Mr. Plankton (2024)

An adventure show with great vives

The show mixes a between a lot of genres and often succeeds in most of the parts it is trying to play. It's main issue is that the show is short with a very simple plot that could have been a 2 hour movie.

The main 3 characters have decent chemistry between each other, one often carrying the other; however, it is often annoying that all of them feel incomplete and don't talk their mind ever. The male lead is dying but refuses to tell anyone and even in the end he does not feel that sick so that story point seemed moot. The female lead had issues getting pregnant but It did not have any meaningful impact in the story and no one really cared at all about the issue. And other the male character was so incompetent in everything that I always ignored him.

It's a shame that none of the plot points mattered and it is just a simple journey/adventure show, where you get to see new things and places. I enjoyed the first few episodes but later nothing seemed to happen between any characters. I was confident after episode 4 or 5 that the main lead is gonna be fine after the show and it is going to be a simple ass ending and I was right. I am not saying it is a bad thing is that I would have loved to have some changes to happen and something of consequence to occur in each episode. And in my opinion nothing was going on.

In conclusion, the show had a bit too small of a plot to not be a movie and be a full fledged series. It is a mini series and it succeeds in doing that. I would have loved the show to have some consequences or some changes in situations between the leads and the people surrounding them as I got super bored after episode 6. But it is a well acted and directed mini show that delivers in what it promises.

Lire davantage

The Writers Forgot...

I watched this as part of a watch party. For the most part, the first six episodes of the show, although not perfect, were fun, and the story surrounding his biological father had me intrigued. The comedy, although exaggerated, had me cackling. I enjoyed them a lot. Up till then, the show was an 8 to an 8.5. Then, episode 7 happened.

The show went on a downward spiral from there. I thought it would recover before the end, but it didn't. The female lead was annoying and childish. Her crying started grating on my nerves and the way she kept hitting the male lead's head despite knowing his condition baffled me. She was completely devoid of critical thinking. Hae Jo, the male lead, had strong douchebag tendencies. I know the way he tried to push people out of his life stemmed from the neglect he suffered while growing up, but there were times that I had to shake my head at the comments he made to the people around him. They were honestly kind of perfect for each other... There were also too many filler scenes and dubious relationships. At times, it felt like the writer(s) were suffering from the same terminal illness as the male lead. Why would you write all this tension surrounding Eo Heung and John, only to have her ask him to be her second son? What? Come again? That was not the only strange relationship dynamic, there were others. It was like they simply forgot what they had written previously. The reconciliation with the trash father was also irritating, anticlimactic, and felt like an afterthought as it was not well developed. I am not going to delve deeper into that. This show could have also been 8 episodes. It did not need 10. This story had so much potential and it could have been one of the better 2024 K-dramas.

The show features California Dreamin’ by The Mamas & the Papas which is honestly one of my favorite songs and the other OST songs are decent too. It also had beautiful cinematography. There were truly beautiful shots.

Lire davantage

Toxicity is just io much here...

So i started watching this series casually and was hooked at the beginning until became just too much.... It started off ok, a kind of angsty romance which I'm usually here for. This is until the the ML became just too toxic, which the FL was somehow increasingly ok with.

- For the good
I really liked that in this series, the FL wasn't this shy girl who is scared to touch a guy, not mentioning sleeping with him. Same goes for the ML. When they are romantically close, they seem to be quite open and grown up, which I always appreciate in a series. No need to make a kiss sth so scary when u r a full grown adult.

-For the not so good....
The dynamic between the FL and ML is just bad. All the shouting, shaking, grabbing and forcefully pulling.... you would think it was some old school romance kdrama from 2010 but no. The writers were trying their best to make him this complicated character with complicated past, which should somehow excuse his awful behaviour but I was having none of that. Just because you have a brain tumour doesn't mean you are allowed to treat people like shit. Nor does it allow you to completely ruin the life of your ex girlfriend just cuz u feel lonely. Even if it's only for 3 months.

