Well, the second episode improves the storyline a bit.
But I don't get it yet - the informer set them up against targets that the gang picked, apparently, but one of the targets was the boss' son, so now the boss is looking for revenge?
In that case, why isn't the informer dead, and where was HJH for a year? Or is the informer another gang's tool and he's an insider on removing the current mob boss?
OR. Is the informer actually another undercover agent who turned rogue and is now doing his own thing? (Or being controlled by the NIS mole, if there is one?)
I guess Hwang Hee won't be coming back as a bad guy... I would have loved to see him again.
First episode impressions... Still on the fence about it.
This looks like a blend of The Bourne Identity (the book's beginning, not the follow-up), Time Between Dog and Wolf and maybe a bit of IRIS thrown in.
At this point, after an explosive intro, they kind of mellowed it down immediately, which doesn't bode well - for me anyway. And even the beginning had its suspension of disbelief moments - like completely insanitary operation rooms that were supposed to be used to harvest organs. So much blood, so much dirt, no way to easily take the organs away to awaiting clients... It felt like a total gore setup for the sake of it.
I definitely cannot feel the cast gelling up - unless they want to make everybody into a suspect and the MC a lone wolf character. I don't know what Soo Yeon's deal is, but she came through as totally fake and lifeless (I've only seen the actress in Two Weeks, and her role there was pretty stereotypical.) We'll see if that's who the character is, or what the actress makes of her.
Just because I really really like Hwang Hee, I want Kyung Seok to be a double agent who betrayed them and faked his death to disappear to his island. (His GF didn't recognize the body, the ring was planted there rather impossible to miss, and he was in an undercover op, would he really have worn it?, and it was definitely an inside job.) I vote for KS to come back and be a villain. Let Hwang Hee break out of goody-two-shoes character types, please!
And in any case, Ji Hyuk's recruiter is definitely a suspect, because they always are.
For such a well-known actors studded cast, I definitely expected a lot more bang.
Also, question: I am not wrong, most of what's happening in the "now" is set in 2016, right? Because that's what was on HJH's medical records after he was retrieved. So we're going to have a time skip somewhere along the line, right?
Finally a big pet peeve of mine... Why did Namgoong Min have to bulk up so badly? He even does the gymrat walk (moving his feet in paralel lines, like he's always flexing his muscles.) Normal people don't do that, is that supposed to be in character, or is it a NM thing?...
Gonna give it a few more eps at least, in hope of HH's return. Let him be a villain who's also smart, pretty please.
I've just discovered the joys of 2x speed. This is the first drama I've done it for, and it might let me finish it without dropping, LOL.
Also, F* Subway. Ate there once and never again. I know the producers need the sponsors, but the PPL is getting disgusting with three times SW meals in one episode. Let the poor guys go to a mom-and-pop restaurant every once in a while, no need to poison them all every day.
Past episode 3, I have no interest left in what's next... this episode wasn't even food porn any more. I have no way to tell if the actors are any good, the plot and editing are all over the place.
I might give it another episode then drop it if it continues like this - I like slow burn, but not glacier pace and there should be at least some actual chemistry between the leads at least. Too bad.
Nobody should lose their entire career/livelihood based only on slander from anonymous persons on the internet. If there's any truth to it, there would be proof or witnesses. If there's not, then public judgement should not convict a person who might be innocent (in some cases, just because it's trendy or the slanderer is seeking attention.)
Devil Judge is on my to-watch list! I didn't include Run Yu as I didn't want this list to get lengthy, so it was…
For LYX, you should definitely try "Love is Sweet" - it's a cute romance, but it has LYX and Bai Lu (she's another or my favourite actresses). He has a chance there to show his comedic timing (he has it), and while the story is romance-tropey, it's good to watch. I promise you'll be laughing a lot :) I kind of wanted to watch "Broker" but the trailer didn't convince me and I've already suffered through "Fox in the Screen" just for him, so thanks for the anti-rec :) I'll just be quietly waiting for "Immortality" (because I have a crush on WanNing LOL).
