Reviews

This drama started off good and progressed so beautifully. There wasn't a boring episode. The right mix of comedy and drama with a good story line. We even got some hints of romance.

Then it happened. There was a storm hit or an earthquake or some radiation leak or some kind of cosmic unconscious thing happened that some how messed with the brains of the writers that made them **** up (insert various curse words here) the drama at exactly episode 35. That is where the BS began.This drama went left. So left it fell of a cliff..ugh i'm so mad the writers messed the whole thing up.

The romance between the main characters Monghee and her love life totally was just turned upside down, punt in a blender, pureed, frozen and thrown out to sea. That's how bizarre her story was. Don't even get me started on the 180 half the characters made. The only saving grace for this drama is the story of the youngest brother. I can't put my finger on what exactly happened but if you are going to embark n this journey good luck.

I for one am not happy with the way it turned out. I don't think i have cursed so much at the ending of a drama and i saw When a Man Loves (that says a lot). That ending made me puke ugh I need the 50+ hrs i invested in this drama back.

In other words DON'T DO IT.

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I finished watching this drama a few weeks ago and forgot to write a review, so, here I am :) First of all I'd like to say that I was introduced to this drama because I read the manga which I am currently waiting for translations... I am a fan of the manga and also a big fan of the drama. LIFE dived into human emotions and really expressed them well. This stroy of bullying takes it to the extreme following a girl named Ayumu. The actors were amazing especially Hosoda Yoshihiko- he honestly at some points, scared the crap out of me! Though, towards the end I started to pity Katsumi and hate him a little less. In my opinion the cast was very well chosen. I watched LIFE straight through because I couldn't put it off- my eyes were glued to the screen. I even ordered the series on DVD 'cuz it's something I could watch over again. I wish this series was longer...though it did capture the concept in the course of 11 episodes ;D I reccommend LIFE to everyone even if you aren't really interested in this type of drama, usually I wouldn't want to watch a drama like this but with life it's an exception.

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Finally. Korea has finally come out with a top notch police/procedural drama. It's also from a cable broadcaster,which says a lot. Cable in Korea is really stepping it up recently.

The plot follows a special team of detectives that work together to solve cases that only have a "10%" chance of being cracked. The cases are dark and twisted and wonderfully portrayed.

Each member of the team has an interesting backstory and is played to perfection. Joo Sang Wook was amazing as the "less than noble" team leader with the soulful eyes. My favorite character overall, was Kim Sang Ho's lazy bum-detective character who is actually quite clever.

TEN has amazing cinematography and visual effects ... it seems a lot more artistic than the usual cop drama. The music is also lovely. BREATHE by Mad Soul Child is a hauntingly amazing song.

Overall, a slick and exciting mystery series that features great acting. Can't wait for the movie that will conclude the cliffhanger at the end of episode 10.

;)

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“How will my broken head remember this day in the future? Without anytime to prepare myself, my life began to crack…Will I remember the man in his 40s who is shaking in fear after getting lost for the first time in his life?” Park Tae Suk.

“A wise man once said that getting lost in life is an opportunity to find new way. But that’s only a saying I might end up remembering today as the day when I realized that such a saying doesn’t make me feel better at all”. Park Tae Suk.

“The heart I tried so hard to ignore gives a command to my brain “Please Persevere As Long As You Can, Persevere As Long As Your Heart Is Still Beating”. Park Tae Suk.

You take a look at the synopsis and read “Alzheimer” and immediately think to yourself “What? Alzheimer again? And what is even worse there is no romance, no fairytale, no young faces… nah I won’t bother this is clearly a tearjerker and I know how it’s going to end anyway so what’s the point?” Well, you have the right to walk away if you think “Alzheimer” is depressing topic I won’t blame you BUT please bare with me here and let me try to sell this drama for you, would you?

Yes, this topic has been used countless and countless of times in dramas, in movies….etc, so what makes Memory special? There is nothing special with the story itself or the elements it has presented. Family, regret, changing the way you lived your life, sorrowful past that you want to run away from, locking away your painful memories and the pain of losing someone…etc these aren’t new topics but let’s face it how many topics can be brand new? Searching for totally brand new topics is almost like a mission impossible honestly. The trick isn’t in the topic but rather in the way it is used and presented. Memory has brought in over-used topics and turned them into a wonderful emotional ride with diverse emotions that will leave you breathless and heavyhearted. The ride was raw, real and very consuming both mentally and emotionally!

