This review may contain spoilers
I started this drama out of shear curiosity and really got hooked on the super drama it ended up turning into. I loved the plot and the character dynamics and could not wait for the romance between the Empress and the Chief body guard/Na Wang Shik. But......The ending completely fell apart. It was exceptionally disappointing. I hated the way the writers wrapped things up. Min Yoo Ra being raped was just too much for me. It didn't make sense - it was like they were trying to justify and redeem her being a horrible person (throughout more than 75% of the drama) by saying that she went through something horrible (rape *is* horrible, but there was no reason to add that to her story because her story already made justifiable sense). Her horrible actions and mentally was already explained through her thinking she was abandoned when pregnant. They didn't need to add such a cruel thing on top of it. It was unnecessary and honestly, for me personally, distasteful.
Another thing that was handled poorly and was a complete let down for me was how Na Wang Shik was not in the final episodes - it felt really REALLY wrong. He needed to be there some how. Flashbacks would have been a great addition to kind of bridge the gap of the actor's absence! It was like they were trying to get us to forget he ever existed in the drama....but he was present in EVERY SINGLE EPISODE so trying to brush off his character in the last 4 episodes was just stupid and not well compensated for.
A logical issue in the plot that I could not fathom was the culprit behind the death of the Grandmother/Grand Empress Dowager....or apparently a suicide. Even if her suicide was planned by the writers, it made NO LOGICAL SENSE. NONE. How would her suicide help ANYONE (her reasoning behind killing herself rather than being murdered by her own family members)? UGH that was soooo frustrating and stupid too.
In regards to the island the Empress Dowager wanted so badly..... I was thinking that the island was gonna have something extremely taboo, cruel and crazy - the poppies with the cocaine production just really didn't cut it for me. Yes, the human experimenting was awful, but I didn't understand the point to it. Why do experimenting on humans with poppy extract? What's the goal/purpose??? That was left unexplained, which made it feel like they never really knew what was on the island until it was time to reveal it and then they didn't come up with anything worthy of all the desire to KILL over.
The ending with the Empress Dowager killing her own son was goosebumps evoking. It just didn't make sense to me how they made it seem like in his dying breaths the Dowager didn't mean it.....she tried to blow him up like 2 days ago.....
It was also sad that the sister to the emperor was simply too dumb to get involved with all the crazy stuff and therefore never trusted to handle anything. It protected her in the end, but man she felt so betrayed and surprised/appalled at their actions. Poor thing.
I also didn't get why the Empress (Sunny) was made to look like she's going to miss the Emperor after his death/murder but not once does she seem to mourn or remember Na Wang Shik. How does that even make sense to them?! They were in frickin love! Everyone knew it, but thanks to the actor's inability to be present in the last 4 episodes they decided to pretend that they weren't leading to that the whole time?! Where was Sunny crying herself to sleep because she loved him and he died protecting her from the bomb explosion (which they didn't really explain well either, just kind of glazed over to get him out of the picture). That makes me so mad.
There was some dramatic irony of people walking around looking at "antique " stuff from in the palace. That had me cracking up.
What I can say about the ending that was good was at least Sunny always loved Ari and wanted to protect her, which she managed to do till the end. That's a plus.
You see and this is a prime reason why I never watched currently airing dramas in the first place! The ending to this drama was so awful that it ruined the whole drama for me, even though I absolutely loved mostly everything up until the way they started to wrap up the ending.
Sunny didn't get to be with Chun Woo Bin/Na Wang Shik (which I wasn't originally rooting for, but after all the implications, I found myself wanting them to end up happy together) and that kinda bugged me because they were definitely alluding to their romance. And then they took it away!
Also, what was UP with Sunny's hair cut in the end?! That style did NOT suit her. And I don't think a haircut automatically equals a progression/lapse in time so that was definitely unnecessary too (though, I'm totally nit-picking, so I'll stop there).
Overall, I want to say I enjoyed this drama more than I did, but the ending makes it something I do NOT want to rewatch. Even the epilogue scene was a let-down. It implied that the Emperor and Sunny were supposed to be together if they had met in another life in different circumstances, but the whole drama spent time showing us that they would never be together and Na Wang Shik was her *fit*.
While the drama was highly addictive and paced well, the way the writers chose to handle the drama extension and not having the actor for Na Wang Shik included in the final 4 episodes ruined everything. I think the writers really need to reflect on how they handled this drama (in plot), their characters (in development), and their actors.
I would only consider recommending this drama/rewatching this drama if there was an alternate ending including Na Wang Shik's character and their happily ever after (rather than the bittersweet ending we got).
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Cheesy And Typical Tropes To Be Expected, Yet Oddly Heartwarming In Parts...
