Spectacular, Amazing, Fantastic
STORY: I really liked this drama. I know many people don't really like idol/singer actors but this one is really good. The story was interesting. There was one main story, about Jang Man-Wol and her sins and etc and there were minor stories about the ghosts. This kept the drama interesting and made me want to watch more.ACTING/CAST: The 2 had really good chemistry and the person who played the male lead (forgot his name) did a really good job playing the character and IU also did a good job playing the selfish cold character.
MUSIC: The reason why the music rating is low is because I didn't find the music so catchy or emotional. There was like one emotional song and made me want to search it up and listen to it but it wasn't so catchy.
REWATCH VALUE: The reason why I gave this section such a high rating is because I watched this drama so many times that I lost track. I don't know how to explain it but the drama makes you miss the scenes and stories.
Anyways I hope you find this helpful and I hope you enjoy the drama :)
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The plot goes continuous just like any K-Drama, but what I love the most is that they also repeat certain story loop like what you see on the daily cartoon for kids. It's like watching Conan, even those side stories makes me feel so curious.
I love how the color-grading is. Pretty much like KPOP MV. I love the OST, especially the one sung by Tae Yeon. I really love the cast. The characters are all well-created and the casts play them well. Because of this drama I can see IU not as a musician, but a true actress. I even watched her old drama--Moon Lovers' Scarlet Heart Ryeo because of this drama. Ku Chan Seong tho, everything that he does just makes sense, as if I've known him for a long time. Oh, I love that Yuna character, very charming, lovely, and pretty =^ ^=
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Story:
This is a morality play with people portraying virtues or as in this case the faces of God. In episode 1 we are introduced to Jang Man Wol (portrayed perfectly by IU) who is revenge happy and is killing everyone she comes in contact with. With an interesting altercation with the grandmother persona of Ma Go Shin (stunning performance by Seo Yi Sook), she thrusts her angry sword into a tree and becomes the owner of a hotel for ghosts remaining on earth to deal with unresolved issues before moving on to the next step.
Flashforward 1300 years and the Hotel Del Luna is a gorgeous hotel with the anti-hero Jang Man Wol and her interesting employees still helping or not the dead. The hotel requires a human manager to deal with the mortal world and Goo Chan Sung (sigh….Yeo Jin Goo) gets the job (through some interesting back and forth between him and Jang Man Wol). Each episode deals with different guests and their afterlife needs. This show has it all, horror, romance, bromance, suspense, comedy, fantasy, and more. It does tackle the serious subject of holding grudges beautifully
Characters:
There wasn’t one actor that didn’t do a “kick butt” job in this show from IU’s performance as Jang Man Wol to Lee Do Hyun’s insane second male lead story line to the cameo performances from such greats like Candidate #1 and #2 played by Lee Shi Un and Lee Joon Gi (both were amusing). I wrote a couple of articles on the show, so I won’t go into detail nor will I give any spoilers just to say, every character was well written and acted….although I would have loved a little more screen time and lines for the grim reaper because he was just delightful. And the cameo of Kim Soo Hyun at the end…..well worth it just for that scene alone!
Music:
Wow…the music was just exceptionally good, so good I even downloaded a few songs. The Done for Me and Can You See My Heart songs are used in key scenes that just made me cry or shiver in dread. They were my favorite, but the rest were wonderful as well.
Re-watch-ability:
Needless to say, I have already re-watched this all the way through once and picked up a few more key insights that I missed the first time thru. I recommend it because it is just as good, if not better, the second time thru.
Overall:
I JUST LOVED THE MORALITY PLAY! There is something about symbolism and stories of right and wrong that I just adore…I can’t get enough of. HDL really hits it out of the park with the what is good and what is bad question. Hotel Del Luna blends the morality play and the other genre’s beautifully…if you didn’t like it as much as I did…sorry. All I can say is this show speaks to my sensibilities. The writers obviously had me in mind when creating such an awesome show. (Ok not really but it felt like it!)
