OMG I LOVE THIS SHOW
I don't usually write reviews so I'm not sure how helpful this will be but this was hands down one of the best shows I have seen. If anyone ever asked me to name a show that made me cry the most, it is this show for sure!It is heartwarming and beautiful.
The actors did a wonderful job with their roles. You could feel their emotions and getting completely absorbed into the drama was very easy.
The story was deep and meaningful and it was executed very well. It delivers a very simple message which most of us might overlook even though it's right in front of us.
And the special appearances never hurt!
I don't mind sitting down to rewatch the drama again right now!
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But I learned my lesson: "Entering a cartoon is no child play!" It's not a messy writer's mission either.
Here's the problem: W aspired to be a lot of things: a mind-blowing, thought-provoking fantasy, a boundary-breaking love story, a thriller and a creeper, and perhaps a journey of finding oneself...
Unfortunately, it failed on most fronts, but I'm not surprised. First and foremost, we have to accredit the writer for tackling such fresh premise and attempting to explore the themes of creator/creation and free-will/predestination in such a creative way. However, unlike her previous works the writer failed to create clear and sound rules governing the travel between these two worlds. You might scream: "But, it's a FANTASY!" Then, I'll scream back: "Even fantasy has to have solid rules; otherwise, it's magical realism or Deus ex Machina conveniently controlling events."
It's hard to highlight this part without giving up the story. One might claim that the rules of entering/leaving the world were clear from the beginning. It's not true, though! We were never told why and how Yoon Joo was going in when the tablet wasn't involved. Then, there's the fact that the rules changed over and over again! They worked only when it was appropriate for the narrative. Many times, major dangers could've been avoided by simply using the rules. In all honesty, I have attempted to rationalize the show's plot more than once; I always ended up with a severe headache. It's either the plot is a collection of holes bridged by Deus ex Machina or I'm too stupid to get it.
But I could've still enjoyed the show, lapses of logic and all, had the writer tried to make her characters realistic. Isn't it ironic that the writer who criticized other drama writers for resorting to cliches to move their stories, didn't bother to give her own characters identities of their own?!
Take Yoon Joo for example. What is she other than the love interest? What do we know about her other than she'll do anything to be with Chul? For the love of God, the girl had cotton candy for brains and I was supposed to believe that she's a surgical intern. Yoon Joo was willing to desert her ENTIRE universe so she can play romance of the day with her fictional crush. How am I supposed to respect her? I'm a fangirl, mind you! But I still can tell the difference between fangirling and falling in love. The writer and Yoon Joo obviously couldn't. If I were to believe that Yoon Joo fell for Chul because he's her forever crush, why did he fall for her (over and over again)? There was a painful lack of buildup for that romance. The show ended and I was still wondering: Why were those two a couple? Why the hell I'm supposed to root for them?
They might've been cute together. But that was all they ever were!
Then, there was Chul. His life, his whole existence was a tragedy but he was a protagonist who had free-will in a predestined world. In his journey of finding himself, Kang Chul was supposed to prove his humanity. Curiously enough, I found his reactions to the world and to everything to be human in the first half of the story. However, the more he approaches the real world, the more he becomes robotic. Ultimately, he became so bland it was dull to watch him, much less to care for him. (again it's hard to explain without spoiling).
The most interesting and the only well-acted character was Oh Song Moon. I want to take a moment to applaud the acting. The levels of darkness and petty he fell into were very well acted. Unfortunately, the depth of this character was never fathomed. He was shoved away in favor of the stupid never-was-romance. His relationship with his daughter, his fears, his failures, his love were all thrown down the drain. He became a walking plot-device himself.
The acting in the show was uneven. Kim Eui Seong did wonders with his characters where Han Hyo Joo moves around with 3 annoying facial expressions (maybe four if you count her sleeping face :P). W certainly uncovered Lee Jong Suk's acting limitations. He fairs well in cute and playboy, but other than some particular scenes, his acting grew cumbersome to watch, even cringe-worthy at the end. Those crying scenes anyone?!
A shout out to Crazy Dog and Soo Bong: those two were my rays of the sunshine in the dark! Crazy Dog spoke my mind and Soo Bong was the only one who played bewilderment and every other shocked emotion well.
In short, visually captivating, definitely mind-boggling and occasionally a bit creepy, W might have started with a promise but ended with a letdown. Watch it if you're a fan of the actors or of twisty-twisted plots that leave you with more questions than answers, but don't expect any character to come off as human.
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Perfectly paced and focused
This is officially the best break-up, moving-on, and recovering/healing drama ever. Not just in K-drama land, but in the entire world and in history.Maybe it's too early to claim that, but 6 episodes in, and it's very evident already.
