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  • Last Online: 17 days ago
  • Gender: Female
  • Location: 독일 ~ Where the waves gush against your windows
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  • Join Date: February 2, 2016
  • Awards Received: Flower Award2

xXabsintheXx

독일 ~ Where the waves gush against your windows

xXabsintheXx

독일 ~ Where the waves gush against your windows
While You Were Sleeping korean drama review
Completed
While You Were Sleeping
6 people found this review helpful
by xXabsintheXx
Feb 7, 2018
32 of 32 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 7.0
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 6.5
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
It was quite difficult to rate this drama because there were many things that I liked but also many things that I didn't like.

The  idea itself was actually quite interesting and the first two to four  episodes were strong. Even their first case  made me quite excited. But  after that the story became somewhat watery.

The idea of their  dreams were inconsistent. Whatever the writer thought about it, she  didn't think it through and therefore created some screaming plot-holes.  The majority of the story rippled from episode to episode and never reached a real climax, even though some court scenes were entertaining.

I  think the main leads were the biggest problem of the drama. Their  acting felt kinda flat and didn't reach me. Sometimes Suzy's gaze even ruined some touching moments and made them less enjoyable. There was not much variety in her expressions and therefore felt very bland. I also don't like the way she is crying. It seemed way too forced. And what I missed the most was that she didn't made the role her own, something that would make her character memorable was missing altogether. I could have done without her scenes.

Lee Jong Suk was not at his best either. I really liked him in his other dramas but here... Whenever he smiled, it looked like some commercial input. I don't know why, maybe the way his character was written? I mean there was not even any similarity to his child version. Because it's still fresh I had to compare it to Money Flower and Jang Hyuk and his younger self were 10 times better than this here. Although I have to add that LJS got better in the last couple episodes. It reminded me a bit of Pinocchio what I loved. (And I will probably always love his eyebrows but that doesn't contribute to his acting, lol)

I admit that both of them had some funny scenes together, too, but those few didn't make up for everything else that failed to reach me while their cheesiness sometimes hit the border to "awful/cringe-worthy". Their childhood counterparts on the other hand need to be mentioned because they delivered their part perfectly.

What I really enjoyed in this drama were the sidekicks. Every single one of them were just lovable and every actor/actress contributed to the liveliness of the story. It was fun to watch their scenes, the comedy was well put in my eyes and their dynamics were well balanced. The prosecutor team, the news channel team, Woo Tak's partner in the  police force and also Hong Joo's mom. She was great.

I also enjoyed both (or all three?) second male leads way more than Lee Jong Suk. Gawd, they pulled the story forward. If it weren't for them, this could have become one tiring journey. Whether it was Woo Tak, that cute police officer who totally won me over with his charm and his performance, or Jae Chan's little brother who was just as cute in his behavior. I loved his love story as well as his scenes with his  brother. The third person to mention here would be Lee Sang Yeob. His performance was probably the best of  them all, even his character was the best written one - and what was well transformed by the actor. His development throughout the drama was palpable and made the most sense to me.

The guest roles of each case... Even though  not all of them (I didn't like the teacher), I think that most of them did a really good job with their short time given.

The ending  was... Well, without telling too much, I was happy that they went the  way I was hoping for because otherwise it would have concluded quite disappointing and as flat as the leads' acting. There was also an unnecessary event the drama could have done without, but I guess  they wanted to "close the circle". On the other hand the last trial had some nice unexpected turns. The dialogues and some clever word twists entertained me quite a lot. And I also have to add that I was very happy about the fact that the drama didn't feature any corruption. Thumbs up, because that trope is so worn out, imo.

I did like some of the songs, but I didn't like all of it. There was too much happy go lucky theme for me.

Would I recommend it? Hard to tell... If you're a hardcore Lee Jong Suk fan, probably. If you can put up with a lot of plot holes or don't judge flaws too hard, probably. If you don't expect too much, probably. This is just one of those action-crime/comedy/romance dramas that pop up out of the ground like mushrooms. It doesn't hold any specialty or uniqueness.

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