A pleasant surprise
I personally didn't have any expectations or set any standars on what a drama should or shouldn't have if its a fantasy and maybe that and other points where the reason i enjoy it so much.(I may be changing the rates because i'm very indecisive and correcting some of my spelling and wording mistakes, english isn't my first lenguage so please have that in mind if you want to skip this review)
What i love about this drama?
1) The characterization of the protagonists Tak Dong Kyung and Myul Mang.
I never felt they were cartonish or that there was a lacK or rushed development. They felt real and the combination of good writting and an excellent acting from both parts ParK Bo Young who made you cry in every scene she wants you to cry and Seo In Guk who is able to carry a scene with just his eyes make them as individual characters and their relationship probably one of the best things of this drama and what makes it worthy of your time.
2) It felt like poetry
Quoting George Lucas "Its like poetry it rhymes' thats the way i felt about this drama. When you have an audience engage and making theories after every episode, picking up the little clues you were leaving in every episode and that those theories become true in a way that fit the story and its true with the message that the story wanted to tell just tell me its good writting. Im Me A Ri did an really good job making common tropes their own and give the story a closure that feels like poetry.
3) The messages behind every episode
I never leave an episode feeling unafected once i start to care about this characters (something that happend slowly but for me that makes it even more satisfying) i always end up either crying or thinking about the quotes and messages behind every episode. I never felt the sadness was shadowing the story it has always a message of hope and kindness.
4) The romance between the main leads
The chemistry between both actors was on point and they could carry every scene no matter what dialogue you put them through i could watch only scenes of them for hour without getting tired. Writting a story that starts with the typical 'enemies to lovers' is not a easy thing and i think the writter nailed every aspect of the main romance. It didn't felt rushed or that it was throw in my face. I understand why they both felt that way and why they made sometimes such extreme decisions. It was entretaining and then beautiful and sad it was everything i could ask for a 'fantasy' romance and more because the best part of it was how human it felt.
5) The concepts of 'life' and 'death'
I don't want to go to much into the spoiler territory but the way this show captures the personification of life and death its very unique and interesanting. For me it was never a problem how poetic both deiditys speak in fact i enjoy the scenes between them a lot. Jung Ji So as the deidity who represent life does an amazing job and it takes you to a ride of emotions that's for sure.
6) I doesn't lose it charm but it gets better
Something i was hapily surprise is how some of my favorite episodes and in my opinion the best written and acted were torwards the end. I think episode 14 for example is brilliant and it gives closure in a good moment and leaves the story a moment to breathe on episode 15.
7) The Cinematography and OST
Something i love about this drama is how the cinematography doesn't distract you or i feels like you are watching a very expensive AD. In fact the most beautiful moments are without CGI and makes you appreciate the little things in real life like leaves falling or the flowers blooming. And the OST its beautiful its melancholic and every song felt very special "Breaking Down" its probably my favorite OST in the year and it may go as one of my favorites ever from a kdrama.
Now what i dislike and i will go a little bit in to the spoiler territory but not that much:
1) The 'love triangle' between the second leads, in one aspect it doesn't really take that much of the screentime (the romance between them) so it wasn't something that it stop me from watching the whole drama. I have a few problems with one is that it felt flat, compared to the main romance and in general it just wasn't my cup of tea. I think the reason was i couldn't understand why this people were even in love to begin with, i guess we can say its sort of realistic the childish romance between Ji Na and Hyung Gyu and by episode 14 i could see what was the intention behind this storyline (about how your first love isn't always your last and about two people living with the ghost of a relationship when love is no longer there) but the execution just wasn't for me. Between Ji na and Joo Ik it just felt flat in general and compared to the main leads. The "back story" was weird and not really well written. I didn't like or enjoy the romance between them. I honestly didn't like either male characters of the love triangle for various reasons (as some people said here if i re-watch i'm defently going to skip those scenes). Thats why i'm giving a 8 in story, this should had handle better (the actors were good so this is not on them at all).
In general i love the main leads, Dongkyung family and Jina, and i enjoy every scene with those characters. I fell in love with it by episode 3 and 4 and i wasn't disappointed i cry i laugh and i loved to read people theories and see them come alive.
It made (no pun ineed) my days better. So thank you for the cast and crew (and also the fans who write so many good theories and posts) i will remember this experience forever.
In addition: I read some reviews asking why peope are giving high reviews i can't speak on everyone so i'm speaking on myself. For me the drama was Dongkyung and Myulmang and the dynamics they have with each other and with other characters that was probably a 75% of the screentime and i enjoy that (Spoilers: I loved how the MMDk relationship envolve i didn't found it rushed they become one of my favorite main relationships in kdramas i loved the found family scenes with Myulmang i love the message of you aren't alone and the scenes with Dongkyung family being there for her also the emotional scene with Jina was brilliant and they are so many i could write an essay). I think the acting was impresive i had never watch anything with PBY or SIG and i was truly moved by their perfomances and on my personal view their acting and their characters elevate the drama for me. I spend my time doing video editing since 2012 and watched a lot of media to work with and i found a lot of scenes from those characters memorable they moved me inside and make me cry when i'm not a person who cries easily. This rating system is tricky but since as i mention before i dislike the love triangle and two characters of it i'm giving to the story for now a 8 who knows maybe i change it because i'm very indecisive. But in general because all that i mention above and again the acting of PBY and SIG is why i give it a 9. But that's just MY personal opinion.
If you haven't watch the drama yet and are wondering my opinion is you should try and see it for yourself at the end of the day maybe for one person was boring for other wasn't for one person suceed their expectations and for other didn't they are just opinions.
For me just because of Dongkyung and Myulmang i was entretained for the 16 episodes and i wait for every Mon/Tues to see the episodes. They will remain in my heart more because my country still in lockdown and sometimes every day felt the same but with DAYS (i just love the tittle haha) i have something to look forward too. I hope i manage to reply those people question a little.
