Imara
From Spain
First I should say that one of the first Asian dramas I watched was Hana Yori Dango (the Japanese version), and even if we can admit is far from perfect, I enjoyed it. Later, Netflix had Boys over flowers, and I decide to give it a try to compare between the two versions. But, since the beginning I couldn't stand the female lead. Not only she is far far away from pretty, or normal (what an awful hairstyle she has), but also I think she tried to be funny and failed terribly.
Not for a second I could believe Goo Joon Pyo would fall for her (in fact, zero chemistry there), nor Yoon Ji Hoo, who, by the way, it's kind of masochistic because it does not make any sense that he follows her for so many years, helping and saving her all that time, without nothing in return.
So... For the story, nothing original, but the main problem is the plot, no sense at all. The acting... It could be muuuuch better. The music, overall the main song, drives me nuts, and no, I'm not going to rewatch it never ever. I only finished it because I have a problem with dropping books and series and I lost my time finishing them. Conclusion: if you want to watch something lightly funny, go for the j-version. It worth the watching even only to see Matsumoto Jun and Oguri Shun together.
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Story: it was ok, a melo for sure, but in a serious way, at the same time enough realistic and positive. Knowing now that it was inspired on a true accident in a shopping mall in 1995, I think the director and the screenwriter did a good job portraying the main leads as survivors of this.
I wasn’t bored watching it, but I wasn’t hooked either. I didn’t like that the male lead had to surpass so many problems, the last two or three episodes were unnecessary. On the other hand, between episode 10 and 14 sometimes it repeats itself... the rest is ok, the side stories are nice too, although some of them were too easily solved and others weren’t developed as they should.
There were no unnecessary tropes, no love triangle, no villain roles... I really appreciated all these facts.
Acting: I liked very much Lee Jun Ho as Gand Do... I haven’t see him in the past and after this I hope to see him again in the future. I liked too the female lead. She was ok, and they were great together.
Music: a really good OST. It filled the episodes and the emotions in the right time.
Rewatch value: I don’t think I’d watch again. Two many things to see before rewatching this.
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On the other hand, there's no surprise for a k-drama. You have the 2nd male lead who is a nice guy, the witch-mother in law... almost every one of the stereotypes of this kind of drama, but at least, in a really short time.
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It's a bittersweet and realistic (in a k-drama way) story of friendship, love and how to go from youthfulness to adulthood.
Acting: I had a serious second male syndrome with the male lead Choi Min Ho. His character is so kindly and gentle that even unwittingly you root for him to win the girl. Even so, I liked the ending, it's realistic, there are no tropes and it's a very fresh show to watch.
Music: I don't remember much of it, but I think it was ok through the drama.
Rewatch value: perhaps I will see some parts of it.
Final conclusion: without any doubt I recommend this drama if you want to see something fresh where you are going to smile so much that probably your jaw will hurt. Enjoy it!
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First of all, it was strange to see a Korean drama in the streets, trains, buildings that are so common for me. On the other hand there were some incoherences for a Spanish watcher (as to see the train lines in Catalan language when they are in the South of Spain, or that many of the Spanish extras in the drama had latin american accent). I'm aware that Korean people would never know all this, but I think the production could have done a better work.
I liked the story very much, all the action around the game and the augmented reality. It was really good. I didn't like at all the pseudo romance, it was completely unnecessary.
About the acting, Hyun Bin was really good. The drama is about him, and he does what he should do. On the other hand, Park Shin Hye’s role was unnecessary too. She does not add anything to the story nor she helps the male lead in any way. And, moreover, they could have chosen somebody who could speak Spanish (as Seo Ye Ji who at least studied at the university in Spain). Nobody could believe that someone who had been in a different country for 12 years could speak the language so bad. Even her brother Se Jo was much much better when he spoke in Spanish.
I didn't expect anything else from the ending, so I can't say I'm disappointed. I don't think either that the male and female lead happy ending would be a good ending… but I understand the bad reviews about this though.
If you want to watch something slightly different, with a new sci-fi story, a lot of action and different settings, go for it. But don't expect too much from it.
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The rest is not necessary. The role of the second leads is soooo flat... They are 2D, no development nor coherence at all and their stories are boring too.
Acting: I decided to watch it for Lee Min Ho (though I have to admit that I can't think of him as a good actor after having seen him at least 4 times already). He could have done much better. I think he was slightly better than in Heirs, but anyway, his role was boring. I didn't like very much neither the female lead, her role was too childish, she cries a lot and on the other hand, how is it possible that she works with so dangerous tools but she is not capable of picking a broken cup without cutting herself a finger?? Incomprehensible!
Music: I didn't remember, so I suppose it wasn't memorable.
Rewatch: as I saw before in another review for this drama in MDL, why would I do that to myself?
The better in one word: the house Sanggojae.
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The scenes they are together are awesome. The story wasn't at all what I was expecting and you are keeped on the edge cause you don't know what is going to happen just almost until the last minute.