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This review may contain spoilers
I really love to watch fantasy dramas.❤️❤️❤️. so i choose to wtch this.. when i watch drama i thought i ll give 9.5 stars becoze there r somthing missing that stop me giving whole 10 stars... after watch last episode i just gave 9 stars becz i really dont like how it end... when i start watching this drama itz nomal and when episodes pass by it is getting more and more intresting and confusing... i must say i cried lot when i watch last episode... especially when 3 employees left for thire after life its sooo sad and heart breaking ???????? i really feel bad that when ji hyun joon left other than grim reaper no one from hotel came to see him and his sister left ????????but after yu na come and gave him flowers i feel really happy ❤️❤️❤️... After that when lonly man wol go around the hotel and think about past i feel soo saad like itz real world.. but i feel soo bad about ending im happy to see all of hotell staff after life but i feel that last few miniuts comes from nowhere.. there no feelings in the end.. she come from nowhere and sit with him.. it should have end more suprizing way.. other than that it was good drama...Mmm cast is really cool i really do love all of cast members they really did thire best for characters.. i really like ji hyun joon he is cute ????????
There are really good background music and i love songs too
If u love horror fantacy romance drama this is Good drama that you must watch...
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This drama didn't really deserve the hype that it got. I think the hype was only because of IU in the drama. IU was top notch. I loved the acting, loved the character that she was given and even loved the back story that her character was given. But just her was insufficient to maintain my interest in the show. I often found myself skipping bits of it. Only towards the end though; the beginning of the drama had me hitched.
My favourite part of the story was when they showed how Man wol and Chan sung had met 1300 years ago. I loved that bit. It was cute and adorable. Even Choi Seo Hee's back story was touching.
The drama was really good but it wasn't great.
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Hotel Del Luna was basically all the genre that you can think of, it was crazy, scary, funny, thrilling, romantic, and LUXURIOUS. IU was so pretty on all of her clothing. I've never seen her wear the same clothing in this drama... The cinematography was impressive, the building of 'HOTEL DEL LUNA' and the action figures were crazy. I loved their chemistry especially those funny scenes and JEALOUSY moments. The twist that happened in this drama hooked me up... and made me cry non-stop... I don't know what else to say since all I've been doing was cry till I finished this drama. The ending was exceptional, it gave me my own ending nonetheless, the experience, lesson and memories that this drama gave me were magnificent. The quote, "Feeling sad and disappointed...is only natural when witnessing disappearances." This quote hit me because it's true. Don't we sometimes feel emotional when something we love disappears, but when they are there... we don't care or we're like meh..? That's why we should cherish what we have and be grateful for what we are getting. Let's appreciate our loved ones because we don;'t know when the time will be up or when our people will 'disappear'. We can't predict tomorrow and the future. All we can do is be thankful and be happy.
Thank you, HOTEL DEL LUNA cast.
Thank you <3 <3 <3
3:16AM
4/3/20
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The plot of this drama is definitely something new; each episode leaves you with a lot to think about. That isn't to say however that the plot is free of cliches and stereotypes. The story was also predictable. I already guessed (correctly) how it will end when i got to episode 6. It's a refreshing take of a fantasy drama, but it's not really something to rave on about.
Acting/Cast
Good! The leads were awesome, especially IU. The supporting cast was great as well. A lot of people are criticizing the chemistry between IU and jin goo... I do not think they were bad, their chemistry just wasn't suited for something romantic in my opinion. Overall, it's not a deal breaker and it shouldn't be
Music
My only barometer for a good drama ost is if it (a) matches the mood of the scenes in the story and (b) if it makes me listen to it outside the drama. Generally, the music was bad. They were all mellow if not sad. It was mehhhh
Rewatch value
It's actually a relatively simple plot so rewatching this for me is fine. Not something I look forward to, but something I can stand
Overall
A good fantasy drama to give a try. It's not quite at the level of god-tier fantasy dramas like goblin or while you were sleeping, but it definitely has its own charm. By charm, i mean the visuals and the effects
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This review may contain spoilers
The opening scene of the story shows a beautiful landscape and a woman warrior beside a cart that has a casket on it. It seemed that she has killed a lot of people and she's looking for a place she heard that souls can reside before going to the afterlife. For some reason, she's even willing to kill herself to repent for her sins. She then ends up as the proprietor of a hotel for souls. Fast forward into the present time, the main male lead character (Yeo Jin Goo) has grown up and needs to fulfill a bargain that his father made with her. The deal that was made is similar to the story of the beauty and the beast where the father plucked a blooming flower for his daughter. Only this time, it's a dad offering his son's life in servitude to a thousands-year-old woman. Honestly, this story got me interested right away. It's a pretty good ghost story so far. Main female lead (IU) looks convincing as a warrior at the beginning and looks gorgeous in her flowing outfits when she became the boss of Hotel de Luna. I'm looking forward to her beautiful wardrobe changes and see if there will be sparks between the main leads. Male lead Jin Goo looks dashing in a suit and playing his character well. There's also some comedic relief I'd like to see more.
