Hands down the best drama I've ever watched. Even my all time faves Signal, Punch, and Secret Forest can't make me feel the way I feel watching this drama. I think it's better if people go into this drama knowing as little as possible. The title, the summary, it can be misleading and I know it deterred some people away from watching it, but TRUST. This is the most well made drama in all of my 12-13 years of watching dramas. Every character serves a purpose, and every character has a story that won't be abandoned by the writer. The writing, directing, acting, just everything is beautiful, realistic, and compelling. And oddly enough, no matter how dark, how quiet, how melo it can get, it's never boring. This drama makes walking home from work it's freaking runway. I can confidently say that this drama has changed my outlook on life and humanity. I want to be a better person because of it, and I think this story will resonate with a lot of people who are going through rough times in life and comfort them. IU and Lee Sun Kyun were exceptional in this drama, and their chemistry together... WOW. Not only were there sparks, but those sparks ignited into a blazing flame. If you told me 2.5 months ago that IU and Lee Sun Kyun would have such amazing chemistry together, I'd scoff at the thought. These two have SO much compassion and understanding for another in such an undefinable, profound way. There's no romance between the leads but there is LOVE. My heart literally aches thinking about it. Anyone who is hesitating to start this drama, don't hesitate and jump right into it. It's practically an injustice to describe this drama in words. It must be seen and it must be heard. Most people get hooked around ep 3/4 and from there on there's no coming back. Also, don't skip parts! The attention to detail is really important, even down to the sounds. So crank up your volume and discover why My Mister is an all time favourite.

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let me start by saying, OH.MY.GOD. What a phenomenal rollercoaster of a drama that was. NIF1 does not need to be watched before watching NIF2, though there are occasional small references to the 1st that's nice to catch onto. For most people, if they compared this to the NIF1, they'd give it a 9/10. If they viewed it as it's own separate drama, it's definitely a 10/10. Now I LOVED NIF1, it's my favourite c-drama (well, past tense now). I loved the plot, and I loved how smart the characters were, the detailed plotting and strategy of it all. If I were to compare 1&2, I'd say NIF1 took me by the brains but NIF2 took me by the heart. It's so rare for me to find characters that I become emotionally attached to and this drama knew exactly how to tug at my heartstrings in all the right directions. There are so many inherently good characters in this drama and not just good, but smart good if you know what I mean. You can't help but root for their success and their happiness, and cry when they're in sorrow.. I even felt compassion for a lot of the "villains" in this. There was rationale and practicality behind these characters. Most importantly, this drama told stories of acts of heroism not just by main leads, but the efforts of the middle men and little men that never often get their stories told. This whole drama is about unison, an "US", not YOU or ME. The lead couples were just ughhhh my heart ached for them. At some point tears just consistently flowed out of my tear ducts because that's how emotionally invested I was. I HIGHLY recommend this.

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Almost, but not yet.

I really like action, thriller, and moderate gore. This drama in season 1&2 managed to deliver all three. However, I always find that there's something amiss in Kingdom that stops me from loving it. I wished they had expanded on our main characters of the story... the characters are flat and focused on present-day survival, which limits the emotional impact of the whole series when you don't feel attached to any of our heroes. Kingdom feels like a very long slow-burn movie. There's nothing more to say about CG SFX, it was great. Fight scenes were good too. Again, characters need backstory and development. The most interesting moment of s2 are the last few mins of the finale.

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A Must Watch of 2019

Before Hotel Del Luna can be called a "romance", it is first and foremost a drama about existing. HDL tells stories of our hotel guests' plight towards their own ends while shining a light on social issues, our faith, humanity, and humanity's inability to concretely define right from wrong.

The central core to HDL is our anti-heroine President Jang Man Wol, owner of HDL. She is as much the owner of this seemingly grand hotel for ghosts as she is an equally trapped prisoner of her own memory.
I enjoyed how the ghost's stories unravelling in each episode somehow tied to JMW's storyline, and what she learns each incidence propels her towards a new choice in her own life.

IU is evidently the star of the show as the script focuses ENTIRELY on building her character and oh boy... she does not disappoint. IU delivered a beyond stellar performance. Her styling, layered facial expressions, tone of voice... I could write an entire essay about how delicately complicated her portrayal of JMW was, I digress, she is genius here. She also opened up an instagram account for JMW as an interactive way to connect with viewers. It was fun seeing her insta posts align with what was happening in the drama each week.
I LOVED Goo Chan Sung and JMW's chemistry. Their actions and words are vital in their relationship and so powerful to them. This drama won't be for you if you're looking for a giddy, sizzling, or somewhat cheesy romance. The writers paid attention not to conform to predictable romantic tropes and antics. Their relationship is much more mature, rooted in real compassion for each other as humans.

The drama has no plot holes, isn't draggy either but well-paced for its theme of forgiveness and proper farewells. I felt so at peace with how this drama ended.

I highly recommend this drama if you like stories about human life, forgiveness, revenge and redemption with a supernatural element. The cinematography, CG, acting, and OSTs are perfection. HDL is a very touching story and a treasure in execution.

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