Ripley's syndrome

I'm adding this review only because the synopsis is vague and doesn't help you decide whether to watch it or not. The tags however are helpful. I googled Ripley's Syndrome which is described as a antisocial personality disorder where one makes up grandiose lies and believes in this distorted reality. The person feels no shame or sympathy for his/her victims. This last point however doesn't quite fit the depiction about Anna as she does seem to experience guilt and shame.

From this, you can kind of guess the storyline. I'm going to leave it here as I've only watched 2 episodes. However I will add that Bae Suzy is again the consummate actor. She has once again turned a flat 2D script into a 3D person with complex and often conflicting emotions and motivations, and really made the character hers. I look forward to watching the rest of the series, thankfully only 8 episodes in all, and will be back at the end with a deeper review.

Updated: I have now finished watching the whole series. 8 episodes cut down to 6 and I can say that the last 2 episodes were the weakest in the whole show. Clearly there's been heavy editing to fit the last 4 episodes into 2 and for no apparent reason. It's puzzling that they needed to cut; were that ratings bad? If ratings were so bad, why are they going to broadcast and extended version in August?

I have downgraded my overall rating because of these last 2 episodes. Pity. I certainly won't be watching the extended edition in August.

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Have to be a fan

I don't think this show deserves such a low rating. It is a simple story but with an innovative storyline, not the trope Kdrama or Kmovie plot that we see so much of. A Kdrama-loving Ahjumma who speaks no Korean is lost in SKorea. It's more than just a-fish-out-of water story. It deals with deeper issues of living in a big city - the dislocation and isolation that elderly parents feel - experiences that both people who live in big cities like Seoul and Singapore can similarly identify with. [Aside: I certainly wouldn't call her relationship with her son "estranged" as the synopsis describes. It's just a normal mother-son relationship in a busy big city.]

However, you really have to be a fan of Kdramas and perhaps more importantly, identify as Singaporean to really fully understand the in-jokes and appreciate the context of the movie. There's a real kick from watching a Singaporean actress, who is a household name that many of us grew up with, acting in a Korean production starring a few stars that many of us are now fan-girling. In particular, I get a real kick out of listening to Kang Hyung Suk speaking rather impeccable Mandarin for a non-native speaker.

Would I watch this again? Probably not. It was good enough but certainly not an Oscar-winning movie. It gave me a sense of home and also fun to see a linkage to my self-professed adopted culture. It is a good fun ride if you leave your heart switched on but switch off your brain. Just go for the ride.

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An epic, iconic and life changing drama

I first watched this show as a young child and it helped me become who I am now. I didn't realise it then but it soon became a worldwide hit not just around Asia in the 1980s but it subsequently travelled to non-traditional viewing audiences such the Middle East and South Americas in the 1990s. Thus I'm surprised that no one has reviewed such an iconic and character-forming drama yet.

First of all, the show was shot in the mid 1980s. As such, the scenes set in 'modern' Japan still look very dated. However if you ignore that, the rest of the show is set from the early 1900s all the way to the 1980s. Re-watching it now however, some bits that may have been acceptable in the 1980s probably wouldn't be accepted now. For instance, a teenage boy helps child Oshin out and a grown man lies naked with her to warm her up. It sounds icky but she was hypothermic. Also, there's a lot of domestic abuse and not to mention the obvious child labour. Although such scenes might accurately reflect the turn of the 20th century, I'm sure if Oshin were filmed today, I'm sure such scenes would be removed as they portray criminal acts. In this sense, the show feels dated because of when it was filmed yet ironically true to the period it's portraying.

Second, what I disliked about the show. It's in 15 minute episodes spread over nearly 300 episodes, which makes it hard to watch today in a time poor world. I know that it was broadcast in a different era and it certainly kept my dinner times busy for nearly a year back then. However, the show never feels draggy. Each episode ends exactly at a cliffhanger, that's brilliant editing! I don't expect the show to be cut but I really hope NHK or a subscription service such as Netflix would connect them into 1 or 1 ¼ hour episodes typical of these days.

Third, what I liked about the show: the story of course! It's very tightly written with no lapses in logic or loose ends. I do not like how many of the male characters treated the women but it was typical of the time it portrays. Yet in spite of the strongly paternalistic culture, the highlight of the show is the strong women characters. They not only stayed resilient despite their circumstances and what life threw at them, but were in fact stronger than their men. They were the silent and long suffering foundations holding up their men who had fragile egos. They are inspirational! Oshin in particular unlike her long suffering mother showed that she's no pushover. She knew how to tread the thin line between yielding to someone of power yet persevering and in the process, winning over her worst critics. She got through with sheer grit and hard work.

