rachel
Singapore
I have not watched either originals of both shows, so I’m judging this as a standalone show.
There is so much wrong with the story. There’s just nothing happening at all. I have read that the original was somewhat like that, the chronicling of what happens in the life of a Hollywood starlet. In whatever way the story was told in the original, it seems to have worked, but the way the story is being told in this remake doesn’t seem to work at all as a K-drama.
The writer’s efforts to portray the reality of the Korean entertainment industry were pretty weak, particularly Young-bin’s status in the industry as a young actor.
Without giving anything away, a lot of story that took place in the last 2 episodes would have been better placed either at the halfway mark of this show, or somewhere in episode 12, which would have allowed the story to go much much further.
There is little to no character development. Young-bin is such a childish, immature character. So-hee has as much personality as a cardboard standee (seriously). Kwang-soo’s character is frustrating at most times.
The bright spark is Park Jung-min’s character, Ho-jin, who was not fully utilised in terms of character developer and the actor’s capability, and of course Jo Jin-woong’s character, the bulldogged agent who admirably never gives up without a fight. Such a waste of talent.
Given the meandering story and non-drama, each episode was such a drag, I kept checking the running time while watching every episode, to check when the episode would end. Each episode was about an hour 15 minutes. Granted, this run time is not uncommon with Korean dramas, but it exacerbated the monotony and boredom I felt watching this show.
It’s a pity this show is such a flop, given how much hype there was, how much money was thrown at it, and a cast with so much star potential.
Overall, and I hate saying this, I do NOT recommend this show at all.
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Even though this show only has 12 episodes, each episode is easily an hour 5 mins. While I appreciate the show being shorter than usual, thus forcing the writer to be concise and succinct, when you add up the excess 5 minutes from each episode, it adds up to another episode. Just a thought.
Surprisingly, I’ve actually never watched Lee Jin Wook in a drama, only in a movie. Besides just being generally handsome, he did a decent job. I’ve watched Seo Hyun Jin in Let’s Eat 2 and she’s one of the reasons I decided to watch this drama. She is really good in this show too.
Yonghwa doesn’t have a great reputation as an actor. Although it was really obvious in this show that he’s still a newbie at acting, he definitely showed a marked improvement. I’ve never watched Yang Dong Geun act, only in Return of Superman, and I was greatly entertained by his character in this show. Park Hae-jin is good but really he doesn’t have that much material to work with.
I’m not that familiar with Korean history but from what recaps I’ve read, it seems like the writers did a good job. It is a really stylish sageuk. The filming style is sleek and impressive.
Overall, the show is an entertaining saguek.
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No doubt, the drama has a pretty American feel to it, but with a distinctly Korean feel to it, with prosecutorial corruption, corrupt businessmen and bribery all round. For a legal drama it isn’t exactly super realistic, but then again since when have we had a realistic legal drama on TV.
The writing of the ‘good wife’ character is really compelling. She is pulled in a thousand different directions, when all she is trying her best to do is stay true to herself.
The show has assembled an amazing cast, especially in Jeon Do Yeon and Yoo Ji Tae, who almost never appear on TV. Jeon Do Yeon immediately wins you over with her portrayal of the dutiful wife thrust into the spotlight, just trying to get through her day prove herself as a good lawyer, and make sure her kids are protected. Yoo Ji Tae, what more can I can say, even as the resident baddie, I find myself cheering for him. He absolutely smoulders whenever he is on screen.
Yoon Kye Sang, despite being a much less experienced actor, is so great in this show as well.
The OST for this show is simple, like a number of quality tvN dramas, I don’t have much to say. But I love the BGM which really lends a movie-like quality to the show, and elevates it beyond your average TV show.
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In terms of story, it is quite a mixture of heartwarming and hilarity. You can never go wrong with the fish-out-of-water concept.
It is clear the movie is trying to send an explicit message to its audience to respect the elderly, not to look down on them, not to be ashamed of them, to be grateful for their contributions and sacrifices. While these are valid takeaway lessons, what I was hoping to get more of in the movie was for Granny to have an opportunity to look back on her regrets or mistakes. While the movie did raise some of these aspects, we didn’t really show Granny exploring or delving deeply into these regrets.
Shim Eun-kyung is already well-known as a great actress at her tender age. It’s amazing how she perfectly embodies an old soul inhabiting the body of a young woman. Sung Dong Il is as usual great. Lee Jin Wook is of course charming in his role as a young man taken by Shim Eun-kyung’s peculiar character. Jinyoung is okay.
Overall, it’s a good heartwarming watch.
