6
Park Min
(ノ °益°)ノ 彡 (\ .o.)\
If only...
The characters were its biggest downfall. All the characters were insane, demented, deranged and devoid of integrity. There was no layers to their madness. You'll have to humanize them first before stripping it away. Skipping the first step would devalue their actions and take away from the watching experience. Aside from the characters, the drama was excruciatingly slow for no apparent reason other than filling the contracted runtime. Slow burners are acceptable when they serve a purpose to either immerse the viewers into its world or to seamlessly build up the tension. The drama failed to do either. The twists were overdone for the sake of it rather than adding to the narrative meaningfully. Even then, they weren't appealing nor interesting. Once the memory was restored the drama took a sharp and sudden turn for the worst going against what it tried to build up to, this includes the ending. One more thing, there was an attempt to have a play on artistic symbolism but none of which landed well. Partially because of the two aforementioned points.Was this review helpful to you?
Bad prequel
It was too expensive to keep Namkoong for another 2 episodes so we got this instead. These sloppy 2 episodes further highlight the worst points about the original series. Soo Yeon once again proven to be the worst character. We got less violence and a worse story, action and performance. If you barely got through the original one then I recommend skipping this useless prequel.Was this review helpful to you?
Wasted potentials (as always?)
It's really disappointing to see a drama with a good and enjoyable start just to wither away later on, that includes everything even the cast. As if every single person that was involved in making the drama got tired of the project. Although the earlier parts were enjoyable but I was rolling my eyes every single time Je Yi & Soo Yeon show up on the screen and broke the momentum. They were both easily the worst part of the drama in general. As expected, by the time we got to see the real culprit, it turned out to be a caroonish joker knock off with zero effort put into writing him. To state the obvious, Namkoong was doing an unbelievable amount of heavy lifting to keep this drama afloat. The OST was decent at the right time, while other times it was just some background noise. It's still a decent watch and the slightly shorter runtime was helpful but temper your expectations a bit.Was this review helpful to you?
Decent
The earlier parts were dreadful to get through, they did an awful job trying to hook the viewers but it got a lot better later on. Around episode 5-6 it started getting interesting and enjoyable. However, that didn't last for too long as there was a big downtime and disconnect in the story after episode 12. Meanwhile the ending was good enough but I hoped for something better. On the other hand, the drama had a decent selection of cast but I wish we got to see more of the support cast like Park Won Sang instead of filling it with redundant scenes. The drama was promising and good enough but it left a lot to be desired.Was this review helpful to you?
Disappointing
The drama biggest problem is its both male leads. Both were incompatible, had zero chemistry and looked way older than their real age and compared to female lead. Regardless of anything else, the drama failed to nail the most basic elements of any romance. The romance itself was poor, awkward, emotionless and dull. Again, the lack of chemistry/connection isn't helping either. More or less, the comedy/entertainment value was equally problematic. This drama was a disastrous romcom from the very beginning and there was no saving it. Almost any other Choi Ji Woo drama from that era was better than this one.Was this review helpful to you?
.
The scuffed production from the beginning wasn't a good sign for what's to come but I was willing to give it a chance. However, it quickly became apparent that this level of writing was clumsy at best. The writer pulled a poor attempt trying to create a mature drama about complicated adult relationships but all these relationships came off as amateurish and bland. The sever lack of chemistry between the characters didn't help either.Was this review helpful to you?
Better than season 1
Regarding season 1:I found it to be very flawed from all angles and it only served as a learning experience for those who carried on with the second season. Its portrayal of a cult lacked a compelling thematic foundation, opting instead to draw inspiration from cheap rip-off D-grade movies themed around cults. Where cults are extremely over-dramatized to the point of crossing the supernatural territory. The cult apparently possessed super powers of hypnosis with only a few words spoken, even towards people who weren't perceptible to religious and spiritual beliefs. Everything surrounded the cult came off as cartoonish even within the context of a 'drama'. The narrative itself struggled to carry its own weight, particularly as it primarily focused on the perspectives of the outsiders. It always felt as if it was building up towards something bigger but it never got there. For a 16-episodes run, it needed a proper world building and foundation for the cult. Establishing a distinct "character" for the cult would have provided a stronger identity. Back to the outsiders, having the drama led by teenage characters was another weak aspect of it. Bland and cardboard characters. The mystery element was a crucial part of the drama yet it was lacking and under-delivering. The first season would have fared better as a standalone one-off movie rather than a drama. It doesn't make any sense why the drama was rated this high, according to MDL standards, especially when season 2 effectively addressed most of the issues with the cult and delivered an overall better package!
Regarding Season 2:
It managed to deliver a much more compelling package than season 1. The most important part is that it handled the cult theme properly. The characters and the cast were a lot more appealing than season 1. Having a more adult leading characters rather than teenager was a plus. Uhm Tae Goo was a perfect casting choice for his character. The story had a better and more natural progression than season 1. However, it got sloppier the closer it got to the ending. Speaking of the ending, it was a bit underwhelming and not as grandiose as I hoped it would be. Second season should have been a stand alone drama unrelated to the first one, not even in the name. If you don't feel like watching two seasons then you can ignore the first one and just watch the second.
