ShortCircuit

Ohshitohshitohshit, his father is the evil mastermind?! For real?! Are they going to confront him as the final boss of this dungeon/season 1?

He sure didn't look like he was too busy while he was drinking himself into stupor nightly. Who lit the fire under him?

I was afraid TS will just leave the school and go on his own to that Xi city thing arena, because that's what shounen anime kid heroes usually do. He chose instead to come out to MHJ and they've bonded even closer than before. Go Team!!

For some reason, though the episodes are only about 40 minutes long, including the op and ending, they pack a lot of story. I like that. I was afraid it'll make no sense, but it does, good for us.

Also, OMG WHAT DO YOU MEAN DMB IS GOING TO DIE SOON?! Hot really old sister of cat lady, come back THIS INSTANT and tell me your soul power is NOT predicting the future (accurately). Because unless it is, I can tell you right now that there's something there that wasn't there before between DMB and cat lady and she won't let him die that easily, and her claws into HLN's neck are certain proof. Which reminds me, what the heck is HLN's problem?! What does she want with DMB?! Hands off, he's cat lady's cattoy!!

I NEVER in a MILLION years expected that most of TS's powers will be poison-related. Usually the good guy's powers are all so squeaky clean, manly powerful fighting things, but he's oh, well, a POISON master LOL. I like that. I want more. And what will happen to the student he accidentally helped poison?!

But are those three rings only related to the Blue Silver Plant Martial Soul? Would he - or should he - get rings related to the Hammer, too? And what about the violet eyes power thing, is that going to be included in his development somehow? If his dad really is the bad evil mastermind, all his growth won't help TS put him down (if he needs putting down) in the long term...

Aaaaah so much time to wait until tomorrow.

PS: XW is running rings around them now, LOL. I loved their faces when she said, umm, well, I guess I got two Soul Rings in an afternnoon, life uhh... finds a way? Hahahaha

Up to episode 17, this is getting addictive.

I think Eun Ho didn't actually call her (there's a scene when he's in the back of Choi Dae Hoon's car, but she might have imagined that he called her from inside it, as they - her and Lee Jae Hong - had just found the car there.) But the caller didn't speak, and immediately after Baek Sang Ho got there and "rescued" Eun Ho, he took his phone away. I think - though I might be wrong - HE called Young Jin, just as he did twenty years back, but didn't dare speak in case she recognized his voice. That's how I explained it to myself, anyway.

As for Soon Ah, I imagine the same he told her when she went against him before - things like, you're mine to do as I please, blah-blah-blah. Her back story is the one least explained, so who knows what he precisely did to "rescue" her in the past. I don't think he was ever as crazy as to actually care about the ritual of the killing, so the fact he tried to kill her the same way as the serial victims might be just habit.

Eun Ho has a small circle of suspects to choose from, and his clues all point to someone in their church's ring. His mother was active in the church, he's going to the church's school, he has a genetically-related afliction that the director also has, etc... It might just be Eun Ho going through an elimination process. He might've intended to try all males who have the same sneeze reflex in his life, LOL. Also, his mother drinks a lot. She might have spilled the secret at some time in the past.

They never explained how Gi Ho found the recording, but it was probably moved somewhere by the pastor before he died, so that he could deduct its location eventually based on what he knew of the pastor. Maybe at some lawyer's place, even, as he eventually got to go through some papers regarding the church's possessions.
Don't know about the secret code... but the pastor or church secretary knew Seo Sang Won was crazy and that he killed all those people, and that he "trained" Baek Sang Ho too. They probably approved (SSW is after all a crazy prophet, religious types like those people), but even so, they wouldn't want for the truth to come out and link the church and their properties to everything SSW did. So they prepared the coded map as a precaution, just in case. Insurance against the day BSH became too greedy and came for them. And then died unexpectedly, so that insurance came to be used by others, LOL.

Not sure how on the point I am, just what I understood of those things. Good thing everyone who counted got their HEA or at least their HFN :)

Go away venomous human-headed spider that I blinded with a nail, I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR YOU. Unless you want to become my third ring.

It was at that moment the spider knew it done f*cked up.

Poor OSK - his super powers is making sausages. Now, imagine Master's pigdog fed on OSK's sausages, what feats could the do together? :D But at least he impressed his crush. Never before was a girl so happy to see a master chef LOL. They're gonna be so happy together :D

I'm right, aren't I, XW is herself a human-turned Soul Beast, right? The Titan Ape was all parent-like hovering over her, like "you young missy will get back home and you'll be grounded til you're gray and a grandmother!"

TS at the end of episode 15 be like...

Rong Rong and Ou Si Ke's interactions are making me LOL (he's going to be a whipped husband to her, isn't he?), Dai Mu Bai got a bit more interesting with his on the side arena fighting, EVERYBODY but Tang San lied to cover everybody else, which is also hilarious (particularly when Headmaster's nightsight is better than his daysight LOL), and BEST OF ALL,

THEY'RE ACTING LIKE A TEAM.

I love that. The first few eps were dedicated to TS and XW, but now we're getting introduced to the other main characters, and I like how they're all fleshed out, no screen time wasted.

