leiluska
I have to be honest, I've struggled with many K-dramas that I watched. I don't find particularly charming guys being rude, aggressive or jealous. I don't like the damsel in distress trope or the cool guy with the warm heart crap... So, maybe that was why I was so happy to find this gem.
All the characters here have personality and agency. They might be a bit ruder here and there or jealous and needy from time to time, but is all in the boundary of a healthy relationship. Also, the side plots are compelling and you don't just sit there waiting for them to go back to the romance (but as I said, I do love books and I did enjoy the side characters).
I saw some comments complaining about the pacing, but I think that the slow build was also a plus side for me. It was what made me more invested in the story and what made it feel more natural and real.
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This review may contain spoilers
So in love with the characters <3
(only mild spoilers though...)First disclaimer: I am a huge fan of Jun Ji Hyun so my review is a bit biased to this show and any other that she is in. That being said, I was ready to give up on Lee Min Ho (I don't know, his shows and my taste do seem the clash) and this show made me completely change my mind about him (but then I watched The King: Eternal Monarch.... oh my... but that´s a story for another time).
Second disclaimer: Is been a while since I watched this show from beginning to end… So to keep in mind that this review is more about what stuck with me from this series. I believe that when I first finished the series I rated it 8.0 (?)... However, as the weeks and months passed, I found myself remembering scenes of the series and just laughing and feeling good. I grew fond of it, I fell more in love with the characters as I distanced myself from them.
So, let´s start!
The story itself is very weird and I need to say that if you prefer a more down to Earth storyline stay clear of this one (and I don't mean it just because it is a story about a mermaid). I think the screenwriter thought that 'mermaid and human man' was a too simple concept and went beyond in ways no one could have imagined... Try explaining the plot of this show to a friend and you will know what I mean... Feels overstuff and all over the place... but, in my opinion, it did work and it made the series more interesting and dynamic. It was not perfect and some stuff seemed forced and unnecessary to the growth of the main characters, but it was not something that made me stressed as well.
I think that even though nothing seemed cohesive at first - the story set in the past that did not seem to resonate with the present, the lost mother, the rich aloof father, the evil stepmother, the consequences of being a mermaid living on land, the scammer group, the killer guy that just was there, the whole Shin Hye Sun subplot… - I found that one subplot tended to feed the other and when it didn't it made the series escape from being too focused one the romantic problems of the main couple (which is something that tends to get old after a few episodes, in my opinion).
Now, my favourite part, the characters!
Jun Ji Hyun was just hilarious and amazing throughout. The relationships of her character with the people she meets on the streets of Seoul are just one of the high points for me. All those supporting characters were fun and caring and made us understand and care for Shim Chung much more. It enriched the storyline of her character and made her even more likable and affable and fun.
Heo Joon Jae was also made better and more rich by his relationships, precisely the one with Shim Chung and with Jo Nam Doo. His storyline was the most convoluted one and where all the 'overstuffiness' was but I really liked Lee Min Ho portrait for this character, I think he was able to strike the right balance between slightly arrogant and mysterious and being funny and adorable in rude yet endearing sort of way.
The chemistry of the main couple and their interacting were just the best and it felt like a balanced and well-constructed relationship. It didn’t feel forced or rushed and it did not become a fluffy fest either… I liked their romantic moments, their banter, the way their differences and misunderstandings were built.
When we embark on a romantic comedy such as this one we already know what is going to happen in the broad terms – they will meet, probably don’t see eye to eye at first, fall in love, have some sort of fight/disagreement/miscommunication, break the relationship and get back together and be happy… Some series deviate from the formula a bit but, to be honest, I don’t think that us fans of romantic comedies really care if they do or don’t, what we want is to be surprised and taken away and to fall in love with the main characters and root for them. If the series is able to accomplish this, then most of us are happy. Legend of the Blue Sea was an ace in this point to me. I think Shim Chung and Heo Joon Jae are definitely one of my favourite couples of all times.
Bonus point:
The amazing and unexpected subplot about Cha Shi Ah and Tae Oh. I won’t say much not to ruin it. But I loved it every minute of it and, yeah, was one of the highlights of the show for me.
In summary:
Legend of the Blue Sea is a series that connected to my heart and soul. I loved watching it and I think about the characters and story even now, half a year after I last watched.
