MilicaB

I am impressed with this kdrama. It is really interesting watch, and the Imugi in human form and a competent FL makes it reaaaally funny :) There are some very deep questions addressed in this kdrama... So it is a thriller, black comedy, supernatural rom com, some horror, and a powerful teaching of ways to ascend to Heaven. It is well written, acted well and very engaging. The Imugi in human form is AMAZING to watch. That actor is absolutely amazing in his role as human and then imugi in that human's body. The original imugi is also great for the role.

FL is not a stellar actress, she is too stiff. But what makes her role very watchable is that she is written as a very strong, smart, independent character, and I would say, FL character is the PIONEER in how kdramas portray women. There is no sexism in this kdrama The FL is equal to the ML and they collaborate together they accomplish amazing things. They equally love each other and work for each other and the greater causes.

She saves him too. He saves her. They each encourage and prod each other on. The relationship progresses from miscomunication, he trying to use her, she hating him, then she having a mission and he tagging along for self benefit, but then... THEY CLICK. Once they clear their miscomunications and he outgrows his selfishness - because he hangs out with her and he RESPECTS her, there is absolutely NO drama between them. It is very clear and honest communication and teamwork.

This truely is a story of enlightment in the path of the householder and "marriage yoga". The Imugi sat alone in meditation for 1000 years and made more progress by being in contact and working relationship with a high quality being, who happens to be a HUMAN being, and humans are known for being faulty. Yet humans posses seeds for deep attunement into the Divine and seeing a human who practices that is inspirational. In other words, FL is akin to say Jesus or Buddha type of contact to the ML, she inspires him to open his heart and to CHANGE.

The fun stuff is his learning about other parts of human experience, like ... feeling romantic attraction to this nice lady who genuinely takes care of him. She too realizes that this is a rather sexy imugi :) after she realizes that he has been taking care of her forever and was on her side as a reliable protector. Once he learned her respect, ... she noticed him :) There are some super comical moments related to their being drawn to each other.

Yeah she falls in love with a 1000+ year old "dragon" in human body. He is the best match for her since she is fit to be his partner and no human would be that deep, knowledgeable and helpful to her as he is.

This story is deep. He starts as someone ascending, so his "state of being" is already quite sophisticated and deep. He is basically a spiritual aspirant, well on his way. He is not perfect LOL he starts as a selfish pissed off dude, feeling hopeless and betrayed that his ascension was messed up. SO HE PROVED THAT HE WAS NOT READY TO ASCEND lol you cannot behave like that if you are truely ready lol SO he comes back to Earth and then in contact with the FL, he changes, he transforms himself. His heart finally opens and he CARES and GIVES, and in that, he truly ascends.

This is a totally different ball league than say My Roommate is a Gumiho, because that story is about a monster who is trying to become humane. He has no heart, no real emotion, He is really an addict, grabbing energy from others, not feeling anything for others or himself. So Gumiho story is like the story of an addict finally learning to open his heart and to feel care towards others. It is a story of an addict "becoming clean and sober" . He starts totally "dead" inside, in total smelly shi# of his own, and manages to clean up and get up and live.

Gang Cheol story in this kdrama is like the story of the Budda or Jesus facing the devil for 40 days and nights and overcoming the last barriers to their ascension into the Light. He starts quite high and then goes even higher into the Divine.

Yeah there is some horror, which I dislike, you get to see some monsters and fast forward if you want... Luckily it is bearable and possible to fast forward when you need to LOL . I do it :) I intend to keep my head filled with meaningful stuff. I dont watch horror movies so I did not want to watch this kdrama when I read the short summary referring to horror.... I started watching just a bit bc there was nothing else to watch on Wed/Th, and it was ok, so I kept watching and I am so glad I did!!! What kept me watching is the competent FL and black-robe Imugi interaction, and then Imugi in human form. That is an absolutely AMAZING performance.

I dislike the special effects, I am not into horror movies and I am not into Hollywood special effects. I think that alluding to scary but not showing it entirely is a lot more scary :)

Leave it up to the imagination, is my idea of scary :) Hitchcock is scary without showing special effects :) Music and suspense and ALLUDING to scary is the scariest.....

