iheartsageuks
This K-Drama has a solid Story!
I tend to stay away from overly fantastical (ok, creature-based) K-Dramas but the reviews on this one (and the holiday blues) made me decide to binge it and see what I thought.
Most important thing to know: This drama has a solid story to it.
Definitely hits all the buttons on being a drama. It's filled with conflicted desires, jealousy, hate, passion and people driven by need, revenge and love.
It sounds cheesy but it's good anyway!
Here's my list of likes & dislikes *without spoilers*
1)It's a really good story. The plot is thought out, and there aren't any gaping holes at the end where you go "Yea, but what about...."
2)The symbolism peppered throughout. Very nice touch the producers and writers had on that one.
3) Lots of interwoven motives between the wide cast of characters.
The Cast:
1)Han Da Gam as Gu San Daek - wonderful range of expressions that were really pivotal in making one feel empathy for her character.
2) Jang Hyun Sung as Yoon Doo Su - I've only seen his more recent works and seeing him in his younger years and in a real, meaty role (as opposed to the smaller parts I've seen him in) is a treat!
3) Kim Gyu Chul as Head Minion of Yoon Doo Su. For me he was a sleeper-star in this drama! This guy really, really didn't have a lot of words but he didn't need them! You could feel his emotion and worry in his scenes and it was fantastic.
What I wasn't keen on:
1) The OST is awful. Lots of overly long, quasi-wailing singing. The non-singing bits tended to be repetitious and kind of annoying.
2) A lot of scenes were drawn out much longer than they needed to be.
I get that the producer (obviously) thought they had to be to make an emotional/dramatic impact, but I think they could have been edited out/down a considerable amount without losing impact or flow of the drama.
General Comments:
The Production:
Considering the age of this drama, I have to say it's much better than I expected. A lot of dramas made in the 2010-time frame (including Arang and the Magistrate for example) have awful OSTs and lighting that is horrible at times. You know, the glaring spotlights of light even though it's nighttime, or they're indoors in the dim light? You know the stuff I mean! Gumiho: Tale of the Fox's Child is better than average in that respect--while the soundtrack is awful, the lighting for most of the interior and exterior shots was very good and not glaringly artificial.
It'd be a 9.5 for me if it came with the overly long scenes edited, but even as it is I feel it's a firm 8 because the acting and the overall story is worth those hours of my life spent watching it!
Most important thing to know: This drama has a solid story to it.
Definitely hits all the buttons on being a drama. It's filled with conflicted desires, jealousy, hate, passion and people driven by need, revenge and love.
It sounds cheesy but it's good anyway!
Here's my list of likes & dislikes *without spoilers*
1)It's a really good story. The plot is thought out, and there aren't any gaping holes at the end where you go "Yea, but what about...."
2)The symbolism peppered throughout. Very nice touch the producers and writers had on that one.
3) Lots of interwoven motives between the wide cast of characters.
The Cast:
1)Han Da Gam as Gu San Daek - wonderful range of expressions that were really pivotal in making one feel empathy for her character.
2) Jang Hyun Sung as Yoon Doo Su - I've only seen his more recent works and seeing him in his younger years and in a real, meaty role (as opposed to the smaller parts I've seen him in) is a treat!
3) Kim Gyu Chul as Head Minion of Yoon Doo Su. For me he was a sleeper-star in this drama! This guy really, really didn't have a lot of words but he didn't need them! You could feel his emotion and worry in his scenes and it was fantastic.
What I wasn't keen on:
1) The OST is awful. Lots of overly long, quasi-wailing singing. The non-singing bits tended to be repetitious and kind of annoying.
2) A lot of scenes were drawn out much longer than they needed to be.
I get that the producer (obviously) thought they had to be to make an emotional/dramatic impact, but I think they could have been edited out/down a considerable amount without losing impact or flow of the drama.
General Comments:
The Production:
Considering the age of this drama, I have to say it's much better than I expected. A lot of dramas made in the 2010-time frame (including Arang and the Magistrate for example) have awful OSTs and lighting that is horrible at times. You know, the glaring spotlights of light even though it's nighttime, or they're indoors in the dim light? You know the stuff I mean! Gumiho: Tale of the Fox's Child is better than average in that respect--while the soundtrack is awful, the lighting for most of the interior and exterior shots was very good and not glaringly artificial.
It'd be a 9.5 for me if it came with the overly long scenes edited, but even as it is I feel it's a firm 8 because the acting and the overall story is worth those hours of my life spent watching it!
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