michelleoc

Very jumbled and rambling plot line

This show has been on my list for a while, and since I have enjoyed Bae In Hyuk in other things, I figured I'd give it a try. For me, it was torture to get through, and I've never been so happy to finish something in my life. I usually like to give all the positive aspects of a show, regardless of whether I ultimately ended up liking it, but hmmm, can't think of any here.

1) I found the Fl extremely irritating. Her bouncing around and then suddenly pouting about something, pick a mood and stick with it. This might seem like a small thing, but every time she said 안녕하세요 to someone, her voice went up about four octaves and she used this baby, breathy voice that was SO irritating!
2) STRONG triangle. It went on entirely too long and SML kissing her without consent, just no.
3) Why did ML and FL like each other? Never really saw development, they just suddenly liked each other.
4) The mystery. Why? I didn't care for it, and it went on for so long that once I got to the end I didn't care anyway.
5) The one "dance" they did throughout the whole drama. Their rehearsals revolved about that one arm-swinging movement, over and over again.
6) And can we talk about the costuming?! Oh, my gosh, the costume designer should have been forced to wear one of their own designs as punishment. It was really hard to take any of the conversations seriously while they were wearing their cheer costumes, they were so ridiculous. In real life, you would not have anyone want to be on the cheer team unless they were getting paid to wear those costumes. I can't get over how bad they were.

While I may not say run away from this show, I would suggest turning and walking away quickly, and find something better to watch.

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Unfulfilled potential

I was pretty excited about this show, I was looking forward to something a little more original than what I've been seeing lately. Alas, disappointment followed. I enjoyed some aspects of it, but with the uneven pacing and the glaring plot holes, pretty much all I felt at the end was frustration. As with most everything, there were positives as well as negatives.
LIKED:
1) Shin Hye Sun as Ban Ji Eum - I have loved her in everything I've seen her in. She's real, she's likeable, and she has a firm grasp on her acting ability. She knows when to give us more, as well as when to reign it in, to leave us WANTING more.
2) Kim Shi Ah as the young lady that was Ji Eum in her 18th life. For me, she was the standout in this. She was lovely and poised beyond her years. As I watched her, I felt that she had the knowledge from all her past lives and was somewhat jaded. Kind of like she was forced to act like a child when she was an adult. She was so sweet with her sister and Seo Ha.
3) Cha Chung Hwa as Ji Eum's niece from her 17th life. I love this actress and she brought humor to the role that was welcome.
4) Costuming. I loved the clothes in this, especially everything they put on Ahn Bo Hyun. He must have lost weight for this role, because I've always seen him as being in a sportsman role. He looked great and he wore everything well.
5) OST. Some beautiful music.
6) Cinematography, for the most part, was very good. I especially loved all the colors and movement from her first life. I just wish I hadn't had to see her first life over and over again.
7) I liked how the FL brought all of her skills from her past lives into her current life.
NOT SO MUCH:
1) Who did hair and makeup!?! Her hair was very "Cheese in the Trap" and distracting. Most jarring was the makeup on Ahn Bo Hyun. He looked so white, actually pasty. It looked like someone had slathered on the makeup with a trowel, and the lipstick on him was entirely too obvious and dark. There were multiple times I thought that I was watching a vampire movie, he reminded me of that.
2) I didn't like the forwardness of Ji Eum at all. "let's date". I didn't find it cute or endearing at all. To a certain extent, I felt the same about the 2FL. If someone isn't interested, move on.
3) The murder plot. It started out interesting and ended in a fizzle. What a waste of time!
4) I was never clear on why the guy with the bells was so intent on her remembering her first life, especially since he was there and NOT a good guy.
5) There is a difference between not remembering your previous lives and not remembering the people in your life currently. She didn't have amnesia, for heaven's sake! If she didn't remember them, how did she remember where she used to work? For me, the whole ending was clunky, like they didn't know how to resolve it and wrap everything up.
6) Lack of chemistry between the leads.

So, if asked if I think you should watch, I wouldn't say to run away, but there is a lot of better stuff out there to watch.