While this whole mess of a human being was looking for his father, the FL fell for him all over again, to the point where her low effort escape attempts were just.... pathetic. And her telling him, basically screaming, that he ruined her life is.... very dramatic but very useless because he manhandles her and she just gives in, always coming back to him.

The dynamic between those 2 characters was incredibly toxic but the way it's written, we should cheer for this couple and be happy that each time she has an opportunity to run away, she doesn't. Look at him, he saw that she liked some shoes and got it for her such a great guy (sarcasm) ...... bleh.

We shouldn't forget that there's the SML, the man the FL was supposed to marry and another guy who is the friend of the ML, both being the comedic relief of this angsty drama. Jokes about 2 guys acting gay, a guy pissing him self from fear, a dumb spoiled mammas boy... how are those even funny ? Those "comedic" moments made me feel as if I'm watching an old poorly aged kdrama.... cmon, we r in 2024...... we can do better than that....

Overall, I'm not gonna even finish the drama. The development so far has been meh and I'm tired of seeing the FL just accepting all the harassment coming from the ML just cuz. And im also tired of this series trying to put the ML in the positive light using the most low effort things. Their relationship is awful and I'm not here for it.

Lire davantage

Cliche but good

Sincerely, I started to watch this K-drama because I was bored, thinking it would be another average love story and that I'd ditch it halfway as soon as the "bad boy" wout get his cute girl to fall in love with him. I couldn't have been more wrong, I thought, after laughing for five episodes straight-actually, this is not that bad. Even though it was a totally fictional plot, the connection with the characters amazed me with how real they were. My heart started to feel heavy and squeezed by emotions throughout the whole journey. It was a total rollercoaster of character relationships and emotions-their acts, sometimes selfish, sometimes absurd, sometimes pitiful, made them so human. But everything they did was to seek one thing: love.

People are so foolish for searching love where they aren't needed, forgetting to look around and see those who love us no matter what. People who aren't related to us by DNA but who gather with us throughout the journey of life. The main characters did a beautiful job portraying this feeling. Sometimes when I try to explain love to my friends, I imagine this down-to-earth, realistic, but still such a powerful, unimaginable feeling that I cannot explain.

Other than love in its many forms, we felt loss, forgiveness, redemption, letting go, rebirth, and the meaning of self and so much more.

I just want to say thank you and hope others can take a piece of the story with them, just as I did.

Lire davantage

Worth watching for the acting

I was very excited when I started watching this drama because of Woo Dohwan who is basically one of my favorite actors (yes he is handsome but his acting skills are pretty amazing too).

At the beginning, I was really intrigued about his character Hae Jo. And the first half of the drama was really exciting and fun!!! the whole chase through the country, the drama, the funny moments were on point, if only the drama had continued like that…

Basically, after they got rescued from the island and came back to Seoul everything went down the drain…
In my opinion there was a lot of unnecessary drama and the plot was not moving on. The main lead was sulking and treating Jae Mi like trash and it kept on going back and forth. I got quite bored during a few episodes to be honest…
And then the scene when Hae Jo leaves Jae Mi in front of her mother’s door and runs away! Why??? Why did he have to run away??? I was sooo confused! What was the point anyway if you were gonna go back to Seoul afterwards? I thought he was gonna start his journey to look for his father with Heung but no they just went back to Seoul!!! I got really annoyed tbh and I also got annoyed at Jae Mi a couple of times. At the beginning she was acting like a spoiled child, punching Hae Jo and telling him to die etc. I think thats a little bit too much to say to someone, no matter how shitty they treated you…
Ofc I was also a little bit annoyed at Hae Jo at times. Why did he have to agree to kidnap the first woman from her wedding? And why did he say such mean things to Jae Mi in their first relationship? And then being so egocentric and kidnapping her and throwing away her shoes etc.
In general I also found it kinda sad how quickly and easily Jae Mi got over Heung and the treatment of his mother and how easy it was for her to move on and fall in love with Hae Jo again… I don’t think she was really in love with him… he was just a nice man she wanted to have kids with…