I also like the growth we see across the three Oshins. While the child Oshin was abused, naive and unconfident, the young-middle aged Oshin grew in confidence and learned to stand on her own two feet and fiercely protect those she loved. Yet it was a life lived not without regrets, and in the older Oshin we see a deeply reflective person who gives a flick to her needy and disappointing next generation. I like all three actors who played Oshin.

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Worst show I've watched in a long time

I think I'm fully qualified to write this review because so many times I wanted to give up but I soldiered on to the very end just to see exactly HOW bad it was going to be. Like many reviewers, I was about to give up around episode 6 but I watched it because I have waaay too much time on my hands, haha.

I really wanted to like this show because I really like Seohyun. She is a very versatile actress and I've watched most of her previous dramas. Na In Woo is relatively new but I could give him a chance. And Ki Do Hoon, what's not to like with eye candy. The premise too sounded interesting.

However, right from the get go, the drama was flawed with over acting with overly simplistic black and white characters. It was like watching a 2D cartoon with live action characters. In fact, I've seen 2D cartoons with better stories and acting than this.

The ending was the worst of all. It was totally unrealistic and seemed to diminish EVERYTHING the couple had gone through, and negate their growth over the past 16 episodes. What then was the whole point of wasting 16 hours of my life that I will never get back? The ReWatch rating forced me to give a rating, and so I did. However, if I could, I would have given it a big fat 0 or even negative.

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Binge watch only

I have followed Jang Geun Suk since the beginning of his TV drama career. He's had some dud shows in later years before he enlisted (e.g. the Gambler) and this show nearly bordered on that but it wasn't his doing.

To be clear, it's not the story or his acting which is bad. It's the fact that the drama was artificially cut into two, ironically with the hopes of keeping the audience hooked, but it has done the exact opposite for me. The first few episodes of Part 1 were really interesting but started to taper off by epi 5 or 6, as is normal with any 16-episoder. However, in a normal 16 episoder, there is the rest of the series will carry through usually as the mid season hump passes (usually by epi 8) when they're setting up for a thrilling finale.

However, even though Part 1 was only 2 months ago, that's forever in dramaland. I have probably have watched at least 20 to 30 dramas since. And now resuming Part 2, I have forgotten whatever happened in Part 1. And I have little interest in re-watching it to remind myself of what happened (it wasn't THAT interesting the first time). I'm faced with characters who are strangers to me and we're thrust straight into the action with a recap. "Who's this? what happened last time? What was going? Who was involved in the conspiracy?"

The 2-parter also meant that the story was going around in repetitive circles. However, it got there in the end with some solid twists in the last 2 episodes, and that's the only reason I am still giving it an 8 overall. Because of the intermission between the 2 parts, I was about to drop the series during episode 7 because it was too much mental work trying to work out who was who. If I had done so, I wouldn't have seen that the show redeemed itself in the end.

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Best political sageuk of the 202Xs so far!

I love sageuks but the offerings haven't been great as of the past 5 years. I was hopeful when Lee Bang Wong - King of Tears came along but alas, it was embroiled in scandal and became dismal after; almost as if the cast and crew lost their motivation and just wanted to finish filming without any further incident so they could put it behind them and move on.

Then there was Red Sleeve Cuff and I was very hopeful. The show is great, if you like romance. And that's my biggest beef with sageuks of late - that they always turn to the romance angle, focus on the idol actors, and ignore the political and court intrigue. I liked it until the old Emperor died and then I didn't like it quite as much because it just became another idol romance drama where the king couldn't be together with the love of his life. Dullsville.

Finally we get to watch two greats - Lee Joon and Jang Hyuk. On their own, neither are good and have tended to over-act. Both ventured into sageuks in the past but neither really made the roles their own and were just sad caricatures of the characters they played. (The exception was Jang Hyuk in Shine and Go Crazy, but that's another review in itself.) This time however is different. Together, they possess a certain chemistry as a king and his nemesis. They feed off each other. Something about the whole production - the epic cinematography, the details in the costumes (never have I ever seen quilted jeogori!) tragic soulful music, even acting of the the other main leads and supporting actors make for very cinematic watching. Their acting is top notch and the show is cleverly filled with political twists and turns. It's like watching a beautiful yet mood-filled movie rather than a TV drama

If you enjoy idols and romance, give this a miss as you will be severely disappointed. There is some tragedy involved in star-crossed lovers but if that's what you crave, you're better off watching the King's Affection. However, if you (like me) have missed a great political and court drama filled with intrigue and lot of clever plotting for ends that you never saw coming culminating in clever twists and turns (think Tree with Deep Roots, Dong Yi, Yi San), this is the show for you. I've watched 5 episodes so far and I'm intrigued and very hopeful. I will be back at the end for another wrap up review.

