Ciel rouge (2021)

Una serie dal buon potenziale ma inutilmente appesantita nel concreto

La valutazione è un sei politico, più per le buone intenzioni che per la riuscita effettiva.
Salvo rare occasioni, i drama storici tendono sempre un po' ad annoiarmi, e ancor di meno gradisco i fantasy, per cui le aspettative in partenza non erano altissime.
L'idea di base era però interessante, mi è piaciuto in particolare il discorso sulla vista, che si "alterna" tra i protagonisti, la cui caratterizzazione è peraltro molto piacevole.
A rovinare nel concreto la serie è un senso di opprimente pesantezza, dovuto alla scelta di rendere la storia più contorta del dovuto. Se c'è un episodio praticamente dedicato a fare le presentazioni e il punto della situazione, allora qualcosa non quadra. Una bella serie non ha bisogno del libretto d'istruzione, insomma. Le spiegazioni - solo quelle necessarie - dovrebbero inserirsi con naturalezza al momento più opportuno, senza dare l'impressione di una lezione su come capire la storia. Storia che resta comunque densa di scene evitabili, che fanno dell'aspetto fantasy una sorta di macigno piuttosto che di un elemento originale caratterizzante la trama. Il rischio noia è praticamente dietro l'angolo: ho iniziato una visione attenta, ma a metà mi sono ritrovata a saltare alcuni passaggi a piedi pari, unico compromesso possibile per poter arrivare in fondo alla serie.
C'è del buono, c'è del potenziale (nell'idea e nelle risorse), ma per ottenere un degno risultato andava ampiamente sfoltita e snellita (che non vuol dire automaticamente renderla banale o povera di contenuti, sia chiaro).

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Enjoyable but haphazard plot

Enjoyable and gripping; love the cast and acting, the idea, OST and pace.
All the usual sageuk plotting, scheming, jealousy, nasty characters and intrigue, peppered with humour, warmth and romance.
Cheon-ki was pretty capable and bubbly with a can-do attitude. Loved the supporting characters at the art school.
Ha Ram was quite melancholic and gentle, but with a darker side too ~ so well portrayed by Ahn Hyo-seop. His personal servant, Man Soo, was a favourite character (even though a small part), so well played by Kim Hyun-Mok ~ I just loved him 😁
Icing on the cake, is the dark fantasy element, which is a genre I really like and some interesting deities.
The leads worked well together and both are favourites of mine. AHS's voice is something else too, with a unique depth to it.
The reason I couldn't give 10/10, was because of a few holes in the plot.
Fantasy is one thing, but I got irritated by how easily a supposedly blind character could navigate stuff from walking freely to asking for written documents.
Also by how stupid Cheon-ki could be at times, in relation to getting when a character was possessed or themselves (black smoke and clawed hands should be a give away, surely?!)
Some of the scenes between her and her father I found a bit too melodramatic and the number of times she shrieked "abeoji, abeoji" made me want to scream!
I also found it hard to follow why Mawang only appeared at certain times when 2 characters touched and not others.
Finally, the reviewed second version of ep.1, put right after ep.1, totally ruined the flow of the programme for me (I watched on Viki). It duplicated so much of the drama and if I'd realised, I would have left viewing it until after I'd finished. It just did not fit there and would not have ruined the drama watching it later. Bizarre really.
Glad I watched it though.

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It’s not the most expansive storyline but it was an enjoyable watch.

I enjoyed this drama very much, I mean i binged it one day. It was great seeing so many familiar faces. The storyline was engaging from start to finish and while I’ve seen some complaints about plot holes and/or “convenient fixes” I don’t necessarily agree. I think my one complaint would be that I wished we knew what the grievances that Ha Ram’s allies had and why they supported him in his vengeance plot. They glossed over that and character building for the two of them. Otherwise, the complaints about the ring and blindness and how that whole things was navigated and solved were not ones I had. It never seemed to be a stretch of the imagination for me or “too convenient.” I really enjoyed watching this. It’s a neat little 16 episodes and I would recommend.

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Yangmyeong was the real MVP and y'all did him dirty

So, another drama that was really difficult to rate for me. I don't think it's as bad as most top reviews make it out to be, but it's also not nearly as good as it could have been.