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Worst GMM BL and that's saying something
This review is a personal opinion. It is not meant to sway or discourage anyone from watching this series.I didn't think GMM could top the travesty that was 2gether...but TonhonCholatee makes 2gether look like it deserved an EMMY.
Who thought this was a great idea to put on the screen? These actors deserve better. I'm beginning to believe what some actors have "shaded" about GMM...how they don't know how to capitalize on some of their actors and instead gives them very little or crappy work.
This was TRASH...
All of the problematic topics were handled like crap. The script was weak, the soundtrack boring, the scenery lacking. There wasn't anything redeeming about this trash show.
Sorry...it's 2021...BLs have to evolve and some fans need to stop accepting these crappy shows.
HOLY SMOKEs...How did I manage to watch this for this long?
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Entertaining Plot, Annoying Leads
My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.I decided to watch this because people seemed to really like it and it stars Woo Do Hwan (우도환). I want to like him, but I haven’t liked him in anything I’ve seen him in so far. Maybe this drama will be the one that changes my mind.
Acting/Cast: Many familiar faces in this drama. That was nice. I can say Woo Do Hwan’s acting was better in this drama, but unfortunately his character wasn’t likable. The female lead started off alright, but she became increasingly annoying over the course of the drama. The second male lead was a decent character though. 4.5/10
Writing: I’m just not into the red flag male leads at this age. I want more green flags and healthy relationships. The constant fighting between the leads, the constant psychological abuse (the female lead is an orphan and, knowing this, the male lead repeatedly abandons her)…it was just…not cute at all. And after all the torment the male lead puts her through, she is the one that needs to repeatedly prove her love for him. By the end of the drama, I was thoroughly irritated by the whole thing and I was completely okay with the idea of the male lead dying. I wasn’t buying their chemistry as a couple. I actually thought her chemistry with the second male lead was better, although I couldn’t support their relationship either. There are also questionable things in this drama that was difficult for me to even want to watch…relationships with large age gaps…even grooming?? The humor is also very cringey to me. Instead of laughing, I’d be saying ‘wtf??’ or ‘ew…’ (for instance, the second male lead had a habit of exposing himself in public as an act of protest, as well as having scenes that insinuated that he might whip it out randomly and sexually assault someone.) The male lead’s character didn’t feel realistic. He would be a broody asshole one moment and then suddenly be super goofy and happy the next. The female lead’s character also didn’t feel authentic. After all the psychological abuse she’s endured, there’s no way she would be that cheerful. The message of the drama was lame as hell. There’s two storylines happening and both are all about the importance of bloodlines. By the end, the two leads and the second lead and his mom (all with their own issues regarding their own bloodlines) finally realize that blood isn’t what makes people family or makes people happy. Well yeah, no shit...welcome to the 21st century. So, nothing revolutionary here at all. The basic plot of the drama is actually entertaining – a guy kidnaps his ex from her wedding to have her go on a quest with him to find his biological dad before he dies, while getting chased by gangs and falling in love again – but this bloodline obsession stuff is just weak. This drama was fun when it wasn’t taking itself too seriously. 1.5/10
Direction/SFX/Music: I didn’t have much complaints in this area. It’s definitely a well-produced drama, which is a big reason why it held my attention despite all the issues I had with the writing. The music is ok, but there's something that bothers me about it. They used an American song called California Dreamin'...maybe that's why? It doesn't fit? 6/10
Entertainment Value: The plot is pretty exciting, especially for the first half. The characters weren’t likeable enough for me to really care about them by the end of the drama though. Their toxic behavior becomes repetitive and annoying. The overall message was too basic to have any lasting impact on me. The toxic relationships left me feeling weird about the whole thing (especially the grooming…wtf?). 4.5/10
Overall, I gave this drama a 4/10. This was tough to rate. It was entertaining, well-produced, and well-acted. But there were so many things in the writing that just didn’t work for me personally and I felt like it was a waste. I can’t recommend this drama, especially to those who have been in abusive relationships (I feel this drama normalizes psychological abuse in relationships and even romanticizes it). However, it is a quick watch (only 10 episodes) and easy to binge.
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This review may contain spoilers
It's an okay masterpiece
Note: The title needs quotes around the word "masterpiece" but the system wouldn't allow me.Before deciding to watch this drama, I came here to get an initial feeling of what this drama might be like. To my surprise, most reviews here were calling this a masterpiece and a must watch so I immediately went to watch it. I have just finished it and I have no idea if those revieweres were watching the same drama I did -- it's not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, in my opinion.
The story is really good. The music is good too, it didn't stand out to me as either great or terrible which is good. The cast is really nice too. The cinematography is really well done! Sadly, that's where the positives end.
The direction of this drama is not great. Too many episodes for what it ended up delivering. The characters are almost 2 dimensional as they make decisions that sometime seem random or make no sense. There's romance but sadly I didn't care for it one bit and I was not convinced of how and why the leads loved each other.
This drama could've been at least 8 episodes shorter! There are plenty of wasted "prolonged" scenes of characters just seemingly staring at each other as if the actors were trying to remember the next line. Some scenes were completely useless and added nothing of value; just fodder to pad this show.
The important bits were not given focus -- be it the characters or the political story. I do enjoy a good slow burner, with "good" being the operative word here. This drama overstayed its welcome and to be honest, I was bored for 99% (hyperbole) of the time I was watching it. I could not give it attention as I had the urge to fast forward past the useless scenes. My partner kept me from doing that and while she liked it more than I did, she still found it needlessly padded and slow.
I get the reason it's slow is to immerse people into the world and the characters and that the nature of political events unravelling is usually slow but this was needlessly slow. If there was a criteria for direction, I would've given it a 1.
