This review may contain spoilers
Just looking at the overall rating I know I'm against the grain here so I'll just keep my reasons for a low score in a simple list format so if any of you have similar tastes to mine you'll know whether you want to give this drama a chance.1. The beginning half remains brilliant. Fast-paced, great cast, fluttering romance, mystery. A good dose of everything we love in a kdrama.
2. The North Korean squad and the village wives are both amazing from the start and remain amazing til the end. If I rewatched it would be solely for them.
3. A character death at the end serves no story purpose except to ensure the second couple don't outshine the main couple.
4. Our no-nonsense Seri devolves from a woman who knows her mind to one who spends 90% of the finale lying down or crying.
5. At the halfway point and then until pretty much the last 2-3 eps the pace slows riiiiight down and left me skipping through them all without missing anything significant.
5. An ending that wrapped things up well enough but left me unsatisfied.
So, not for me, this one.
Was this review helpful to you?
A show you will definitely like!
I just finished watching this show and what can else can I say about it apart from the fact that it's a tearjerker, a comedic and blissful romance...What I love about this show is hard to list out because of the huge number, but I must agree on the fact that the familial, and friendship bonds in this show are so raw that it'd just bring a teary smile to your face. The way they show the contrast between the North and South in every aspect is just so gorgeously detailed that it never fails to bring out my empathetic side for the North Koreans. There's a small aspect of dark humor underlining the entire show that you'll have a great time figuring it out.
The main leads romance is so cliche yet so pure and enjoyable to watch that the cliche aspect wouldn't even stop you from liking it.
The story of the second leads is just as good as one would expect it to be and I loved all the side characters. Even the bad ones.
The only drawback of this drama is that it is HIGHLY unrealistic. But that just made it even more enjoyable to watch so I'm not in queue to complain.
I will definitely rewatch it one day.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
It's really hard to move on and find what's next k-drama to watch once you finish this, especially to us who always wait every week for updates. No doubt! This drama will make its way to your list of "Best Korean Drama of All Time". Why? Story wise! Character wise! and Acting wise! This drama has all of it that you will be hooked up once you start watching it. This drama will make you fall in love again (and again), and make you realize how it is nice to be in love. This drama also proves how powerful love is that even the demarcation line between South and North Korea means nothing for the two person in love. Also, I stan the character of Seo Dan, a perfect picture of a strong, independent woman. You will not hate his character coz she didn't do a lot of things to hinder the relationship of Jeong Hyeok and Se-ri as she was also busy making her own love story. Lastly, we all wish that we have our own Ri Jeong Hyeok in our life! Watch the drama if you want to find out.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Honestly, I thought I was done with K-Dramas for a while until this popped on to my radar and of course, N E T F L I X. ****SPOILERS BELOW****
From the main leads to the second leads to the supporting cast, everyone's character was written well (enough) that you knew what their motives were. The selfish greedy but 'dumb' brother and his nothing-but-evil wife were fun to see getting beat down at the end. And strangely enough, I found her eldest brother and sister-in-law quite comical and obviously, not as greedy and heartless as their younger counterparts.
I was devastated that GSJ didn't make it to the end because I did love him and Dan together, but I felt like they wanted to add that extra 'tragedy' moment to the show. Yeah, I said it, they just wanted to add more drama to the drama, 'cause I didn't think he deserved to die unlike some dramas where characters died out of 'redemption' or karma from their own actions. Unless I forgot something, all he did was exact revenge by scamming the family that scammed his. :(
Overall, there were cliché moments as with any K-Drama, but at least this one had a few nice twists and turns and the plot line and setting made a real difference. It wasn't a hospital, school, justice system setting which really took it and turned it into a more unique experience for the viewer. The chemistry between the leads and all the heartfelt moments between Seri and the NK characters made me cry buckets of tears. I loved that even though she was a 'cold' and 'picky' chaebol in SK, it was in NK that she learned to not be picky, to be social, and yet still retain her most loving mindset. She and RJH really do make a perfect couple! Cheers to the cast and the whole team behind the show!
Was this review helpful to you?
There were many very sweet moments in the drama between Son Ye Jin and Hyun Bin, especially when they keep reminding each other that they would eventually be separated. The 4 subordinates of HB created many light hearted moments in the drama. SYJ is so pretty in the drama, regardless of the clothes she was in. All so classy and graceful.
I am touched by the writer's perspective. They tried to show us the human side of North Koreans. I appreciated seeing things from this point of view.
The scenes in Switzerland were gorgeous.
What I dislike,
1. really weak OST. I don't understand how come they couldn't put in more effort on the OST. I can barely remember any songs from this drama.
