.
Liked:
1) Fan Zhi Xin as the male lead. Cold, powerful, driven. I didn't like his bent toward physical abuse at the beginning, but luckily, they got rid of that. I enjoyed watching all of the changes he went through as he fell in love. I also appreciated that the ruthlessness that he portrayed didn't completely disappear when he met her. He still had that going on, just not with her.
2) Chemistry between the leads was excellent.
3) Awesome kisses. The Chinese dramas are starting to get better about this.
4) Interesting storyline with some twists and turns and something that I didn't see coming.
5) Redemption of the 2FL. Up until then, this is where I fast forwarded a lot. She was unbearable, she overacted, and she was more than just a little crazy.
6) Happy ending, though it was pretty flat.
7) Fight scenes were good.
Not so much:
1) FL. Well-acted, but I vacillated back and forth on whether I liked her or not. She wasn't your typical simpering female, which I loved. The song "Stand by Your Man" kept playing in the back of my mind. She believed in him throughout. But wow, did she make some stupid decisions!!! SPOILERS: going into her house when it's been broken into, following the bad guy. And the biggest thing that bothered me about her, she bit the ML, twice!! That was just so immature. END OF SPOILER.
2) Plot loopholes. There was a lot going on, but some things just didn't get wrapped up, explained well.
3) FL's friend. I am so tired of seeing clingy, stalkerish females. Trying to act cute, but they are just irritating.

So, overall, if someone asked if they should watch it, I'd say yes, but I don't think I'd go out of my way to recommend it.

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I liked it, but...

I don't care for bullying, corruption, violence, and gore. If you like all those things, definitely give this show a watch, because it is extremely well-written. It's fast-paced (a little draggy toward the end), and pretty interesting throughout. There's a lot going on at all times, and I think you'll have a hard time deciding who is worse, humans or demons. This drama really highlighted man's capacity for evil. Personally, I think there was too much evil coming from too many places. It might have been better if there had been one Big Bad, as opposed to multiple bad guys.For the aforementioned reasons, my rating is lower than I'm sure most people think it should be.

However, can we just talk about the cast? I'm a sucker for found family, and this drama really did a good job of demonstrating that. The Counters are people that, in normal circumstances, might never even travel in the same circles, let alone be friends. Once they got together, they truly were a family, bickering and all. The bickering was so great, because that's what real family does, "I can badmouth you because we're related, but no one else better say anything bad about you!" There were numerous emotional scenes that really worked - they made you feel their pain, but they also brought something that made you root for them.

Cho Byeong Kyu as So Moon - he's the newest Counter. He did amazing things with this role. His grief, his anger, his disability, and portraying teenage hormones all worked together to make him so interesting. He's a beautiful crier. Trying to learn his powers, then trying to control them, often skirting around what Counters are allowed to do. I loved his relationship with his grandparents, as well as his school friendships. The transfer of power from them taking care of him, to him watching out for them was really good. Also, I liked that, for the most part, he and Ha Na had a sibling relationship, and the writers didn't try to force a romance.

Yoo Joon Sang as Mo Tak. He's the strongest Counter. His character seemed to be the most fleshed out, since a lot of the show was about corruption, and he had been a cop. The romance aspect was a waste and completely unnecessary. He becomes the father-figure of the group of Counters, and he had some amusing scenes.

Kim Se Jeong as Ha Na. Angry Counter (that's what I called her). She had a chip on her shoulder a mile wide. She doesn't like to be touched, she doesn't attach to people and she's got that "keep away" vibe going on. First, this role was completely different than her role in Business Proposal (of course!), and if I didn't recognize her voice, I might not have known it was her. This was a character that, if not played well, you would totally hate her. She made it work, and I enjoyed watching her coming to terms with letting others into her life.

Yeom Hye Ram as Mae Ok. I hated her so much in Goblin and loved her so much here. She was the mom of the Counters, looking out for the others. She formed such a strong bond with So Moon, and when she had to heal him of his wounds, that just wrecked me. I loved her character.

There were some beautiful songs in the OST. As for re-watch - no. I'm not even sure I'll watch The Uncanny Counter 2. Just a little too much darkness for me.

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Wonderful law show

I love romance shows and this wasn't one. However, it was so well-written, full of interesting characters, and one that I got completely engrossed in. The actors were all wonderful. Go Ah Ra and Sung Dong Il were especially effective in this. I saw this a few years ago and realize I had never rated it, maybe it's time to go back and watch it again. I do remember wondering why they all kept their coats on when they were at work - they must keep the sets really cold! I usually don't have a problem meeting the required word count, but here, I'm at a loss.

All I can say is, take a chance, I think you'll really enjoy it.

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