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As warm and cozy as a cup of coffee
I’m not sure if I know what to write about Coffee Prince, especially considering it is one of my favourite series. I guess that what I love the most about this k-drama is the character development and the relationship between the four main characters. I guess I also like the fact that I am always a sucker for the ‘I love this person no matter what’ trope and Coffee Prince has this element aplenty.Favourite things:
#1 | Eun Chan & Han Gyul. Not only the acting and the chemistry between the actors is very good but you learn to care for the characters since the very beginning, especially Eun Chan that we love since episode one – when she is struggling to make ends meet. Han Gyul grows in our hearts as the drama continues and he has to face professional responsibilities, family demands and new feelings. Their relationship is odd at first (how could it not be with the series starting point?), but it gines us a fuzzy, fluffy feeling in our hearts to see they become friends and then the relationship that spirals out of that. Their character development is attached and permeates their relationship.
#2 |Han Sung & Yoo Joo. The two second leads and their side story also grasps our attention and get us invested in their storyline. A mature romantic subplot, about people that love each other but have history to overcome.
#3 | Rest of the cast. The café crew and Han Gyul’s fierce grandmother and Eun Cha’s childish sister add flavour, warmth and laughs in every scene their in.
#4 | Noh Sun Gi’s random subplot. Yeah, like me, you may end up falling in love with Noh Sun Gi with no apparent reason (ok… maybe his looks). And the subplot he gets midway through the series is unexpected and delightful.
#5 | Interactions. What really makes Coffee Prince works is how the characters interacts amongst themselves. Eun Chan’s family life, he friendship with Han Sung and Sweeper, Gae Shik and the rest of the coffee prince crew as well as Han Gyul’s relationship with his grandmother, the fragile interactions with his father and his care for his employees add a new layer and more colours to the story.
To conclude, I really do not anything ‘bad’ to say about Coffee Prince. Not that it does not have faults but they are elements that you forget after you watch and all that is left is a sweet and magical taste in your mouth.
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I think I just found my new favourite series
I don't even know where to start. Some other reviewers here were able to perfectly summarize Word of Honor: it may not really be a 9.5 rate if you want to be super rational about it BUT you just fall in love with the series and its characters: it's funny, warm, full of charm, intriguing, dramatic (without falling to much on the melodramatic), swoon-worthy (as my Netflix likes to say) and yeah, you just want to spend time with those characters and know more about them.I have not read the novel by Priest (yet!) so I can’t really say what was on the source material and what was brought to the story by the screenwriter, but I find that the product that we got has a great balance between tender moments and action, plot and character development.
I am a huge fan fantasy/wuxia and BL and I find that these two genres separately tend to sometimes be a bit flawed on either the building of the relationships between characters (and I don’t just mean romantic relationships, specially not the romantic ones actually), character development or plot development… It always feel we need to sacrifice one of the three for some reason… Word of Honor did not suffer from this problem, it delivered a well-constructed world and tight storyline with multi-faceted characters and evolving relationships (Wen Ke Xing and Gu Xiang, Zhou Zi Shu and Cheng Ling, Gu Xiang and Cao Wei Ning and, of course, Wen Ke Xing and Zhou Zi Shu).
The plot itself was conventional in terms that it was one of those ‘we need to get and/or destroy a magical item’ but I felt that Wen Ke Xing and Zhou Zi Shu views towards the martial arts world and the quest for more power made the story seem different from the Wuxia I watched in the past.
I found the last five or so episodes felt a bit rushed and some plot points and developments could have been more thoroughly explained (they wanted to keep some information from the audience and I thought that they ended up cutting scenes that were important to the plot).
About characters (the most important factor in any story in my humble opinion):
I just loved all the dynamics (because, yes in this kind of story we do need the characters we love to hate too) and I loved our protagonists, especially Wen Ke Xing. He was my personal favourite, his tones of grey, his charm and personality. Everything about him was just the right amount, definitely one of my favourite characters of all time (and the reasons I really want to read Faraway Wanderers so badly).
I also loved Gu Xiang, Zhou Zi Shu, Cao Wei Ning and the Scorpion King.
Zhou Zi Shu was the perfect match to Wen Ke Xing, a contrast and yet a complement to his personality. I loved the way he dealt with his past and how his character developed through the series, rediscovering reasons to live.
Gu Xiang was adorable and funny and innocent and loyal… A great character especially considering what we normally get in the BL world. Hers and Cao Wei Ning relationship made me go ‘ownnnnnn’ many, many times.
As for the scorpion king… that unpredictable bast***… I kept wanting him to be happy in spite all… yet, got invested in his story.
And, of course, my favourite of all things was Zhou Zi Shu and Wen Ke Xing’s relationship. Just the right amount of banter, tenderness, companionship and understanding. I like the way their relationship evolved, how they learned to cherish and trust one another…
I really love when we get a couple that is equal in all senses, that one helps the other, that there is no side that seems ‘dominant’, both stand on equal footing and have a life, a backstory and interest outside the relationship… When one character does not need to change for the other, it is the other that has to learn to accept their lovers faults and flaws. So, yeah, I love this couple!
