if you watch it for enjoying, you will enjoy it
Kim Jung Hyun is truly agreat actor. I could listen to his voice for years. Every emotion he portrayed was well done.Besides from him, I liked all the cast. All of them did great job imo.
Im soo hyang's character was so new in kdrama land and realistic.
This drama will make you laugh and cry. It's a funny, romcom, tragic and fantasy drama.
When you are watching, you feel like you are watching a fairy tale.
I loved this drama and i think some people are so unfair to it. It had its own charm!
I'm glad the evil character had less screen time. I personally couldn't stand seeing him even a bit more.
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This review may contain spoilers
The Four Seasons of Relationships
It's a story about the four seasons of relationships. From Spring to Summer to Fall to Winter, and back to Spring signifying new beginnings, new hope, and a brighter future.I talked about the Four Seasons of Relationships here: https://mydramalist.com/discussions/the-season-of-kokdoo/91869-the-four-seasons-of-relationships
But, to add to that, I love how in Episode 15 and 16, they revealed additional layers into the meaning of the Seasons.
For example, their Korean names have a meaning if you know the Hanja equivalent.
1. FL in the past: Seol Hui
- Hangul: 설희
- Hanja: 雪希 which means snow.
2. FL in 2023: Han Gye Jeol
- Hangul: 한계절
- 계절 in Hanja is: 季節 which means ‘season’
- According to Kokdu, her name means Spring. Or, something that was in Winter (her past self) that reached Spring, the changing of Seasons (her 2023 name).
The FL's past and 2023 names are tied to each other. They were never meant to be together in the past, because that past was the beginning of their winter fate.
However, when she was reborn in the present time, she was given the name Gye Jeol. A sign that the winter __season__ is about to end, and the a new __season__ is going to begin. New beginnings. New hope.
And as Kokdu realised, her names mean exactly that. Winter to Spring seasons. From dark and cold, to bright/light and warm.
3. ML in the past: Oh Hyun
- Hangul: 오현 - means "five strings". -- He came back after 5 years.
- Hanja: 傲泫
There are many possible Hanja to his name, but the Hangul itself already has a meaning.
I tried to find other references to five, but found none. The strings can mean fate.
Other Hanja variations of 오 are "to meet", or "bright"; "crow", "black".
Other Hanja variations of 현 are "wepp", or "swift", or "bow string", or "black".
If we consider the possible Hanja characters and meanings, a picture starts to form why he was named Oh Hyun in the past, and why everything ended up the way it all did.
And let's be reminded, Kokdu is Oh Hyun stuck as a god of the afterlife. It still is his name, so, he's living true as Oh Hyun.
4. ML as a god: Kokdu
- Hangul: 꼭두의
- Hanja: n/a
I think there's no need to speculate on Kokdu.
Another good thing. The ending was not something expected. There were similar supernatural romance before, and usually they have similar endings. This TV series chose a path less shown in K-dramas.
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What caused it?
Many cursed Lim Soo-Hyang's appearance as Han Gye-Jeol, one of them with the sentence: A 30 year old woman who acts like a 12 year old, dresses like an old woman, is very clumsy and a bit stupid - very annoying
I'm so sorry, Lim Soo-Hyang?
Lim Soo-Hyang is not a newcomer. The actor Kang Mi Rae in the Korean drama ID: Gangnam Beauty and Mo Seok-Hee in the Korean drama "Graceful Family" won the Best Actress award at the 2020 MBC Drama Awards and Excellent Actress (daily drama) at the 2017 KBS Drama Awards. Lim Soo-Hyang's proof has had enough of the bitter and sour sweetness of acting.
So both Lim Soo-Hyang's fussing and sulking acting and his old fashioned clothes must have been according to the director's wishes.
I agree more if the bad rating is aimed at the entire production. The storyline is going around and around, the number of shows that should be enough for 10 episodes only stretches to 16 episodes. No wonder many stop watching in the middle of the road.
