Reviews

Why

What the actual f**k did I just watch? It was amazing and the casting was as expected which is good but they just cut things off to quickly. The whole plot of the drama was fuzzy but the main couple was carrying with their chemistry and their kiss scenes . Now that the side couple barely brings anything to the table because their relationship was never explained or got looked in to so now the drama is now a redemption arc and dry . The start was good because it was slow and steady so it had time to expand on the characters but at the end it was to quick because of the episode limit and the rush to get information out that couldve been explained if the drama was longer or they focused on the information at the beginning because they had the time . Not mad just disappointed.

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Frustrating and Unlikeable Characters in a Makjang-like Drama

Subjective Entertainment Rating: 7.25

I would never have watched or known of “Fashion King” had it not been the Chaos Clown Cave Chill Challenge and I was assigned this drama as a MLDer’s least favorite. Because of the low rating, I came in with very low expectations. That should be the mentality if you want to watch this, especially, if you are watching this many years later (2024 for me). But I figured, Yoon Ah In is in it, I can deal with that as he’s always been excellent in everything he’s played.

Plot:
Keeping in mind that this is a 2012 drama, I somewhat excused the physical assault, slapping, throwing things and the not very realistic fist fight. “Fashion King” actually ages pretty well and I don’t think it’s very dated. But it’s more makjang than I anticipated.

1/4 of Drama - Makjang-like introductions to all the main characters. Everything that could go wrong for Kang Yeong Gul (Yoon Ah In aka ML1) and Lee Ga Young (Shin Sae Kyeong aka FL1) went wrong. From broken families to kicking out of the house, to all the adventures getting to and in New York - it’s quite ridiculous.

2/4 of the Drama - I am slowly enjoying how things are developed. Relationships between the four main characters are more defined and the business side of things picked up a little. Feelings are developed and there’s some pining and push-and-pull, along with very muddy former relationships between Jung Jae Hyuk (Lee Je Hoon aka ML2) and Choi Anna (Kwong Yu Ri aka FL2). I probably enjoyed these episodes the most.

3/4 of the Drama - Scheming and getting back at each other continued on. Romance is getting complicated and I am slightly impatient as I realized I don’t want to root for anyone. Everyone should remain single as none of them deserves each other. Even though the drama is about the fashion industry, they don’t really dive right in. It’s a very superficial/peripheral attempt. If you don’t like business dramas, then this is a positive thing.

4/4 of the Drama - Thought I would be rewarded with a little happy romance, but no, happy times don’t even add up to 30 mins. The angst and annoyance I put up with throughout the drama, especially when it comes to romance, was not rewarded at all. And that ending, so many plot holes and everything could be resolved with a few honest conversations.

Characters:
I have a very hard time rooting for our 4 main characters. Yeong Gul appears fun and nice, but is scheming and will use you to advance and make money. Ga Young was spunky and stubborn in the first few episodes, but then she resorted to crying or sleeping all the time. Jae Hyuk is a chaebol man-child who is petty and somewhat naive, but also mean. Anna is a pitiful ex who’s trying to grasp onto something and not sink. If you like flawed characters who make questionable decisions with unclear intentions, then you would love them. For me, I am 70% frustrated and 30% entertained.

Romance:
The only somewhat consistent feelings in this drama are from Ga Young to Yeong Gul. She has liked him from the very beginning. But towards the end, I questioned if she also has some feelings for Jae Hyuk because she’s bad with boundaries. She might say NO (and sometimes says nothing), but her actions might say otherwise. Or maybe deep down she’s enjoying all the affection Jae Hyuk has for her. Jae Hyuk is like a high school boy who shows affection for his classmate by being mean to her. He would make sarcastic remarks all the time, then give you a smile and then run towards you to apologize and make nice. He does not know how to love properly. I couldn’t tell if he still had feelings for Anna in the earlier episodes. Was he unable to show or he’s just using her? I would have liked to believe that Anna did indeed love Jae Hyuk in the beginning. But how she was discarded like trash broke her and drove her towards Yeong Gul. But her affections for Yeong Gul are probably not 100% sincere. She needed a life jacket, and she found one in Yeong Gul. Yeong Gul, once recognizes his feelings, is the easiest to spot and the more cliche lover. He wants to give Ga Young everything he has, wants payback for those who mistreat her and wants to give her all the best. Yet, of course, he doesn’t use words. If he and Ga Young actually talk to each other, I would not be so frustrated.

