Completed
hdef
7 people found this review helpful
Dec 12, 2017
18 of 18 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 10
i never give high ratings, you can look at my watched list and you will notice. This one kept me interested until the last episode. i loved the fact that they kept the story line complicated till the very end. i loved the fact the played with the whole concept. The acting was spot on, i loved the seriousness  of the whole drama yet it has its tear jerking moments and its comedic relief in certain areas. This series was something unique in its story line. i will definitely re-watch it again in a very near future.  This has made lots of other Korean drama pail in comparison

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Completed
Park Min
5 people found this review helpful
Aug 10, 2022
18 of 18 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 6.0
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 6.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 1.0

High potentials, fails to deliver!

Let's state the obvious, the comedic moments weren't good, it always felt forced. I assume they wanted to do that to lighten the mode? It took what felt like an eternity to kick start the story. Teasing the viewers constantly about the "tape" for the entire series was kinda annoying. How many times you can save Ha Ram's life became a personality trait for the male characters in the drama lol.

When you over complicate a story, things get out of hand real quick really fast. Maybe dedicate some of the budget to hire a team of skilled veteran writers instead? Many convoluted plotlines were brushed off eventually. Half of the death cases weren't interesting. The last 2 episodes in general contain some serious unsalvageable nonsense. The writer turned off her brain and started writing willy-nilly. Starting from the beginning of episode 13 there was a big disconnect with the story and the momentum.

Abysmal ending. The ending goes into my list of "I'm a special quirky little writer so I'mma pull an ending out the depths of my ass". They tried to make it "poetic" but ended up shooting themselves in the foot. The writing department was really lacking and barely functional that by the end it leaves you with nothing but pretty visuals. This is a real case of a drama that had high potentials but fails to deliver.

In conclusion, it got a visually appealing atmosphere, good enough cast, and it's entertaining enough to be passable. Definitely doesn't deserve the hype. The series was from Netflix I should have known better. This is a 5.75/10 on a good day.

P.S. Kim Won Hae is always a treat to watch.

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Completed
Proteus
6 people found this review helpful
Nov 8, 2020
18 of 18 episodes seen
Completed 7
Overall 1.0
Story 1.0
Acting/Cast 4.0
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers
if you enjoy watching well-written dramas, with well-plotted stories, full of well rounded characters with motivations that make sense, and a love story that makes you believe in love etc, this drama is not for you.

story

if you’ve ever watched a mystery, you will have seen the conspiracy board. there will be a character sticking photos and articles onto a board and then linking all of them with a red string, showing how they’re all connected in one way or another. this drama is that concept on crack.

every single thing that happens in this drama must be related to something else that happened. even if it’s small, insignificant things. they have to be connected to something else, otherwise there’s no point in having these things happen, apparently.

if a character is listening to a song, it’s because that song used to be their crush’s favourite song during their childhood.

if a character is regretful of saving a person and wants to tell another character that saving people leads to consequences, it has to be because he was the one who saved the pilot who would later on bring down the plane from the first episode.

if a character (crazy dog) is telling a character (grim reaper 444) that he’s in love with a girl (haram) and that’s why he acts like that, it’s because that character (crazy dog) was told that he was in love with a girl (clara) twenty years ago and he’s quoting the guy who originally told him that (haram’s father).

it’s needlessly complicated. this drama tries to make you think that it’s intricate and very very clever when really it’s a shitty plot riddled with plot holes that the writer tried to cover up by shoving more plot into the plot holes because we all know that’s what fixes plot holes right??

speaking of needlessly complicated, the plot.

or more accurately, an endless list of plot holes in this drama:

1 – if grim reapers are named based on the date that they die, when did grim reaper 444 die? the 44th of april?? also, to add onto this: what about people who died on the same day? for example, all the kids who died in the mujin time mart collapse. would they all be named the same? how would that work, in grim reaper human resources?

2 – also, what was that whole thing with ‘generations’ of grim reapers? they threw it in there to compare grim reaper 444 to haram’s father and then never bothered to explain it or bring it up again.

3 – grim reaper 444 was able to stop a speeding car with his bare hands but he kept getting beaten up by normal human beings? was it because the plot required him to get his ass beat at that specific point in the plot or was there a reason for it?