They let us see up close and personal what a person who loves someone so much, have given them everything, feels like and goes through after a nasty break-up, (specially because of cheating).
They did not rush the story. It was paced well, to bring out the emotions, the pain, the hurt. The psychological impact, and ultimately, how a person can get back on their feet.
The monologues were awesome as well. Every single one of it were felt. They showed us the process.
And as someone who have been in such a situation, Yoo In Na captured everything so well. Did she experience it herself? Because gawd, that was me. Desperate. Shaking. Hopeful. End-of-the-world. Will take all the blame, will even take the blame for killing Abel, or Julius Caesar. Will turn a blind-eye. Will even accept sharing your partner! Because at that moment, you're thinking you can not live without them.
You can not accept the new reality in front of you. You want to move on, but the new reality is unrealistic. You are not in denial anymore (otherwise you wouldn't even beg), you just do not want to embrace your new reality. You want to run away from it.
“No, that's not a reality I will accept, I can make this work, I can choose which reality I want, I can manifest it.”
It will be for a long while before this show is dethroned in my list as the #1 break-up, moving-on, recovering/healing relationship story.
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This review may contain spoilers
Started strong, ended really bad
This drama was very underwhelming. For the positives, Kim You Jung's acting was amazing, she just has the face of someone that can act like a sociopath. The OST and the production of the drama were also really good. For the negatives, Kim Young Dae's acting could be better, some scenes the viewer couldn't understand his emotions at all. For the argument itself, the story is bad. A girl that was abused, abandoned, tortured since a child ends up being the bad guy of the story. It is true that she used the first man to cover up her father's murder, however the rest she wasn't the one to be blamed at all. And the end was terrible. Jun Seo acknowledged that A Jin was in an abusive relationship and still his first thought was how evil she was and how he could blame her, no sympathy at all for her situation. In fact, if we analyze the entire story, we understand that she was a victim of the circumstances. Her stepmother drowned her, her father beat her up every time he was with her. Re Na bullied and physically assaulted her, In Gang was already deep into his depression before committing suicide. Grandma fell of the stairs, her high school stalker stabbed her and Jae O wanted to die for her. Honestly, she can be barely blamed, at all.Was this review helpful to you?
Shaken and stirred.
Under the Power is the best historical c-drama romantic comedy I have seen recently. The romance centers on how two hilariously different people fall for each other unexpectedly and deal with differences in their backgrounds and obstacles from past wrongs. The internal romance plot plays out within an external investigative storyline around a series of linked investigations by the formidable jinyiwei or imperial brocade-clad spies/secret police aimed at exposing years of corruption perpetrated by the powerful noble Yan family. While the basic premise of the over-arching plot is interesting, the story-writing falls short and loses momentum in the second half. This drama's success is mostly due to sizzling chemistry and side-splitting performances by both main leads.Lu Yi, a highborn jinyiwei, incenses fiery young constable Yuan Jinxia when he takes over one of her cases from the local yamen. To add insult to injury, he commandeers her trusty pistol and extorts her collaboration in a very high-handed way. I cannot lie - I initially did not like the obnoxious, noisy, and immature Jinxia and dropped this show. But desperation in times of coronavirus made me pick it up again and like Lu Yi, I inexplicably found myself falling like a ton of bricks for Tan Songyun's gauche, money-loving, gluttonous, mischievous, shamelessly obsequious, irrepressible and utterly adorable little minx of a Yuan Jinxia. This is the first time I have watched Tan Songyun and I am floored by how comical she is without at all coming across as slapstick.
Lu Yi is not a colorful character - he is rather aloof and wears a fierce, sour, still-faced expression; has no hobbies or evident vices or quirks... except for his x-rated eyes. Initially, he looks at Jinxia with ill-concealed disdain and annoyance at her crass, venal, and nosy antics. He is quite nasty to her. Ren Jialun's facial expressions were so spot on in terms of conveying how Lu Yi's feelings for Jinxia evolved over time that I was with him the whole way. As he comes to appreciate her intelligence, resourceful and unconventional methods as well as her innate loyalty and honor, there is both horrified revulsion and wry acceptance in his expression as it dawns upon him that he may be falling for her. This progresses into a very amorous, caressing gaze that is accompanied by a slow and sexy crooked smile that shouts out that under the embroidered robe, this imperial spy is both shaken and stirred. This is brilliantly written and portrayed OTP whose interactions move seamlessly between comic relief and searing, heart-stopping intimacy. This had me alternating between laughing so hard I was gasping for breath to fanning myself down frantically. Be warned that such moments can result in paranoid coronavirus self-diagnosis.
