This drama in one word is: sad. It left me depressed and thinking about life for a long time after I watched this. And as a Christian, it's even more sad and heartbreaking. (I"m not sure though if people will understand what I mean.. hehe.)

So why'd I rate it highly? Well, because the drama was brilliantly executed.

Story: The plot was unique unlike most dramas that tend to be a total cliche plus the story really had a deep meaning about revenge, hatred, redemption, love, and faith. But since this is a remake of a korean drama, the credit for the story should probably be given to the korean writer. :)

Acting/Cast: I think all of the actors did a really great job at portraying their characters and making the audience understand and sympathize with the characters' struggles especially Ohno Satoshi. Although some say that he was a little stiff, I think how he portrayed Naruse was the best direction for the character because with just his facial expressions, you can understand and feel what Naruse is going through emotionally. His best actor award for this drama was truly deserved by him.

Music: Jdramas usually have only one or two songs for the soundtrack but here, they had a variety of music that went with every scene smoothly adding tension to the drama.

Rewatch value: I only gave it a 6 because it's not something I'd want to watch over and over again. As I've said, it is a sad drama. It would probably take a month or two before I'd want to watch it all over again.

All in all, this drama, in my opinion, was one of the best that I've seen. Watch it so you can see! :)

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loved this!! I think this was the only series wherein I liked all the characters even the antagonists!! Almost all of the main characters were so smart and wise that it was so entertaining to watch their political wars and power struggles especially Deokman's and Mishil's fight for the throne. At first, I didn't like the character of Deokman but as the story progressed, I found myself admiring her and cheering for her success.

I only have two complaints for this drama though; first was the romance side of it. I didn't really like the characters that were paired with her. I didn't hate them, I just found myself rooting for an alcheon x deokman pairing all throughout even though I very well knew that it wouldn't happen. Hehe... Anyway, I'm just in the minority so you might actually like the love story part of it since most people do. :)

My 2nd complaint was the ending. I just think that they could have ended it better. I know the number of episodes was actually extended from its original plan but somehow the ending felt a little rushed and it seemed like there were missing scenes that should have been shown.

However, all in all, I think this was a great historical drama that left a deep impression on me. Plus, the soundtrack is good! It added to the tension and excitement of the drama!

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Story: The story's very simple. It's about the friendship of 4 40yr old men and their love lives. I wanted to rate it higher because despite of its simplicity, I really enjoyed it. However, I was kind of irritated with the lack of focus on other pairings when their story was much more interesting than the main couple. Like how they didn't show the backstory between Yoon&MeAhRi; and JungRok&MinSook;. I felt that these two couple had the most interesting story especially since they had the most history of knowing each other. JungRok and MeAhRi's character were also underdeveloped, good thing the actors did a wonderful job making me love them.

Acting/Cast: All the actors were really good with their roles. Their acting felt natural and they all had great chemistry together... except for the actress playing Yi Soo. I don't know why but I really did not warm up to her. The main reason is probably how her character was written in the beginning but then, her acting just didn't help. She overacted way too much in the first half of the show. She's supposed to be around 35 but like, really? You react that way when you see a man in an unbuttoned shirt? It's not like he's naked... Also she's not supposed to like the guy in the beginning, but she's always trying to look cute around him which made her look flirty. Ugh. I disliked her so much that I forwarded almost all of her scenes by the time I was at ep8. Although, I have to admit, I quite like her when she's in teacher mode and when she's with the 3 girls.

Music: The songs they used were all good and very catchy and it fitted the scenes that they were used in. :)

Rewatch Value: I don't really rewatch shows. But there were a lot of scenes that I would probably want to watch it again. All of the scenes of the 4 men 'cause their friendship is just too darn cute. And TaeSan&SeRa; and Yoon&MeAhRi; moments 'cause these two are my favorite couple. :)

Overall: I was supposed to give this a 7 'cause as I've said I forwarded almost all of Yi Soo and I'm not the type to forward scenes. But then decided to give it an 8 because I really enjoyed almost everything about it (If only there were less of Yi Soo and more of Yoon&MeAhRi;) :( hehe.

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