Update: I have now finished the whole series and have a few further comments. I agree with some of the comments of the other reviewers in terms of what I liked and what I didn't.

******spoilers ahead*****
What I liked: I continued to love the attention to cinematic details - the apt and rousing OSTs, the cinematic scenery, and the well-written lines. No line was ever wasted. Often I found myself rewinding because I had missed a crucial detail that later eventuated in a major plot point. The twist and turns left me gasping at the end of each episode.

What I disliked. The development of the Dowager Queen was indeed problematic. How did she go from a star-crossed lovelorn woman to a power hungry demon who bit the hand that fed her? She had nothing to protect, no real blood-related child. Why did she end up doing all that she did? I did not see how it achieved anything in the end. She lost everything and everyone in the process and ended up very much alone. On the other hand, Yoo Jung and Lee Tae both became the people they were and made the choices they did because they had people they loved and wanted to protect. Yeon Hee learnt the same lesson and came to the same conclusion in the end. Love is an illusion that doesn't put food on the table (or protect/save your family).

As another reviewer said, the ending was generic and I totally agree. Yet another love story ending. Meh. I feel a bit cheated. But most of all, my heart ached at the romance between the Dowager Queen and Gye Won. I know it could never have been and was never going to be because they both loved different things. Hence, I wish there could have been a better resolution but perhaps that's impossible. It's perplexing.

In sum , I attribute the rushed ending to the fact that perhaps the drama was too short. That's not often a conclusion I come to. It seemed like the writers had opened up too many plot portals but didn't know how to close them and a few more episodes would have helped. The shortest saguek I've ever seen has been about 20 episodes but I think for this drama, having around 30 and really fleshing out their motivations would have helped immensely. This was a squandered opportunity because the drama was a totally fictionalised account of history. So many plot points the writers could have elaborated upon and wouldn't have incurred the ire of the Korean historical purist-keyboard warriors. The irony is that the writers didn't and resorted to the trope plot sageuks of old in order to tie up everything.

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A variety show

I seriously don't get the high ratings for this show. The first 'season' (if you can call it that) was an ok watch. I liked the characters, I sympathesized with the Gumiho, Lee Yeon, and I even liked Lee Dong Wook and Kim Bun. Lee Rang was a bit petulant and annoying but when I started to understand his back story, I was sympathetic. However, it certainly wasn't on the same level as Goblin.

I can't say the same about this installment however. The writing was patchy and incoherent. It was like watching Saturday Night Live - Korean. It was a string of disjointed skits and scenes without any real plot, especially in the first few episodes. When I started to get into this 'variety show' (NOT a drama), it was just comfortable watching because of slapstick and light laughs; certainly not full-on har-har comedy.

There seemed to be a distinct LACK of plot. A plot implies a scenario, a mission, character growth, a dramatic challenge, and overcoming that challenge(s). In fact, the only character who seemed to have experienced any character growth was Moo Young - but hello, he's not really the main character!

The only reason I stuck on was because of Lee Dong Wook and Kim Bun. At the end, I was just glad it was all over. And now they want to do a third season set in a different era? So the writers seemed to have stumbled on a winning formula - a time-travelling gumiho who gets into hijinks? Isn't that evidence of a lack of overarching plot direction aka the very definition of variety show skits?

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A daeha that could be better

It's been 6 years since KBS delivered a proper sageuk (Jang Yeong Sil in 2016) about the life of a real person, and not yet another fictional or period nonsense based on novels or web comics. Gone are the days when KBS and MBC used to produce daeha (80 to 100 episode sageuks about kings) so this 32-episode series is all we're going to get for now, and each episode has to be savoured, digested, and ruminated in full.