Did I want a kiss? Yeah, I did (even knowing that we would not get it… but, admit it, we were all pretty amazed to how many tender moments we were able to get!) but I was genuinely happy with the portrait of their relationship as a whole.
I do hope we get more series like this ?
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In summary: I think this was a 10 stars series until around the middle and a 6.5 stars series for its second half, so I tried to balance it out on my final score.
Now, an some focused points...
First, the good:
1 - Soon-Ae. She was an amazing character and I got involved in her story and her feelings completely. I loved seeing her journey and it was great the way that both actresses were able to create a cohesive character.
2 – Chef’s and Soon-Ae’s (meaning possessed Bong-Sun) relationship pre-falling in love. Their dynamics was just the best. The relationship was a balanced, they complemented each other and didn’t take crap from one another. They had qualities that complemented the other personality and everyone was bringing something to the table.
3 – I cared for the majority of the supporting characters. Granted, they were not the most developed people in the world but, they did have a distinct personality and they works very well for the plot. I especially liked the Seobinggo, Soon-Ae’s father and Seo Joon.
Good with a ‘but’:
1 – Pacing and the whole plot about Soon-Ae’s death. Ok, I won’t be able to say anything here without giving spoilers so, all I will say is that I was curious about what was going to happen and I thought that the drama executed this part well. Yes, there was some weird decisions some characters made and some things that were a bit farfetched, but I was all the way emotionally involved and I think this is the most important part.
2 - Soon-Ae and Bong-Sun. I really liked their dynamics and how they became friends throughout the story. However, I think their relationship was the biggest miss opportunity of the series. They could have such a more complex and interesting story if they talked about anything other than Chef... Like, even thoughboth of them were into the culinary world, they never talked about that or interacted on that manner... Bong-Sun never really talked about herself with Soon-Ae (just about her love for Chef). The two actress and characters had such an amazing chemistry and so many elements in common - the best scenes of them together were the ones that revolved around their conversations about Soon-Ae's family - that it was worth exploring more....
2 – Bong-Sun. I actually liked her character in the beginning and I also liked some changes the character went through in the story. But, I am not so sure if they were convincing (again, I think if hers and Soon-Ae’s relationship revolved around other themes, her evolution would be much more believable).
The downside:
1 – Ok, maybe is just me, but I really don’t get Korean sense of humour… This was not the first time that I absolutely detested the comic relief… I bumped a whole point out of Strong Woman Do Bong-Soon just because of that annoying and ridiculous ‘comic’ subplot. Here the problem was not nearly as bad, still every time Heo Min-Soo appeared on the screen I had to roll my eyes… He was not funny. He was just extremely inconvenient, rude and unprofessional. I couldn't really understand why anyone on that restaurant could like him in the slightest.
2- And finally, the major problem: the representation of love or Chef’s and the real Bong-Sun relationship. Honestly, the way he was suddenly ‘realises’ he has always been in love with her did not help this at all (he was an ass with her in the beginning because he secretly care for her, really? ¬¬)… And I am soooooo sick of jealousy being represented as cute that I won’t even elaborate on that (or this will become a rant). Also, why Korean series need to always say ‘hey, the girl is great but she can’t be ever as great as the guy… he needs to be better than her, so she can admire him (or whatever)’… Why did chef treat Bong-Sun as if she was a child? Why did he feel that he has to make decisions for her? Honestly, I just hated their relationship… I feel that that this last point should have bumped my ranting down a lot more (since this was the main focus of the story) but I am trying to remember how much I enjoyed the beginning of this series...
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Now, let us get to the review of Angel's Last Mission: Love.
The story arc and character development of Lee Yeon Seo and, in contrast, the steadiness of Kim Dan’s character – always happy and optimist – was what made this series for me, what got me hooked and invested. Both of their characters were endearing and enjoyable. They completely won me over (even if Kim Dan’s main assets were a little lost by the end of the series, with the explosion of melodrama).
The way their relationship was built, how it shifted over time, how they became closer to each other was the highlight of the show, in my opinion. My favourite aspect of the drama. Yeon Seo and Kim Dan have amazing chemistry and the way they developed feelings for each other felt natural and believable.
Now, the not so good… I did find that the story became too melodramatic towards the end and I found the motives and plotline of the Yeon Seo’s aunt and Geum Ru Na were a bit simplistic and the characters a bit two dimensional. And, when they tried to give a new dimension to the aunt character, I also found that her plotline ended up being confusing.
Other positive points of the series for me were Geom Ni Na and Archangel Hoo characters. They had compelling and interesting stories that had me invested in them.
Archangel Hoo and Kim Dan’s relationship as well as Yeon Seo and her butler’s relationship were also a big plus for me – I loved their interactions!
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