So, after mentioning STLDFM, I just HAD to go to youtube and find "Give My Love". I still remember the lyrics (even the Korean ones) after all these years. They - and us - we were all so young! I'm probably going to do a Ji Sung marathon soon enough, LOL. "Defendant" looks good from here :D
Re: "Moon Lovers" - for me it's the other way around, I've only watched the Korean version and couldn't watch the Chinese original, though I hear it has a happier ending. I kind of like bittersweet endings, though, if they fit the overall story. I think I'm one of the few who really-really appreciated the ending of "Faith" for example, LOL. So ML's ending didn't phaze me... I just would've liked to see more of Wang So and less of Wang Wook's side love story. And as I'm usually drawn and caught by a drama's soundtrack, the ML OST is great (the BGM in particular.)
I have no idea why LJG is taking this year off - I've seen a news in his actor topic here that he's supposed to do a reality show for Netflix... but I really-really want to see a new drama from LJG. Pretty please with a cherry on top! Or else I'll have to dive into the last reserves of still-not-watched LJG dramas, and I don't have many left! *despair*
Devil Judge is on my to-watch list! I didn't include Run Yu as I didn't want this list to get lengthy, so it was…
Ooh, if you like unscrupulous AHs, you're going to LOVE Kang Yo Han!! I've been a fan of Ji Sung since "Save the Last Dance for Me" (omo, it's been a long while!) but he definitely shines all the brighter as he gets more mature. And he's STILL an extremely handsome man. Well, JinYoung is set there to draw the younger audience in, and I do like him too, quite a lot, but the show is carried by Ji Sung and Kim Min Jun (playing the villain. I keep thinking about her. She's mesmerizing.) I tried to move on from the drama, but I just can't, I need more Ji Sung, so I'm about to finish "Dr. John" and I've no idea what I'll do with myself afterwards, LOL.
Run Yu started out a heart-breaking victim of the Emperor and his wife, and then out of the blue a switch moved and he turned into a main antagonist, and not only that, but it became clearer he had been moving in that direction for a while. But it all came from a place of hurt and frustration and quite a lot of a vengeful feeling - I completely FELT that scene when the Empress kills his mother and he raises his head to look at her. But he was redeemed in the end, even if he lost what he wanted. Can't wait to see LYX as Chu WanNing, he's going to be AMAZING... Here's keeping fingers crossed they do the tale justice!
"The Sleuth of Ming Dinasty" was a complete surprise for me - I didn't expect (very mild) BL, and such a cute ML (he's extremely cute, and I say this having watched thousands of cute guys in dramas, LOL). The story is also very good - I'm waiting for the whole novel to be translated (about a month or two now, I think) and then it'll be my holidays' reading LOL.) And Wang Zhi - I definitely wasn't expecting Wang Zhi. Okay, now I'm sad there's no more Wang Zhi. I could always do re-watches...
Gong Jun is amazing in WoH. I've seen him a few romantic series, and even started Flaming Heart, but put it aside for the moment. FH suffers from poor script, poor planning, lack of a budget and so on, and it was filmed way before WoH. You have to give it a try - his character, WKXand his partner, Zhou ZiShu are more gray than anybody has any business being in a BL OR romance drama. They fit perfectly and their path isn't that clear either. If you can find it, watch the special versions of the episodes (not all of them are special, there are some extra scenes that were presented to the international audience but removed for the Chinese one, scenes that hint at a lot more than bromance between them, LOL.) IMHO, Wen Ke Xing is Gong Jun's best character so far, from what I've seen. He's always been cute, but now he has some kind of radiance, you totally believe him as a bad guy/good guy dichotomy - and he did really demonstrate he had the acting chops to carry this character. Just... try the first three-four episodes. You won't regret it :)
I was thinking how many of LJG's roles are anti-heroes. He becomes one in "Time Between Dog and Wolf", he starts out as one in "Two Weeks", he's a very subtle one in "The King and the Clown", and he's kind of an asshole character, LOL, in "Arang and the Magistrate". I think the only series where he remains a true hero throughout are "Iljimae" and "Hero". Maybe. It's been a long time since "Hero". Maybe in "Criminal Minds" too, but TBH I don't like the original after the first season, and then the SK remake didn't make a huge impression on me. Oh, and in "ML:SHR", he's definitely an AH. I wish that drama got more recognition! :(
Gonna stop this rant here, LOL, because I keep remembering AHs in dramas I've watched and that's inductive of procrastination :D
Great article!I have been trying to find a Kdrama with a character the equivalent of Dexter (the US show). So…
Dexter is a lovable villain though, almost like Light Yagami in "Death Note", in my opinion. Or like Greed and Wrath in FMA (not the :B side, the first series.)
