The Most Moving Show Of The Year
Moving is one of the most moving action/spy/superpower stories I have ever watched. At its core is love and family, something that’s conveyed through every interaction between parent and child. It, of course, became my new favorite k-drama, because for 15 episodes, out of 20, this show touched me in ways no other show have.My Rating: 9.5/10
My issue with most shows/movies that deal with superpowers is the stakes. Such shows demand us to be on the edge about the safety of the lead characters that we (should) care about. However, usually, they set up the story in such a way that the viewers are already comfortable and know that the leads are safe no matter what. They make the leads so overpowered/smart against the villains that it's obvious that the leads are going to be safe. This is where Moving excels so much. The way the story is framed, makes you feel that a confrontation with the villains is a matter of life and death. The protagonists aren't overpowered in front of the villains so the stakes feel real and scary. It has been able to evoke genuine fear in my heart about the well-being of the characters.
Another element is that superhero stuff nowadays relies so much on the star power of the actor or the existing fandom of the leads that they pay little to no attention to building the character of these superhumans. So it always feels hollow. I'm like- okay I am supposed to care about this person but eh I don't see why I should care. This is where Moving comes in and breaks the mold. The show has painted such elaborate pictures of the lives of all these characters that it is impossible to not care about them. Literally every single significant character is given flashbacks to develop their character so well. This helps in building the stakes of the story as well.
We feel empathy for ones we’ve only just met, who are also fighting to protect their families and who are also being used by those with political power. The battle, the outcome, the final scenes conveyed a much bigger message. Where the death of innocent people is considered a “necessary sacrifice,” and children are being manipulated into becoming weapons to be used for the “benefit” of the state, there is evil. Ultimately (after much violence and many bad deeds) this is a story about two groups of superpowered people who have been positioned against each other but come to recognize who the real enemy is. Some of these characters are far more bad than they are good, but the story ends with a commitment to protecting the next generation and ensuring history doesn’t repeat itself.
The cast was absolutely perfect in conveying every emotion the webtoon and the writers wanted to convey, every single performance gets a 10/10 from me. The OSTs were also very memorable and helps elevate the emotions of the scenes it was put in, and yes I already have the OSTs saved in a playlist to listen to and reminisce from time to time. The CGI is not perfect, there were a lot of dodgy scenes where the characters looked like video game characters bouncing around, but it never happened to their faces, and it never looked unnatural, it was good CG. Spectacular fight scenes and stunt work, great use of the abilities portrayed here, although I do wish the abilities were a little more diverse, rather than 4 or 5 characters just having the exact same powers.
[Spoilers Ahead, so stop reading]
My main complaint is Kisoo's character, and how insignificant he felt. The show would've worked perfectly fine without him. He was just...there. But he did gave some powerful scenes with the teacher around episodes 17 and 18, but then again, that could've been achieved with just Ganghoon. It bothered me because of how in episodes 15 and 16, they made it look like he was some important character, but never went deeper into that. My other issue is when Doosik finally reunited with his family and we barely got to see 5 seconds of it, like it would've been perfect to end the episode with the surplus of emotions if they prolonged that scene of reunion, but it just cut to black, and I guess we'll see in Season 2.
As was foreshadowed during that much earlier conversation between Huisoo’s parents, we got a happy ending. I’m grateful that the main plot points were tied up; to have ended with a cliffhanger, and no promise of future episodes, would have been cruel. The final episode has definitely set things up for another season, and I really hope we get it. If only to give us a reunion scene between Bongseok and Huisoo. Their last on screen interaction was during a really high stakes situation in which everyone was in mortal danger, and I’m sad we didn’t see them meet following that. However, I suppose the bullet still lodged in the arm and the yellow raincoat speak volumes… we know everything we need to know.
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Under Rated & My Fav
as a fan of k-drama I just happened to discover this magnificently wonderful drama. The pormtion for this show was lacking, like when & where was this show promoted. Had I not stumbled across Moving I would have missed one of greastest shows in K Drama History. it’s got everything you need the story line,the plot, the cast was phenomenal, & graphics (visual effects) made me wanna be a superhero too. I hope they make a sseason 2 I can’t wait..Repeated
as a fan of k-drama I just happened to discover this magnificently wonderful drama. The pormtion for this show was lacking, like when & where was this show promoted. Had I not stumbled across Moving I would have missed one of greastest shows in K Drama History. it’s got everything you need the story line,the plot, the cast was phenomenal, & graphics (visual effects) made me wanna be a superhero too. I hope they make a sseason 2 I can’t wait..