Want a similar story with a far better pace? Watch Bridal Mask.
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This drama was found randomly. Bored on a Saturday, haven’t touched a drama in a year, I decided to go back to my masochistic ways of torturing myself with plots I never finish. My dropped list speaks volumes. Signed on to viki, laughed at the corny name and thought this would be a parody but boy was I wrong!
This drama has wrecked everything. I have never watched a drama like this. I am the fickle and picky type who even if there’s a drama I like, interest wanes at around the ten episode mark as dramas recede to known formulas as they run out of ideas. This drama I reached episode 30 in feverish captivation, 5 AM, episode 15, forcing myself awake and splashing water on my face. At work it was blood shot eyes, yawns and excuses of not sleeping well. Not of course that a Chinese drama has taken over my life that I don’t answer phone calls.
Now that I’ve rambled, here’s the review.
This is just so expletively interesting and catered to my tastes that this drama is at this point is probably the best drama I’ve ever watched. The story at the surface is a battle for the throne but it is layered with well complemented sub plots and revelations that shook me.
The story is of a political nature and so well-crafted it’s almost disgusting. I tell you, two guys talking politics has never been so interesting. The central character of this storyline is Mei Chang Su. A brilliant and ailing strategist with a hidden agenda that unfolds throughout the story. He is the most realistic hero we’re possibly ever going to get. He’s caring but also a realist. Ready and willing to recognize that sacrifices have to be made in order to fulfill his goal. He’s adorable, arrogant, and brilliant yet also such a devastating character. He’s main goal is to make one of the prince’s the emperor, his reasons, you’ll have to watch to know.
The antagonists in this story truly elevate this plot. There will be different antagonists as this is a fight for the throne. However, each antagonist is different and just as well done as the main hero. The villains in this tale also have their own stories, their own agendas and ambitions which at times captivates you. They’re not in this story solely to antagonize the hero for some mundane reasons. There are also these emotional moments where we are forced into sympathy for some of these villains, forced to understand them and it’s frighteningly delightful.
Other than the antagonists, the supporting characters definitely brighten and add to this drama. In a lot of dramas, a lot of the supporting characters are fodder, but in this, they induce humor or simple bitter sweet moments that make you remember them. Female characters are also a bonus that is done well.
I swear if all political dramas were this well crafted, I would be a happy gal. It's the perfect blend of well thought out strategies and my gosh, when was the last time you watched a drama with a well thought out strategy? I'll start by saying none even match up to this.
To end this, I confess, I know nothing of the actors and don't really ever venture into Chinese dramas (I've held the opinion they are pretty terrible...) yet weirdly, two of my favorite historical dramas (This and Scarlet heart) have come from China.
As my name suggests, here is a picky musing that doesn't really change anything about this drama.
Passage of time – I swear winter lasted about thirty episodes even though about only half a year had passed. It’s not particularly jarring but at times, I do wonder how much time has passed as it’s somewhat ambiguous but the drama cleverly lets you know when characters interact. It’s actually brilliantly done. Simple lines like “It’s been half a year since you came to the capital.” Nonetheless, I feel like this whole drama passed in the winter, with a splice of summer but my strongest memories are the puffs of air from the characters.
I'm definitely giving this a masterpiece rating because this marks the first time I have ever watched this many episodes of any drama period. Plus, I can't think of anything significant that stopped me from enjoying this plot.
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Watching This Drama Truly Is Like Rolling A Stone Down A Hill, Then Being Crushed By It...
Upon paper, screenwriters Jeon Chan Ho ( Fates and Furies) and Lee Jae In ( Fates and Furies) ‘s “Sisyphus The Myth “ is a masterpiece work filled with intriguing ideologies of time, science-fiction and an array of intriguing characters and concepts .However, the series often fell short of logic and characterisation over the course of the
storyline.
Before addressing the issues surrounding the show, it is important to establish that the main cast consisting principally of Cho Seung Woo , Kim Byung Chul, Tae In Ho ( playing Tae Sook’s mysterious friend and co-founder of their group, Eddy Kim) , Chae Jong Hyeop ( performing as the restaurant delivery man Choi Jae Sun who befriends Seo-hae) , Jung Hye Jin ( Kim Seo Jin), Kim Jong Tae ( Seo Hae’s father; Kang Dong Gi ) and Park Shin Hye were fairly good within their performances . On the other hand, questionable dialogue exchanges and the characterisation often demeaned the quality of screenwriting.
The premise itself is fairly straightforward; Han Tae-sool (Cho Seung-woo), a brilliant engineer, will invent a time-travel machine in the near future, however, something terrible happened afterwards which caused terrible events to occur .
For time travellers seeking sanction from this dystopian future, they travel back en mass to the era before Tae-Sool invented this revolutionary machine as a “ safe place” .One of those immigrants is Kang Seo-hae (Park Shin-hye), a mysterious girl who seems to have an undeniable link to Tae-Sool, however, Seo-Hae faces her own conflicts in the meantime between being chased after the mysterious “ men in black” of the drama, the DEA -who capture and contain time travellers under the guise working for the government’s “ Immigration Control Unit”. Meanwhile, Tae-Sool becomes interested in the fate of his seemingly deceased brother which leads him down a rabbit hole of danger and mystery as well as leading him to meeting Seo-Hae. As Seo-Hae and Tae-Sool’s lives become more interconnected, the two soon begin to realise their feelings for one another, as they fight against a seemingly inevitable future.
Wherever the show’s dilemmas manifested themselves, the main source of the problem manifested with one thing prominently ; the writing. It is fair to say that “ Sisyphus; The Myth” attempts to have it both ways; an engaging time-travel story with fast-paced action, and a complicated love story between its main protagonists.