If you want to see someone just as much a villain while on the outside looking like a saint, watch "Mouse". (I dropped the drama, but it's not a reason not to recommend it to someone looking for a certain kind of MC.)
Also, "Rugal" and "Taxi Driver"(SK 2021, in case there are more of this title) might fall in the hunting-criminals-for-a-living trope drama where the hunters aren't all that clean themselves.
I just finished "The Devil Judge" so I'm nominating Kang Yo Han. Good backstory, unscrupulous AH, but in the end, he comes through for everyone. And Ji Sung, as usual - rocks it! Though TBH, I kind of loved the villain too.
And how come nobody nominated Run Yu yet? "Ashes of Love" would be pretty vanilla without him, and in the end I only watched it for him. He's another unscrupulous one, and at first you even take him for a victim, while he's been slowly moving toward his target all the while. And it definitely helps it's Luo YunXi (because he does wonders as a tortured hero descending into AH territory - but then his mask comes off.)
And last but not least at all, my latest favourite pragmatic AH who's almost a nice guy (he just doesn't usually show it to anyone, not even his very few friends): Wang Zhi (Liu Yao Yuan) from "The Sleuth of Ming Dinasty*. He's delicious, more so at times than the two MLs LOL, and he's never an outright hero either. He completely stole the show :D and I highly recommend it!
Edit, wait I have another one! Another unscrupulous type - Wen Ke Xing from "Word of Honor" is the mould of this type, LOL. Also a good backstory, he's a revengeful kind of person who plots ahead and it doesn't matter if innocents get in the way, oops! But then by the end he's completely redeemed. Kind of. (And you should just watch the drama for Gong Jun, because he's great in it!)
Edit 2: also, you tricked usss, you did! You showed usss an image from Moon Lovers and there's no Wang So inside, what's this, preciousss?!
And this article makes me realize I like the unscrupulous kind of AH more than any other kind. Hmm. In-teres-tinggggg.
This is now veeery slooooow-moooootion foodporn. For a series that only has 10 episodes planned, I was expecting more development by now.
But the music is really, really good, especially the BGM.
LPT: this is better watched while eating something. You still get a bit hungry, but it's taken care of immediately LOL.
PS I still won't get a Yamaha bike, I don't care how much they advertise it LOL. I was expecting that guy to go lick it or something as gross, that was all that was missing from that hard sales pitch :D
According to the interviews with the cast, everybody actually just wanted to play Xue Yang and even auditioned…
No, Xue Yang is the pretty youth who's just that tiny bit crazy - the one whom Xiao Xing Chen and his friend Song Lan caught and who was imprisoned in Qinghe (the Nie seat of power). XXC and SL are also wearing white and respectively black and travel together, but they're not from powerful clans and just wander around cleaning the world of bad things.
WWX and LWJ met Xue Yang and helped catch him in that manor with all the hanged corpses, in the first episodes, while they were trying to find the Yin Iron pieces. He also had some dealings related to the Yin Iron pieces with the Wen clan leader in the beginning of the flashback story, if you remember.
All the actors seemed to want to play him because he's a charming rogue (and crazy, as I said). I don't know how far you're into the drama so can't tell you more, but he still has an important part into the story toward the end.
YangLi's husband is Jin ZiXuan, the "peacock" as WWX nick-named him.
Noted !!! ... It's always a treat to binge-watch Cdramas, difficult to hang in cliffhangers
Ever Night!!! I watched season 1 and it's great - I didn't really appreciate it from the beginning, but I stayed on because of the amazing soundtrack. But then it grew on me, so much so that I REALLY didn't like the direction the second season took (and not because of the change of ML actors either.)