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This drama 100% deserves the hype
In a time when we are suffering from a over-saturation of content and less than mediocre stories, particularly related to people with superpowers, South Korea has released MOVING and proved there's still hope for the genre.Like its tittle the story is in constant move, not only pushing forward but going back to different timelines to give us context o our main characters and how the things happening in present time are a direct consequence to the past. Technically, MOVING is perfect. One of the strongest points is definitely the editing and this can be seen in the way the story jumps from one year to another but you never lose track of what's happening nor leaves you confused. There are gaps to fill but with other episodes that will give you answers. The score complements the actions and emotions of the characters to perfection.
The performances are top notch and it's not surprise considering this drama is stack. If you have been watching korean dramas or films for a while, you will recognize even the most random character or one-episode-cameo it's performed by an award winning actor or actress. These people have a reputation for a reason and they deliver in every scene, with a look, a touch, a smile or a punch that will push you through a wall. For some characters in the drama literally speaking.
Zo In Sung hasn't starred in a drama since Dear My Friends (2016) and I am so glad this is his return to the tv format. In MOVING he delivered a nuance, charming and badass performance that in the hands of another would have fell flat. His character's entire existence it's what pushes most of the story forward: a person used as a weapon to kill but all he ever wanted was to live. The big mystery of the drama it's to find out what was his fate after he got separated from those he loves.
Ryoo Seung Ryong remains one of the most compelling actors of his generation, giving us the incredible story of a good man lost in life until he found his purpose and redemption. His storyline, full of gore and violence, was actually a tender love story about how far a man will go to protect his family. Marvelous.
Han Hyo Joo's character could have easily fallen into the Smurfette principle but no. She's an equal to the men who love her and those that want to kill her, with a very strong motivation to keep herself on the top of the game. This character's loneliness comes through every scene she's in, bottling everything up in order to be strong for her family but you can tell she's waiting for a chance to be free and, most importantly, for her son to be able to live freely.
Ko Yoon Jung, Lee Jeong Ha and Kim Do Hoon are really promising actors, particularly considering they hold their own while performance with so many household names. I think Kim Do Hoon and Kim Sun Kyun probably gave one of the most heartbreaking yet beautiful stories in the drama.
Like I mentioned before every single actor in this drama brought their A+ game face but I would be doing a disservice if I didn't mention Kim Hee Won, Cha Tae Hyun, Ryoo Seung Bum, Park Hee Soon, Yang Dong Geun, Jo Bok Rae, Park Kwang Jae, Kim Joong He and, of course, Kwak Sun Young. She in particular was SPECTACULAR.
None of these characters are one-dimensional, they are not defined by the label society wants to put on them. They are all joined together by the experiences, hardships, love, motivations and ambitions they share. At the end of the day, related or not by blood, they are a family. Even the so-called enemies.
MOVING it's absolutely worthy of the hype that surrounds it through all social media and news outlets putting in the category of one of 2023 best tv shows. I only regret I didn't have the time to watch it sooner so I could have add it to mine.
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The long wait was worth it!
So, I had been waiting for this show since my Jo In Sung obsession developed...sometime in 2021, I think? And Then when it came out, I don't know, it had just been too long, I wasn't invested anymore so I didn't touch it for months until my mom said she had seen a random scene from this show that she thought was cool and she wanted to watch the rest so I just recently binged the whole thing with her and I have to say, it was worth the wait. It's true. My only investment in this show was initially JUST Jo In Sung and no one can blame me for it because he is like a rare orchid that blooms every five years or something. So I've been frustrated and desperate BUT the show is very well-made and the teenage characters are sooooo cute, omg! I thought teen boys could only be mildly threatening or absurdly annoying. Who knew they could be adorable sunshine bunnies?!Anyway, the little cutesy friendship between the two teen characters made me so endeared and as the plot developed it became more interesting (And also I kept waiting and waiting and waiting for Jo In Sung to show up...ㅠㅠ).
My only issue with this show is too much violence and not enough Jo In Sung. It was disgusting how much violence I had to endure. I got bored with it, too. So instead, I spent a good deal of the fight scenes scrolling through my phone, while being stuck to the screen during the romance parts. It was just too much. Very gross. Sure, the CGI work was amazing and I applaud the crew for that (the production overall was amazing) but gratuitous violence is so tacky.