Novice screenwriter Yoo Song Yi and director Lee Hyun Suk tackle the renowned theme of time travel within their storyline with a conglomeration of staid cliches and tropes, plot holes as well as a mixed bag of characterisation. Nevertheless perhaps one thing which should be said is that even in the world of cliche K-dramas, the premise of “Hello, Me! “is pretty out there .The drama centralises its upon the main protagonist 37 year-old Ha-Ni ( Choi Kang Hee). Once a stunning beauty and popular in her teens, Ha-Ni’s life has hit rock bottom after a tragic event in her life. By a whim of fate, Ha-Ni ends up encountering her 17-year old self ( Lee Re) who has somehow travelled twenty years into the future for reasons unbeknown to both Ha-Nis. As the current Ha-Ni struggles to juggle between keeping the appearance of her younger self from her older sister Ban Ha Young ( Jung Yi Rang) , mother Ji Ok Jung ( Yoon Bok In) and grandmother Lee Hong Nyeon ( Kim Yong Rin), Ha-Ni’s life may just hide a blessing in disguise with a new opportunity coming to rise. In addition to this, the mysterious involvement of younger conglomerate heir Yoo-hyun ( Kim Young Kwang) and actor Anthony ( Eum Moon Suk), reveal their mysterious links and feelings through their shared pasts with Ha-Ni .
The cast of the series were fairly versatile in talents. Whilst main actress Choi Kang Hee admittedly did feel slightly out of place within the series at first, she was able to deliver a brilliant performance which allowed viewers to become attached and feel moved by her character. Arguably, actress Lee Re did feel slightly questionable within her portrayal of Ha-Ni’s younger-self due to certain line deliverances, however, during more angst-ridden moments of the series, the younger actress did capture certainly more heartfelt moments behind her onscreen persona .
Admittedly , Kim Young Kwang and Eun Moon Suk weren’t entirely dire within their performances and did have some genuinely heartbreaking moments onscreen , however as their characters were played more for comedy and as the “ love interests” of the drama, their performances were restricted slightly towards their respected moulds as the “ male lead and second male lead” of “ Hello, Me!” . However, this is not entirely the fault of either actor, as whilst the scriptwriting should be commended for tackling convoluted and realistic subject areas such as bereavement, family , friendship, mental health and the prejudice and difficulties of ageing in South-Korean Society , certain characters felt respectfully moulded into prosaic roles over the course of the series which were hard to renounce.
In particular this can be seen through the younger Ha-Ni. Ha-Ni is supposed to highlight a stark contrast against her older counterpart by her fractiousness , optimism and self-confidence in given situations due to still being young . On the other hand, Ha-Ni respectfully felt overly immature and benign for a 17-year old by her impulsiveness and lacking rationality at times over the course of the series. Whilst admittedly the older Ha-Ni did confess that she was fairly sheltered by her mother and doted on by her father Ban Ki Tae ( Kim Byung Choon) during her younger years, it still felt oddly out of place for a character exposed to social interactions and academic expectations ( which were never really touched upon the series) in high school to not learn to mature slightly as a consequence.
However, over the course of the series and her interactions with her older self, the younger Ha-Ni does learn to become more altruistic by helping others, as well as encouraging the 37 year-old self through acceptance than her earlier snide comments towards older Ha-Ni’s appearance and circumstances. ( Taking “ self-depreciation ” to a whole new level in the beginning of the drama.)Yet this still seems to lead to two possible conclusions; Ha-Ni should have been written as a slightly younger character ( perhaps someone nearer her mid-teens than 17 years old ), or preferably she should have been given more time throughout the storyline to learn to mature slightly from the influences of her older-self.
Naturally, this leads us onto the older Ha-Ni. Whilst the younger Ha-Ni is by default the same individual as the older Ha-Ni, screenwriter Song Yi notably places an emphasis upon the 37 year-old version of the character being strikingly different than her younger counterpart. The current Ha-Ni is more taciturn, lacking in self-confidence and was hinted by her mother and sister to have struggled with depression and loneliness in the past. Annoyingly whilst the series did enjoy placing comic relief upon Ha-Ni’s “ unfortunate circumstances” in the beginning of the series and her naivety for the latter part with the feelings of Anthony and Yoo-Hyun towards her, the older Ha-Ni admittedly did have a lot of character growth from low self-esteem initially towards a more self-assured individual who learns to pursue her dreams in the process.
However, her pairings with the male leads often felt slightly disjointed in the grand scheme of the series. The pairing between Yoo Hyun and Ha Ni felt more fortified admittedly than the more complicated relationship between Anthony and herself ( both younger and older), however, this often resulted in the series struggling sometimes to portray Ha-Ni’s affections and feelings towards either male lead outside of expected plot line and setups.