Hélas, I'll never know how to story ends, because I didn't read the novel (I don't know if it's even translated in English) :(
I didn't mean Fan Xian and Wan'er LOL. I know their ending. I meant Bing Yun :( and that scene that ended the first season. XZ probably won't return to the character, given the circumstances (though I hope he will) but the character is who I'm interested in - when his grandfather was telling his backstory to Fan Xian, while thinking FX was his lost grandson, my heart broke for YBY. The return is changed from the novel, and I got lost and never made sense of how YBY ends up. Since the novel and drama are already a bit different, I can't tell what would happen anyway... Oh well.
Noted !!! ... It's always a treat to binge-watch Cdramas, difficult to hang in cliffhangers
Ah, having Joy of Life withdrawal syndrome, too? That ending made me look up the novel, and the character (you know which one) and it's so different from the drama, I can't actually say what would really happen in a second season :(
I have no problem actually with strange endings, as long as they're definitely endings of a kind. A lot of times, by the time the next season comes around, I've already moved on anyway (happens with Western media too. )
Binge-watching rules! Although feels lonely since the watch party is over everyone seems have moved on... but…
Comments sections of popular but controversial dramas can get out of control very quickly. After one or two such instances, I came to better appreciate the less fuss of watching it on my own pace - after all, I can still leave a comment on it no matter what :D
But HOW can one survive and do anything meaningful and productive while waiting for the next week's episodes of this or that's suspenseful drama?! I could never. When a series is dropped complete - like Netflix just did with D.P., or how The Wolf aired - then it's heaven! I'm voting for all dramas to be released complete and at once :D Who's with me?
Noted !!! ... It's always a treat to binge-watch Cdramas, difficult to hang in cliffhangers
WHAT cliffhangers, LOL? They make me crazy stopping wherever it pleases them, LOL, in the middle of the scene, while a character prepares to give an answer, while a truck of doom (or the Chinese equivalent of) is trucking down the road, etc... I'm struggling to remember a cdrama where they respect an honest cliffie, seriously (kdramas don't suffer from this, dammit. Wait now I don't know how I prefer it anymore hmmmm).
3 
It just takes a lot of time and misunderstandings until then.
In that case, why isn't the informer dead, and where was HJH for a year? Or is the informer another gang's tool and he's an insider on removing the current mob boss?
OR. Is the informer actually another undercover agent who turned rogue and is now doing his own thing? (Or being controlled by the NIS mole, if there is one?)
I guess Hwang Hee won't be coming back as a bad guy... I would have loved to see him again.
At this point, after an explosive intro, they kind of mellowed it down immediately, which doesn't bode well - for me anyway. And even the beginning had its suspension of disbelief moments - like completely insanitary operation rooms that were supposed to be used to harvest organs. So much blood, so much dirt, no way to easily take the organs away to awaiting clients... It felt like a total gore setup for the sake of it.
I definitely cannot feel the cast gelling up - unless they want to make everybody into a suspect and the MC a lone wolf character. I don't know what Soo Yeon's deal is, but she came through as totally fake and lifeless (I've only seen the actress in Two Weeks, and her role there was pretty stereotypical.) We'll see if that's who the character is, or what the actress makes of her.
Just because I really really like Hwang Hee, I want Kyung Seok to be a double agent who betrayed them and faked his death to disappear to his island. (His GF didn't recognize the body, the ring was planted there rather impossible to miss, and he was in an undercover op, would he really have worn it?, and it was definitely an inside job.) I vote for KS to come back and be a villain. Let Hwang Hee break out of goody-two-shoes character types, please!
And in any case, Ji Hyuk's recruiter is definitely a suspect, because they always are.
For such a well-known actors studded cast, I definitely expected a lot more bang.
Also, question: I am not wrong, most of what's happening in the "now" is set in 2016, right? Because that's what was on HJH's medical records after he was retrieved. So we're going to have a time skip somewhere along the line, right?
Finally a big pet peeve of mine... Why did Namgoong Min have to bulk up so badly? He even does the gymrat walk (moving his feet in paralel lines, like he's always flexing his muscles.)
Normal people don't do that, is that supposed to be in character, or is it a NM thing?...
Gonna give it a few more eps at least, in hope of HH's return. Let him be a villain who's also smart, pretty please.
Also, F* Subway. Ate there once and never again. I know the producers need the sponsors, but the PPL is getting disgusting with three times SW meals in one episode. Let the poor guys go to a mom-and-pop restaurant every once in a while, no need to poison them all every day.
