Café Minamdang

Good, but could have been better.

I overall liked Cafe Minamdang, liked the cast, liked the premise, but just found that the series strayed at certain points. Some of the plot twists weren't exactly neccesary and just added length to the series. Sometimes I wish that a series was 18 episodes, but this one was the opposite, and I found myself pausing after certain episodes and taking a break before revisiting.

Main criticisms from my perspective:
- I really liked the premise about the faux-shaman profiler, but I found they could have leaned into it harder. Some episodes were unique and fit the theme, and others seemed to have forgotten it completely and became more of a generic suspense/mystery/cop series.
- Sometimes I found solutions to mysteries were well explained, if subtly or briefly, by Nam Han Joon's skills, but on other occasions, they just kind of handwave it with a scene of him thinking really hard and having flashbacks that, as a viewer, I felt were didn't link the puzzle pieces together.
- One of my biggst peeves with the series is Han Jae Hee. I like Oh Yeon Seo and thought she did well, but the character was written too inconsistently. Sometimes she was "Han the Ghost" who could run down and beat up entire groups of thugs without breaking a sweat, and other times she was a helpless damsel who suddenly couldn't do anything but struggle and cough and cry, when she should reasonably be able to save herself and others. Especially when Nam Han Joon is the one saving her. I assume this was to play up the romance, but they could have done it in better ways that didn't detract from the character.

I like it, I finished it, but I think it had the potentil to be a 9-10 star series where I actually relished the 18 episode runtime.

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"Café Minamdang " is an investigation drama about a famous fake shaman named Han Joon, who deceives others by saying he has powers, when in reality he has a group of people working for him, finding the information he needs; he is basically a con artist. He seems like a person without any worries in life, but Han Joon hides a secret. Jae Hee is a detective who won't give up on a case until she finds the culprit. They met when Jae Hee was younger and it was Han Joon who made her want to be a police officer, but now he is far from the person in her memories.

In each case, Han Joon and Jae Hee end up getting closer again, since Han Joon is always somehow involved and this has to do with the real reason for all of this. Jae Hee's brother was a friend of Han Joon's and he ended up dying at the hands of a serial killer. Han Joon has been searching for the culprit ever since and Jae Hee joins him to find the killer's identity together.

The comedy is the highlight of the story, even though it is a very caricatured and childish humor, that was what caught my attention the most, especially in the interactions between Han Joon and Jae Hee, their romance ends up taking a back seat.

The revelation that Do Won was the killer came as a surprise, it was one of the few times I didn't guess who the culprit was, maybe because I really liked the character and him being the person who killed Jae Hee's brother would be very cruel, especially considering the friendship she thought they had. His personality change when we find out the truth is impressive, completely different. That fun guy literally becomes a psychopath!

It's a light, fun and easy to watch drama. The soundtrack is amazing, I can't stop singing "Stay Here" <3

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A Drama with Twists and Twists on those Twists

This is probably one of the most enjoyable crime oriented dramas I have ever watched, the drama does a great job in reeling in the viewer with introducing them to wild cast of characters headed by the wild outlandish Shaman Nam Han Jun and the Charming yet deadly Han Jae Hee and each other's respective groups. The drama also does a great job in keeping true to the tone it sets in the first few episodes which allows for a very easy view while not throwing off the drama's balance at all.

There is tons of twists however which do get a tad bit disorienting but overall they aren't too far fetched in terms of the story. The drama does leave some good hints here and there for sharp eyed viewers to discern who the real main villain of the story is, although it drama does a good job just throwing in little bit of doubt which kept me invested in the story. The 18 episode/1 hour time run per episode fit the story perfect and allowed for everything mentioned to be resolved or at least attended to.

The drama's ability to maintain its tone it set is also its weak point, while being able to balance between the comedy and the very dark seriousness of specific crimes involved. Both sides of the drama were fantastic but I just feel like personally for myself the drama's story would have been much better if they would have completely devoted to one over the other, if anything, the drama's wild outlandish main cast could have totally created one of the best comedy crime dramas.

The music is fantastic, the opening theme by Gonia, the Dance of Minamdang has instantly become my all time favorite drama theme, I just can't stop playing it! The overall quality of the production from the sets, like Cafe Minamdang to the filming locations was all high quality.

