Breezy and cheerful
This one is strictly for fun - breezy, cheerful, and playful. A bit of mind candy for anyone who needs a break from the soul-draining rigors of romance.It's such a relief to see a female lead who uses her powers to right the wrongs suffered by damsels dating dastardly dudes.
OK, it was a bit over the top. The FL's fighting chops were on a superhuman scale, and the second couple's courtship was so abbreviated I barely had time to register it.
But thanks again, Netflix, for giving us a female-centric story with a strong lead (mostly) devoid of victimization, weepiness, and heartbreak. Loved it.
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Odd Couple
A young, handsome, brilliant, clever, kind, patient, generous, monogamous, honorable, mechanically proficient, streetfighting adonis who likes to cook and clean–and who also has a superpower--falls madly in love with a cranky, narcissistic, self-centered, lazy, not-too-bright, arrogant, indifferent, rude, cold, ungrateful, ethically challenged, and slovenly public defender.And this is supposed to be a match made in – one of those places whose name starts with “H.” More like a fantasy cleverly constructed to hook impressionable teens (of the female persuasion).
As for the acting–the villain was sufficiently scary and despicable to hold my attention. And the ML managed to breathe conviction, authenticity, and adorableness into his character. The young women commenting on the top left corner of my television screen certainly thought he was the bees knees. In fact, they seemed completely besotted with him–poor babies! One of them typed, “Oh, Sweetie! When you get tired of her, come live with me!”
The FL’s performance, on the other hand, was overwrought, over-acted, and downright silly in places. She had to work awfully hard at being awful. (But some of this was probably due to the impossible script–not to any lack of talent on the actress’s part.)
The court cases dramatized in this series were apparently chosen to highlight the ethical enigmas inherent in the legal system. But each case was totally bizarro--fraught with conflicts of interest–and a boatload of complications. Frankly, I couldn’t get worked up about any of them. The timeline was also weird–with some suspects being rushed to trial before the blood had dried on the murder weapon (metaphorically speaking). One loathsome character had murdered at least three people and tried to kill a number of others, including a child–and yet everyone felt sorry for him. Well...everyone except me.
Each time the camera focused on the jury, the jurists were nodding, shaking their head, and otherwise expressing their premature judgments for all the world to see. Yikes!
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Like a car crash I couldn’t look away from...
The contradictions in the fantasies being sold to young girls have never been as in-your-face as they are in this K-drama. But the mesmerizing acting of Seo Hyun-jin somehow holds this hot mess together.Her love interest is a robotic, poker-faced, rich dude who suffers from the “disease” of face blindness or prosopagnosia. Not to worry. He’s found his perfect mate in the FL, who suffers from a condition that changes her into some random-looking specimen of humanity every so often–be it a child of 10 or a sore-encrusted old bald guy.
Whatever the case, folks, True Love conquers all. The most ludicrous scene in this series is the pledge of eternal love between the ML and the aforementioned bald guy. Not that bald guys aren’t lovable! But even Lee Min-ki, the ML, who has serious acting chops (see his performance in BECAUSE THIS IS MY FIRST LIFE), can’t bring himself to gaze enthusiastically at his newly transformed sweetheart. There’s a Japanese proverb that says: “If there is love smallpox scars are as pretty as dimples.” Ah! If only it were true.
The other over-the-top romance--like an impending car crash you can’t look away from--is between an actor who could pass for an sweet-faced 14-year-old boy and a troubled, but fabulously rich older woman. To be fair, it’s not clear how old these two are supposed to be. (In real life, they’re almost the same age.)
The dialog between these two is beyond idiotic. “I’m bad, but you’re good.” “I love you because you’re so pretty.” Not since Scrooge McDuck have the rich been such an easy target. As in most K-dramas, they’re all greedy and offensive. But there’s hope for those who recognize True Beauty.
More than once, my suspension of disbelief was hanging by a thread over the Grand Canyon. When the FL transforms from one body to another, do her clothes change with her? The 10-year-old’s duds conveniently enlarged when s/he changed back into adulthood. Not so with some of the other transformations.
The schmaltzy song that played over and over and OVER in the background getting louder and louder and LOUDER was enough to drive me screaming into the night.
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Plot Problems
The most amazing, incredible piece of good luck that has ever happened to anyone anywhere occurs at the beginning of this series. A human being comes back from the dead!Everyone is celebrating, hugging each other, and dancing in the streets. Right?
Nope.
Instead we are treated to crying, wailing, gnashing of teeth, and rending of garments (two sisters actually rend garments with a pair of scissors in one scene). Episode after episode after episode of misery and regret. As others have said, this series is slooooowww.