2. The drama lacked those heart breaking moments that wld make you remember the drama. For example, I can totally remember those heart breaking scenes in Goblin 1 year after watching it, but I can hardly think of any heart breaking moments from CLOY.
I kinda don't get the hype and rating for this drama. It's not that it's not good, but I don't think it is good enough to get this kind of hype.
Just passable for me, I guess.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
An okay comedy, but superficial romance
The opening to episode one did not really draw me in, but I pushed through. If you watch this then you have to come to terms with that it is super unrealistic, the first episode sets the fantasy/cartoon like tone - surviving a tornado, running through a minefield unscathed, elite soldier missing his shot, north Koreans soldiers super friendly to southerners etc (all in first episode).So much of the plot is stupid coincidences, and Seri being stuck in NK seems convoluted, every plan failed. When she does get back to Seoul then all the tension is pretty much gone, and the show just devolves into North Koreans tyring chicken and random south Korean stuff.
The show is supposed to be a romance, but Seri comes off unspathetic (especially when back in princess mode in Seoul), but why are Seri and Captain Ri a good match? Dan & Albert had a much better romance and chemistry going on, whereas Seri and Ri looked more like friends or siblings.
There is a scene when they are in Seoul and Ri asks Seri about her interests and she replies "You don't need to know that type of stuff, I told you already, your face is my type"..., yeah she told him that in the first episode, but this is like episode 13 or something and she is pulling out some shallow response like that? So she is spoilt and gets her way with him because he is weak willed & he is handsome.., soudns like an awesome romance..
Ri is also too perfect, like he apparently a musical genius, all the women like him, his is rich, comes from a family of high status, he plays an instrument, he reads a lot, he is tall and strong, kind.., he made noodles *fresh* for her in episode 2 or something. Dude cooked fresh noodles and usedthe spaghetti/noodle machine. He is some unrealistic Nietzschean Korean superman. If they made a season 2 then it's probably entail Ri building space probes, colonizing Mars, solving the world's energy crsis, and bringing world peace, oh and raising a successful family or something. He came off too fake and unrelatable, give the character some flaws beyond being weak willed.
Music was okay, but this is 2 months later or something and I can't remember any of the songs. The songs were pushed too much too, I get they are probably going to sell the songs to the audience or something, but sometimes I heard the same songs over and over, and they'd just have these long musical parts where nobody spoke; those were dull.
Comedy aspect was alright, you have the annoying and sometimes funny housewives of the village, most of the funny moments for me were Ri's second in command, Dan's mother and uncle, and Dan and Albert.
It's cool if you enjoyed Ri and Seri, but for me I'd much rather have watched a show focusing on Dan and Albert, they felt more organic, not forced like the main couple. They were cute, sucks the writers killed that off, not sure if it was to insert some sadness or to stop them outshining the main couple.
The sad backstory of being left on the beach as a kid for a few hours was not really that traumatic, so that plus not getting on with her family means she'd suicide? Eh.
Why is the ending they meet each other only in Switzerland? It's strange, Ri could easily buy a house outside of North korea and meet up anywhere, Dan was Studying in Russia for ages so clearly people are allowed to leave NK easily.
I felt emotional maybe in one scene when Man Bok (the rat) told Ri how his brother died or something.
Overall a decent show, but you are best going into this approaching it as an unrealistic and over the top comedy show than anything else.
Was this review helpful to you?
Finally a drama that lives up to its hype!
I’ve watched tons of dramas including Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese, etc. I like all types of dramas. But I prefer a drama that has it all; romance, unique storyline, character growth, comedy, and suspense. It’s rare that I find a drama that has all of the things I’m looking for but this is one of them.Story:
The story is quite unique. What would happen if a South Korean accidentally landed in North Korea? Not only do we get a look into what it might be like to live in North Korea, we also get to see some really gorgeous men in uniform. The story has lots of twists and turns so there’s never a dull moment. All of the scenarios are quite realistic and believable which helps the audience to really immerse themselves into the drama. And the romance moves at a normal pace. It doesn’t overwhelm the drama or become overly cheesy but it’s always there as a driving force behind the main leads actions. The drama is quite funny at times too. I loved the balance of romance, comedy, political intrigue, and suspense.
Cinematography:
We get lots of breathtaking scenery. I really enjoyed the rolling hills, the lush foliage of the forest, the quaint little villages, the scenic train rides, the campfires, and the picnics. They put a lot into the production of this drama. And when the FL is flying through the air paragliding, they did a great job of making you feel like you were right there with her. The cinematography was top notch.
Acting:
This was one of those rare dramas where I don’t have a complaint about one of the actors. Usually someone is a little wooden and stiff or they overdo it, but not in this drama. They all did a great job, especially the main leads. I rarely cry at movies or dramas but the acting was so good in this one I cried twice. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a sad drama, but the few sad parts they have really got to me.
