High emotional impact. Amazing cast. Great music! A story we can always watch.
NOTE: There are no spoilers. However, some people might consider some information as such. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.---------------------
I. Story
There are two stories in this series, the first is the political rivalry; and the second is the relationship between the Main leads.
The political rivalry story was well-written. There were always fresh "content" (if we can call it that) in every episode. They avoided repeating the same plot or reusing what was already "solved" in the previous episodes, while maintaining the overarching plot.
The story between Kang Chi Choi (played by Seung Gi Lee) and Yeo Wool Dam (played by Suzy Bae) was more than perfect. I loved how they did not dive into romantic scenes and dating game, otherwise it would've ruined the whole show. They carefully built-up the expectation and tension between the characters and perfectly used the intense emotions they captured from the audience at the right time, at the right moment.
The finale episode (ep. 24) was beyond perfection. While writing this review, I can still feel the impact and weight of this episode. Anyone can easily feel the emotions of both characters and the dialogues were realistic, what most people would say if they're in the shoes of either of the characters.
II. Acting
Everyone successfully brought to life the characters they played. The seriousness, the anger, the laughter, and craziness were also reflected on their faces. Superb acting!
The Main leads--Seung Gi Lee and Suzy Bae--captured the hearts of the audience which made it easy to feel their characters, to think like their characters, to be their characters. The way they gave life to their characters was natural, we can feel their humanity.
Special mention to Suzy, if I am not mistaken this was only her third Main role in a TV series, the delivery of her lines and they way she showed us her character's personality was at a veteran actor level. It wasn't perfect, similar with Seung Gi, there were a few scenes which were awkward or maybe forced but both of them quickly recovered (even in the same scene).
III. Music
The best music/OST. Perfect timing, at the right place, at the right scene, at the right time. The songs were also memorable and easy to listen to. They also did not forget to lower down the background music a second or two before a dialogue, something often forgotten in many other shows.
IV. Production
It was clear they gave a very good budget for this show. The texture and colours of their costumes and props were awesome on the screen. It helped in bringing-in the audience to live in the world of "Gu Family Book".
V. Verdict
Highly recommended. 20 out of 10 stars. Very high in the re-watch list.
Great job!
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Far too long
In a re-edit, I'd cut at least 4 episodes. There is a lot of repetition in the series, a lot of overstated romance and quite a bit of drag using side plots, slow motions and paused dialogue when you already know how things should be ending.The acting is good, the feeling of injustice in the first part of the series is so apparent and in your face, that you want to strangle the people through your screen. That feeling stays throughout the series and how the characters combat the injustice without succumbing to revenge is the first anchor of this series. The second is fear of the unknown as the basis of exclusion that is apparent in racism, religion, nationalism and more isms that polarise a society into good and bad people, with all the bad that comes with it. It's a fantasy setting and the male lead is a mythical creature, but he's basically a racial minority and undergoes the same hardships. Or a witch from the middle ages, prosecuted for having evil powers. Or a powerful person that cannot be corrupted by wealth and fame - the bane of those in political power positions.
But overall, with each episode I skipped over minutes and minutes of scenes and I'm pretty used to how some KDrama's can drag. This was just overkill.
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I kept wondering why Choi Kang-chi’s character felt so familiar and I realised he is the typical male shounen protagonist™ !!
Examples: Inuyasha, Natsu (fairy tail), or Luffy (one piece). You know, the cheerful ones who are:
- hot-headed
- have a special superpower
- have a strong sense of justice
- usually have a tragic past
- ‘Want to be stronger!!!!’
- will rush head-first into danger to help his friends without thinking.
And get yourself a girl like Yeo-ul - A++ female character who you can rely on and will stand & defend you through thick and thin. Like everybody was scared of him, accused him, badmouthed him, called him a monster, etc - Dam Yeo-ul comforts him, tells him he is Kang-chi no matter what, loves him irregardless, defends him when her father is about to kill him, says he did nothing wrong, and "wants to do anything for him" all while being a strong independent woman??? This girl is an actual dream. Perfect personality aside, she is also gorgeous. She also never beats around the bush, she says the right thing and doesn’t hold anything back. She was a role model in every way.