It seems that the screenwriter wanted to make a drama similar to the Korean drama Goblin/Guardian: The Lonely and Great God, but with additional slapstick scenes, such as the scene where Ok Shin and Gak Shin's lips meet. Not kisseu, because only lips that "accidentally" meet, and that's really annoying!
The plot is bad, the scenes are cliche, and there are many holes in the story, compounded by shooting that isn't really good. Like when Han Gye-Jeol found a magic mirror and was in Cinderella style, the shooting angle reminded me of the 90s.
It's not wrong for a screenwriter to be inspired by another Korean drama, but the results have to be better than their predecessors. If not, no matter how good the main character's acting, the audience's ratings and votes will be punishing.
What about Kim Jung-Hyun's acting?
The acting of King Cheoljong in the Korean drama "Mr Queen" always satisfies his fans. You could even say, Kim Jung-Hyun became the savior of the Korean drama "Kokdu: Season of Deity".
You can imagine how disappointed Kim Jung-Hyun was with the ratings for the Korean drama "Kokdu: Season of Deity". After successfully rocking South Korea with a rating of 18.554% (Mr Queen), now his drama only gets a rating of 1.3%.
The next review can be read here: https://www.maria-g-soemitro.com/2023/03/kokdu-season-of-deity-review-drama-korea.html
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Started to watch as filler...regretted it soooooo much
There was a reason why I never watched "Woori the Virgin" or "Graceful Family" on Viki and this drama confirmed it.Never will I ever watch another drama with this FL!
I started as there were no dramas airing I was watching on the day an episode came out. Based on the synopsis it was the filler drama to something better came along.
This drama would be soooooo much better without the FL. I caught myself watching the NON MOVEMENT! of the FL top lip and area above.
FL should not accept scripts/dramas if it requires her to laugh or cry. These were the most cringe worth scenes in this drama.
The emotion the FL was trying to convey to me in the scene was lost to me as I got the fake feeling.
Like someone offering you a taste of a dish and it is horrible beyond description. However you have to fake a smile of enjoyment with no teeth wondering how can you not swallow.
Personally this drama was a waste of funding with the FL.
FL is so lucky I am not a casting agent as she would only get parts where she does not open her mouth to speak. Ideally living statue parts should be her absolute limit in any drama.
The profession of the FL was inconsistent. FL was suppose to be an emergency doctor, however when situations arose where emergency medical treatment was required, FL lead was hopeless. Emergency doctors have to think quick, the FL character never did for any situation. For this story they should have said FL was an office adminstrator with no medical knowledge, this would have been more believable.
Apart from FL I thought the story was OK, there were a few jokes which made me laugh. Other actors were good I believed they were the characters they portrayed.
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A Man Who Loved A Woman
To boil it down into the simplest terms, Kokdu: Season of Deity is a drama about true love.Kokdu is a man who became a god because he refused to follow the Creator's wishes and travel to the afterlife as he wanted to wait for his true love. His punishment for disobeying the Creator was to become the god of death, escorting others to the afterlife, only being on Earth for 99 days every 99 years. During his time on Earth, he has to suffer the prayers of others and reap the soul (take the life of) those who are so evil that people pray for their deaths. By the Creator's command, in order to end the punishment Kokdu's true love has to tell him that she loves him. On one of those trips to Earth, he meets Han Gye Jeol, who is the reincarnation of his true love. The story follows the journey of Han Gye Jeol and Kokdu as they work to figure out the love of a god of death and a human towards a happy ending.
This story had its funny moments, as well as its frustrating, heartwarming, and truly sad moments. It was everything I could ask for in a rom/com. Kim Jung Hyun shows that he is a master of his craft while acting as Kokdu. Im Soo Hyang does a fine job acting as Kokdu's good-hearted but naïve counterpart, Han Gye Jeol. There were many other great, seasoned actors as well, filling out an amazing supporting cast for their story.