4 – so wang youngchun was ‘crazy’ but not crazy enough to be incapable of stabbing someone in specific parts on their body to prolong their suffering and prevent them from dying too quickly?

5 – how did haram never see the grim reaper shadow inside of her dad, who did not wear all black like grim reaper 444? she even said that the first time she saw a shadow inside someone was when she saw it inside that student.

6 – how could haram’s father even have a shadow, when he was not a human being, he was a grim reaper inside of a dead human? how did a grim reaper get assigned to his death when he was a) already dead and b) not a human, but a grim reaper?

7 – why was haram’s father not able to see the grim reaper who was assigned to him? since grim reapers can see each other (see: grim reaper 444 being able to see grim reaper 007 and grim reaper 416 throughout the entire series, other examples of grim reapers seeing each other while they were following people who were assigned to die), why did haram’s father need haram to touch the grim reaper in order to tell him how he would die, instead of just.. asking the grim reaper who was assigned to him?

8 – why did grim reaper 444 not question how he wasn’t able to get out of his body because he was in his own body? at the start of the series, grim reaper 444 himself says that there are two types of grim reapers, the ones who were ‘born’ grim reapers, and the humans who killed themselves, and so must work as grim reapers as a punishment. grim reaper 444 thought that he was born as a grim reaper, so why did he not even mention that?

9 – the kid that they replaced joon with was missing a hand. how did no one notice that a car accident victim was missing a hand, and more importantly: that the hand was nowhere near his body. how did the doctor manage to convince the cops that there was no need for an autopsy when the kid was literally missing a fucking hand.

10 – if grim reaper 444’s existence was erased, how did he still exist at the end of the series?

11 – why did haram never find out that there was a grim reaper in moogang’s body? why did haram never find out that the grim reaper in moogang’s body is literally joon, her first love? why did the writer think that was unnecessary lol.


characters

if you’re into fully realised characters who learn and grow as the series progresses, black is not the drama for you. character development is virtually nonexistent. character motivations are thrown in as an afterthought and not given that much importance after that. most of the characters don’t even have any motivations, and the ones that do have such a flimsy motivation that disappears when something else is put in front of them.

grim reaper 444 aka ‘black’ (male lead) is a selfish, arrogant piece of shit from start to finish. the audience is somehow supposed to find his indifference and arrogance charming, even though the other characters around him are just as annoyed by him and his actions as the audience is. i’ll give this to the writer: his motivations are set up at the start of the show (kind of, since we’re only introduced to the actual main character at the end of episode 1, after the fake main character dies). but alas, he seemingly forgets about his all-important mission and diverts from it around three episodes after we’re told about it, and he doesn’t remember it until near the end of the series.

kang haram (female lead) is tolerable, because at least she’s a good person and she tries to help even strangers when she finds out they’re in danger. go ara does a very good job portraying her, but she’s not given much to work with. the character starts out well enough, but there’s not enough substance there to really say that she’s got any specific motivations. first, she wants to find the guy who killed her father, then she finds out that the guy died, then she finds out that the guy’s not really dead, then the guy actually dies. she has no active role to play in any of this. she just finds out information and just.. goes with it. the most active she’s been is when she’s trying to save people. and even then, she’s not actively doing anything to participate in her own story, she’s just taken along for the ride for someone else’s story.

also, the main characters had to be told that they love each other (since when) and literally the episode after that, they were told that they not only loved each other but that they were "madly in love" which again: since when. see more of my comments about their relationship in the ‘important issues’ section.

oh mansoo (second male lead) is consistent in that he’s not developed much. at least his crush on the female lead is developed more than the male lead’s supposed crush lmao. he’s a sweet character and even if a little dumb, he treats the female lead much better than the male lead and for that i can cut him some slack. at one point we literally are led to believe that he assaulted a woman, and i don’t really know why that was even added to the plot, especially since we’re supposed to like this guy, right.

yoon soowan aka kim sunyoung (second female lead) is one of the few characters who is consistent in her motivations and her actions, and even she’s taken along for the ride half of the time because the writer clearly doesn't care about this girl and how much trauma she went through. she gets kidnapped early on in the series, literally no one notices, not even her closest acquaintances, and then the kidnapper decides that she’s more useful if she’s not being held captive, so he just.. lets her go and orders her to do certain things here and there, and threatens to hurt han moogang if she tells anyone about how she was kidnapped. the kidnapper could have just blackmailed her to get her to do what he wanted from the beginning instead of kidnapping her, but i guess kidnapping was a bold new idea that the writer had just thought up and they just.. went with it.

