This is really good, highly recommended! I watched the first 5 episodes and they flew by just like that! There's a lot of tension of course and I expect things to get even heavier, as historical accuracy demands. But there was quite a lot of intelligent humour in the first 5 episodes as well. Mainly, the interactions between Wumu and Ye Bi Ying are so delicious! It's nice to see banter and chemistry like that.
Edward Zhang's acting is simply awesome. Of course playing an undercover agent means dual acting (the character is an actor who acts). Both a dream role and a big challenge for an actor. The nuances as in how the Colonel puts down his weight to make the Japanese not suspect his authority and how he deceives them acting drunk are just very fine indeed. I haven't seen Ning Chang before but she's wonderful in this.
The cinematography is another factor that deserves full attention. Especially the scenes in the club were worth noticing. (Of course the war planes CGI is not on current level but to me that's irrelevant).
The suspense is quite not as hairraising yet as it was in The Guardians (2025) or Silent Tides (2025) or Lost Identity (2024). But as I've watched all 3 recently, this is a relief. If this gets more intensely suspenseful, I'll still be seated as it's already obvious that we are getting great writing, acting and cinematography.
I guess this got the streaming permission after 8 years because the ban on historicals having more than 40 episodes was just lifted. How lucky we are!
The last 2 episodes were really totally boring. But this was fun until then, especially scenes on the filming sets.
Last scenes of last episode went meta. Saying they just wanted to make a harmless drama reveals a lot about the current mindset in k-dramaworld. In 2026, if there's nothing more ambitious or experimental, the hallyu wave comes to a total standstill. For me Nice to Not Meet You was one of the actually watchable dramas in 2025, but landed with a crash. This was a good 7.5. until the last episode, which makes me give this 7.0/10.
Jung Woo Sung's acting is the highlight of this drama. I didn't really like ep 3, the character played Cho Yeo Young was so pathetic. I guess the point was to show that Baek Gi Tae is truly ruthless. Ep 4 was better but nothing extraordinary. Am glad that this is only 6 eps and there's going to be no long downhill slide (my current expectation for all k-dramas).
Youku has finally put on the fanmade good english subs. If they do not appear in ep 1, they were present in ep 2. A million thanks for the subber, excellent person! Thanks Youku for listening!
the suicide by the police investigator made no sense, there are easier ways to get his mentor involved without…
exactly, it made no sense. It's as if he had watched The Knockout and thought, oh no, writing letters to higher police admins will not help before 20 years have passed. (There are also other elements in The Punishment that are similar to The Knockout, like the village refusing to give up on its land)
12 
1 
Edward Zhang's acting is simply awesome. Of course playing an undercover agent means dual acting (the character is an actor who acts). Both a dream role and a big challenge for an actor. The nuances as in how the Colonel puts down his weight to make the Japanese not suspect his authority and how he deceives them acting drunk are just very fine indeed. I haven't seen Ning Chang before but she's wonderful in this.
The cinematography is another factor that deserves full attention. Especially the scenes in the club were worth noticing. (Of course the war planes CGI is not on current level but to me that's irrelevant).
The suspense is quite not as hairraising yet as it was in The Guardians (2025) or Silent Tides (2025) or Lost Identity (2024). But as I've watched all 3 recently, this is a relief. If this gets more intensely suspenseful, I'll still be seated as it's already obvious that we are getting great writing, acting and cinematography.
I guess this got the streaming permission after 8 years because the ban on historicals having more than 40 episodes was just lifted. How lucky we are!
Last scenes of last episode went meta. Saying they just wanted to make a harmless drama reveals a lot about the current mindset in k-dramaworld. In 2026, if there's nothing more ambitious or experimental, the hallyu wave comes to a total standstill. For me Nice to Not Meet You was one of the actually watchable dramas in 2025, but landed with a crash. This was a good 7.5. until the last episode, which makes me give this 7.0/10.
I do appreciate the historical realism a lot.
If they do not appear in ep 1, they were present in ep 2. A million thanks for the subber, excellent person! Thanks Youku for listening!