Acting:
Yoo Ah In really keeps me in this drama. He’s just so charismatic and I can’t help but draw to him. He’s not the typical handsome type, but no matter what drama he’s in, he’s the center of the attention. I love his acting here. Amazingly, I found Lee Je Hoon paled in comparison to Yoo Ah In a little. Probably because his character is a little more pitiful. But his character also allows him to show much more range than the other 3 main leads. Visually, he does not have the swagger for a rich Director and he walks funny. Shin Sae Kyeong is so pretty and young. But she always has the same crying face. I am not sure if it’s the writing of the character or her acting, I get annoyed when she just stands there and not says anything, and acts all shy. Kwong Yu Ri is so beautiful. She really does give off the high class designer vibe, and the subtle bitchiness in the way she walks and talks.

Fashion:
When the drama is about fashion, they better have some good fashion. And I am having a grand type admiring Yeong Gul’s eclectic and loud style, and also nice tailored suits. As I said, Yoo Ah In looks sexy and dashing in this drama. The ladies also have beautiful outfits. I like Ga Young’s casual style and work outfits, and Anna’s more high-end fashion. But Jae Hyuk in the earlier episodes looks like he’s wearing a suit a size too big for him. I have to say, Lee Je Hoon ages well. He looks more handsome in his 30s than in his 20s.


Ending:
I was going to talk about the ending, but decided to keep this spoiler-free as there are many other reviews about this disappointment. Let’s just say it’s not that hard to locate someone, or give someone a call and not rely on regular postal service completely. Communication can solve a lot of problems.


Overall, this is an interesting watch. I am not sure if I will recommend this drama when there are much better ones out there. Maybe if you are a fan of Yoo Ah In and you miss him now that he’s blacklisted? In a way, the entertainment value to ‘hate-watch’ is quite high for me. I am tempted to rate this much lower just because everyone hates it. But subjectively, it’s a 7.25 and I’m rounding this up to 7.5 to boost the rating a little. Though the characters frustrate me and it’s hard for me as a romance lover to not feel rewarded, this drama is still entertaining in a way and keeps me focused pretty well.


Completed: 1/20/2024 - Review #397

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Wasted Potential: The Bittersweet Journey to Samdalri

This show was a mixed experience for me with some episodes being enjoyable while others left me frustrated. Despite this, the standout performances and compelling storylines justified watching it.

Now i will discuss what i liked and disliked.

What I Liked:

Great Acting: The performances were superb with impressive portrayals from the main leads, veterans and even minor roles. Kim Mi Kyung and Shin Haesun in particular excelled in their roles.

Compelling Supporting Storylines: Samdal's sister's narratives were surprisingly engaging, occasionally surpassing the main plot in interest.

Breathtaking Jeju Visuals: The show beautifully showcased Jeju's natural charm, perfectly in line with its healing genre, thanks to the director's skillful capture of landscapes.

Yongpil and His Mother's Bond: I absolutely loved Yongpil and Ko Mija's relationship. Im mentioning Ko Mija as Yongpil's mother's because he genuinely considered her as his own mother and she reciprocated the same feeling. Some may have misunderstood some of Yongpil's actions towards Ko Mija due to his love for Samdal but to me he was doing everything for his own mother, Ko Mija. He even chose to break up with Samdal to protect Ko Mija, sacrificed his dream, which truly reflects his immense love for his mother, Ko Mija.