The beginning was promising and it wasn't really a difficult drama to finish, but the quality definitely drops in the second half of this drama. The main couple becomes particularly annoying, which is sad cause I really liked them initially, but in the end I only finished the drama to know how everything would unfold.

Honestly it really enraged me how Cheon Gi kept making up excuses for Ha Ram, like I know it's not his fault but the dude is still a menace to everyone around him and he tried to kill her multiple times whe he was posessed by Ma Wang. He should totally be imprisoned but somehow Cheon Gi acted like Yangmyeong was some sort of monster when he tried to do that. It's like when any minimal thing happened to Ha Ram and he was separated from Cheon Gi she suddenly could not produce one rational thought anymore and just started crying pathetically. Her only redeeming quality by the end is that she was still determined to finish the King's portrait, even if it was just to save her boyfriend.

One of the main gripes I had with most of the characters (main couple and the other painters from the academy) is that they were against Cheon Gi painting the King's portrait because something bad MIGHT happen to her but none of them really took into consideration that if the demon was not sealed in the painting it would cause havoc everywhere it went and nobody would be able to stop it. Like, they're supposed to be the good guys, but they can't even think about all the innocents that would die and how the country would've been thrown into chaos if the portrait was not finished. This is about the greater good people, seriously, that was so irritating.

The ML was a very difficult character to root for as well. From the beginning he was more of a sinister character, since he just cared about his revenge (even executing it against innocents like hello, Yangmyeong was a child when that happened) and not really caring about the consequences of his acts. Even then I was at least intrigued cause I thought it was a different approach to a male protagonist, but later he becomes even more insufferable as he seems to only care about the female lead and makes stupid decisions because of it.

So basically that's why I kept watching mainly for one chracter: Yangmyeong. He seemed to be the only one with some common sense and who put the wellbeing of the nation and the people first, fighting to complete the Sealing Ceremony and basically saving everyone's lives by doing so. I even think his character was underused towards the end, but he was still one of the best. Damn, how I wish he was the first lead. So I don't think I even have to comment on the epilogue, my boy deserved so much more.

The last character I want to talk about is Sam Sim. She was such an useless old hag lmao. Honestly I couldn't tell if she was trying to help or to be a nuisance. Everything could've been much batter if she intervened when everybody needed her. Like why did she have to wait until Ma Wang got his eyes back to try to stop him during the Sealing Ceremoy????

Although the story was interesting and gripping, it still was full of plot facilitations, holes and they simply kept creating more rules that mostly made no sense or contradicted things stablished previously. It's like the writers just straight up forgot certain characters existed, too.

The CGI was kinda bad but that was to be expected. The OST was good and the acting was pretty good as well, except that the male lead couldn't really act blind. The romance could've been much better if they werent' so annoying and if it was developed properly. I understand they were like soulmates, but I really think the show lacked scenes of them bonding or getting to know each other better.

Overall I did have fun and managed to finish this drama pretty quickly, but honestly I don't know if it's worth a recommendation as it's pretty forgettable and has quite some issues. Some might think my rating is a bit high for this show, but I just don't feel passionately about it to rate it lower to be frank.

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Beautiful Cast, Stretched Story

Was excited to watch this because of the lead actors and the plot summary looked interesting. The build up at the start was interesting and I expected the story to unravel more. However, the story seemed to have been stretched so much that the conflicts with the demon and the "evil" characters were repetitive and the back stories became confusing. There were a lot of unanswered questions: Who is Mae Hyang? Who will win in the battle between the 2 princes? Why was that left hanging and why did they choose that to be the ending (a set up for Season 2, perhaps)? What's with the three hooligans who still haven't stopped looking for Hong Chun Ki? Most importantly, I honestly didn't feel that much chemistry between the two lead characters because their interactions as a couple were very limited and, sometimes, awkward.

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Un peccato davvero

Davvero un peccato, visto il cast di tutto rispetto e una recitazione che come al solito non delude.
Purtroppo la serie si arena sulla sceneggiatura, esageratamente ed inutilmente contorta per la parte di fantasia, con una serie di personaggi ed eventi di cui viene spiegato poco o nulla allo spettatore, mentre per la parte dei personaggi reali resta superficiale, con dialoghi poco interessanti e dinamiche scontate.
I tanti spunti interessanti (il rapporto di fratellanza tra i pretendenti al trono, il rapporto tra i protagonisti bambini, tra la protagonista e i membri dell'accademia, la doppia identità del protagonista e il rapporto con i suoi assistenti, la preparazione della vendetta, l'amore non corrisposto, e così via) non vengono elaborati ed il risultato è addirittura banale. Un'idea con potenzialità, resa malissimo. Inoltre, le prime due puntate sono un riassunto delle successive...perché?

