Wonderful World (2024)

IN SEARCH OF THE WONDERFUL WORLD...

I think the best way to praise this drama is to say that it was a competent and well-built drama. None of the episodes were irrelevant or unimportant; all episodes were complementary to each other. In other words, we had an excellent execution here.

The conclusion was very conclusive and without loopholes. My last doubt was regarding the gate video and what an irony of fate, it was the controversial Soo Ho protecting his wife from the certainty that he had closed the gate. I found this explanation excellent and very consistent.

I will praise Cha EunWoo for accepting to play a character completely outside of his comfort zone and I confess that I saw positive acting points in the last episodes. I hope he continues on this path and challenges himself as an actor.

In a final analysis, the drama taught that the WONDERFUL WORLD is built daily and with small achievements. After all, life is not built only of victories and happiness.

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Wonderful World is a wonderful drama

I saw Lie After Lie from the same writer so I was positive that this story would be something to look forward and Kim Ji Eun, with all the director and actors and whole team, did not disappoint.

Every episode was great. All the actors were amazing. I especially love Kim Kangwoo and Cha Eunwoo. I really felt that Suho loves Soohyun but I did doubt a little. The storytelling was so great it made me confused. Eunwoo did a great job portraying Seonyul especially his pain. I just knew he's a great actor. And he's so passionate for doing all those action and motorcycle scenes.

The cinematography, bgm, and soundtrack is amazing!!!

Love love the ending! It was beautiful and healing.

I'm gonna miss this drama. Will surely rewatch this!

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Captivating & Heeling

i started watching it because of it was mbc friday & saturday drama not because i’m any of the leads fan or the genre fan (not a biased review). i came to find this drama very healing. it really teaches you how to forgive and move on for better. it has a revenge and revealing truth aspect too but it’s not really like a revenge drama it would be. it focuses more on the process of leads healing, finding peace and living a better life.

this drama is also quite sad so be ready to cry. i cried a lot throughout the acting of everyone is amazing you will be able to feel their emotions.

each of the character learned something and had a good growth.

there is so many little things about this drama i appreciate such as, background music and cinematography.

I liked it a lot definitely worth a watch. i loved the last episode the ending did not disappointed me. last 20 minutes of ep 16 🫶🏻

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How do you make the world wonderful?

At first I picked this up because I wanted a revenge story, one where the bad guys get their just desserts and the good guys win. But here goes "Wonderful World", flipping the script on its head and making it so much more compelling than I first thought. I was watching this series with bated breath, expecting a glorious downfall and for the villain to get their sweet sweet comeuppance.

But this story is much more than revenge. Its main focus is actually healing and love. After so many episodes where we see how this world is ugly and cruel, we also get to see the beauty, the sincerity and the care that other people put in the world. And I think that showcasing these two realities that coexist is very important, since it is quite easy to get swept up into either one of them and forget about the other.

Regarding the acting, I will have to say that I loved Cha Eun Woo in this so much! I think he was really shining in this role, and while I do plan to watch the other dramas with him, I really hope he gets more roles like this. I don't know how he is in romantic comedies, but I really liked this type of role on him and I hope he'll get more like these.

Kim Nam Joo was also amazing, I literally fell in love with her subtle, yet deeply moving acting. When she cried, I cried tenfold, and I really was able to empathize with her character so much.

I hope other people will get to watch this as well!~

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Choose: Keep the Bitter Score or Live More °7.8° °VG°

“Everything started with the incident that summer.” What started was a cycle of hurts followed by vengeance between parties on the periphery. Meanwhile, the spider relaxed smugly in the center of the web.

The opening episode is heartbreaking. Eun “Soo” Hyun is a successful writer who is married to a reporter. They have a beautiful son together, but he disappears one afternoon when he is 6, leaving a single shoe on the sidewalk. Emergency crews eventually find him, but he's badly injured from a hit-and-run. He doesn't make it. After the perp's trial in which he's released, and it appears connections and corruption are playing a hand in the leniency he's granted, Soo falls apart. Her husband falls apart. Everything falls apart.

WW is a 2024 release that is rated 86 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of 14 60ish-minute episodes. It is painful to watch. I could only handle 1 ep/day. The pressure doesn't start to let up until ep11 or so, when the main characters make a directional change. Like the best among us do, Soo takes her pain and attempts to channel it for good. She sets out to protect other children from suffering like her son did. Before all of that, though, she is compelled to dispose of some trash.