Kang-chi and Yeo-ul’s romance was honestly goals. They had so much chemistry and pure love for one another. I think my favourite thing was how Yeo-ul was told at the very beginning before they had even met, that the man she was fated to meet would also be her downfall. Girl did not care. She loved him through it all so fiercely and passionately, knowing full well she will likely die. But she says she won’t change the present based on a future that hasn’t happened yet. She wasn’t going to avoid love because of a deadly ‘fate’. She always put him first, every time. She honestly deserves the world.
I also really feel for Kang-chi’s parents. They had such a tragic Romeo & Juliet love story, and was glad they were able to have closure (even though the mum was played by a different actress for no reason lol) and they both died…again. But at least they died together loving each other. It was tragically beautiful.
And let’s not forget the gLOW UP of the CENTURY - AKA Ma Bong Chul! Hated him forever and just wanted him to die already and when Kang-chi saved his life I could not believe my eyes. But he turned out to be the most loyal friend!! Was even willing to risk his life to help him and he was the best. Their friendship was actually great and a highlight for me.
I also couldn’t believe when it said 24 episodes!! But they went by so quickly and would have hated if it had been any shorter. It was the perfect length.
Honestly this drama just had everything you could need. Romance? Check. Good storyline? Check. Interesting characters? Check. This drama will stick with me for a long time and I have such strong feelings for it.
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This review may contain spoilers
A good historical fantasy drama
There really isn’t anything to fault with this show. The biggest problem starts with me, as someone who doesn’t really like this genre all that much. However, that is not to say I didn’t mind it. It is a very well put together drama, and it is frustrating for me that I can’t like it more.I struggle to watch Korean period pieces, especially when there is very little comic relief. I get that this show is very much focused on the serious storyline, and yes there may have been a few comical moments throughout, but would it have hurt to include a few more? I guess the writers used Kang-chi and Yeo-wool’s romantic moments to offset the serious tone of the story at hand.
Each episode was very ‘go go go.’ The story moved along quite quickly and I was beginning to think, ‘how is this going to be stretched out for 24 episodes!?’
There was a lot of time spent on the Gisaeng that if some of that was taken out then maybe I wouldn’t have had to spend a whole 24 hours watching it XD.
Surprisingly, I found myself quite gripped after watching the first two episodes and I actually really liked Wol-ryung and Seo-hwa (Kang-chi’s parents). I made the mistake of watching the third episode straight after and the vibe was just different. Obviously because the show moved 20 years forward, and then we were introduced to Kang-chi’s character who I didn’t warm to in the beginning. Throughout the show I did come around to him and enjoyed seeing him get through the difficulties he was faced with. His chemistry with Yeo-wool also played a positive part in his character development. It was amusing how Kang-chi’s character didn’t notice that Yeo-wool was in fact a girl for some time XD. If the directors wanted this to be convincing then maybe they should have chosen an actress who was less pretty (not saying that men aren’t/cannot be pretty).
Yeo-wool is a very cool female lead who stood by Kang-chi through everything and pretty much risked her life to protect him. It was beautiful how Kang-chi protected her just as much.
In the second last episode when Yeo-wool was underneath that spiky bolder I was shook and thought, ‘there is no way she is getting out of this one,’ and then Kang-chi swooped in and saved her! But THENNNN in the last few seconds Yeo-wool was SHOT!? I believe this is the first drama I’ve seen where the main character dies, but thankfully she was going to be reborn. When they met in her next life I teared up - I got so emotional. My heart goes out to them. I feel so much for Kang-chi who had to wait all of those years to see her again. His final line just got to me - ‘my time that stopped, has started flowing again.’ ?? Honestly I think that was the perfect ending.