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Let me start with the negative points: 1) Hwang Jung Eum - you will love or hate her acting. I fall in the latter category. It is a known fact among seasoned K-drama watchers that her acting is so over-the-top, most of the time unnecessarily so. She was the main reason I found it so difficult to get through the show.
2) The central romance was not really convincing. It felt rooted in the childhood stories of our main characters, but it didn’t convince me that those childhood feelings translated into adult feelings of love.
For the positive points: 1) Siwon is hilarious in this role. It is just perfect for him and I think it gave him a chance to explore a character with a backstory and more emotional turmoil.
2) Park Seo Joon. I have yet to watch his other projects and I’m definitely looking forward to checking out his other dramas.
3) Notwithstanding a somewhat unconvincing central romance, due to the chemistry between Park Seo Joon and Hwang Jung Eum, there were still plenty of cute moments and fluff to make this a crowd-pleaser of a drama.
I would recommend the show for a fun, light and cute watch.
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The show starts out with talking about ghosts, but the story as so much to say about living life to the fullest and I love that so much about the story. The show, at times, brought me so much laughter, and at other times, moved me to tears.
Park Bo Young and Jo Jung Seok have such sizzling chemistry, bringing to life a script that is already hilarious, moving and overall compelling. Kim Seul Gi brought such delight as the spunky and forward ghost. She was hilarious but also played the emotional moments of her character very well. The three leads really made the show that much more excellent.
I do wish we got more insight into the character of Sung-jae, played by Im Joo Hwan, who also did a great job with his role and gave a really moving and compelling performance. Really hope to see him in more lead roles.
The soundtrack is pretty short but the few songs it had were meaningful and catchy. Quality over quantity!
The story could have been improved in some aspects, as well as the ending and resolution of the central conflict, but I found myself really moved by the show and the growth of the characters, and so I still highly recommend this for a fun and emotionally moving watch.
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The story isn’t dissimilar to most high school K-dramas. But the amazing thing about K-dramas is their ability to take the same storyline and types of characters, and present them in just a slightly different way to audiences. There’s definitely a lot of cute in this show and generally makes for an enjoyable and light watch.
I can’t say Eunji didn’t do a good job in this show, as she seems to do in every drama she is in. But one thing that does disappoint me is that the character Yeon-doo does remind me of the other spunky female characters she’s played in her previous shows. I do hope she tries out other types of characters in her future projects.
I’ve not seen Lee Won Geun or Ji Soo in any major projects before this. I’ve only seen LWG in Moon Embracing the Sun but that was such a small role. These two are a revelation in this show! Their characters are quite different from each other, but they share a close friendship on the show. It really looked like they were having fun playing these characters. They both stole my heart in this show, so it’s hard to go any further without turning into a rabid fangirl, so all I’ll say is I’ll certainly be on the lookout for both these actors in their future projects.
Super props to Chae Soo Bin for playing what seemed like an absolutely irredeemable villain who went all out to ruin the lives of our protagonists, yet with an interesting backstory that still managed to pull at my heartstrings everytime. I just wanted to give her chance to redeem herself every time, no matter how many evil deeds she had done.
On a whole, the cast have great chemistry and make the show such fun to watch. Of course, there’s also the fact that it’s a high school drama and personally there’ll always be a place in my heart for high school dramas.
Another good thing about this show is it’s short at 12 episodes. The ending did feel slightly rushed and that’s a small stain on this show. Otherwise, highly recommended!
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In terms of story, I appreciate the effort to stay true to certain important themes of the first Let's Eat, like being single, living alone, and feeling lonely in a big city, yet introduce new dimensions like friends-turned-lovers, and talking about married people feeling lonely, not just single people. Frankly, I didn't like the recycling of the mystery theme which wasn't an important storyline for me in the first instalment.
The food porn was good, as always, and I like that they ventured outside Korean food and got the characters to try other cuisines like Chinese, Indian and Mexican cuisine.
Doojoon has made Goo Dae Young the character his own and I can’t see anyone else in that role. Seo Hyun Jin is a revelation in this show. I have never seen any of her previous shows and now that she’s in Oh Hae Young Again, I definitely plan to watch that too after watching this show. Initially, I was supremely annoyed by her character. But as the show peeled the layers of her character, I really grew to love her character and she was so good at bringing out the vulnerabilities of her character. Kwon Yul is a pretty interesting actor too and I look forward to seeing him in other shows. Park Hee Soon is hilarious as Doojoon's lonely, always-drunk sidekick. A great character actor.
Overall, an enjoyable watch that is peppered with romance, food porn, and just enough angst to break your heart but not too much that you can’t piece it back together.