Perhaps the one element that was tackled well within the drama occurred with Ha Ni’s interactions with her mother, sister and grandmother over the duration of the episodes , shown to grow and developed from slightly estranged ( due to her circumstances) towards more affectionate and trusting over the course of the series. It would have perhaps been slightly more intriguing to have touched upon Ha Ni’s interactions and complications around her grandmother. Although primarily this did serve a major part of the story ( without any spoilers) , this did feel a little underdeveloped towards exposing the more emotional difficulties and challenges ( especially with her mental health ) for the 37 year-old Ha Ni. Nevertheless, it was a refreshing and heartwarming dynamic by the presence of Ha Ni’s interactions with her family allowing her to grow to some extent as an individual, rather than merely an asset for “romantic” plot development.
On the other hand, the two male leads of the series are a little more complicated to address by their debased characterisation in parts. “Anthony” arguably had the most wasted potential as a second male lead and his respected involvement in Ha-Ni’s life due to his “ feelings” for Ha-Ni often being played for comical gags rather than exploring his more complicated reasons, personality and past. The drama did attempt to bring up Anthony’s past haunting him again nearer the ending of the series by this particular storyline (as well of course his earlier interactions with the younger Ha-Ni), however, Anthony never truly felt like a worthy contender of Ha-Ni’s affections due to being severely limited within personal growth and screen time with the main character.
Arguably, against his initial cliche archetype as the “ immature, younger rich male lead” Yoo- Hyun was more well-rounded by his reasoning behind falling for Ha-Ni as well as his primary growth as a character . Without revealing too much about the storyline , there are expected tropes which revolve around Yoo-Hyun over the course of the drama. However against some of his more annoying flaws being his childishness and immaturity at times ( as noted by his father ), he was an incredibly kind-hearted and altruistic individual, making his interactions with the older Ha-Ni fairly sweet. Similar to the older Ha-Ni, however, it was refreshing that the series did touch upon Yoo-Hyun’s heartfelt relationship development and complications from childhood with his father Han Ji Man ( Yoon Joo Sang). Although his relationship with Ha-Ni was undeniably sweet, it did feel underdeveloped for a major proportion of the series, often resulting in their relationship being more “ friendly” than having “ romantic undertones”. Nevertheless, their bond did serve to provide warmth and sincerity into the series.
The side characters of the series were honestly a bit of mixed-bag with genuine development besides our main protagonists. Perhaps the most interesting side character in the series who had notable growth from her initial introduction in episode 1 manifested in Oh Ji Eun. The estranged best friend and shadow of Ha-Ni from her younger years, Ji Eun’s position is reversed in the present by being a successful director as well , in a fairly happy relationship with fellow managing director Yang Do Yoon ( Ji Seung Hyun). However, there’s a lot more than Ji Eun struggles behind the scenes from her initial introduction by struggling with guilt over how she left things with Ha-Ni after they ended their friendship initially, and walking around eggs shells with her mother in law and one of the arguable “ minor antagonists ” of the series, Han Ji Sook ( Baek Hyun Joo).
Whilst it is prominent to see why Ji Eun was forced into the mistakes she made in order to hopefully win the approval of Ji Sook, it felt slightly poorly-tackled how the show left things with Ji Eun. Additionally, the other side characters of the series were mostly played off giggles or to lighten up the mood over the course of the series such as kitchen staff Kang Geum Ja ( Kim Mi Hwa) and Cha Mi Ja ( Kim Do Yeon) , the “ obvious secret couple”, Bang Ok Joo ( Go Na Eun) and Kim Yong Hwa ( Kim Ki Ri) as well as of course the duo Park Jung Man ( Choi Dae Chul) and Min Gyeong Shik ( Kang Tae Joo) consigned as Anthony’s managers also.
On the other hand, the ending for “ Hello, Me!” was fairly appropriate for the genre; predictable, yet nonetheless enjoyable.Ultimately, “ Hello, Me!” was a fairly heartfelt, uplifting fantasy, family story and romantic comedy about self-love and learning to lean on others. It was not a flawless show and some notable implausibilities of character development, a sense of overarching purpose and cliches did ultimately detract from more intriguing aspects of the series. Nevertheless, it was a fairly enjoyable and easygoing watch, perhaps something to easily binge-watch when bored or looking for something to fill-out during a lazy day, holiday or weekend.
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Way too rushed or this would've been better
I was casually checking up for Ding Yuxi's upcoming works on his MDL profile page and came across this movie… the synopsis sounded interesting so I thought of checking it out… but wait what a blunder!
Having read the synopsis I knew this was gonna be a bit of rollercoaster and sad stuff… and it literally went like that… the plot moves with the speed of light, almost 3×10^8 m/s … that's the biggest complain I have here… they don't give you any time to adjust with the changes or understand the characters… the twist are like this, one thing happened, next this happens, then that and that…
the movie is 1 hour 44 minutes long, I wish it was at least 2.5 or 3 hours long… I won't mind the length but the story will be delivered better in that way.