What the heck is OSK's Martial Soul?! Don't tell me though, I want to be surprised.

Also, doesn't Headmaster know that TS is supposedly born also with full Soul Power, like OSK? Or TS's dad never told Master either? I forget. Or didn't the officer who woke up TS's soul tell anyone of his superiors? Then Hu Lie Na should be aware of that, shouldn't she?

But. Precious moments to be noted:

1. The manly men trio of boys trying to get some training done, only to be repeatedly stopped by OSK fluttering about. Those expressions. They were down to seed eating like they were watching a show. I was ROFL :D

2. In the previous eps, when we were getting told MHJ's story.

DMB: We should look for MHJ and catch him and the monster.
TS (every five minutes): Yeah, but those chickens...
DMB: Did you find MHJ?
TS (every five minutes): No, but those chickens...
DMB&everybody else: Anyone notice anything unusual?
TS (once): The chickens don't poop. (ROFL!!!)
The chickens: poop
TS: Yeah right, like that isn't particularly suspicious at all *eyeroll*

I don't know about you guys, but I've laughed more with this drama than I'd laughed at many "comedies" (Mr. Queen not included) in the past few years.

Can't wait to see where this show goes! I hope for many more (timely) seasons with the same cast, if they end up being a multi-season tale. Jiayou, Team Shrek!

Ma Hong Jun's introduction took a lot of time, BUT, episodes 12-13 were hilarious and reminded me again that I actually quite like this drama.

I'll take that - but if he EVER mentions ANYthing about sand... I'm gonna pop out a rib laughing.

Seriously, even his hairdo and outfit make him look like a Padawan (and not gonna lie, when I was younger I liked those SW outfits quite a lot, so it's actually a compliment.) But I haven't seen him fight seriously yet, just teasing Cat Lady (sorry, didn't catch her name). Can't wait to see him fight Tang San and really go at it.

The fights are worth all the hype so far. If this was 3D... I so wish!...

Was this filmed around the time of TU? Episode 9 gave me a lot of TU vibes - like Tang San's interrogation skills looking just something straight out of WWX's playbook. I kept expecting LZ to come out and yell "surprise"... oh okay, he wouldn't yell. And that gargoyle at the crossroads to the village sure looked just like the one guarding the path to Yi City (of which the village also reminded me of.) I bet someone transformed a lot of people into chickens in that village, too. Or if not, then my story tropes have mislead me :D

Also, TS sure cried a lot in the first few eps for someone who said crying doesn't solve anything, LOL.

Xiao Wu looks like she'll turn out to be something else than what she says she is - is she a thousand-millenia old Soul Beast?

The fights are SO COOL!!!! I could watch them all day. I really wish they'd fight more. With plot progression too, obviously.

But so far, I'm liking it. It's way more teen-oriented than I would have preferred but then, it's not like I wanted a psychologically charged story. And I laughed a lot - I'm just so sorry to think that a lot of the jokes would be lost in translation, because what comes through is really funny. And XZ's expressions whenever OSK assaults him with his dreams of art are FANTASTIC :D

Wait, before I forget - is Hu Lie Na a fox? Her name sounds so homophonically "fox", LOL.

This is way more fun than I'd expected. I get the transition from donghua to drama or novel to drama had to be painful, due to censorship of themes and a crunching of a lot of time, but it still remains very easy to watch.

So far - impressions: Dai Mu Bai is a Padawan going to the Dark Side slowly but surely (he gave me really strong Anakin vibes, LOL), Ou Si Ke can talk ANYONE's ear off (he did mine), Master has a lot of secrets, the cat lady is going places, LOL.

So, I watched a few Gundam anime (I like mecha, I wish they still made awesome fighting robots anime!!).

And I don't know if you watched any, but just in case, there's this series - Gundam SEED and SEED Destiny - that has as MCs two Gundam pilots, Athrun Zala (my crush) and Kira (not my crush). There's a lot of serious things going on in those series, among them children going to war, people dying on screen, a few really dazed off singers and whatnot, amazing music and awesome Gundam fights. And then they went and made a series of "character theatre" chibi parodies based on those, which are also AMAZING (and pretty gay LOL).

The reason I like the interraction between Hong and Hwan is that they remind me of these guys (not in the mecha sense, LOL), but... See for yourself. It's self-explanatory even if you haven't seen the series.

Athrun - Hong, Kira - Kim Hwan, Shinn - Yeon or anyone else trying to get between them. LOL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ize6y4MZaOc

(And in case you like anime, and considered mecha... Gundam is the way to go. SEED and SEED Destiny are my faves, but there are so many, many more!)

It's a serious thing, between them, did you notice them getting misty eyed when Hwan admitted it's not a clan or self-interest thing that got him to befriend Director Hong?

So cute!

And Prince YeongPyeong's antennas behind Hong, twitching the rainbow alert, LOL, while he couldn't EXACTLY say what was wrong, ROFL!

So many people in dramas threw themselves off from that cliff (or cliffs very similar to that), lol. I am trying hard to see if it's part of the rocky place where the confrontation in Flower of Evil takes place. A bit too woodsy, IMHO...