If you find yourself asking: What’s gong on here?
I've got an answer for you.
Product placement. Capitalism at its finest, folks. It's one long advertisement pummeling your unconscious brain.
But I digress. Back to the trauma and the drama...
If you've ever lost someone and want to revisit that aching sorrow at the unfairness of death-have a go at HI, BYE MAMA.
But wait! In the middle of this sob-fest, they, the producers, realized that this was all too much, so they sent two of the ladies zooming off in a hot car for an afternoon of ziplining. Then back to the never-ending tragedy of life.
Other viewers have criticized the feckless males and their total incompetence in the face of so much female grief. But I thought Lee Kyu-hyung rocked as the hapless, depressed husband who always does the wrong thing.
And then there's the repetitious dialogue. "I feel guilty." "I'm to blame." "No, you haven't done anything wrong." "I'm sorry." "I am so sorry." Sob, sob, sob. The point is not to have a logical plot. The point is to keep viewer's neurons susceptible to the main message.
Speaking of the plot: the holes are big enough to swallow the planet Jupiter, so I won't name them all-just a few. Why was that creepy exorcist out to kidnap little Seo-woo? Just to recruit her for Shaman school? Really, deities? What kind of a world are you running?
Is it really worse to see a few ghosts here and there, than it is to grow up without your "real" mother in your life?
As for Seo-woo, when the series opens she's four--but 49 days later (towards the end of Yuri's stint as a revivified human) Yuri says she's six. OK.
Then there's the episode where the three main characters attack another group of mothers at the preschool with paint and assorted objects. And no one gets expelled? And Yuri, the employee, doesn't get fired? I've worked at preschools and, generally speaking, they frown on employees who attack the parents.
Apparently Yuri doesn't care for shamans. But when you see that Mi Dong-daek has to justify the rules of the Big Bosses to the hoi polloi while corralling the chaos-I, at least, had sympathy. No wonder the deities are having a recruiting problem. Who wants to herd ghosts for a living?
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Rejection Galore
In this series, everyone gets rejected by somebody–either by their parents or by the one they love. Some of the characters keep loving anyway, others harden their hearts against humanity. There is a convoluted plot, but it always seems secondary to the pain of rejection, which plays out in all its different colors.The ML is a powerful “master” with a coterie of faithful devotees–one in particular who’s the favorite and therefore subject to more abuse than the others. Of course, Master needs the love of a good woman to melt his icy and (often) brutal heart. For some reason, Chinese film makers seem to think that cold, cruel men are appealing to women viewers. My question is–why?
During 9/10ths of this series, the ML is insulting, threatening, and just plain mean to the FL, who puts up with everything he throws at her with good grace and a cheery smile. Another male character denigrates and insults his female love interest--and even goes so far as to rape her–but all is forgiven in the end.
From time to time the FL visits the frozen castle? cage? in which the ML’s lonely soul is ensconced where she confesses her love and concern. The ML may seem like a monster to some, but SHE knows he secretly has a heart of gold. Give me a break!
If you liked THE LONGEST PROMISE and LOVE BETWEEN FAIRY AND DEVIL, you’ll probably like LOVE OF THE DIVINE TREE which “borrows” elements from both and melds them into a precarious whole. It’s rife with magical objects, evil spells, a dragon, and even an adorable kitten who doubles as a ferocious tiger when it gets its dander up.
For me, the last five episodes were like a death march. Does every single dying character need to make a speech before they go?
This fantasy is well-larded with CGI, sometimes convincing, sometimes not-so-much. Personally, I’m a sucker for special effects no matter how poorly done. And, while this story can be repetitious and/or silly and drags a bit, the special effects just keep coming. Is this a serious drama? Nah. But if you want a weepy tearjerker that takes you out of the real world (and don’t we all), this might be a good bet.
My favorite unintentionally funny English subtitle:
Yu: “I have no choice but to walk down this path until I reach the very top.”
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Appealing and entertaining
I recently watched a Korean series that had some of the same problems that ROOFTOP PRINCE has–overused cliches, lack of logic, unbelievable plot. But I didn’t dislike ROOFTOP PRINCE as much as I disliked that first series. In fact, I quite liked it. What’s the difference?1. First, ROOFTOP PRINCE was made in 2012. Some hokey stuff (going to an amusement park, watching fireworks, riding bikes) that have since been done to death--were still fresh back then.
2. The ML and FL were so playful and likable that they added something new to every trope.
3. Big chunks of this drama were zany and madcap and not supposed to be taken seriously. Yes, the actors also overacted in places when they should have been playing it straight. And the plot didn’t always make sense. None of this bothered me, although I’m guessing it will bother other viewers.
