This review may contain spoilers
This is quite anti-climactic
It is really such a let down compared to The Gifted, especially the climax.The story has too many plot twist that I don't see it as a plot twist anymore, not surprising at all. Sometimes the plot twist is too sudden that makes me questionning the motives of the character who make the plot twist (Yes, I am looking at you P'Chanon who keep switching sides everytime you showed up, and those bodyguard who are too afraid with a little high schooler girl while all she doing is just talking lol). Also, I find it hillarious that side characters just stand still like a statue while the central character on the scene who does the talk talking.
The acting, well, everyone plays the their character very well as long as they are not the side characters on the scene who does nothing but watching other people talk.
The music hasn't change much since from The Gifted and I kind of missed it.
Since this season is quite dissapointing for an ending of the greatness The Gifted, I don't think I want to watch it for a second time. I definitely won't recommend it either if you are already satisfied with the ending of The Gifted season 1.
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A ride that lost its spark halfway in
This is purely my personal take after following this drama from start to finish.If I had to sum it up in one word? Ambitious. That’s the strongest impression the drama left on me. With a massive budget, a star-studded Chungmuro lineup and even some international cast members, this drama feels like it wanted to bite off more than it could chew.
To be fair, the beginning was quite promising. The pacing worked, the intrigue kept me curious, even if things were already starting to feel a bit tangled. But the further it went, the harder it was to keep up. The political plot grew unnecessarily convoluted, conflicts felt rushed and half-resolved, characters lacked proper development, and the editing often came off choppy. There were scenes that jumped so abruptly from one to another that I literally found myself thinking, “Wait, how did we get here?”
As someone who genuinely enjoys the spy/espionage genre, my expectations were sky-high the moment Kang Dong won and Jun Ji hyun were confirmed as leads. His long awaited small screen comeback paired with her star power? That alone could’ve sold the show. And honestly, it did, for the first few episodes. But beyond that… not so much.
The drama repeatedly lost momentum. Tension would build nicely, only to fizzle out because of clumsy execution. Storylines were dangled like they’d pay off, but then they just dissolved into thin air. Throwing in the US and other international politics only muddied the waters further. Personally, I think the show would’ve worked better had it stayed focused on the North–South conflict.
By the time it reached the endgame, everything was a blur, plot holes left gaping, resolutions that never landed, and twists that were far from memorable. The writers seemed overly confident in trying to compress such a complex political narrative into 9 episodes. The result? Half-baked. Maybe if they’d gone the traditional 16–20 episode route, the story could’ve actually breathed.
Even the romance between Munju and Sanho suffered a downgrade. At first, I really liked their dynamic-mature, grounded, no unnecessary fluff. But as the story spiraled, their chemistry started to feel out of place. Politics were a mess, yet they still found time to act lovey dovey in high-stakes situations. Honestly, it felt awkward and tone-deaf.
On the acting front? No complaints whatsoever. The entire cast delivered solid performances, even the supporting actors. I particularly respect the senior actors who gave a genuine effort with their English lines and accents. But no matter how strong the performances, weak writing will always drag the whole thing down.
I get that the writer might’ve been going for “realism” and sure, politics in real life are messy, complicated, and rarely tied up neatly. But at the end of the day, this is still fiction. It doesn’t have to be dumbed down, but it does need to be watchable. This drama leaned so hard into being “realistic” that it forgot to be engaging.
Overall? Nothing remarkable, outside of that train scene in episode 3, there’s barely anything that stuck with me, Definitely not a drama I’d ever rewatch.
And Kang Dong won? Please, for your next project...just give us a rom-com with Kim Taeri.
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1Watch it for ML (Chen Zhe Yuan). Light-hearted, goofy, a bit of beauty and the beast vibes.
The plot is Chen Zhe Yuan. Not really but he is phenomenal in this role and the drama is worth the watch for him. If you want to see the most loving, patient, protective, kind, loyal and unconditional loving ML, this drama is for you.PLOT:
Most of the plot is how the ML tries to win over the FL so he can receive her true love kiss and get his pearl back meanwhile the FL keeps making elaborate schemes and crazy plans to escape from him. The backstory is that ML is the King of a hidden place called the Beast City. Every character in that clan has animal characteristics. ML is searching for the Holy Pearl which will help him regain his powers and continue to protect his clan. While escaping his enemies with the newly obtained Holy Pearl he opens a portal to the FL’s world. He accidentally clashes into FL and she absorbs his Holy Pearl. 5 years later, he finds the FL and kidnaps her. And this is where the first episode really starts.
