One of my Favorites!
Loved loved loooooooooooved this drama!!I enjoyed this drama SO much, that I became sad when it was time for me to say goodbye to it. Even though there was a 'taaad bit' of dragging here and there, the acting, and story itself, made up for it.
The chemistry between the two main characters was just lovely.
One thing I must also say is.... I just LOVE the name Vincenzo! Well chosen name for such character!! BRAVO!!
I don't believe that there's a better name out there to match this character! None!
Will definitely watch this again Gsl!
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LITERALLY THE BEST!
this is the first review i ever wrote in my whole life bc this drama deserves it.if you are reading this, this is your official confirmation to watch this. you will NOT regret it. for me the 1st half of the 1st episode had me intrigued and then it go hard to watch for the 2nd and most of ep 3, but near the end of ep 3 it got literally amazing and started picking up.
it has absolutely everything, a bad ass male lead(my fave type) , a great fl, and interesting villain, plotwists with a bit of romance, comedy and AMAZING hyped up fight scenes. you will not regret i promise, and i am extremely picky with dramas an tv shows i watch. you will smile so hard at some scenes and have tears in the others. the visuals to OMG are fabulous. i usually do not care about OSTs but oh my god i absolutely love the music, especially the Italian mafia instrumental music during serious scenes.
there is a hole in my heart now that this show is finished :((
the only thing i is is that the ending was more solid, but the ending is still very good.
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Very much worth watching
I watched this drama in January 2022 and I liked it A LOT. It was fun, exciting and thrilling at the same time; and although there is definitely some romance involved in the story, I enjoyed the fact that it is not a love centered one. Since romance is the genre I tend to watch the most when it comes to kdramas this was kind of refreshing.It was really fun and sweet to watch a community of people living together and learning to love and protect each other while maintaining that kind of comedic essence in their relationships.
I still listen to the Italian version of Adrenaline (by Aalia) from this drama’s OST, it’s an incredibly good song omg.
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THE SHOW THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE-My first ever review
This is my first ever review on this website, because I just can't help how much in love I am with this drama.I have already left essay worthy comments on this drama, but I feel it also deserves a stellar review, so here goes:
Acting 10/10: This is only the second Song Joong Ki drama I've seen. But Song Joong Ki's character is so beautifully still in this show, he never fidgets, never gets startled, never loses control of his body movements, and it's a very strong character mentally as well. It's an absolute delight to watch all the episodes again and notice minute changes in his expression to the events around him, and he really manages to exude a natural intelligence and air of authority. His character gradually learns to love, and also accept that he is worthy of receiving love, and his actions show that clearly towards the end. In the beginning he is arrogant and distant without being mean in any way, and towards the end he is loving and caring without being suffocating in every way. The perfect character development. Also his deep voice is so hypnotic at many points of time, I'm convinced that's the main reason I unexpectedly loved his character from start to finish. I have become a fan of Song Joong Ki's acting after this show.
Jeon Yeo Been, MY QUEEN, is the BEST female character ever written, ever performed, ever shown on screen. She is fiery, sassy, bright, sexy, logical, brave, quick-witted, savage, sharp tongued, and beautiful beyond compare. She matches wit with everyone around her, is funny as all hell, her voice is SO hot. She never hesitates to express what she's feeling, and loves her dad despite what happened in her past. She is protective of those around her, and willing to go to any length to achieve her goals. I am IN LOVE with Hong Cha Young and Jeon Yeo Been and this is the main reason I gave the show a 10/10.
Their relationship is EXACTLY what I want in my life. They are best friends, so honest with each other, soft around each other, support each other, communicate so damn well, they TRUST each other, believe in each other, take care of each other without it being toxic in any way, and there is NO malice, NO games, NO hidden agendas anywhere between them. They also tease each other, and never fail to bicker endlessly.
In the simplest sense, it's the PINNACLE of romance, because every single glance and touch and dialogue leaves you to BEG for more. It's pining but also SO satisfying because I cherish every smile, every action that tells everyone around them that they are a unit, a team, a couple. It's realistic because they are both logical and understanding of their circumstances, and you can clearly see the struggle they both have with their feelings, one wants to love but is afraid that the other person has to leave, the other wants to love but is afraid he will have to leave.
The ending was quite satisfactory according to me.
Other factors I want to note:
Cinematography 10/10 Just WOW. The fashion, the shots, the bars/cafes they meet in, all beautiful.
OST 10/10 I have been listening to the ost on repeat even while working, just IN LOVE with it.
Story 9/10 The zig-zag storyline was great to watch, but could've been slightly better if less background character involvement was there.