Characters were often enforced into scenarios which made little sense within their individual circumstances . For example, illegal future immigrant broker Park Hyeong-do (Sung Dong-il) gets an -out -of character backstory as well as a shocking revelation in the final episode, that was simply illogical. Even our main protagonists Tae-sool and Seo-Hae were often shoehorned into scenarios which made little sense , reducing them to become nothing more than plot mechanisms against their more intriguing individual personalities and intriguing backstories ( which felt fairly underdeveloped).
Whilst the show attempted to rig emotions between the two main protagonists in their sudden epiphany around the halfway point that “ we like one another against all odds of our circumstances”, the cataclysmic writing underpinning their relationship made theirs arguably one of the least convincing and forgettable romantic pairings of recent years .In addition to this, there’s also the other issue regarding the actual laws of time-travel. Sisyphus; The Myth” is independent from its predecessors time-travel takes in Korean film and TV by focusing upon the actual concept of time travel, rather than choosing the wrinkle-in-time concept, in which characters from two different timelines coexist, come up time and again.
However, time-travel stories can soon become a Gordian knot ( pun intended) of tangled logic and interest very quickly, something which soon became prominent in the series . The screenwriters of “Sisyphus” added different rules throughout, only to consistently break them and toss logic out of the window , as well as new technologies or magical drugs which delivered anti-climatic scenarios to seemingly impossible problems.
Admittedly when the drama entered its second-half and introduced viewers to the main antagonist , Sigma (Kim Byung-chul), the show did undeniably shift towards becoming more focalised upon the theme of time-travel, however, as a result of this , the show’s weaknesses overall quickly began to rise to prominence also.
The halfway point resulted in the direction of plot and the ideology of time travel feeling more like a storyline filler and an excuse for for high-budget extravaganza scenes, often with little serving purpose than to make viewers squeal with excitement at eye-popping CGI and distract attention away from more notable flaws .
Admittedly, the series against all odds was fairly engaging within certain sold set pieces and storylines . Park In Hye’s fight scenes helped to make the show entertaining . However, whilst the myriads of goons of the nefarious control centre featured prominently, this scenario soon became repetitive and formulaic; the duo would face a problem, they would be surrounded and Tae-sool’s on-the-spot science to get out of close scrapes (never held up to scrutiny), whilst Seo-Hae’s Laura-Croft-Style combat scenes would help to save the day also.
As the gimmicks became less and less inventive, these concepts soon died off completely and therefore resulting in numerous action scenes being tapered off entirely . Several episodes towards the end of the show featured no set pieces at all and the control centre disappeared completely , with several major characters not featuring in the finale ( with few reasons given) . Additionally , whilst the ending was “ bittersweet”, it felt inherently poorly-written and the epitome of a classic deus ex machina ; a lazing, anticlimactic ending which created hare-brained and problems towards time paradoxes .
Whilst “ Sisyphus; The Myth” had an intriguing premise, a high budget and an ensemble of a talented actors at its disposal, not even top notch actors such as Park Shin Hye and Cho Seung-Woo could truly save the series from its own demise of abandoned logic, poorly-written characters and relationships, as well as the ineffable disappearances of main characters over the course of the series and a lazy ending also.Another classic example of the recent trend of high-budget science-fiction and action throwaway extravaganzas such as “ Alice” and “ RUGAL” with intriguing premises, yet truly lacking well-written and memorable storylines. Worth binge-watching to waste time with little else to do, yet certainly not worth investing genuine time towards.
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This review may contain spoilers
The Third Charm wasn't that bad. In fact I find this genuinely refreshing and an eye opener at some instances. This drama is easy to be misunderstood because you'll need to take a closer look to the characters and the messages it want to convey before totally understanding them. What separates Young Jae and Joon Young was their differences. During each other's absense, that's when they started understanding each other, they met again everytime they've come to that realization. The ending was left open and that was one of the kind of endings viewers hate but if we'll take a wider look, that's actually how "The Third Charm" works. Young Jae and Joon Young finally understand each other, them walking the same paths at the ending represents it. This drama had many symbolisms and if ignored, will cause more misunderstanding of its intention. I find the ending amusing, because Joon Young ends up being successful in his career (which is Young Jae's dream) and Young Jae ends up working on a local salon near her loved ones (representing how Joon Young originally wanted to live a normal and quiet life).I also find the representation of the four seasons in our leads' life very effective. SPRING which is the beginning, SUMMER, a joyous and active season, AUTUMN, the transition and closer approach to end, and WINTER, the season where it's the coldest and we seek comfort and warmth to others, also where we prepare to start again.
There are some instances where the characters' motives and decisions were questionable and confusing, particularly Young Jae. That's one of the downhills of the drama, you'll have to sit through and wait a week after feeling frustrated and confused. This drama is probably better to binge-watch. The music pieces were also brilliant and the songs were catchy. Mature and outstanding performances to all the casts, especially our leads Seo Kang Joon and Esom. Overall, I believe this is a well-thought and well-written drama, but is very easy to misunderstood given that the setting and ending is quite different from your typical Kdramas.
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1This review may contain spoilers
No
A 10-hour-late head pop.Just wasn't for me. Maybe you will get more out of it!
This drama is a train wreck. If you're looking for anything good – a decent story, interesting characters, watchable acting – just turn around now. Seriously, save yourself. This thing is a mess, and it's not just a harmless mess; it actually pushes some pretty toxic stuff, especially with the male lead.
The biggest problem is the writing. It's just bad. The story jumps all over the place, like the writers just threw a bunch of random scenes together and called it a plot. Nothing makes sense, and you're constantly wondering what's going on. The dialogue is even worse – it's full of cheesy lines and awkward conversations that'll make you cringe so hard you might pull a muscle. You won't remember a single line five minutes after you hear it. And the pacing? Don't even get me started. It's either dragging on forever or rushing through important stuff, which makes the whole thing super boring.