This drama would totally be perfect if it would run for more than just one season, the concept of fraud Shaman with his team of comedic goofs running around leaves so many limitless ideas. Great drama all around!

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Seo In Guk never fails as main lead

Cafe Minamdang is a good drama to watch when you don't wanna watch anything too complicated.

Cafe Minamdang is your basic police/detective kdrama with a nice funny twist!
This kdrama does have a lot of slapstick humor and can be sometimes a little tiring to watch as the story takes a while to really kickstart.

STORY:
The drama is about a criminal profiler Nam Han-jun (Seo In Guk) who now is pretending to be a shaman with the help of his little sister, ex NIS hacker Nam Hye-jun and Kong Su-cheol, a friend of theirs who runs a private detective agency. While conning the rich with dirty laundry, they come across leads to Nam Han-jun's friend's Prosecutor Han Jae-jung's murder case. Nam Han-jun has been searching for "Gopuri" a serial killer who killed his friend for many years, in a disguise of being a shaman. While trying to get leads in an illegal way, suddenly he comes across a detective, Han Jaehui. Han Jaehui is Han Jae-jung's little sister, who is determined to find out who killed her brother. She has misunderstood Nam Han-jun and now dislikes him. Soon they realize that they need to work together in order to find the serial killer.

My thoughts :
The drama really was interesting. The story did take a while to kickstart but as a fan of comedies, i really wasn't that bothered by it since it meant that there were a lot of funny scenes of Seo In Guk acting as the crazy good shaman. The serial killer's identity was also very well thought and almost all the main characters were very likeable.

CAST:

Seo In Guk as Nam Han-Jun,
He is just perfection. His acting is literally so fun to watch. In one moment he was this crazy funny shaman and then he suddenly turned into this very serious criminal profiler.. Seo In Guk just never fails as a lead. Fun, charming and good looking-! I am really obsessed with his acting and this shaman role was made for him!

Oh Yeon seo as Han Jaehui,
I feel like she was an okay choice. I like her acting but for me she got so overshadowed by Seo In Guk. She felt too plain. I would have loved to see someone as crazily charming as Seo In Guk to match his energy. She was the typical "police/detective girl" aka it meant that she was stronger than all her male coworkers and just overall this tiringly stubborn character. She wouldn't believe in Nam Han-jun's words at all which resulted in her having to learn the hard way to listen to what he is saying.

Overall:
A great drama when you don't wanna watch anything too heavy and enjoy the slapstick comedy while the story is actually pretty well thought out.

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It was fine.

At first I had a hard time watching the whole first episodes, it seemed like pure comedy (I thought it was okay but I had other expectations) and the plot was just forming. A few episodes later the drama gets better, I admit it made me laugh and I binge watched the last 5 episodes. Anyway, I think it was very predictable, I immediately identified who the killer was but still wanted to know how and why he did it, also for me it was a bit rushed the way the main characters fell in love but I appreciate the effort.
I think the overall drama was fine, not the best but you can watch it to relax.

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One of the worst

This started off well. The concept is good but a lot of the acting is just plain awful. Too many corny/cheesy comedy, if you can call that comedy at all. Be honest people, Seo In Guk is not a good actor...objectively and subjectively. He's just popular for being popular. Oh Yeon-Seo's and Kang Mi-Na's presence is what makes the show watchable. Perhaps their acting isn't to their usual standards either, which can only mean the director didn't execute the assignment well. Kwon Soo-hyun is type cast in villainous roles so there's no point creating a major plot twist when the audience can guess who the main villain would be. Pointless. If I were a casting director, I would've cast someone who usually plays a protagonist with an innocent look, then BAM! The big reveal at the crucial moment. Otherwise it's just pointless. I wouldn't recommend this show at all. Not even to my worst enemy.

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Comedy at its purest

The story revolves around an ex profiler turned shaman. His character is different and surely not something seen like yet. He is detailed in his investigation and is smart enough to get his way out of the problems. But at the same time he is naive and is not judgemental about people in general. His goals although are very clear to him and with the team of none other than his best friend and his sister, he is determined to solve the biggest mystery that one killer threw at him. But the interesting part is not just one, there seem to be many people involved. The comedy is true to its genre, slapstick humour. Every scene has some elements of it but the investigation never stops.

