Mostly enjoying the show but I'm currently on ep 15 and basically, up to 57mn in, it's only fillers or things we already knew... Not saying we don't learn anything new ( nice to have Wolshim's point of view for instance) but WHY make it so long and so draggy?
Now My Demon has always indulged too much in the pretty and the fillers but episode 15 is by far the worst.
Most problem with K-dramas is not the overused tropes ( though I hope 2024 stops the trend of reincarnation because 2023 has gone too far ), when it comes to originality, very few dramas, novels, movies you name it... have high concepts. Most of them are retelling of the same stories albeit repackaged so originality is really not my issue here。
But man... I wish Koreans did like China: Episodes of 45 minutes or 50 minutes at most。 Most K-dramas would benefit from the shorter length. They did get better compared to the early 2000s, when the stapple was 16 to 20 episodes ( or even 24) for mini-length dramas。 Now it's not rare to get series of 12 episodes or less... But the length is definitely hurting most shows。
With all the fillers in My Demon, we could probably remove 3 episodes and that wouldn't have changed a thing plotwise all the while giving a tighter story with enough time to let in moments where characters could breathe。 Alas, Korea is enamored with its long a** too long episodes and by the time you get to the final albeit for a few shows, people get mostly tired and rant about how bad the show is because they're just fed up with the dragginess。
Haven't seen episode 16 yet, but I'll probably give that one a solid 8. I loved it but I'm removing 2 points for all the useless fillers。 I fear episode 16 is going to be worse.
EDIT: Scratch that. Probably gonna be a 7.5. I'm just too disappointed by ep 15. I've seen way worse show to which I gave the same ratings but the disappointment is just too huge. Song Kang, I'm sorry. I know lots of viewers are saying you have no talent and just a pretty face and those who like you are only teenage girls... Well I'm no teenage girl, and I think you're a terrifc actor... but this drama is not it. Also keep on using that pretty face and great body of yours as much as you can. It's not gonna last so better make use of it while it's still here. You'll have plenty of time to act as an alcoholic police officer whose wife has divorced him and left with the kids in future years。
So... Japanese humor... not for everyone. This drama is hilarious, but I completely get why the ratings are so low. I myself struggle with Japanese humor when they go the over-the-top route. It works well in anime but in drama form in can be really off-putting.
This one works for me, but I really need to be in the mood particularly because it's 100% Japanese hyper-energy, no holds barred. If you're interested, watch the first episode...Basically this is what you're gonna get albeit slightly toned down in following episodes. If you didn't like it... no need to stick around.
On a side note, currently Vikii has the three main series but not the movies. If you want to watch the whole package, including the 2016 original movie which laid the foundation for this 2018 remake, head over to GagaOolala.
Ending was good, but wtf Mountain God didn't get any punishment or even sorry for what he did to the ML and FL…
I agree with the Mountain God part... No grovelling, no excuses no nothing... That made it a very bitter pill for me to swallow. This show was good for most of its run, but the last 4/5 episodes were a huge let down. The last episode felt like a filler episode more than anything. I would have preferred 30 minutes of cute and at least 30 minutes of grovelling on the Mountain God's part. Also given the fact that he is a guardian supposed to protect his Mountain or whatever, isn't there supposed to be some consequences for him leaving his duties?
I also felt very sorry for the Uncle. They played it as something funny, but I don't see what's funny in a poor dude who can no longer speak... Also, lack of coherence here. In the previous episode, he was supposed to have forgotten human speech hence he could no longer type messages on his phone, yet in this episode he typed one to Hae Na as he was barking.
Talk about a let-down.
That's a 7.5 for me because it was still very good at the beginning, I'm just very disappointed by what they turned it into.
Unpopular opinion: Started this one 3 days ago and thoroughly enjoying myself. It's cheesy as fudge but gotta give it to Idol Factory to deliver something different. BUT I really have to put my brain cells off whenever the investigation aspect comes in, too much exposition and too much telling not showing. Probably comes from the fact that they always stick to 12 episodes... which arguably is longer than what you would get in the rest of Asia when it comes to BLs but still too short to cover a whole novel.
I find the show strangely addicting though and I've got to say... It does deliver... On the abs front. And the veeryyyy well shaped muscles. They probably only ate salad and chicken for 6 months to get these bodies. I salute their efforts.
I would be very embarrassed if I were in these actors' shoes but on a PURELY ARTISTIC point of view, I do appreciate the... anatomical display.