This drama is pretty much carried by the OTP - the rest of it is quite messy. There are just too many flamboyant side characters that make a grand entrance and then just fizzle out or worse, get dumbed down into a tedious unrequited love daisy chain. You would think they could have done so much with a Robin Hood of the high seas, a tough-as-nails female head gangster, a master poisoner, a trickster Taoist priest, a doctor that can almost rise the dead, a brave general's wife etc. Instead, all we got were boring couples trapped in cliche romantic tropes who were so much more interesting when they were still single.
The critical mistake that wrecked the latter half of the drama was the unnecessary angst in the romance - they threw the very tired "your family wiped out my family" obstacle at the OTP. Without serious suspension of disbelief, this is THE kiss of death - I have never seen any OTP survive this obstacle in a good and convincing way. They only barely made it work here by pretty much sacrificing the entire external plot. This is a pity because the most interesting character in the drama was actually our villain Yan Shifan, who is diabolical, despicable, vicious, humorous, and curiously likable. We know who he is from the beginning and most of the cases that Lu Yi and Jinxia expose are built toward eventually taking him down. He is in a position of strength and can afford to toy with them most wickedly (which he does) but ultimately it is a race to see who can bring the other down first. I was really looking forward to the final showdown. Which never happened. The internal (romantic) plot needed a grand gesture of atonement and reparation so no, none of his victims got the satisfaction of outmaneuvering him and taking him down in a final epic confrontation. His downfall had practically nothing to do with any of the main characters even though a well-loved character dies gratuitously for the cause! Worse, Lu Yi makes a really pointless and out-of-character sacrifice that subjects the final outcome for our lovers to the whim of a capricious emperor. The ending was so lame it should have the position of honor in the Lame Drama Ending Hall of Fame.
So is this worth watching? Absolutely, the OTP is a complete riot and their relationship is perfectly balanced between touching and uproarious moments. As for the rest of it, you just have to suspend disbelief and ignore a few plot holes and annoying characters. No one will judge you for fast-forwarding. To me, this should be an 8.0 but I gave it an 8.5 to recognize the main leads for making me laugh so hard.
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1They got their "Happy Merry Ending," but what about the viewer?
This was just a mess, plain and simple.First off, this should have been a movie. The pacing would still be absolutely ridiculous, but at least not as noticeable as in drama format. Not to mention, the characters' conflicts and feelings come and go whenever necessary but not in any flowing or sensical way.
Really, only these positives come to mind: The leads' pretty faces, nice singing voices, and good kissing scenes. Nothing else.
Near the end, I felt so detached I would liken it to the experience of an AI robot trying to understand human emotions.
I honestly wonder if they made this just for the OST; otherwise, I can't see a point in its existence.
This is definitely a skip, my friends. I finished it only because I felt obligated to.
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This review may contain spoilers
First of all, I really enjoyed the plot. It's not an ordinary one. In fact, I love how it treats about high technology and the way it effects society. Something that surprised me actually is that this kdrama portrayed homosexuality! South Korea is a pretty conservative country and the fact that the director had insisted on portraying it makes me realize their society is becoming more accepting :) The feeling of anxiety, always being on the lookout, embarrassment, acceptance, denial, excitement were well portrayed by the main leads. I support Kim So hyun haha, she's a very good actress. I've known her since School 2015 and I know her capability. Our rookies here Jung Ga Ram and Song Kang did an excellent job and I'm sure they'll be very successful in their acting career in the future.
Okay now the things i disliked about the character: Sun Oh.
He's very possessive, clingy, creepy and hard to like. I couldn't really stand his character. The moment he went after Jojo, I lost it. Is something wrong with him? He clearly knows that Hyeyeong, his loyal and kind childhood friend liked her and he STILL WENT AFTER HER. It was almost as if he didn't want Hyeyeong to get the girl and started to used his'' charms'' that any girl can fall for to Jojo for which she in fact did fall for. It's so disgusting to the part where Song kang says something like'' Oh you were never by my side all along''. Like *****, first of all, he did let you have the girl and didnt complain about it. Grow up.
Anyways yeah that was my rant about how unbelievably disgusting his character is.
Overally, good show that is binge worthy. We'll see what happens!
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So disappointing.
This series started off reasonably well. It was clear from the start it was't going to be a masterpiece, but it was entertaining. But it quickly bogged down into a really negative and unpleasant mess.Ahtip and Poon have the usual enemies-to-lovers banter and conflict at first, but then they descend into moderately psycho jealousy, misunderstanding, and lashing out to hurt each other constantly. It's not fun, and there's no chemistry between them to compensate - and even if there were there's no opportunity to see it because they're always in a fight, and not the "you didn't put the toilet seat down" type of fight - it's the "you are a controlling psycho" and "you constantly quit your job and break up with me" type of fighting.