Her reward for taking out the trash is a prison stint. She bonds with another inmate, Jang Hyung Ja. Soo's new friend is in jail because she had set fire to the room where her husband was having an affair and ended up killing several people, including an entire family, save for their 8 year old boy who survived. Jang Hyung Ja elicits Soo's commitment to contact that boy upon her release as it looks like Jang Hyung Ja will never be released: She's dying. She's too ashamed to face the kid anyway. As it turns out, this 8-year-old boy, who is now grown up, is loosely involved with disrupting corrupt men. Meanwhile, Soo's husband has been investigating connections between the man who caused the accident that killed their son and his corrupt cronies, including judges and politicians.

By the time Soo is released, her husband is on foreign assignment. The one time she accepted his visit during her incarceration was to tell him to leave her be - She had nothing left for him. On the first day of freedom Soo falls asleep on her son's grave and wakes to a young angelic looking man holding an umbrella over her. Does she know how he will factor into her future? Of course not. Right now she's an aimless wanderer. No direction. Nothing to live for. Dead inside. Yet she promised Gunwoo, her son, that she would survive and live a meaningful life. The first order of business is her promise to Jang Hyung Ja to find that boy who survived the fire.

Soo finds her cellie's 8 y/o victim; it's the boy with the umbrella. Otherworldly looking Cha Eun Woo (Rookie Historian-7.6, True Beauty, My ID Is Gangnam Beauty-7.5) portrays Kwon Seon Yul, now fully grown. Soo sees that he's not living a quiet, safe life. He also isn't pleased to get the message she's delivering. He shuns her, but they continue to meet. It's as if strange forces are drawing them together.

To err is human; to forgive, divine. Forgiveness, release, and going on with life is WW's theme. Not only are there huge things to forgive, like the killing of a family member, but also cheating, lying, general indiscretions, and everyday insults are thrown in the path as well. Mistakes are creating roadblocks all over the place. Most of the characters in WW have committed grave blunders and have also been greatly wronged. Once forgiven, a perpetrator may feel release, but the person who benefits most from forgiving is the one who is doing it. It isn't easy (not by any means!) but to hold onto anger, unforgiveness, and bitterness is to rot oneself out from within. It is the opposite of a free life. It is being controlled.

“I won't ask for forgiveness…” we hear that several times. The logic behind the statement is that the wrongdoers feel too much shame to ‘ask for forgiveness‘. So don't. Don't ask to be forgiven. However, a person that has done wrong should apologize - without excuses, qualifiers, demands, or reservations. That is what decency demands. It's what a person of good character and principles does. A mature person will understand that everyone makes mistakes. Learn from them, make it right and move on, burden free. An immature and self-absorbed person will turn an apology into an excuse fest, a look-at-me-I-am-not-so-bad-think-better of-me party. Pathetically, this doesn't work, it only shows poor character, and it doesn't make anyone like you more. Denying one's mistakes and not apologizing is a form of living in denial and lies. One can't face h/h shortcomings because s/he needs to think better of h/h self. That is a contemptible life of delusion. Let your ego go. Nobody else likes your ego; only you do. Let it go. Be free.

Going into ep9 ain't nobody free. All I could think is: ‘What a downer! This show is so sad!’ Just in time (almost too late), there's a plot shift that allows the viewer some breathing room. Things move into the deep end, more evidence comes to light, and not everything is what it had previously appeared to be.

WW is a quality production. The acting, directing, and writing all supplement the show. Kim Nam Joo (Misty) is FL Eun “Soo” Hyun. Kim Kang Woo (Circle) plays Kang Soo Ho, Soo's husband. The intrinsically likable Kang Ae Shim from Bad and Crazy & Be Melodramatic-8.7 plays Jang Hyung Ja.

Kil Hae Yeon (If You Wish Upon Me) is Jung Myung Hee, Soo'smother i/l. This woman excels at playing a supreme b!+ch. I've seen her in Beyond Evil-7.4 & Law School-8. I've also seen her in 2 shows that are like stamps of eachother: In Something in the Rain-8.6 she plays the ultimate narcissistic mother who ruins her family. One Spring Night-7.8 is nearly the same show (same director/writer combo) except it's the father who's a narcissist and Ms Kil is a sweetheart of a mom. Both shows are good, but OSN is like the 2nd, lighter stamp. It doesn't mean much on its own, its value is as a follow-up to the heavier, gut-wrenching Something in the Rain. Regardless, this actress has a powerful presence.

Im Se Mi (Terius Behind Me, When the Weather Is Fine-9) is Han Yoo Ri, Soo's BFF and unofficial sister. Won Mi Kyung (The Hoechun Gate, Great Vocation) plays Oh Go Eun, Soo's mom. I've only seen her in My Unfamiliar Family-7.9, and she's wonderful. The screenwriter is Kim Ji Eun (Lie After Lie) and Lee Seung Young (Voice S2, Special Affairs Team TEN) directed.