... Too many jumps and falls from high places, can't remember.

Technically it was her - So Young in the past. But truthfully, it's not her any more, as her soul got attached to JBH's. There are only some memories, not the personality. So she's being truthful - plus she doesn't want the King to go all mushy on her. They are men together in this, lol.

Let's make a list.

KBI turning psycho and then being redeemed in the preview is all right with me. If anyone has to die in this series, he can go. I don't mind.

I hope prince YeongPyeong gets to be with JHJ, they deserve each other. Though I don't see why the Queen had to tell her CJ isn't dead. I mean, is she supposed to help getting him back in the palace or something?

I wanna believe Lady Choi will make it back to good health under the tender care of the Royal Chef. And that will happen because I said so.

I also think the "herb-gatherer" is a guard KBI placed on the King just to make sure he stays put. I still have a feeling they cooked up this whole thing together.

Last but not least... I want those two guys blundering about to realize their feelings, lol. It's so obvious. I don't want Hong Yeon to come between them :D

I am pretty sure it's going to be a happy ending. Don't know why.

Also, everybody in agreement that SHS deserves that Daesang? Let's see a show of hands.

Thought so :D

More thriller/detective stories that are good (but not like FoE is good; trust me, I'm into this genre and there's no other like it, yet.)

Tunnel (starring Choi Jin Hyuk and Yoon Hyun Min). It's a story about a detective in the 80s time travelling through a tunnel into the 2010s and trying to solve a serial killer case then, while also finding his lost-in-time family. It's really good and there's a lot more comedic moments than in FoE.

Nobody Knows (starring Kim Seo Hyung and Ryu Deok Hwan). Just finished this one, and it's extremely good - it's about a highly dedicated detective who made it her life's work to catch the serial killer who took her only friend away. People around her get involved, and her found-family son (he's not her child, it's how deep the friendship goes) becomes a target - or a suspect in it. Highly recommended.

Signal (starring Lee Je Joon and Jo Jin Woong). It's about a few unsolved murders and disappearences that are coming to the limelight when a detective finds a radio that seems to connect to the past and starts communicating with a (since missing) detective investigating the cases. Also recommended.

Life on Mars (starring Jung Kyung Ho and Park Sung Woong). It's a remake of the UK series. A lead detective chasing a suspect is hit by a car and wakes up in the 80s, where he has to adapt, try to solve the murders and also find a way back. While doing that, he grows fond of the people around him and leaving becomes a harder choice than he'd have imagined. I love the ending. It's one of my favourite series ever. Highly recommended.

These are also in the top shows list LOL, and they deserve it. Also, there's little to no romance involved, so that's good IMHO (for detective/thrillers I mean).

Honorary mentions:

Two Weeks (starring Lee Joon Gi): it's the Korean drama version of "The Fugitive". A man finds out he's a dad and he's a match for his daughter's needed marrow transplant. At the same time, he's getting framed for a murder he didn't do - and he has two weeks to escape being sent to prison and certain death while waiting for the transplant procedures to take place. The daughter is precious, one of the cutest child actors ever. And LJG is LJG - he really has a great range but is best at melo-action dramas. If you can take older dramas (there's a marked difference on how they were filmed and what kind of plots people were interested in), have a look at "Time Between Wolf and Dog" - his co-star there is Jung Kyung Ho, another great actor, and the story is pretty good, with a non-cartoonish villain character and just a hint of "The Bourne Identity" (the book plot, not the movies).

Bad Guys (starring Kim Sang Joong and Park Hae Jin; the original 2014 OCN series, because there are a few sequels). A detective gets a green flag to form a ragtag team of convicted fellons in order to fight fire with fire - have them solve crimes by placing themselves into the criminals' mindsets and fishing them out. While the team is bonding and working out the kinks, some older murders appear to have been committed by someone who's on the team. Well worth the watch.

And if you want to be WOWed by kdramas, don't stay in the same genre.

Right at this moment there's a phenomenon you'd probably not want to miss - a fusion comedy sageuk that is TO DIE FOR: Mr. Queen. It's extraordinary and it ends next week. I'm so torn. I want more of it, while also wanting to know how it ends. LOL. Check it out, you won't be sorry.

And welcome to kdrama :)

Also, "If I do that, I won't live" while trying to find ways to appease the Queen LOL. That was beau-ti-fullllll!

ROAR!! They're making out under the excuse of giving people another rumour to spread, LOL. That was way too hot. Are they both exhibitionists? Who needs a bedroom scene when you get THAT thrown in your face? (OK just kidding, give me more.)

The ending... The King is so freaking hot when fighting. So is KBI to be honest. I just love the costumes, they're gorgeous when worn by beautiful people. I guess we're heading towards a fake death from falling into the river from a height (if we concentrate well enough we might recognize the place, LOL, the trope has been used for so many times BUT I approve of it this time. Bring it on!)

I kind of see an ending when the tiger and his mate go back to the future together... but remaining in Joseon and winning there isn't off the table either.

This drama!!!

This episode was one of the best... That pavillion scene tho' *blushing*

OMG this started!!!