MAIN CHARACTERS:
- ML is playing two roles. A day (handsome version) of Li Xiong that pretends to be a palace guard and protects the FL and a night (beast version) of Kui Mulang that is the King and FL’s kidnapper. His day version is his real look but his night version is his real identity. His character is loyal, endearing and protective. He is a wolf and only loves one person in his life. For the majority of the episodes the FL believes there are two different people. She first falls for his day version and towards the end of the drama for his night version.
- FL is a Princess from a mortal kingdom. Smart and well-spoken, her background also makes her a quirky character. The prequel tells us that her mother was a man that was transported from the modern times to historical. His soul (as a man) went into her mother’s female body, fell in love with a man and had the FL. So FL has a modern outlook on life, speaks english and uses modern terminology. She definitely brings in the comedy aspect in the drama.
POSITIVE:
- Chen Zhe Yuan - honestly, he is the highlight of the drama, his character is so endearing and loving. I’m repeating myself but he is worth the watch.
- Acting is 10/10 for everyone and especially ML as he fantastically plays two different characters and I’m guilty for falling in love with his beast look more.
- Goofy and very light-hearted drama, it doesn't take itself too seriously and I like that. The humour is done well.
- A bit of beauty and the beast retelling vibes which I love.
- Romance is slow burn, playful and cute.
- 4 side couples (which is the most I’ve ever seen in a cdrama) but they are all really cute and don’t take too much screen time.
- The drama has a happy ending for the main leads and a nice conclusion to the story (almost the whole final episode is the epilogue of them being together).
NEGATIVE:
- FL’s plans to escape are hilarious and the highlight of the drama however there is not much plot beyond that. Her trying to escape takes more than half of the drama which makes it a little draggy.
- The reveal of ML being the same person happens towards the end of the drama so I feel the leads don’t get enough opportunities to spend time together as their true selves. I loved his beast look more and I wished FL had more romantic moments with him.
- Villains are very weak and they add nothing to the story. However their screen time is also very short so they don’t really annoy you.
OVERALL:
Watch it if you want to see more of Chen Zhe Yuan as he is a heart candy and if you need a drama to lift up your spirits after a long and stressful day as it will definitely make you laugh and keep you entertained.
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not worth the watch even as a standalone movie.
From the beginning we knew that they would screw up the adaptation and won't be faithful to the original novel. But they didn't even try to make it look or sound good.The script? Terrible.
The graphics? Cheap.
The plot/story? It's all over the place.
The acting? Awkward.
Even as a standalone movie they didn't bother to even try to explain the story's universe/setting. It will be so damn confusing to anyone who watches it.
If you wanted a cool action movie, atleast do it properly. This is just a poorly executed nonsense. Wouldn't recommend at all. If you are actually interested maybe give the original novel a try cause this story is one of the best fiction ever.
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I half suspect that the writers have serious issues, as the drama was extremely slow until the end, when suddenly everything exploded and left you dumbfounded. I had to watch the end a second time just to make sure that I didn't miss something, the change was so drastic.
If you are thinking about watching this, it may be more entertaining to watch grass grow... it will certainly by more comprehensible.
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The gem among the online content.
I don’t think it’s possible to find a more real, fun and natural show than this. Never seen actors, idols or other celebrities act more like themselves than here - no censoring of behavior, no fake politeness. Jessi knew how to bring the best out of people and make it amazingly entertaining, while staying true to herself.She made every segment of the show so fun to watch. Her bold and open attitude left no room for boredom. Yes, she is loud and might seem intimidating at first, but the girl has a pure and loving heart. Even if I was not exactly a fan of the person whom she interviewed, the episodes were still extremely funny to watch - she has that talent.
Script? Don’t know her and neither does Jessi. You can see how she flips through the pages and at the end says whatever she seems fitting for the occasion. The lack of formality and more “chatting with a friend” and less “being interviewed by MC” vibe created a good space for celebrities to be more themselves without feeling judged.
I truly have nothing bad to say. I rewatched so many episodes it’s scary. Some of my favorite episode include ones with (in chronological order):
Haha (07), Eric Nam (10), Lee Sang Yeob (25), Sung Hoon (36), Highlight (49), TXT (63), Ateez (68), ITZY (69), Haha (79), A Pink (85).
As you can see, for many of them idols were the guests. We know how careful of their image they are, so it was refreshing to see them just have fun, joke around and be influenced by Jessi’s “I don’t care” attitude.
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Yes it is hilarious but at the end it is moving, how the two realize each others feelings, how the husband realize why his wife is like that and all. You will learn something about this movie. It is absurd that the husband did it, but you may understand why he is desperate to divorce her, well still he is a nice man.
If you like to have a light mood and want to laughed your ass, then watch this movie and get touch at the end!