It seemed very ‘star-crossed lovers’ until this point, which in a way made the show all the more poetic.
The time skip did throw me for a sec XD. I was like, ‘roads? Tall buildings? Cars?’
At times I kept thinking, ‘what is the point of this show again?’ I kept forgetting that Kang-chi’s mission was to find the Gu Family Book and become human and live a mortal life. It was only when characters mentioned it that I was reminded that this was the main point of the story XD. Otherwise, I felt like I was simply going along for the ride. With the amount of stuff that happened in this show, it felt like a fantasy/historical slice of life.
I CANNOT forget to mention the OST for this show! Oh my god! It was brilliant - probably one of my favourite things about it. So many of the songs were beautiful.
The acting was great - I don’t have any bones to pick there.
If I wanted to be critical I could talk about the bad special effects, but really I didn’t mind them all too much. The purple orbs up in the mountains were actually quite pretty; which leads me to mention the scene where Kang-chi and Yeo-wool are under the peach blossom (was it peach?) and the crescent moon - it was just gorgeous.
Another good point is the costumes! The wardrobe department did a fantastic job! I was very impressed with all of the Han-bok that the women wore and all of the Gisaeng’s hair pieces and accessories. I thought they were all really pretty. To be honest it was quite boring watching all of the other characters who wore the same thing day in, day out. I guess it was just their uniform? But what about Kang-chi? Needless to say, I much prefer a show that has lots of colour in it. I don’t know what I would have done if I had grown up in a time where colour television didn’t exist XD.
Overall, Gu Family Book is very good and I would definitely recommend to anyone who likes historical fantasy.
-E
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Why isn't this more famous?
This is one of the best K-dramas I have seen. Just don't understand how this is not famous. Personally found it a lot more entertaining than Goblin and other K-dramas which to me are not worth the hype.Check it out! It has everything that one looks for in a K-drama.
And my, the casting was perfect! I've seen the pair before in Vagabond, but their chemistry here is off the charts. Bae Suzy's character, unlike other female leads, is not a weepy, dependent victim. She's got it what it takes to make you fall in love with her conviction.
Do watch!
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Things I still can't understand and the questions which were left unexplained
1. They never told us whom did tae so liked since he refused to be scared of women and there was no evidence that he liked yeo wool bt no clarification was given or maybe the writers forgot about it.
2. Yeo wool and gon hanged so much together but there was no spark b/w them thankfully I couldn't have dealt with a love triangle. But she had no skills like gon all I could see is her moving her leg to kick people especially his boyfriend.
3. Then suddenly there were elements like ninjas who can multiply and even hypnotize too but those were done only for an episode. What a waste of talent Coz they fought like ordinary people in other episodes as if they were searching for gu family book too by not using their true powers like kang chi. ..
4. Then there comes a story b/w the lead actor's parents which was somehow more romantic than the lead. Now when seo hwa (mother) returned after 20 yrs she was a completely different person while jo gwan only got some of his beard white. Yet after 20 yrs he was able to recognize seo hwa who I guess got a plastic surgery in Japan.
5. The guy seemed to be More attracted towards Chung ju who treated him like dirt than yeo wool. I see their chemistry more better than yeo wool who would just find way to stick around him and those forced scenes of them showing playing and laughing together and yet no objections raised by gon who would otherwise get jealous and stop kang chi to get close to yeo wool or yeo wools father.
6. How come our smart intelligent gomiho was not able to see that sir dam was not sir but a lady. Women and men have different odour even dogs can tell that how our mystical beast missed that point?
7. Funniest part was when they try to kidnap yeo wool and covered her head with a black cloth in the forest. Suddenly gon appears and couldnt recognise it was her lady while a drunk man who lost almost 70% of his senses was able to see that they're carrying the pretty boy and even remembers the place where the ninjas took her.