There are no less than four villains. 1. The woman who is after Ahtip, who has more screen time than either lead, and she's awful - it's so unpleasant. 2. The handsome chef from a rival restaurant. 3. Teng's weird boyfriend and 4. The OTT evil landlady. Do we need all this? Especially with two surly and unpleasant leads, and two surly and unpleasant secondary couple characters, there is just nothing bright and fun about this series. With the secondary couple, one is in an unhappy LTR but delibrately leads someone on, and that someone is pursuing someone he knows is taken and all three make themselves (and the audience) miserable. TBH, I've never gotten the appeal of BankBonus, and I'd be surprised if you do after this.
Ahtip's friend Tewit is charming, but it's hard to think much of him as he's obsessed with Amy, who is a horrible, selfish snob.
On top of that, the writer appears not to have any experience with day-to-day life, as really basic details are wrong and take you out of the story. A hotel restaurant has nobody but a head chef to clean the kitchen and nobody is ordering ingredients. Except the head chef. Landlords can cancel leases with no notice and kick out tenants, and Ahtip is such a terrible, terrible boss that there's no chance he could have achieved any success. Etc.
Even the cutesy ending fell flat - all these people were practically trying murder each other the whole series, and now they're all best friends. Amy's redemption arc was to stomp all over everyone and then with no effort or reason ends up with the richest and best-looking guy in sight. Even after he had a drunken gay orgy with half the cast, which is weird since Poon won't let Ahtip even kiss him (until he gives him a hugely expensive gift. Nice messaging there).
It feels like punishment to watch this - it's entirely unpleasant with no romance or couple chemisty to keep you going. Honestly, I'd rather watch 45 minutes of people falling into accidental kisses than watch this.
I can't recommend this at all - there are lots of bad BLs, some of which are fun. This is just joyless and dreary. I had really looked forward to this because I love Peter - maybe someday he'll be in something good.
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Absolute garbage. go read the novel instead.
when i heard there was a live action of ORV, i was definitely interested. i had high hopes for it since ORV the novel and the adapted manhwa were both beautiful and i loved them both. However, after learning more about this live action, to say i'm disappointed is a huge understatement. What do you mean Dokja hated TWSA? it saved his life. What do you mean Yoo Sangah is a healer? she was put back in the misogynistic stereotypes she fought so hard against and that entirely ruins her character. What do you mean Dokjas favorite TWSA character was jung heewon? Jung heewon didnt even appear in the original TWSA. Yoo joonghyuk, who plays an incredibly major role in ORV, has been reduced to a more supporting character in this trash live action. dont watch it, i would never recommend it and for it to even share a name with ORV is practically a disgrace to the original omniscient readers viewpoint. if you're interested in the story, i'd highly suggest reading the light novel online, purchasing it in stores, or reading the manhwa adaption on Webtoon or something of the like. either way, it's far better than this terrible live action.Was this review helpful to you?
1) the flashbacks. OMG SO. MANY. FLASHBACKS. I ended up skipping ahead often during last few episodes but I think it didn't detract from my experience as an audience. *happy face*
2) The female lead's screaming tendencies. My friend thought she was comedy gold and loved her hilarious screams, but it personally hurt my ears. I had to turn down the volume every time she looked like she was about to yell or shout---SHE IS HILARIOUS THOUGH I ADMIT.
3) The long kisses. ... Honestly, they just need to kiss already. THEY SPENT 30 SECONDS STARING AT EACH OTHER BEFORE FINALLY TOUCHING LIPS. Wth? But anyways, that's the editor's fault. The male lead Cha Do Hyun is actually an AMAZING kisser---I blushed several times during this drama. kekeke.
4) Episodes 16--20. Let me explain: the first half of the drama were mostly comedy with some sadness hiding behind it, but the melodrama poured through starting in ep. 16. It was lined with sadness after sadness, and I literally cried until I just couldn't shed tears anymore. LUCKILY, there are still quite a bit of comedy relief in those 4 episodes---so I was able to survive and come to love it.
But despite the flaws of Kill Me Heal Me, I loved it for it's sensitivity to D.I.D., and for its array of top notched actors who slayed the drama. *v*
Ji Sung is absolutely amazing in this drama. According to what ppl have said, HE ONLY SLEPT ONE TO TWO HOURS to film this. That's true dedication. Also, you have to understand that it's very hard to portray 7 different characters, but Ji Sung managed to nail the role. The female lead was also amazing. Everybody was amazing, tbh.
I personally loved the melodrama in the end because it was realistic. DID is not meant to be funny. Childhood tragedies are also not meant to be glossed over. I'm glad this drama actually took the time to show how horrible both things are--That alone gives this drama a high score.
