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It tells the story of a gangster, without any of the usual blood and gore. The fight sequence itself is somehow beautiful to watch.
There are just two episodes, and the story isn't in any hurry. The moods of each scene are captured very well through the visuals as well as the music, and at times even the silences. The best part of the story is in the last 15 minutes probably, which turns the story around so beautifully, without which this would be just another sad love story.
And of course, there is Lee Dong Wook- who we know is good, and yet, he amazes! He takes the gangster role to another level.
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You should watch this.
This was a whole drama packed into just two episodes. It's a talented writer than can say as much as they did in just two short episodes - it's more like a movie than a drama. Stunningly beautiful and profoundly romantic without being overly sentimental, it packs an emotional punch. It's a redemption story without sliding into too many cliched tropes. Lee Dong Wook knocks it out of the park again, and Park Joo Mi is brilliantly understated and says more with her eyes than with words. The title is also interesting - Kang Koo's Story isn't what we necessarily thought we were watching at the time, but it starts to make sense the more the story unfolds.Was this review helpful to you?
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Compact, moving story
Having only two episodes, this show was a very well-written tightly told story. This is one of those shows that I passed up multiple times, because I'm not into gangster shows, because I can do without the blood and violence. Wow, this was nothing like I expected! The fact that he was a gangster was almost used as label to describe where he was coming from. I immediately forgot about that, because this show was so good. Because it was short, you don't have to wade through all the unnecessary scenes. Lee Dong Wook is a master of "underacting" - his facial expressions don't change much, there is no unnecessary movement in him - but he can convey his emotions so well. You feel his pain, you see his love. His characters always seem to be somewhat self-deprecating and he's got a cute, dry wit. In addition to the story/acting, the music was interwoven beautifully through the story. This is a wonderful show that doesn't require too much of a time commitment, but it is well worth your time.Was this review helpful to you?
I wanted to like it, but it ended up being a non-immersive experience..
I want to propose a question to the producers of this drama: why should I care about this story?This isn't a bad drama/movie, however it feels like eps 10 and 11 of a 12 episode drama.
From ep 1, you are thrown into the story, there is limited world-building, which results in me not caring about the characters, story or how it ends. Something went wrong somewhere.
I felt like an onlooker, rather than being immersed into the story.
The music was nice and gave it a nostalgic vibe.
The romance was very short-lived while she was alive.
In the end, I was left hoping for more..
The cast and acting is good.
But like I said, I didn't even know what was happening with the gangster plot. I wouldn't have known the ML was a gangster if I hadn't read the plot beforehand.
Many people seem to really like this drama, so don't let me stop you from watching it.
I will leave you with some random thoughts I had while watching:
- you're thrown right into the story, if I didn't read the premise I wouldn't have known the male lead to be a gangster from the start of things, it didn't really introduce you to characters like what usually happens in an ep 1.. ep 1 to me felt like a later episode, but it is only 2 eps long so maybe for the best that they didn't spend time world building?
- mr. yellow shoes is in this
- why should I care about this story?
- it has nice music (classical and 'a love so beautiful')
- things were happening in ep 1 and I just didn't care about it.. I wanted to, but they didn't set up the story in any way that you would end up caring about the characters, I feel like an onlooker
- at the end of ep 2 I started getting more interested, but then it ended
- the story in itself is not bad, but just felt incomplete and I couldn't immerse myself in it..
- it has an early 2000s vibe
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You’ll need tissues
OMG - this was such a good but sad story……. LDW did such an amazing job at portraying the gangster/love interest. As well as Park Joo Mi portraying Kang Gu’s mum.For SDW portraying Kang Gu - he was amazing. Love his character - Director did such an amazing job at portraying the writer’s story. Thank you to both of you.
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