And finally, I was reallyyyy annoyed about how the drama started with the search for Hae Jo’s father but was never finished!!!! Like what was the point of watching (except for Woo Dohwan’s naked upper body)??? We already knew how it was gonna end (him dying in the snow) so what other new information did we gain??? I was very confused and quite disappointed to be honest…

The storyline is definitely lacking and most of the characters were very problematic too. However here are some good points:

1. The quotes: Hae Jo had some impressive quotes and it brought me to tears many times.
2. In general it did have some tearjerking moments. I dont understand why the movie’s genre is romance/comedy… it is more of a drama imo.
3. The acting skills!!! Like no matter how annoying some characters were, the actors brought them to life sooo well and authentically… Kudos to all of these high class actors.
4. The music especially the instrumental one in dramatically sad scenes (for example when Hae Jobwas dying in the snow). It was one of the reasons I got hooked on the show. The music, directing and screenplay were done sooo well!!! I couldn’t stop thinking about it…

In general I think it is okay to watch it if you are interested but be prepared for some toxic characters and relationships…

Lire davantage

Good watch for those who enjoy tragic love stories....

This drama is really good if you enjoy dramas with a beautiful emotional love story. It’s a story of 2 people who did not have a childhood filled with happiness. They found each other and fell in love however unfortunate events kept happening to them.

I watched the entire show in a day so it’s definitely possible to binge watch the show. #Woodohwan and #Leeyoumi had insane chemistry and their acting was so good! Haejo’s character was very free spirited and he liked doing things without any plans. Jaemi is very extroverted and has an outgoing personality. Both of them suit each other well cause they relate to similar pain.

Now the story is really very simple, there is no plot twist and nothing really shocking. It’s a very simple deep love story. So for this genre it’s good but personally not my style of show so there were parts where I just skipped…

I enjoyed the relationships shown in the drama especially Haejo and Bongsuk who was basically his guardian since he was young. She cared for him as a mother / sister and was always there for him.

Jaemi had a fiancé who she was going to marry and he was deeply in love with her. Initially I didn’t think he was going to have such a big role in the drama. But he is actually the second male lead. So there are many scenes regarding his family issues as well. He was an understanding SML though always thinking about her happiness so nothing toxic! (just that maybe there was too much screen time regarding his issues)

I’m sure everyone who will watch this knows the ending so…. 🙃 Everything is revealed in episode 1 itself so there isn’t any shocking reveals after that.

For those who really like the emotional tragedy kind of romance then this is for you! There is fluff definitely but it’s all under the shadow of tragedy so… 🥺

Lire davantage

I liked it until it lost me

TRIGGER WARNINGS of this series: Infertility issues, illness, death.
Comedy is on the thinner side and there is also melodrama.

Looking at the ratings of this drama I feel like I watched a different one than everyone else.
I really wanted to like this series because the premise and the start had potential and there are things I liked in the portrayal of flawed characters that don't do the best of things, but sadly this just progressively lost me as episodes went on and things started to annoy me.

Overall my main two issues here are:
The execution of the plot is a mess at times, it wants to do too many things at the same time but none are necessarily solved or are just there for the pure chaos of it, it got kind of boring. I certainly didn't expect to find this show boring considering its length and how much I wanted to like it because the characters are not presented as perfect like in many other dramas. At points I felt kind of disappointed in myself for not finding it engaging enough but I literally fell asleep a few times, and I never fall asleep with series or movies. Funny enough is how I didn't even bother in going back and I don't feel I missed anything even though I missed in total probably about an hour and a half or a bit more of the total series.
Until the later episodes most of it it's just going and coming from places without enough of a substance to me, felt like a lot of padding. They're just looking for the potential father while he's dragging the girl around and the other two are following them, and the scenes with SML's mother and all that I still don't know what they added to the plot.