The acting is very good. Perhaps I'm not really objective, cause both actors are among my favorite Japanese actors ever, but even at the end of this drama, I couldn't guess what Ryuzaki Ikuo (Ikuta Toma) was thinking to do. Ueno Juri's acting was good too.
If you aims to watch something with a good mistery, action and good actors, this is it!
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I like her very much, but I didn’t get the plot of the story, there are flaws everywhere, no chemistry between main leads and overall, nobody who is so bad treated as IU would continue loving the main lead (moreover with so many awful hairstyles as him), having someone as David Cho beside her...
So, the only positive thing is that sometimes the instrumental music was ok...Only watch it if you have tons of free time and nothing better to do.
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The good:
It’s completely addictive. I binge-watched it and I almost never got bored, with the exception of some episodes between the 12 and 19 (too much training for me. Everybody knew she was training… why would we need so many episodes with this?)
Even if some people say it is too violent (yeah, it is, no doubt), I liked the first episode. Violent, hard and brutal, but so much action!
The interactions among the main leads are really good. Since the beginning you are going to enjoy them between Yun Wen and Xinh’er, and she and Yan Xun.
I loved the female lead and all the fights, wars and combats she was in. They were amazing. It’s a pleasure to see a female lead that is brave, courageous, honest with her goals and that will do everything in her power to protect what she believes.
The so-so:
The romance. It wasn’t my main interest, so, I wasn’t completely disappointed by the lack of it. But, in my opinion, if you are going to shoot 58 episodes of this, at least the screenwriters could have done their job better. Chu Qiao was with Wen Yue for some time, and she spent three years in isolation with Yan Xun (eight in the novel!). How is it possible we couldn’t be sure she had something with any of them? Or at least, I didn’t get it if she was in love with one or the other. I had the feeling that first she was more in a survival kind of way, and after that, she was following a dream that wasn’t hers but she didn’t know at the moment.
Some of the side storylines were nonsense. The screenwriters started to develop them and they got anywhere. What happened with the concubine who had helped Chu Qiao when she was a kid? In an episode she swore to protect Chu Qiao with her life and almost the next episode, the same concubine suffered a misfortune and although Chu Qiao didn’t do it, she put the blame on her and swore to kill her. And then… we don’t know anything else from here. And unfortunately this is not the only side storyline who goes anywhere…
The “really, the direction and the script should think these things over (and over and over…) and improve them for next time”.
The CGI is deplorable. I think it is the worst I’ve seen since I’ve started watching Chinese dramas. Besides, I saw that there were a lot of scenes from Zanilia Zhao where it was easy to see they were “studio made”. They are not difficult scenes or anything, some of them were just dialogues. For example the FL is in the forest with someone else and Zanilia Zhao is supposed to be talking with this person but you can see the person who is answering back is really in “the nature” instead of Zanilia Zhao, that has the same awful quality as when the characters are flying or riding a horse. I still don’t know why it was like this, if she was sick, or if she is a maniac and could act in front of others… but it is pathetic.
The ending: no spoilers, but the only way I could have stood this ending was looking for the novel online and reading all of it. And that is what I did. So, right now I have a peaceful mind because I could read the book until the end, to know what happened later. In fact, the ending episode was the 194 chapter or so, and the book has 292 chapters… it’s not in the middle but kind of, and there are a lot of things that are still to happen.
What else? I didn’t pay attention to the music, and I’m not sure about the rewatching value, because I loved it very much but there are flaws everywhere. So, even if 58 episodes seem really long, you will be addicted to it in a moment. Try it and don’t get disappointed at the end… there’s a book to finish the job the show didn’t do.
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The almost only BUT (really big) for me it’s that this drama would have been so much better if the female lead wouldn’t be so unbearable. Her role in here (first time seeing this actress) is maddening. She is shouting and crying and shouting really loud all the time. It was so tiring that after episode 10 I was just about to drop it out.
The music it’s ok, it doesn’t bother the story. Overall, I liked the main song, that I already knew even before watching the drama.
Rewatch: it’s a no for me... too many screams. But, if you haven’t watch it, you can give it a try, overall if you want to see the sexiest Ji Sung as Shin Se Gi and his amazing acting job.
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Acting: Miura Haruma is simply amazing in this drama. Nobody could have done this lead better than him. The rest of the cast was ok too.
Music: I liked it. Most of the time it was right for the moment… And it made you cry even more.
Rewatch: sorry, but no. Although the positive and meaningful moral of it, I didn't like the end, and it would be too difficult to see it again.
So, if you are a hard crier, cold-hearted, and/or you are not afraid of watching a really good sad drama, go for it. It's worth the time.
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Story: the first 5 episodes made me been completely hooked... they were interesting, funny and I liked the story, the secrets, the enemies...
After that, from the 6 or 7 episode until de 12 or so, the story gets messy and it focus only on the love triangle (ok, let's be honest, there's no such thing as a love triangle, since the beginning one of them - if you have watched the show you know whom - had 0 opportunity). Half way I was more interested in a second love story that the main lead couple. Luckily, it gets again better from episode 13, more fighting, friending and intrigues until the end.
Besides, in my opinion, there are too many dead ends in some things they have should explained better...