Will update review later on.
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1. The story. Even though I was excited to hear more about Man Wol s past, I can say it was not constructed really well. I think it needed more details and I find it that I still have some unanswered questions. Also, the daily ghost situation: at first it was ok, they were interesting but It got boring. Watching the same thing over and over again (new ghost, idk Chan Sung is in danger, Man wol saves him etc etc). The love story was slightly covered ( I find that their love didn t really have a point where it started--- which I should like, because technically the love grew bigger and bigger---but I saw no starting point)
What I mean is that I think the drama had no focus: it wasn t really the love story, but it wasn t the ghosts either. Lets say it was her past. Was it really? The past doesn t cover much.
2. The acting was ok. As expected form IU (obviously). The others acted well but there werent that many scenes where they could have shown really cool acting skills either. That s why I gave it a 9. The cast was really well chosen tho.
3. The music was on point. It made sad scenes even more heart breaking.
4. Hmm. Rewatch.. I would rewatch this but only in a few years maybe, after I forget what it is about. To be honest, I m pretty sure I won t. When I rewatch dramas I pick a random episode, because I know that every episode has something good going on. But here, I don t really know, there s a boring vibe it gives me.
*IMPORTANT* even though from this review it sounds like I kinda hated it, it s not true. I enjoyed every episode and when I had to be excited or shocked I was. The review compares it to my expectations of a really really good drama (also I ve just finished another one and it really blew my mind. So i might be comparing to it as well).
For a first watch, it is a cute drama that IS WORTH WATCHING.
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PLOT the beginning each scene was engaging and the plot that unfolds leaves you wondering what happens next. The storyline is very much like goblin so can't really say its original but it was still interesting nonetheless. A lot of plotlines from the other characters and the ghosts from the hotel were thrown at me but I was more interested in finding out about Man Weol's past. I must admit that I did think the overall storyline of the drama was kinda confusing and even after finishing this not everything makes sense. I do think that the show spent too much time focusing on the storylines of the ghost who would come into the hotel. Like sometimes they were interesting but I wanted to see more of Man Weol and Gu Chan Sung, damnit!
The CINEMATOGRAPHY is beyond beautiful. There wasn't a single seeing that wasn't any short of wonderful. Even the boring scenes we're nice to look at because of the amazing production that went into the sets.
The COSTUME DESIGN was exquisite. The main cast always looked good but IU's wardrobe was on another level. Her clothes matched her character so well. She definitely look the part. Gu Chan Sung wore suits most of the time but hey you can never go wrong with a suit ;)
The ACTING was excellent and the scenes between the Man-wol and Chan-sang were so enchanting to watch. Each interaction between them was truly captivating. I couldn't get enough of them both on the screen together. I definitely think they had some chemistry.
The OSTs are literally so amazing I have no words. every song was right for the scene it was put in. The music truly transported you into the story as you were watching. Taeyeon's "all about you" and Paul Kim's "so long" are my favorites. Punch's "another day" was very good also. This is the first drama where I actually like all the osts.
OVERALL I give this drama a 8.5/10. I started watching dramas last year but out of the ones I've seen so far this one is one of my favorites.
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