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The synopsis of the show doesn’t seem that impressive - in fact it’s probably to avoid giving too much away. Since everyone loves a good rise-and-fall story, it definitely draws us in. As you continue to watch the show, you will be rewarded by the writer’s skilful unpeeling of the story, layer by layer like an onion.
I’m greatly impressed by the combination of the writing and directing. The characters in the show all have deep and complex backstories and I’m utterly interested to find out more about each one of them. There is no character who is completely innocent; everyone has had their bite of the pie. Yes there is quite a lot of violence, but this story is not just about a battle of fists; there is also a great battle of wits at hand.
The show is vastly improved with a stellar cast. Each one of them put in excellent performances. I mean, how hard is it to ruin a great script?! Lee Bum Soo nails the portrayal of Kwak Heung Sam. At times I got confused - is he our villain or hero? At times I was cheering for him; other times, I hated his guts. Yoon Kye Sang also starts out as our presumed hero of the story, but along the way he takes a few somewhat villainous turns. I would say these two characters are the two anti-heroes of the story. And I love stories that don’t have heroes. It’s always the braver path for the storywriter to take.
The cast of supporting characters are all equally interesting, with the outstanding one being Park Won-sang, who plays Ryu, who has fascinating relationships with Kwak, Tae Ho, and Mi Joo.
This show wasn’t perfect; I have to mention that we didn’t get the full back story of some of the more fascinating side characters, whom I was genuinely interested in knowing more about. It’s a real pity because we were introduced to them as characters and I got excited to learn more but was deprived of the opportunity.
All in all, a very entertaining and thrilling watch.
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On the technical side, the drama is extremely well-shot. Many beautiful panoramic shots of the Greek filming locations, impressive large-scale sets created for certain parts of the story, and great colouring that made the complexions of all the cast members really pretty.
As for story, honestly this was slightly iffy for me. The story moves swiftly from one mini plot/event to another, with little consequence on our characters, save for some character growth, I suppose. As it is with many Korean legal and medical dramas, a liberal amount of suspension of disbelief is required. The drama poses some moral and ethical questions to the viewer but doesn’t have the time to invest and dig deeper into them, and very quickly swings its focus back to the romances. I suppose it’s not fair to expect this drama to do that. The show does have many funny moments which are appreciated given the subject matter which was heavy at times.
For the characters, I was pleasantly surprised by the show. This writer is not well-known for writing interesting or compelling characters. See Heirs for example. This was an exception. The characters were for the most part, fully formed and pretty mature. Though I found myself greatly annoyed at times by some of the characters, our characters, romances and relationships were not overridden with unnecessary angst and indecisiveness, and I’m extremely grateful for that. Though it doesn't totally redeems the show from its flaws for me.
Music-wise, the soundtrack sometimes threatened to overpower the show, as it did in Heirs. But this show has pumped out the OST songs to keep it fresh so it wasn’t bad.
The show had the opportunity to end on a compelling note, but wasn’t brave enough to go along with it, and resulted in a pretty bland ending.
Overall, my opinion is, well, meh. It is definitely an enjoyable drama for the romance, just that for all the hype and fanaticism around it, it remains a forgettable drama in my list.
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To begin with, it’s a really intriguing premise that’s really different from your usual Korean drama. So that drew me in almost right away. The show is also peppered with interesting characters who each seem to have a story of their own to tell.
The three lead characters naturally captured my attention the most, especially Kang Do Young, the character played skilfully by Shin Sung Rok. Lee Sang Yoon is smouldering in this show as the grumpy but secretly caring Ha Woo Jin. Kim So Eun puts in a decent performance as the innocent and trusting Nam Da Jung.
I enjoyed the mental gymnastics required of the viewer to figure out what is going on. Although at times I got slightly confused at some of the games and their convoluted rules, the human relationships and betrayals make for great drama and twists and turns in the story. I also liked that romance really wasn’t an important aspect of this show.
At times the story may have edged dangerously close to being a sentimental cry-show as many Korean dramas tend to, but thankfully it did not go there. The story is tightly written, with no huge loopholes, and every story is wrapped and tied up nicely.
On the whole, you can expect a drama full of intrigue, betrayal and excitement, and I am certainly looking forward to a Season 2!
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At first instance, it gave me a True Detective vibe, which shows the ambition of the show from the get-go.
For once, there were no overwhelming loveline in the story. Just a overwhelming sense of tragedy and injustice, which is precisely what the audience SHOULD be feeling, because those are exactly what drive our main characters forward throughout the show. Police corruption and injustice seem to be popular topics to cover in Korean dramas, but if there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that wrongs must be made right.