But the absolute worst part? The male lead. This guy is a walking red flag. He's not just bland; he's straight-up toxic. He's controlling, he ignores everyone's feelings, and he has zero respect for boundaries. And the worst part? The show acts like this is okay, even romantic sometimes, which is a seriously messed-up message to send. The actor doesn't help things either. His performance is so wooden and lifeless; it's like watching a robot try to act human, but a robot programmed with toxic masculinity. You never get why he does anything, you never feel for him, and you definitely don't root for him. He's just there, being awful and making the whole thing worse. His behavior shouldn't be excused; it should be called out.
And the side characters? They're totally useless. They're just there to move the terrible plot along, and they have no personalities of their own. They barely get any screen time, and when they do, they don't do anything interesting. They're just… there. They don't add anything to the story, and you forget about them as soon as they're off-screen. They're like background extras who accidentally wandered into the foreground. And they just accept the male lead's awful behavior, which makes it seem even more normal than it should.
The lack of decent side characters just makes the male lead's awfulness even more obvious. He's supposed to be the main focus, but he's completely empty and, honestly, kind of scary. There's no connection between any of the actors, especially with him, which makes everything even more awkward and uncomfortable.
Pros:
• It's a great example of what not to do in a drama.
• It's short, so at least you won't waste too much time on it (but even a little is too much).
• It might get people talking about toxic masculinity in shows.
Cons:
• The writing is awful.
• The characters are boring and badly written, especially the male lead, who's also toxic.
• The acting is terrible, especially from the male lead.
I hope that Lee You Mi gets better script next time. Definitely want to see her in more FL roles. This just isn’t it.
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Just love the two leads. Môre with those two
Absolutely love Wang Hedi in a more serious businessman type role. Episodes just not airing quick enough. Lovinh it so far. Thia series will be one of those that I watch again, like Love Between Fairy and Devil and Till the End of the Moon. I also like the other characters development, but at least they don’t take the focus off the main leads, unlike My Journey To You. You cannot go wrong with Dylan Wang or Bai Li. They are both exceptional. Can’t wait for this series to end so I can start watching it from scratch.Was this review helpful to you?
1Terrifyingly Real!
If this doesn't terrifies you, you have seen nothing of the world yet!Unpopular opinion, but I think a lot of people are watching it wrong. Because what is depicted here is Real. Way Too Real.
I don't think the director set out to tell an entertaining story in the first place. With a plot like this, that would have been easy. Instead, he took a gamble. As someone who lives in a place that is slowly sinking into religious fascism, this was all too real. To see it being decipted with pinpoint accuracy was bone chilling. The Helplessness, the Fear and how some people are always ready to use it to their advantage. Once you realise that, you understand 2 things. First, why this series exists in the first place. And second, how close this world is to insanity. As someome who has experienced it all first hand, this could happen anywhere, anytime and to anyone.
A few unexplained things, and all that's all it takes for all hell to break loose.
Though not for everyone, Hellbound is a strong thriller with very powerful elements. The way human beings are potrayed is extremely realistic, and for anyone who has lived in a situation of religious fascism, extremely relatable. Among all the shows that has explored these themes, this was the best Korea or anyone in the world has produced yet (I have watched them all, even the ones with low ratings). Don't miss it if you are okay with dark heavy themes and are willing to look at Human Nature for what it is.
Few things definitely could have been better, like a more bare sound design to create regular tension. No doubt about that. Search (2020) is an excellent example of how to do that. At the same time though, I think it does what it set out to do brilliantly! Not all cinema is out there to entertain. Some can simply exists as an warning. And this is a strong one.
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This review may contain spoilers
A filmmaker's review
First I'd want to comment on the technical stuff (cinematography, music, acting). As a filmmaker, I gave these ones a 10 because I'm not gonna lie, scenes were well executed and there was never a boring scene. A sign that production is good is when you actually watch everything instead of skipping parts just to watch the story (like what I usually do when watching series, my finger is just resting on top of the right arrow key ready to skip scenes lol)Ok so now for the story, all I want to say is that they missed the opportunity to be one of the first dramas to end up with a second lead where more than 50% of viewers would actually be okay with. Like everything was setup so perfectly for that to happen, sadly the writers didn't grab that opportunity.
When I was watching the first episodes. I always told myself "This might be the first drama I watched where I can't really identify who the lead is" and that's what I actually liked. It's what got me hooked to watch until the end... But where it went wrong is they let Do San shine a little bit too late. By the half of the series, most people have already chosen their bet for Dal Mi and I assume it was Han Ji Pyeong.
So for the story, I'm rating this 7.5. I'm not giving it a very low rating because this series has been very inspiring for people like me who dreams of running a business too in the future. I learned so much especially the part where HJP compared business partnerships with wedding and divorce. It opened my eyes when considering my real life partners.
Thank you :)
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This review is the ultimate shattering of pretty illusions caused by all the decietful 10 star rated reviews of this drama, provided by yours truly.
See I have no problem if you loved the show, if this kind of thing is your thing and you enjoyed watching it. Everybody is entitled to their own opinion and boos should do their yous.
But, if you're tryna sell me the fact that 'this drama is a beautiful redemption story filled with well-developed characters and a thoughtout plot-line', I'm going to have to tell you to sit the fuck down.
Because, that's not it at all. Objectively speaking, Sawang Biang is quite a simplistic story targeted to appeal to mankind's perverse pleasure. It's really not that deep. I personally like complex, wounded characters who're almost unforgivable but at the very least, I want them to be well written in order to understand their reasons.
Kawee, to put it simply, is a pathetic little bitch.