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How!
The lack of resemblance between the younger and older versions of the cast was striking. This drama was like one of those scuffed TV Novels, just a tad bit detached from reality, trying to mimic humans but not quite there yet. The drama consistently followed a peculiar and sporadic direction, which hampers any potential for viewer engagement. This inconsistency, coupled with incoherent pacing, weak plot elements, and dull execution, contributes to a well packaged disappointment. The drama fails to deliver something substantial, leaving viewers longing for literally anything worthy. Furthermore, the drama features one of the most underwhelming last episodes, further adding to the sense of disillusionment. It almost made me reach the point of detest if it wasn't for some of the cast's performance. Highly not recommended!Was this review helpful to you?
Okay...
The usual makjang drama nothing new nothing special. You stick around to watch them go mental and laugh at the absurdity. However, this one got a really unlikable male lead. The guy feels so out of place and had zero chemistry with anyone around him even himself. On the other hand, Shin So Yool was the female lead, she always caught my attention playing support roles so it was nice seeing her as the lead. She did good. The drama lacked a consistent plot line, even the main one was scattered and mostly felt as if there were no persistent goal and antagonist. At the same time, too many side plots ended up being underdeveloped and neglected later on, like the delusional FL's father one.Was this review helpful to you?
Poor!
When it comes to teenage/school dramas, bullying/hierarchy/classes and school pressure aren't doing it for me unless they take an interesting angle of which this drama failed to do. It fell into the endless pit of vexing mediocrity. On another note, sloppy writing that is sincerely flawed and only focuses on the shininess of teenage fluff and antics, further demoting its poor efforts in creating a story. On an unrelated note, I wonder when Kim Hyang Gi would graduate from playing student roles, it's getting stale. Also, it's a waste for the adult cast to be involved in such drama.Was this review helpful to you?
A tough one to get through....
Misery stemmed from uncontrollable oppression is justifiable but self-inflicting misery is questionable and down right annoying and exhausting to sympathize with, which this drama absolutely love to slap the viewers with. Needless to say, the writing is definitely not its strongest suit. Still an attractive piece from the 90s. Korean production was still primitive compared to the pioneers at the time, and this drama was amongst the first big breakthroughs. Which makes me wonder why wasn't it remastered yet despite being a significant piece.Was this review helpful to you?
Meh...
The thing with the cast is that both male leads actors don't seem to be a good fit to be leads, I mean they always occupy 2nd-lead/support roles in their other projects for a reason. The mother-daughter relationship and dynamic was average at best and was only brought up in the last chunk of episodes probably because the main focus was on hiding the other unrelated secrets. The ending was too short and quick. It bothers me with these 50+ hours daily drama that the director can't just push for a proper send off despite having all the time in the world.Was this review helpful to you?
Hmmm...
The drama is definitely unique. The director went all out with his own style. Not necessarily objectively good nor bad just different. I personally enjoyed what it tried to do. The quirky direction is the drama's biggest highlight. There were no eavesdrop where characters happen to stumble upon a secret, instead there are very long extended cut open dialogue scenes with no interruption which makes all the difference to see the characters actually talk. Some episodes may consist of only two scenes for this exact reason. The drama doesn't shy away from throwing experimental scenes that are completely unrelated to the story for fun. Although some scenes are just too bizarre like that one scene where an old lady reminiscing a young guy's body after the funeral. These scenes will probably make most of the characters seem insensitive. Then there's ep79 coming out of nowhere completely unexpected! The characters sometime step outside the boundaries of their character and do something unlike their character. This also resulted in inconsistency and showed the characters in a bad light. At least the drama doesn't attempt to "fix" the character, sometimes it's okay to remain broken. I ended up enjoying the drama for all the wrong reasons and that's cool. I liked Ha Na as the antihero, she did great and it might be her best work so far.Was this review helpful to you?
Ew....
Well, the poster is completely misleading this is a full fledged makjang from the first frame to the last. Mo Ah & Nam Goo are one of the worst pairings in daily makjang. It's strange when the support cast get better pairings. You got also the usual idiotic forgiveness accompanied by a lackluster ending so don't expect anything at all. Anyway, the verdict is... it's bad. It's a certified stinker.Was this review helpful to you?
MY EARS!!
Things were kinda fine until the events started to loop endlessly in a corporate setting. This is exactly how most of these daily dramas die and wither away. This drama is manufactured specifically to trigger the viewers by having constant intense shouting with every other sentence, boosted OST playing every 2 seconds to accompany the shouting, unbearable archetypes like the intense hatred and favoritism of the stepmother for one daughters over the other, and the stupid amnesia. The male lead character became absolutely dull after he had the accident, in fact, the entire drama turned for the worse after that.Was this review helpful to you?