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I realize it's from 2001, but this one did NOT age well

Not only is the actual look of the drama grainy and bad, the sound leaves a lot to be desired. There are big gaps in the story - we go from ep 3 where everything is fine, to episode 4 where she is getting beat up by a guy. Then, there's the acting. It's bad. The clothing, the hairstyles contribute to the aged look of this drama. And F4 is supposed to be a group of extremely attractive young men, not in this drama. I have to say, that this story works better in a high school environment like the Korean version, because there is no way these guys could control a college.

Then there's the actual story line. I'm watching all of them because they are so famous and everyone raves about them, but I've got to be honest, I just don't get it. It's a group of bullies, with the ML being the worst of them all. He bullies her mercilessly and yet she likes him? He's nice for a moment but then reverts back to his normal, terrible personality. When they are "together" they fight all the time and continuously call each other names.

This story line is the poster child for toxic relationships.

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An extraordinary show

Let me start by saying that Romantic Comedy is my "go to" genre (this is not one!), and I don't give out a rating of 10 willy-nilly (must hold my attention throughout, without needing to fast forward, must be well-written, must have a high rewatch value, must have at least some likeable characters, can't be too melodramatic, and it has to have a good ending (wasn't too sure about the likeability of the characters, but they soon changed my mind. This was definitely more on the melodrama scale than I normally like, but MAN!)

This drama is written so well. I really appreciated the originality of it. Okay, we've seen the grim reaper thing done before, but this is in a category of its own. I loved how every episode introduced new characters for the reapers to get involved with, and no storyline was extended too far out, enabling us to move on without getting bored. There is a LOT of serious material that gets covered - suicide, bullying, the cost of fame, tragedies of many forms, and each episode gives attention to these issues, and we definitely see the seedy underbelly of human behavior. There were some episodes that were more difficult to watch than others, but they were so masterfully written, and you really get a feel into the complexities of people's feelings and what leads them to contemplate ending their own lives. The three main Reapers, when we first see them, are hard, unyielding, by-the-book and, honestly, not very nice people. When a half human, half reaper enters the picture, he really shuffles things up. We get the privilege of seeing him change them, as well as the other way around.

ACTING: Kim Hee Sun, Yun Ji On and Lee Soo Hyuk were excellent as Reapers. I really felt like their coldness was from centuries of doing this job, and it took Rowoon as Choi Joon Woong to come in and shake things up a bit. I especially enjoyed watching Yun Ji On - I've not seen him in anything before. He seemed so flat in his acting at first, but that was just his character, and when it addressed his storyline, my heart broke for him. Rowoon's character was a bit of a mess, floating through life, unable to get a job, etc. Lee Soo Hyuk tends to always play these mean, hard, unyielding characters and he's the same here, but once we get his back story it all makes sense. It's enjoyable to watch him "become human" and really start to care about others. I love Kim Hae Sook in anything I see her in, and she was excellent as the Jade Emperor. She had to be more strict with others in this role and that was a change from the way I've normally seen her. I also have to give a shout out to Kim Young Ok as Lee Jeong Mun (episode 13, I believe) - she is a seasoned actress that I always enjoy. I would love for her to be my grandmother, with her sweet face and voice.


CINEMATOGRAPHY/MAKE UP/ COSTUMING/SPECIAL EFFECTS: On point! It had a very noir feel about it, lots of blues and blacks. The make-up was very good, especially as it related to wounds, etc. Costuming was good - they put the Jade Emperor in some gowns that would have been ridiculous anywhere else. The special effects were used well, and not overdone just for the sake of having special effects.

MUSIC: For me, the music faded into the background, which I appreciate. I do remember one piece that was a cello piece and it seemed very dramatic and I thought it was perfect for where they put it.

EMOTIONAL INVESTMENT: I binge watched this in two days. I cried in a few of the episodes (and I'm talking ugly cry!). I didn't want to do anything other than watch this, but when it was over, I must admit to feeling sad. I seriously cannot recommend this show highly enough, and anything I say can't do it justice.

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Too drawn out and boring for me

This drama just went on and on. I fast-forwarded through A LOT of this show, just so I could finish it. The main couple didn't even get together until episode 24 and there wasn't much progression with them up to that point. They didn't like each other, until they did. The dubbing bothered me (especially the voices of the children), the subtitles were not well done (the name of the team kept changing), and I didn't really find the actions/behaviors of a lot of the people realistic. For example, one of the multiple girls that likes the ML gives up her skating dreams just so she can stay close to the ML. Then there are the rest of the girls on the skating team. They were complete bullies throughout so much of the drama, and the amount of disrespect/insubordination they displayed to the coach absolutely would not have been tolerated.