Acting/cast: I liked the male actors, overall Park Hyung Sik as the hidden King and the Hwarang second leads. On the other hand, I couldn't stand the female main lead. I usually don't like when women are extremely stupid. I know it depends on the time the story is set up, but anyway, Ah Ro was unbearable. I agree with some reviews that say that the main female lead only knows how to cry, be saved and make silly faces as she is angry or mad at the main male lead. It's was tiring.
Music: ok, not the best, but catchy.
Rewatch value: I don't think I'll see this show again, except some scenes with the king.
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I've watch the 20 episodes in a couple of days, I was so hooked to this serie that I couldn't stop for a day.
The acting was really good, there was a great chemistry between the main couple, and I really liked that Chae Yeong Shin was a character with a strong personality (and to see her dancing :-D). I hadn't see Ji Chang Wook before this show, and I loved him doing different roles, overall as a shy and clumsy journalist.
I didn't rate a 10/10 because I think than even if the show is really great, there are some things I would have liked they'd have a better conclusive ending. For example, what did happen with Kim Moon Hoo brother? Did his wife do something about him lying all the time? I'd have liked to see a bit more of the main coupe life after everything is resolved... So, I know they're minor things, but it would have been wonderful to see them.
The OST was ok, I really liked the main song Eternal Love.
Rewatch value: I don't usually rematch a show, except if I liked it very much (like Goblin and Strong woman Do Bong Soon), so there's a really high possibility I'll watch this show again in the future.
Overall: you should watch it... if you don't drop it before episode 3 or 4, after that it's impossible not to want to see what's going to happen.
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After this, I watched lots of k-dramas, so I guess this show is to blame that now I'm a k-drama addict. And even having watching so many of them, anything could be compared to Goblin. Without any doubt it's the best drama I've ever seen in my entire life.
Everything is wonderful. The story (from a non-used to k-dramas point of view) is kind of unusual. The photography, the settings (oh, Quebec, one of the most wonderful places I've ever been), the dialogues, the humor, the bromance, the romance...
I love Gong Yoo in every one of the things he has done, but here he is amazing as the lonely tokebi. For the rest of the casting, they are all perfect, overall Lee Dong Wook as the Grim Reaper (his bromance with the Goblin is mythic, so funny!)
Other thing that I really liked in this show is that you don't have a love triangle, nor the tropes so used in other dramas, and you have the opportunity to see the evolution in both couples.
The only thing I complain is that the main couple does not have much explanation time at the ending as they should have. There were too much time to explain the Grim Reapers and Sunny (not Sun Hee) future and not so much for the main couple... Dommage!
This show taugh me so many things I could continue for hours explaining why everybody should watch it.
I have read some bad reviews explaining that it's so slow that is boring. I don't know but for me it wasn't slow at all. It had the right pace for a perfect development of the story and the characters.
Music: loved it. One of by k-drama OST.
Rewatch value: I've watched this show three times already and I watch it every now and then while I deciding what to see next.
So, last advise, DON'T MISS IT, BEST DRAMA EVER!
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Start it episode 1 minute 22, finish it episode 40 minute 22 (or episode 36 for better ending...)
The most important thing I should say to everybody who is thinking on watching this drama is… go on, but skip the modern part of the drama. It has nothing to do with the rest of the drama. Really NOTHING. The best way to enjoy this drama is to start from the 22nd minute in the first episode and to watch until minute 21 in episode 40, if you want to be true to the story. If you prefer an open (happy?) ending, don’t watch the last 4 episodes.Story: I only started this 40 episode drama because I wanted to see Zhu Yi Long. I had seen him in Guardian and he was amazing, and for the same reason as I decided to see this drama I did in the past for True Friend (big dissapointment indeed). So, after haven’t liked his role in True Friend I decided to try again with this. And OMG, he’s amazing in this one.
It’s a melodrama, so you have a lot of characters in 2D, that overact their role and sometimes they do several things nobody could never ever understand. But, the two male leads and the female lead were ok.
Even if it is a long drama, there’s no moment when you are bored (exception done for the present time). All the time things are happening, sometimes you would not understand why the characters are doing them, sometimes you are going to smile because the CGI effects are terribly bad done, and most of the time you would like to hit Xu Xing Chen cause he became a really crazy (and coward) character.
The female lead was ok. I prefered her at the beginning when she was more a “kun-fu woman I do what I want, what I like when I want” than “I need to be saved for any man around”, but, in her defense, with Fu Sheng, they have an amazing chemistry, and she worked well with both male leads. But, sometimes I could’nt understand very well her decisions...
And, on the other hand, you have Fu Sheng… so brave, so affectionate, so so cool… with an adorable smirk smile… you wouldn’t care less that the other characters had no development or kind of logical actions if you had him.
Music was ok… I have no more to say about that.
Rewatching: I’ve been already watching some videos in youtube about this drama, so I suppose I’ll see it again probably in the future, following my own advise not to watch nor the beginning nor the end.
If you do like that, not caring at all about the leads in the present time, you are going to enjoy much more this drama.
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