mopalia
Well, that was interesting.
I find it intriguing thatthis musical was based on a webtoon. How did they get the music into the webtoon? Probably didn't , and it was my feeling that the show would have been better without songs. I didn't care for them - they struck me as uninspired and disrupted the flow of the narrative, But it was an interesting experiment, and I give them points for trying something new, even if I personally didn't care for it.I was pretty bored by the first 3 episodes but decided to stick it out. It took and unexpected turn and got darker - and much improved - as it went on. It's a theme that I'm sure resonates strongly with Korean teens, and probably with all teens under serious academic pressure from their families. A lot of what the parents said seemed over the top, but perhaps that is really what Asian parents feel. It's not a stance that , as a very liberal American parent , can imagine doing to my child, who dropped out of high school with my blessings and was earning more at 20 than I ever earned as a school teacher. For me, the real takeaway was, have faith in your children. They can figure out their own lives better than we ca.n
As for this show, it's original and well done. And if you are not totally in love with Ji Chang-Wook by the end, I can't imagine what you have been thinking.
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Pretentious and tedious
I usually dislike shows that rely on dark "mood" lighting and Time shifts. This is no exception. The material was depressing, and if I want to be depressed, I can just watch the news. The acting was ok, but overall this was not my cup of tea. I was relieved when it was over and grateful that it didn't run to more episodes. If you are a huge fan of any of the actors, it might hold your interest, but I always find Lee Min Ho a bit of a cold fish. I couldn't find any spark between him and his leading lady. So if you watched this and loved it, I'm glad for you, but if you found it pretentious and tedious, you are not alone.Was this review helpful to you?
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Run away, fast, now!
If you haven't watched any K-drama for the last ten years, this is a must watch. It will introduce you to almost every over-worked trope in the genre. One by one, you can tick them off - amnesia, getting hit by a truck, false identities, adoption, abandonment, unmarried pregnancies, cancer. Did anyone have Altzheimer's? I don't remember, the whole drama made me wish I could have selective Altzheimer's and forget it all.It actually starts out well, with good characters and a nice plot. But as soon as the amnesia hits, it becomes absurd and labored. Did they change writers mid stream? Was there a crisis in the writer's life? It's pure garbage from then on.
The only thing I'm keeping from this drama is the lovely theme song, Love Always Run Away," sung by Lim Young Woong. For the rest - I wish I could have the hours I wasted on it back. Don't start, it's good at first but fails completely later.
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Great cast, thin material
I was looking forward to this because of Ok Taec Yeon, who always delights.He created a slightly silly character here that was fun to watch. There were several standouts in the cast - Min Jin Woong is great fun to watch, Jung Bo-Suk was wonderfully evil as the father of two swapped sons, and Choi Tae-Hwan was excellently, although tiresomely, demented. I did not care for Kim Hye-Yoon; her voice is grating and the character never felt like there was any depth to her. As a result, the romance fell a bit flat and unconvincing.The plot (you can read it in great length elsewhere) felt like it had been cobbled together from a selection of other saeguks. I even recognized a set or two. So overall, it wasn't exciting. It's pleasant enough, but if you want something you can get deeply wrapped up in, this is a bit shallow. Watch it or miss it, it won't make much difference.
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Nothing special, but - HaNee!
Lee HaNee is always worth watching. She's clever, funny, and creates delightful characters. The drama itself is nothing special, but it's a pleasant thing to watch. Kim Won-Hae is another actor who can always be depended on for a great performance, here an increasingly demented prosecutor. I have a particular affection for Kim Chang-Won because in addition to being a good actor, he's a great classic rock guitarist. If you like rock, look for him! There are a couple of other standout actors in smaller roles. Jin Seo-Yeon is marvelously evil, but she handles the pre-evil bits well and you feel sorry for her - she was made evil and didn't start out that way. A nice performance. The cast is well worth the trip here, and even th eplot has a twist or two I didn't see coming. The gangsters are delightful - as gangster cooks should be.I enjoyed it, likely you will too.
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A good story and cast
I quite liked this. Although there were a few plot elements that were over the top or poorly presented (I'm sure other reviewers will go over that in detail), for the most part I liked the level of complexity in the plot (not too tangled). The acting was good although there weren't really any standouts. I may have rated it a bit high, but it was refreshing to find a drama that was intriguing, engaging and watchable without any thing horrible in it. If you like mysteries, this isn't bad.Was this review helpful to you?
Enjoyable if you have the right attitude
It's a mistake to take a supernatural saeguk too seriously. Parts of this were so hyper that it was quite funny. I kept wondering what the Ha Ram script looked like as he turned into various manifestations of the demon - what are the stage directions like? The changes certainly kept the makeup people busy. And how many times did Painter Hong say abeoji in this drama? Good grief. I'm very fussy about CG, and all the CG effects were well done.This is possibly the most over the top historical I've ever seen, to the point that it became absurd. But it still provided pretty good entertainment. The cast did a great job, the writing wasn't annoying, it was a little over-long but not horribly, and even the music did not offend. It was fun to watch, and you could spend your time in a worse way - like watching Squid Game.
