Grudge: The Revolt of Gumiho (2010)

Story: 8/10.
Very odd. Especially for a korean drama. Or rather very unique. A gumiho getting revenge for her kid. I thought that this drama was really interesting. It had romance, supernatural, tragedy, melo-drama, historical, horror?, and suspense. What more can you ask for in a drama? The story starts out as she is about to become a human until her husband finds out that she is a gumiho and everything is ruined. She takes her innocent kid who knows nothing and flees. Only to be save by a man and later on she falls in love with him. They are living their lives happily but soon, things are not going their way as her daughter is in the age of turning in to a gumiho and problems start to rise. I like the pacing of the drama and felt that it was good.

Acting/Cast: 8/10.
I love the acting in here. Especially of Yeon Yi who knew nothing and automatically became the victim target of everyone. She was the most pitiful character in the drama. Makes me go: "WHYY?! She just wanted a sweet, normal, romantic childhood and this is what she gets?!>:'(". Then we have the mother gumiho who did a great job acting crazy when the time comes, think about a bear or any mother animal who is protecting their child. That's how I felt. Then the husband guy, the way to describe his character: sly. His way to handle things. He himself is a parent who wants to save his child. We are seen his nice side but also his desperate measure to get what he wants. CRAZYY. Then the other little girl : Bratty. Any other noble korean little girl who would be in here. Jung Kyu here is the pretty boy. He didn't have much but then the roles with him and yeon yi are sweet. Then the Shaman guy. I thought his character is interesting. Love his creepiness.Everyone in here is creepy. They all perfectly bring out the suspenseful moments.

Music:9/10.
I love the music in here. It creates the mood. Especially to keep you to your edge and makes you want to pull your hair at the perfect moment when something comes up. Keeps you hype up, makes you go aweee, makes you sad, and angry. Most of it's OST are in my playlist and I still play them nowadays. I love the opening, it is very gumiho-like.

Rewatch Value: 6/10.
Wouldn't really want to watch this drama.
Overall: 8/10.

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This K-Drama has a solid Story!

I tend to stay away from overly fantastical (ok, creature-based) K-Dramas but the reviews on this one (and the holiday blues) made me decide to binge it and see what I thought.

Most important thing to know: This drama has a solid story to it.
Definitely hits all the buttons on being a drama. It's filled with conflicted desires, jealousy, hate, passion and people driven by need, revenge and love.

It sounds cheesy but it's good anyway!

Here's my list of likes & dislikes *without spoilers*

1)It's a really good story. The plot is thought out, and there aren't any gaping holes at the end where you go "Yea, but what about...."

2)The symbolism peppered throughout. Very nice touch the producers and writers had on that one.

3) Lots of interwoven motives between the wide cast of characters.

The Cast:

1)Han Da Gam as Gu San Daek - wonderful range of expressions that were really pivotal in making one feel empathy for her character.

2) Jang Hyun Sung as Yoon Doo Su - I've only seen his more recent works and seeing him in his younger years and in a real, meaty role (as opposed to the smaller parts I've seen him in) is a treat!

3) Kim Gyu Chul as Head Minion of Yoon Doo Su. For me he was a sleeper-star in this drama! This guy really, really didn't have a lot of words but he didn't need them! You could feel his emotion and worry in his scenes and it was fantastic.

What I wasn't keen on:

1) The OST is awful. Lots of overly long, quasi-wailing singing. The non-singing bits tended to be repetitious and kind of annoying.

2) A lot of scenes were drawn out much longer than they needed to be.
I get that the producer (obviously) thought they had to be to make an emotional/dramatic impact, but I think they could have been edited out/down a considerable amount without losing impact or flow of the drama.

General Comments:

The Production:
Considering the age of this drama, I have to say it's much better than I expected. A lot of dramas made in the 2010-time frame (including Arang and the Magistrate for example) have awful OSTs and lighting that is horrible at times. You know, the glaring spotlights of light even though it's nighttime, or they're indoors in the dim light? You know the stuff I mean! Gumiho: Tale of the Fox's Child is better than average in that respect--while the soundtrack is awful, the lighting for most of the interior and exterior shots was very good and not glaringly artificial.

It'd be a 9.5 for me if it came with the overly long scenes edited, but even as it is I feel it's a firm 8 because the acting and the overall story is worth those hours of my life spent watching it!

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