Duray
Alice was one of my most anticipated dramas of 2020, one that I couldn't wait to watch. I loved the concept of it, especially since fantasy is one of my favorite genres. As someone who loves romance, the thing I was most hesitant about involving Alice was the lack of romance, but this drama doesn't require a main romance to be a good drama for me. When Alice premiered, I already knew I would love this drama and it would be one of my favorites of the year, and even if it may not have unfolded perfectly, it definitely was a drama I loved watching and enjoyed a lot.
Plot:
The main premise of Alice is time travel, which in itself is a very complicated topic to incorporate. Because of this, I give stories involving time travel the benefit of the doubt, just as long as they keep to the formula. For Alice, I understood the way time travel was being portrayed, and even give props to the writer for going in-depth with many things. But overall, the plot fell short in multiple ways, some of which I believed could have been different. As I mentioned earlier, the first episode was no doubt one of the best first episodes I have ever watched, and the episodes that followed were strong as well. The half of this drama is no doubt the weakest part, but not to the point where it ruined the drama for me. I think many scenes could have been removed and replaced with either more backstory or more scenes with other characters, but that's one of the only things I would change. For a sci-fi fantasy drama, I think Alice did a good job with its elements. Of course, no drama is perfect, but it gives a good sci-fi fantasy feel throughout the drama.
Characters:
Alice is a drama that involves multiple characters in order to tell its story, but at the same time only values two characters: Park Jin Gyeom and Yoon Tae Yi. For Jin Gyeom, I really liked his character and how he was set up. I found his relationships with others very interesting. For Tae Yi, it's a bit different. She's not a character you want to hate, but a character that you find yourself, or at least I did, wanting to hate but couldn't. She's annoying sometimes then okay for other times, but overall, I don't think she's a bad character. Do Yeon and Min Hyuk were two characters that I found myself rooting for the most. I loved every scene Do Yeon and Jin Gyeom's were in together and thought they were cute together. The other supporting characters did a great addition to the story and I enjoyed watching them, even if some made my blood boil. Overall, the cast was excellent and I don't think I could find better actors for most characters.
Other:
The acting was fantastic, especially on Joo Won's part. I even give props to Kim Hee Sun for portraying two different characters, which isn't always easy to do. For the music, I was sad we only got 5 songs, but all of them were fantastic, especially The Star by Onestar. The cinematography was wonderful and I enjoyed the beautiful scenes we got.
Final Thoughts:
So why do I give this an 8.5? Simply because I enjoyed this more than I probably should have. I was happy, sad, angry, and frustrated while watching this, which are emotions I want to feel while watching dramas. I think the biggest problem I had with this was certain things that took place during the halfway point, but not to the extent where it ruined the drama for me. The first and last 6 episodes were the best for me, but the other 4 episodes in between weren't bad, just lacking in a way.
Do I recommend watching this drama? Yes, but no. This is a type of drama that certainly ain't for everyone, and that is okay. It forces you to pay attention and keep track of characters and decisions being made in order to fully grasp what is happening. For me, I have no problem with these types of dramas so I usually like them. If you are interested in this drama, I'd say go for it. It does a good job with twists and makes you anxious and not knowing what to expect, so if you're up for those dramas then you might enjoy this.
Plot:
The main premise of Alice is time travel, which in itself is a very complicated topic to incorporate. Because of this, I give stories involving time travel the benefit of the doubt, just as long as they keep to the formula. For Alice, I understood the way time travel was being portrayed, and even give props to the writer for going in-depth with many things. But overall, the plot fell short in multiple ways, some of which I believed could have been different. As I mentioned earlier, the first episode was no doubt one of the best first episodes I have ever watched, and the episodes that followed were strong as well. The half of this drama is no doubt the weakest part, but not to the point where it ruined the drama for me. I think many scenes could have been removed and replaced with either more backstory or more scenes with other characters, but that's one of the only things I would change. For a sci-fi fantasy drama, I think Alice did a good job with its elements. Of course, no drama is perfect, but it gives a good sci-fi fantasy feel throughout the drama.
Characters:
Alice is a drama that involves multiple characters in order to tell its story, but at the same time only values two characters: Park Jin Gyeom and Yoon Tae Yi. For Jin Gyeom, I really liked his character and how he was set up. I found his relationships with others very interesting. For Tae Yi, it's a bit different. She's not a character you want to hate, but a character that you find yourself, or at least I did, wanting to hate but couldn't. She's annoying sometimes then okay for other times, but overall, I don't think she's a bad character. Do Yeon and Min Hyuk were two characters that I found myself rooting for the most. I loved every scene Do Yeon and Jin Gyeom's were in together and thought they were cute together. The other supporting characters did a great addition to the story and I enjoyed watching them, even if some made my blood boil. Overall, the cast was excellent and I don't think I could find better actors for most characters.
Other:
The acting was fantastic, especially on Joo Won's part. I even give props to Kim Hee Sun for portraying two different characters, which isn't always easy to do. For the music, I was sad we only got 5 songs, but all of them were fantastic, especially The Star by Onestar. The cinematography was wonderful and I enjoyed the beautiful scenes we got.
Final Thoughts:
So why do I give this an 8.5? Simply because I enjoyed this more than I probably should have. I was happy, sad, angry, and frustrated while watching this, which are emotions I want to feel while watching dramas. I think the biggest problem I had with this was certain things that took place during the halfway point, but not to the extent where it ruined the drama for me. The first and last 6 episodes were the best for me, but the other 4 episodes in between weren't bad, just lacking in a way.
Do I recommend watching this drama? Yes, but no. This is a type of drama that certainly ain't for everyone, and that is okay. It forces you to pay attention and keep track of characters and decisions being made in order to fully grasp what is happening. For me, I have no problem with these types of dramas so I usually like them. If you are interested in this drama, I'd say go for it. It does a good job with twists and makes you anxious and not knowing what to expect, so if you're up for those dramas then you might enjoy this.
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