The story about Prince Lee Bang Won isn't new and we've seen many versions over the years. Each drama has its own interpretation of King Taejong/Prince Lee Bang Won and his motivations or the circumstances which drove him to take the actions he took. Like a familiar opera, the story here isn't important; it's watching the acting of stellar and experienced actors performing at their best. In this regard, this drama does well. The actors are all skilled crafts people, even the younger actors who acted as the princes. The only trivia I'll offer is that Kim Yong Chul who plays Yi Seong Gye (King Taejo) in this as well as My Country: The New Age in 2019.

However, the drama got off to a rough start when the production was embroiled in a scandal over animal rights. The infamous scene had the production team effectively trip a horse to make it throw the rider. Social media harshly deride it as animal cruelty as the horse eventually died. The drama was pulled off the air for about 6 weeks and the remaining episodes were in jeopardy (hence the relatively low overall ratings?) but ultimately it prevailed.

After the drama resumed, it portrayed a seemingly vengeful and paranoid King Taejong as he killed his enemies or perceived enemies to cement his power. Watch this only if you're a consummate history buff. It is relatively fast moving for a sageuk as unlike other daehas which comes in 50 to 100+ episodes this ends at 32. It is a refreshing change from yet another love story of young love (yawn).

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Tried so hard for what could have been. Wasted opportunity.

I tried so hard to like this sageuk because of PHS. I think he's a talented actor and love sagueks, what else other reasons could there be? However I've started and stopped this drama 4x already. The first few episodes were very promising - mystery, underdog, and dashing king. The side plots (the 'forensic pathologist' friend) were also hilarious to watch and the supporting actors were likeable.

However by about episode 8, that was it. Nothing new was happening and the plots were going around in the same circles. The mystery hadn't progressed and none of the mysteries were getting any closer to being solved. We already knew who did it (but not the why, but do we really care anymore?) The romance was half-baked - there was no chemistry whatsoever. Instead, we have the villains plotting and way over-acting with a lot of yelling and overly dramatic evil "I want to rule the world"-esque lines.

I totally throw in the towel at epi 14. Even watching at 1.5x speed AND online shopping for groceries on the side didn't help. This series should have stopped at episode 10 or 12. But instead, they have to drag it even beyond the normal 16 and even go on to 20. Please save 20 episodes and above for sageuks with lots of conspiracies, complicated side plots, engaging characters with nuanced motivations, and plotting where the real Machiavellian villain is unseen right up to the end or plot development that span several decades; but certainly not this rubbish.

I love sageuk and don't give up any without a fight. This is probably only the second time I'm dropping a sageuk in my entire kdrama watching history. Since I'm so close to the end, I may finish it one day when it's finished broadcasting but only because it's on Amazon Prime which I'm subscribed to anyway.

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Watch as an appendix to Part 1

This can more accurately be described as a Part 2 rather than a sequel. It's very confusing if you haven't watched the first Believer. The movie begins with a 5-minute recap of the highlights of the previous instalment, and that's the only bit that was entertaining and made sense. After that, it is just one hot confusing mess. It seems like what happened with the first Believer was that it was such a great show, they decided to eke it out.

This movie is not a sequel because it doesn't carry on from where the first one left off. Instead, it's very weird because it tries to elaborate and explain a back story of motivation for characters in the first one and introduces whole new characters. It is NOT a movie per se but more like watching an appendix. Finally in the last 5 minutes, we finally catch up to where Part 1 left off and then it creates an ending because part 1 ended ambiguously.

I got to give them credit for being able to pull out bits of the first instalment to create a deep enough side story, and then attempt to pull it back to the main story shown in Part 1, and then tie up everything at the end. Hence my rating of 4. It's a real pity that the talents of Han Hyo Joo (who wasn't in the first part) have be under-utilised.

In essence, if you did watch Part 1 and wanted to find out what happened in the end, simply watch the first and last 5 minutes of the entire Believer 2. You can thank you now.

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Unexpectedly interesting

When I started this show, I had thought to myself, "Not another romance sageuk" and "Not another show about King Jeongjo." I was wrong on both accounts. Although I traditionally watch sageuks for court intrigue, which this drama lacked, but I didn't miss it. I traditionally also don't like romances and this was the only place I felt that the drama was let down. Will they be together or not? It was a long a tedious question that I couldn't bother whether they answered or not. However, something about the pacing made this drama work, and the actor who played Lee Deok Hwa as King Yeongjo did a fantastic job, as did Lee Joon Ho as Yi San. Not bad for a former boy band member in his first sageuk outing.

For me, the highlight of the show was seeing the relationship between Yi San and his grandfather, whom he concurrently feared for himself and his loved ones, yet was also in awe of. No other rendition of Yi San (in my memory) has showed this fragile side of the man rather than the master who had to constantly juggle and negotiate Noron and Soron politics.