The acting in this show is amazing. Obviously, with heavyweights in the main roles, no one was expecting anything less but even the younger cast members were great. They brought the characters to life and I was shocked to find out one actor is 26 years old?! I thought he was 15! :o Everyone was so well-casted and they acted their butts off.
I'm not even a superhero story fan. I don't like marvel and don't watch any of their stuff. But I enjoyed this one. Maybe because it was so fundamentally different from a superhero arc. However, the plot felt a little like a prequel, to be honest. So I can imagine a more traditional superhero plot in a potential second season. This felt more like an espionage family drama; if the families in the espionage had superpowers.
So between the endearing character relationships, an interesting and engaging plot, amazing casting, and a very professional production, this show was basically perfect...except for too much violence. And not enough Jo In Sung.
The music was also very good. It was scored like a film, very ambient but never distracting. Just as it should be.
Will I rewatch this? No...except for rewatching Jo In Sung's scenes. :) And I've already done that...a few times!
I recommend it if you can handle violence and if you like espionage plots, romance, and a bit of mystery.
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AMAZING
Probably one of the best super"hero" shows I've ever seen. This puts the MCU to shame now. The characters are fantastic. The story is well written. The visual effects overall are well done. If I had one complaint, it would be the flashbacks all happening at once instead of being spread out through the show and it going back and forth between the parents and kids. Still, it was great. Supposedly this will have other shows connected to it and I hope they are as good as Moving was.Was this review helpful to you?
Is this a teen drama?
I tried so hard to watch this. However, it’s a teen drama and I don’t do HS dramas. If I wanted to watch a HS drama, I would watch a HS drama. Friends told me I have to wait until epi 9 before it gets good. It’s already epi 5 and no Zo In Sung.Contrast this with the other superhero show broadcasting now, Uncanny Counter 2, which as been action from the get go. (That show suffers from other problems but action wasn’t one of them) No need for patience till almost midway through the season. And 20 episodes? Come on, do better with the editing seriously.
This is also a rip off Fantastic 4 and other broody teenage superhero movies trying to tame their super powers. Heroes, the American TV show, especially comes to mind. This is such a rip-off.
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This review may contain spoilers
Moving was......MOVING!!!
DISCLAIMER!!!I may have some serious biases lol because, in my opinion, this is the BEST kdrama this year. Fight me on this!
The whole premise of MOVING revolves around the children of 3 former ANSP agents and 1 father who is madly protective of his son. It basically dives into their backstory and what their life was like prior to becoming parents. How they were taken advantage of and have gone into hiding in order to prevent their children from not being used for selfish gains like they were.
Shows that tend to focus on the children of people with superhuman abilities most often tend to graze over the parent's backstories and just hyper-focus on the kids which isn't necessarily a bad thing. With MOVING, I love the special attention to not only the parents, the children, or the agency but also the enemies as well. We got backstories and explanations for every angle of this story. I commend the writers and directors on this cause this is something that's hard to execute without losing the main plot and straying far ultimately losing the attention of viewers and confusing everyone in the process. The shifting/time jumps in each episode felt natural and didn't feel rushed or cause confusion. And even when a plot line/time jump wasn't explained in the following episode it didn't cause any confusion and was picked up in another episode and tied in perfectly with the situation happening at that time.
I'm patiently awaiting season 2 because the writers have a lot of explaining to do.
1) YoungTak and his time-stopping power. Who is he? Why did he transfer in his senior year? Did they know about his power? Who are his parents and did they work with the ANSP? so many questions to answer.
2) Who tf is that girl that walked into YoungJoon's office? Is she the true brains behind that operation?
3) Naju's daughter. Her death had to be faked. Where is she? What happened to her truly and did the ANSP track her down?
4) Frank. Is he actually dead?
5) KiSoo. who is he really? How did his injury happen and why does he know about those with abilities?
6) That new guy in the last scene. What slimy shady selfish reasons in the name of 'protect and serve our country' is he gonna do now?
7) Are there more people with abilities?
So many questions that season 2 needs to answer and I can't wait.
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This review may contain spoilers
We know now that a second season is coming.