na gwanggyun (aka ‘crazy dog’) is one of the smartest characters on the show, only because he actually... does his job. he actually follows up on the crimes and investigates. it seems obvious, but i can’t take anything for granted on this show. he also has anger issues allegedly, but they’re only shown during situations when he mentions his anger issues, or during situations where people are likely to get angry even if they don’t have anger issues. it’s weird, and it was probably added to the script because the writer didn’t think she was going to develop his character more, so she just decided to give him that.

also i don't know what this writer's issue is with mothers or mother figures, but she probably needs to talk it out with a professional and not write dramas in which every single mother or mother figure in this drama is the worst person ever, and everything bad that happens is always because of the mothers.

the other characters are just there. nothing much to say about them since they are whatever the plot wants them to be at that moment in time. even characters that were shown to be clever are then dumbed down so that the plot can carry on without so much as anyone asking what the hell is happening. a character is introduced as “the guy who goes to the bathroom a lot” so that we can get a shot of him in the bathroom whenever the grim reaper comes out of one of the stalls. it’s a good joke, but it’s overplayed.


technicalities

the editing in this show is all over the place. it’s so confusing. an example is a scene where a character is moving around during the daytime, and then in another scene they’re in another location at night, and then the third scene is another character, during the day from the first scene. there’s no transition scenes, and there’s no sense of time passing. there’s no consistency other than the editing being consistently bad.

this isn’t exactly the fault of the editing team, since they had to film what was in the script and edit it into the episode, but there are many scenes that are just.. there for seemingly no reason, and then seven episodes later you find out why they were there. for example, there’s a scene of a married couple that we see early on that we only find out the context for about thirteen episodes later.


important issues
(trigger warning: abuse, rape)

grim reaper 444 treated haram terribly from the start of the drama to the very end of it, but we’re expected to believe that he cares for her? he treated her like a nuisance, a necessary evil, an annoying stalker, a woman whose property he could simply go through without asking, and all the while she’s not sure whether he likes her or just tolerates her because he needs her for his pet project.

at one point near the end, grim reaper 444 literally tells her something that almost causes her to stab her eyes out, and in order to explain that, he takes her to his doctor and gets the doctor to tell her that because of the bullet lodged in his skull, he sometimes has ‘aggressive outbursts’. so he excuses himself from any future abusive behaviour because of his medical condition.

the tonal shifts in this show are fucking insane. at one point, the characters are re-enacting a rape scene that happened between an adult and a teenage girl, and in order to do that, they turn it into a joke. they have a grown man crossdressing as a teenage girl and as if that isn't enough, they forcibly hold this grown man down and wax his legs, in order to make him ‘look more like a girl’ (as if that matters when they're recording on a vhs tape and the video is supposed to look 20 years old). but it's funny haha!! this is bookended by scenes in which people are treating this rape seriously.



tl;dr a drama being unpredictable and having lots of plottwists doesn't mean that it is good. honestly i just wanted this drama to end

