Jirisan (2021)

Watch it without any expectations and you won’t have a problem with it. While the show has some of the most promising production crew and a stellar cast, if you look at it with scrutiny expecting to come out of it feeling satisfied, you’ll be disappointed. Most of Jirisan is a love letter to the mountain and the rangers who protect it. The on the side mystery is intriguing, but towards the end, especially the very end, the constant guessing/misleading kind of ruins it. If the killer had been properly revealed even just an episode earlier and they had stuck with it, it would have been better. The time I enjoyed the episodes was when it wasn’t wholly influenced with the main plot and there was interactions between the characters.

***************Spoilers here***********

One thing that really put me of the idea of happy ending giving to the main leads. Hyun Jo wakes up — yay — and this was expected, for some reason it was just taken as the norm that he will not be killed. And Yi Kang suddenly has no more disability? Her disability was simply for the plot to make sense? That it wouldn’t be a happy ending if she had remained in a wheelchair?

As to the final reveal of the killer, I really liked how his backstory influenced him, but the way it was dealt just didn’t feel right. The whole the mountain dealt with him while Yi Kang was just some distance away without getting hit felt anticlimactic.

***************Spoilers end***********

Go in with zero expectations and just enjoy each episode without being too into it, you will like watching it!

Read More

The Writer & Director - Nuff Said

Knowing that the writer of this also wrote Signal and Kingdom you should know what to expect: a moving, deep and well written story that moves very slowly, developing characters and building tension. This alone negates any review less than an 8.5.

This drama in particular suffered from what many other great shows suffer from: a plague of whiny antifans that for whatever political reason took every chance to nitpick it nonsensically for the entire duration on the message boards even after they had long dropped it. Complaints about CG- I didn’t hear any complaints on 2 other dramas I am currently watching that had terribly rendered CG animals. But here, nobody would shut up about it. If I had to say anything negative about it, I would say there were times it felt a bit like an ad for parks and services, but nothing experience breaking. It also suffered from releasing on a Chinese network which brought in a lot of haters, and didn’t help by creating confusion over which networks were airing it- it aired on Viki late.

The acting was top notch. There was very little romance or romantic tension so don’t expect it. Just a great little mystery will a cool supernatural twist. It will constantly keep you guessing. Highly enjoyable from beginning to end, with the beautiful backdrop of Jirisan. A very different drama experience compared to any of the other offerings this year, and easily one of the best.

Read More

This was, hands down, one of the best dramas that I've seen this year, at the very least. The music and sound mixing was fabulous, the cinematography incredible, the characters so lovable and engaging that when the end finally came, I didn't want to leave their world. It made me very, very happy!

I loved all the twists and turns of the story, the supernatural side of it, but mainly, I loved the relationship among and between the various characters, their friendship and their closeness - and their romance! And not just between the secondary characters but between the main two, Yi Kang & Hyun Jo, too.

Theirs was one of the most wonderful romances that I've ever seen. It was very mature and without a single "I love you" or a single kiss, and yet the feelings that they had for each other ran through the whole drama like a red thread, manifested in the lengths they were willing to go for each other. It was absolutely amazing!

I also loved the ending, it was everything I wished for - and more! It was really, truly, honestly perfect! Down to the tiniest hint of Goo Young possibly finding a new love in Hyun Jo's little sister! The way he ran from her was hilarious!

Read More

Solid as a rock.

In short, Jirisan is a solid drama. The creators set a tone and pace in the first episode, which they managed to keep until the end. At no point did I feel the drama lost its track or got boring, it has solid pace, a solid storyline and solid characters.

Even though it's neither as enthralling as the premise may sound nor as sparkly as the A-list cast portraying the characters, it does have something that make it stand out from other k-dramas, maybe it's the unique setting or the realistic tone, cannot point it out.

Jirisan has a linear story telling (despite its constant time jumping, which some may find confusing), as in there is progress in the story with each episode giving away clues and bringing you one step closer to the truth about the ongoing crime-mystery surrounding the mountain. The thing about that mystery-thriller genre however is that even though it's the theme of the drama it's not its focus. I'm sure many might have felt that this show seems more like some "Mountain Playlist" in line with Hospital Playlist or Prison Playbook, except for less humor and more realness. I actually enjoyed the mix of mystic thriller and daily log of rangers' tasks and duties and also the insight into the lives of the villagers, people visiting the mountain and for sure enjoyed the beautiful backdrop of Mount Jiri.

The seasoned actors delivered. There is nothing more to add, as there was no one in particular who stood out from the rest. I think that's mainly because all characters seemed "pretty normal" as if they were real people with real stories, no stereotypes, no exaggeratations, no overly dramatic fl, no unbearably badass ml - just well written characters mirroring real people. It was nice to see Jun Ji Hyun again after her long break and Ju Ji Hoon as Hyun-Joo with his charmingly calm demeanor.

What I enjoyed most about this drama is that every episode felt like one chapter from an encyclopedia on Jirisan National Parks, showcasing not only the beauty of the mountain but also nature's unpredictable cruelty. Also, some scenes were surprisingly touching and emotional, I sometimes found myself struggling with holding back the tears.
The camaraderie shared by the rangers is another strength of the show; again, it was neither over the top nor too bland, just perfectly balanced and fun to watch.

Some Minor flaws, - little spoiler - there are a lot of deaths in the show and some felt really unnecessary and were hardly dealt with. Also I would have loved to see more interaction between the main characters, especially in the last episodes, but that is just my preference.

The main lesson I take from the show is how tough physically demanding jobs are, which makes me appreciate fireworkers, police officers and rangers among others even more. This show is a song of praise to those heroes.

