Arclei

Endearing and Fun Bunch of Nonsense

TL;DR: A pretty alright minidrama with a simple, rather nonsensical storyline and an endearing lead couple. It definitely doesn't try to be more than it is or can be.

Whump meter: ◭△△△△ (almost none).

── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅

►CHARACTERS:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Characters were alright. None stood out as particularly good, but they worked nicely for the drama. I will say that the main lead's dynamic was rather refreshing. FL is actually allowed to be fully rowdy and tough while remaining feminine and endearing. They don't dumb her down or make her always need to be saved by the ML. She is a heroine, and they commit to the part, having her save the day, fight bad guys, and be the cool hero everyone looks up to. Meanwhile, ML is more like her sidekick husband, supportive of her and relying mostly on his smarts. He's very dramatic, posh, and proper when compared to FL, so they contradict and compliment each other nicely.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎Side characters weren't particularly memorable, and they honesty didn't add much or do much. Neither SFL nor SML really had an arc of any kind; they were kinda just there for the most part, occasionally adding comic relief. ML's mother was quite endearing, though. Unfortunately underused but fun. The villains can't really be called villains, which honestly works pretty well for the format, length, and story.

►ACTING:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Performances were average to me. No one really stood out as particularly good or bad, so rather average. I had seen the lead actress in Ye Cheng first, and I gotta say she did a lot better in this drama.

►STORY:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ The story is pretty nonsensical from start to finish. It's not the kind of drama you watch for the plot, but even so, it was particularly underwhelming. The main arc is forgotten halfway through and only brought back for the final wrap-up. Side arcs, more often than not, don't go anywhere and are left unfinished, and a lot of questions are left unanswered by the end.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ There were also a lot of very strange decisions scattered throughout the drama that I wasn't very fond of. Particularly in how the main couple treated each other from time to time and the SML did some very sketchy stuff nearing the end, which was quite uncomfortable to sit through and I don't feel was handled with the care such topics should have. Maybe I'm overthinking a silly minidrama, but I still think that certain topics shouldn't be sprinkled in for a quick laugh. Idk

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Nearing the end, there are some very WEIRD decisions that take away so much from the story and leave one with more questions than answers, as well as feeling some kinda strange and uncomfortable way...

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ I must give credit where credit is due, though, and that is that the drama doesn't try to be more than it is, which is rare for these minidramas (that so often delve into bigger plots, palace drama, etc., which take up way too much of the runtime and feels very underwhelming). This drama focuses on the leads' relationship and the little plot that surrounds them.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ The comedy was pretty hit or miss. Some moments were quite funny, but there was also an unfortunate amount of embarrassment and gross humour, so...

►PRODUCTION:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Production value was pretty legit. More in the style of those short-ish webdramas (The likes of The Romance of Tiger and Rose) than other minidramas. The world and everything within it didn't seem quite as small as in other dramas of similar length. As for the cinematography, it was rather nice. Overall, pretty good.

►MUSIC:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ The music was fine, not particularly memorable, and the main theme did get a bit tiring after a while, but that's a minor detail.

── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅

◇ Was it what I was expecting? Not really, in a good way
◆ Did it live up to its potential? Pretty much
◇ Would I watch it again? Unlikely
◆ Would I recommend it to others? Sure

Read More

Entire Personality: "I Read The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka"

TL;DR: A pretentious drama crutching so much on metaphors relating it to another story that it ends up being not only exceptionally dull but also extremely grating. 

Whump meter: ▲▲▲▲◭ (there's a lot, ok).

── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ 

I won't make this long because I honestly don't want to waste any more time with this drama. The worst offender regarding this drama is just how pretentious it feels. It really took the "It's all a metaphor related to The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka" and made that its entire personality. Because trust me when I say, the drama has little identity other than that. The characters are shallow, most being shy of a caricature we unfortunately and for some reason spend HOURS following. Especially SML (portrayed by Lee Dong Wook) was an inconsistent nightmare (LDW acted the crap out of this role, though, I'm in awe). I'm not gonna lie, for most of the drama I thought he was gonna end up being a slenderman-like entity with how all-over-the-place he was (which might've single-handedly made this drama a 9 for me) but that obviously wasn't the case. Even the phenomenal performances from literally every single actor in this drama couldn't save such midcore writing. 

The best thing the drama does (casting aside) is the unsettling vibe. I will admit, that was well captured and executed. From the claustrophobic feel to the overall 'wtf is wrong with this place' vibe. Kudos. Cinematography, production quality, OST, etc were all serviceable to good so no real complaints there either.

Without going into spoiler territory, the ending was bad. Nonsensical and not well executed. All tying back to this overly presumptuous superiority complex either the screenwriter or the original IP's writer had of making it 'poetic' and 'subverting expectations' and being 'deep'. I heard a lot of people call this a descent into madness, and I guess you could call it that? But even that feels a too generous. The drama has an unreliable narrator, but rather than being engaging and exciting to follow the main character's story from his unstable POV, it felt more dumb, boring, and irritating. Especially with the ending 'plot twist', it really brings to question the rest of the drama and how it unfolded, and not in the 'wow, I missed so much' kind of way but rather in the 'wtf, this makes no sense' kind of way. It's also strange for a drama already almost half the length of the usual Kdramas to still somehow be so exceptionally slow. So much time is spent meandering around half-baked side characters or just, standing... If this were an hour and a half long indie film, then whatever, but come on.

In the end, the drama is merely alright. It does some things good, some things bad, like most dramas out there. However, this drama somehow manages to have mostly 9s and 10s across the ratings, which is shocking to me but I'm glad people like it. Would I have enjoyed watching this more if people didn't unanimously claim that it was the best thing since slice bread? Probably. But that wasn't the case, so I'm not only disappointed I watched a mid show; I'm also disappointed I watched a pretentious show everyone claimed to be phenomenal. 

This isn't the first time something referencing The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka was midcore and irritating so I think it's best for me to just stay away from that all together, lmao.

── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ 

◇ Was it what I was expecting? No. 
◆ Did it live up to its potential? No. 
◇ Would I watch it again? Definitely no. 
◆ Would I recommend it to others? Probably not.

Read More