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The story itself is pretty straightforward, not hard to follow along but somehow I felt like it lacked substance. Even with there being mysteries and secrets, the way the story was executed never left me with anticipation. A lot of scenes felt unnecessary to the overall story; they made it seem like it was important at one time but then brushed it aside later on never touching upon it much again, let alone giving it much closure. Even found myself bored many times because of the slow paced or draggy areas, it was like watching paint dry. Instead of engaging the viewers in more fast paced action filled scenes with concise explanations, they seemed to focus more on dialogue, an excessive amount at that. Which is a shame because the only interesting parts to me were the fights and some of the training scenes.
Even though I never fully got invested in this story nor the characters, I must admit a lot of them had great character development, especially compared to the beginning when they were too immature and dramatic. The dynamics and chemistry between the Shrek Academy students were more enjoyable than the main leads! Honestly, even the "adult characters" were more interesting. My biggest complaint is the portrayal of Xiao Wu’s character, her voice & personality annoyed me throughout the show…I’m sorry, I know many loved her but I couldn’t even look at her half the time she was on screen. Her overly high pitched voice and her one expression pouty face just wasn’t doing it for me. Too naive and too clingy. Only during her fight scenes was she tolerable. Tang San unfortunately was also annoying at times but really only when he was with Xiao Wu, always holding her arm, being so overprotective and babied her so much. I understand the wanting to protect someone you care about but he was just over the top…
Thank goodness there wasn’t many scenes with music (at least not that I remember) because when there was, they NEVER played it at the right times. They should’ve played it during the action packed scenes to build up the suspense, but instead they were randomly playing it when they were casually walking or chatting…
The ending was left on a cliffhanger…i wont say much on it but regardless of what happens with the second season, I will not watch it. The only thing that kept me going while watching this was purely Xiao Zhan’s visuals and the beautiful loyalty and teamwork of the Shrek Academy as well as some their fight scenes!!
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This review may contain spoilers
This Took A Turn
I could tell this series was going to be an emotional one right away. Let's start off with the good. The series emotionally already started to get to me during the scene where our main character Tian reads Torfun's diary and sees everything she did with her shortened life. His expressions shows how he wants to change and not waste her heart inside of him now. Because he was wasting his life before and wants to do something greater, and fulfill Janes dreams. The musical accompaniment to the show is a much needed added emotional impact. It swells perfectly to the scenes. I also appreciate that they kept a big scar on Tian's chest, because a heart transplant is a big surgery. Maybe it wouldn't necessarily look that (for a lack of a better term) gnarly and painful, but some shows opt to go for "beautiful looking scars or minimal scar tissue" and that's not realistic at all.I loved the interactions with the kids, kind of like "Oxygen the Series" but better. The kids have distinct personalities and I loved the developments with them. Tian's character too is trying really hard and I appreciate it. We see him in the town too trying to get in with the locals, and help them when they are being taken advantage of financially. He brought back the scale to teach to the kids! So they won't get ripped off like their parents were, omg yes full circle.
After all like the show says; "Where we feel happy, we feel like home".
So initially when Phuapha is introduced I dug him so much. Dude saved a snail, like get outta my face lol. The drunk scene with Tian touching Phupha's face was so wholesome, they had such sweet chemistry. Their relationship was starting to gear up to be one of my faves. Unfortunately that didn't happen, because of some fatal character flaws written into the plot. Which were very uncharacteristic. These were my thoughts once Tian came clean about Torfun and basically everything: "Why are you ruining it show with the village putting literally all the blame on Tian? The rangers didn't want him to tell them about Torfun's death! This is total bs and its making characters unlikable, especially Phupha!" The random question thrown in there of did Tian kill Torfun with his car was stupid too. That would've taken away all likability from his character (luckily it didn't end up that way) and made all of his actions seem not as genuine as before because they are fueled by guilt. This was just all poorly done and it kinda ruined the final half of the storyline.
I also didn't like that they framed it like Phupha is just worried about Tian's future when he tries to convince him to leave. It's Tian's choice whether to stay at the village or not and Phupha basically was not allowing that choice at all! It's really controlling and I keep asking myself why is he leaving again? Like don't tell me what to do Phupha! Sure he ends up finishing teaching school anyway, but still how it was approached was wrong. This is another perfect example of a series that narratively starts off essentially perfect and then flops so bad towards the end with poor character writing that it ruins the relationship for me. Also Tian's mom I understood at the beginning. Her son almost died and she was being overly protective. But then she began to suck at the end. Trying to tell Tian not to become a teacher because its "difficult" which doesn't make sense because so was becoming an engineer? So it was just an excuse, she just thinks its not a reputable enough job. Then when she "agrees" which she shouldn't even have to, she forces the idea of going to a fancy school in America because her friends kids couldn't get in there. Seriously screw you!