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Completed
Anna0_0
7 people found this review helpful
Dec 11, 2017
18 of 18 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 10
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 10
Rewatch Value 9.0
I honestly thought this drama was a mess at first glance but by the second or third episode I realized how wrong I was. This drama is painstakingly constructed and carefully planned; every loose end, question and mystery is left for you to ponder until the right moment. I highly enjoyed this story because it was never dull and did not leave me wanting more. Each time a mystery gains a new detail or is solved completely something new develops to keep you engaged and the chemistry and depth of the characters was absolutely amazing. I also enjoyed the use of multiple themes in the show which gave plenty of elements and moments to keep it from getting stale. This show has supernatural elements, comedy, romance, and crime - suitable for many viewers. Song Seung Heon was great. I cannot be happier with his performance. He portrayed Moo Gang and Black so well, even matching his acting with Kim Tae Woo, making the personality seamless no matter the scene. That being said the show stealer for me was Kim Won Hae. I have yet to see the man do a poor job with any character he is given and this role was no different. My only complaint with the cast was Go Ah Ra. There was something lacking in her portrayal of Ha Ram that nagged me off and on while watching and I realized I did not like how inconsistent her strength was. She is potentially a very strong female character but she never stays strong, crying and focusing on things that are not very important in the big picture. I took it as the writer giving her more room for growth and development, a chance to learn more about herself, but it at times made her come off as immature not someone who lacks trust and is forced to be self reliant.  However, with the story and the outstanding performances by the rest of the cast I was able to overlook it for the most part. The music for this show and the transitions/cut scenes were wonderfully placed. There was never a jagged moment that interrupted the viewing experience. The songs, both with lyrics and instrumental, were very nice and I may try to find some of them. The episodes are slightly longer at times than other shows but with how well they are executed I did not mind. This show is so good it is possible to rewatch, even more than once, but it is not a show you can really pick an episode and just jump into. As far as I'm concerned the show is so good I wouldn't want to just jump in randomly, I would invest the time to rewatch it fully. This show is also binge worthy af for any of my marathon friends.
Overall, this is one of the best show of 2017 for me. I hope this helps and happy drama watching!!  :)

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Completed
Dreamy
7 people found this review helpful
Dec 11, 2017
18 of 18 episodes seen
Completed 4
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 10
Rewatch Value 9.5
Pheww, what a ride, I'm speechless!
I know a drama can't be perfect, but this, this one, the writing is so brilliant that I can't even express it enough how I'm amazed with their plot & writing, just genius!

So first, where do I start..
I still remember clearly the day when I heard they casted Song Seung Heun & Go Ahra for a drama called Black & my reaction was: Meh! not gonna watch it (since Go Ahra previous work left me a bitter taste & I never been a fan of SSH).
But, then my own words just bite me in the ass, never did I ever thought I'd come to watch & love this this much..

Black clearly is not a drama that you'd be able to watch without paying attention too much, or just to pass your time while doing something else, it requires your attention 100% or you'll be missing out their clues/answered & you'd think it's a plot hole when it's not.

This is the most complex written drama I've ever watched, layered with so much mystery.
But the way their telling stories & directing is so good & engaging. Every given answer raised another question. The plot is also unpredictable & full of suspense from beginning till end with a mix of comedy in between that will keep you even more entertain instead of getting distract since they made it really well & smooth.

I had to warn though that they might answered our question implicitly so we might missed that if we're not paying attention enough.

As for the ending, I'm surprised that I'm really satisfied with it after watching it with subs, they answered every question I had (although again, I had to say some of them were being answered implicitly. ) & if there's something missing it's very minimal that I might not even able to think of it right now. Given the situation, I think it's the best ending they could give to us.

Black is def one of the best drama aired in 2017, one of the few drama that I'm really looking forward to watch & impatiently waiting for it every week & they even made it on my top list, my all time fav crime/suspense/mystery/romance kdrama along with Cruel City. Even Black as a character also made it on my fav hero/anti hero along with Doctor's Son.

So yes, I give Black a 10/10, they really deserved every point of it.
Song Seung Heun & writer-nim, you just gained a new fan, I know you've put your mind & effort 100% in this. I'm impressed & will look forward to your upcoming work for sure!

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Completed
Aryael
8 people found this review helpful
Dec 12, 2017
18 of 18 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 7.5
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 3.0
Rewatch Value 1.5
It has been a while since I've written a review and to start going back to writing reviews with a drama that was 'controversial' may not be the best idea....but since I've got some time now, might as well eh?

Story: The synopsis of this drama pretty much summed up what it is - a story about a grim reaper who eventually disappeared from everyone's memories. This drama is more investigative thriller than paranormal romance. Therefore, do not watch this drama with an expectation of paranormal romance. The grim reaper part is the only paranormal part of this drama. It is not used for action or cool effects. The drama is primarily focused on revealing the many twists and plots that led to the deaths of key characters who coincidentally were linked to each other. The reason why I said this is a 'controversial' drama is because you'll either love it or hate it. Unfortunately, I belong to the later group. Hence, in this review, you will read about the other side of opinion as opposed to the many praises others have given to this drama. Hopefully, after reading this review alongside all the positive reviews of this drama, you will get a more balanced view.