Sarebbe bastato che lo sceneggiatore avesse speso la metà delle energie utilizzate per creare il ridondante ingarbuglio di personaggi ed eventi "magici" (o "mitologici" che dir si voglia) per definire i personaggi reali, invece di appiattirli su banali cliché, e per sviluppare l'idea, originale, della cecità alternata. Sarebbe stata una serie intricante. Invece è deludente, con ripetizioni di situazioni e dinamiche fino allo sfinimento, intramezzate da narrazioni scontate e inutili che la rendono persino noiosa.

La straordinaria capacità, tutta coreana, di concepire una storia con più filoni intrecciati, con più personaggi principali e una platea di figure ben definite, tra cui i "cattivi" che sempre hanno uno spessore particolare, e con colpi di scena sorprendenti e talvolta capaci di invertire completamente la lettura dell'intera storia, in questa serie si intravede solamente, come potenzialità disattesa, mentre il risultato è un vero e proprio minestrone, con di tutto e di più, raffazzonato, come se la sceneggiatura fosse stata scritta di fretta e non maturata o scritta da più mani.
Nonostante sia generalmente molto generosa nelle mie valutazioni, amando particolarmente le produzioni coreane, questa volta metto una stella, dedicata alla recitazione, che con un cast simile non poteva comunque che essere di buon livello, ma ritengo che la serie in sé valga meno di una.

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Too cliched and trash storyline

If I can give this a 0 rating I will. What a waste of good actors... The storyline is trash..
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Interesting start, Messy ending

Lovers of the Red Sky (2021)

Likes
1. I didnt realize when I started watching that this is a fantasy drama but episodes 1 and 2 were interesting and I loved the actors who played the younger versions of Haram and Cheon Gi, the background story was enough to get invested in the couple.
2. I loved the paintings, it was so amazing that simple brushes can make these fantastic masterpieces. The best episodes were the painting competition, although it was still unbelievable that a young inexperienced painter can win against everyone else. And her butterfly painting was not that great tbh.
3. I loved the Baekyu Painters Society and how they always had Cheongi's back, esp her two painter friends. And the friendship between Haram, Prince Yang Myeong and Cheon Gi.
4. The ending kind of redeemed the entire story since they get their happy ever after, but still dont understand why they decided to live in an area so faraway from the city. The last scene between the two princes, at first I though the story is incomplete, now thinking back i guess just shows life goes on.

Dislikes
1. The story got messy and a lot of things were unexplained. More than halfway and I still didn't get the reason for the ring, or why they need to seal the devil inside the painting (because the drama said so), how Cheon Gi is the divine painter (when it turns out without Hwacha's power her painting was useless so what was the point?), why Joohyang was still alive when his body is supposedly rotting away, the king knew all about Haram's plan and never told him the truth (rendering his whole life's revenge plot unnecessary). And the whole nonsense about Haram's grandfather. And what about Maehyang?
2. Haram was blind for 20 years but he is extraordinarily aware of his surroundings that he doesnt look blind at all! He looks straight at the person he is talking to, he fights against the soldiers when blind, he can interpret the stars without seeing them.

Rating: 7/10 (i should give a lower rating but the four leads were so pretty)

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It was a good start

Until episode 10, everything started going down - where Yul started trying to seperate the two leads. I cannot stand the jealousy and his way of splitting up the couple. I feel so sad for Yul and it was so obvious that Cheon Gi has no space for the prince since the start. The fight was meaningless and it brought no value to the show in my opinion, and the writer can have more stories and explanation of the history of Mawang or how did all happen.

And I had to forced myself to continue for the ending, while skipping the filler parts. What really irks now is the ending! There's a lot of plot holes. Little did I expect an open ending...
What happened to the characters' story, especially the gisaeng when she wanted revenge?? lol. It just ended with her cutting her wrist to prove her loyalty?? What is her story? And epiloge... It was so tiring to watch the dual between the prince especially I have no idea about Korea's history.