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This review may contain spoilers
A reality check
All I would like to say is WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ENDING. I try to avoid sad endings like the plague and this one was exactly that. Oh gosh how much episode 9 and 10 broke me is beyond words. You can't convince me stuff like " This was an open ending" when in reality, it clearly wasn't. Let me tell you exactly why.1) The author's note in the end saying "To all those spring flowers in the world, although I couldn't achieve it, I hope your lives wont be like mine". Which is a direct way of saying to the viewers she didn't get her happy ending with the ML in the Joseon era.
2) She fell in love with the 2nd ml in the modern era and took his number. However, when she bumped into the ml from the Joseon era, she ignored him like a stranger and there was no more talking points between them which indicates a closing chapter of her with the ml in the joseon era and the modern era.
If were talking about f**ed up ending, this drama takes the cake. This is like scarlet heart ryeo 2.0.
In conclusion, I genuinely didn't expect this drama to take such a deep turn and to actually have plot considering the first couple of episodes were silly and hilarious and awkward in a more intimate sensual way but wow was I shocked when plot was introduced around episode 5.
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Push and pull
Jin young as the male lead was a good choice. His acting was great. Female lead, so-so. There were scenes where you dont feel any emotion from her at all. I hate the character basically. I dont see the sense of second male and female leads also. It felt like their role was there as needed. Doesn’t jive with the storyline. I ended up fast forwarding most of the episodes as I really find it boring. Good thing it is only 10 episodes and I waited for the series to finish before watching it. 😩Was this review helpful to you?
The charm lies in the unique characters.
How I would describe the show: an unusual take on a typical romantic comedy. For starters, this show does not really have any leading plot line - there is no mystery to solve, as it often happens in rom-coms. It’s all about the characters, their relationships and them dealing with their current situation.I do believe the characters are the best part of the show. They all have unique personalities with individual outlooks in life, personal dreams, motivations and values. Each and every one of them reacts differently to the given situations. That said, while watching their current self is fun, by the end of the show... I didn't really know that much about some of the main ones. All of the main characters have a really complex and deep set up, with many struggles happening in the past. Even the majority of the supporting roles are written in that way - they are supposed to convey some kind of serious issues and dilemmas. And while said setups, as the concepts, are as deep as the Mariana Trench, practically speaking, they were never fully explored and I didn't even get my head underwater while watching.
The show shines with the cast and their interactions. We've got a whole set of puppy-like male characters that are nice, polite, cute and understanding. On the other hand, we have strong, driven and outspoken female characters. The synergy was pure perfection. This led to many unexpected and extremely hilarious scenes. I just could not predict how the characters would react and behave. The comedy in this show has been just so fresh and fun, I could not stop laughing while watching some scenes.
While I honestly thought the main couple was amazingly adorable and enjoyed basically everything they presented, I didn't get as excited for the second one. Mostly I just felt bad for Young Hwa while watching his interactions with Dan Ah (especially at the beginning). Later, the lines delivered for their scenes became painfully corny and cliche...
The acting was on the top level. Im Shi Wan did an outstanding job portraying Seon Gyeom. The socially awkward and at times distant characters that mostly keep to themselves are extremely hard to present well - bad acting leads to the character looking robotic, boring and empty. Shi Wan, though, delivered the best performance I could imagine for this role. I cannot think of any actor or actress that was awkward or unpolished in their roles and portrayals. Top notch casting for sure.
The production value was good. The scenes were shot in an amazing way, as I would say: aesthetics on point. The unexpected turns in how the scenes were written were perfectly reflected by how they were filmed. I just felt a harmony between what the writer wanted to tell and the director wanted to show.
The OST was fine, fitting the show and scenes, but not that memorable? Only two songs truly caught my attention - “I Wish It Was You” and “Sorry”, taking the crowns as the best songs from the drama for me.
Overall, I enjoyed the show for its entertainment value, unique characters, funny twists and fresh, out of the box directing of certain scenes and plot lines. I wish they introduced less serious and complex backgrounds for the characters, focused on just a few and truly dive deeper into them. For me, having just 4 or 5 scenes in the whole show to address something is not enough.
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This review may contain spoilers
It was overall a cute drama, but I can't say neither I loved it or I hated it, and I think this is worse, because it's ought to be forgotten (by me at least). I'm not an exo fan (please don't kill me xD) so it was a little more difficult to watch, because I didn't have the fangirl motivation here xDSomeone said is a shopping king Louis in joseon and...well that's where the problem lies. Everything, like every trope of this drama it's already seen and already done. The similarities with skl are many, but also with like every period drama I have seen. (Speaking of which: there is a saeguk not focused on the royal family? Or at least not only, like there's nothing else to write about that period??) There's no suspance, no really twists in the story or mysteries - we all knew that the assassin brother was the father of the queen's baby. Even the death of the evil vice minister was unsatisfying...well the whole plotting against the crown was too bland and boring.