Why did she bring the officials on the mountain? Before everyone was atleast alive. But two of them died and she…
I think it's pretty clear she didn't bring them, they followed her. Anyway, understandably she made a lapse in judgement... but who would blame her when the life of the father of her child was threatened? It's just very poor timing all around. The guard should have told her that he would release Seo Won and none of this would have happened. Unfortunately he didn't, she ended up making a mistake she regretted but it was too late, she could not longer backpedal...
My main issue is with the Mountain's God writing though... Now that we know the whole truth, he seems even more like an extremely stupid vengeful a**h*** Can't feel even a thread of empathy for him.
Currently watching ep 13 and I spoiled myself for the last 10 minutes because I couldn't bear Bo Gyeom. I hope we get A HUGE AMOUNT OF GROVELLING on his part next week, otherwise I think I'll remain pretty pissed at this drama.
It's not a love triangle.... but yeah it's difficult to have any empathy for the villain starting from ep 11 and it's spoils the whole series. I'm hoping they'll bring back the cute for the final episode at least.
Cool, thanks for the reply. I get the good for actors bit also it helps the producers and writers.It also, for…
@Colum H
As a long time K drama watcher ( Been watching them since 2005), I'm interested in how dramas are doing nationally because of only one thing: There used to be a time when dramas were cut shorts if they didn't fare well nationally ( the reverse was also true btw but it hurt the shows less then being cut shorts)... Wild Chives and Soybean soup for instance was cut short to 26 episodes when it was originally planned for 50... There was also Moorim School... which originally run if I'm no mistaken should have been 24 episodes and not 16. The list is actually quite long though only these two exemples come to mind as I'm typing this... They were both butchered because of national ratings in spite of being pretty good shows when they started. They just weren't even given time to get a decent fanbase and became lackluster show not because they didn't have the potential but because channels decided to cut them short in the name of "ratings".
This was at a time when streaming wasn't available and it wasn't surprising to have shows with over 20% of ratings... Some such as Coffee Prince and My Girl when up to more than 30% and I'm not mistaken Jumong ( a long long lonnnnnnnng time ago when traditional sageuk were way more popular) even achieved an average ratings of 50% ( which hurt the show in my opinion, moving from 50 episodes to 60 than 80... I personally dropped it around episode 60 at the time... It was subbed by a team called WithS2 which was the biggest k drama subbing team in the 2000s... Javabeans one of the founder of Dramabeans was one of its translator but I digress).
These days however... as you said, with streaming websites, it's less relevant but as mentioned by Jovana Du, national ratings are very important for actors. I'm still checking national ratings out of habits more than anything. It always pains me when a show I truly love is faring poorly nationally. But yeah, on that front I'm like you, I don't care for social media either... but I do feel attached to lots of these actors particularly those who are around my age ( nearing 40) and whose career I've seen flourishing over the years ( or not... some stellar actors faded into oblivion and others strangely for unknown reason no longer get main roles even though they were star actors in the early 2000s). If their show do well, I'll be lucky enough to see them in other interesting projects... not so much if their show doesn't work nationally.
I'm not really into fandom mode, too old for that, but I do like some actors more than others and tend to check their dramas even if they're not in my favorite genre.
I really hope there's some tension/romance in this because rich fl and bodyguard ML are so limited in kdrama these…
Don't think it will happen sorry. Han Hyo Joo's acting in it. I've noticed she only did romance at the beginning of her career but her taste leans more towards thriller/SF type of shows with very little romance in it and I would argue it's also the same for Ju Ji Hoon. He does have some stories with romance in them but it's never the main focus and he doesn't seem to particularly enjoy them... So yeah, don't get your hopes up.
I get anxiety everytime I watch this show, but I will be VERY surprised if it ends up unhappy. Seriously.That…
I already planned on checking if it was a happy ending... But as I mentioned before: "I don't mind a bittersweet ending... I don't even mind a sad ending... as long as the show isn't depressing 90% of the time"
I really hope for you guys that it's not a sad ending, otherwise it would be realistic... but oh so frustrating for viewers. This being said, I've dropped it. I don't do "on hold" because ultimately I noticed that when I do that, it just stays "on hold" for months and when I want to pick a show up again, I feel I've got to rewatch everything .
Also I've been struggling since ep 6 with this show so for me, definitely not a good experience in spite of the production and acting value.
this is how the drama intents to do. it’s the reality of the war, the struggles people had to lived during war…
Thank you @Renn Saranghae and @yoonuyea for your replies.