So... that big monster was not something I wanted to see. Just the feet was plenty enough. LOL Also the water ghost - I didnt want to see that either. Was glad when she got prettier LOL So thats why 9 for acting.

But otherwise, human acting is stellar, everyone makes their characters so alive and convincing. The imugi is human form is absolutely an amazing actor. The king stands out as an excellent actor in that role. The queen is not bad either. The old queen is ... well... not so great in acting, I would say that is the next-to-weakest acting. The worst is the FL. The side characters are all amazing. The scene of Imugi telling what he is LOL that was one of the best comedy scenes ever LOL

Especially the Imugi in human form, that actor is SUPER EXTRA EXCELLENT, 10+ stars for his acting. He made the Imugi character have so many shades of white black and gray, and he made Imugi fun, sexy, scary, flippant, evil deity in transformation to something Greater. We get to see his ascension from the start, from his being a disciplined disciple for 1000 years, unlucky, then revengeful, grumpy evil deity, contriving, all the way to feeling genuine care, and even love crush LOL

And in all that, we saw the role the little insignificant humans play in the Cosmic drama - humans, although bogged down with 5 senses and completely vulnerable and weak and bogged with evil traits and without any special powers, also CAN feel genuine care and love, and those are things everyone, even Imugis, need to ascend... So, human weakness also is a doorway to the greatest strength...

The Imugi, by a chance accident of being stuck in a human body, has begun his Ascension by Learning how to Genuinely Care. Gods have helped him by forcing him into a human body for a while LOL bc Imugi, as originally a flippant arrogant contriving control freak, was far from intending to mature and improve his character LOL

The Imugi actor is totally HILLARIOUS and very convincingly for-real, acting Imugi in a human body. The script helps him, but he makes the script come alive. The complexities of Imugi's character - he is strong but not invincible, he is losing his powers, he is conflicted with his needs and feelings, his background and his "kind" versus what he wants to become and what he is, willy-nilly becoming, he is VULNERABLE although he is this super fancy evil deity with magical powers. The script writer thought a lot about Imugis LOL and the actor just made it come to life so well.

Of course who knows what real Imugis are like, but this rendering of them in this kdrama is really really FUN AND ENDEARING in many ways although yeah an Imugi is an evil deity. This Imugi has done bad stuff too in the past, which luckily we didnt get to see much, so it was easier to like him because we start seeing him when he starts changing and being more positive.

We kinda get to see Imugi's redemption. So we get to LIKE the Imugi and cheer him on. But that all can change fast :) What is a lie and what is the truth... but at least he shows great care.

IT IS TOTALLY UNPREDICTABLE WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT :) which makes the drama very captivating. Imugi is the dude who shoots from the hip and also schemes and has secrets and who knows what plans, although he is TRULY caring, so he is totally unpredictable...

Also, we learn that Imugis are like people, each has his own issues .... so "our"imugi is an ascending one so we can like him. Well keep our fingers crossed LOL We also get to see some others who are still full-blown evil deities...

So kdramas are trying to appease some evil characters from folk tales, showing how gumihos imugis etc change their ways... SOMETIMES :) and then we make a story about it...

Rather than special effects, I liked Imugi costume better! when he was dressed in black he was really an Imugi. That was SO COOL, with that little bit of a costume and black netting and thin curtain ballerina skirt materials and some makeup and dragon skin showing and some serious acting and great script to put him in least likely situations, that black Imugi was PERFECT. His big mouth in a frown does it!!!!! The marks on his skin are AMAZING!!

I like movies like that, where creativity and imagination let you finish imagining the details. I am totally impressed!

What kept me watching was Imugi. That actor - oh shall I say those actorS really really act him well :) I really enjoy it.

The Imugi stuck in a human body is an excellent performance and a great comedy, the script is great. It is so twisty and unpredictable. The Imugi-in-body actor has a range of acting that is really really fun to watch,, anything from mean, coy, scheming, hot, soft, caring, etc . also very shrewd business like when he describes his situation... SO COMICAL and so fun to watch. He is a great comedian and the script is really funny. ANd the situations and his acting of him. Sitting in water and enjoying it, as a real Imugi.
That actor is really capable of acting A WHOLE range. and so fun to watch,
and the script is great, it is really really comical how he tries to figure out humans.

