This review may contain spoilers
Confounding double standard of beauty standards
Fantasy is all about immersion and it pretty much immediately took me out when the pretty Park Bo Young is the face of the supposedly downgrade version of the soul make over for the physical body where as for the male lead there is a clear difference between regular person and an archetypal idol looking guy. From the story standpoint there needed to be way more flashbacks of Se Yeon's point of view about Cha Min throughout their teen years and their adulthood before their transformations to back up her claims that she has always had a crush on him and not just after he got a new face and body. The measly few that they gave were too ambiguous. They also needed to show Cha Min being the fantastic business leader while in his original body, even if it's just a brief flashback to start off or bookend the current day scenes of his new face at the business meeting. It leaves a bad taste that they never show Cha Min being savvy and smart when it came to his work as his original self even though he clearly was, only ever showing his desperate for Se Yeon's attention side for comic relief. His fear as he was about to die was literally played for laughs.Who gets what kind of soul transformation through Abyss is really arbitrary, like taking an existing ex-worker's visage. As is the usage of it in the finale to turn Cha Min into a ghost and to bring him back are all done at the convenience of the writers to move the plot along as needed. The real Lee Mi Do's random and conveniently drastic plastic surgery was really nonsensical and the show made no attempt to explain it. I enjoyed seeing Seo In Guk and Jung So Min's cameos as the aliens that accidentally knocked a already falling Cha Min off the building and bribed him to forgive them with the Abyss resurrection sphere. Seo In Guk was in the preceding drama of the same writer and next stars with Park Bo Young in Doom At Your Service. The threat of Ji Wook and the ticking clock of the leads trying to outsmart him was believable. It was truly horrendous when he pushed Hee Jin's mom's body that was in the suit case into the ocean, a woman that genuinely cared for him and tried to protect him. He's a way more effective villain than his cartoony step dad/fellow serial killer.
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That aside, this drama has some annoying bits with characters doing stupid things, and I admit, I find the mechanics of the universe being a bit on the clunky side, but it's an easy watch, and it has some really sweet moments and loveable characters. Despite the drama receiving a lot of negative reviews, I enjoyed this drama.
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Amazing
Loved this one, acting is superb. PBY and AHS were just brilliant as well as the supporting cast members. Lee Seong Jae was brilliant at the evil doctor as was KSH at being the evil son/brother. Such incredible acting throughout.Storyline is amazing, although I would have liked to see a bit more resolved at the end ie his mum being brought in at the end but overall this was brilliant. If I had one criticism it would be that Hee Jin do do not get enough screen time towards the end and left some questions regarding how she resolved everything.
Special effects all the way through fabulous.
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Loved the actors
I loved the actors in this show, but I felt that the pacing was uneven, not very well written and brought up a lot more questions than it answered. As usual, there's a time skip, and a rushed ending.I love PBY, except when she cries, and she cried a lot in this show (more than once is too much). I feel like her crying moves into overacting, and it really takes me out of the story. And constantly saying that she's "plain"? What's with that?! I think this drama might have been trying to take on society's obsession with the way someone looks, but that message really got lost in the weeds.
For me, I went back and forth between being bored, being confused, and just wishing it was over.
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Good, but hard to watch
Abyss is a Romatic comedy with an edge of mystery and thriller (shoved in). I feel the writers seem to have forgotten just in some cases that they were writing a mystery/thriller also. And due to that lack of perspective they cause a dilemma within the story. While I feel the actors did a good job with the material they had, I have no doubt that had focus been on the thriller part as well this could have been a stellar show they'll year it came out. But I will say it made me laugh, I felt some parts of it were honest (murders are messy, unkind people) and it made me annoyed (not catching criminal due to foolish mistakes). Also, the police officers never have on police clothes, and they hold there guns wrong. To the production team and director detail matter. The drinking and dancing in episode 15 was so good. It actually gave me joy.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
I don't know what anyone's problem is with An Hyo-seop. He might be new (his debut was in 2016), but I thought he was totally great in this. I never got the impression that he was "green" like other reviewers have said, and I found him totally capable of holding his own with Park Bo-yeong. Their chemistry was killer, and I LOVED their comedy together. They're a great screen match and have great chemistry. The scene where she dreams of him accidentally kissing her and she goes off on him and he turns it right back on her while everyone dances around him was *SO FUNNY*. I cried laughing. The casting was great.
I could watch An Hyo-seop watch paint dry and still drool. That man is beyond gorgeous, it's almost offensive.
Aside from our two leads, the plot was horrendous and had more holes than swiss cheese. It got better near the end, especially when the (spoiler alert) true villain was unveiled, but by then, the show was nearly done. I also got a bit tired of the convoluted rules of the orb and watching Park Bo-yeong die over and over again (it lost its emotional weight).
I'm also super annoyed with the "2 (or 3) years later" trope that seems to be huge in Kdramas. Why the giant time skips, people?! It doesn't need to be that long.
That's crazy. Anywho, looking forward to more dramas with An Hyo-seop.
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Ciekawa pełna akcji romansu i fantastyki drama
Uważam że aktorzy spisali się swoją grą oraz idealnie odwzorowali emocje w danych sytuacjach .Jest to historia o mężczyźnie który stracił życie przez przepadek dlatego dostał drugą szansę w przystojnym ciele i wyglądzie. Po drodze spotkał swoją starą przyjaciółke z liceum której pomógł wrócić do żucia także w innym ciele. Obydwoje podczas akcji rozwiązują tajemnice oraz napotkane problemy życiowe i miłosne
Fabuła nie jest w powalona i skomplikowana . Na końcu akcji fabuła prosto się roziozuje z odrobina adrenaliny .
