It's one of the most watched 2025 kdramas in korea , but no global popularity .
That happens pretty often. Low Life was also pretty popular in Korea but it was a flop internationally. Same for Aema. Queen Mantis doesn't have a plot that could make international watchers interested (unfortunately...)
Explain to me what’s going on with the ratings?When it’s some love story filled with every cliché in the…
I totally get your frustation but many users (like me) do not give a rating to a show before it's finished. I'm sure that once it's finished (and if the quality remains good), the rating will go up!
Yeah, the rating hit 8.0! So deserved, hopefully it'll increase a little bit more. I totally understand why some people have complaints regarding the main plot, I too have voiced my issues but overall, Queen Mantis was a good psychological thriller and it deserves more recognition.
I think that it's implied that Su Yeol kept in contact with I Sin when she was in prison. We see her drawing his family happily while looking at a photo which I don't think is posted online. And when meet again to start the investigation, it doesn't look like they see each other for the first time after 2 years.
Isin's crashout in the final episode made me cry with her. She went through so much and she finally let her emotions free. Go Hyun Jung, your acting cannot be described in mere words for there are no adjective to do justice to your masterclass performance.
I am on Episode 10, I want to binge it but at the same time I want to take my sweet time savouring it. I didn't expect to love the series as much as I do.
After thinking about it, the problem isn't necessarily that the movie wasn't as action packed as it was promised. Yes, I admit that I was expecting more action but I didn't mind that the movie wanted to follow a different approach. The problem is that the writing fell flat so their attempt to give more depth to the characters was shallow.
The film is barely 2 hours long and since the plot tackled many points, it was inevitable that not all would be fleshed out. But when you're trying to bring so much on the table, you should do so better. They wanted to portray Mantis as a ruthless assassin but they lso wanted to highlight his soft side for Jaeyi. They wanted to focus on Jaeyi and Hanul's relationship but they also wanted to showcase the politics and hierarchy in the crime world. They wanted to have comedy but they wanted some emotional scenes too. The writing and direction were not very clear and they felt quite messy at times.
I'm all for having action films that go beyond the action element and give depth to the characters. This is why I appreciated Gil Bok Soon's character in the first movie and this is why I was initially interested in Jaeyi and Hanul's dynamic. But Kill Bok Soon handled this aspect better compared to Mantis, which is why Mantis fell short.
I am kinda disappointed, not gonna lie. The story wasn't that engaging, even from early on I had a feeling that I wouldn't like the movie as much as I had expected. The characters left much to be desired, especially Hanul. The writers made his crush on Jaeyi his entire personality, we love yearners in this house but they need to have some other interesting aspects.
I also want to complain about Hanul's writing as Mantis. The film tried so hard to convince us that Mantis is supposed to be one of the top assassins in the crime world and yet I wasn't sold. Such a pity, I expected so much from Siwan's character based on the trailer but I was let down. At least his acting elevated him.
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The film is barely 2 hours long and since the plot tackled many points, it was inevitable that not all would be fleshed out. But when you're trying to bring so much on the table, you should do so better. They wanted to portray Mantis as a ruthless assassin but they lso wanted to highlight his soft side for Jaeyi. They wanted to focus on Jaeyi and Hanul's relationship but they also wanted to showcase the politics and hierarchy in the crime world. They wanted to have comedy but they wanted some emotional scenes too. The writing and direction were not very clear and they felt quite messy at times.
I'm all for having action films that go beyond the action element and give depth to the characters. This is why I appreciated Gil Bok Soon's character in the first movie and this is why I was initially interested in Jaeyi and Hanul's dynamic. But Kill Bok Soon handled this aspect better compared to Mantis, which is why Mantis fell short.
I also want to complain about Hanul's writing as Mantis. The film tried so hard to convince us that Mantis is supposed to be one of the top assassins in the crime world and yet I wasn't sold. Such a pity, I expected so much from Siwan's character based on the trailer but I was let down. At least his acting elevated him.