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Another noona dongseng drama

I have not enjoyed a single noona-dongseng drama, although some have been better than others. The best was probably Something in the Rain with Jung Hae In and Son Ye Jin, another popular noona. That explored the social issue of noona-dongseng couplings. However, this drama has nothing to recommend it. The premise of why they have to break up isn't fathomable to those of us who are non-Korean, as I believe it involves some kind of social taboo (e.g., Autumn in my Heart). Gee it's sad that they can't be together but why? The characters are uni-dimensional but perhaps the highlight for me was watching her close friendships and supporting one of them through a major life transition. I watch it purely for Jang Ki Yong ( just as I watched equally boring Song Hye Gyo's previous noona-dongseng drama purely for Park Bo Gum) and that's the only reason I'll finish this.

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Slow but stirring

I have to admit that I started watching this show solely because of Lee Min Ho. I was disappointed on that account because this certainly is not idealised romantic drama that elevates him to idol status. Instead, it s a slow and plodding show but full of meaning. It is set against the Korean colonial past and how that plays out in the lives of those who lived through it and how it subsequently impacted their descendents.

The story unfolds very slowly and the co-mingling of the two timelines - young and old Sunja make for confusing watching. While some directors in similar shows have used cues such as different background colours or filters to demarcate the two timelines, here, the audience here is expected to know whether we are watching young Sunja in the past or her grandson in the 'future'. I use their clothing as a cue.

Up till now (end of episode 5), I still see little relevance between her grandson's exploits and her past. In her past, Sunja is the main character but in 1989, her grandson is. That's where it gets discombobulating in trying to reconcile the two parts of the story. I'm hoping we get to the 'point' of the story but I'm losing hope as we're more than halfway in.

This show is certainly no Oshin. The only upside is watching the acting which cannot be faulted.

EDIT: I have now finished the season. Note that the show has an incomplete ending. The series creator followed the book quite closely. He envisaged that the show should unfurl over 4 seasons. Unconvinced that Apple will allow him to complete all 4 seasons, he put in a special documentary at the end of season 1. In my opinion, that's probably the best part of the entire season 1.

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Great acting and cast BUT....

The synopsis looked great. It tells the story of a casino owner from youth till present day. We have seen many other dramas on mafia and gangsters, but none about a casino owner so that's a fresh angle. Are there mafia, gambling, prostitution, drinking. and crooked cops? Of course, it's inevitable that such vices would be entangled with the casino scene. These unsavoury elements become the backdrop for the drama but are not the main plot. Interestingly, the main character (Hoon) only appears around episode 5 or 6. That's very late in the show.

The production value was also very high as it's set (and filmed) in the Philippines with local actors. The Korean cast too are top notch stalwarts. Honestly, this show seemed to have everything going for it.

So where did it all go wrong? The first mistake was creating two parts, which seems to be the new trend in cable TV Kdramaland. That only works if the story is so enticing (like Glory) that you'd want to wait for the next instalment. Firstly, if this show wasn't on Disney, which I'm already subscribed to, and secondly, both parts had already dropped by the time I decided to watch it, I would NEVER have bothered. It seemed like the only reason why it had 16 episodes was to make its Philippine sojourn worthwhile. There was a lot of exposition and side characters, but I wonder if they really added to the plot. In fact, a faster-paced 8 to 12 episodes would probably have been enough.

At the end of the day, he was a likeable rogue. So the main question was - did he really commit all those crimes? Should we sympathise with him? I don't think I had a clear answer at the end.

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Worth watching but be patient

This is one of those shows where I really don't understand the need for 2 parts. Why did TV or cable stations think they were doing? Did they think it was a good idea to have 2 parts? I waited until Part 2 had finished broadcasting before I watched both. Same with Glory and Alchemy of Souls. All there have suffered from a dismal Part 1 (altho Glory was better). If I hadn't had Part 2 to follow up with, I would have never bothered beyond Ep 2.

The Part 1 of this is slow. It spends at leat 4 episodes building up the characters and giving their back stories. Finally, the mission of the characters begins around episode 5. If I had to wait several months/years for the main story to unfold, I would not have bothered continuing on with Part 2.

The actors are fantastic and I won't go further as many other reviewers already have. Overall, it's a good entertaining drama of a different genre (I'm so over romantic idol dramas) if you're able to binge watch.

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