didn't watch the original version because of the cast and the korean version is poorly rated for some reason,…
I watched a bit of the japanese version and my main problem is I didn't like the female lead, her acting seemed too happy/playful/friendly which feels off considering that she rejected main character, whereas the female lead here makes it feel more dramatic because she acts more reserved, seems more vulnerable, shows anger, which fits better within this scenario where the main character has to make her happy, protect her, etc. Keep in mind I don't know the ending of the story so there may be a reason there.
This really feels like an RPG game at times, surprised that it came from a novel. Understandably, there are some twists that are generally not found in games, particularly, the weak main character. Male main characters are usually mentally strong even if they're not physically strong, usually, they are reliable right from the start (i.e. very determined, charismatic leader, uplifting, has a firm goal, etc). This guy is the opposite, seems kindof feeble and weak-willed, but it's interesting because you can see him grow (mentally).
Another twist would be the main character's love interest chasing after another, which there's no (game) trope for.
Really enjoying this so far, despite usually disliking fantasy. Does this count as wuxia? never liked them.
This drama feels older than it actually is. A big problem I have with modern drama is it tries to make the romance too unorthodox so that it can be interesting or "fresh", why not just keep it traditional sometimes. This one goes the opposite extreme, it's too old-fashioned that it's hard to watch.
Happy ending was basically there to cover up the mediocre last quarter of this drama. Curious to know how similar the ending parts are compared to the novel.
Truly felt like parts of this drama was one of the best at some parts near the beginning, but overall not so good.
Reminds me of many of the great historical drama, except more repetitive. Does anyone know why this drama isn't…
I do think that the "top drama" are better than this, but definitely not by that much. I thought I agreed with douban since I didn't like most of the drama you mentioned above, so I was even more reluctant to try this, but it's been decent so far. Curious to know if the novel is much better, or just very different.
Taiwanese (romance) drama usually don't have a lot of depth to them but this is just a mess for a supposedly highly rated drama. It is mostly a dramatic mashup, guilty-pleasure type of drama, a lot things are exaggerated and it feels like one of those old, classic melodramas, understandably it's from 2009.
As mentioned, there is too much lying, but the bigger problem is probably the messed-up relationships and how inconsistent they are. The story is very forced, it's like the authors came up with the general idea/plan, but instead of letting things fall into place, they decided to control the characters/plot too much which is what causes the abrupt moments and inconsistencies in character emotions, etc.
I liked Five Fingers (some other revenge drama) which also had a rating of 7.4, should I give this a try?
Thanks, I'll avoid this then, I just thought that since I liked the cast here and there was another revenge drama with low rating that I liked, I might enjoy this.
I wouldn't mind happy endings in historical drama but there should be a reason why most historical drama don't have happy endings. The ending shouldn't be judged by how sad/happy it was. However, I'll admit the last few episodes were not amazing, but I don't think they made it this way to upset the viewers, there is a definitely an audience that enjoy endings like this.
On a side note, can someone spoil me the chinese drama ending?
Am the only who found this entertaining, yet mediocre?
I really enjoyed watching this but thinking about it a second time, it feels really stupid, the plot is very messy, it uses plot twists to keep you entertained, it has countless plotholes, and one of the only things that kept me going was the suspense and the shock value.
Acting was great but the characters were bad, e.g. Ji Hyeong Min, not sure why a simple brute would fit nicely in this story. Doctor's son is incredibly.. lucky, he hasn't displayed as much brilliance other than physical prowess/survivability. In fact, all the characters seem to be off doing something illogical/weird which contributes to more dramatic/suspenseful plot. Of course, the plot will keep expanding itself through flashbacks or introducing a something so that everything that was originally a mess somehow fits together. The big figures seem to get taken down so easily that you wonder why they had go so deep into the undercover business.
Someone said the plot twists weren't outrageous enough, I think it just barely passes, if the plot twists were any more outrageous, this would become outright bad. I was at the edge of my seat but I was also asking the question "Why" and "How" every step of the way, which is an indication of lack of consistency in terms of plot and characters.