The direction is competent with flashes of excellence. The color palette is dark, muted and grey, but the colors in Soo's memories are so vivid! The tempo is steady. The show never rushes and it never drags. Stopping at 14 episodes may have been the smartest thing the director did. Too many shows suffer because they don't have enough content to fill 16-20 episodes competently. The music is quite good as well. The classic, Gloria Gaynor's I Will Survive, makes an appearance and Imaginary Future & Kina Grannis do a melancholy, jazzy cover of What a Wonderful World.

Soo is able to find justice, release, and peace by the time the credits roll. This painful show ends up with a positive message that is brilliantly summed up when Soo declares this: “Let's not live like a bare tree anymore. Let's sprout and live.” Only free people can say and do that.


◇QUOTES◇

In the middle of life's journey, I got lost and wandered. I've heard no matter how much time passes, losing someone precious to you will always be lonesome. But I will try to keep going. If I keep going, one day the pain will lessen. I hope all those grieving find comfort. I hope the world will be more friendly to those in pain. I hope a beautiful world will come while you overcome your pain.

When you live this long, leaving someone properly is as important as meeting someone.


〰IMHO◇

📣7.5 📝8 🎭8.3 🎨7.6 🎵/🔊7 🔚8.3 ▪ 🌞4⚡4.5 😅1 😭5 😱2 😯5 🤢2 🤔6 💤0

RATINGS
Directing 7.5
Writing 8
Acting 8.3
Art 7.6
Sound & music 7
Ending 8.3

LEVELS
Warmth 4
Action 4.5
Laughs 1
Tears 5
Fright 2
Tension / Anxiety 5
Gore 2
Thought provocation 6
Snores 0

Age 14+
Mature subject matter.

Re-📺? Possible but unlikely. It is definitely worth watching once.

Choose: Keep the Bitter Score or Live More °7.8° °VG° 💯%🔍

In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ you may also like:

Modern Day -
A Witch's Love 7.8,
Love to Hate You 8.9,
Touch your heart 8.2,
Law School -8
It's Okay Not To Be Okay 9,
Love Struck in the City 7.3,
Be Melodramatic-8.7
Hospital Playlist 9,
My Liberation Diary-8.9,
Anna-8.1,
My Mister 9.5,
Blood Free-8.5
Mother-8.8

Action/Crime/Sci-fi -
K2 8,
Private Lives 8.1,
Why Her?-8,
Tunnel 8.5,
Signal 8.6,
Flower of Evil 8.9,
The Man from Nowhere 8.9,
Squid Game 8.4,
Kingdom 8.3,
Sweet Home 8.4

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The Series should've been titled "Serious World" instead of "Wonderful World"

I really wanted to like this drama, but it was just taxing. Finishing this was extremely tedious, and this coming from one of Cha Eunwoo's fans is quite something.
Story: the story was pretty simple, it's pretty much what the synopsis in MDL reads. given that there are not many "events" happening or not many plot twists in every episode, this story tried to bank heavily on the 'emotions' quotient. But that was both its boon and bane. It truly revealed the acting abilities of the actors, all of whom played their characters with such perfection that it was very good to see mature, serious performances like these on screen. But on the other hand, the more the series tried to invest in emotions, the slower it got, and hence, more boring. If there is a pause of a minimum of 20 seconds between one actor's lines and another 20-second pause before the next actor speaks their lines, then you know something is wrong here. And then every crying scene (and there are PLENTY) lasts for a minute at least... its just a bit too much. In the middle of all this slow slow emotion-building exercise, the story gets lost completely, and we are left to watch just people crying. So yeah, in terms of the story, nothing really happens.
Pace: In case I haven't said this enough, this drama is SLOW. It starts off slowly, builds up slowly, but by the 6-7th episode, picks up pace. But then again, he decides to slow things down and it becomes a slow burn again by the 9th episode; episodes 10-12 are painful to watch. I ended up watching the last 2 episodes at 1.5x speed, and they made so much more sense at that speed.
Acting: Really lovely acting by all the actors. This was one of the most understated roles that CEW has ever played. Funnily, its not like he has done anything different in terms of how he acts, but it was more like his brand of acting got cast in a sombre, no-nonsense role, instead of being cast in the same old brooding lover boy role. But either way, it was only the acting of all the actors that made the series watchable.
The OST was quite nice, especially the cover of "What a Wonderful World."

Overall, if you want to watch it because of CEW, you can, but otherwise, not watching it won't be a loss either. If at all you want to watch it, watch it on 1.5x or 2x speed, that's a better alternative. But on an ending note, this drama deserves praise for being quite liberal thinking... full 100 points to showing strong, independent women; grey areas of marital relationships; dicey family relationships; and people who are not completely good or bad. These nuances made the drama quite watchable. If it had been a little faster, it would've been one of the best dramas I've watched this year.

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