I loved how the drama made me feel for each character without leaving the show feeling depressed myself. It is clearly isn’t happy go lucky drama, it has a lot of unfortunate events but it avoids feeling over the top and it also avoids feeling like stuff happens to force viewers tears. It takes you along and you just feel all of it naturally. Doesn’t that scream “different”? I feel bad if someone would call it a tearjerker (not that I have a problem with tearjerker dramas) it is just not what Memory really is.

The best and most important two aspects that made Memory strong felt drama is the award winning acting and the wonderful cinematography/scenery and direction. Usually it is hard enough to find a drama that is excelling in one of these aspects let alone all 3 of them. Even for those of you who never notice scenery or direction you will be forced to notice them here because it is just too good, simply beautiful. The feels that this drama possesses it is all driven from the acting performance. Acting has played the most essential part in this drama along with the heart-wrenching dialogues. I loved each and every sentence spoken here especially the scenes between Park Tae Suk and his wife and Park Tae Suk and his son. Those scenes are one of the most memorable scenes in the entire drama and I wouldn’t be exaggerating when I tell you to watch it for the sake of those scenes only because they are indeed EXQUISITE.

I would love to mention each and every member of this stellar cast because they really deserve the appreciation but that would just make my review endless and words won’t do them justice. I will just mention my favourite ones. First my most favorite misters of all times and our hero here,Lee Sung Min (Park Tae Suk). Kudos to this man, let me just say to the those of you who already know how precious this actor is “congratulations he NAILED THE HELL OUT OF HIS FIRST MAIN LEAD!!” And to those who still haven’t met this man in drama land “PLEASE don’t let my review stop you and go ahead STALK DOWN his profile”. It is sad if you decide to pass on Memory but at least pick one thing for this man and make the time to watch it please. He belongs to those class actors whom you as a drama fan have to watch something for because trust me “acting” doesn’t get any better than this. This man has no limits; every minute spent on watching him he makes it all worthwhile. I also want to mention the rest of my favorites two wonderful surprises Lee Ki Woo and Lee Jun Ho. Their performance both took me by surprise, I have seen Lee Ki Woo before but not as a despicable sorry excuse of human being (which he did WONDERFULLY) and I have seen Lee Jun Ho in a movie and he was likeable then but I had no idea what kind of hidden talent this boy had until I watched him in Memory (his first drama) and boy am I still surprised that he is actually an idol, very impressive! Looking forward to their future projects.

This is one of the few dramas that are blessed with storytelling OSTs and great ones if I may say. There are many great OSTs out there but I appreciate it even more when the OSTs speak the story too this way it gets me even more emotionally invested in the story than I already am.

I generally do not rewatch dramas but I do have very few ones that I'd rewatch. However even for those who do rewatch dramas I don't think Memory is rewatchable material considering how heavy and intense the content is I think once is enough to appreciate it throughly but I also could be wrong so that's for you to decide.

Overall
Clearly this will be one of the underrated dramas here on MDL, nonetheless I have faith that there will be fans out there who are meant for this drama and hopefully will appreciate it the way it should be appreciated. If you are willing to go in an emotional ride and if you don’t mind the predetermined ending, if you are looking for well crafted story, award winning performance and beautiful heartfelt dialogues then this drama should definitely be on your plan to watch list ^^
Don’t let “Alzheimer” keep you away from a great drama such as Memory. Realising what are our priorities in life this is something which never gets old nor boring no matter how old we get we still learn and there will always be a chance to set those priorities right even with little time. "The end is soon HOPE. With the strength you have now be happy" Memory.

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I expected more...

After I saw the casting and the trailer I was really excited to watch this show and thought it would be another thriller masterpiece. However, it turned out for me to be a bit disappointed. It's definitely not a bad show and I still enjoyed it overall but I just couldn't help feeling sad that I didn't like watching it as much as I thought I would.