The drama started out well with a scene from the final episode - laying the foundation for the mysteries it plan to address. Then, we are introduced to a series of murders which were inevitably linked to mysteries from the past. One by one, skeletons in the closets (literal and figurative) were exposed. And just when you think you've figured out who's the big baddie, the drama deals you another twist. I love twists and plots and sub-plots. But I dislike HOW they were presented in this drama. Sure, they got the 'lay the foundation' part right with many twists being explained with earlier scenes. However, how it was presented lacked the finesse of a true master! The pace of the drama requires re-thinking. You get a good start, then a sluggish middle and a sudden and fast-forwarded end. The last 2 episodes felt like a dump. You get every character in the drama running around trying to solve mysteries, getting killed and missing chances and clues for the better part of the drama and suddenly in the last 2 episodes, they have a sudden IQ increase and knew exactly what to do! Better yet - as soon as they knew what to do, everything fell into place just right for them to do it when the bulk of the drama showed how they kept on missing clues and chances! For example, Moo Gang can be thinking about a certain person and lo and behold!...the tv reports about that person just as he was wondering about him....and lo and behold!....he found that person in the next scene and knew he's the brains behind it all! Same case with the lady doctor... she's been going around trying to locate a certain person, even almost died because of that.....and suddenly in the final episode, she only need to pick up the phone to call him and he answered! Not only did he answered after evading capture for so long.... he even invited her to his place instead of meeting up at some random public but hidden place as any intelligent person evading capture would do! *face palm!* You can see now what I meant by re-thinking the pace. If clues were solved bit by bit and revealed randomly in the course of the drama while leading towards the eventual and logical capture of the big baddie at the end, this drama would have been a much better drama. As it is, the drama was a huge dump fest with all revelations revealed in the last 2 episodes in a whirlwind of past scenes meshed with current scenes in an attempt to give the storyline creditability.

The second main reason why this drama was a disappointment for me is the lack of chemistry between the female lead and the male lead. Let me start by saying that Kang Ha Ram is not a love-able character. She is meddlesome, bumbling, loud, prone to misconception and always stepping into situation without fully assessing it which led to the many mistakes she made leading to loss of lives. To make matters worst, she was supposed to form a love relationship with Moo Gang/Black. At best, the chemistry that came through was that of a comrade or older brother-younger sister. Hence, my earlier warning that this drama is NOT a paranormal romance. Romance was just an afterthought and the development of chemistry was lacking. In fact, it boggled my mind how Moo Gang/Black who was tauted to be the coldest and most unfeeling reaper could fall for Kang Ha Ram. It defied logic. It even defied logic how he could love her so much that he was willing to undertake the worst punishment ever! If the ending was about this great sacrifice the reaper did for his love, then the story should focus on developing a strong love line so the viewers could empathize on the reaper's decision. Instead, the bulk of the story was about the many twists and turns signature of an investigative thriller.

Acting/Cast: Despite my critique of the story, the acting in this drama is good. Although I dislike Kang Ha Ram's character, the actress portraying her did a good job as she had successfully made me dislike Kang Ha Ram! However, she failed to manufacture the necessary chemistry with her male lead that would convince me that they were indeed very much in love with each other. It takes two to tango - hence the lack of chemistry was also a fault of the male lead. Other than that, acting was spot on.

Music: Not worth mentioning and not the focus of the drama.

Rewatch value: I do not possess a sadistic bone in my body. Hence, I will not torture myself by re-watching this drama. What's done is done! And I am relieved that it's over!

Overall: Considering the sentiments of many who seemed to love this drama, this is my most lenient rating of this drama: 7.5/10. Truthfully, I would rate it closer to 7/10.




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Completed
Bushra Shahzad
4 people found this review helpful
Jul 22, 2018
18 of 18 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 9.5
Rewatch Value 7.5
This is one of the most interesting show I've ever seen. It's filled with great storyline, amazing cast and characters. I absolutely instantly fell in love with it and it didn't help the fact that Moo-gang/444 was really hot. The story's within a story and the way the plot unfolds was something unique and performed really well. From the first episode itself I got hooked and had this obsession over watching more and more. Although I got greedy with the ending it still was something beautiful and more on the reality side.