Cast 10/10 Each and every single actor did their best, and their chemistry was off the charts, insanely good.
Background characters 10/10 Most of the side-characters are interesting and fun to watch. Villains did an awesome job.
Neo-Noir vibe was on POINT. Loved the ode to black and white gangster films, I think SJK nailed that part too.
OVERALL 10/10. I have already seen this show two times.
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Not for everyone, but definitely for me!
I really enjoyed my time with this show! It was one of those dramas that was a little bit slow to start, but from episode 4 onward I was really completely hooked! I never found myself bored, despite the slightly long episode lengths. My one and only problem with the show is a certain romance plot that comes to be. I don't have a problem with the romance itself, because the characters have good chemistry, but to me it didn't align with the direction the characters growth went. It felt like the further apart the characters grew in the moral point of views, the more they were into each other? Which I didn't quite understand. That doesn't happen until the very back half of the show though. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed all other aspects of the show! It was a very thrilling watch with a very entertaining cast of characters that you grow to love!!Was this review helpful to you?
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Is it worth the hype? Corn salad says yes!
Most definitely, and I agree with the corn salad. I was afraid that the hype I saw on my social media pages would leave me disappointed, and I'm so glad to be wrong.This drama introduced me to JYB as an actress, highlighting her expressive character and streamlining it with the more collective Vincenzo. SJK did an amazing job at portraying his character, handling all the issues that came his way with a flare of dramatic expressions and his signature smirk and occasional Italian lines (I don't speak Italian, but damn they were so cool!) Taecyeon and Kim YJ did amazing with their characters. While Kim YJ/ Choi Myung Hee did a better job as passing off as villainous, Han Seok felt like a comedic ragey villain who throws a tantrum every time he fails. (though the ending episodes, he definitely felt more villainous).
That leads me to my only quip with this show. A majority of the episodes ended with a stupidly frustrating cliffhanger, only to be extinguished within ten minutes the next weekend. In a way, the show's unpredictable nature became predictable. Issues were dealt with rapid pace, and it felt largely anticlimatic. For example...you'd never expect to see a flock of pigeons as a form of deux ex machina, but figures.
Regardless of the anticlimatic cliffhangers, our leads partnering up together was an enjoyable watch. Seeing them scheming together to bring down Babel was extremely pleasurable to watch, it's so hard to not root for them and the Geumga plaza squad working together to keep their building and each other intact.
Now the OSTs are a bit less memorable when compared to other dramas, but they're still very good regardless at boosting the feels during specific scenes (my two faves are Adrenaline by Solar and I'm Always By Your Side by John Park).
Go watch Vincenzo now!! While you're at it, try and sneak some gold from the vault, will you?
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True review
I know there are lot of PPL disappointed but kdrama and shows are made to be unrealistic, bcuz they can't happen in real life all time. Fore show was awesome it had thriller, comedy, romance, twist and so much more. For me it was more of comedy and plot and also involvement of so many characters. I always like drama which has many characters and this was awesome, if u want to watch something comedy, interesting and Lil romance it's sure for u, it's not justice driven drama but actually total dark comedy as the genre is givenWas this review helpful to you?
Overrated : Plot and Character Inconsistencies with great Cinematography and good OST
I'm always fond of Mafia related stories, shows and movies and to say that I have great expectations for this series is definitely not an understatement. When I watched the trailer of this show, I was blown away with the acting and cinematography until I eventually watched the series and somehow my view of the show albeit slowly changed...The Pros of the series are definitely the cinematography, acting and OST... The actors / actresses did their best in portraying their characters well.. The soundtracks are also good and I'm definitely loving the songs...
What really fell through for me was the plot and illogicality of the characters.
The story got really really REALLY draggy too.. There were a lot of scenes for me that were unnecessary like you know the feeling that you're just watching some fillers before you get to the main point of the story.. That's exactly what they did with Vincenzo.. For me, the show could have just ended with only 16 episodes or even 12 episodes because each episode has more than an hour of running time... The 20 episodes is just too much..
Aside from the plot, the villain in the story got downplayed... Like really downplayed..