The acting and casting is on another level with Choi Woo-sik and Son Sukku as the main characters. Nevertheless, I wished for more screentime of Lee Tang (played by Choi Woo-shik) because I personally thought the thriller was going to be a bit more through the eyes of the killer than the police officer. Because of the lack of screentime I found it difficult to relate to the character or at least understand his traits a bit more.

The first episodes were all great and I couldn't wait to watch the show further but later on at approximately episode 5 and following I got a bit bored and it felt really slow. I personally didn't like the adding of Song Chon as a character but I do understand that he had to be there to make the story clearer. I simply wished for more thriller aspects. However, the ending really got me and I'm hoping for season 2!!!

(I did this review only based on the series I did not read the webnovel it's based on)

All in all, the drama disappointed me even though it may have been because of my high expectations.

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It’s an ambitious detective drama, because the main theme is the corruption in the police and moral boundaries. But this is also a good thriller with psychological background.

We are not used to uncertainty and hesitation about who is the good and who is the bad guy. It’s easier to watch something simple, black and white. That’s why probably some people think that something is missing in the drama. But complicated plot, labyrinth of possibilities and mysteries characters are strong point in this show and build a good crime story.

We get to know characters slowly. They hide more than we can read from their words. Truly I was fascinated of actors’ skills and how they portrayed subtle differences and nuances in characters’ mind and soul: the fear of lawyer Han Tae Joo, the rage of young policeman Kim Young Goon, Do Chi Kwang belief in his omnipotence.

I like this drama very much, although the plot is really complicated. The director is consequent and he created the show with the same pace and the same quality in all episodes. Actors are great. The emotions are great. The gray colours of filming are great. Sometimes the good script is enough for handsome Seo Kang Joon to shine.

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The first thing that came into my mind after watching this film, that all the bed scenes were really unnecessary (well not altogether unnecessary, but there were too many and to intense, if I may say so).
Now when the film is over, I am thinking, so what? What was the meaning of the film? What did the creators want to tell the audience through the movie? (I won't spoil your pleasure by telling the ending). And don't think I am saying this as a negative thing, though I really can't hide the empty feeling in me now... really empty, which, I didn't think I would have after this reach and beautiful movie. But I really do, I think the ending is not worth of the 2:20 minutes of this story that tells about friendship, love, passion, loyalty, pain, respect... and all the beautiful and highest things that should have brought the movie to SOME ending...
The cast is just... PERFECT! Wow, Song Ji-Hyo (a big Running Man fan talking here)... just WOW! So feminine and strong, her queen, GREAT!
Jo In-Sung... his general... when he had tears in his eyes, my heart was breaking with his... and I can't help but mention his face when he was kissing the queen... I was holding my breath to hear his... just... froze me... Saw him first yesterday, while watching The Classic... he is definitely growing on me...
This movie is definitely worth watching, though not everyone will and can watch it. The story is great, though, repeating myself, leaving an empty feeling about its ending... I'm shutting up, just watch it yourself!

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Cruel Romance has a decent main story line, but the story gets bogged down with some of the secondary story line to the point of annoyance. At one point I thought "not again" and realized that they pretty much recycled the same plot point with a few minor changes. I gave it a higher score because of the main romantic story. One of the problems is that the women characters aren't that smart. One lets herself be manipulated into doing things that end up hurting herself and the other seems smart, but makes really bad decisions. Anyway, at least the antiheros were smart. If you like action, romance and suspense, then this is a good drama for that.

Joe Chen is really cute and a good actress, but Rong Jin Xiu wasn't the best role. For her character to be smart at one point and then to make foolish decisions. Well, her character paid for those decisions in a huge way. I think she had decent chemistry with Huang Xiao Ming who played Zuo Zhen. He is an excellent actor. I like how he showed control of his emotions without being a cold person. Plus he is HOT! Kelsey Lu is also a good actress, but the character Yin Ming Zhu is one of the most annoying I have ever seen. I get her past and why she did some of the things and I felt sorry for her when certain things happened to her that were totally not her fault. The problem is that I couldn't have cared less what happened to her by the end of the show. The other male characters weren't likable to me. The actors did fine jobs at playing the characters though. At least Qiao Kimi as Xiang Ying Dong admitted his selfishness. Let’s talk about some hotness overload in Qi Ji as Maeda Ryuichi. He plays crazy really well and there absolutely no redeeming qualities for his character, but he did it so well. I really enjoyed his acting. The other actors are good too.