I very much enjoyed watching this drama. The fantasy elements of this show were creative and the suspense elements were good. The lighthearted elements, such as the couple running the cafe and the gods of rumor and greed, made me smile as they performed their antics. The award for best actor of this drama, however, has to go to Kim Jung Hyun, as we were able to see all sides of Kokdu, from childishness to anger, despair to love, sympathy to righteousness, and everything in between with his incredible acting.
It is unfortunate that this doesn't have a better rating on MDL. However, there are a slew of netizens that want to judge the actors for real-life drama/actions/incidents and past performances instead of rating them on how well they played the characters put before them in this particular script....and that's a shame. More than that, there are some people who simply did not like the characters or story line, but that is a matter of taste. For me, it was a good show with some great performances., and I looked forward to each episode.
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Hopeless show, disappointment for Kim's come back show
The woman lead Im Soo Hyang is sooooo bad and irritating that really puts me off to watch this show. Come on, it is now 2023, but her character is like those acting innocently bitch from the 90's romantic soap opera. And she really acted so bad and plastic that I cannot understand why she deserves any love from the guy lead.Other than that, the whole shooting production is pathetic also. the story flow is very chocking, and chaotic. The shooting technique looks very low cost and old fashion too.
I watch the show because of the guy lead Kim Jung Hyun, but sadly I don't find his usual charisma in this show also. Most of the time I just find his bickering with Im Soo Hyang plain boring, with Im being unreasonable and force him to do the thing that is against his will. Again, I blame this to Im's poor acting skill. I skip a lot to barely watch it, and I am hairline close to drop the whole show.
I am very disappointed for this is Kim's come back show. From his past record I believe he is a capable actor, and he shouldn't be responsible for the failure of this show. I hope next time he can pick a better production and deliver a better show.
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A story of redemption
Although so many of my fellow MDLers have focused their reviews and dissatisfaction on holes in the plot and the female lead, I want to take a different view of this charming and sometimes beguilingly beautiful story. While so much of the focus is on the title character, Kokdu - the God of the Afterlife - played by Kim Jung Hyun - the real story is the touching search for love, redemption, and self-acknowledgement of Dr. Han Gye Jeol, persuasively acted with conviction, passion, and emotional range by Im Soo Hyang. She is a highly capable and caring doctor but came with the wrong credentials - a graduate of the least regarded medical school and parents that died when she was young. Stymied in every aspect of her life plus carrying a huge burden into her current life from her past lives, all deeply twined together with Kokdu, she still strives to be the best person and physician she can. Her honesty as a character and an actress kept this drama alive for me. Her quirky, silly side also was effective as a sort of sweet defensive mechanism. And when she finally accepts the truth of who Kokdu is and who she was, this drama - with a few nods to the even greater Goblin - becomes compelling.I know that Kim Jung Hyun has a deservedly large fan base here but I found his acting, despite its immense vitality, verging on caricature. Perhaps this to make his transformation when he was finally able to admit his deep love for Gye Jeol feel more real.
And those strange plot holes - Ok Shin and Gak Shin are described as the God of Greed and Goddess of Rumor, respectively, but their deity seems limited and their roles as these gods seems left ignored and undeveloped. Kokdu's powers are vast but limited in several fundamental aspects. And who exactly is the strangely ambivalent Grandma Goddess.
Similarly the secondary story - the evil Kim Pil Soo playing a cardboard villain though well acted - is underdeveloped. On the other hand, the love of Han Gye Jeol's brother, a police detective, and Tae Jung Won, a doctor who was a one time friend of Han Gye Cheol is sweet, charming and everything a secondary love story should be.
Perhaps if re-watch Kokdu, these plot holes will disappear. In any case, knowing how beautiful the last four episodes are will help me get through a few of the less ideal parts. But if you like the fantasy genre, this is a very enjoyable drama with some very touching moments. I'm going to look for other dramas with Im Soo Hyang - she was superb!