I might give it another episode then drop it if it continues like this - I like slow burn, but not glacier pace and there should be at least some actual chemistry between the leads at least. Too bad.
Nobody should lose their entire career/livelihood based only on slander from anonymous persons on the internet. If there's any truth to it, there would be proof or witnesses. If there's not, then public judgement should not convict a person who might be innocent (in some cases, just because it's trendy or the slanderer is seeking attention.)
So, after mentioning STLDFM, I just HAD to go to youtube and find "Give My Love". I still remember the lyrics (even the Korean ones) after all these years. They - and us - we were all so young! I'm probably going to do a Ji Sung marathon soon enough, LOL. "Defendant" looks good from here :D
Re: "Moon Lovers" - for me it's the other way around, I've only watched the Korean version and couldn't watch the Chinese original, though I hear it has a happier ending. I kind of like bittersweet endings, though, if they fit the overall story. I think I'm one of the few who really-really appreciated the ending of "Faith" for example, LOL. So ML's ending didn't phaze me... I just would've liked to see more of Wang So and less of Wang Wook's side love story. And as I'm usually drawn and caught by a drama's soundtrack, the ML OST is great (the BGM in particular.)
I have no idea why LJG is taking this year off - I've seen a news in his actor topic here that he's supposed to do a reality show for Netflix... but I really-really want to see a new drama from LJG. Pretty please with a cherry on top! Or else I'll have to dive into the last reserves of still-not-watched LJG dramas, and I don't have many left! *despair*
Run Yu started out a heart-breaking victim of the Emperor and his wife, and then out of the blue a switch moved and he turned into a main antagonist, and not only that, but it became clearer he had been moving in that direction for a while. But it all came from a place of hurt and frustration and quite a lot of a vengeful feeling - I completely FELT that scene when the Empress kills his mother and he raises his head to look at her. But he was redeemed in the end, even if he lost what he wanted. Can't wait to see LYX as Chu WanNing, he's going to be AMAZING... Here's keeping fingers crossed they do the tale justice!
"The Sleuth of Ming Dinasty" was a complete surprise for me - I didn't expect (very mild) BL, and such a cute ML (he's extremely cute, and I say this having watched thousands of cute guys in dramas, LOL). The story is also very good - I'm waiting for the whole novel to be translated (about a month or two now, I think) and then it'll be my holidays' reading LOL.) And Wang Zhi - I definitely wasn't expecting Wang Zhi. Okay, now I'm sad there's no more Wang Zhi. I could always do re-watches...
Gong Jun is amazing in WoH. I've seen him a few romantic series, and even started Flaming Heart, but put it aside for the moment. FH suffers from poor script, poor planning, lack of a budget and so on, and it was filmed way before WoH. You have to give it a try - his character, WKXand his partner, Zhou ZiShu are more gray than anybody has any business being in a BL OR romance drama. They fit perfectly and their path isn't that clear either. If you can find it, watch the special versions of the episodes (not all of them are special, there are some extra scenes that were presented to the international audience but removed for the Chinese one, scenes that hint at a lot more than bromance between them, LOL.) IMHO, Wen Ke Xing is Gong Jun's best character so far, from what I've seen. He's always been cute, but now he has some kind of radiance, you totally believe him as a bad guy/good guy dichotomy - and he did really demonstrate he had the acting chops to carry this character. Just... try the first three-four episodes. You won't regret it :)
I was thinking how many of LJG's roles are anti-heroes. He becomes one in "Time Between Dog and Wolf", he starts out as one in "Two Weeks", he's a very subtle one in "The King and the Clown", and he's kind of an asshole character, LOL, in "Arang and the Magistrate". I think the only series where he remains a true hero throughout are "Iljimae" and "Hero". Maybe. It's been a long time since "Hero". Maybe in "Criminal Minds" too, but TBH I don't like the original after the first season, and then the SK remake didn't make a huge impression on me. Oh, and in "ML:SHR", he's definitely an AH. I wish that drama got more recognition! :(
Gonna stop this rant here, LOL, because I keep remembering AHs in dramas I've watched and that's inductive of procrastination :D
If you want to see someone just as much a villain while on the outside looking like a saint, watch "Mouse". (I dropped the drama, but it's not a reason not to recommend it to someone looking for a certain kind of MC.)
