Boring, forgettable
Some fantasy series hold you by your neck and throw you off the realism we survive in, something that "The Tale of Nine Tailed" did successfully.Island however fails miserable at this job. The only character story worth looking forward to is Cha Eun Woo's character Johan rest all feel like forceful characters in a storyline that doesn't do justice to its gigantic world building, it's sheer potential acting and production wise.
The only time I felt a tad bit interested in the series is when Van transforms other than the "twists" in this story feel so badly done. The scenes that should make you feel a certain way, horror or love or funny or otherwise make you feel nothing, absolutely no emotion at all. You can see them coming from a mile away and it feels almost disappointing when the scene actually occurs infront of you on the screen.
The reason I even started watching this series is because of the captivating premise of it. Exorcism, evil powers, fantasy, half demon half human lead, all marks of a supposedly great drama but alas I concluded this series with heavy disappointment in my heart.
Am I looking forward to Part 2? Despite the fact that it feels dumb and without any reason at all that the series is broken down into two parts, I would still give it a try till the end ( considering each part is just 6 episodes long and that is very short and fast to watch ) but I am going to go in this time without any thoughts or expectations in head.
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This review may contain spoilers
I love this show :-)
The plot is simple and that is one of the reasons why I find the show to be beautiful. I love the show, because of what Van represents. Protection, patience, and sacrifice, but also the pain that comes with those three things. Van is half human and half demon, but has always kept his humanity. Mi-Ho looks at Van, sees the human in him, because that is what he projects. The human in him. The way he looks at her, is the most beautiful thing I have witnessed in a show. What that marble represents inside of her, and how he has to return the piece to Mi-Ho is very profound. That part broke me, because since the moment he became half-demon he waited for the day he was not. He knew that was unatanninable, so the only way evil would disappear was if him and Gungtan were to not exist in this world anymore. He had to disappear. It broke me, because I have found a character in a show I liked more. The way Kim Nam Gil portrays Van is both heartbreaking and hauntingly beautiful in my opinion. His eyes are very expressive, and because of that he does not have to speak. You know what he is thinking. I could say more, but I don't think I need to. This is just a really good show in my opinion. :-)Was this review helpful to you?
More than just any other drama. New fantasy world brought to life in the right way from a webtoon
Binged watched both parts in one day without any expectations or spoilers previously.If you like comics, webtoons, anime...etc. with thriller, fantasy, horror and action as themes than this drama is made for you.
Do not expect a typical drama.
Acting was excellent. There was no boring moment or episode. Many exciting and visually beautiful actions scenes.
More than any other thing, I loved the whole atmosphere of the show. It really gives a "watching a webtoon becoming a movie" kind of vibe. So many moments and scenes feel like they were filmed just the way they were drawn and I had to replay them to enjoy their beauty. (I love comics and webtoons and haven't seen this one before but I know that kind of scene when I see one)
The story progressed in a steady and exciting pace and it was very easy to enter this new fantasy world together with FL.
New elements, discoveries, background stories were added one at the time so they would be both exciting and easy to understand. There were two moments when I felt the story is somehow disconnected but I quickly realized that things like that are exactly what happens when you read a webtoon and ended up liking that disconnections b/c the whole vibe became stronger.
There was no reason to split this one in two parts and it really should be rated as one 12 eps drama here.
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Slow pacing, flat characters, and just okay executionThis drama only has 6 episodes, but it felt like I was watching a 100-episode series. The pacing was painfully slow, and I honestly wanted to skip through a lot of scenes. It only started to get better in the last two episodes.
The CGI and action scenes were okay—very animated in style. Maybe my standards are just higher after watching Alchemy of Souls, but this one didn’t give me that “wow” factor.
The overall cinematography and tone felt dull, and while the story had potential, the execution was lacking. Something just felt missing.
I’m a longtime fan of Kim Nam Gil (since QSD), but this character didn’t suit him. He spent most of the time brooding and frowning—typical tragic backstory type, but not very compelling.