The second worst thing in this drama is once again the obsession with the bloodline. At points I thought it was presenting different ideas here because of the main characters and the plot in general, only to fall into the same silly ideas with the blood and how once you see your parents "you know" just because and unconditional love and blah blah blah. Equally silly was the expectation that some dude that might be his potential father would care about him just because he gave the sperm once, this is when they were theorising what that potential father might do or not for him as well as potential inheritance. And then only in the end to go back to a father that was a piece of s*** and abandoned him back in the time. "Oh, but he did go to the school though!!" someone might say, yeah, and after he was missing he didn't move a finger to find him, and apparently didn't care about her blood daughter either. I get ML needed the closure so to speak, but he said it more in the line of getting back some kind of relationship with him again, what falls again into this korean idea that parents don't do wrong and that at the end of the day everything needs to be forgiven because they're your parents, blood and "unconditional love" again.
The whole series revolves too much around "daddy issues" and I'm not a fan of this plot device.

I get it wanted to be comedy at some points but at times it was simply bad taste to me, like how FL wanted to take that baby in the beginning or when she takes ML from the hospital towards the end.
I also didn't appreciate much the duality of going from comedy to melodrama from one scene to another. I don't like melodrama in general either but I think that the comedy bits fell even more flat at times when straight before or after everyone was having a melodramatic moment. One second they're crying about something and the next it's like it never happened and everyone is happy to then remember and cry again.

There are quite a few side characters for such a short drama and I don't feel any of them was explored in depth what it would be fine if it wasn't because it feels they wanted me to care more about them than I did. SML is explored more but it could have been better in my opinion, his whole personality is more or less following the girl all around for most of the drama and it's progressed quickly to have his ending as it is.

I liked the ML for the mess he is, but I would have liked a tiny bit of growth, why is everyone still following him around when he's trying so hard to push everyone away? just leave him get lost then. It's funny that of all the things he did that was the worst for me, because as a viewer this dynamic got repetitive. He's a bad person but a good character, but I wish there had been some progression and that we didn't get the same dynamics of him rejecting people to then leave to then the others try and follow him, it got old quickly.
FL was ok for the most part until she started annoying me with her extremely childish tantrums, she spends half the show screaming. So she might be a good character again but in her case I didn't enjoy watching her.
Her side of the story is never explored enough anyway, we're given some pieces but there is never more exploration about it. She didn't even ask the bio mother anything either, she just spent the time screaming once again. We're also not given any other answer or even conclusion to her menopause thing, because it's not a black or white topic that it's how they presented it here, she's told, that's the end apparently. Her character in general revolves too much around ML and she's just a girl with two personality traits.

The ending was expected considering how the show starts and still was a bit anti-climactic in my opinion, even more that credits scene with the car driving, it's that FL with ML's body inside or what? It also felt a bit rushed since we got so many bits of their trip in a few scenes, I really wished this had been a good chunk of the drama instead of the thugs pursuing them in the first half for example.

Overall it's not an awful drama and it can be watched. I wouldn't rewatch it personally and I wouldn't recommend to people that wants happy endings, perfect characters nor to those that might be triggered by some of the topics.

Lire davantage

Woo Do-Hwan never fails!

Woo Do-Hwan never fails to please!

My two top Korean actors right now are Woo Do Hwan and Lee Do-Hyun.

I first saw WDH in Save Me and my favourite ones out of his dramas would have to be:

My Country and Bloodhounds.

With Mr Plankton I really enjoyed it for the first 7 episodes and then I'm not sure where it quite started turning for me, but it did.

I hesitated to watch this drama because I knew the fate of his character and didn't want to go through that all again like with My Country.

With Mr Plankton the ending was sad, but not as devastatingly sad for me like what happened in My Country for some reason.

Have seen others of his dramas in full like: Save Me, Tempted and Mad Dog which I really enjoyed as well.

As for Joseon Attorney (4-6 episodes) and King Eternal Monarch (half) and didn't mind these either except maybe Joseon Attorney would probably be the least liked one out of them all. Not because of him, but rather the story itself.

King Monarch I would probably finish only he isn't the male lead.