Overall, this show is fantastic at the first half and then meh at the end. It's concept is so interesting, so it's a shame parts of it ruined it for me. The last episode was stretched out too long, but once we get the wrap up it's pretty nice. Albeit kind of cliche to end with a peck-kiss on the mountain, I felt some satisfaction from the ending. Though I was highly disappointed that we got no reunion between Tian and the kids or him and Longtae! That would've been great. The after credits ending scene too was a nice addition. Also final side-note, low-key it's mad disrespectful to have a literal ad for a car at the beginning of these episodes knowing full well the story surrounds a character getting struck and hit by a car! XD
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This review may contain spoilers
Keep in mind that I haven't read the manga. Thank you.The events of the drama:
- Two high-school boys (cousins) move in to an apartment in the same building where the heroine (lets call her Yoyo) resides. One is cheerful/friendly (lets call him Smiley), and the other is Grumpy (lets call him that).
- So the Yoyo starts liking Smiley and confesses her feelings to him. But Smiley tells her that he doesn't believe in love and breaks her heart.
- Yoyo gets all sad/weepy whenever she sees Smiley. Grumpy jumps in and comfort Yoyo by telling her that he likes her and she should become his girlfriend. After a couple of therapeutic sessions (aka kind words from Grumpy + a hair-pin gift she receives from him), she starts to fall for him and they become a couple.
- However, Grumpy's ex-girlfriend appears and he starts going out with her because -in his words, not mine- "she is weak" and needs him. So he tells Yoyo that he loves her but he still has feelings for his ex. Therefore, he breaks-up with Yoyo to sort out his feelings for his (older + has a boyfriend) ex.
- Smiley takes this chance to jump back into the game! He comforts Yoyo and confesses that after he turned her down, he realized he loved her. *ehem*
- Yoyo gets all confused and sad/weepy again. This time she tells Smiley that she still likes Grumpy but will try to get over him by dating Smiley.
- Grumpy confront his ex: "who are we kidding? you love your boyfriend, so go be with him! We both need to be with who we want to be with!" Yeah, they break-up and Grumpy (the stone-head) doesn't realize that Yoyo is going out with Smiley to forget him, so he doesn't tell anyone that he broke-up with his ex.
- Time goes by and Grumpy tells Yoyo that he still loves her and that his ex is history. Smiley spots them very close to each other and runs to hit Grumpy on the face. Yoyo tells him to stop! Smiley goes away all grumpy.
- Anyways, now both guys want Yoyo and she can't decide which one she likes because she doesn't want to lose one of them. But then Sad-Smiley tells her that he hates himself when he is with her because of all the jealousy he feels when she is with Grumpy. So he breaks up with her.
- Grumpy tries to win her back but Yoyo won't make a damn decision. Then Smiley tells her that his grandfather wants one of them (him or Grumpy) to travel and take over the family business, so whoever she wants will stay.
- Yoyo can't do it! She can't lose them! Smiley says he will go but Grumpy decides to be noble and leave because he realized that she likes Smiley more.
- In the end Yoyo is happy because she didn't lose both guys! yay! WHAT?!!!
Comment:
Yoyo is a very disappointing character. She should have moved on when from the first time both guys broke it off with her. To be honest, both Grumpy and Smiley are not that great anyways. Okay, both of them helped her when she needed to find someone to adopt a dog (she found) but that's it. There was no depth in her relationship and no real talk about family and life with both guys. Perfect for increasing blood pressure.
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Fun, dramatic and mindnumbingly stupid Season 2 of the Makjangiest Makjang on the block
Even though I enjoyed this A LOT, I have mixed feelings about this show so I'mma break it down into pros and cons. Read till the end before getting triggered.Cons:
▪︎The first half:
"Can this show get any more ridiculous?" asked my tired brain after it finished yet another episode full of repetitive, pointless misery that was only half as entertaining than what it used to be.
Don't get me wrong. The shock value is still high albeit it gets more and more predictable with every episode. The black comedy is still top notch, I was morbidly laughing my ass off 90% of the time. It's still a fairly easy to watch show. Kinda like junk food, you know it can't possibly be healthy for you but you're still watching. Almost begging for it to get better.
This is a Makjang. So, I trust that if you like those and you've watched season 1 you already expect this to be over the top and exaggerated.
However, despite how OTT it was, season one had a solid direction and the characters were actually built nicely.
