Dysfunctional Characters
The drama kicked off with good modern visuals and an interesting fantasy setting on a mystical island. However, it quickly unraveled. The fantasy elements, though visually appealing, peaked in the first two episodes, while the remainder felt like a rehash of what we'd already seen. It's strange that they revealed all their cards in the beginning, leaving the rest feeling empty. The female lead was sent to the island to work as a teacher, but this plotline was completely irrelevant and didn't last for more than one episode. The direction the drama took with the fantasy story turned out to be quite disappointing afterwards. More on characters, the female lead was an unstoppable cringe generator with her non-serious interactions, especially with the male lead in the earlier parts. It was the writers way trying desperately to build chemistry between the two, but it was impossible without rewriting the characters themselves. However, the character that suffered the most from both the writers' curse and the cast choice was Goong Tan. It doesn't take a blind man to see what was wrong. The drama ended up being this shallow shipwreck of recycled ideas and bland characters.Was this review helpful to you?
Still, as much as the writing could've expanded better, the plot did progress further and we finally get to see the main villain Gungtan in action. I mean, it would've been lame if the story ended with the main bad guy not really showing his full capabilities.
From the first part we were given a big twist about Yeomji actually allying with Gungtan. And we're finally getting more details on what truly happen in the past and how it could've affected the present outcome. Not to mention we're also given a third party who seemed to have a hand in many things happening... the we never actually get that fair and this plot ended up being open ended.
To be honest, with so many new details it make me wonder if the story could be wrapped up in just six more episodes. But it did and the final episode did provide possibilities for future continuations, should there be plans for it. For a story that was based on a webtoon, I'm happy to see quite a number of pretty anime-ish and webtoon-ish scenes. So in that sense I'm very satisfied. Plus, Kim Namgil plays a half-demon demon slayer, dude... and Eunwoo finally get to have some jedi moments! Rather than dwell on stuff that the drama did not show, one might as well enjoy the pretty visuals we did get.
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Island Part 2
Making it as two parts was totally unneccesary, I can understand "two seasons drama" when time between first and second season is long, not when they are basically released at the same time as in this case. I have watched first part because of Cha EunWoo - and he did really good in this drama, and because I like fantasy. I like second part better but it is still wasted potential of the plot, cause it could be easily one of the best drama that year.I rated it pretty high but even if you do not watch, you will miss nothing.
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The script writing could have been better
I've waited for S1 and now that I watched S2, it kind of felt repetitive. The first 2 episodes of S2 are the things they showed the viewers in S1. It's like they couldn't develop more ideas, so they picked up stuff from S1 to fill it up in S2.The cast was amazing and the special effects and graphics were great too, but then the perfect ending was not elaborated in S2 either. As they hinted there might be another season because the daggers start moving and the painting is bleeding. What's that supposed to mean? Is Van coming back again?
It just wasn't satisfactory enough. Not as much as S1.
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I think the story had a lot of potential, I´m usually up for a fantasy, but somehow it seemed wasted, chaotic, superficial, and with many boring long scenes. I liked the cast and hoped for some twists, but it did not get much better even in the second half. I haven´t read the webtoon, it might had explained a lot. The whole drama processing was very manga-like. Cha Eun Woo was my main reason to finish this, thought his charater and his abilities were a bit over the top. As a rating I decided for 7, still I was quite disappointed, and I wonder if the open ending will be of some use in the future. Was this review helpful to you?
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There will be season 3
I don’t think this is the end. I believe there will be a Season 3. Actually, Van cannot change our mood because his mood never really changes. His emotions feel the same throughout. If we look closely, he is kind of boring. The reason it doesn’t bother us much is because the other cast members are actually great.I honestly didn’t feel sad when Van died. Even at that moment, his expression and mood were still the same. I kept wondering, why was that? But in the last moment… actually, even though Van’s brother was evil, when he died, his smile made me feel sad.
When Johan’s brother died, the way Johan cried made my tears come down too. Dude, that is what acting is.
If the actor playing Van had shown more emotional variation, the impact could have been very different. But what to do—we didn’t get to feel it that way.
Anyway, overall, it’s a cool drama and not boring at all. I’m waiting for the next season.
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An emotional journey of two wandering souls.
(Honestly, I was disappointed with the Part-1 of Island’s series which had a jumpy plot and inconsistency dynamic of pace with 6 episodes alone failed to elaborate on the main characters’ backgrounds, leaving the viewers confused with a lot of things and I was hoping that director and screenwriter would fix the mess they had made in Part-1 of Island in this part-2.)
FORTUNATELY, the second part did justice (maybe tenfold if not less). While the plot of sleeping Wonjeong keeps draggy but the rest of the underlying plots give the viewer the real scenarios of what had happened and would happen in the future, unlike Part-1 of the series.
The relationship between Van and Miho has improved and their chemistry can pull a thin string at the heart of viewers with their secret silent banters. Their souls’ relationship is beyond friendship would describe. It’s something deeper, more sacred than we think they had in the past. It’s an emotional journey once Miho understands the pain, the loneliness, and the timeless bond Van had sealed because of the promises they had made in the past.
Van and Miho’s bond can be described as a timeless, unfaded, and unbroken relationship.