A child of abuse and neglect (both of which aren't properly explored) who's fundamentally broken but has very little reason to be. A spoiled brat with daddy issues- basically every rich kid's life story nowadays. Even if I don't bring out the 'kids in Africa with worse lives' argument, it's still safe to say that Kawee had no right or reason to act out the way he did. He pretended to be tough but was weak to his core. Someone deprived of love, affection and angry at the world. All these things should've amounted to him being quite an interesting and complex character but instead, the show made him fall flat. Which is why, though I liked the potential he had, I hated what he ended up being.
A lot of people described the show with flowery words like 'a beautiful story of a man's broken road to redemption' except that road broke and came to a dead end far before it could ever reach its goal.
Kawee's actions are surely unforgivable and the only way he could've been saved was if he had the brutal wake up call of self actualization. If he truly realized how horrible he had been. If his sins woke him up at night and tormented him. If he developed a deep rooted guilt and then travelled a slow journey towards being a somewhat better person; someone not fully redeemed but not the devil he was before either. Here, however Kawee changes like the whether. He wakes up one day, realizes he's gonna be a father and is all like 'Oh shit, time to be a saint now' and the next day we see him be the best person alive.
Like for fuck sake, we're talking about an extremely damaged person with deep rooted insecurities here. How the hell can a few sentimental speeches expressing regret and a few months of asskissing possibly erase all the destruction he wreaked in an innocent woman's life?
Let's not forget the fact that he constantly boasts about all the 'good' things he does being all like ' Isn't this enough, Narin? I'm trying so hard for you, can't you see?' Really bitch? Fite me.
Now for all those who say that the chemistry between the leads was great...
Are you out of your Goddamn mind?
Maybe I'm blind but where you saw chemistry I saw massive cruelty. This wasn't a case of dubious consent where the girl is half-willing and half not. No. This was an act of pure and unadulterated malice. He rapes her, beats her, manipulates and blackmails her to do his bidding and treats her like a dog on a collar. There is nothing remotely romantic about it. It's infuriating is what it is.
Almost as worse as the Main lead, were the side characters. I have never encountered a more ridiculous drama mom in my entire life. She's so nice, so kind, so lovely that her piety takes over all her brain cells. Even though she is clearly aware of what a douche bag Kawee is, she forces her abused daughter to constantly apologize to him and be nice to him.
I mean, how clueless can you be? However, when she finally gets a clue and makes this 'I'll never let him hurt my daughter again' declaration; she acts on this statement by acting all chummy with her daughter's rapist the next day by teaching him how to cook.
Bravo Mama, Bravo.
The rest of the meddling no-lifers known as the supporting cast were no good either. They constantly guilt tripped the heroine, making her believe as if she's the one in the wrong for not easily forgiving the man who destroyed her life. They consistently forced her to be with him and it's an all out classic case of victim blaming.
Even her pregnancy docter tells her to obey the man. Like bro? Y'all are acting like he stole her pup and she's mad. No, that asshat stole her life, her happiness and her virginity. Unfuckingbelievable.
To be real with you, I'm not a faint hearted or easily offended person. I've watched and read far brutal stories than this. A lot of people take up controversial topics and then proceed to effectively ruining it. Been there, seen that. The real reason why I'm so passionately angry about the show is how much it trivializes rape. It makes it appear as something that is normal. Nobody in the show properly adresses the issue or deals with the repercussions. Rape used to be a word bomb; an absolute taboo but here it's shown like an everyday thing. If you're not going to properly adress the subject and the aftermaths of it, why the hell are you putting it in your show in the first place? What's worse is that while I was watching this show even I, for a minute overlooked the whole rape thing with how normalized it was but later, when I thought about it and the scenes revolved around my head, I was deeply shook.
There is no way a victim and an assaulter can be together the way they are in Sawang Biang. Kawee has no reason to love Narin and it's obvious that what he feels, is this sick infatuation and ownership towards her because of how much he physically and mentally controls her. Narin, on the other hand has no other option but to accept him. She's forced into a situation where she has a kid to protect, humiliation to face and family and friends that think she's the villain. This is an unfortunate compromise of a union disguising itself as a love story and I call bullshit.
The only reason I even gave it a three stars was because of Ken and Anna. I liked both their acting. The way Ken twisted his pretty features into pure ugliness made Kawee an all the more deplorable character. Narin played by Anna was strong though out. She resisted the situation as best as she could and was someone whose will wasn't truly broken till the very end.
I don't recommend this drama to anybody so if you are someone who likes to venture in the realm of the dark, go read Six by K.I Lynn. It's far graphic than this show but has characters that stay true to themselves till the very end and find love in horrible circumstances.
Enjoy!
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Not Even The Right Shade of Song Ah’s Lipstick Could Save This Series...
As an eponymous novel adapted into a 16-part drama, it is always evident that there will be implausibilities with storytelling due to having cut certain material and storylines, however, the drama “ She Would Never Know”( or alternatively translated “Sunbae Don’t Put On The Lipstick”’s ) biggest inconsistency ultimately boils down to its inability to accurately create driving characters and storyline, as well as an intrinsically well-rounded relationship between our two main leads Song Ah ( Won Jin Ah) and Chae Hyun Seung ( Wo Roon).
Surprisingly the concept of the show wasn’t entirely “ terrible” in itself. Although not original or thoughtful by playing out its concept as an office romance drama , screenwriter Chae Yoon did seem to initially introduce interesting themes about South-Korean culture from the workplace, the beauty industry and the clear divide between respect of older colleagues as well as this posing an obstacle to seek out relationships ( as shown by Hyun Seung’s respectful term “ Sunbae” ). However, this show soon gave way to its own calamitous downfall by choosing rather than exploring these issues of social divide with respect and dignity, glossing them over in biased favour of the questionable relationship and characterisation between Song Ah and Hyun Seung over the course of the series.