Also, "Rugal" and "Taxi Driver"(SK 2021, in case there are more of this title) might fall in the hunting-criminals-for-a-living trope drama where the hunters aren't all that clean themselves.
I just finished "The Devil Judge" so I'm nominating Kang Yo Han. Good backstory, unscrupulous AH, but in the end, he comes through for everyone. And Ji Sung, as usual - rocks it! Though TBH, I kind of loved the villain too.
And how come nobody nominated Run Yu yet? "Ashes of Love" would be pretty vanilla without him, and in the end I only watched it for him. He's another unscrupulous one, and at first you even take him for a victim, while he's been slowly moving toward his target all the while. And it definitely helps it's Luo YunXi (because he does wonders as a tortured hero descending into AH territory - but then his mask comes off.)
And last but not least at all, my latest favourite pragmatic AH who's almost a nice guy (he just doesn't usually show it to anyone, not even his very few friends): Wang Zhi (Liu Yao Yuan) from "The Sleuth of Ming Dinasty*. He's delicious, more so at times than the two MLs LOL, and he's never an outright hero either. He completely stole the show :D and I highly recommend it!
Edit, wait I have another one! Another unscrupulous type - Wen Ke Xing from "Word of Honor" is the mould of this type, LOL. Also a good backstory, he's a revengeful kind of person who plots ahead and it doesn't matter if innocents get in the way, oops! But then by the end he's completely redeemed. Kind of. (And you should just watch the drama for Gong Jun, because he's great in it!)
Edit 2: also, you tricked usss, you did! You showed usss an image from Moon Lovers and there's no Wang So inside, what's this, preciousss?!
And this article makes me realize I like the unscrupulous kind of AH more than any other kind. Hmm. In-teres-tinggggg.
But the music is really, really good, especially the BGM.
LPT: this is better watched while eating something. You still get a bit hungry, but it's taken care of immediately LOL.
PS I still won't get a Yamaha bike, I don't care how much they advertise it LOL. I was expecting that guy to go lick it or something as gross, that was all that was missing from that hard sales pitch :D
WWX and LWJ met Xue Yang and helped catch him in that manor with all the hanged corpses, in the first episodes, while they were trying to find the Yin Iron pieces. He also had some dealings related to the Yin Iron pieces with the Wen clan leader in the beginning of the flashback story, if you remember.
All the actors seemed to want to play him because he's a charming rogue (and crazy, as I said). I don't know how far you're into the drama so can't tell you more, but he still has an important part into the story toward the end.
YangLi's husband is Jin ZiXuan, the "peacock" as WWX nick-named him.
Hélas, I'll never know how to story ends, because I didn't read the novel (I don't know if it's even translated in English) :(
I didn't mean Fan Xian and Wan'er LOL. I know their ending. I meant Bing Yun :( and that scene that ended the first season. XZ probably won't return to the character, given the circumstances (though I hope he will) but the character is who I'm interested in - when his grandfather was telling his backstory to Fan Xian, while thinking FX was his lost grandson, my heart broke for YBY. The return is changed from the novel, and I got lost and never made sense of how YBY ends up. Since the novel and drama are already a bit different, I can't tell what would happen anyway... Oh well.
Now, that's a binge-worthy drama :D
I have no problem actually with strange endings, as long as they're definitely endings of a kind. A lot of times, by the time the next season comes around, I've already moved on anyway (happens with Western media too. )
I love that drama for the paradoxes, for LJS and JHI (and for never there being a love triangle even with two MLs and a FL), and for the soundtrack.
LJS and JHI need to make another drama together, with stronger bonding/bromance. I'll take any drama with either of them at this point, though :)
But HOW can one survive and do anything meaningful and productive while waiting for the next week's episodes of this or that's suspenseful drama?! I could never. When a series is dropped complete - like Netflix just did with D.P., or how The Wolf aired - then it's heaven! I'm voting for all dramas to be released complete and at once :D Who's with me?
It's INFURIATING :D
But binge-watching just scratches that itch...