Engaging and well-written beginning with a repetitive and draggy second half

Being the highest rated OCN drama in history, you'd have high standards when going to watch this drama.

The first half of the series very much lived up to those standards. The second half however, not so much.

- STORY -
The story begun very consistent and engaged audiences through the concept of 'counters' that attack evil spirits and well, disguise themselves as noodle shop owners. The main antagonist was introduced very early into the story, and it paced itself well from there on as the viewers not only watched the counters try to defeat the Level 3 spirit, but also as our main protagonist (So Min) tried to settle as a counter and deal with his anger issues and ongoing grief for his parents.

One of the faults that comes with introducing a main antagonist early on is that the story itself, drags on for 16 episodes, and by episode 10/11 the story became repetitive in a 'rinse and repeat' format as the counters continue to fail at killing the main antagonist, and the antagonist of course, only got stronger.

This 'failure' also lead to many plot holes and introductions to over-powerful material such as harry potter-looking sticks that feel unnecessary and almost, humorous for a plot-line that isn't meant to be funny. Additionally, So Mun is never seen going to school nor does the 'noodle shop' have anything to do with the main storyline, leading it to be unnecessary in the log-line and synopsis.

- CHARACTERS -
The strongest part of this drama is the well-written main cast and each of their own backstories. The greatest part of our protagonist So Mun is that he truly is written to live up to his name, an 'uncanny' counter. Being a kid, he's immature, angry and reacts inappropriately in situations that truly reflect his age. Motak and Hana are also written to act, think and react in ways that appropriately reflect their age and their traumatic pasts that led them to be counters. Jo Byungyu, Kim Sejeong and Yoo Jun-sang really proved themselves with their incredible acting performance.

The antagonist was also so well-written to point where he's almost likeable. Himself and the Presidents son became antagonists that I genuinely enjoyed, and wishing for more scenes involving solely them. Props to Lee Hong-nae.

Despite this, there were also flaws in the writing of some characters. For example, the 'Yung' team being unlikeable, useless and completely unforgiving in the way they treat the protagonists. Despite them having their own backstories, such as the son, I struggled to feel any sort of empathy for them, as they relied entirely on the counters to let them live their lives. Furthermore, The dragging of the President's story and his 'followers' ruined the like-ability and interest for the characters, emphasising the poorly written second half.

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Overall, I still believe that each person should give this drama a good-go. Especially for the captivating first half that balances intense fighting scenes, humour and sadness perfectly.

I am interested to see where the second season of this story leads, hoping it does not continue the rinse and repeat storyline that many people complained of.

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Advertises itself to be about monsters taking over an apartment complex, but is much more

This review is solely based on the drama adaptation, as I have not read the web-toon and therefore, will not comment on it.

Netflix's 10-episode Korean drama series in 2020 have truly been greatness after greatness, and Sweet Home does not fall flat on this.

Sweet Home is able to engage and emotionally withhold audiences by using the concept of 'monsters' as a metaphor for humans owns desires, and does it in a direct and sufficient way.

- STORY -

The story is fast-paced, due to having 10 episodes to basically in-take the entire storyline (with the hints of maybe a second season). Luckily, the writer is able to give a brief explanation on how these monsters came to be in the first two-three episodes, which is explained through the smart and well-written characters. As the writer does not explain everything, it leaves the audience engaged and interested in how to prevent these monsters from 'forming', and in need to see the characters they've developed emotional connections towards, succeed. The story does not have plot-holes, and is able to develop in a fast manner that is captivating and engaging for the audience.

While having 'horror' themes, the drama is not entirely scary, but rather wants you to focus on the main story and the metaphorical concept of ones desires, and how much they can take over oneself. There is no real romance themes, but is able to give hints of 'romance' through small gestures and spoken words between each character, that engages audiences who may only be interested in romance, into a story that isn't all about romance.

'Sweet Home' is able to make the audience question who deserves to live in these life-threatening situations, and how far people are willing to go in order to live their life, despite their brutal pasts.

- CHARACTERS -

The show sold me with not necessarily the story but, the characters. With only 10 episodes to break down the many characters introduced to us in a very short period of time, the writer is able to quickly but effectively reflect on the different personalities of the characters, as well as their history as each episode progresses. The characters (for the most part), think and act like their age, but do not do it in a typical 'horror' genre way. Most of the characters act smart, but with different ways of 'acting' on the monsters that perfectly reflect their ages, gender and values. All the characters are written to be faulted, not necessarily morally perfect, which aids audiences into the question of wether or not these individuals deserve to survive the monster infestation.

If you are someone, like myself, that becomes invested and emotionally connected to well-written characters, Sweet Home is a web-toon adaptation that is able to strongly invest time into its characters, and develop a hope for survival for each of them, despite their traumatic past.

- CONCLUSION -

Despite its flaws, such as the unusual choice of soundtrack in some action scenes, Sweet Home is able to connect each characters emotional past to both their desires, and the monsters that lurk around the apartment complex.

Sweet Home is a must-watch if you are someone who cares for well-written and realistic characters that, thankfully, do not play stupid in a monster infestation.

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Well-paced story that develops one of the healthiest relationships depicted in a drama

Although I was originally planning on not watching this drama due to the mixed reviews and opinions, I decided to start it due to the curiosity of never seeing a Bae Suzy or Lee Jongsuk drama before.

Luckily, I was not disappointed and rather, completely immersed in the experience.

- Storyline -

This drama continuously puts you on the edge of your seat. Even with the slight cliche's within the storyline, you are still given this anxious and nervous emotion, praying that the injustices are fixed and the lead characters are lead to safety in each circumstance. The story is able to avoid any sort of plot-holes by establishing itself and the fantasy-aspects in the first two to four episodes, making it easy to understand and therefore, easier to enjoy. The blend of genres, such as fantasy, romcom and suspense are done in a satisfactory way that doesn't feel back-and-forth or messy, which is a difficult concept that other drama writers have struggled with. This is one of the very few storylines that have captivated me both in the first and second half of its series, never getting boring or falling flat as each episode continues.

- Characters (and Cast) -

Nam Hongjoo and Jung Jaechan have one of the healthiest builds of a relationship I have seen within a Korean drama. They are able to care and understand each other from the beginning, while incorporating slight bickering that help the two build a deeper relationship, and understand one-another. They are both characters that are written on equal-ground, do not take advantage of one-another, and even when disagreeing with each other, they do their best to understand and help each other in different circumstances, due to their built trust. Both Suzy and Jongsuk are able to compliment that simple chemistry and similar humour that aids these characters into both being loveable and relatable.

The supporting characters, as well as second lead Wootak, all have loveable natures that due to non of them being written perfectly or typically, they become relatable and therefore easy to understand as an audience.

Although there is the fantasy theme included through the story, due to the protagonists being able to see aspects of the future in their dreams, the characters are still written to feel like real humans, such as, the antagonist. Some antagonists written in other dramas can feel animated or, inhuman, but 'While You Were Sleeping' antagonist does not feel like that at all. The antagonist is written like a human would be, while evil and morally incorrect, acts and thinks as a human would.

- Conclusion -

'While You Were Sleeping' is a drama that perfectly balances themes of fantasy, suspense and romcom that engages and captivates the audience. The characters are written to represent real people, and although some conflicts and circumstances may be written to be over-the-top or romanticised, the story still has this underlining realism that aids the audience in building emotion for the story and the characters.

While You Were Sleeping is brilliant.

(P.S. this is my first written review)

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