Before continuing this review, it is important to advocate that the problems of the characters did not lie with either Jin Ah or Wo Roon as actual actors in the series . Although honestly both actors have had more beguiling performances in the past ( Jin Ah in “Steel Rain” and Wo Roon famously in “Extraordinary You”), there was nothing entirely unwatchable about either actor during their performance. At the same time, it is a fair conclusion that there was nothing intrinsically captivating about either performance , however, this may also be deduced as a consequence of the quality of screenwriting as well and the problems behind characterisation .
Before addressing possibly the biggest elephant in the room through the character of Hyun Seung, it is probably important to explain why Song Ah was an intrinsically poorly-written female lead upon certain grounds.
As a character, Song Ah was defined notably by her trope as the “ Sunbae” archetype; the “ slightly older female boss and crush ” of main lead Hye Seung, however, the “ age gap” between the characters never felt that strikingly important for the characters themselves . Although it is important to respect that a socio cultural age difference can be natural obstacle in relationships, even by South-Korean standards, a year difference between characters is nothing particularly shocking or controversial.
Beside her necessary drive as a plot mechanism for the affections and obstacles for Hye Seung within her relationship with the sociopathic Lee Jae Shin ( Lee Hyun Wook), it was hard to prominently define Song Ah as anything more than a complacent doormat for the male characters in the series to walk upon.
This is not advocating that Song Ah didn’t react emotionally to her circumstances and it did help to present a level of some humanity at times to her character, however, at the same time, viewers never really can intrinsically “get to know” Song Ah as anything more than the “ love interest” in the series; we do not get to see a lot about Song Ah’s background and wider interactions with friends and family to learn more intimately about Song Ah as a defined person, and her intrinsic reasonings towards even going out with Jae Shin ( despite his despicable personality) in the first place. Additionally what is also teeth-grinding about Song Ah as a character was falling hook, line and sinker again for the same and just as problematic relationship with Hye Seung. This is not stating that Song Ah shouldn’t have been with Hye Seung due to being the main pairing of the show, but the message put across by the screenwriter seemed to implicate that Song Ah had both little self-respect and dignity as an individual by allowing Hye Seung to continue on with his emotional manipulation without raising problems against this.
Naturally, this draws us onto the biggest elephant in the room; Hye-Seung. Introduced as the “hoobae” of Song Ah and a younger man at the company, and the “ hopeless romantic”, Hye-Seung’s feelings for Song Ah in the beginning of the series are fairly sweet and naturally act as the major driving force of the drama through trying to win the affections of Song Ah . However, only a couple of times in the series, are we actually exposed to Hye-Seung’s sense of identity outside of obsessions with Song Ah, and when we are shown this Hye-Seung’s flaws become strikingly prominent and unaddressed to audiences. The most notable weakness of Hye-Seung’s character can be sourced from his feelings towards Song-Ah growing to become a fairly self-absorbed and disenchanted obsession that he will win her over through meddling in her social life outside of work.
This is certainly most striking in the first episode with Hye-Seung’s direct words to Song Ah shown onscreen ‘ it doesn’t suit her’ by wiping away her lipstick. Although this can be initially taken on in a romantic light by Hye-Seung’s overt intimacy establishing the main pairing in the series, there was something a little unsettling by Hye Seung’s to control even Song Ah’s appearance in this scenario. To make matters worse for those unaware what was happening in the pretext of this scene, Hye Seung decides then to openly tell Song Ah of her boyfriend Jae Shin’s behaviour behind her back. Arguably, Hye Seung was open to Song Ah rather than leading her around in circles about Jae Shin’s behaviour, however, it seemed a symbol of repressive control by Hye Seung to suddenly start dictating Song Ah’s personal life in a form of emotional manipulation.
This often made it hard to truly romanticise or see both respect and dignity towards the relationship of Hye Seung and Song Ah, due to neither character being able to learn from past mistakes or addressing one another’s problems mutually in a health manner. The perfect example or the is seen in a later episode from the series when a drunk Hye Seung bumps into an emotionally unstable Song Ah and proceeds to proclaim that they should date. This is not just merely controlling, but emotionally manipulative upon Hye-Seung’s part as well.
Naturally, romantic relationships in real life are messy and complicated, and there was some elements of this transcending over into the relationship of Hye Seung and Song Ah in these scenes, however, it is important also to consider both Hye Seung’s past habit of emotionally gaslighting Song Ah, as well as Song Ah’s worrying complacency to these acts as well. . Rather than allowing Song Ah space and time away or approaching Hye Seung with good intentions as a friend before a lover due to her conflicted emotional state of being, he is too egotistical within his own selfish desires to date her, than to actually respect her feelings and psyche. This is not a healthy or symbiotic relationship of respect and dignity.
The pacing of the show oddly felt imbalanced as a consequence of the invest within Hye Seung and Song Ah’s lacklustre pairing often driving away a sense of overarching storyline and greater focus on other characters such as Jae Shin and more interestingly the chairman’s granddaughter Lee Hyo Joo (Lee Joo Bin) . Yet rather than allowing viewers to see intrinsic development and obstacles within the romantic pairings of the show, the drama rode too heavily upon cliches often resulting in the overall storyline feeling run-of-the-mill, than captivating or an intriguing love story. The ending is evidently sugary sweet, but perhaps delivered a less impactful result than viewers originally hoped.
Fundamentally it is probably fair to say that “ She Would Never Know” wasn’t terrible within acting or the premise itself, but it became its own worst enemy with poorly-tackled characterisation, a questionable portrayal of a relationship between our main leads, lacking overarching storyline and plot as well as pacing. This is a typical and cliche romantic drama perfect if you’re bored and have nothing else to do, but certainly not worth spending actual time watching.