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it was unpredictable and beautiful on its own
this drama wasn't everyone's cup of tea! if you love super fantasy dramas with chaotic leads, well, give it a try.the thing i loved the most about this drama is that it was unpredictable! writer was so creative and made many plot twists. some of them didn't make sense for me, but in general, i enjoyed.
they put so much on kim jung hyun's back, from portraying 3 characters to showing comedy and melodrama acting. so it was definitely acting worthy to watch
i loved how they portrayed family. gyejeol with her brother and kokdu with okshin gakshin. it feels so warm while watching
the editing sucks in some eps but it wasn't that much that force me to drop!
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There were times I wanted to gouge out my eyes!
Positives:Kim Jung Hyun as Kokdu: I love him as an actor. He's got a somewhat rugged look about him. He's not a "pretty boy", and he's very expressive. He's an actor that is able to do broad comedy with flair and believability and then cut your heart out in his serious scenes, with tears running down his cheeks. It gets me every time.
Cha Chung Hwa as Gak Shin: She's a very interesting actress. She has the ability to look totally different, based on the part she is playing. She can appear older sometimes, younger at others. Her character was funny, quirky, and I loved how she took Gye Jeol under her wing, walking the line between here and the afterlife.
Kim In Kwon as Ok Shin: This might sound strange, but I love his face, it's big and round with lots of surface area for the great expressions he conveys. Ok Shin was a good character, and I really enjoyed his story line with Gak Shin.
Cinematography and locales: Beautiful! The church was lovely, Kokdu's house was awesome, and the lighthouse area was just beautiful. I loved the color palette they used for filming and the soft filtering they did with the camera work.
There was a happy ending, which kept me from throwing something at my tv after wasting my time watching this.
That's pretty much it. Now, on the other side of the coin, the negatives for me were:
Im Soo Hyang: I don't care for her AT ALL. Personally, I don't think she could act her way out of a paper bag. She has a totally flat affect, and her eyes are always open really wide like she's wandering around in a constant state of surprise. I've seen her in other things and haven't cared for her. Remember, just my opinion, but I had to fast forward through a lot of it, especially her, because it was so bad. Add her bad acting to the awful character she was portraying, and it was a train wreck. She was supposedly a doctor, but every time anyone had a medical emergency, she did absolutely nothing. I didn't buy her as a doctor for that reason, as well as the fact that she was whiny, immature, clingy and spent most of the drama sobbing. Was that so it looked like she was displaying some emotion? I don't know, but her character was awful, from beginning to end.
The storylines: Too many! There was so much going on. They could have cut back on the multiplicity of story lines and given us some more depth of character. I fast forwarded, a lot, and I still felt like it would never be over.
Chemistry: The brother and his girlfriend - The brother was so cute, and I enjoyed his story line, and I liked the wedding, but not much chemistry between him and his girlfriend. But you will never go amiss with a man that can cook. Which brings me to the ML and FL - I wasn't feeling ANY chemistry between these two. The kisses were not the typical open-eyed, arms at the sides kisses, which I appreciated, but I just didn't buy them as a couple. Wait, I could buy them as a friend couple, but not as a romantic couple.
So, I would say that I you have a lot of patience/tolerance and are wondering if you should watch this, you could give it a try. These opinions are just mine, but there is no way I would recommend that anyone watch this.
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This review may contain spoilers
A drama of half-formed ideas
I score dramas based solely on my enjoyment of them, so my rating doesn't reflect the quality of the drama but how good of a time I had watching it. For me, Kokdu was a very long, painful ride.I started the drama as it was airing and I hated it. Right from the first episode, it was obvious that the writing was sloppy and the plot was poorly placed. I was in a bit of a drama drought and tried to stick with it for as long as I could, but 4-5 episodes in I caved and dropped it. It was boring and while I enjoyed the ML for being a very out-there character, the FL was as sturdy as wet cardboard. But, oddly enough, I went back to it all these months later on a whim and, for some reason, found myself genuinely enjoying it. Was the writing better? No. The characters? No. All that changed was my mentality. I laughed at some of the jokes and had a grand time, and when the writing was bad or the pacing was weird, I laughed at that, too. If you don't take it seriously, it can be a pretty entertaining show. (The last 1/3 of the drama really drops off, however, and everything goes about how you expect so there's no need to force yourself to sit through it if you feel it's dragging.)