Overall:
My overall opinion is that this drama is excellent. It’s right up there with Goblin and the other really good dramas. It’s already breaking viewership ratings and will definitely get lots of awards. Don’t miss this drama.
Was this review helpful to you?
Overhyped and Shallow
I watched it during the initial run and thought it was ok (not good not great) but after some glowing reviews in this site i thought maybe if i watch it again, binge waching this time may be i will start to love it.Sadly it was worse
It is being considered as a drama similar to Descendant of the sun. It is easy to see why, it is lighthearted on the whole, over dramatic and over the top story wise and beautiful to look at(asthetics of characters not cinematography as a whole). But what DOTS did better was it maintained the tone throughout and thus made the experiance a lot more enjoyable.
After rewatch, the scenes that impacted me most or even made me care about the characters where of Seo Ji Hye and Kim Jung Hyun. This made me realize how shallow the main couple where and meaningless their journey was. I had to skip most of the scenes during rewatch.
If the second couples journey was chiched as the main couples may be i would have rated it more (Strange!! I Know). But their journey showed me that the drama was capable of being much more impactfull, but sadly they didnt even try.....
Was this review helpful to you?
Kinda boring in my opinion
So, I didn't want to watch this drama since it was really hyped up but after a long time I decided to give it a chance. Long story short, the idea of the story was a really good one and it had a big potential at first, but it lost it's charm after a few episodes. It's the first time I see Hyun Bin in a drama and I can say that this role was not a good one. In my opinion, the whole drama was carried by Yoon Se Ri, who was seen as a powerful woman but to be honest, she was also kinda dumb at some certain points. The OST...I can't really say much about it since I don't remember something about it. Also, I've skipped a few episodes because they were getting really boring, so overall I don't really see the hype everyone gave to this drama. Romance? Eh. Action? Not really. Comedy? We can't even talk about that, except the 4 guys who were with Ri Jung Hyuk, they were really cute and kinda funny.. To end this,I'd like to remind everyone who gave this show high ratings and will probably attack me, please remember that this is only my opinion about the show.Was this review helpful to you?
the story started fine and the comedy was good, but as it continued it started getting rediculous, overly dramatic, unrealistic, and cliche.
if you want to watch a drama that's funny and cliche with some beautiful scenes and good actors, then this is good for you. but if you don't like unrealistic shows then try something else.
before watching this drama i didn't know that its auther is the same as the legend of the blue sea and my love from the stars. if i had known that i probably wouldn't have watched it because i didn't like these 2 dramas as well.
Was this review helpful to you?
The idea of a South Korean woman being blown into North Korea by a freak tornado is in itself slightly out there, but no more so than some of the more unique premises found in other kdramas. Where the premise veers into the absurd is how our North Korean lead and his subordinates reacted to her arrival. And even more absurd is how our second female lead, Seo Dan, who dislikes SeRi from the moment she meets her also seems to willingly risk it all to keep her true identity as a South Korean secret. It was simply asking too far a stretch of my imagination to think that North Korean soldiers would welcome a South Korean with open arms and relatively easy acceptance. All of the plans and attempts to return SeRi to South Korea were also simply preposterous. I found myself laughing at times because of just how silly everything was which greatly cheapened the more serious moments in the show.
All that said, the cast was the absolute highlight of the show. Hyun Bin was amazing as Ri JungHyuk. He captured a more subdued quiet man's character without coming off as brooding. This alone is a feat as there is already an overabundance of brooding males in dramaland. The subtle variety to the strong silent type Hyun Bin offered through his acting was refreshing yet simple. Son YeJin as Yoon SeRi provided much-needed balance to JungHyuk's calm by being quite over the top with many of her emotions. She was funny and strong-headed while also having moments of sadness and anger. It was amazing how she got on so well in North Kore but as her strength of character was well developed beforehand it made it all very easy to believe. She too was a delight that made even the more ridiculous moments of the show enjoyable.
Overall this drama was like a light little snack: easy to digest but satisfyingly filling all the same.
Was this review helpful to you?
This drama is brilliant!
I've been k-drama fan for more than a decade now and all these years watching more than 70 dramas, this is my most favorite one so far! Can't get enough of this drama, i binge-watched 14 episodes in a day. Chemistry of the MCs, the plot, the music, production everything is so perfect. I loved the MC's so much they've become my favorite couples.❤️This show is so amusing i didn't even skip a part. The only thing that lingers in my head all day is this drama lol. oh god I'm so into this drama. Yall who haven't watched it WHAT ARE YOU DOING? I guarantee this drama is remarkable. You're not gonna regret ?
Update: The ending was the most beautiful and happy one ever. I'm 100% satisfied <3
Was this review helpful to you?