In regards to Mr Plankton it is about the main character being diagnosed with a terminal disease (less than 3 months to live) so he goes on this personal journey to find his real father only decides to kidnap his ex girlfriend at the start just as she is about to get married with a gang on his tail out for revenge.

It has a great mix of humour, a solid story line, drama, action, a sad or bittersweet feel, romance and adventure.

The music is so so - nothing really stood out like Stay With Me (Goblin) or Butterflies (Wedding Impossible).

A major dislike for me would be the female in this as she got on my nerves with her crying - it is the worst, also, her hissy fits. I really wish I could have reached through the screen to slap her out of it. Really annoying!!! Far too many scenes for my liking and she grated me the wrong way as she sounded terrible. Couldn't stand it! Her other scenes were mostly fine - just the sobbing and hysterics were irritating. Terrible! She really did come across as being idiotic quite a bit of the time which was unfortunate - I'm not sure what he saw in her. Another minor peeve was the way she ran. Weird!

Wouldn't it be something to have a female that is mature even when annoyed yet sassy, full of spunk, charismatic and adorable even if not dropdead gorgeous. Just not a cry baby, nagger, whiner or screamer.

I need a female actor that can pull it off like WDH, who in my humble opinion, is one the BEST actors in the industry for crying, laughing and emoting expressions and feelings. His crying or sobbing scenes in My Country were believable, but especially that one scene inside the room with that silk item and his name embroidered on it probably due to the significance of what it meant.

Simply the BEST!!!

The gut wrenching moments in this drama definitely have momentum, but not as impactful as two specific scenes in My Country.

What else?

I really enjoyed the bond that was made on the road trip back to Seoul between the Heir and character played by WDH - the bromance was fantastic and seemed better than what was between WDH and the main female lead at times!

WDH has a beautiful laugh, way of chuckling and tantalising manner with particular words or expressions.

Him and only him!

Anyways, Mr Plankton is recommended for those that like a good mix of everything, but after episode 7 it doesn't seem as exciting and seems rushed or done so as not to leave any loose ends. But...done so without depth.

Maybe one loose end actually - I don't remember seeing anything about the test results of the 3rd candidate. 🧐

Lire davantage

Mr. Plankton Review - ZyKuu

"Two drifters embark on their final trip together" - The story is very chaotic but entertaining, and there are many valuable life lessons taught throughout the show. The cast was sweet and sour for me. I am a huge fan on the main lead Hae-jo, I thought he played his role well and was the most excellent amongst the cast. The female lead Jae-mi was wonderful as well and she really displayed her acting ability. Their romantic chemistry was great. Other roles that I enjoyed were Bong-suk and KKari. I found them to be great side characters that added to every moment and made the show more memorable. The OST was decent and I was pleased by the shows aesthetic. This drama is somewhat random, but everything ties together neatly. The show is very eventful, and the lessons taught within are golden.

Lire davantage

Good Enough

Korean Drama '' Mr. Plankton '' is a dramedy with a crazy plot mixed up with a tragic core.

The drama has some pretty tragic characters who fight against the odds to be happy, often, however, failing to achieve that happiness. Also, the process of that was filled with many comical elements.

Alas, that mixture was a failure. The comedy didn't blend smoothly with the drama, and the plot was more often than not all over the place, with the characters constantly moving from one place to another so quickly that the plot didn't organically develop. Thus, the story fails to engage.

Fortunately, the performances were stellar and the actors and actresses handled their characters nicely.

So, overall, six out of ten.

Lire davantage

I don't know how I feel about this drama

It was an ok drama with a weird set up...

I LOVED the editing and cinematography of this drama. Every shot and scene was something worth studying. My favorite scene from this drama was how Hae Jo met his lil sister, who was looking for her brother. I didn't expect that and it was such a bittersweet surprise that the drama threw. I wish there was a scene where they met later...

Everything else was meh... It felt like at times the drama was going to hit the high that it was seeking and just shine brilliantly but then it just flares off and then just meh... I don't know how else to put it... I felt like this drama was unfinished.

Lire davantage