The Vacation Principle

Pointless drama

This is not my usual way of writing a review. I just wrote down some notes.

Stupid plot and stupid characters. This is a pointless drama.

The most annoying things:
- Every character’s childish behavior throughout the whole series.
- The characters’ actions and attitude during a disaster and after surviving from a deadly disaster. Not a single one of them was frightened or freaked out just a little bit. They only got pissed off because their 'vacation' was forced to end. They take disasters too lightly. I don't think Japanese people would have this kind of attitude towards any disasters.
- The happy ever after ending for these idiots. Life isn’t that easy. Just after one vacation, everyone’s struggles will not suddenly disappear like it never exists before like in this drama. Don’t be fooled, everyone.
- The boss asked in Japanese and the employee answered in Korean, while the employee was speaking Japanese to everybody else. Like, what is the point?
- Tarot cards were made fun of. The ‘death’ card was used to represent bad luck again. I usually don’t pay attention much to this detail in dramas or films, but one of the main characters is a tarot reader and this detail appeared a lot. By the way, I don’t think any tarot readers would directly tell you in your face what you should do or should not do. They just give you the directions. Tarot readers are very careful of what they speak. That’s my guess from my experience. A friend of mine is a tarot reader. This matter isn’t actually something pisses me off too much, though. I think it also happened in other dramas. I just listed it randomly.

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Why? Just why?

Dear readers, this is not a proper review. More a mini rant. I do apologise.

After 9 eps, I'm done. I have given this series a fair go. I am satisfied that this show is pointless and has few redeeming features. I'll elaborate further.

It appears the writer-san wants to explore the notion that Japanese people don't take vacations and if they do, they don't know what to do with themselves.

Hence, our ensemble cast is so inept at such activities. They are making things up as they go and creating mayhem. Getting drunk and acting silly was a primary goal.

You can imagine this is rather threadbare for 4.5 hours runtime. Hence the introduction of the supernatural angle. If you think this is a quick fix then you will be disappointed. If anything, it opens up a Pandora's Box of confusion.

To wit, their version of the Grim Reaper acts like a spaced out goth country bumpkin(?!). He spends most of his time being a full-time caretaker of the villa. While every member of the ensemble is in the hyperactive, overacting mode, he is a metaphysical sloth. How can this be the Angel of Death? Why is Chae Jong Hyeop involved? Did he read the script?

If that is not enough, they also added a Sea God in EP.6. He spend all day fishing. Do all the demi-gods come here for a vacay?

Is this someone's vanity project? So much of the plots are like a potpourri of ideas. Random subplots just pops up and then disappears.

It would help if there is a throughline, but I saw none. I know they mentioned an extinction level event at the end of EP.1, but the A-plot pretty much ignored it. I'm getting a headache just from trying to decipher if subplots are nonsense or relevant.

This series could work if it is a total farce, but it is not. It is more like a collection of unrelated sketches. Moment to moment, can be mildly entertaining. Most of the time it is just cringey or awkward.

Don't get me wrong. Japanese are masters at exploring mundane and quirky situations. They are usually well crafted world populated by engaging characters. Just think of Studio Ghibli productions. This show is the opposite.

Here lies the conundrum. A show must hold your attention, otherwise any promise of wonderful things to come will ring hollow. It is not working here.

Life's too short. Peace.

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Start with the second half

If you decide to watch Vacation Principle, the first half is best seen at the fastest speed your server is able to go, unless you enjoy seeing people with no ambition, no job-prospects, and no common sense learn to barbeque and do things with oranges. But the second half introduces narrative consequence and adds relationship and learning which makes the series almost worth the patience that the poor pacing requires. The concept of Chae Jong Hyeop's character was ultimately interesting, but it took way too long for the story to get there and it was too bad that his hair obscured our ability to discern anything more than the sparce dialog rendered.

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Una comedia de fantasía, un poco rara y simple

La historia va sobre un grupo de jóvenes viviendo el desempleo como unas vacaciones de la vida en una casa vacacional que les heredó la abuela de la protagonista y su hermano. Allí conocen a Mr. Nishigami quien es un K-Shinigami que proviene de la regional de Corea. Los episodios presentados de 3 en 3 cortitos son entretenidos y ligeros, con un humor muy japonés, difícil de entender pero que de tanto en tanto me hizo reír. El poco romance del jdrama se siente incómodo y poco creíble, por la forma como está escrito y dirigido. Sin embargo es cute ver a Mr Shinigami en su uniforme oficial cuando es llamado al Inframundo. De las historias tratadas, el desarrollo de personaje más interesante es el del hermano de la protagonista.