I just want to know who died in the end lol.

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entertaining story, appreciate the art

Ma Wang, a god of death, trades his murderous power to would be kings who end up in bloodthirsty reigns, until one dying king decides to seal Ma Wang forever into his official portrait to end the blood shed. However, a shaman's errant rain ritual ends up releasing Ma Wang, only to have him sealed up once more in the body of the gifted rain diviner & astronomy advisor to the subsequent king, Ha Ran (Ahn Hyo Seop). Who then can save Ha Ran but Hong Cheong Ki, a divine painter who holds the key to containing the evil threatening his life.

In spite of it's simple premise, so complicated is the story that this drama starts with a preview filled 1st episode, solely dedicated to explaning all the characters & their relationships in this show. And even then it was dizzying, especially when you have to read subtitles & can't keep an eye on every face flashing on the screen.

I was impressed by Kim You Jung's no-nonsense portrayal of her character in My Demon & I can see the same spunk in her personality here in Red Sky. That energy is good in playing forward thinking characters. I also previously saw AHS in A Business Proposal, & here he delivers much the same muted performance. While the acting overall isn't stellar, at least it doesn't detract from the story which is imaginative & actually sparked my interest in Han Dynasty painting & portraiture. The show delves into the art of painting to the point of exploring the concepts of line & form, & the inference of a subject without actually showing it. Surprisingly, this held my attention as much as waiting to see how the lead characters will achieve their ends. Oddly though, the drama purports to tie up "loose ends" & yet it leaves the arc of the royal princes battling each other hanging, with a 3rd prince frequently mentioned but never shown.

As a fan of the gods & demons genre, however, I found this drama overall very entertaining.

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I wish I had quit early on .mostly creepy mysticism , evil & what not.

I'm just realizing that the more frustrated I am with a drama [because it didn't live up to it's potential] the longer my reviews!
I will attempt to chop things into bite size pieces;

1) First 3 episodes have alot of creepy mysticism , evil & what not.
It was hard to get through & diminished my interest
{ If I had known that the whole series would be mostly dark , I would never have started it.}
2) CGI guys should be proud for making an evil entity so scary I had to turn down the sound & look away.

3) Too much screen time given to incantations, swirling black & demonic attacks.
The male lead turning into the smokey evil entity got boring real fast.

4) Inconsistent boundaries of his "affliction "considering that early on the evil in him manifested whenever he was in the female lead's proximity-
[which changed later on as he cozied up to her quite a bit without any problems.]

5)Sooo much time is spent seeing them paint.

6) Around Ep. 13 they rushed some plot points with lame flashbacks.

7) What happened to /where is the crown prince ?

9) The magic painter helper said something secret to the female lead that we never get to know what it was.

10) It is never explained why she never went mad-we get some very weak nonsensical reason.

Will any of these things be resolved in the last 2 episodes ? I really didn't care by Ep.14


11) Male lead's character was bland & boring most the time & only got interesting when he morphed into the evil entity & then it's hard to appreciate his acting as he's mostly all blurry !

12) He 'accidently' kept physically hurting the female lead -Not exactly "couple's goals"

13) Lead's chemistry wasn't note worthy


*********heavy spoilers******

A) They actually never showed the crown prince as an adult and there is no mention of him actually dying. Previous king had miraculously revived only to say he was dying, yet 7 years later he is still lingering with the 3rd prince now the crown prince.

B) WHY is the 2nd prince still alive & in prison 5 years later-ridiculous! And Why does he still have demon stuff on his chest !!?
C) There is a 5 year time skip ! a few episodes before the end and the main couple's happy ending comes 2 episodes before the end as well. The last 2 episodes I did not have access to, but also, they started to go back to former plot points & it felt like those should have been part of episodes 13 or earlier, so the end of Ep. 14 was incredibly odd

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I added this drama on my favourite list and by this you know how much I like this drama, l am not going to tell you a story because this is spoiler for you and I really want that you should watch this drama. Ahn hyo seop acting was really amazing and how I forget my Kim yoo jung, she look beautiful on screen I really adore her she is amazing. Ok how I forget music, I don't have any words to say you should go and just listen to the music and you really gonna love, I mean you feel the music. I completed 14 episodes till now and I really wish that ending should be good. I am waiting for last two episodes.

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