What I Disliked

Flawed Writing: The writing here was poor, particularly in crafting the lead characters. FL's character is poorly written lacking the ability to stand up for herself, very disappointing, especially when she had evidence against Eunju but chose silence. Its perplexing how forgiving she appears towards someone who made her life miserable, forcing her to give up her career. While some argue its not a revenge driven show, standing up for oneself isnt revenge. Yongpil, initially a promising character comes off as clingy at times, seemingly oblivious to personal space. The writer neglected to properly develop his character, the first half focused on establishing FL's character and the second half's attempt at Yongpil's story was unconvincing. Equal importance to both leads from the start would have improved the narrative.

Second Male Lead: Despite not being malicious or negative his storyline was unconvincing and felt like filler, a major dislike for me. His scenes in the second half of the drama were particularly irritating. I find it hard to comprehend how he could be in one sided love with Samdal for over 30 years. While i can understand Yongpil's feelings given their past relationship but what about him?? Samdal never viewed him romantically, she never dated him or provided any hope yet he couldnt let go of his feelings for her for such long period of time.

Yongpil's Dad's Arc: The storyline involving Yongpil's dad was poorly written. While the actions of other characters in that track like the main leads breaking up were somewhat understandable, Yongpil's dad's treatment towards Samdal's family was childish and unreasonable. Despite understanding his pain from losing his wife, making his son's life miserable just because of that is unsympathetic. His entire storyline could have been handled much better.

Inconsistent Engagement: My connection with this show was strange like i would enjoy one episode but the next one would annoy me the most. The inconsistency in writing was evident and i didnt appreciate it.


Talking about the chemistry between the leads, i would say they had more of a best friends dynamic than that of lovers. Honestly, throughout the entire time, i never perceived them as lovers but rather as best friends forever. This could be seen as both positive and negative but given the romance genre here, my opinion tends towards the negative.


In conclusion despite its wasted potential, the show provided a decent pastime experience.

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Worth every second

Very rarely have I a seen a drama that pulls the water works out. Every story within the main story was brought to an expected end. None were rushed or left open ended. Which I loved.

Nut and Plan brought out their best work without relying on nc scenes to make their story believable and complete. Phob and Phat's timely meeting set the tone and pace of the series. Every nuanced expression and emotion was felt. The ending was expected because a love like that just isn't forgotten.

The imagery, costuming and ghostly effects were great without going over the top. The three main shooting locations did become tedious to see but budgets to consider was acceptable. Only peeve, Phat's mother seemed invisible until needed. It seemed days would pass without seeing each other.

I would recommend watching over a period of days to truly enjoy the story and everyone's performance. In a era where fast food is easily accessible this was like a nice meal.

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PERFECT

I don’t really know where to start. This drama just ended having me bawling my eyes out and smiling like crazy.
I’m going to be honest I didn’t think I was going to like it at first. A story line that isn’t really my kinda thing. But when I saw Song Kang it made hope for it being an good series. And oh my it was.
The casting is just chef kiss, is really a cast that I want to see again. They all were so amazing.
The whole series got me laughing and smiling like crazy. I didn’t like think Song Kang would fit this kinda series but with his acting is just a big YES. He played so well and made Guwons character so great. Such a funny and serious character at the same time I loved it. But this series also made my eyes hurt from bawling. Youjung is such an amazing actress and you could really feel all her emotions from the start to the end.
The chemistry between the two were amazing.
Not just the romantic side of this drama we’re amazing but the dark side. Such a dark side of a romantic series. But I really liked it having one, it made it become more interesting.
And like I really thought about SangYi character being evil? But he weren’t.. I really had like a theory that he were but I’m legit happy he wasn’t. Maybe he wasn’t my favourite.

Overall it was a really good series. A lil bit of everything. Such a good drama and 100% worth the watch!