As for Lee Da Hee, I liked her in I Hear Your Voice, but this role didn’t work for her. Her character was the most boring in the whole drama. The constant hair-fixing, failed “girl boss” moments, and awkward comedic scenes made it hard to watch.
Surprisingly, Eun Woo stood out. I’m not a fan of his previous works, but he fits this priest role really well. The whole “handsome priest” setup with those sexy shots was clearly intentional, and it worked. He reminded me of the ML from the manhwa Black Winter.
I won’t rewatch this, but it wasn’t bad enough for me to drop either. I’m curious how Season 2 will go—hopefully with better pacing and stronger character development.
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The Island
The storyline i throughly enjoyed. A blend of religion and myth. I was surprised by Cha Eun Woo as Catholic Priest, but he pulls it off btilliantly. The emotional scenes at the end of part 1 shows how good an actor he is. KimNam-Gil and Lee Da-Hee bith gave brilliant performances too.The last 2 episodes were especially good. I dont agree with splitting the seties into 2 parts. At leasy we dont have a long wait for part 2. Had it been anylonger I would have lost interest in watching Part 2. I look forward to Part 2 coming out in February.
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Enjoyable
The story might feel a little confusing at first but you catch up quite quickly. It was a fun ride! I had 0 expectations before starting this so it was a completely positive experience. It's not too scary either.I almost didn't recognise Kim Nam Gil from Through The Darkness so that discovery was exciting.
I was a little doubtful that the pretty boy idol portraying Priest Yohan would make a good character but he added some humour to the show that is otherwise a bit dark. He emoted better than I expected.
The CGI is nice. One particular scene reminded me of a scene from Harry Potter as well.
I do wish they hadn't split up the season unnecessarily. Not happy about this trend but it was an interesting ending. Looking forward to part 2.
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Lustful Demons and Kim Nam Gil what else can a girl want -- nothing!
I was hooked from the moment I started watching. I am a complete sucker for anything Sci-fi and/or fantasy. Those two genres combined in a series featuring Kim Nam Gil in any character, let alone a fantastical dagger-wielding demon slayer hunting soul-seeking lustful demons, is more than a girl can ask for --- Island is almost a cross between a Korean Odyssey and Dark Hole, where humans breed monsters and evil from their own selfishness and hate that ultimately hunts them. It's like they say humans are the real monsters, and to defeat that monster/demon/evil, whatever one chooses to call them, one must become a monster. But let me say; this opener was brilliant. The cinematography hooks me, the lustful demons' makeup, the music score, the flying, jumping, chasing, running --- I mean, edge-of-your-seat attention-grabbing stuff. All the actors are nailing their parts so far and complement each other greatly. Of course, one cannot dismiss Lee Da Hee; she was terrific in Beauty Inside and WWW: Search. Nothing she's done since compares to this role, which she plays perfectly. I commend the Manhwa writer for such compelling work, the script writer for mesmerizing it, and the director and actors for breathtakingly bringing it all to life.Was this review helpful to you?
it's ok but frustrating to
when I start watching I like the series and main male and female both are good at there acting and story but the other main lead was frustrating he was full of him self like he know everything and it's make 4 th episode a frustrating episode with good fighting but it will make a good series test bad.I hope he will disappear so other episode won't be ruin other episode like a trashy 2nd main role ( kang chan hyuk/ John)
he have to be a supporting character that will help van so series will go to main villion (goong tan) actually after watching 4th episode I was to much frustrated so I am writing it if someone fill this and see this he/she will be satisfied that he was not the only one who think John as trash 🚮
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You know how something is so bad that it becomes good? This is just that.
I will be patiently waiting for season 2 now because I found season 1 enjoyable enough which I know isn’t a popular opinion.Coming to the storyline this isn’t something that we have not seen before. The writer seemed to have taken some inspiration from previously aired dramas; yes like many people pointed out it has some striking similarities with Bulgasal : immortal souls but I was never able to get into the latter because of poor acting and slow episodes.