Also! There was the "solution agency" which was an interesting thing, but they drop it pretty soon only to bring it back at the end just to feign ignorance about the fact they forgot about it lol
Ps. My extremely unpopular opinion: I had the second lead syndrome... I felt much more chemistry between Hong Shim and the magistrate...maybe because I liked more his characterization or to me he has better acting skills (not saying the ml sucked...I just preferred the sm) when he almost proposed at the end I hoped they would've take the "realism" route and have the prince marry a noblewoman (ugh bitter isn't it?) and let them become a couple.
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Mixed emotions on this one
I had high expectations but the length (at least 1/3 too much) and the biological/physical nonsense heavily damaged watching this series.I liked the idea of discussing the future of water, which covers most of the world today, makes up most of the human body, and was even understood as a principle in the formation of the universe in early Greek philosophy, and is threatened by human activities. I liked the experiment on the goldfish. I liked the clashes of interests regarding the mission on the Moon.
In my eyes, showing how lunar water had been identified, then mined, leading to the establishment of the base, would have improved the production.
The problems now.
The plot is meaningless as - even accepting the biological impossibilities presented - the company interested in putting its paws on the resources in the base could have just sent its own craft and crew. There was no need to infiltrate the space agency mission.
The plot is - separately - meaningless because of the many impossibilities presented:
1. One can't see a virus using the microscope used,
2. and can't even see a bacterium unless one prepares the bacterium by first staining it.
3. Genetic modifications in one biosystem cannot become antibodies in another one.
4. The girl would have died of starvation,
5. and if she had exited the base, would have immediately frozen to death and be without breath.
6. Water cannot replicate as reported.
Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
The writer(s) should have consulted KAIST and/or some other group/institute to mitigate the nonsense in the series. Bae Doona could have done chromatography on the water, investigated the plants, worked under hoods, irradiated/autoclaved stuff, and she would have realized if liquid water exists inside the base, parts thereof would exist as water vapor and thus cause the same effects as the liquid, ...
Now "The Silent Sea" will negatively affect me watching "Stranger 3" (if it comes out), since Bae Doona would have the leading female role (like in "Stranger" and "Stranger 2").
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I was actually pretty surprised of how nice drama this was.
Hwang Jung Eum was perfect choice to Man Ok's role and I really liked No Min woo as Tae Ik too.
This drama reminded me of You're beautiful a lot in many ways. But still this is very unique and fresh!
I recommend this drama to everyone who enjoy light romantic/comedy dramas with nice music in it.
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Some stories were better than others in both content and acting ability. The first two were quite enjoyable and philosophical. They asked deep, thought-provoking questions that I pondered appreciatively.
My favourite of all 5 was the 2nd story. Very poignant, but also a very sweet manifestation of (erotic) love.
The 3rd and 4th stories were a bit bizarre. Think murderous wives, blood sucking vampires and lesbian loving. I liked the 3rd story the least. Though darkly comedic in parts, I found it boring and uninspired in others. The theme of Eros was not very well conveyed, in my opinion, and the acting was off.
The 5th and final story about partner swapping could have been interesting, but the narrative was somewhat nonlinear, making it difficult to keep track of who was really boyfriend/girlfriend with who.
If I had to rate each story individually:
Story 1: 9
Story 2: 10
Story 3: 3
Story 4: 5
Story 5: 6
The average comes out to about 7 so that's my overall score for this anthology. I enjoyed it while it lasted. This movie is suitable for mature audiences, but nothing about it felt gratuitous. In fact a lot of the sexual encounters were pretty PG. I'd say it's a good date movie to watch with your long term partner, if you have one.
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Don't get fooled by +ve YT comments/reviews
Read at your own risk because I am about to be rude and realistic :This series is a waste of time no matter how much you try to defend it. No this is not a mature BL drama. This is not how slow-burn works. Some fujoshis have quite a low bar ughh. Also, please DO NOT compare this to Eclipse which was a MASTERPIECE.
Don't get fooled by reading positive reviews. Skip it if you are not fond of the plain plot.
The only positive things are : Chot's dialogues and Jaab's charismatic looks. Apart from that, Khun jeng was pretty hot.
Nothing happens in the first 7/8 episodes and suddenly everything happens in the last few ones.
Very boring side characters and the main character with basic storylines.
What was more frustrating was Pat. His weird lip movements were straight-up irritating. His indecisiveness and drama weren't cute or mature. He bored me to death.
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