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What goes up must come down
I was quite taken with the first episodes. They were funny, and I had a lot of hope that this would be a cheeky. slightly risque (for Korea) exploration of male sexuality. Sadly, it quickly devolved into a predictable romance. I got tired of Yoon Shi Yoon looking - and being - so pathetic (although I think he does pathetic and hang-dog better than anyone else). It dragged for several episodes, and then magically wrapped up far too quickly. Overall, I felt it was not worth the time. Once you've seen the opening, it's downhill from there.Was this review helpful to you?
Starts strong, fades
Nice cast, all very good. Writing is ok. Plot is nothing special but not offensive. Initially, very charming, but as time goes on, it drags more and more, and the last episodes were just filler. Could have been 2 or 3 episodes shorter without any loss. The real let down was the two leads, both of whom are good but lacking completely in chemistry. Overall, it's probably not wort getting started with this one, because you will either suffer boredom to finish it or drop it, which is always annoying. YMMV.Was this review helpful to you?
A decent long-play drama
First, you need to know that anything over 20 episodes is likely to wear on you before you finish it. The criteria for a long drama like this are different than something that builds and ends in 16 episodes. Less drama, more time for characters to develop - and to be stupid. You also won't get A-list stars, either, so if one of the principles is trying to become a pro singer, he's likely to be pretty mediocre. All that said, there's something nice to have an extended family to visit with every week for a while.I like an occasional long drama. This one is pretty good, although like most of them, it tries to wrap up too much stuff in the last episode. Each of the sisters' story lines deserved an episode to itself, and at least one romance was left totally hanging (poor Aunt and the singer's father!) when they deserved something better. So there were disappointments. But if you like long format dramas, this one is pretty decent, and far better than most.
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There is no here here.
Remember Gertrude Stein's line "There is no there there?" Well in this drama, there is no discernible here - or there - anywhere. Not much happens. There is a fair bit of heavy emoting from time to time, but even the emotional content seems vague and insipid. I have rarely been so bored by a K-drama. It re-defines vapid. I'm having a terrible time even finding the500 words needed before a review can be published. Basically - skip this, there is not content, the direction is turgid, and nothing the actors did could have saved it. There is nothing to see here, folks - move along.Was this review helpful to you?
Solid low-key drama
This was a great drama for me - I love tech, engineering, and Jung Jae Young - so what's not to like? As usual, he creates a laid back character that it takes a while to get to know. The plot is surprisingly devious, full of business intrigue. The cast is excellent throughout. This isn't a drama that will grab you with fireworks, noisiness and unnecessary frills and flashy effects. It relies on character development and story line to draw you in, so it's not for the impatient. Watch a few episodes and then decide if it's for you.Was this review helpful to you?
Not worth the time for me
I am probably the wrong person to review this, because I dislike revenge dramas. There is enough pettiness and misery in a normal life to make it unnecessary to add to it, even in the shows we choose to watch. Overall, I found this to be mean spirited and rather unpleasant. People brought their wishes to the diner and usually had to pay some unpleasant price, which just seemed unnecessary. If you have powers like that, why extract a painful price from people who are just trying to make their lives a little better? This thread of unkindness held to the end, and there was really nothing redeeming about it.For what it is, it's reasonably well done although the writing was unoriginal. If it hadn't ended after 8 episodes, i would have dropped it after 5 or 6, because I don't need to add misery to my days. YMMV, depending on your taste for revenge and pettiness.
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Don't waste your time
The two leads created the most depressing characters I have ever seen. I don't think either of them smiled until the end of the last episode. I was smiling then, too, because I didn't have to watch any more of this. I hadn't realized it was only 12 episodes, so I'd decided to drop it. The music was unremarkable, although the finale song was nice.I suppose the point of this is to shed some light on the abuse of trainees, especially sexual favors demanded. It's a retelling of the tragedy of Sunny, Jang Ja-yeon. If you are new to K-drama, look her up on Wikipedia. As such, this show brought no new insight, and it's a retelling of something that happened 12 years ago. It offers no solutions or productive actions. Between the borrowed (stolen) plot, dismal performances and so-so music, this isn't worth your time. It certainly wasn't worth mine, and if there had been much else to watch while this was running, I wouldn't have bothered.
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Best sageuk in a while
Sageuks tend to be polarizing. there's a group of people who love them all, and another group who don't like them at all. I've found the quality to be variable - some are engaging, some are deadly dull (I hated History class when I was a student). If you are new to the genre, this is en excellent introduction: https://koreanhistoricaldramas.com/introduction-to-sageuks/ They come in all degrees of historical accuracy, and there's the occasional fiasco like Joseon Exorcist .This was quite a nice thing to watch. It could have been a couple of episodes shorter, but it wasn't as draggy as some get. The acting was superb throughout - what a wonderful cast! Historically, it did not offend, although I'm no Korean historian. It suffered from the common problem of the impeccably tailored Joseon era, where everyone has manicures, flawless teeth, and new clothes. Pretty much no one dresses in rags. The only K-drama I have ever seen that was believable in this area was Chuno, where the teeth on the bandits were awful. It's amusing that modern dentistry looks so phony in a historical drama. And no matter what was happening - fights, being driven from their homes, etc, - their clothes never get dirty or torn.
I don't see any point in re-hashing the story - that's easily available everywhere. I just want to say I loved the excellent cast and fine acting. It was well-written, and the music was good, although it's seems that only the k-pop sounding songs make it to release. The closing songs in Ep. 18 and 20 were lovely in a more traditional sound, but they don't seem to be released. If you like historicals, this is a nice one.
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