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Why?

Too much abuse for a show that wasn't even about abuse. So why did I hang on as long as I did? Because I liked the story and all the characters/actors, except the FL. I can't keep watching because of her. I'm soooo sick of TSTL female characters!! Why?! Oh, cuz we can't have two good, strong female characters in the same show. The sister is all we needed but we kept getting yelled at and punched in the face by the FL.

All she does is punch the ML. Now I know ppl sometimes don't press charges, and I also know that the violence was supposed to be funny, but dammit to hell...you're a friggin adult and a cop, you can't go around hitting this guy every time you see him just because he doesn't remember you or like you (can't imagine why), and because he's a waaaaaay better detective than you'll ever be. Once again, let's get some perspective here, if a guy was abusing a girl like this (and I mean seriously kicking and punching, enough that she could have broken bones and cracked her skull when she hits the ground), no one would laugh. No one should laugh now either. It's not funny. A judo match? Fine. Do that. Do that shit all day. What this character does is criminal assault. And other cops witness her doing this and just shrug it off. But when it's time to put those skills to use and beat up the bad guy, you can't. Da fuq?! Close the door and pretend he's that guy you've liked your whole life. Bwahahaha!! Really tho, you watched this dude murder the guy in the hospital bed, you didn't try to disconnect the IV, you get up to stop him but he easily thwarts you. Um, no, tv show, you will not do this to me! I saw her knock a guy off his motorcycle with her shoe, but this guy gets out of the room? I also saw her parkour her way up a building and run faster than the Flash, but this guy is faster and more nimble than her? Ok. Moving on.

This chick is the worst cop/detective ever! She's obsessed with the ML so she routinely and royally screws up the one case she works on for the whole season, and she enters ML's business/home unlawfully, which leads to another...wait for ittt....wait for ittttttt...assault on the ML. Good times. I quit watching when she arrested him...because he didn't like her, I guess. No other reason as it seemed like he'd already told her the story of her brother's death, so why was she still asking questions about that? Then she forced him into hypnosis (shouldn't she be in court-ordered therapy by now?) which lead to another...wait for ittt....wait for ittttttt...assault on the ML. And the hypnotist (I'm guessing he also works in law enforcement) saw nothing wrong with this. Of course not. That's some mighty fine police work right there.

I don't understand how things work in Korea, but she should have had her badge taken away in ep 2. A behavior shift and attempt at redemption while actually investigating, not obsessing over the ML and not having tunnel vision which makes her ignore tips/advice/leads/evidence/guidance from experienced seniors (the ML and her team) would've made for a much better character and a better show which I would've been able to finish. I'm just glad I didn't stick around for the forced romance with the abuser. And why more than one man liked her is the true mystery here. The FL should not have existed in this drama. The relationships of the ML and his awesome chosen family was more than enough to carry the show.

The stars are for the cast and characters I really did enjoy, they just weren't enough to undercome the horrible FL, both the character and the actress.

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Somehow manages to be boring. Lots of missed potential with this one.

The storyline centers around a rather uncreative and *serious* serial killer murder mystery. Personally, I was looking forward to a comedy-- not another police procedural about another serial killer killing young women and something something corrupt politicians.

The comedy seems to take second fiddle. This is actually the first Seo In Guk drama where I've been let down by the humour. The slapstick comedy style isn't for me. Everyone passing out from someone's stinky feet isn't funny to me... but that's just me, it doesn't make it bad-- just not my style of humour.

The romantic line between the leads is incredibly forced. Mind you, it's hard to generate chemistry when the FL is written/directed to be sullen and grumpy.

A sassy, funny, clever, over-the-top FL to face off in friendly competition against the ML would have generated so much more romantic tension, been so much more entertaining, and would have had so much more comedy potential.

As someone else said, I'd love someone to do a post mortem on this show and why it "doesn't work" because I can't quite put my finger on it. Overall, the show is kind of boring and I can see why a lot of people have dropped it already.

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