Then they didn't even care to explain us the medical terms and elaborate us about the twists… I see they're crying but give me a reason to cry along with them… Tbh, the story isn't very bad as it seems, the only issue is the execution only if they showed us some basic character build up or some scenes related before verbally saying all the twists…
despite that some small scenes in between with the main leads that are barely of 1-2 minutes each are cute… as a cute pair they look great together but what a waste that the execution sucked… the only thing I am satisfied with is acting… I really hope the same leads work together for a better script… they deserve better…
from the OST lineup… I liked —
♪Accompany you♪ (sang by Yu Jiayun)
♪Ten years of smoke♪ (sang by Tang Hanxiao).
All in all, I don't recommend this to anyone. If you haven't watched any works of the cast before, please refer to their other works before cause this isn't the choice for a first impression.
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This review may contain spoilers
Overpromises but under-delivers - a confusing tale of lost potential and underutilised characters
(Brace yourself, I was a Lit student so here's my walls of text. Sorry for typos etc.):Enjoyable fantasy drama with a lot of undelivered potential, saturated with fan service moments, over the top product placements #coffeebay, misuse of secondary characters, all in support of a no longer justifiable love story of star-crossed lovers aka the Mary Sue leads.
I'm being generous in rating this an 8/10 (7.5 as a review) as I feel that all things considered the drama waivered about 4 episodes in with the start of the lovey dovey fan service moments, which, at the time I didn't mind, until the drama's quality continued to decline about episodes 7 to 8 and by the time of my bitterness in writing this, having just watched the ending, I feel that this drama should be rated at around 7.0 to 7.5 and that's if you aren't forgiving of the fact that this drama has a lot of plot holes and fails to continue its strength in storytelling Korean myths/folklore.
The premise of an action filled drama with a compelling love story backdrop about star-crossed lovers with intertwined fates was enough to entice me as I'm a sucker for those types of "fated to love you"/"loving you against all odds and through time, here and now" stories as a romantic. BUT to sum up, "Tale of the Nine-Tailed" to me initially felt like hopping on a rollercoaster, excited and anxious, then you get taken for a ride and reach a few heights, mid-heights, before then you're told to exit even though you've only had two minutes of enjoyment.
In sum:
* Weak, and illogical storytelling
* Underutilised secondary characters
* Underutilised fantasy/thematic elements
* Mary Sue leads who get what they what in expense of dispensable secondary characters
* Arbitrary, inconsistent and underfleshed rules of TONT fantasy land that make zero sense when you consider things altogether
LOVE/CHEMISTRY:
Look, I was aware that there were some people criticising Bo Ah and Lee Dong Wook as having no chemistry from the first episode in. I beg to differ. I did actually think that they had chemistry and felt that some of the initial judgment were a bit harsh as this was a new pairing. My favourite scenes were of Bo Ah as Ah Eum and their flashbacks as those really cemented the "star-crossed lovers with intertwined fates" theme. I loved the lake scene and especially Yeon crying as he gives Bo Ah the fox bead. I especially loved the parallel in Bo Ah crying and in the fox bead coming out, proving to Yeon that she was his reincarnated lover. I thought that that was one of the best scenes of this drama. I was also aware that at that point, some watchers thought that the reveal occurred prematurely and I disagree as at that point there was still a lot to play with.
BUT after that episode everything started to slow down and focus only on the "instalove" and THAT is the biggest weakness of their romance. The reliance on the past as a foundation of their present love. Although Ah Eum was clearly Ji Ah, she was still a different person, but the "instalove" prevailed and after the finding of the fox bead that that suddenly meant that although Ji Ah was still a bit embarrassed that essentially she already at that point loved loved loved Yeon, which made bloody zero sense. There were very little moments of building tension that is required when creating romance. The greater the tension, the better the climax.
Here, what annoyed me was that the writing was pretty much telling whoever's watching to assume that their intertwined past was enough to support their present romance and that they didn't need to talk in depth about that past apart from road trips here and there, over the top and cheesy dates featuring sponsors (I see you Coffeebay!), and out of the blue confessions that for Ji Ah's initial characterisation seemed out of the blue for her to say.
Conclusion - the romance lacked the necessary foundation for me to care, at least, to really care about why they loved each other so much because it wasn't believable. Why did they fall in love with each other in the present? I still don't know. Sure, Ji Ah was saved by Yeon and for that she might have been grateful, but why was she so open to loving a fox/non-human when she lost her parents to supernatural creatures? Wouldn't she harbour hatred against them? Why was it so easy for her to come out of her initial "strong girl" characterisation and suddenly become a lovesick girl whose only concern apart from the rescuing of her parents is her one and only love who she loves partly because there's an internal consciousness in her that remembers him (at least that's kind of implied) and partly because he's Yeon, the lead.