Overall there are no words that can describe my love for this show, it's got every genre there is, Thriller, Mystery, Comedy, Romance, love, friendship and what not. So anyone having doubt about watching this show should just close their eyes and get to it, because I assure you that this show will not disappoint.

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Completed
Helena Baeyens
4 people found this review helpful
Mar 11, 2020
18 of 18 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 10
This review may contain spoilers
I have never written a review before but I must say this is has become by far my most favourite asian drama and I just wanted to let you know you absolutely have to watch this if you haven't already.

Acting
I saw Song Seung Heon berore in the great show and while he also did a good job there I must say he was fantastic in this drama. He had to play 2 characters in the same body and he completely had me fooled. I loved how he portrayed this hurt character that lashes out at those around him to protect his heart, he really made me pity black, cry for him, be angry at him and he made me love him. He did his job as an actor perfectly and for that I want to thank him for that.

It was my first time seeing Go Ah Ra and while she also did a good job at acting she sometimes didn't reach me but that is probably because she had the most difficult character to portray and the most difficult scenes to act out. I may not have felt her feelings but she did make me believe the story she was trying to tell.

The other actors also did a really great job, the entire cast really came together for this. I saw Kim Won Hea in strong girl Bong Soon I must say this man surely can play a wide variety of characters when I first saw him in this drama I was stunned. The only actor that I thought could have done a better job was Leo's actor but I found out in the end why he portrayed his character like this and it did make a bit of sense I guess. He also wasn't given that many scenes during the show I would have loved to see some more Leo and perhaps if given the chance he could have done a better job but that's not the actor's fault.

Story
Even in the first episode there were major important events that made absolutely no sense in the beginning and was revealed at the end. I binged watched this show so everything was fresh in my memory but I can imagine that if you don't binge watch this show sometimes you would have to rewatch certain episodes to remember the plot. The first half of the show had you accumulating questions, no literally it was just mystery after mystery after mystery and in the latter half they began to solve the mystery. It's the first time I saw the storyline evolve like this most of the time it's just mystery-solve next mystery-solve and so on. I actually liked the storytelling they used int his drama more because it really had you at the edge of your seat trying to figure out everything with the little hints and clues they gave you. And if you really payed attention I think you even might have solved the mystery before the characters did, altho I did not see that last bad guy coming, he really hid himself well. This drama doesn't only have a mystery storyline , the romantic storyline in this drama was very much present without it being overly present on screen. It was in the little things, the looks they gave each other, how he always protected her, how (and this might just be my own take on the story) she know he was really Joon oppa. It was told much more realistically than in the other drama's where they have to kiss to show that they are in love. (and well you know the end is everything. thank you for ruining my chances in love because now I will compare every man to black and wonder if they would be willing to do the same for me.) Really that damned ending had me crying my eyes out. And then we have the supernatural storyline the only thing that didn't make sense there were the shapes of the shadows. When we see them there just big blurs of blak but when there being described and in the glass factory also they are suddenly black silhouettes in stead of black blurs. Also when black was on the bridge we could clearly see 2 blurs referencing 2 grim reapers but in other moments when there were clearly 2 or more grim reapers we only saw one blur (think about Oh Man Soo's mom, 2 grim reapers and her son-turned-grim reaper but only 1 blur) other than that there were no inconsistencies or non that I found anyway and the story was really well-brought. It's a nice take on grim reapers and it's a sad but at the same time hopeful story.
Altogether black is a very suitable name for this show because it is kind of dark (lots of people died) and they managed to give it a happy ending which was at the same time a very very sad ending (I cried so much) and then was happy again; (really it was like the director was just like let's see how many times we can hit them in the feels).

Music
I loved the soundtrack in this drama and I love how it was used. They had als sorts of different songs but didn't overkill the music.

Cinematography
This drama has some of the most beautiful shot scene's I have ever seen, I really have to give it to the director, the cameraoperators, the editors and everyone else who worked on making this drama so damn beautiful. The cliff, the moon, the jump, damn. You guys really knew what you were doing. Normally I'm annoyed a few times about the angle of the camera, the lighting of the scene, and so on. I didn't have those issues in this drama there were many scenes that were just spectacularly done and made me realise once again that a drama isn't all about the actors but that there is so much more to it. To the many people that worked incredibly hard behind the scenes but don't get as much acknowledgement, thank you!