The biggest issue this drama has is that it doesn't follow through with any of its ideas. It'll throw plot twists and developments at you left and right without fleshing them out and then will forget about them just as soon. For example: the FL is a doctor, but she doesn't actually feel like one. She ends up opening a clinic, but the only time we see her doing her job is when it's convenient for the plot. By the halfway point, she basically isn't seen working at all.
Then we have Kokdu or, more to the point, the person whose body he takes over: Jin Woo. At the beginning of the drama, he dies and Kokdu has to deal with the affairs he left behind - his girlfriend, the plot of the villain, the FL Gye Jeol, etc. But partway through the drama, his soul is returned to his body by Gye Jeol's command. In this sort of show, this is something that often happens and makes up a big chunk of the story. But here? He's around for around 2 episodes, in which he discovers what's happened in his absence and decides to cling to life. This amounts to a whole lot of nothing. He dies again shortly after so Kokdu can take over his body and is never heard from again. There's no closure for him, he doesn't accomplish much of anything while he's around, and after he dies again no one really talks about him, not even the leads or his ex-girlfriend. It's filler.
This isn't the only instance of this, though. At one point, Gye Jeol's brother is kidnapped and the two leads go to save him. This is used as a trigger for Gye Jeol to finally realize that Kokdu's not human (which, how did she not notice this sooner??) and they begin their dramatic angst to waste even more time. And the brother? Well, when they walk off to have their angst, he's freed. Somehow. I guess. We're never shown if Kokdu went back to set him free, if he got out himself, or anything of the sort. Again and again, the story will introduce a plot thread or some side story and drop it just as quickly. Take the ending: Kokdu dies? No, he survives and is asleep in the hospital. No wait, he's actually awake and is staying past his 99 days. No, wait, actually, he's trying to get Gye Jeol to confess to him so that he can die. So what if he said he would stay with her no matter what half an episode ago? Oh, wait, he's dead again, for real this time. Except, of course, there's the mandatory time skip and he's revived for their happy ending. I didn't even mind the very end itself, but the lead-up to it was dreadful. There's also a point at the start of the last third of the drama where Kokdu stops being a fun character to watch and becomes more of the standard, brooding ML you often find in these shows, which killed a lot of my enjoyment.
Characters will say their opinion on one thing and change it at the drop of a pin. Kokdu remembers his little brother from his past life randomly, starts doting on his reincarnation for all of 10 seconds before he's shoved aside with no further development between them for the rest of the series. The second couple will fight over something randomly and then get along again. Actual plot points will happen off-screen and then will be explained to us lazily through exposition - or maybe not explained at all! I could go on and on about how hot-and-cold this drama is, but you get the point. All of these half-formed ideas get thrown in without being properly fleshed out and it really kills the drama.
So why am I still giving this a 7? If I have this much (and more) to complain about, then why not rate it to reflect that? Well, at the end of the day, for 2/3 of the drama I was enjoying it, even if it was a hot mess, and that's what mattered most to me. I laughed at how bad it got and enjoyed some aspects of it. The demi-gods were fun to watch, there were some good jokes sprinkled in, and beneath all the crap there was a sliver of hope that this could have been something. It feels like the rough draft of a story, just thrown together with a bunch of ideas that were never written out properly to be given substance, and if I think of it like that, I can move past some of its bad moments.
TL;DR: It's a badly-written show, yes, and the latter 1/3 is a slog, but if you're the type of person that likes watching bad shows now and then, and you want some turn-your-brain-off garbage to veg out to at the end of the day, give it a shot. And if a good plot with good writing is integral to your enjoyment?