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Extreme quirk tolerance is an absolutely ESSENTIAL requirement for watching this

After completing this, I am disappointed but not particularly surprised by the low rating (6.7 on MDL at the time of writing). I think if you are 1) not a habitual watcher of J-dramas and are just coming here for Chae Jong Hyeop, 2) not a fan of quirky humor and exaggerated acting, and/or 3) expecting a proper romance drama, this will definitely not be for you. This drama also doesn't really start to get to its point until around the halfway mark, so even if you have a stronger stomach for this kind of stuff, I don't know if you'll find the journey to get to the payoff really worth it.

However, if you're able to get the vibe, you might have a fun time with it like I did, especially if you have a broader understanding of Japanese pop culture. There are a lot of references that will surely feel dated in the future (M!LK's "Ii jan", "AiScream", even the word "tradwife" gets dropped lmao), but I enjoyed picking them out. The spoof of dating reality shows also made me both laugh and cringe at the accuracy.

I personally liked the fantasy element, even if it goes pretty much exactly how you expect for that kind of story. I was very amused that Nishigami's reason for wanting to save everyone in the villa basically boils down to, "They may be idiots, but they're MY idiots!" Nishigami and Midori's romance was also not as much of a focus as the poster might lead you to believe, but I thought what we did get was cute. I'm a sucker for the "cold, gloomy man who melts from the warmth of love" schtick, and Nishigami fit the bill perfectly. Chae Jong Hyeop is a pretty random cast for the role, but I honestly I think I prefer that him being Korean/a foreigner wasn't a central part of his character arc like it tends to be for these Korea-Japan collaborations - he was just a normal bilingual Grim Reaper lmao.

Konta is by far the worst part of this drama, and since he commands so much of the narrative particularly in the first half, I can understand the temptation to drop, but I have to respect Katsuji Ryo for really committing to making Konta as obnoxious as possible lol. I think the documentary part at least helped in understanding him and making him a little more palatable.

Underneath all the antics, The Vacation Principle has the surprisingly poignant message of slowing down, not taking things so seriously, and discovering yourself in the process - taking a "vacation from life" as the characters say. In fact, I think the experience of this drama itself is like a vacation from typical drama land in its style and quirkiness, so I would overall recommend if you're brave enough to traverse the waters.

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Low budget and random

I think I was expecting something more contemplative and thoughtful when I picked this up; it turned out a lot different.

The first thing that jumps out at you is that it feels like a low-budget web drama, with all its over-the-top humor and dialogue, questionable cinematography, and and silly subplots episode after episode. The first few ones are especially weak because it introduces one-off characters that I couldn't find it in me to care for, and they were part of subplots that felt really low stakes and random.

Another thing that's important to note is that there's an element of fantasy here. I wasn't a huge fan of it and the low-budget style doesn't help with it.

I also didn't really click with the romance. I can see what the drama is going for, but the unnatural acting combined with a very stoic ML led to a lack of build-up and chemistry between the leads. If this was a longer drama that spent more time on character arcs and had its lead have deeper conversations, it might've worked, but I found the ML too stiff and the FL too flat.

Honestly, I watched this for Chae Jong Hyeop but after finishing it, I'm confused about why he would accept this role. Catchy theme song though.

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So so badd

I was excited for this drama because of Chae Jong-hyeop and because I had seen him in previous works. I thought it would be good, but boy, I was very wrong. Honestly, the only saving grace here is the gorgeous scenery. In the beginning, they try to set the tone of a fun, lighthearted drama, which I usually enjoy, but the opening parts are just incredibly messy. The way they speak is just so cringe and annoying, plus the acting is so bad. On top of that, new characters pop up basically every episode. The characters are completely one-dimensional with no personality traits other than just being 'fun.' It feels like the writer just copied and pasted the same personality onto all of them. I genuinely don't know why CJH would agree to a script like this. Overall messy, low-quality, and bad.

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