It was such a joy watching the uptight, authoritarian prince get his due from an enlightened, modern Korean girl. It was hard not to fall in love with both of them. Both leads played off of each other with ease and affection.
I’ve never enjoyed secondary characters as much as I have the prince’s Korean sidekicks. In most series, the secondary characters are annoying or poorly written or fillers that add nothing to the plot. Not here. Each of the guys was hilarious and irresistible.
One of the things that DID have a weird vibe was the way the ML talked to the FL. He called her “stupid,” “vulgar,” and said he wanted to “rip her mouth out” among other things. He did this with kind of, sort of, a twinkle in his eye–so you could convince yourself, if you wanted to, (and I wanted to) that he was just teasing because he actually liked her so much. It didn’t seem to bother the FL that he was saying these things. She even gave it back to him in spades. So why did it bother me?
Here’s why. Because some men start out by making inappropriate remarks in a teasing way–and later, when the relationship is under stress, they’ll say it again – only this time, no one’s laughing.
Still, there was plenty of evidence that our ML was a decent guy who would take good care of the FL, if given the chance. So I put my reservations aside.
In the second half, the story became more plot driven. The writers gave us a lot of half-baked, nefarious scheming by the villains–schemes that our ML and the FL (especially) should have been able to anticipate. But they didn’t-- which frustrated me and made both leads seem a bit doltish.
Nevertheless, overall this is an entertaining series. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
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Lots to like
Our hero, the feckless ML, feels that he can’t win in the game of life–that he’s been dealt a hand of deuces and treys. So life (well actually I should say Death) puts him in a TRULY no-win situation.Did I say “no-win”? This is the King of no-wins. He can’t even solve this particular dilemma by dying.
DEATH’S GAME starts out as a male-oriented thriller, with non-stop action, and plenty of violence and gore. Keep watching, though, because this series isn’t easily categorized. One episode has horror film vibes; another fills in the details of the romance introduced at the beginning. Whatever. I guarantee that you won’t complain that it drags–more like a cage-full of squirrels on speed.
What really sets this series apart from others are the excellent special effects, along with some amazing camera work. One shot (pun intended) lets the viewer look at a certain character through a bullet hole that’s just penetrated another character’s head.
If you prefer a narrative with more sophisticated characters and a nuanced view of reality, you might think DEATH’S GAME isn’t your cup of tea. The minor characters are mostly sterotypes, especially the villains. But the ML grows and changes–and the focus is mostly on him.
If you look at the plot too closely, you’ll notice some inconsistencies. For example, it’s not clear what happened to the original inhabitant of each of the bodies the ML took over. Some of the rules of the game seem to change over the course of the series. And I personally didn’t appreciate the demonization of people who commit suicide. Some, no doubt, are selfish, like the ML. Others are sick. And still others have an intolerable life situation.
A crow is blown to pieces in one episode. I see anti-crow scenes like this in a lot of dramas these days. Please, guys, stop setting a bad example by encouraging people to torture and kill these amazingly intelligent birds (look up the research).
You may notice some familiar faces in the minor roles. Kim Mi-Kyung as the mother and Oh Jung-se, whose versatility always amazes me, are just two I recognized.
The pluses totally outweigh the minuses in this series. Nine stars.
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A breath of fresh air
An intelligent, well-conceived K-drama. It’s so nice to see a FL depicted as a mature, no-nonsense professional. Even though she has a few quirks and a lighter side, the FL maintains her integrity and dignity throughout.The ML, has a messier life. But he, too, comes across as a fully formed human being.
As for the acting, both leads display a range of emotions through subtle expressions and body language that add depth and nuance to their characters.
Only the best actors can keep this up without missing a beat. These two pull it off with skill and consistency. Luckily, they’re helped along by a well-written, polished script and excellent camera work. Really liked it.
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Cotton candy with a Buddhist veneer
I was in the mood for a dreamy fantasy, and the first episode of THE UNCLOUDED SOUL looked like it might do the trick. But by episode 2, I began to realize it had turned into a children’s flic with cute little pixies, a demon school for newbies, and a menagerie of talking animals and plants. The meanie demons (not the nice ones) were always dressed in black–so you could tell who the bad guys were. The decor reminded me of Snow White, Cinderella, Peter Pan or even the Wizard of Oz with a dash of Harry Potter thrown in.At first, Demonland ( Valley of Ten Thousand Demons) had a feel-good glow. As for the plot–there were enough contradictions to confuse a quantum physicist. When the FL accidentally tied the match-making red thread around her own wrist and that of the ML, he told her that from now on the two of them would never be separated. They would forever have to stay thisclose to each other. Two scenes later, the FL is back in class with the other kids (her demon besties), but the ML is off doing grown-up demon stuff.