Romance isn’t Island’s genre but the thin layer of romance between Van and Miho could lead to something positive about it, although the original manhwa, they are just two souls bound to meet and become close friends but an angst ending is highly predictable from this rollercoaster journey action thriller.
The dynamic of the relationship between Yohan and Van is fun to watch too. They are a perfect team against the evils. In the past, they bickered a lot but now they are on the same page and pace. Van, although always seems emotionless with those people around him, he does care about the young priest well being, besides Miho.
Part-2 of the drama also did justice to the main villain, Guntang. Sungjoon portrayed a demonic Guntang really well; it sends chills down the spines every time he launched his strikes. I need to compliment their action scenes. It’s amongst the highest quality from Studio Dragon. The fantastically choreographed action scenes and magical touch of CGI made the drama look like those highest-quality film scenes.
I would recommend those who haven’t watched the series to marathon Part 1 and Part 2 so you wouldn’t get too frustrated with earlier episodes.
(Extra fun facts about Island; While Kim Nam Gil rejected the offer from Island’s producer twice because he was worried he couldn’t do justice to Van’s character, Sungjoon, and Lee Dahee on the other hand, joining the Island because Kim Nam Gil is in it)
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seriously what happened?
is season 3 expected ?!! that ending ?!!!! :0I first would like to start talking about how much I balled my eyes out in the last episode 👍🏻 i feel so horrible for Van !! besides what is going with that cult ? there is very little backstory to that, I almost didn’t understand a single thing about that last few bits. Johan’s scene also made no sense and I also wish that there was more of light shed on his background (his character development was great throughout the entire show though so I’m not really complaining!! Eunwoo acted really well for that role).
the ending was very unclear so I’m hoping for season 3 🙏🏻
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Too Much of a Downer
Won Miho forced herself to train so she could awaken Wonjeong’s powers and stop people around her from dropping dead, but her progress is interrupted when Guntang used a demon to make her feel guilty for the deaths of people she cherished, up to the point of being suicidal. Van managed to come to the rescue just in time but sustained severe injuries. As they bide their time to recuperate by hiding from Guntang and his demon army, more people are getting hurt as Guntang becomes out of control.Honestly, the vibe as i watched this is similar to Alice in Borderland sequels. The plot doesnt make sense due to considerable plotholes, the pacing is too damn slow and the storyline became more boring with each episode. The FL character also went downhill so passionately. 😒 i get that she’s griefstricken that the people she loves got hurt because of her, and that she’s distraught aboit the possibility of losing her current identity once Wonjeong fully awakens. But come on, all the crying is just too excessive and over the top. I took such a long time to finish each episode, I had to keep pausing it and distract myself with something else just to keep myself from dropping it altogether due to lost of interest. It was truly a pain for me to finish this one despite being only 6 episodes. With other shows I normally finish within 8-10hours 🙊 while this one took 2 days 😵💫
The SML maintained his streak of uselessness throughout the show up until the final episode. Only in the final one did he eventually became a teenie wee bit helpful for the showdown between humans and demons, after somehow being bestowed with divine power. Ironically it was the short clip of this Father Johan wielding the jedi-like sword that led me to the series, only to find this character a mere feast to eye and nothing more. I get that he cant be compared to ML the half demon, of course theyre not in the same league since he’s just a human, but come on, he’s so useless that even when he just needed keep an eye on FL so she doesnt fall for Gungtan’s tricks again, he still fails the task. Tsk tsk. Cant even keep an eye on 1 most important person of the whole story when that’s the sole reason why he travelled thousands of miles from Italy.
They maintain their impressive performance on the makeup and CGI though.
Anyway, i just realized I may not be fond of Korean ghost-busting demon-hunting fantasy stories. Almost all received low rating from me. The only show that got above 9 rating had been Alchemy of Souls, the rest falls below 7. 🤷🏻♀️ maybe this genre for kdrama is just not my cup of tea.
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Island never lives up to it's potential
Island is a drama with an exciting concept and a great cast that never lives up to its potential. The drama is bogged down by mediocre writing, generic monsters and sloppy action sequences. The cast is small yet all the characters and relationships are underdeveloped.Kim Nam Gil fans will be especially disappointed as his character is not given much to do and his strong acting is not enough to elevate Van into a character I care about.
After a slog of a season, Island part 1 actually ended on a high note and I was actually excited for part 2. But part 2 doesn't build off the momentum of part 1 and goes back to the slow and boring pace that plagued most of part 1.
Part 2 also sidelines Johan which was disappointing because he's the most entertaining character.
https://dramatoast.com/island-kdrama/
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The three musketeers – part 2
I don't really understand the point of dividing this into two parts; one whole season would have sufficed. It's important to watch the first part before diving into this one, as you won't understand the context otherwise. Hopefully, there are places available where you can watch it in one-go!That said, I really enjoyed Part 2! The action picked up significantly, and the fighting scenes were particularly exciting to see. Although the revelations were somewhat predictable, they still made me gasp and kept me engaged throughout.
As for the ending, I appreciated what they did with it. There’s real value in ending a story openly, as it’s what’s best for the characters. This was the best possible ending for Van and the remaining musketeers, even if it made me sad.
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