The music is ok.

I won't rewatch this.

I recommend this drama. It isn't perfect, but it is entertaining.

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Just another timetravel story

Overall Thoughts:
Not a bad drama, but not one I’ll be thinking about two months from now. The pacing felt a bit sluggish at times, and I wasn’t fully engaged with the storytelling throughout. This could have been tighter and more impactful as an 8-episode series. While there were twists and turns, most of them were quite predictable. Still, that didn’t stop me from continuing to watch.

What I Liked:

The chemistry between the main couple was genuinely enjoyable and carried a lot of emotional weight.

The lead actors gave solid performances that made their relationship believable and compelling.

The bodyguard/assistant character was a standout, adding charm and balance to the overall tone.


What I Didn’t Like:

Armin’s hairstyle in the early episodes was distracting and oddly styled.

The creators leaned too much into lakorn-style melodrama, including exaggerated acting, outdated tropes, and overly dramatic scenes.

For instance, Armin repeatedly "accidentally" reveals information from the future to people in the past. This happens multiple times and starts to feel repetitive.

When Armin was shot on set, with real or empty bullet, no one would realistically aim directly close range at the heart and fire directly. a blank (or empty) bullet can still be dangerous and even deadly at close range.

The villains were particularly cliché, behaving like stereotypical bad guys from old movies, with theatrical tone, facial expressions, and gestures. The main villian ends up going insane in prison, a trope that felt tired and unnecessary.


Final Verdict:
A watchable drama with strong performances and great chemistry between the leads, but weakened by predictable storytelling and an overreliance on outdated dramatic devices. Enjoyable while it lasts, but not something that leaves a lasting impression.

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Meh...

Just my opinion: season 1 was far better than this season 2. However, I even felt season 1 became weaker with the "beach" plot. Everything before the beach was perfection. It still was an amazing 1st season though and kept you on your toes. This season however, had new characters I didn't care about and way too much dialogue. It sidetracked into back stories so often that it became a drag. The suspense of the 1st season was gone. There were whole episodes where the main character, Arisu, isn't even in them. The story was just all over the place, with some characters never seeming to die no matter how many bullets hit them or how much they bled out. The best games were with Chishiya especially the prison one. The rest of the games were meh and it seemed like there were less than previous season. Also there's a fare bit of male gaze moments that weren't needed such as a cheap crotch shot of a character in a school girl uniform. Then again the whole 1st game could be seen as one long female gaze moment. So I guess it balances out? As for acting it was average to below average. I know Kento has a lot of fans who would probably want to wring my neck after saying this, but I find his acting hammy. Very handsome guy no doubt, but he's not the best actor amongst the ikemen actors of his generation, not by a long shot. The fl that plays Usagi and has starred with Kento in many projects isn't much better. Lastly, I found the ending in this season very underwhelming.

This gets a 6/10 from me.

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Jiayou, this is the best drama

I don't think I should be reviewing it 10 minutes after watching the last episode but here I am, this is my first review on MDL and my face is still wet from all the crying since I watched the last 4 episodes in a row. This one is gonna be a long one.
Since this is my first time I'll write it as I feel it. Also English is not my natural language so please be patient.

Music: according to last.fm I listened to 坚强的理由 168 times last week :) I cried a bit when it played for the first time in that hotel scene. First bc I recognized Eric Tsai's voice (and I love him so much -listen to Fool and Idiot, guys); second, the lyrics and third, the was a sad scene and we were so warm with HZY and FZ travelling together and all. I'm also a fan of Wu Qing Feng who sings the opening song. Shout out to Fish Leong <3; Ma Si Chun and Deng Lun, I didn't know they could sing. The OST is really great.

Dubbing: as important as the actors on screen, dubbing can ruin everything. Just like those scenes you know you're supposed to feel sad, the actor on screen is suffering with his face but then he sounds like Marvin, the paranoid android and all the feeling is lost. This one is dubbed at some few lines maybe to correct sth and it's dubbed by the same actors so it's okay, it's not cringey and it doesn't affect the acting on screen.

