Dani

It’s exciting but it definitely have flaws

I have to say that Vincenzo can be an awesome drama if you don't think too much and I understand the hype as the drama do have some good things. But Vincenzo was slow to captivate me, I only started to really like the drama after episode 6/7 and altought I do think it's a good drama, it does have some serious flaws.

First, the concept of mafia, revenge, corruption and "only evil people can fight evil people" are very interesting but mixing these heavy themes with comedy was TERRIBLE. Of course this is my person opinion and for some people it may have made the drama easier to watch but for me the themes in Vincenzo doesn't match with comedy. The "funny" scenes was too much sometimes and even made some things look inappropriate. For example, how could they make an episode with an LGBT character so stereotyped? If we analyze the whole situation with the character, everything was seen as pure comedy, including his "romantic" scenes with Vincenzo. I honestly found it quite how they portrayed the character in such a stereotypical and comical way, and Vincenzo's reactions to everything didn't help either. I can totally understand if the LGBT+ community felt disrespected. The scene with the pigeon saving Vincenzo was too cringe too and it was like I was watching a cringe comedy drama or something lol Besides the comedy, this drama have another problem: Vincenzo is smart most of the time, except when the script needed him to be dumb. The way they make Vincenzo look invincible but suddenly become dumb or impotent makes the plot loose credibility and it doesn't make sense to everything they created about the character.

Other thing I didn't like was the sound effects. I understand that its necessary to have some sound effects to make some scenes look more impacting but they use this TOO MUCH in Vincenzo, its unreal. You don't need to use sound effects ALL THE TIME to make the scene look impactful. The way the characters act, the characters lines, or even the actors acting could already do that. This frequent use of sound effects in Vincenzo pissed me off a lot and was one of the things I hated most about the drama. Sometimes it made it seem like the drama was a cartoon and If the scenes did looked impactful was thankfully to the ACTORS good acting.

Talking now about the characters, I have mixed opinions. Vincenzo was too invincible. Sure, his fighting scenes with the bad guys was really great and exciting but sometimes it looked unreal because it was like everyone else was too weak for him (except, like I said, when the plot needed him to be weak). Joo Won for example, he's a great villain but that is only because Taecyeon made happen because talking as a character, compared to Vincenzo, Joo Woon was complete powerless. But I cannot lie, besides that, I did enjoy Vincenzo, he's charming and I think Song Joongki really did a great job here. (I just wished he wasn't that powerful all the time and the whole episode with the LGBT character didn't happened). Joon Woo was an exciting character as well. Sometimes I thought that the acting was too much but most of the time Taecyeon was fenomenal and portrayed the character really well. His scenes with Han Seo was SO POWERFUL, I loved to hate him. But altought I liked his scenes and thought the character was exciting, the character decline a little in half of the drama. In the beginning, Joon Woo looked like a cold psychopath but then later he looked like a spoiled child. We had 20 episodes so I think we could had some episodes to show a little more about him. Not to mention that as I said, although he's a villain, the character was completely powerless compared to Vincenzo so I wish they had made a villain more at the level of the main lead. And omg it doesn't make sense for Joon Woo not have any good security to protect him. The guy has to go to prison because he can't escape Vincenzo (a one man) and a few other guys chasing him. Han Seo was a cute character and I hated his ending so much omg NOTHING in that scene made sense, it was like the screenwriter just wanted to kill the character out of nowhere, my baby deserved more :( Chayoung was REALLY ANNOYING for me, her reactions was too much. I don't think is Yeo Bin`s fault as I know she can act its just the character is too forced sometimes. She does get better later and I started to like her a little bit but she could have been more great and in the end, they lost an opportunity to make a badass and more important character, she was there just to be Vincenzo`s partner. The other prosecutor was annoying for me as well.

Some people didn't liked the couple but personally I didn't have problem with it, some scenes was cute to me. I do think we didn't need a couple in this drama but as romance isn't the main plot it's not like we had a real couple with real romantic scenes. Actually both main lead acted more like partners most of the time and their feelings was just showed to each other in the end. (maybe for fanservice? who knows lol)

Everything said, Vincenzo do have some good things like the cinematography, OST, the characters are good looking and some of them, charming, the dark concept is interesting, the acting is great and for people who always like couples in everything, they also have it. I was really immersed in the last episodes and If you watch Vincenzo without thinking and analyzing too much it can be a good drama. The references used in some episodes were very interesting too. But the bad construction of the plot the heavy themes mixed with comedy, the characters losing sustainability in some episodes and the damn sound effect in EVERY SCENE made the drama least impactful. It's sad because this drama could easily been a 10/10 for me if wasn't these problems. After all, I think Vincenzo will be one of the dramas that will become necessary for every kdrama addicted to watch, whether they love it, hate it, or think it's so-so.

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Amazing visuals, great fight scenes, and a dramatic story with confusing but interesting twists.

Veil of Shadows is a drama that you’ll definitely remember when talking about visuals and special effects because WOW sometimes is like we’re watching a MV. Everyone is beautiful, all scenes are beautiful, all characters farm aura…it’s insane haha It’s definitely what makes this drama different from others and definitely one of the best points. I think it’s a trademark of the director.

About the plot, at first, I found just interesting, nothing wow, but after 5 episodes things improved and it got to the point where I was completely hooked. The plot is confusing as hell but somehow things connected and I became even more interested. The characters are also really distinct from each other and each one of them are interesting! However, I do think the director exaggerated a little and the plot twists and new arcs became a little too much, especially in the ending. I feel like he wanted to surprise us even more and idk it became too much for me.

The performances of the main actors were good! Jingyi surprised me positively here; I think she proved herself more as an actress. I already knew Duling was a good actress so she delivered exactly what I expected from her. Joseph was spot-on in the role too. I didn't know Jia Rui but he charmed me. He has a very natural acting style, and his emotional scenes were very natural. Yan An was the weakest in terms of acting but he had some very beautiful scenes and a interesting character so I turn a blind eye. Tbh, he kind suited the demon butterfly role. The chemistry between the couples was also good and I liked how the two couples conveyed different vibes. My favorite one was Jiling and Wuyi because their story was just BEAUTIFUL but I also loved Wang Yan and Shi Guang.

About the screentime thing: didn’t bothered me that much because I liked all characters and all actors here deserved the attention they got, however, I understand the complaints of some fans because the director was indeed unfair. At some point it felt like Duling was a secondary character.

The ending surprised me because if someone had told me in the beginning that it would be HE I would have doubted lol Ji Ling and Wuyi’s ending was perfect for them! Ji Ling really is the last romantic alive because he just prefer to live in another parallel world than live in a world where Wu Yi doesn’t exist. It’s a little sad that the sisterly bond was broken tho as Wuyi doesn't exist in their world. Will Lijie remember in the future? His character ended with a feeling of obsession once again, a feeling that he needs to find someone, so maybe he will. Who knows.

In general I really enjoyed watching this drama! It wasn’t perfect for me but it was really engaging and it gave me one of the best couples of the year. Hope to see the actors in another work together, without this director of course.

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