Entertaining, well produced. Acting performance by the veterans was peerless however the stand-out performance is by Lee Jung-ha as Bongsuk. And I have to mention to Go Youn Jung as Hisoo for sheer athleticism. That girl can run!One negative is pacing. Mid season episodes do drag om (despite some epic fights). Final episodes pick up again, masterfully building tension to the climax. Second, there are some in-universe logic problems. You'll notice them but they won't spoil your enjoyment.
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Best k-drama webtoon adaptation
17 whole episodes just for background introduction story, I have no complain. for a deep serious story it should be that way.almost every character is meaningful, the only problem is player role ambiguity. I assume flying boy is the mc since he is the one that has most character development through the story so far.
every character developed for the better or worse. main role, villains, even a support characters like the bully does.
at last a k-drama that gives a thoughtful love for their characters existed. let the original author do the drama writing really payoff.
last 3 episode rushed so much, many will think that still so much left out unsolved plot. moving might be planned to be multi season series, but there has to be a proper ending like episodes for this season. multi season or not last 3 episodes still bring a decent last battle vibes, pretty nice.
I'm surprised that I have no complains in the story progression or the characters, in the future k-drama webtoon adaptation really need to let the original author to do the writings or at least let them actively contribute in the writing process.
now moving to mainstream battle comic stories problem, power scaling. I'm a flipping geek, I cant believe myself talking about power scaling in a k-drama.
first of all, most op regeneration. this far regeneration means immortal, frank is still alive even after get burned yet gouged eye doesn't heal how far a wound can heal or not still uncertain.
another might be op power shown is time stop, only shown a little bit but if wanted to be shown later on this need to have certain limitation
then the induction power, in the ending shown a lightning strike. but power source of a bus definitely doesn't sufficient. a lightning strike carries at least 1 billion joules energy which needs several electrical bus energy to do that. lets say its not actually as powerful as natural thunder strike its just visual, in this series this power so far represented as the weakest when supposed to be the strongest. with proper power source bungaeman is basically a super human canon. a gun bullet speed is mach its already almost impossible to dodge, while electricity is speed of light nothing can escape that canon.
in summary, im pretty happy with this adaptation. I usually says that adaptation better to stick with the original webtoon as much as possible. but not this one, it doesnt matter this series is good enough as stand alone series. lets just hope disney will make season 2 happens
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This review may contain spoilers
Humanity over Political Agendas
Moving is like a full season of western broadcast shows of yore like Heroes with 20 of 40 something minute episodes, except with possibly a bigger budget and better fight scenes. Heroes was allergic to the big fight scenes, closing the door when the fighters finally meet for it to happen off screen, but that's a whole other review. Han Hyo Joo is put to great use here as Lee Mi Hyeon, way better than Happiness where she was pushed to a back seat to the male lead once the romance entered the story. I'm always glad that she shifted to action based roles because she both humanizes her character with great acting while making her characters cool with great fight scenes. It's so fascinating that even with the no make up make up to give flaws and pores to her face to age her character to look older as her actual age difference with the actor who plays her son is just 11 years with her playing older and him playing younger, she still looks stunningly gorgeous. I really enjoyed how her character uses her supervision and hearing in conjunction with her top secret agent skills and quick thinking to eliminate her foes. The trick shot with the reflective surfaces and her rapid fire snow balls on the security cams were great. It's kinda sad though her son Bong Seok had inherited both his parent's powersets of flight and the super vision/hearing, he did not inherit his mom's survival instincts, though part of it could be due to her not teaching him what to watch out for and just to hide himself and keep himself down. He got lucky Frank was momentarily called off.The drama does not take a position that any political entity that are using superpowered individuals are in the right, all of them are either complicit or the same in using these people as expendable pawns in their political ploys. The enemy combatants who were soldiers or agents needed to be stopped but they aren't allowed to be a one dimensional villain. Frank is assassinating the super power retirees who mostly have either complicated or very loving relationships with their children, on orders from the CIA, but he's show to feel bad when he goes to the funeral service of the woman he murdered to track down and kill her child, but finds that she's a great mother to many adopted children who felt just as loved by her as their sister that was her biological child. Frank was also technically and adopted child having been taken and trained through inhumane treatment by the CIA. Doo Sik thought he was sparing the North Korean soldier's lives by shooting them in an area that gives them the greatest chance to recover from if they get medical attention in time, but the soldier that was begging him not to enter the North Korean leader's room was not to protect the leader, but to protect all the soldiers from the consequence, which was execution which was what happened to all the other soldiers that survived. He then is tasked to cruelly brute force suspected superpowered individuals to awaken their powers by forcing off a cliff, to use their powers or die. If they manage to survive, they are forced to serve their country or their family's would die.