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started out strong, lost all momentum and succumbed to common cliches

I was one of those people who had a high opinion (and rating) of this drama when it first started out. Coming from See You In My 19th Life and Destined With You, where the show's supernatural elements were a mere afterthought to boring, redundant past-life jargon and chemistry-less romance, I was happy to see the fantasy touched upon more often. Or so I thought.

The first 5-6 episodes were great in my opinion. They set up the scene quite well - the protagonist, antagonists, supporting group around each, etc... All of this positive growth dissolved nearly instantly when they lazily concluded subplots and introduced ridiculous new ones. The motives behind NSM trying to get rid of DoHee became more and more ridiculous as the plot went on. His evil streak being cut short and BOOM! them resorting to the tired trope of "well, he's hiding now so watch out!" The plot with former Chairwoman Ju barely being revisited until the very end. DoHee randomly being surprised her demon husband-bodyguard-savior(?) kills people brutally. Guwon's powers being literally useless for the most part until the very end?? Insanity. Its like they were trying to tease some avenues for exploration and then chickened out last minute. Don't even get me started on how the episodes just turned into cheesy romance scenes reminiscent of every kdrama ever. I had to fast-forward at one point because it felt like a 13 year old's Wattpad fanfiction turned TV. It doesn't help that the show kept wasting time flashing back to earlier moments of the show re: romantic moments. Like we really do not care can we get on with it? Don't get me wrong, the leads definitely looked good together at the very least. However, all their chemistry and substance evaporated into thin air the moment they stopped focusing on the plot and shifted towards pandering to lovesick viewers with 0 frame of reference for a decent fantasy romance depiction.

The constant parallels to Goblin, DWY, and SYM19L should've been a red flag from the start. Very rarely fantasy dramas stay consistent with the original tone of the show while balancing decent romance. And if they do, they risk major character assassination somewhere down the line (For example, literally EVERYTHING regarding Alchemy of Souls S2 - the side characters were butchered). The only saving grace for this series, in my opinion, was the OST and some cinematic shots. Its a shame because the cast was really good.

Side note, Jin Gayoung has got to be one of The most annoying side characters I have ever seen on TV. Her background gave 0 clue on why she was /that/ obsessive and its a shame she was only marginally likeable and mature at the very end.

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Will be keeping my review short

This show for me went from 9/10 to 6-7/10.
Stellar cast, production, outfits bgm but lack of utilizing the story & giving depth. It started out so damn well & went downhill the moment they started adding filler scenes from ep 9 onwards. The mystery wasnt mysterying because they had to come up with the most predictable villain. The Writer just wasted jin gayoung & SML character. The SML was nothing but just a SML of any other kdrama & jin star was nothing but a one sided lover of guwon. I thought their role had so much more to offer. For a title like "Demon" on top of fantasy drama , it clearly lacked the demonic supernatural tropes it was supposed to provide.

Now on good side, i like the fashion sense of both ML & FL. I liked song kang's comical acting. He was clearly doing his job according to the script & did well. The comedy scenes before ep 9 were actually funny. I had a good laugh. But

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PERFECT drama in every aspect...

I fell in love with this drama even before airing because of the casting of drama.. Because of xu kai, esther yu, wan peng. i have a very high expectation and after airing i was like
OH MY GOD...
This drama is perfect in everything and it is a ? gem ..
Story - one of the most interesting and
mysterious story i have ever seen Music- all the ost matches perfectly with every
scene ....
Production - this time tencent did not
disappoints us and they have shown us what a great set, CgI, costume look like..
This drama is very well known in china because it is adapted from a very famous game and thats why this drama keeps ranking 1 in every charts...

Drama and game looks very much alike even game producer is praising Xu kai and esther yu for their exceptional acting...
Voice of FL completely matching with her character and i really can 't see her in deep and serious voice in this cute role...

Xu kai and esther yu is making the most cute and adorable couple... I am in love with their chemistry...

In my opinion it is a must watch drama...