Acting: I judge acting simply by how the actor makes me feel and if it matches the scene.
I came here for Ma Si Chun. She's my girl crush and I'm 100% biased by her. But I have to say I wasn't expecting her to be this good. Ma Si Chun came to a point in acting where you can't see her, you see FZ and FZ only. She didn't try to look good on camera, she was just her character. On the other hand, at first, I was negatively biased by Deng Lun. I'm really sorry but because of 'Ashes of Love' I thought he was overhyped. I didn't expect him to be a good actor... I expected him to be like HZY, a good looking so-so idol actor. I'm glad to admit I was wrong.
All the cast was superb and natural. They responded well to each other and their adlibs were really funny. They broke character A LOT and it was AWESOME. I'm happy the director made the best of these moments.

Characters: I liked all the characters (even if I hated NM sometimes). Fu Fangshu was my favourite. I'm a sucker for soft tsunderes. The way he welcomed HZY, his love for FZ, the bickering with NM, the brotherhood with GDP. Lao Fu is a wise man who sacrifices for the ones he loves without wanting anything in return, he's just happy and caring and grumpy. The character development of all of them was really good. To me, the best ones were: Jiajia and Niu Meilli.

Romance: the romance is not what some people might be expecting. HZY and FZ are really cute. They care for each other, HZY is loyal like a dog, FZ devotes 3 years of her life to him, they bicker but it's not aggressive, it's light and warm, the confessions are cheesy :} but it's not 8-camera-angles-kiss... Tbh the kiss was a peck and that was it.

Story: 44 episodes, 45 min each, less than 15 characters... It dragged at times. The synopsis is okay, that's the story. No surprises. You get yourself rooting for them and being frustrated when something goes different from what we expected. This happens a lot until it hits you... That's life. We expect it to be a drama and everything going according to what we see in dramas but that's a genuine slice of life with some elements of fiction.

TL;DR: Warm. Well acted. It drags but you can skip scenes. Character development well executed. Really good music. Funny bickering. Actor breaking characters at its best. Rough start to friendship to life time partners. Worth it.

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Incredible acting, important series, so so writing

The actors did a great job, I commend to the them cause they brought the characters to life in such an immersive way, even when the writing had some problems in my opinion.

I appreciate the will to talk about the many struggles of a person part of the LGBTQIA+ community, but since the themes are particularly sensitive I felt some issues were rushed into the plot, like Yeong being HIV+. This is such an important question that it deserved more time to breathe into the story.
I feel like the overall length of the series was enough, the issue is how it was spent: some moments and themes needed more time and attention or the writer could’ve chosen to focus on one/two but do a better job. Some others got way too much space and didn’t even add much to the story cause of their repetitiveness (the many club scenes, the multiple scenes in which Yeong was with his mother, she said the same things and he then ran away leaving her with the caregiver…).
The religious guilt linked to the mother and Yeong Su is another sensitive matter and it was barely touched (like the scene where his mum clearly got him locked up in a psych ward when he was a teen?! You can’t just drop that scene and move on like nothing happened!)
I also would’ve loved a happy ending, gotta be honest, and I’m not one for them.
I often hear members of the community saying how refreshing it is to have representation that it is not only tragedy after tragedy when it comes to dramas/series/movies based on their experiences, and I feel like here we leaned way too much into the depiction of the hopelessness of a gay man. As much as it’s the experience of many and it’s important to represent it, I felt that Yeong Su was being the protagonist of a witch hunt more than a coming of age/slice of life to the point of feeling cruel for the sake of it. I feel very torn, cause it’s and important piece of media, but it was executed ok.

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Violence Begets Violence

I've been wanting to write a review for some time and have only gotten around to it now.

Honestly, I would rate this lower but I think the great acting of the ML and SML offset my low rating.

I want to first start off by saying I binged watch this in one day because I wanted to see how everything unfolded but I think that there were a few things left to be desired.