JI AH & YEON:
This is getting too long already but Ji Ah started off as a promising character. She was strong, got her shit together, but also had vulnerability from losing her parents and navigating her life all alone. But when she fell in love, and fall in love she did, she lost her strength and became a lovesick girl. The individual traits that defined her disappeared, and her love life became the focus of the show, so much so that that became her identity and the Ji Ah before Yeon became non-existent. Her life at the broadcasting station was very little spent, and really, I can't remember what was even the point of establishing that she works at the broadcast station when we saw very very little of what she did. The thrill of episode 3 in seeing Ji Ah as someone who was proud of her work, because it was rooted in something personal for her (finding her parents theme) was so admirable because she was a PERSON, her OWN PERSON, and not a person in love whose only identity is being in love.
Yeon, on the other hand, I thought was just a guy who was doing his best with all the responsibility bestowed upon him, and with very few people who could really understand the depth of that responsibility. BUT, now I have to agree with those other bitter watchers who say that he was selfish. He only did care about his own wants regardless of his self-sacrificing nature. At least, episodes 14-16 really shows that all he cares about is his lover and it doesn't matter what gets in the way, as long as he is happy. Actually, look, that is probably unfair, BUT the writers also ruined this character because Yeon lost his cool guy demeanour and became 50% baby and 50% cheese, which, to be fair, was funny in very small doses, but quickly became irritating because it made him look like an idiot, and made Rang's frustrations against him much more justified.
Also, what annoyed me was how readily okay the leads were in dispensing their friends. Of course, in fantasy land, sacrifice for a good cause is an honourable way to go, and dying for a great benefit is looked favourably upon, but where is the benefit in dying for the leads whose love story never really developed into a mature romance apart from the cringy sweet fan service moments? What was so important in their love story apart from the third party Imoogi that made sense for these secondary characters to be so readily available to risk their life for the happiness of one? Because they're a main character? It just does NOT make sense. Had the romance been stronger and believeable, and had there been greater foundational work emotionally, I would be all support but there was literally nothing apart from the third party Imoogi ruining their love, whose a questionable mission was never ever fully explained, that tested their love.
STORYTELLING:
What absolutely annoys me about the storytelling in this drama is a lot is implied, and nothing is explained. No debrief, nothing. Nada. There are many examples of this that sometimes you're like "Huh, they didn't explain that but oh, it's a new episode so let's just accept that that's what happened."
One such example is the rift between Yeon and Rang which was explained in one episode that although Rang believes Yeon abandoned him, that he didn't and never has. YET, we never get a full on explanation of why Rang believed this and what exactly happened in between those times. There was no debrief and after a few lines here and there, we are just made to accept that Yeon NEVER abandoned Rang and that Rang was just being an emotional baby.
Going back to Yeon's characterisation, the writers made him and Ji Ah too perfect that they made little to no mistakes and received the best of luck in almost all aspects of their life that they lacked relatability and became Mary Sue. It would have been more compelling had Yeon had to abandon Rang for a good reason and that his mistake in doing that led to the brothers' breakdown. Yet all the mistakes in this drama are mistakes that everyone else makes but the leads. It would have been better if the leads weren't so "perfect" - if Yeon had used Ji Ah to capture the Imoogi as his duty to the Gods before falling in love with her, if Ji Ah wanted to use Yeon to defeat the Imoogi but ended up falling for him.
I also didn't get the purpose of the Imoogi. For all the foundational work in trying to prove that the Imoogi was an all evil being, the taking Yeon's body to cause chaos to the world plan felt 'meh'. Personally, his plight would have been more believable had there been a long enough flashback scene where he speaks to Bok Gil and we were given enough view of the past for us to understand why he so badly wanted Yeon's body and why he had initially taken over Bok Gil's body. What I feel the writers could have done was shown a lot more of the past to set the foundation for the present.
Another example of the implied but not explained storytelling is when Ji Ah loses the fox bead to the blind fortune teller. First of all, how did she even know that she had it. She just said yes to the exchange and got Yeon. And although there might have been a scene where they discussed this, it was very brief and probably did not explain why she thought that the fox bead was useless. Also, if she's a director on the supernatural, wouldn't she be aware of its value so what was the point?
Another thing that wasn't explained was that the Imoogi wasn't able to read her mind? Why was that? I was hoping that here at least, and pertaining to the Princess Bari myth that she would have untapped supernatural connection, but alas, nothing. Nada. This was not explained. She was just a useless human after all.
OTHER COMMENTS (Okay I'm sleepy and I just need to get this out of my chest now. Tomorrow is a new day haha)
* There was also so much potential to delve into the stories of each individual from TOTNT that would have supported the creation of the fantasy world and probably helped establish in the believability of the rules of TOTNT's fantasy land. For example, Snail Bride could have got a flashback of her own instead of just having stories told about her. Green Evil Spirit could have also had a flashback about her own story. And definitely about the Imoogi exiting the well, and meeting Bok Gil, and even Bok Gil's own flashbacks with his wife. Even Moon Guy only had one episode and only appeared in the ending. The drama could have all these elements and could have allowed them to have greater importance instead of just making Yeon the main character who is an all-powerful, all-everything lead that saves the day and gets the girl.