I really enjoyed watching this drama, it was stunning, thank you to everyone who worked on this drama , it was beautiful.

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Completed
dragynfaerie
4 people found this review helpful
Jan 1, 2018
18 of 18 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 8.0
This review may contain spoilers
Before I say anything I want to officially state that I took off 1 point for the sappy, unnecessary, inexplicable, and downright boring last approximate 30 minutes of Black.  It was like it was written by completely different writers, which, as we know, is not unheard of.   But that's the end.  Let's go to the beginning.

I waffled on whether or not to watch Black because I thought it would be a regurgitation of Goblin from the reaper's point of view.  It is not. Black's a completely different story and for my money one that is told, presented, and written much better.  Black is the story of Grim Reaper 444 nicknamed Black, as he attempts to circumnavigate humanity. While he tracks down an escaped reaper, he inadvertently becomes involved in a series of murders and cover-ups.   Take out the supernatural aspect and it's a really good cop drama.

For the most part the writing was excellent.  There's a quite a bit of dark humor and one liners.  The story is layered and twisty. Just when you think you know it all and that you've gotten to the  meat, there's another layer to peel back.  Situations and scenes that seem to be inconsequential come back right when you've forgotten all about it.  Black is pretty much finished mid-way episode 18.  Have you ever watched a great drama that is finished may 15-20 minutes into the last episode and wonder why they just didn't extend the episode before?  Black is one of those.   They finish it with sappy melodrama that didn't exist in any of the previous episodes.  I'm dying to ask a couple of "how did they expect/explain...," "why.....,"  but I have no way of wording them that wouldn't be spoilers.

The cast was great.  Hands down a talented cast.  It never felt like 1 member was being dragged along by his or her hair by better actors.   I adore character actors and you'd be hard pressed to find one better than Kim Won Hae.  Bless his scene stealin' heart. There's none better.  There's not many female Korean actresses that I like. There's Kim Mi Kyung, Sun Ah, Park Shin Hye, and Go Ah Ra (perhaps a few more but I can't think if their names). Granted she's typecast as the strong feisty type, but it fits her and she damn good.  She always manages to hold her own no matter who she is in a scene with.  This was my first time seeing Song Seung Heon and he was good.  He delivered the best one liners without cracking a smile.  He did a wonderful job displaying Black's journey from emotionless to emotion. The rest of the cast gave solid performances.  If I had any issue with the cast, it would be their ages. This is a problem I have far too often with Korean dramas. The apparent ages of the adult actors don't mesh with the story or the child characters.  An example would be a spoiler.  Seriously, this show is so layered almost everything is a spoiler.

The music..eh.  I've never been big on the Korean penchant on basically selling a song in their dramas.  Some producers/networks go overboard causing it to have the opposite effect on me.  I begin to loathe the song instead of like it.  Not so with Black. I didn't feel like I was being sledgehammered with 1 or 2 songs.  I have no interest in listening to the OST.   Honestly, my rewatch value is low because I almost never rewatch a drama.  However, if I were to want to rewatch a drama, Black has a higher chance than most.

Overall I give Black an 8.5-9.   I thoroughly enjoyed everything about it up until the later half of the final episode. Had the ending not been so sophomoric and poorly thought out, Black easily would have gotten a 9.5-10.

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Completed
JubayerMahmudKhan
6 people found this review helpful
Dec 11, 2017
18 of 18 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 7.5
You know with tags that this drama covered a lot of thing on it's 18 Episodes. This drama is one of those drama you'll not forget about !
It's not draggy also with 18 episode which some might think that way. They showed an awesome story packed with so many suspence and myster within those episodes.

Now i'm gonna analyse it and tell you guys if it's worth your time.

Story:
It's a story about a Grim Reaper and a Girl with supernatural power to able to foresee someone's death. You might have think of it like Goblin but it isn't. There's also a son of businessman and a female doctor.
It started like a normal story like every KDrama. Then it started growing. You can't even think about what's gonna happen next. If you try to predict i'm sure you're gonna fail. This story has so many twists and you're gonna love that. And mystery mixed with thriller it became something else on a whole another level. There's also the detective part you are thinking about. Yes THE CRIME DEPARTMENT is also one of the major point on this drama. They became the main part eventually.
With girl's supernatural power they are able to solve a big case in this drama also some minor cases as well. That grim reaper worked extra hard on this to reveal and bring justice. And you never gonna realise what's going on and what will be the end of it. Cause it will be a big kaboom in the end. wait for it. Not gonna spoil it here.