And it is also scary, realizing he is often cute and sexy and caring and all nice and also ... an evil deity. Being around him is like playing with fire. Who knows what will happen.... he kinda fell in love but he doesnt know what it is and who knows what he could do... !!!! Reminds me of kdrama Mr Plankton. Imugi is kinda clueless like Mr. Plankton... and so ... he could recklessly do anything. That is the scary part. It is even scarier bc he has changed somewhat and started to genuinely care.

I think that is the engaging part about the script, the roller coaster of unraveling all nuances of the character.... . Imugi was first a neutral character, some dragon ascending to heaven who had an accident.... oh well why should we care? he didnt relate to us ... .. but then we got to MEET HIM after, as a grumpy evil so of course we did not like him...
THEN it got funny, we got to see cute little animations :) of his learning about humans, that was so fun!!!!
And we got to see his softer caring side and his vulnerable side and even his newly acquired sexy side ;) and his falling in love for the first time, so for a moment he SEEMS like a normal person, very endearing, and we started liking him and then ..... he does something shrewd or reckless which reminds us that he is dangerous and unpredictable, and we retract in suspension, suspicion. and fear. Then he is cute again and we cheer him on.

That is a real roller-coaster drama of discovering all kinds of nuances of this very complex character. The Imugi actor really really really acts is well and brings it all to life.
When the original inhabitant of the body comes back into it, this actor acts it for real too. His absolutely amazing acting makes it very convincing and very clear who is in that one body now. It is amazing!!!! In scenes of the original coming back, we can tell that it is human. Then we can tell when it is imugi.

The FL is a little too flat as a character and thus as an actress. That is so common in kdrama. I bet that actress can do more .... She needs to be a little more deep and complex. As is, she is ... well.... a persistent and strict lead nun LOL
The script needs to help her. Her dedication to the guy Yun Gap is a little ... overblown... ? and her life in the village is a little ... unexplained? ....

I am glad FL is at least competent and has common sense and is not a helpless loser.

I am enjoying watching FL go about her business and figuring things out, what she needs to do, and taking action on it, and helping ppl. She is a positive role model. Also she is brave and doesnt mind jumping into a battle.

So I am curious because it is so twisty that I cannot predict what is going to happen :) The Imugi has many sides... and maybe is not immortal or undefetable after all... and our FL might be too optimistic and blind.... (That was my sense after ep 5 and it proved true). Also, the two are falling for each other LOL That would be a great clearing of karma since she hated him so unconditionally

Also imugi's weak character spots... wants to go to Heaven but was harming ppl out of revenge... Hm HOW does he plan to pull that off... ?

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Written later, after the last episode:
There was so much character growth for the Imugi and so many wonderful relationships took place. I cherish those scenes. One of the most endearing and comical was the king giving romantic advice to the confused imugi in love :) The King was great in instructing about how to handle crying women :) They became great personal friends...

Bc of scenes like that, some ppl said this is draggy etc and maybe they love to watch hard-core horror stories or thrillers but not what this drama is, a more comprehensive look at things, including psychology and character, which is probably boring to an action-loving audience. And just-action would be boring to some other audiences. So this drama with a mix can be watched by a greater variety of people. I myself was willing to fast-forward through the action and horror scenes to watch the "psychology"

This kdrama is a mix of psychological thriller, tragicomedy and comedy, light romance, and horror, imo, in that order. And yeah supernatiral too.
I think this drama is incredibly interesting and twisty, I could not predict the plot. And I cannot predict what will happen next...

I will miss YGimugi, that was the funniest most comical and most endearing character I met recently. His personal growth and increasing maturity was most fun to watch. And his resulting friendship with the King and his solid romance and dedication to YR, they are a very functional exemplary couple imo. Great communication and teamwork. She is a strong, smart, independent person and very caring, giving and "proper" in every way. Also very knowledgeable and "professional" and CAPABLE. With lots of commons sense and "inner" elegance. She is truly his equal partner and that is such a powerful message. Their relationship is exemplary and I would say, a role model for the modern times. There should be more such relationships.

There are so many technical details about the story. so many dropped hints and twists, so observing every second with full attention is a must. Rewatching is probably very helpful

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There is a long post I wrote at the very end in the discussion but there is no time to post it here. That post is beneficial to some who need it.