After watching a lot of crime thriller kdramas that have psychopathic killers, Vincenzo has one of the most unique villain in all of the shows that I've watched and I'm sad as well as disappointed that they didn't use the full potential of the character. The villain in the story was described to be cunning as well as a genius with his eccentricity and someone who is SUPPOSED TO BE ON PAR with Vincenzo, yet they made his character underwhelming in a way that if I summed up all the scenes that the villain did, he didn't have any scenes that justified his character because Vincenzo always won and like everything seems to be pretty convenient for the main character etc... The show really favored the hero to the point that it had me questioning a lot about what was even the relevance of the villain being on par with Vincenzo but not even having a chance to shine.. This really frustrated me... If you're going to make a series with a premise like this, it should be balanced... The wasted potential of the villain's character got me facepalming to no end.. Even the main character (Vincenzo) had a lot of out of character moments... **sigh**
The female lead also has a sassy character but the way they introduced her was just so bad and it annoyed me... It felt like she was over reacting too much or trying too hard and it wasn't even funny.. Although, I'm glad that her character had some improvements in the end...
I also find the Geumga Plaza residents to be annoying.. I find some of their scenes to be irrelevant... This would probably the show which I will comment that it has too many side characters that the show definitely does not need.. While the Geumga Plaza residents are a source of comic relief, I find it to be awkward in this show.. Like it doesn't fit the whole Vincenzo thing...
Another thing is that I understand that this show is a slap stick comedy with a sprinkle of mafia.. but seriously though, the mafia thing here is just mehhh... Not even a MAFIA genre in all honesty.... They sugarcoated the mafia tag here and if you're looking for a serious show.. then this would be not your taste.. The comedy, action and seriousness of this show is not balanced well... Too much comedy in a show that started off in a serious and bad ass note...
And also, an important thing that we must also consider in the series is the fact that there were some scenes (the homophobia and misinterpretation of a gay character) that happened in the show that left a bad taste to the LGBT+ community. The fact that this issues weren't even addressed well disappointed me. In our society today where media is a powerful outlet, viewers can be easily influenced by what they see or hear and I find it to be disappointing that yes this show is popular however, it failed to address or give respect or even importance to the LGBT+ community.
There were a lot of questions that weren't even answered well.. I've always been curious of the past of the main character and although they used flashbacks for Vincenzo's past but it's technically not enough.. It would have been better if there was an episode or even 2 episodes in which we really got to see how he grew up in Italy, eventually meeting his "father", joining the Casanno family and becoming the legal adviser of the family...
Furthermore, it would have been better if they also showed the back story of the Babel Siblings - how Han Seok became an eccentric psychopath, how his brother put up with the expectations of the family and what did their father felt or do at that time. These would have been more interesting to see rather than those unnecessary or irrelevant scenes in the series...
In conclusion, Vincenzo had an epic beginning with the main character starting of the story in a bad ass way but in the end the inconsistencies of the plot and characters got the best of it.. This is entirely my opinion so I won't be discouraging people to watch it.. but I just want to say that kdrama writers should try to improve in writing their characters and plot.. We need female leads that are not just supporting characters.. We need main characters and plots that are consistent / logical... And lastly, we need villains that are on par with the hero because with that, it will leave an even deeper impact or impression with the audience / viewers..
P.S. I'm not hating the show.. This is just my opinion and I won't discourage people to watch this show..
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No matter what I say my words won't do justice to this wonderful series
The production was amazing and the casting was more than perfect. I found myself; feeling sentimental, crying, being angry, emotional, happy and tired of laughing. The drama was absolutely perfect and I already found myself wanting to re watch certain parts when I wasn't even finished. The music was over the top and flawlessly added to the atmosphere. The only one thing why I gave the story 9.0/10 is because Vincenzo's father was never discussed and we only ever got to see his mother and the other is that we never truly get to know about Cha-young's mother except when we see her shouting at her father and blaming him. Like I said my words can not do this series justice so you should just go and watch it, trust me if you haven't watched this you're missing.Was this review helpful to you?
Most satisfying series ever
I have watched it 4 times and it’s still one of my most favorite and go to series. I loved it a lot and it’s extremely satisfying! The whole cast deserves kudos!I wish and hope they release a season 2 for this! My non kdrama family watched it and fell in love with this series that they now recommended it to their relatives!
I can’t express how addicting and satisfying this series was. If you haven’t watched it yet, please go and watch and be a little patient till episode 4. The story picks up so good around ep 4.
WATCH IT NOW!!!
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this was just wow
I'm a big fan of crime/mystery and comedy dramas and this drama was just the perfect amount of each genre. This drama made me fall in love with all the characters, especially Vincenzo. His character was so attractive personality and appearance-wise. I think they picked the best actor for the character because Song Joong-Ki really brought Vincenzo to life. And I had the biggest crush on Hong Cha-Yeong because she is just so, amazing. Personally, Han Seo was my favorite. His background was so sad it touched me. I usually never cry watching a drama but I cried at the ending of Vincenzo. The villains did amazing & the story was chef's kiss.9.5/10
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