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Acting was not strong enough

story line is kind of good, but acting is not strong enough.. even through story line is good there is somthing missing i mean its same like acting only story line is good scens line up also not strong for me.. some of parts are not giving sense at all like when zz and sprite changing times to time and them srite ask first what happend.. that wasactually idiotic question.. and actors can not give us feelings.. i am thinking what if there was a good actors this drama will be more famous..

And i must say zee's girlfriend is cute when she smile it makes my heart warm.. and for surporting characters i dont like them too lot of themcan not act and others who can act did not ricived supportive strong characters.. and i thing some stories of supportive characters is dont want for drama.. itz good for that actors but not for drama..

Overall can watch

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My Demon

Best drama I ever scene ?❤️❤️❤️✨

This hug is very special to me , the way dohee went for a hug and guwon hugged her harder ?? they're my everything

DoWon ending note in their IG

" amongst countless footprints, we have left a another trace that belongs to us " - Kim Yoo Jung

" always with a grateful heart, always with nothing but a grateful heart " - Song Kang

I'm going to miss the both of you so much ???

Best drama I ever scene ?❤️❤️❤️✨

This hug is very special to me , the way dohee went for a hug and guwon hugged her harder ?? they're my everything

DoWon ending note in their IG

" amongst countless footprints, we have left a another trace that belongs to us " - Kim Yoo Jung

" always with a grateful heart, always with nothing but a grateful heart " - Song Kang

I'm going to miss the both of you so much ???


Best drama I ever scene ?❤️❤️❤️✨

This hug is very special to me , the way dohee went for a hug and guwon hugged her harder ?? they're my everything

DoWon ending note in their IG

" amongst countless footprints, we have left a another trace that belongs to us " - Kim Yoo Jung

" always with a grateful heart, always with nothing but a grateful heart " - Song Kang

I'm going to miss the both of you so much ???

Best drama I ever scene ?❤️❤️❤️✨

This hug is very special to me , the way dohee went for a hug and guwon hugged her harder ?? they're my everything

DoWon ending note in their IG

" amongst countless footprints, we have left a another trace that belongs to us " - Kim Yoo Jung

" always with a grateful heart, always with nothing but a grateful heart " - Song Kang

I'm going to miss the both of you so much ???

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It's on the cusp of greatness, but the writing has ruined it.

To me it feels like this drama had most of the ingredients to become something really special. Namely, we've had amazing actors and an absolutely amazing production team. With a better writer this could have almost been a Goblin. To me everything outside of the plot is working really really well. The lead couple I think had great chemistry & the actors did a phenomenal job creating some really touching scenes, to some extent letting the audience feel that emotional roller coaster in a good way.

But of course the plot has almost ruined everything. In the comment section I remember reading someone criticizing that most romantic progress in the drama is conveyed by side characters trying to convince the leads that they have something going on. I can kind of agree with that take, the romantic plot just meanders aimlessly, even in the final episode. I cannot believe that anyone would think this show has wrapped up nicely! Is this even a happy ending, is it even an ending, what the heck has happened?
The biggest problem of course is that this is a time travel show and the plot is completely random. Deus ex machina is considered by most people a writing tool that should be used very sparingly if at all, in this drama though it is everywhere. In general it's quite difficult to write a time travel plot that makes sense, oftentimes the audience is expected to turn off their brains, but this is perhaps the least consistent time travel story I have ever witnessed.
Of course the pacing is totally off as well. So much time is wasted on meaningless stuff like that delivery guy's story, but when it comes to important stuff everything is so condensed. For example the title has saved 10000 times in it, then why is that important plot point so rushed , why are the events that led to this standing on such a shallow footing?

The show has a love triangle, it's not a very offensive one, but at the same time the second ML keeps popping up, he confessed in the final episode as well.. I very strongly dislike love triangles, this is close to the limit of what I can still endure.

(This is supposedly an adaptation, but it barely resembles the kdrama & only does so very early on..)