This, however, I ended up binge watching. What kept me hooked in the first two episodes was the dynamic between the two leads, they were fun to watch, had good chemistry. There were some unexpected comedic moments. I must admit that the episodes became boring as it progressed with the last episode being the weakest
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Acting wise I was skeptical of both Lee Da Hee and CEW, thought it would be a bad acting fest. I was pleasantly surprised with the former although there were some scenes that could have been better had she showed more emotions but she somehow didn’t stick up like a sore thumb so thats good. What I liked about the character perhaps was that she wasn’t exactly the typical damsel in distress: yes she was in trouble all the time but she wasn’t bland and the powerless sort. Also, God bless the outfit department, some of LDH’s outfits were atrocious.
That priest was pretty annoying at first-bad writing there. He shows up out of nowhere, sticks with his noona (that was so cringe) and believes he can protect her. He fights too well for a mere human, how is he more powerful than other priests? Didn’t understand the significance of his arc with his brother either- what was the point? However, I loved his scenes with Van. Those little animated reactions during their interactions were cute.
Kim Nam Gil didn’t have much to work with, he was our wounded hero and knight in shining armor. Wanted to see some of his acting prowess- hopefully, in season 2.
I don’t know what briefing the vfx team had gotten though. If they were expecting to make those lust demons scary they failed terribly at it. Also, some of the action scenes just fell flat because of poor vfx and weren’t really choreographed well.
There haven’t been any positives in this review uptil now so you may ask why would I be watching the next season if there were so many flaws. The answer is pretty simple: I would like to watch the leads together and the potential angst that will follow. You know how something is so bad that it becomes good? This is just that.
A mediocre season that became a guilty pleasure.
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There is something not quite right
The drama will not offer any deep story or surprising twists - both as story or acting.The fiery priest plays the same role, Lee Da Hee was tot wrong for the role for me, and Cha Eun Woo pretty much acted just “pretty” with short moments of interesting depth- not his fault at all, someone should have told him; something was missing for me. Still, there is some entertaining value - constantly waiting for the interesting part to start! The last few episodes were better than the first 10
So none of the main cast acting is worth talking about - the supporting cast and the main cast pretty faces carried the drama for me.
I will remember this one for the wrong reasons:
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Bored me towards the end
This is one of those dramas that would seize your attention to watch primarily because of the well-known actors behind it and the title itself that somehow pinched your curiosity. Unfortunately, my high hopes of enjoying it shrank and found the story lacking an element that would elevate the mystery. I can imagine how the story would end which should not be the case, rather the effect of the occurrence of scenes should make the viewer stay until the revelation part yet this drama missed it.On the other hand, this drama supremely can boast its creativity and artistic aspects when it comes to visuals. The special effects. the fighting scenes, the music scoring, and the vibe of the location in making it an eerie suburb were magnificently done. I so loved the scenes when Kim Nam Gil"s knife would go back into his hand at a snappy speed. I think that could be a mark that you would always remember about this drama.
Definitely, I am not watching the continuation of this in Season 2.
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Za Plot
Is it me or the first 2 episodes felt too rushed? Not enough development of the main 2 chars, mostly Van. However they could have made 8 episodes if they developed Van a little better. It feels like second lead, however this is his and Won Mi Ho's show.I've spent the whole "season" on the edge of my sofa, bad things happened, priest is nice, better acting from CEW than previews works, he gives kpop aura rather than a holy aura. I expected a few scenes with women chasing him just having him show them his collar, but that was a missed opportunity.
Lee Da-Hee is awesome and pretty as usually, but if they wanted 4 or 5 seasons, 6 episodes were not enough. Her mission is explained, she does stuff, things are happening to her, however Won Mi-Ho could've use a better arch: from hauty heiress to the woman with the urge to save everyone. It lacks proper development.
Back to Van: they missed to show the longing, the guilt, his miserable life without his friends. And more action.
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