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To My Star Season 2: Our Untold Stories
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This review may contain spoilers
ALL HURT & NO COMFORT
This series looks at love through rose-tinted glasses and calls it a day. Emotionally manipulative and angsty, this BL tries so hard to make you root for one of the main characters but fails hilariously.STORY & CHARACTERS: There's nothing new or unique about this story. You've seen this shtick before in most breakup dramas. The common tropes of moving back to the childhood village, reuniting with the past lover, and having the main love interest chase the other stubbornly - have all been used before, but that's not the problem. These predictable tropes aren't really the story's downfall. It's the fact that the mystery of the break-up was recycled from the first season. The themes of insecurity and low self-esteem were already the major conflicts in S1.
Season 2 was basically the same thing, but with higher budget and more unnecessary characters that got more screentime than the two main characters.
There's no plot twist here, folks. One of the main characters (Ji Woo) is literally just the carbon copy of his S1 persona. He did not develop at all, but just regressed to a more selfish coward who spews hypocrisy and hate every time he opens his mouth. He verbally abuses Seo Joon, the other main character but asks for comfort from the latter ("please hug me"-ep 10) when he's the one who finally gets rejected.
This is endless angst with Ji Woo consistently hurting Seo Joon for 7 episodes:
First strike: JW knew that SJ has extreme emotional trauma from being abandoned by his parents, and yet he still abandoned SJ without a proper goodbye on his birthday.
Second strike: Every chance he gets or in all their interactions, JW sees it fit to hurl emotional abuse & insulting words to SJ. SJ did not do anything wrong in this relationship. Even with his his exhausting schedule, SJ still makes time to see JW. Sometimes, he only sleeps for two hours just so he can hang out with JW. SJ neglects his health and his own friends for JW.
Third strike: JW let SJ sleep in that brutally cold camper van for DAYS because he couldn't summon enough humanity to be kind to the person he proclaimed he loves.
Fourth strike (and the most hurtful): JW slept with SJ, and told SJ the morning after that they could continue this "fuckbuddy" relationship. That was the lowest blow, and you could really see the exact moment SJ's face falls at the implication.
TLDR: This series has no heart. It tries so hard to tell a deep, idealistic story by making everyone cry their heart out in the dark (seriously, the lighting is so bad. I can barely see anything), but it doesn't quite make it because it's hard to get past the baseless cruelty & hurt. There is NO justifiable excuse for JW's behavior- of him emotionally scarring someone just because he himself is feeling lonely & isolated.
JW's pain & chosen isolation are understandable. His mental instability is not his fault. Choosing to break off a relationship is not a sin nor should it be condemned. He has every freedom to do so, but nothing can ever excuse or justify every single hurtful word and behavior JW chose to throw at SJ.
FINALE: There's no comfort or genuine resolution in this story. It isn't realistic or even idealistic at all. Nobody would want to have this kind of relationship filled with inequality & insincerity. In the end, the writers will try to put a band-aid on all the emotional trauma & abuse, but it's simply not enough. Strong angst & decent acting, but not much else. This love story is as shallow and insincere as Ji Woo's love for Seo Joon. Truly a tearjerker but for all the wrong reasons. 5/10
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This review may contain spoilers
Well... I am writing this review completely depressed because I finished yet another amazing drama, and now it's going to be hard for me to find a new one... Ok, I'll start with the small things first, but if you really want my actual opinion, just skip to the story part. Music. I thought it was pretty good, but then again, music is one of the small things I pay attention to... But, seeing how it didn't disturb the scenes in any way, but rather added more emotion into them, I give music a ten.
Acting/Cast. Oh gosh. What can I say? For me, I think all the actors were absolutely amazing. If I were to recast this, I couldn't imagine the story with any other actors. In fact, I'm sure the entire cast were all unfamiliar faces to me, but I thought they portrayed their characters wonderfully.
Rewatch Value. Hm... I usually give amazing dramas like this one (which have a huge impact on me) a rewatch value of 8. I really do want to watch it again, but I don't want to go through all the depressing moments again... I can't really give an accurate review for this one, so I'll just give it a 7...
Yay! Finally. The story. Just... wow. I really couldn't have expected anything better. I liked how the producers spaced the drama out. 29 episodes may seem like a lot for a drama, as most South Korean dramas usually have 16, 18, or 20 episodes. So, you're probably thinking that with lots of long dramas, there are going to be slow periods at the middle. However, that is not the case with this one. WBDS is almost like two series' combined into one. There are small climaxes in the story at around episode 5, and episode 23, and one huge climax at episode 14-16. In fact, After that climax, many new characters were introduced, and it seemed to me as though a new series was starting. Another thing about this drama that impressed me a lot were the bonds between friends and family. I was absolutely amazed with how much strength was shown in those bonds... Argh. I don't think I can give any more explanations without it resorting to spoilers... Also, I loved how the story not only told a story of a generation, but the story of many. The drama contained small parts which focused on each of the main characters, and with those tidbits, I realized that I could relate with them, and understand each character a little more. Throughout the drama, the main characters matured considerably (and a small thing I realized was that the producers changed the hairstyles of the main characters throughout the drama to reflect their personality). Ok, now for the negatives, and why I didn't give the story a ten. Well, there is really only one reason for this drama not to receive a ten. I actually thought the story was very well thought out and executed, but in truth, it was much too depressing. Too many great characters died (hope that's not a spoiler...) and while this happens with 98% of everything I watch, I still have not grown desensitized to my favourite characters dying. Also, Yeo Woon is one of the most pitiful characters I've ever seen, and I really don't like it when a character is too pitiful, especially when he looks like THAT. You know what I mean.
All in all, I loved everything about it except for the utterly depressing death scenes.
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