Miraculous Brothers

Time slipped but the drama didn't... too much.

Oct 2023
I love the plot; not the usual time travel, but a time slip.
Bae Hyun-sung is so good in his lead role as character Kang-san, who ends up worlds away from his original life. The emotions this relatively young actor is able to convey with his eyes, is exactly what makes his character so watchable and believable. Gentle, kind and pretty adorable. He never abuses the changes in himself either, but hangs on to his good nature.
Jung Woo is also good as a struggling writer with principles (Dong-joo), but living a life that pushes them to their limit. He has a sometimes abrasive exterior, but is really quite mushy inside.
Supporting characters/actors are interesting; from family, to friends, law enforcement and the villains living in wealth, but also the shadow of their past.
It started really strong and grabbed my attention, but as the drama neared its mid-way eps, I found the story somewhat laboured. Old ground was covered too often and so regardless of whether the angle from which an event was seen, was different, it wasn't different enough and didn't really impact the story sufficiently.
Then, as the final episodes rolled out, the pace picked up quite sharply again and it was really good.
I liked how Dong-joo's relationships/ friendships changed, but felt the way his character was written to behave in certain situations, sometimes went against his personality, seemingly to drive the story forward. He could be so incredibly selfish, yet at other times too much the opposite. Overall he made for an entertaining character.
Hyeon-soo, a MC and police officer, I often found infuriatingly arrogant in her assumptions that she was right about stuff. I found her character lacked substance. The actress (Park Yoo-rim) was OK, but didn't really seem to 'be' the part.
The police team were woefully blind to the obvious clues that someone in their ranks was 'off', even when they suspected a leak and clues had become glaringly obvious. Frustrating!
I loved DJ's best friend, Yong-dae, who never judged and was such a supportive and understanding friend; and Mal-geum, who is linked to KS's past (how their interaction was portrayed in the present day, I found touching, poignant and really quite sad).
I never liked Myung-seok, but assume he was a better person than I thought, with his motives being to change things (I hope).
Loved Oh Man-suk as Kai, too. He was SO cool.
It's cleverly done, how the connections between the characters come together and there is a fair amount of tragedy.
An extremely dark and upsetting secret is also revealed at the end, which may be too much for some (refer to 'Tags' for the drama).

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More of a Character Study Than Anything Else

I should mention that this is one of my favorite genres. For lack of a name I'll just call it Suspense With A Supernatural Twist. I watch every one of these that I can get my hands on and they almost always delight me. Which is to say I am a little biased.

The suspense and mystery elements of this drama are not anything too unique, which is absolutely not an issue. It was done well enough that it felt fresh.
The supernatural twist, the monkey wrench in the villains' plans and the heroes lives, was also not terribly unique. But the way the characters moved through the story and interacted with the unbelievable was what really made this drama shine.

However, the really golden arc of this story started, in my opinion, a little late. When the main characters, whose interactions and fully-dimensioned identities were already so wonderful on their own, finally started to gel as a cohesive cast we were already well over the halfway point. What followed was some of the most exceptional character-driven storytelling I've seen in a while, I just wish the writers had chosen to get us there sooner. This drama would have worked better with another four episodes. As it is the last episode, while very satisfying, did feel rushed and also felt like several large explanatory pieces has been cut out for economy.
So much time was spent with our cast getting their bearings in a really confused and disjointed situation that we actually didn't get that long to really break down the characters besides the two main "brothers." I would have really liked to get as deep into the mind of Oh Man Suk's character, for example. He was fascinating and delicately written but ended as still almost a stranger.

Among the points I'd like to gush about: Jung Woo as Yook Dong Joo. What a performance. This character was one of those types of people who could have easily been very unlikable even if the writers had attempted to write him as likable. Yet both Jung Woo's interpretation and the meticulously written character development made him not just likable but admirable. He was pleasant to watch and behaved constantly in a way that stunned me. One of those really rare people with genuinely unpretentious integrity. I have a deep appreciation for characters who take responsibility for their actions. This is something you see done often and very deliberately in Korean and Chinese television and I love it. But the nuanced care that was taken in the way Yook Dong Joo owned his actions and their consequences was really impressive to watch. It is not easy to make a character who made the choices Dong Joo made genuinely likeable, but they did it. Moreover, his development in this regard was woven into the development of the plot. That was done really well and for that reason I understand why they let it take so long. And why I think this drama was too short. A few more episodes would have made it one of my favorites.

Examining the painful realities of their situation was one the things this story did really well. And again, they spent a lot of time on it. So much so that I felt they were hurried in the end to get the actual plot wrapped up. A lot of details were explored that are often overlooked in plots like this. I appreciated and enjoyed every minute of it. Every actor really did a great job.

As it is, I highly recommend this drama. You might find some parts of the first half a little frustrating, but the second half will more than make up for it.

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Underrated, Thrilling supernatural crime show

I liked this series very much. There were none of those typical "filler scenes". Everything was important. I especially liked the special effects when Kang San uses his powers and the friendship between him and Dong Joo.
The plot is very typical for a Korean TV series. A sardistic antagonist, a big political corruption scandal, the police are useless at the beginning but the big hero at the end. The main characters harmonise well.
Overall, it was a very good thriller. For me, it is not a drama because there is no love story. The series was exciting and I think it has repeat potential.
Careful: spoilers!