Test to odrobinę kryminał ponieważ są tam liczne morderstwa.Dla fanów romansu, kryminałów fantastyki oraz nie rozwiązanych tajemnic to idealny wybór.Ten serial jest i nie jest w mojej 10 ale warto go obejrzeć i bardzo polecam .
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None of this makes any sense. I regret nothing.
This is a weird one. The story is bonkers but if you suspend rational thought just a bit you'll get into it and have a great time.Leads are great. Hard to imagine this working with anyone else. Love PBY forever and always but Ahn Hyo Seop really surprised me. I'm aware of but haven't seen his other lead roles but he's great here. I know nothing about him but he's one of those guys who just seems like he'd be down to earth and kind. PBY is the cutest thing ever but this guy - he travels in a fog of charisma - is absolutely impossible to ignore.
I believe they call this a man crush. So be it.
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This review may contain spoilers
Uder-rated romance, crime and supernatural drama
My rating is a 9/10. This is a 2019 South Korean Romantic, Fantasy, Crime drama with 16, 60 minute episodes. In the first portion below I provide a synopsis followed by review highlights.Cha Min (Ahn Se-ha/Ahn Hyo-seop) is not very attractive in a traditional sense but he is a wealthy heir so some people are drawn to him not for his looks but for his wealth. He has been in love with Go Se-yeon (Kim Sa-rang/Park Bo-young), whom he graduated with, for 20 years. She has "led him on" as she liked him but could not get past his looks enough to see him as a romantic partner. She dates a lot but her main focus is on her work as a prosecutor. Cha Min has finally given up on dating Se-yeon and becomes engaged to a woman that Se-yeon introduced him to. That is until she breaks off the engagement abruptly leading Cha Min to contemplate his life choices while balancing precariously on a rooftop. Supernatural beings cause him to fall to his death when he was on the verge of changing his mind so, to make up for it, they revive him in a body that matches his soul. The result is he is flower boy handsome. They also leave him with an object, an abyss, that can bring anyone it is in contact with back to life. While investigating a serial killer, Seo yeon winds up being murdered and Cha Min uses the Abyss to revive her. She also comes back in a body matching the beauty of her soul and, to her dismay, it is much more average than her former "goddess" like beauty. Ironically Cha Min becomes the prime suspect in Seo yeon's murder so the two wind up working together to solve the mystery of Se-yeon's murder.
I put off watching this for quite a long time as the descriptions did not do justice to the depth and complexity of this story. Those that like crime drama will really like this particularly those that are interested in serial killer criminology. The supernatural twist in this is unique in that the object revives the individuals in a "normal" form, they are not zombie nor ghost like but appear completely normal. Part of the mystery is the how and why abyss works as it does. It also has a very heart warming romance and some compelling friendships and family relationships. Lots of character development and complexity. Some of the series posters I had seen showed this glowing ball and made it look almost silly but it is more of a serious crime thriller with supernatural elements and very occasional comedic (not slap stick) moments.
Spoilers**My main detractors were toward the end. I was glad I knew ahead that Cha min uses up all of abyss's power and becomes a ghost or it would have made me sad. They were separated for three years and we had to see heart broken Se-yeon go through her life without Cha min. I am not a fan of that separation trope. I was not really clear on what abyss was and whether the "beings" that had given it to Cha min were Gods of some sort or aliens. It wasn't clear why her love and his brought him back after three years and what all he had done in that timespan. Abyss was an important part of the story so I would have liked to have known a bit more about it. But none of that is enough for me not to recommend this highly and watch it myself again someday.
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Another Bo Young win.
I don't think I have ever watched something with Park Bo Young that I didn't like. The beginning of this drama was a little rushed, but thing got explained through the episodes. Villains were okay, but the one that remained and the one that didn't had their endings badly chosen. The one sticking point sometimes was actually Anh Hyo Seop, not because of his acting but something about him didn't really fully click with his the way he was portraying his character. Secondary characters were pretty good too and I liked how Go Seyeon's father didn't take the whole situation at face value. It added some realism to it.Was this review helpful to you?
The Truth About This Show!
There was so much negative that i almost skip this show but i started watching and it was actually really fun all the way through. It was for sure predictable as a veteran k-drama watcher but in general i was never really bored and wanted to see all of it. Like always ignore all the comments and watch for yourself!.I usually don't write reviews as much but i felt like for this show i had too because these days people set the expectation bar so high and can't really enjoy anything anymore.
A Solid story with joyfull and bad moments.They could've had maybe explained the abyss and the whole alien faction behind it a little bit better but in the end i finished the show with a smile and no regrets.
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pretend its a parody if you must
the only way that this show is entertaining and enjoyable is to look at it as a parody show of murder mystery dramas.as soon as you start watching episode two (because episode one is pretty strong i suppose) you realize the quality of the show you are starting. the writing is pretty weak as in not only the story but also the script for the characters. if you watch it as a parody of the genre it is lot more enjoyable because its not well done, its easier to pretend its done on purpose than believe something actually fails this bad.
anyway, it does lean on the main leads a LOT to carry this show. i did enjoy seeing them on screen together I will say. i loved min a lot best character here.
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