The writing was not simplistic at all; the storylines are tightly woven together and the stories are carefully told and not laid out all at once to force-feed the viewer with information. The writer gives it to us bit by bit and allows the story to unfold naturally, so the viewers can come to a gradual realization of the real horrors of the injustices. I was totally hooked to the show to the very end; it genuinely kept me coming back for more after each episode.
The 3 leads are not actors you see often on TV so it was a real bonus to have them join this project. Each one of them did a great job, especially Jo Jin Woong, truly the star of the show. It was also great to have, for once, a strong female character who was placed front and centre of the show, NOT for the sake of having a lead female character. She was a capable detective who HAPPENED to be a woman. Isn’t that fab?
Clearly from the above, I highly highly recommend this show for a gripping and rewarding watch.
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As if you couldn't love Cha Tae Hyun any more, I totally LOVED him in this show. He brought his trademark delivery and humour to the show. His character, however, is another matter altogether. That area could see improvement. Gong Hyo Jin has great chemistry with everyone, as she always does. Kim Soo Hyun was good as always, and his character was pretty amusing, but in some aspects his character morphed into something different towards the end of the show that made me forget what his character was actually about and at times enraged me. Also get ready for several cameos from other celebrities.
Surprisingly, IU's character really stole the show. Her character Cindy was the one who I was cheering for all the way to the end of the show. That's credit to her since she is the youngest member of the main cast of four, but not as much as to the writer for giving her a compelling character.
As for lovelines, the drama poster encapsulates what the show was trying to do and how it was trying to play with the viewers. I became supremely frustrated towards the end of the show because I really just wanted the show to choose one pairing, stick with it, and show us the happy ending.
Despite these complaints, I still tremendously enjoyed the show, because it really is funny. Not just the inside jokes about the showbiz industry, particularly about variety shows, but just laugh-out-loud moments in general.
Overall, a pleasant show with fewer but really looong episodes and an excellent cast.
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If you go into this show having great expectations just because Yoo Seung Ho picked it, don’t. The show isn’t meant to be absolutely fantastic or great. It’s a down-to-earth and humble drama with a simple story. I always looked forward to watching a new episode of this show because it wasn’t too heavy or required a lot of commitment into the characters. The characters are written very simply, without excessive or comprehensive backstories.
I really enjoyed the personification of the cat. For starters, the cat is adorable. The voiceover for the cat is really cute. The central relationship is between Yoo Seung Ho’s character and the cat, and I love that the show never lost sight of that.
Yoo Seung Ho is evidently the star of the show, not just because he plays the lead character, It’s also pretty clear in terms of acting ability. But that’s really fine. It didn’t ruin the show for me in any way. There isn't much to comment on in respect of the acting of the rest of the cast in the show.
Overall, a great choice for a light and brief watch. After you finish the show it won’t linger on your memory much, except for the fact that you may love cats afterwards.
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This review may contain spoilers
This show is the third in the Reply series. It seems to be the popular consensus that 1994 was the worst one. I personally enjoyed it a lot, especially the husband hunt. This show has its own charm. There’s a lot more focus on the families as a whole, as opposed to the children finding family in each other. There were so many moving and heartwarming moments that had nothing to do with romantic love, but familial love, friendship, aging, loneliness, and growing up. Although it’s right to say that romance isn’t the main focus of the show in this instalment, the husband hunt continues in this show. I hesitate to say that it doesn’t overshadow the rest of the show, because I would otherwise have overwhelmingly positive comments to give, if not for what I felt was a botched conclusion to the husband hunt. It wasn’t about who the husband was, but the way the story was . To avoid spoilers, I can’t elaborate further.
I avoided writing this review in the heat of the moment right after finishing the show. In hindsight, the husband hunt fades into the background of the show and the families come to the forefront. Even then, I find that some of my unhappiness and not-so-positive opinions remain.
What’s really great about this series is how the producers always aim to cast unknown actors and make them stars. I have only watched Park Bo-gum and Go Kyung Pyo before, and haven’t watched the rest. I loved Ryu Joon Yeol, Ryu Hye Young and Ahn Jae Hong. I don’t know what it is about Hyeri that I didn’t 100% love, but she definitely did a more than decent job.
One particular standout performance I must highlight isn’t from one of the young leads, but from veteran Ra Mi-ran. She takes on the emotions of her character and makes them her own compelling emotions, and pulls the willing audience along with her on her journey.
The episodes can get slightly draggy, many of them almost stretching to 2 hours (ohmygah). I still highly recommend watching this.
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