First of all, I think everyone could relate to the bullying that the ML, Shi Eun, faced when he finally had enough, and finally fought back, there was this gratifying, sweet taste of revenge that every viewer cheered for. You wanted to see those bullies beaten back and every time they got what they deserved, it was oh so fun to watch. As morbidly disgusting, savage, and violent as it was, you felt the rage and the vengeance the ML was feeling.

But I think also that the storyline was a bit too violent and too far-stretched. With a con man trying to kill teenagers, with teenagers using bats and other weapons against each other, where a father beats his kid with a golf club, and where kids didn't know when to stop the beating, the violence almost became unrealistic and too much at times. Also, the only way to beat the bullies was to resort to even more violence or bullies getting bullied by other bullies or just because there's that one dude, like Soo Ho, that no one wanted to f*ck around with. You shake your head at the one friend, Beom Seok who never really learns what true friendship means until he's full of regret. Seriously.

I think, in the end, there's no real moral compass and everyone gets away with everything except of course the ML and his buddy Soo Ho who ends up in a coma. The one really good guy in the whole show, ends up in the worst state. Let's not forget the assemblyman gets away with being an abusive father, while his adopted son, Beom Seok, the friend who put his one real friend in a coma, has and gets to leave the country not really paying for his crime, Soo Ho remains in a coma, the one female friend Young Ki, leaves and disappears and the ML gets blacklisted from all the good schools only to end up in a school that looks like he's in juvie and starting in the same cycle of bullying all over again. All he wanted to do was focus on his studies and now what? He's put back another year with more bullies to pick on him?

Nothing turns out good for any of the good characters. Nothing. And unfortunately, that just means that even though some of the bullies got their own share of beatings, they really still won in the end.

This is a story of how violence begets violence, and how revenge is double-edged sword.

For me, the ending left a lot to be desired.

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This was the first Taiwanese drama I ever watched and I totally loved it and probably my favorite so far. Which is why I get confused sometimes at why some people seem to hate on it. Why...I'll never understand, because I went into this wanting a cute love story filled with adorable actors and something that would humor me...and it really did all of that.
Some people are saying "oh it's bad acting." Really? Is it bad acting to be less serious and more silly? I don't think so.

For a rom-com, I thought the acting was pretty well executed and I totally loved Jiro in this and can't really think of another actor that would replace him. I know Rainie Yang has a lot of haters as well, which for the life of me, I can't understand. Girls' got spunk. :) But her character in this drama is much more different than other roles she's played. This was my favorite role of hers! XD

The story isn't anything new really, shy, introvert, nerdy type of girl catches the attention of the attractive, Mr.Popularity. But I tend to love these types of stories. So cliche I know, so sue me...:P

Overall it is an adorable story that has just the right amount of romance, just enough comedy and just enough "seriousness" (as serious as you can get in a rom-com, I mean) that really makes the story worth watching. Plus, I totally adore Mars and Momo! They have such good chemistry in this drama, which was what really kept me going. I mean c'mon, even their NAMES sound good together. MarsxMomo~
Love this couple and love this story. :DDD

But PLEASE! If you're looking for something serious and dramatic (involving tears) this isn't the drama for you...however if you want something light, cute and sweet (with a bit of silliness) then look no further! :D

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The fear of death follows from the fear of life.

Reminded me of a quote from Harry Potter, "To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure". Indeed, HELLBOUND is the adventure on the way to death and a survival game against the angle of quietus.

TW: Dystopia, Violence, Killing, Cult beliefs, Brainwashing, Superstitions.

Hellbound, written and directed by the acclaimed director Yeon Sang Ho, the PD or some famous apocalypse thriller movies like "Train to Busan" and "Psychokinesis", has been able to deliver another mind-blowing piece with his experience and skills. Can't really say that it's a groundbreaking show but surely a good one that keeps you entertained throughout and evokes all kinda feelings.

Basically, the story is set up in a dystopian world along with supernatural elements. Some people see predications of their death as a decree of being bound to hell for the sins they've committed and no matter how much they try, they can't prevent it. Some unknown monster-like giant creatures appear from nowhere and execute them and send them to hell. Jung Jin Su (Yoo Ah In), is the founder of the religious group "Saejinrihwae" (literally The Truth), tells the world that this is God's work and make people follow the group. They name the monsters "Angle of Death".