Good watch but far from the masterpiece that people seem to claim this is, unless I'm missing something here.
How can this be only 8.4... nevermind, must be the ending
I actually love sad/bittersweet endings, this one definitely isn't sad, so maybe bittersweet, except there wasn't much "bitter" or "sweet" about it, it was just meh, I found it too open-ended, lack of closure. It was still okay, but did not do the rest of the drama justice.
However, if you're deciding on whether you should watch this drama or not, you should go for it. The ending, which is like half an episode, is not worth skipping this amazing drama. In a way, the rest of the drama was so good that it made the ending look bad.
If you like revenge drama, this is a must-watch, even if you don't, still great because it doesn't go too deep into the revenge, like the characters don't lose all reason/purpose. I found this to be a lot better than Cruel City, another drama about undercover agents. The plot here is much less messy, like it doesn't use random plot twists to entertain you, before I go rambling about on about why I think it's good, you can look at the comments below :)
Before this drama aired, I've always been getting the impression from the community about how this was going to bad due to reasons such as: IU, IU's acting? remake of a great chinese drama under korean history, must be worse than the original, etc.
How similar is this to the original? I can't imagine how much better this could get right now. It isn't perfect, but it's consistent and the story is always heading in the right direction, though I'm a sucker for this genre.
On a side note, this drama really shouldn't fall under "comedy", considering dramas like Iljimae have more comedy than this...
Another twist would be the main character's love interest chasing after another, which there's no (game) trope for.
Really enjoying this so far, despite usually disliking fantasy. Does this count as wuxia? never liked them.
Truly felt like parts of this drama was one of the best at some parts near the beginning, but overall not so good.
Does anyone know why this drama isn't well received by the chinese community? or even here?
As mentioned, there is too much lying, but the bigger problem is probably the messed-up relationships and how inconsistent they are. The story is very forced, it's like the authors came up with the general idea/plan, but instead of letting things fall into place, they decided to control the characters/plot too much which is what causes the abrupt moments and inconsistencies in character emotions, etc.
On a side note, can someone spoil me the chinese drama ending?
I really enjoyed watching this but thinking about it a second time, it feels really stupid, the plot is very messy, it uses plot twists to keep you entertained, it has countless plotholes, and one of the only things that kept me going was the suspense and the shock value.
Acting was great but the characters were bad, e.g. Ji Hyeong Min, not sure why a simple brute would fit nicely in this story. Doctor's son is incredibly.. lucky, he hasn't displayed as much brilliance other than physical prowess/survivability. In fact, all the characters seem to be off doing something illogical/weird which contributes to more dramatic/suspenseful plot. Of course, the plot will keep expanding itself through flashbacks or introducing a something so that everything that was originally a mess somehow fits together. The big figures seem to get taken down so easily that you wonder why they had go so deep into the undercover business.
Someone said the plot twists weren't outrageous enough, I think it just barely passes, if the plot twists were any more outrageous, this would become outright bad. I was at the edge of my seat but I was also asking the question "Why" and "How" every step of the way, which is an indication of lack of consistency in terms of plot and characters.
Good watch but far from the masterpiece that people seem to claim this is, unless I'm missing something here.
However, if you're deciding on whether you should watch this drama or not, you should go for it. The ending, which is like half an episode, is not worth skipping this amazing drama. In a way, the rest of the drama was so good that it made the ending look bad.
If you like revenge drama, this is a must-watch, even if you don't, still great because it doesn't go too deep into the revenge, like the characters don't lose all reason/purpose. I found this to be a lot better than Cruel City, another drama about undercover agents. The plot here is much less messy, like it doesn't use random plot twists to entertain you, before I go rambling about on about why I think it's good, you can look at the comments below :)
How similar is this to the original? I can't imagine how much better this could get right now. It isn't perfect, but it's consistent and the story is always heading in the right direction, though I'm a sucker for this genre.
On a side note, this drama really shouldn't fall under "comedy", considering dramas like Iljimae have more comedy than this...