Run the other way. Run as far as you can.
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not even Kim Jung Hyun can save this mess
Kokdu: Season of Deity is Kim Jung Hyun's first drama comeback since Mr. Queen and was one of my most anticipated dramas of 2023. But despite the interesting premise, talented cast, and Kim Jung Hyun's especially strong performance, Kokdu: Season of Deity is a huge disappointment and not really worth watching in its entirety. The drama is a convoluted mess lacking clear vision and direction. It's like the writers can't decide if they want to be a comedy, a melodrama, a thriller, etc. They try everything and none of it really works. As a result, the drama feels really disjointed.The main romance in this drama is one of the worst I've seen in years. I'm a fan of both Kim Jung Hyun and Im Soo Hyang but they have terrible chemistry. The only time there's any spark between them is when they bicker. Everything else is a snoozefest. AND the writing for the main couple is bad.
The writing + main couple are awful but there are strong performances from the talented cast especially the two male leads, Kim Jung Hyun and Ahn Woo Yeon. I also liked a lot of the relationship dynamics like the Han siblings and the 2nd lead couple. But the drama spends a lot of time on the boring villains/hospital conspiracy so in the end, all the relationships feel underdeveloped.
If you're a fan of any of the actors in the cast, just watch clips of their scenes and behind the scenes footage. You'll thank me later.
dramatoast.com/kokdu-season-of-deity-kdrama/
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This review may contain spoilers
People are being too harsh on this one
1st of all yeah i understand that some of you might not like the directing and editting of this drama, but it only happens a few times. It's kinda endurable.+writing & directing: the idea is not one of a kind and new. A grim reaper who is cursed bc of the things he has done in his previous life. He has to find a woman to cure her pain & let him to be free. But 15 min in the show and you'll see he's not even a grim reaper! He's totally different. Then we have do jinwoo who himself has another seprated story. Not to mention gyejeol and his brother who seem to be related in many issues happening in future eps. So it's not an ordinary story line at all. But the thing is... the directors were not able to show the beauty of story. Some scenes seems to be cut from each ep. It makes the story to look cheap. Sometimes it's ok but most of the times directors have been unable to show the beauty of the story and therefore, its meaningful dialogs seem nonesense.
+ casting: flawless. Kim jung hyun be handling 3 characters is just phenomenal. Esp in latest ep (ep10) when kokdu pretends to be jinwoo, you can definitely say the difference between true jinwoo and kokdu pretending to be jinwoo. That's hella amazing
Im soohyang is good too. Her character is not written so well, but she's so relatable in many scenes. And idk why she recieves so much hate. I mean i can give you a long list of famous actresses who can't act well, but only bc they're pretty and have manu fans, no one can attack them. It's the 1st time i'm seeing her and she's decent tbh.
Other actors/ actresses are doing pretty well too. Only tae jungwoon's actress lacks a bit and it might be bc of the character it self.
+OST: SO BEAUTIFUL. Honestly i couldn't find a flaw with osts. They are just too good and completely match the vibes of this kdrama.
+my fav parts? Definitely comedy parts. I love them sm. That's why i'll rewatch this kdrama soon after it finishes.
Kim jung hyun's acting is like the cherry on top.
There too many MOOD scenes that i relate sm.
It's not boring or rushed.
It boosters my energy.
I love the locations they chose. Outfits match each character very well and the stylist has done a good job.
+things i didn't like? Story seemed to not be developing in ep5, ep 8, ep9. And i blame the director for this.
They cut too many scenes that it seemed nonesence.
The writer should've worked on romance a bit more. Sometimes there are plot holes.
But overall it's not sth that you call awful or the worst kdrama. Yes maybe kim junghyun (and other actors) deserved a better production team. Esp bc it was his comeback project but it's still okay! Hopefully his next kdrama will be better (a hit??)
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