* Continuing on from the underutilised characters. Soo Hoo could have been developed greatly - they could have given him the ability to heal, or at least allowed the side characters to also have powers. Ji Ah's friends could have also been a lot more useful and not just used as character decorations with very little screen time that it was actually hard to believe that they were at all even friends. Also Ji Ah's parents appeared only once or twice after getting out, what was even the point when it was almost as if they weren't even there??? The writers could have given them greater importance or even connected them to a fantasy source, because, after all, Ji Ah's mother had nightmares about her own child. Why was that? Again, that wasn't really ever fully explained.
*The fox bead - as much as this was set up as a very important element, it came and went and only appeared in the final episode, and again with very little explanation. If you're going to set up an important element (the fox bead is a love motif), you can't just forget about it and then realise that you set it up and tack it on the ending. It does NOT make sense.
* What happened to the villagers in episode 3? Whilst it was implied that they became the sacrifice that turned the Imoogi, there was no debrief about Ji Ah's story project there and about that island? Nothing.
* Also how did Yuri even fix her mess with her adopted parents? Shin Joo said he'd fixed it but why wasn't that even show. Even as a subplot, that was important in Yuri's characterisation. Why did they just ignore that?
--
Okay, that's all I can fit in. I feel better writing this review and getting those feelings out of the way. Don't get me wrong, there were some very good moments that I enjoyed, some cheesy moments that I enjoyed, but I couldn't forego logic for so long so here's this review.
Would I recommend this drama? Look, we all have different tastes and for the most part, I enjoyed watching this, but the ending really did leave a bad impression on me as I felt that my investment in the drama became exploited all for a "cool"/"unheard of" k-drama fantasy ending. If you choose to watch it and you start noticing what I've said, it's your choice to stick out; however, if you're part of the other camp that is able to turn off your logical reasoning and support fan service moments then by all means, watch this, be fan and go enjoy it. Otherwise, if you're on the fence, what's a few hours here and now?
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the movie describes a main problem that comes along with long relationships...losing contact...
when things goes wrong...go back to the beginning & rebuild things again...
the acting was great the directing was fabulous...
I'm a fan of French songs...so |I loved the music...
***watch it...you will not regret it ;)
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You may feel hurt in your heart a lot of the times.
This show has been one hell of an emotional roller coaster. It really hurt where it was supposed to hurt, it's that type of a story.The acting was good and really, the story itself and it's progression was definitely smooth, despite having many parallel story lines going on of different characters. The Director and the Writer did very well in this regard. Personally, I've seen many shows where they mess up the story line if a lot of things going on in one drama, but, Not this one. Although one of two details are missing that should have been addressed. But, you can't really expect more from a drama that's just 12 episode long.
The cinematography was great, although most Korean shows have them. It's the overall progression of the story that really did the job for me, It wasn't too fast, neither too slow, just my cup of tea.
Overall, a good show, with a very good cast, good story line, good acting and great music.
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Incoming: mild fever dream
Wow. What an…experience.Objectively, I had a few issues with the drama’s execution. Not-so-objectively, this is a perfect show to accompany a couple of spiked seltzers (ahem...only if you're of legal age, please): it’s cra-zy. Loco, I tell you.
The School Nurse Files is not your conventional television show, let alone your run-of-the-mill K-drama. It really does have a “Netflix original” vibe to it (as I would describe such a “genre”): creative and at times disturbing, but most importantly, outlandish. Each episode is a trip into peculiar jelly (warning: gross to look at) encounters, meeting eccentric characters, and the resulting chaos. Mixed together with moments of dry humor, the show can feel overwhelming at times, but is unexpectedly entertaining.
I can picture this drama as suiting those with more niche preferences, so I wouldn't recommend it on a whim. The computer graphics are done so well that the resulting creepiness can be physically off-putting. And though our main character may be a toy sword, BB gun-wielding fanatic, this show’s themes are quite serious and—on certain occasions—dark. Altogether, it’s a weird cocktail of comic tomfoolery and harsh reality that’s the first of its kind in the K-drama realm.
In terms of writing, the length of the drama turned out to be a handicap. The story was interesting enough, but the progression was slightly faster than what I prefer. With even one more episode, I think the pacing could have been smoother and the message of the show would have come across much stronger.
While I liked the characters, none of them were developed to their full potentials. In the fantasy genre, where plot tends to be overpowering by nature, it’s important to build characters as interesting human beings in order to complement such compelling stories. I don’t think that was entirely accomplished here, and that’s my main qualm with the show. The characters are supposed to be strange. Most of them are supposed to rub you the wrong way. But then what? They fall flat. Altogether, the freshness of the plot is what carries you through the show.