The only criticism for me is Myung Seok. He was at a crossroad when he planted the wiretap. I would have liked to see the betrayal of this family. Because now he has exploited the weakness of his brothers for his own selfish goal. That, to me, is typical of Koean television. I liked the idea of him getting on the good side and staying with Dong Joo and Kang San.

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Slow but consistent

For an action drama, its on the slow side but thats also what makes it different imo - its slow but builds up nicely. The pacing is definitely refreshing as the story slowly unfolds.

The implementation of superpowers is on the subtle but visually interesting side as it isn’t utilized for the entire drama while also being present where its needed.

One of the aspects I really enjoyed is the consistent unfolding of the main plot and how each cases and characters are connected to each other and the clear resolves.

I did find some superpower scenes to be hilarious (even when its not supposed to be) but it isn’t a negative part

Overall a solid drama! Ending was done nicely

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So sad. That this series is over

What a jewel. A treasure to be shared. Other than 2 minutes in the beginning of an annoying drunk mother, this drama kept me completely engaged. I was interested in seeing Oh Man Suk in something other than his perfectly acted villainous role in CLOY. He was not the ML; the ML I had never seen before and he did a fantastic job of a flawed man who made a desperate decision. The "good" people were not virtuous, the "bad" people were not caricature bad guys. I even stopped it 15 minutes before the end, took my dogs for a walk, because I wasn't ready for the series to end. I want more.

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Unusual murder mystery

I really liked this. Bit weird but trust the characters and elevate your imagination. I liked all the actors especially Bae Hyeon Seong who I think for his age is amazing. Jung Woo is just as good even though not as dishy. Nearly everyone in the police force was unlovable but I realised that that was intentional and perhaps why there were so few women there. There is some violence which I gritted my teeth through but it probably comes with the genre. So I binge watched over a few days and managed to keep up with the names whizzing through on the subtitles. I thought 16 episodes was just right and the pace suited me fine. 100% recommend.

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"Miraculous Brothers" it's an incredible drama, from beginning to end.
Dong Ju is a writer that dreams of becoming famous. One day, he meets Kang San unexpectedly, he's a strange young man that has no memories of his past. Also, Dong Ju finds a book in Kang San's belongings, it has an amazing story and Dong Ju makes the mistake of taking the book and trying to get it published. The problem is that everything in the story is real and it is Kang San's story.

I felt sorry for Ha Neul, for what he went through without anyone by his side, but it was good that Kang San didn't return to the past, because now they can recover everything they lost. I also liked that Kang San didn't abandon Dong Ju, after everything he did to help solve the murder, he didn't want him to be alone again and finally he managed to publish his book.

The drama ended with some loose ends, but I also don't think they could explain exactly everything that happened, it was a good idea to leave something to the imagination. We discover that it was the meteorite that made Kang San travel through time, but was it also the meteorite that gave him his powers?! Won't Kang San end up going back to the past if he continues using these powers?! And what was that scene where Dong Ju's hands look like Kang San's, also kind of disappearing? There were a lot of questions that didn't get answered.

The story is great, but what really grabs you is the bond between Dong Ju and Kang San, the relationship they create, they basically become brothers, who do everything for each other. Jung Woo and Bae Hyun Sung are amazing working together.
The soundtrack is addicted.

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Great story, poor script and acting

Love the storyline, really intriguing, have a lot of not so trivial plot twists. So far didn't like only the characters or play of actors
Jung Woo and Park Yoo Rim. They really seems unpleasant or their characters should look like that. Not always catch the meaning of various look\ways\etc of their act. Not quite figure out that yet but frustrated enough to write first review in MDL.
I'm more familiar with an actor Oh Man Suk and he is very ..logical so far. Ahn Nae Sang is always stealing the scene)
Looking forward to find out how the powers are works and how it all started in future episodes)
So good story but so bad scripts + actor acting.. very often seems not logical, poor. In one word: cheap
Nevertheless, I watch it in one breath and very like it!

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First of all, I had a huge interest in the summary and the crime and power theme of this story.

The first episodes were really very interesting, I would say up to the fourth one. After that, the interest in the powers diminishes significantly, and the plot becomes so simple that everything is revealed in very few episodes. Around episodes 12 to 16, there is a resurgence of interest, but that means from episode 5 to 11, we are bored. Extremely bored... The drama could have been condensed into 10 to 12 episodes.

Overall, the story is very simplistic. The actors are good in their roles, but their ages do not match the ages they should have, or barely do. This was particularly striking when I saw the writer being almost the same age as Kai, when he should be in his thirties...

Apart from that, the actors were good. Special mention to Kai, the editor, the writer, Kang San, the police chief, and the writer's friend.

I would question the performance and character of the mother, as well as the policewoman, who seemed very bland to me.

Additionally, there was no romance. This usually pleases me, but for once, I really thought Kang San, who seemed very much in love with his friend, would overcome the age difference... but no. A little disappointing.

The story was good, the plot too, but everything was simple. This is a shame. The powers were not exploited enough, which could have added a real plus.

I hesitated for a long time between 6/10 and 7/10, but I'll give it a 6.
7/10 because, for me, it's the deserved rating.

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