Some of these people were from the prison holes who would form a comraderies including one with Doo Sik who was caught in his second attack on North Korea that would lead to him finally being able to escape to reunite with his family. It's pretty ridiculous that he didn't bother to mask or do anything to hide his identity or country of origin, especially when he intended to leave a ton of witnesses alive during his first attack. He always showed a hubris in bucking his agency's protocols like not bothering to hide his identity to even his partner by only using code names, but he really though that would be fine on an assassination assignment in a foreign country. Absolutely ridiculous. Doo Sik was released by a fellow superpowered flying person. The variety of powers being limited to flying, strength, electricity, super hearing/vision is interesting, fast healing is interesting as well. It seems to be confined unless the off spring is from two super people thus giving them a combo. I'm shocked non of the agencies had breeding programs and they didn't know that the super abilities could be passed down to offspring until they saw toddler Ganghoon toss toss the swat team out of the apartment. Maybe that will be in the alleged season 2. Even though Ju Won lost an eye in the fight against the North Korean agents still adopting the big healing powered guy after that guy lost his only friend and was found sobbing by Hui Soo was sweet. Maybe Frank will eventually join their self healing family too. It's part of the ending which felt very rushed including Doo Sik killing director Min, Frank being alive, and other things. I respected it though because it has all the vibes of a show that found out it got cancelled and won't be getting further seasons and wanted to close off some plot lines the best it can like Pushing Daises.
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Worth to see. Something alike X-Men
__*Moving(2023)*__ - 9/10 -kdramaits mainly action, :nation war: drama something like X-Men if mutants are breed and trained by nations and used in as secret agents in their wars.
For me action storyline aint anything precious you can see such theme and scenes alot in western movies. I liked romance parts. Whole drama time skips from one story to another making complete story.
For example in few eps you get story of kids in later eps you get story about their parents how they met etc.
Overall this series of drama did very good job in world building and telling story good enough and closed it up well. To be successful even without S2[which I heard will be made later].
__*plot*__ - Shortly existed korean agency[lets name it XXX] for supernatural agents, which thanks some problems was closed. Their agents are on run or in other agencies. Now that XXX agency is recreated and they try train up new blood. Thanks their machinations kids of former supernatural agents which inherited their gifts meets at same school. Of course other countries dont wanna see Korea to have another new batch of superhumans.
__*genre*__ - school, action, romance
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Would be perfect...without the kids
OVERALLAwesome human, superhero drama. Watch it, no ifs, because there's something for everyone to like!
THE STORY
I'm not a fan of superhero stories (God knows Hollywood has made enough for anyone to grow sick of them!), but I like stories that combine fantasy/sci-fi with the real world. That root the superheroes in reality. Moving is one of them. There's teenage angst, there're political conflicts; there's romance, there's tragedy. Yes, it's a story of people with superpowers, but it's also A LOT more than a story of people with superpowers.
The Best of this drama:
- The structure of the drama is pretty interesting. It gives away information little by little and keeps you wanting more
- The writing is *chef kiss* You can really tell writers thought it all well, from the episode titles (which are so meaningful!) to some of the lines.
- The long flashbacks, which reveal the backstory of the cast and connect all the mini-plots (there are few) together
- The overarching plot, which is about used people who rebel against the people using them
- The "parent" storylines (especially Bongseok's parents)
- Our teenage ML being overweight (I'm all for this representation!)
- The female characters are all so well written in this drama. Strong and with character, but each in their own way. That's great!
The Worst of the drama:
- Nothing, objectively, but subjectively speaking, I couldn't care less about the kids haha I would have loved a Moving focused entirely on the parents. Probably why I won't like S2 haha
- Also, if I want to be picky, I would say that gore needs a purpose. Sometimes it felt extra for no reason in this drama...
THE ACTING
Fab, fab, fab! It would be hard to pick a best actor in here. They were all SO amazing!
THE MUSIC
Pretty good!
REWATCH VALUE
Average, just because if I rewatch I'm definitely I'm skipping the teenage drama parts!
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