Admittedly, my initial interest was due to Nam Joo Hyuk. Jung Yoo Mi being on the cast list was an extra plus. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the two of them performed excellently. Jung Yoo Mi excelled in her oddballish yet emotional lead role, and Nam Joo Hyuk’s portrayal of a mellow and genuine sidekick was equally fun to watch. Oh, Nam Joo Hyuk. Never could I have expected him, of all people, to lead me...here. But here I am. In jelly-world.
Because it’s such a unique drama, there’s really no way of predicting whether you’ll enjoy it unless you try it. This is one of those rare shows where watching the first half hour is likely enough for you to make an accurate judgment about how much you’ll like the rest. So, empty your mind and jump in…just…your head needs to be totally empty to accept the amount of insanity it’s about to encounter.
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Worthy k-horror with top notch acting by Kim Tae Ri
Horror is not usually my choice of genre but was drawn by Kim Tae Ri’s versatile acting and was hooked from the beginning. Also a long mystery, each episode was full of suspense and was drawn wanting to find out the backstories. No love story unfortunately but there was a hint of romance between all the blood and deaths with the detective. Some could say there was also something with the Folklore professor but if they dropped in romance I’d be team detective. Ending also has a good message. Would recommend.Was this review helpful to you?
The first few episodes are really adorable, love the characters of both the leads, I like them both as actors.
Then from the middle to the end (even though its still beautiful) the story drags a lot. The pace is really really slow and situations repeat themselves one way or the other to the point that you have to ff to get on with it.
But for anyone who likes a romantic melodrama, this is not to be missed. I have already watched it twice and probably will next time too when I need to watch a sad and romantic story with a nice ending.
Mind you all the cliches are there, the dreaded love triangle, terminal illness, birth secrets and many more. But still its a beautiful watch.
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no expectations no disappointment
what was this I came to see this because of FLUKE AND NIKE but what the hell this is UGH I want to like it but I just DON'T LIKE IT I didn't meet the expectations I had of it.What went through the mind of the producer and director when they made it.
An angel coming out of a TREE? I knew that elves, fairies, etc. live in the trees, but this is the first time I've heard of angels in the trees.
The special effects are exaggerated, not to mention the sound.
Not even the NC scene was good angel krit reminded me of pharm at that moment with the haircut and everything and that scene died there and we are talking about FLUKE who can achieve great scenes and proof of this is RED WINE IN THE DARK NIGHT.
I expected something better knowing that it was a series by the same writer as TRIAGE AND MANER OF DEAD and knowing that I was part of the production but this is a total disappointment, if this is the same as the novel I will say that the writer did it in a day where all his imagination had gone to create such nonsense and I hope the next book that is going to be adapted is better than this. It is not worth that it lasts an hour and more than 30 minutes is more than enough for this kind of show. And that I waited for all the episodes to see if it improved but apart from the great performance of NIKE Y PON there is nothing else.
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The Dark Side of the Moon.
This drama is about how a power couple that is well matched in terms of cunning, ambition and capability scale the upper echelons of banking and finance during 1930s Shanghai. The narrative vividly captures the wild, morally ambiguous, highly speculative, wheeling and dealing nature of the mafia dominated banking and finance industries during that early period of industrialisation.Cheng Yizhi is a scrappy, enterprising, self educated young orphan with a knack for numbers and finance who is raised by a kindly shopkeeper. He starts out in a lowly position at a bank but his talent propels his rapid advancement to become the protege of banking magnate Huang Ruhong. Wu Lizi is the pampered daughter of a distinguished banker whose world falls apart when her father is framed and commits suicide. Hell bent on revenge, she marries Yizhi and ruthlessly uses his access to banking circles to investigate her father's downfall. Mutual lack of communication and a terrible, irreversible decision by Lizi ruins their marriage but leads to a very rewarding business partnership where they build a bank together.
Wu Lizi is one of the most selfish, devious, manipulative, ruthless and utterly charming female protagonists I have come across. It is such a treat to get complex and fascinating female characters like Lizi. That is why I kept watching this even though at one point I was enraged and disappointed to the point of almost dropping. I still don't like how they wrote Lizi to lash out so viciously and vindictively with such heavy consequences but I am glad I kept going because she really moved me with her stoic remorse and acceptance later on. Even though there were some rough edges to Cai Weijing's performance, overall she is tough, willful, curiously vulnerable and so charismatic that I could literally see how she tied Yizhi, Charlie and Xu Du up into knots emotionally.