Behind all the noise, if you looked, you could find some nuance and thought behind the way characters functioned. So, by all counts it was a well made show and it wasn't a surprise that it became a household name in Korea. That's great but then obviously the drama creators got greedy and they wanted to prolong the victory for two more unnecessary seasons.
By ending the last season the way they did, they found a sure shot way for us to continue. Surely, we were all angered by the triumph of the bad guys and wanted to see justice prevail. Going to watch season 2 was the easiest decision for all of us. Unfortunately, in just a few episodes, the drama writers made me effectively stop giving a shit about everyone in the show.
The writing was just terrible, nonsensical and laughably bad in this one. It's like they ate a bunch of plotlines and then vomited it out on screen. There's no point of this show because things happen just for the sake of happening. During most of the drama, there isn't a single character you can root for and the evil characters that were interesting and charismatic asf in season 1 start to seem hollow and one dimensional in this.
It's the same old thing over and over and over again. Bullying, murder (but not really), revenge (but not really) and Repeat. And we are getting no where. It gets tiresome to watch a repeat of season one with none of the wow factor.
The worst thing is that for most of the show, the protagonist is Yeon Hee who is the single most brainless character to ever appear on tv. She was horrible in season 1 and unfortunately, worse in season 2. She functions on half a braincell and only knows how to whine and scream my ears off. That's it. Not a single ounce of sense in that woman.
There are a few hilariously unfunny plot twists that the writers pulled out of their ass and they stank of bullshit.
Yes, the antagonists did deliver their best. Cheon Seo Jin killed her performance as always. The acting didn't suffer and remained at the top but what's the point when you've stopped giving a fuck about the story and the characters?
It's just a cycle of seeing miserable and mindlessly evil adults and teenagers be pointlessly cruel, greedy and annoying for 13 hours straight.
The direction is still crisp, the drama exudes luxury of the Hera Palace and I love the brilliant music pieces but we already saw all that in season 1.
For a show to function, the good guys need to be on equal footing as the bad ones but here the antagonists >>> protagonists. Even when the bad guys suffer it's mostly because of their own stupidity and infighting. Hardly any badass good guy moments in 70% of the show and at one point, you're just wishing for them all to just kill each other and save you the frustration.
▪︎Pros:
So, I wrote all that and you're like um, is there anything left to say? Yes, there is. The show finally picks up in the second half. Don't get me wrong, the writing is still completely bogus and the plot is very silly and unrealistic BUT you finally get a character you want to root for.
This is the 30% of the show that absolutely makes you want to power through sitting right at the edge of your seat.
I don't want to give spoilers but I'll just say a badass bitch is back in the house and once she comes, watching the show becomes much easier.
Episode 12 is literally one of the most satisfying episodes as slowly but surely our good guys get ready to whoop some major asses.
Throughout the show there are some very touching moments in the way the parent and child relationship is portrayed. Some scenes were really nicely executed and I got some major feels even when overall the drama lacks emotion because of the inconsistency in pace and writing.
The ending is also very satisfying but annoying in equal measures.
Overall, is this drama WACK? Yes.
Is it trying to be anything else? No.
Will I be watching season 3? Fuck yes.
This is the crack I run on. You don't have to use your brain while watching it and it's strangely addicting.
So, keep your expectations low, turn off your brain and enjoy it to the maximum!
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Entertainment over quality… repetitiveness on the rise.
Don’t get me wrong though. It’s not necessarily bad quality, rather… basic? I’m gonna write a few criticisms I had with the show, but I want you to know, I still enjoyed it quite a bit - I would drop it otherwise.Starting with the short points, I will elaborate on them later.
So what’s good?
◽ The characters’ personalities and the chemistry between them. The variety of amazing interactions we’ve got depending on who was on screen was perfect.
◽ The comedy was to die for. Even if some episodes felt like fillers, I was still mostly okay with them because I got to laugh a few times. Especially any scene with the Crown Prince and Mu Deok was a comedy goal.
◽ The lore. For the first proper high budget Korean fantasy drama like this, they did quite a good job with creating a believable and detailed world. Yes, they broke some rules they set themselves, but overall, in this aspect the writing was rather consistent.
◽ The production quality. This show is simply beautiful. I have no complaints about CGI either, which is a surprise, since I always complain about some details related to it.
◽ The acting from the majority (but not the whole) cast.
What had a potential, but could be improved?
◽ The villains. While on paper everything adds up - they had proper goals, motivations, plans, enough power for it to be believable, the presentation left quite a bit to desire.
◽ Love lines. There were just too many. Cutting off half of the love lines, and exploring more the ones that are left would be a huge improvement.
What did not work out?
◽ The female characters. They told us how strong, smart, brave, driven they are, but then relegated them to be some sidekick characters or just a background for the story to unfold. Including the female lead.