8. Last but not the least what was Gu family book about? Was kang chi suppose to import it because it was unavailable in his country at that time. If not what,can someone explain why was the dramaa really named that.
Conclusion- Apart from these funny elements the story was interesting but a bit long, like 24 episodes were really Not needed until the end where I found about the relevancy of the title of the drma where my eyes were stick till the end of drama to see the gu family book like a wife waiting for his husband to come. But it turns out like the wife had some mental disorder and that her husband would never come because he doesn't exist. Lol. I enjoyed the role of our villain jo gwan woon. He really made me hate him no matter how hard I try. His acting was really very convincing.
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In general I like Korean historical dramas so I really really enjoyed this show after a long time of being unable to enjoy anything I watch, but this drama took me to the characters' world, made me smile, laugh, cry, love and hate with them..
The story is really good, acting is good, OSTs omg osts! they are perfect!
The villain is one of the worst I've ever seen in my life! the acting was so good I hated him deeply the whole time!
Also the drama has some really good conversations that can actually be quoted and I like that.
And something very random but can I say I loved Gon-ah ;-;?
In my opinion it could have lesser episodes and feeling a little bit bored after the first half of the drama was the only bad thing for me (in addition to tiny holes but they don't actually affect the story and can't be noticed sometimes), but again in general it's good, I highly recommend it for anyone who likes historical dramas or dramatic stories and conflicts that lead to characters' growth.
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#Gumiho
#satisfying ending
#Romance
#Melo
#Action
#Fantasy
#Cross dressing
#Historical
#Politics
Chemistry btw leads ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Chemistry btw support roles ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Production ⭐⭐⭐⭐
VFX ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
OST⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ps: Those who want more Lee Seun-gi And Bae Suzy
And those who loves Gumiho?
Actually I have started this drama bcz of Lee Seun-gi And Bae Suzy. After watching their drama Vagabond I wanted more drama of those two. Well here I can say that I'm really satisfied by their roles, acting and chemistry. Even though they're in their teen roles, it was CooL. We can how cute they're together ???.
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My boyfriend Is a Gumiho!
The introduction wasn't encouraging at all with this extremely superficially imaginary cuts of pseudo romance. Even after the time-skip it didn't improve much in that regards. The romance throughout the drama was overbearing with prolonged dreamy shots that made the lengthy runtime even worse. The drama featured your typical low-level boring villain to keep you bothered. Bae Suzy was too soft to play the role she was given. No matter what she does, she doesn't look intimidating or fierce enough. Sung Joon's acting is usually better than this, I don't why he was so bad here.Was this review helpful to you?
A basic summary of what I thought of this drama
So I'm going to start off by saying that I loved the story of this drama. The plot was interesting and the strong leads made it very enjoyable to watch. I liked the chemistry between the characters and how ties formed over time and gradually and not all of a sudden love at first sight kind of thing. This made the death of the characters even more heart breaking and sad. Getting to understand each and every character's intentions and personality well.I do have a few complaints though. The acting in the first 2 episodes could have been a little bit better although it wasn't bad. The drama also wasted far too much time having characters stare at each other to the point where I had to fast forward 20 seconds of them looking into each other's eyes which got a little annoying.
Other than that this drama was well thought out and very fun to watch. It made me frustrated, happy, sad and horrified at the right times. The one line of 'I don't want to be a sad memory' made me bawl my eyes out. The ending was sweet and cute so it tied everything up well!
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Historical dramas can be long and drag, but the fantasy element in this drama is the essential glue that makes this drama so capturing and addictive. The romance is the essence that doesn't allow you to turn away and the actors steal the show.
Suzy and Lee Seung Gi are the absolute cutest and perfect pairing in this drama.
The drama is filled with action, fantasy, comedy, emotional turmoil, melodrama, romance, character development and heart.
It's really well done and it definitely managed to hit an emotional chord with me.
I think it's one of those dramas worth watching as a drama fan if you haven't seen it already, especially if you are a big fan of romance.
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