Something Good!
I was craving a good combination of script/acting/direction, and this is such a relief! Great story, many beliavable twists and subplots, super performances, and never a dull ten minutes anywhere.If you like political intrigue, risk, character development, and friendships in historical drama, mixed with action and heroic problem-solving, you will like this alot. It doesn't have the intellectual density of some famous recommendations, but the story is really well-done, with no major deus ex machina unreasonably added just to keep the story going! Because the story stands well without resorting to saves. It moves. It's well shot. The people are believable.
As far as the noise about a 17yr old actress working with a 28yo actor, all I can say is: These are seasoned professionals.
Given that the female lead character is SUPPOSED to be young, we are lucky to have Ai Mi in the role. I've seen her in about 10 series. Her skill is the reason she has been signed up with so many GREAT shows! In Phoenix Heart, her acting is on par with the rest of the cast. She is equal to the job, and she's no dummy.
Overall, the acting, chemistry, and tone, writing, character portrayals, and shoot angles are completely outstanding and appropriate. The whole cast is awesome. This is a breath of fresh air.
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The hook was community
Greetings,I watched this all the way through with little fast forwarding because I was interested in its unique view into a slice of oceanside working life.
This is not the kind of thing I normally enjoy. It's mostly a typical "meh" romance: excruciating storytelling detail balanced mainly by daily, prosaic activities with little serious excitement. It unfolds slowly, over almost 6 years of story, very slow pacing, and the romance took forever, until literally the second-to-last episode, to ignite! Aside from this typical genre complaint I have one major annoyance to share, then I'll explain why its worth watching anyway.
There is a behavior common to many dramas that drives me to distraction... This is the problem-causing Failure to Communicate - and often a failure to express ANYTHING you'd expect - like a smile when glad to see someone, a thought that is relevant, a feeling or need when it comes up, or a hug when everyone is aching. Really, anything, give us something, PLEASE! Such fails are plot tropes, unfortunately used heavily in the primary romantic relationship of this show. I'm pretty sure that without this crud, the series would have been snappier, more engaging, and 1/3 shorter.
The poor communication is accompanied by lots of what I call the "dead fish stare", where the viewer is expected to exercise all the heavy lifting of imagining what feelings must predominate in the moment, as literally NOTHING is being expressed in characters' face or posture, and of course, they are not using their words either. And there are waaaayyyy too many moments like this peppered in every episode, particularly from the female lead character. It's as if the actor has been told to try their best to act like a piece of wood at every critical relationship-development moment.
So why did I watch? Not for the romance, but for the rest of the story! Despite the tiresome annoyance, I was touched by myriad times that feelings and intentions were indeed expressed beautifully, subtly, or passionately. We could see the weave of a community fabric, with quirky and well-meaning characters, their varied dyadic interactions, resilience in duress, and heart-warmth toward one another that was sweet and moving. This show is worth watching because we get to know numerous amusing characters, we see gradual resolutions, and we see the unique shared dance of a set of good people moving and thriving together in their world. For me, not being from seaside, the seafood industry, and the ways individuals find to grow and conduct commerce in an insular community, were interesting. There is believable intimacy at various relationship levels. Its truly a slice of life, bittersweet, hopeful, and with a tender treatment of realistic personal challenges, unfolding with perseverance, forward to gentle successes. A human story.
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So much potential
I had to give this 5.x because my policy for DNF due to fatal flaws is lower than 6. I won't finish this series even though it has a lot of positive qualities. I'm happy for the female lead to actually have this lead role, as she's been working in numerous shows through many types of characters! At the same time, I don't think that the assigned actors are glamorous enough or have enough gravitas to successfully carry the shifts of the show - although they really put their hearts into it and I admire them. There was just something about most scenes that felt like they were practicing on set - so not totally convincing.I love all the red colors, the cinematography, and the music is inspiring and appropriate.
It's just that the story is so utterly predictable.
The mistakes that are made while pursuing intrigue are almost childish. I quit watching when the princess' pass was handed to the enemy, it was so stupid, it didn't make any sense in terms of the actors' role, objectives, and inside information, and it creates an opportunity for a bunch of nonsense and problems that serve only to drag out the drama. Such a choice, like several before that, just lead to more predictable and unnecessary hijinks. I chalk this up to poor writing and that's the main issue with this series.
The actors are acting deep, as if they're really involved with complex decisions and profound implications, but the things that they choose to do to further their ambitions, and the responses from their opponents are quite simple, and frankly, boring. Nothing is as complex as they behave, so the story alludes to depth but doesn't achieve the richness suggested.
How could the characters, declared to be so smart, really make continuous weak choices? We've been told repeatedly within the show that they are amazing and powerful, only because the written actions fail to demonstrate it.
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Mature actor plays child in insane grotesquerie
I cannot stand to watch this actress repeatedly cast as an unconvincing child, while there is nothing about her that bespeaks youth or innocence. It seems grotesque and clown-like to me.This was probably a bad decision all-around. She can't carry the game. It literally makes her seem like the caricatures of very old Hollywood stars who can't face ageism or loss of fame gracefully, so they go insane.
Mind you, I have seen hundreds of C-dramas, I love all types, but this casting, and watching a grown woman act petty, childish, and bratty, makes me seriously queasy.
DNF, 2 EPS and I was sickened.
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