The only reason I even rated it as high as I did was the main couple. When they were together, they were just precious. They had a number of meaningful conversations that lent themselves to the two actually growing fond of one another. They were supportive of one another, and them watching other couples to learn how to date? Cute!

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Typical rom-com

I watched this a couple of years ago and decided to give it another go so I could review it. Loved the cast, loved the house, and there were numerous moments of cuteness. However, the second female lead going back and forth between the two men, the main lead watching out for her, I had a hard time knowing if he liked her or not. I wish they had written the ML with stronger feelings. Him constantly running to help the second female, really made it hard solidify the relationship between the leads.

The development of the relationship between the men was interesting to watch. They went from hating one another to having each other's backs, and they weren't even aware of it. There is a scene of the three men at the hospital sitting together that is really cute.

The second to last episode was absolutely the best, but as seems to be normal, for Korean dramas, the ending was rushed/minimal.

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You'll love Chief Kim!

Now THAT’S what I’m talking about! I had seen scenes of this show and I’ve read a few of the reviews. I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to like this show because 1) it’s not a romance; 2) I don’t care for over-the-top or slapstick comedy; 3) I don’t like when shows have a ton of villains. Since I’ve not recently had terrific luck with finding a fabulous romance, I thought I’d give it a try. This show was a pure joy from beginning to end. It had me laughing out loud one moment and in tears the next.

WRITING/STORY: Extremely well-written. For me, there were no draggy parts (hard to find in K-dramas, unfortunately) and there was no “throw away” dialogue. Every word spoken had a purpose, which might be confusing at the moment, but it would be explained in later scenes. I loved how they used flashbacks – something would happen that didn’t make sense, and they would go back and show what had happened behind the scenes to lead up to that point. It’s hard to find a show, especially one with a cast this large, that has fully fleshed out characters, from the main leads, all the way through the supporting characters. I have to like the characters to really be invested in them and I was worried about the character of Chief Kim, because he was a con man and his facial expressions often seemed cartoon-ish. His character development was fun to watch. Watching him grow as a person, but also seeing how much he helped everyone that he worked with, how his co-workers gained strength from what they learned from him…it was so special. The writers did a great job of letting us delve deeply into each character, get to know them better, and then you can’t help but root for them. They were very three dimensional and completely developed. The humor was often very exaggerated, but it fit in very well with the story. There was A LOT going on in this show – multiple villains, and lots of accounting stuff – I have arithmophobia so that was kind of painful, but the journey was just so much fun.

ACTING: Everyone in this show was absolutely amazing, but I have to call out a few that were complete stand-outs for me. Most of the other actors I’ve seen in other shows, and they were so good in this. It was fun to see Kim Seon Ho and his dimples, as a bespectacled nerd, which was a change!
Namkoong Min as Chief Kim – I was so impressed with him. He completely owned the part of Chief Kim. He was funny, playful, eccentric, and yes, a little bit crazy. He would pull these faces that would have me laughing out loud. He had to display such a wide array of emotions, and when he wasn’t being goofy, his intenseness was spot-on. You could feel his confusion as he started to leave his old life behind and actually let others into his life. There’s a line early in the show about him “fake crying” because what he feels isn’t real. Later on, when he cried, it just about broke my heart.
Lee Jun Ho as Yool – now, here is a villain you love to hate! I’ll start by saying that he’s just so beautiful, I got a little lost in him every time he was on screen. I was hoping that he would redeem himself, and the way the writers handled his storyline was excellent. I loved watching how he reacted to the female lead – a hint of a romance that is never actually addressed. (If you haven’t seen him in Just Between Lovers, he’s excellent in that as well!)
Kim Won Hae as General Manager Choo. This is an actor that is normally used for comic relief. He was extremely funny in this, but we got to see so much vulnerability and caring from his character. I especially loved his scenes with Chief Kim.

MUSIC: At the beginning, the romantic songs just didn’t fit with what was going on, but later on they made more sense. I absolutely LOVED hearing the Descendants of the Sun music when one couple met for the first time, so funny!