The OST is quite good, the song "慢慢走吧 Man Man Zou Ba - 王梓赫 Ray " is really really great. (you can easily copy paste the Chinese name and find it on Youtube)

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So much potential

First things first the OST was amazing. I think that the OST is the reason I enjoyed this so much, it made me feel very nostalgic. The first third was my favourite. Her time as Yoon Juwon was a 10/10 for me. As for her time as Ban Jieum, I enjoyed that best when only Aegyeong knew about her past lives. Once Chowon found out and especially when Seoha found out it kind of felt like "what now?". When her first life started becoming more important I was interested but I think that it was too much. I think that there was too much going on so I wasn't able to connect to the characters, I felt like I didn't know who they were which version of them am I meant to connect with. I felt like I was being pulled in so many different directions that I wasn't able to empathize or connect with any of them apart from the young Seoha and Juwon timeline.
If I were to change something I wouldn't have included her first life. I also think it would've been better if only Aegyeong knew about Jieum's past lives.
I'm not mad that I watched this. I have been wanting to watch more dramas with Shin Hyesun after I saw her in Mr. Queen. I think she is an incredible actress. Plus seeing Cha Chung Hwa with Shin Hyesun again was really cute.
Overall I think this story had a lot of potential, and in the beginning it was great but it wasn't able to maintain that feeling for me.

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one of the best dramas I watched, definitely worth the time

The show was boring at first I didn't like that and all the characters seemed very weird especially the beggar, even in some point I wanted to drop it but after episode 15 it became interesting after ending I seem to love it because of the ending. in most dramas they end it with so much confusion and doesn't show the happy part but in this drama everything is clear and they showed happy part of the drama. I always wanted a drama that shows the happy part and doesnt leave to many question. and that's the one. I wanted to give 6.5/10 but now 9/10 absolutely worth the time.

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I cannot even begin to explain the amount of emotions I felt throughout this series. It was a rollercoaster from the beginning and I never knew how I would feel each week. It was not very original at all in any sense, super cookie cutter, nothing that I have not seen before. Plus, the series started off strong. Super comical, made me laugh so much… but it dragged on so much after the first 5 or 6 episodes. I think this would have been better at 12 episodes rather than 16 due to the amount of filler added. Also, even though I absolutely dislike sad endings, I was actually a little irritated with the fact that this was a happy ending.

The one thing I won’t complain about is that OST. Oh my the OST. One of the best I have ever heard in a series. I constantly am found listening to it when not watching the show.

My favorite character or characters of the series were the Wild Dogs Gang! Or should I call them Perilla Seeds & Scallions? Whenever they had a scene in the series, even though they were very unnecessary as I do not remember them actually helping at any point except for when searching for Gi Kwangchul, I would crack up with laughter. I think out of everything in this series, I will miss them the most.

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Started goo but ending ruins the whole show for me

The episodes should've been an hour long, having them range from 30-45 minutes hurt the show. If they made the episodes longer they would have had time to show how Se Eun was being bullied, by who, and for how long she was being socially isolated from everyone. Showing how each character was hurting her(intentionally or not) would've made the parent's motivation make a little more sense, i.e. a character did't actively bully her but didn't talk to her and maybe ignored her to save themselves from also being bullied.
That being said from what i understand there was only ONE bullying episode and i understand it was bad but to me it wasn't believable that she killed herself over that one thing, it would've made more sense if there were multiple things happening and that was the tipping point, maybe even her best friend stopped being friends with her. It also seemed like she killed herself right after she found out which again didn't make it believable, if after that incident a month passed and nothing got better and her best friend wasn't talking to her then it would make sense.
There are a lot of unanswered questions as well involving character backstories( the swimming pool PTSD for one thing) which were never touched on and the "ghost" concept which seemed to have been forgotten(sadly, because i really liked it). There is going to be a second season so maybe they'll explain even in passing but I don't know.
The very last thing at the end why are the mafia allowed to kill more than one person? if that was the case why didn't one of the characters try and kill everyone to end the game? and why put the representation of your dead daughter with everyone? why not leave her out?

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