This review may contain spoilers
How many pens does he have???
Let me start off by saying that I love the original manwha this was based on and I'm re-reading it as we speak.
However, even with that in mind, I thoroughly enjoyed season one though it deviated from the script of the manwha. It expertly blended characters and created a compelling story that made me yearn for more. I so desperately wanted to see what new and interesting perspectives would be used to recreate these beloved characters. Suffice it to say, I was very disappointed. I couldn't help but compare it to the manwha and what they were able to achieve in the first season.
Gray/Si-Eun was meant to be this intelligent and extremely resourceful fighter, though he was physically weak. He was the White Mamba who stirred up fear and unease in the Union. I saw more of these characteristics in the first season but in this second season he was just some pen toting weakling who said no more than 2 words at a time. Where were all of these pens coming from?? Why were there so many pens? Almost every fight he fought recklessly and had a pen in tow ready to stab opponent. Yes, his character is the type who fits to inflict as much damage as they can from the beginning and he was often reckless, but he was also far more cunning in the manwha. In fact he was constantly referred to as such, but where did all of that go? He was painfully incompetent when he fought and painfully slow with his reactions. Though his character is quiet, he was always thinking and most of his dialouge was internal. We got no more than 5 seconds of this in one scene.
The manwha was mostly centred around Eunjang and their issues with the Union, yet somehow, with all that material at their finger tips, this was what they came up with. The characters felt shallow and poorly developed. The story felt rushed. Donald/Baek-Jin's death made little sense, I don't know if the implication is that the gang boss killed him or he faked his death but it had so little impact compared to the manwha. Big Ben/Baku's character was well portrayed in the sense that he always sought to fix things on his own to keep those around him safe, shouldering an ever-growing burden. But I don't feel like I had enough time to really connect with the character or grow as fond of him as I was to Su-Ho. The Union member, namely the leaders were no where to be found apart from Wolf Keum/ Seong-Je (who was an amazing antagonist that I wish we saw more of). When I saw the characters for the new season I thought they would just do the arc where he eventually fought Wolf and won, but what was this? They shoved 100+ chapters in to 8 shoddy episodes. No Jake, no Dean, no Kingsley, no Myles, no Forrest, not even useless Jimmy Bae? They created a masterpiece from less than 10 chapters but made this with more?? I can't wrap my head around that part. Was it stifling to their creativity to have that much to work with?
This new season, much like my thoughts in this review, was all over the place and at times, confusing. None of the new characters stories were adequately fleshed out. Too many of the characters were combination characters from the manwha and it wasn't done in a convincing way like season 1.
On the bright side, the actors did their best with what they were given and that cannot be discounted. The fight scenes were good and the ost was very good. The scene with Su-Ho at the end was my absolute favourite. If this drama is watched as a standalone without any knowledge of the first season or manwha, I believe it would be far more enjoyable than it is.
However, even with that in mind, I thoroughly enjoyed season one though it deviated from the script of the manwha. It expertly blended characters and created a compelling story that made me yearn for more. I so desperately wanted to see what new and interesting perspectives would be used to recreate these beloved characters. Suffice it to say, I was very disappointed. I couldn't help but compare it to the manwha and what they were able to achieve in the first season.
Gray/Si-Eun was meant to be this intelligent and extremely resourceful fighter, though he was physically weak. He was the White Mamba who stirred up fear and unease in the Union. I saw more of these characteristics in the first season but in this second season he was just some pen toting weakling who said no more than 2 words at a time. Where were all of these pens coming from?? Why were there so many pens? Almost every fight he fought recklessly and had a pen in tow ready to stab opponent. Yes, his character is the type who fits to inflict as much damage as they can from the beginning and he was often reckless, but he was also far more cunning in the manwha. In fact he was constantly referred to as such, but where did all of that go? He was painfully incompetent when he fought and painfully slow with his reactions. Though his character is quiet, he was always thinking and most of his dialouge was internal. We got no more than 5 seconds of this in one scene.
The manwha was mostly centred around Eunjang and their issues with the Union, yet somehow, with all that material at their finger tips, this was what they came up with. The characters felt shallow and poorly developed. The story felt rushed. Donald/Baek-Jin's death made little sense, I don't know if the implication is that the gang boss killed him or he faked his death but it had so little impact compared to the manwha. Big Ben/Baku's character was well portrayed in the sense that he always sought to fix things on his own to keep those around him safe, shouldering an ever-growing burden. But I don't feel like I had enough time to really connect with the character or grow as fond of him as I was to Su-Ho. The Union member, namely the leaders were no where to be found apart from Wolf Keum/ Seong-Je (who was an amazing antagonist that I wish we saw more of). When I saw the characters for the new season I thought they would just do the arc where he eventually fought Wolf and won, but what was this? They shoved 100+ chapters in to 8 shoddy episodes. No Jake, no Dean, no Kingsley, no Myles, no Forrest, not even useless Jimmy Bae? They created a masterpiece from less than 10 chapters but made this with more?? I can't wrap my head around that part. Was it stifling to their creativity to have that much to work with?
This new season, much like my thoughts in this review, was all over the place and at times, confusing. None of the new characters stories were adequately fleshed out. Too many of the characters were combination characters from the manwha and it wasn't done in a convincing way like season 1.
On the bright side, the actors did their best with what they were given and that cannot be discounted. The fight scenes were good and the ost was very good. The scene with Su-Ho at the end was my absolute favourite. If this drama is watched as a standalone without any knowledge of the first season or manwha, I believe it would be far more enjoyable than it is.
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