It's a pretty decent story and also realistic type though it's fantasy.

Cast:
Main Cast involved Song Seung Heon and Go Ah Ra. Their acting on this drama was mindblowing. They showed a great story of romance as the story progress. As a team they worked so damn good which can't be describe here in words I suppose.
Lee El and Kim Dong Jun, their characters hold key positions to this drama, specially 'Kim Sun Young' character was so damn good. Which make this drama into a great thriller-suspense. Dong Jun with his role of 'Oh Man Soo' portrayed a character who is neglected by his brother but actually a good person by heart. But then something happen. You need to watch it understand.

And the Crime Division team was so damn good with our favorite ahjussi Kim Won Hae and the Whole team acting was so good which make this drama even more awesome.

Overall acting was perfect on this drama, even backup artists did a good job on this. 

Staff:
Writer of this drama wrote Iljimae and God's Gift - 14 Days which was also good stories.
And behind camera stuffs did a pretty good job on shooting those scenes perfectly and also an applause for Editing Team.

#JubayerMahmudKhan





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Completed
AudienceofOne
5 people found this review helpful
Feb 20, 2018
18 of 18 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 1.0
How to review a show that was sheer, gripping genius for 17 episodes and then an infuriating train wreck for its final hour? Recommend that people take the twisty, turny, ride despite the destination? Or destroy my television, computer, modem and everything else that enabled me to watch it while burning effigies of everybody involved?

I don't know.

Overall Story - 9
Acting/Cast - 10
Music - 10
Ending - Minus 17,000
Rewatch Value - 0 to the power of 0, which is exactly the one time you should watch it. I may cancel my Netflix subscription just so I don't have to see its name mentioned again in passing as I'm scrolling through.

Puzzle that one out.

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Completed
Akage Girl
4 people found this review helpful
Nov 27, 2019
18 of 18 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 5.0
Story 5.5
Acting/Cast 6.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 4.0
I’ve avoided doing less than complimentary reviews until now. So watch Black for Song Seung Heon and enjoy, but if you want to watch it for any other reason, you will only be sadly disappointed (well except for the two other grim reapers).

STORY:
I’m avoiding spoilers (mainly because its just not that interesting) so here it is in a nutshell. An inept policeman gets killed in the line of duty and at the same time a grim reaper #444 has lost one of his charges who has taken over the dead body of a human. Needless to say the grim reaper takes over the body of the police officer and becomes Black (Song Seung Heon) looking for the missing charge and also solving the murder of the police officer with the help of Ha Ram and a strangely inept police force.

CHARACTERS:
Black is a very complicated character that encompasses about three or four characters with a back story. I’ll admit at one point, I got lost as to why and how, but it didn’t matter because Song Seung Heon dragged me right along with him and I’ll admit, he was riveting. I’ve watched two other shows with him in it just because it was Song Seung Heon. Both sucked and now Black…..this man has deplorable taste in shows which is too bad because he is a powerful screen presence.

My mother told me that if I don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. So I will say this, if Go Ah Ra wanted Kang Ha Ram to be an irritating, ridiculous, sad character that I just couldn’t wait to die, then she did an extraordinary job. Sadly, her character did not die soon enough for my taste.

Lee El did alright as the second female lead but her character was another one, I was hoping a grim reaper came to take her away. Please note that I think this must have been the writing because she played one of my favorite characters in Goblin, so it wasn’t the acting.

The rest were so so but not really engaging. The best characters were Black’s grim reaper friends played by Jo Jae Yoon and Lee Gyu Bok. They were funny and interesting when everyone else was “meh.”

MUSIC:
I have absolutely no clue other than to say it wasn’t memorable enough to stick in my head but certainly not as entertaining as other soundtracks.

OVERALL:
Watch this for Song Seung Heon but don’t have high expectations. Also, see what awesome actors Lee El and Kim Won Hae are because you will see how well they did with such boring material (and you will appreciate Goblin and Strong Woman Do Bong Soon even more)

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Black (2017) poster

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