Zhang Xincheng delivered a most excellent performance in this drama as Cheng Yizhi, a cynical character that well understands the dark side of the moon due to his upbringing on the rough side of town. So he is the ultimate nemesis of dark characters like Huang Ruhong because he can get into their heads and narrowly manages to stay one step head of them. In sharp contrast, he seeks the light in all of his dealings and finances some of the most promising industrialists of the day. At the onset Yizhi goes toe to toe with crooked businessmen and corrupt politicians with equally scheming and wily tactics. But as the story advances and his dark secrets are revealed, the character is whitewashed and becomes too perfect, so understanding with such shiny plated plot armor that I had to roll my eyes. I needed more flaws or to see him be a little bit petty or selfish and to play dirty sometimes. Instead Charlie, a far more interesting and lovable character rises to the occasion to do all the slightly shady things that need to be done in order to stymie their unscrupulous rivals. Nonetheless the lead couple has superb chemistry and the way their relationship blossoms from mistrust and suspicion into an incredible partnership on multiple levels is one of the drama's strengths.
The business subplots are quite interesting, well written and the financial concepts are kept at a simple enough level for laymen. The characters however are less well written and notably Lizi, is not consistently written. For such a smart character she does some retarded things that can only be put down to sloppy writing. Huang Ruhong's somewhat creepy and unfathomable hard on for Yizhe is also unconvincing and not in character for the leader of the criminal underworld. Indeed the true love triangle in this drama is the one between Ruhong, Yizhe and Lizi. This was such a promising antagonist at the start but gets sidelined as the ending arc digresses into yet another patriotic fight the Japanese invaders plot. I would have preferred to see a more satisfying cat and mouse takedown of this smart antagonist play out properly. Towards the later episodes, many key characters are gratuitously killed off to squeeze out the obligatory tears expected of a Republican period drama. This backfires as I only felt very sad for two of the deaths which only highlights that the other characters were two dimensional ones that I never got invested in.
There are many enjoyable and unique aspects to this drama that make it worth watching even though it falls down on messy plot, sloppy character writing and a lame ending arc. Charlie was my favorite character and his wit, style and wisdom saved the show. Overall this is just a 7.5 for me despite strong acting by the leads. And MVP Charlie (Wang Zijian).
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I’m not even mad about bls delivering all the cliche tropes, romances based on misunderstanding, the amazing soft angst, the naive lead falling for the grumpy lead that we’ve got in the post from straight romance stories. These plots sell, these plots attract the biggest audience and these plots are simply entertaining. And this is kind of what we’ve got from the Unintentional Love Story.
It was a fun journey to follow. While Ji Won Young was a painfully frustrating character at first, I cannot deny - this child grew on me. Surprisingly, he delivered some of the best and most mature lines out of all the characters. Yoon Tae Joon was one of the soft emo guys that makes your heart ache just the right way. Dong Hee and Ho Tae were rays of sunshine impossible not to love.
Truth to be told, at some point I started to be more curious and invested in this second couple, and I cannot stop myself from being quite disappointed with the lack of screentime and development, and only hope for a separate show that will follow their story.
The quality of acting depends on which actor you will focus on. Personally I enjoyed Han Do Woo's and Won Tae Min's performances the most (which was also one of the reason I enjoyed following their characters’ story more).
Cha Seo Won did an amazing job with the “I’m hurt, but I want to hide it and control my facial expression, but I still need to show it enough for the audience to see” scenes. Moments when we need to both clearly see what emotions the character is feeling, but also understand they want to hide it. On the other hand, Gongchan delivered a deer caught in headlights acting - mostly looking confused or scared with his pretty big eyes.
The kissing was basically like trying to stick two magnets together by the same pole. I could literally see how much force they had to put into getting so close together. I laughed... badly.
Production was great. Vast improvement from many k-bls. Would appreciate a little bit less smoothing filter on the actors’ faces though.
Overall, for such a nice watch. Not as emotionally touching as I wished it would, but something I for sure do not regret watching and would probably recommend others to check out.
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This review may contain spoilers
Almost gave up on this...
Was struggling with this one for a bit and put it on hiatus twice. Only managed to finish it 2 mths after i started watching it. In the beginning this gave me "The Guest" vibes, which i disliked because that storyline just went around in circles for me. And things were a little draggy and predictable with the entire "main characters with parent issues" theme, which i must say seems to be a recurring theme in a lot of Asian dramas.It wasn't until episode 7 where things got more interesting with the plot. What seemed predictable wasn't, and while i disliked some parts which were over-dramatic (too much screaming...) overall i liked the message that this drama was trying to put across. Which was to make the audience rethink whether it is better to be dead than alive in suffering.
The ending scene was perfect imo and i thoroughly enjoyed the acting from the three main characters. Although I do wish the Professor's character was written to be a bit more eccentric and less whiney rich boy laden with the guilt of his forefathers. His relationship with Ujin could've been expanded a lot more.
I would recommend watching this if you are someone with quite a bit of patience and can get all the way to ep 7...
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