There’s a school “test,” which is described by the “teacher” as having two goals 1) steal a pillow, and 2) make a human child cry. The pillows are duly stolen, but...make a child cry? Really? I was hoping for Darth Vader, but these folks have all the menacing gravitas of a group of trick-or-treaters on Halloween.
The FL learns a spell to make silver, but seems to have totally lost this ability in a later episode when she needs a couple of ingots to pay a merchant. A certain character, supposedly an immortal, is stabbed to death. Other “immortals” are also killable. Little things like this had me grinding my teeth.
On the other hand, the FL is cute and spunky. The ML, in spite of being a demon, is the perfect boyfriend: handsome, protective, warm, and sensitive. He even learns to cook the FL’s favorite foods for her birthday.There’s something sweet and poignant in their relationship that kept me hanging in there. Then there’s the dashing captain whose only flaw is that he takes himself way too seriously – and that he’s a little too bonded with his sword, who is also his sister (don’t ask).
A group of human women (including the FL) are sent to a mysterious island ruled over by a a beautiful immortal who has kidnapped the ML and injected him with poison, in an attempt to break his spirit. These women are forced to cook and clean and dodge magic manifestations in a series of degrading competitions, meant to bring out their greed and selfishness – all for a chance to become immortal. Mixed in with this display of sappy banality is a haunting atmosphere of tragedy and gloom that hangs over everything like a pall.
In short, this series doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be. Is it a children’s story? A romance? A tragedy? A Buddhist morality play? I felt pulled in a dozen different directions at once.
*******************
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Schizophrenic
I watched this drama to the end. Many viewers will probably like it, but for me it was too contrived – with a unpalatable mixture of silly hijinks, gratuitous violence, sadism, ridiculous wishes, and bogus profundity. It had a convoluted plot with too many secondary characters, and a lot of elements that just didn’t come together in a cohesive whole.In the beginning, the ML is a a big goof ball of a genie who can do anything with a snap of his fingers. Somehow he’s also Satan. He can put out a raging fire or catch someone who’s fallen off a tall building, He can appear and disappear and travel through time. He can fly, burst through the walls of buildings, and deflect bullets. No problemo.
As for the FL, she just doesn’t give two figs about anything because she’s a psychopath (or maybe not). She’s trying to be decent, but she has the soul of a killer. Why should the viewers care about either of these absurd characters? There’s nothing at stake. Neither of them want anything–-or anything substantive–-either from the world or from each other.
As the story progresses, wishes are granted, wishes are postponed, unforeseen circumstances arise. When a romance develops, it seems completely unmotivated.
When are the good people at Netflix going to hire writers who can actually construct a story with heart and nuance–one that doesn’t rely on gimmicks?
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No deeper meaning
The first three episodes of THE IMMORTAL ASCENSION were promising – they take place in a gorgeous setting and show a warm relationship between the two boys. Both boys are under the care of a menacing antagonist, in the guise of an old “master.” Yang Yang’s acting was superb in these episodes.Then the series fell apart.
The rest of the drama seemed to be slapped together without much effort or forethought. This version of taoism seems too materialistic to me. Shouldn't the “masters” who represent the epitome of sagacity be looking for truth and enlightenment? Instead they seem to be bereft of any real wisdom and to have no real moral compass.
Han Li was a constant puzzle. Where was the meaning in his life? His goal seemed to be to acquire magical artifacts, to rise in status, and eventually achieve immortality. He's not interested in creating any meaningful connections with anyone--male or female, human or immortal. He did have a few tender moments with an animated mouse. Even his affection for his family seemed almost non-existent.
A number of mostly forgettable women pursue him. Does he have a capacity for intimacy? For love? If he did, I sure couldn’t detect it.
Generic demons and bad guys show up, fight Han Li, and are destroyed. We know they’re evil because, they scream at their underlings, smirk and laugh diabolically, and try to kill the good guys. Monsters include lizards with glowing eyes, a serpent, and a mantis demon or two, each, in turn, dispatched to the great beyond. Lots of spiky golden wheels turn in the sky.
I DID like the ending, and I’ll probably watch Season 2.
As for Yang Yang the actor, I understand he studied dance and plays the piano. I’m glad he’s got other interests. Hope there’s someone around him encouraging him to build a life on something other than his youthful good looks (which are mentioned by reviewers incessantly) so that he’s not totally devastated when they’re gone.
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