"Hwasalchok" (literally arrowhead) are the radical follwers of the religion who are very dangerous. They punish anyone who questions the existence of their God. Min Hye Jin (Kim Hyun Joo) is a lawyer at Sodo Law Firm, trying to find out about the truth of this religion. Jin Kyung Hoon (Yang Ik Jun) is a detective whose daughter Jin Hee Jung (Lee Re) somehow gets involved with the cult.

The plot development isn't steady, rather the story is divided into 2 parts; the first 3 episodes showing about the rise of the cult group and the latter half showcasing it's consequences and got a solid plotline about Bae Young Jae (Park Jung Min) and Song So Hyun (Won Jin Ah) who are married couple with a newborn baby. The execution of these 2 seemingly different storylines set up in the same scenario is very well done by the PDnim.

Personally, I couldn't find anything great in the first episode to feel the urge of continuing the show but I had to do it anyways. The 2nd episode did interest me a bit, ngl. The 3rd episode is what makes you hooked because of the intriguing elements that will definitely raise your curiosity level. There is a leap when the 4th episode starts and whatever follows, is very crazy and insane; enough to make your blood boil. I've already mentioned it's a dystopia so be careful in case you're sensitive because this ain't for the light-hearted.

The back story of the entire show isn't completely explained, just like many other Netflix Korea Original shows, in order to keep the suspense for another season and this clearly is the case here. Some might cite things happening in here illogical, but do keep in mind that it's dystopia.

Acting as an overall, is pretty good. Skillful ones like Yoo Ah In, Kim Hyun Joo, Park Jung Min, Won Ji Ah, Yang Ik Jun, etc have done a good job as usual. Also, the supporting plus minor characters have delivered a decent job. Not to forget, Kim Hyun Joo's action skills were nice, though wasn't shown for long and well, I loved that part. Wish they made her do some extra stunts hehe.

The CGI could have been better bcs tbh, the monsters weren't even scary. I admit the story is mot just about the monsters, rather the story about wrong beliefs plus some sort hidden power, who's doing all these, but still; the monsters looked like somky hulks and least scary... However, as always the sound production is apt which enthralls and enrages you and makes you anxious.

Many important factors, shown in here are: false sense of justice and righteousness, crime and criminal minds, victim and their families, bloodlust, superstition, wrong beliefs, brainwashing, radicalism, abuse, parental love & care, death & it's essence, desires to live or survive, relentless fear, agony, vengeance, sadism, etc.

My most favourite line from Hellbound is from the finale episode where this random person says, "I don't know about Gods, neither do I care. But what I know is, this world belongs to people. And we should deal our matters by ourselves."

Again, Netflix Korea has done a bad job in regards of English translation, idk what has happened to them since Squid Game. No one is asking for literal translations but for goodness's sake don't divert the context of a conversation by translating sentences in a sense that doesn't even match the essence of it.

In fact the very ending of the finale episode indicates the beginning of another tragedy, hence implying about a second season. But well, I am disappointed that Netflix Korea keep doing it on a regular basis and go silent about the clarification for a 2nd season. Then they come back after a long while saying they will make it but by that time, a major portion of the cast gives up the drama, wth. Do better, Netflix Korea.

I must admit, the ending consequences have made me cry. Given the storyline, it was bound to be a sad and tragic ending but I don't expect they'll put forth some essence about death, relationship and beliefs, which actually made me see the entire thing in a good light by the end of the drama. The finale episode is the best one out of the 6. I was totally enthrilled by the entire episode.

By the end, from What, How and Why, one thing that wasn't explained was the "What" aspect and the root cause of the entire happening. Wish they would make a full-length drama out of the webtoon so that we could rate it a whole, or a movie could have been better. Anyways, the overall development was good, if not excellent. I would have given a 8.0 but honestly not that impressed.

Overally, Hellbound is a very good one time watch and worth the binge. I enjoyed most of the parts of the show, though I am not really awed or taken aback by this. I haven't read the original wentoon so can't say what alterations they've made or whether it meets the standard or not. I suggest you watch with a strong hold on your heart. Even if you're not that interested, please do it for the one and only Yoo Ah In bcs his visuals are top notch, oof.

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