REWATCH VALUE: There aren’t a lot of shows that I would re-watch, but I think I’ll watch this again in a couple of weeks. It might be fun to watch it, already knowing the end.

So, I can wholeheartedly recommend this show. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll love the characters, and you’ll be glad you watched.

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Worth watching for the four main characters

Let me start by saying that I could watch and listen to Woo Do Hwan read the telephone book and be perfectly content. He is exquisitely attractive and he has a wonderful, deep voice. There are certain actors/actresses that you just feel drawn to, for whatever reason, and for me, he is one of them. This show is the Korean version of Dangerous Liaisons/Cruel Intentions, which almost kept me from watching it. I do not like to watch people being mean to others, especially without reason. I was pleasantly surprised by the triad friendship of Kwan Shi-Hyun (Woo Do Hwan), Choi Soo-Ji (Moon Ga Young) and Lee Se Joo (Kim Min Jae). To say they were each dysfunctional would be an understatement. There were a lot of very amusing scenes with the three of them interacting. These were scarred people that grew together as friends, to protect each other and build each other up. When the three of them were in scenes together, I felt sometimes like I was getting ready to watch a traffic accident - I didn't want to watch the way that they were behaving, but I just couldn't help myself. And when Shi-Hyun gets involved with Eun Tae-hee (Joy), their chemistry was smoldering. They were wonderful to watch. Woo Do Hwan's transition from cold and calculating to being in love was intense, and there were a few scenes of him trying to be "cool" that were funny. At the beginning, he's pretty emotionless (as a character, not the actor), but once he falls for Eun Tae-hee his smiles just light up the screen. I even thought the way he said her name was special. Joy reminded me a lot of Kim Go-eun from Goblin, and I found that a little distracting. I have to admit I was fascinated by the relationship of these four people, and I could have cared less about their families, and found myself fast forwarding through the family stuff. I'm not giving anything away to say there is a happy (though too rushed and short) ending, along with the obligatory separation for years. Seriously, why do they only give us four minutes for the ending?!?!?! And how many years have gone by? She says that she's made the same wish every year. They were such a lovely couple, I really wish they would have devoted more time to the ending.

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Just my opinion

I know that a lot of people liked this show, but I couldn't, for the life of me, forgive the mess that I was watching. I was very disappointed in the writing, not the acting. Lee Jong Suk and Park Hae Jin were both wonderful in this mess of a drama. I'm all for suspending disbelief, but this show, in the first place, didn't seem to know in which direction it wanted to go. Baddies that don't die no matter what happens to them, a change in the focus of the show (N. Korea was a good starting place, but went horribly awry), things happening in a hospital that have absolutely no foundation in reality, name/identity changes (who can keep up with the names?), and it seemed like the inmates were running the asylum! The ending was very disappointing and caused an even further suspension of disbelief - the main characters disappear for a year - did no one look for them? Ugh!

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I can see what all the hype is about, but...

Should you try it, I'd say yes. Chinese dramas, especially historicals, are absolutely not my favorites, save a couple of exceptions. I liked this one well enough, but I didn't love it. Please remember that this is my personal opinion.

The good:
Gorgeous lead couple.
Excellent enemies to lovers, with a slow progression as they get to know one another.
A strong female lead that remains strong throughout. She had a sharp mind, was kind, and stood her ground.
Cute side love story.
Beautifully filmed.
Costuming and the sets were good.
Happy ending.

My issues:
FL reminded me so much of Zhao Lusi without her charisma. I kept waiting for more wit from her.
Why do people have to have multiple names? Keeping everyone straight was a nightmare for me!
Entirely too long, with long periods of nothing happening. I had to FF too much.
I can't forgive them killing off my favorite character.
Boring, abrupt and lazy ending.

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Cute, easy watch

Okay, so it's not going to change the world, but hear me out. Lately, I've not had much luck with dramas. I happened upon this one completely by accident and decided to give it a try. I stayed up into the wee hours of the night to finish it.

I enjoyed the relationship of the leads, going into a business relationship and then discovering that their feelings were overriding their business arrangement. It was a natural progression, with actual conversations between the leads, as opposed to so many dramas making them "suddenly" in love.

I liked how we were able to hear their inner dialog when they weren't willing to verbalize their feelings to each other.

I'm pleasantly surprised that I was pleasantly surprised!

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