Read More

Horrible ending

I would've given this drama a 10 the story, acting, and scenary were all awesome, but that ending was like "Rosa de Guadalupe" style. The acting was so good, all the cast was great. Story wise, was also good, I have seen many dramas were I knew the killer by the middle of the story, but on this drama, they really did a great job hiding both killers, Also I was impresed at how the scenary looked, it was all so jawdropping I even wanted to go hiking more, but the ending really made me hate all of the drama. Awful ending, how on earth did they got healed so fast and were able to go up on the montain. Truely if it wasn't for the ending

Read More

Beautiful nature...but could've been more than that...

I basically like that with Jirisan there's a drama where actually the main star is nature itself with all it's beauty and dangers, which are definitely explored here beside the supernatural induced crime story. The shooting of the nature aspect was flawless in my opinion. I guess one can hardly find dramas similar in that aspect (proove me wrong). For me it would even work as a South Korea travel advertisement, knowing that not all scenes are actually from Jirisan area.

On the other hand, the expectations one could have from knowing the screenwriter and director are some of the industries top people in the last years were kind of disappointed. For the screenwriting I could sense some similar strategy like done in Signal, but nowhere close living up to that level of tension done back then. Also the direction was confusing at points and often let me think, why did he choose to do it like that, while I was okay with the jumps in time. A similar aspect used in Signal.

For the acting I generally liked the whole cast, especially the ML Joo Ji Hoon with his friendly and nice attitude and the rookie ranger Go Min Si. Regarding Jun Ji Hyun I thought in this particular drama she couldn't really shine, may be also due to the role itself, as of course it's not her usual one. She couldn't carry the show sometimes and her expressions in general felt a bit pale...may be another actress could've been better. It seemed somehow they tried to make sure all positions are filled with well-established stars, not to take any risk.

The crime story was okay, had some nice twists and always tried to connect to the aspect of the rangers and the mountain. At the end kind of predictable. I would have wished for some romance, so it's just subtle, but knowing the author it couldn't be expected easily...

Though overall I admit it's complaining at a high level and I recommend the show especially to everybody wanting to look at an entire drama set in a nature environment. Somehow it just couldn't live up to the hype. So some good opportunities wasted here for such a setting...may be next time...

Read More

If I didn't know much I'll say this is a good drama to watch. But there are some points I want to emphasize.

This drama is not an average production. This is made out of excellent actors, famous writers, and a brilliant director. So the scale for evaluation is a little higher than for your average drama.

Take the casting, for example, actress Jun Ji Hyun is hands down the absolute queen of the queens in the Korean entertainment industry. I love her but I didn't get any new feeling in her character. It felt so mundane. The rest of the cast was absolutely brilliant but I dunno, I didn't get the "feeling"

Coming to the story. am I the only one who lost my brain cells trying to figure out the stick thingy? Umm.. helllooo I came here to destress not add -stress. But yeah I have to admit it was new and interesting.

But mount Jirisan is absolutely beautiful. I loove looove love it.

Anyway, my point is that this is a good drama to watch, but yeah it didn't make the cut for my best dramas category.

Read More

Mysteru drama with backforth plot, not confusing,, but curiousing

Mystery drama with a back and forth plot, but not confusing, just make you curious, from the beginning the drama makes us wonder why this is like this , why is like that, is he the mastermind or is he the mastermind?, Even though the plot goes back and forth now and in 2018,2017,1991,1995, but the story is pretty clear, just curious,,not twisting brain,,, and actually i already guessed who the killer from the storyline


When I saw them climbing the mountain, all I thought was "aren't they tired?" ,, but they did not disappoint their tiredness, the editing was also quite good, everything should be displayed is shown,, only LYS ..... Where is she?


And the soundtrack Even it's not much, it really gets the point of the feeling,,, mystery ost, and the last eps gugyeong ost

Read More

A horrible masterpiece

Jirisan is a drama where is consist cliffhangers, flashbacks, a puzzle where viewers like us needs to solve and a next level mystery story. The concept of the story itself is amazing. It shows us what every viewers expects. But if you go deeper to the drama, you will find lots of mistakes the director did. Example, flashback to the pasts and unnecessary scenes. That was the first few red flags. I already knew it was gonna be bad where that happened. The story was excellent and amazing, especially with the mystery adding it to it. Before I forget, THE EDITING SKILLS. That was CHEFF KISS. I love it. The flashbacks just ruined it. If you're gonna add flashbacks to your drama, do it better. Do it in a smooth way where watchers can understand it better.

To me, it was like a puzzle. where you need to place each scene in a correct order. If you don't, you're going to the wrong path instead and understanding the story in a wrong way.

Next, the casys DEATH. After experiencing Da-won death. I ALREADY knew the director intentions. Some of our favorite casts are going to fly heaven. First it was Dawon. Then it was Goo Young first LOVE. I mean, he don't have to hurt them like that. The way Yang Sun died was genuinely very stupid and hilarious. I had my hopes up that Yang Sun is going to something miracle like surviving the flood.

Read More

A bit confusing because of the changing timeline. But still worth watching.

Overall production, storyline, acting and visuals are done pretty well. The changing timeline was a bit confusing at first but once you've got the hang of it, it'll all be fine.

At first, it was about the day to day life of a ranger. The adventures, the challenges and the dangers they face in order to perform their duties. At bit boring to be honest.

But when those dangers and accidents in the mountain increases, the story shifted a bit towards the paranormal mystery thriller. Every deaths was vital to the story. The creator of this story manage to successfully take us with the journey of each characters.

Even the backstory was done well. Making the characters more relatable I guess. The more the viewers can relate the more invested with the story we become.

There's not much love story with this one but I still like it though. It has a happy ending.

Read More