◽ The present plot and pacing. Having such an elaborate lore and using so much time to explore and explain the characters and their background, sadly hurt the current plot a lot. Too much repetitiveness, too much narration and filler scenes, that, while entertaining, did nothing to move the story forward.
Getting into more detail now.
So, what’s up? It was built on extremely basic and boring tropes. And while I love everything around it, the core is still... basic. Especially in terms of Jang Uk's writing - a special boy, with his special powers and special fate. Magically learning all the magic that he needs at any given time. There are literally no real stakes with him - we know he will somehow get out of all the issues with no real long term consequences.
The worst crime this show committed was reducing the revenge seeking, confident, skilled female lead into nothing more than a love interest for half of the young male cast. Girl just gave up her goal at some point and was nothing more than Jang Uk’s maid. How sad it is, when she opened the whole show with a bang and badass fighting moves. Realistically speaking, she was a far more interesting character than Jang Uk, and yet she was pushed to the sidelines.
I feel like the drama overall failed its female characters. For example, Jin Bu Yeon was an extremely important character, and yet the majority of viewers shared the “I don’t care about the oldest daughter plotline” sentiment. What does it tell me? Hong sisters and Park Joon Hwa failed to convince us it’s worth following the story. They failed at setting it up in an interesting way and failed to show how connected it is to everything happening. Which is sad, because from the few scenes we have seen with Jin Bu Yeon, she seemed like an extremely strong, brave and worth watching character.
There is another interpretation of Jin Bu Yeon’s wasted potential - Hong sisters from the start did not care about her character and never planned for her to be anything more than just a background story. And this just makes me sad to even think about. She is literally one of the most interesting characters in terms of her story - one of the most complex backgrounds and connections, and yet she was nothing more than a background?
Honestly speaking, the majority of the characters lack the complexity and depth, but they make up for it with the extremely well written and directed chemistry. There is a huge variety of different relationships (not all romantic) that are entertaining to watch. Some of my favorites are - Mu Deok and the Crown Prince, Mu Deok and Yul, Crown Prince and Jang Uk, Master Lee and basically everyone, dumb Scooby Gang aka Crown Prince, Yul and Dang Gu.
So, we know there was a high entertainment value in terms of the characters, but also some painfully unused potential. What about the plot?
The pacing was awful. Honestly tragic. They did an amazing job with expanding and explaining the lore and character’s backgrounds, but as for the present plot - it was barely moving. We were getting closer to the end of part one, but I felt like we took maybe two steps forward, and mostly just ran in a circle. And the precious screen time was wasted on random comedy scenes (which were great, does not change the fact they mostly added nothing to the plot), romance EVERYWHERE, and side plots that a lot of viewers, me included, did not care about.
The romance? Jesus Christ, you think love triangles are annoying? Wait to see all the love lines and all the geomatics love shapes. Everyone is somehow related to everyone in a romantic way - be it past relationship, present relationship, arranged relationship, one-sided crush etc. At times I felt like the love lines were more complicated than the actual plot.
What exactly was the villain's plan? They had literally everything they wanted and needed to take over… but they didn’t. Because, reasons? They were just chillin doing the bare minimum waiting to get caught.
AoS tries to set up quite a few plot twists and big revelations, most are sadly predictable for anyone who watched even a few wuxia shows. It just follows the most stereotypical story with the most common tropes leading the way. They also kept explaining things that were already revealed and explained - the plot is not THAT complicated so I would need a constant reminder about each and every plot point.
Production quality and acting were good. What many fantasy shows fail at is the over the top, complex CGI. AoS did a spectacular job with it. Everything crafted to make the show pleasant to the eye.
Acting wise, I have to talk about Jung So Min. She is one of my favorite actresses and I knew she could deliver any role, but I was still surprised how she was able to manage so many personalities and shift her acting to fit specific scenes. I’ve also been a fan of Lee Jae Wook since his debut as Marco in Memories of the Alhambra, and knowing how diverse the roles he took so far were, I did not worry about his performance at all.
I’m also quite impressed with Shin Seung Ho. The Crown Prince was not an easy role since the character has quite a few contradicting qualities, that could seem ridiculous with the wrong delivery.
Overall, being perfectly honest, I did enjoy it for most part, but I would not recommend it. At some point I had more fun ranting about it on feeds with friends than watching. Not sure if the few entertaining scenes here and there truly make up for all the mediocre and bad aspects. I might just be biased because I love the cast so much. And since this is basically a 30-episodes long drama, is it worth it to spend 40 hours watching it just for the interesting set up?
Taking 0.5 from the rating for the fact it was split into two parts for no reason whatsoever.
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