You know what? You're right. That sentence particularly resonated " Don't make yourself suffer by one drama when you can watch countless of others drama that fit your preferences."
I'm the type that struggle to drop shows I've invested lots of time in particularly when people are raving about them. I don't know how many times I've struggled to finish a show only to realise that I should have dropped them when I felt the first "struggles". For My Dearest... I've been struggling with it since episode 6 of the first part. So...
As you've said, there are plenty of good shows available. " A Good day to be a Dog" seems like a perfect fit for me given my current mood. [Edit: Just checked its airing schedule is a mess so I guess I'll be looking for something else until the end of december at least >_<]
I'm not putting it "on hold". I'm dropping it. Maybe in a couple of months, I'll change my mind... But right now, I need uplifting stories that make me happy and this is not it.
Wishing you all a good watching experience.
I'll probably silently drop here when the show reaches its end to see how you're all feeling about the end but that's the end of my journey with this show :D
Good luck Renn Saranghae whichever decision you take :D
Really struggling with this show. I thought It was going to be a sweet romance but instead I get a tragedy. Yes the show is gorgeous, yes the actors are terrific... But I'm watching each episode 10 minutes by 10 minutes every day. It was pretty nice in the first few episodes.... But now it's just depressing. With all that's happening in the world, I just don't need more depression.
I'm on the verge of dropping it and at the same time I've passed the middle of the series... BUT I am certain that if I drop it now, I will never pick it up again because just like I avoid makjangs like the plague ( I don't enjoy rising my blood pressure no matter how exciting the cliffhanger), I don't watch depressive shows.
I don't mind a bittersweet ending... I don't even mind a sad ending... as long as the show isn't depressing 90% of the time which is how I've been feeling regarding this drama ever since the start of the war.
Is there anybody feeling the same? To drop or not to drop? I've finished ep 11 and have just started ep 12... I feel it's great place to drop it before I invest more hours... But I'm still hesitant. What do you think?
Fairly obvious Ryang Eum doesn't see Jang Hyun as just a "hyeong". What he did was awful but I can't even hate him. Poor soul, was condemned to be stuck in this one sided love but I guess he had made peace with Jang Hyun being with women he didn't care about. In that regard, he would still be the most important person in Jang Hyun's life.. but then came Gil Chae, and he obviously became number 2. To not be able to confess and be stuck in this situation your whole life. You were born in the wrong century. I hope they give him proper closure by the end of this series but it seems given the killer glare of episode 10 that they're gonna make him go the evil road.
I don't know where to watch this. This is neither on Netflix nor on Viki.
It's on Viki. Been watching this very slowly for the past 3 months... It's also available on Youtube... Maybe it's a regional problem? I'm in Europe.
The show is good so far but I just can't bring myself to binge. It's veryyyyyyyyyyy veryyyyyyyyyyy political. Backstabbing left right and center all the time. Tires me out. There are some parts that I fly by quickly while others are a bit harder to get through... Lee Bang Ji and Moo Hyul are my favorites so far.
It just feels like sometimes I have to force myself to get through the political stuffs... All that backstabbing and plotting really bores me when it's too long while I don't mind watching Moo Hyul and Bang Ji being just freakin' awesome.
I'm crossing my fingers that it gets a bit less political for the rest of the episodes (currently watching episode 28).
So currently watching episode 23 and I spoiled myself the end... We got : - Noble idiocy trope - Illness is suppose to make me empathize and forgive evil characters trope (WELL IT DOES NOT, You crossed the line, no cancer is gonna make me forget this. You got what you deserved. That's called Karma.)
I have no empathy for Old Gao. Given the way Li Xun had always treated him, he should have left sooner. He always sucked it up, at some point if you always stay with people who bring out the worst in you, it becomes your own fault if you don't move your ass and change your circle of friends.
Can't even blame Li Xun. He's always been an ass, ultimately if people stay with him it's because they accept the treatment. Jesus!
I have my own Li Xun in my own family except the guy's no genius. Anyway, after years of putting up with his sh*** because he's family, I decided to leave him behind. We see each other about 2-3 times a year, family obligation, and that's IT. And that's that because the guy is not a bad person per say, however he's a ruthless douchebag who always thinks he knows better and is right, which includes talking badly to his own parents even when they're trying to help him. Anyway. As I said, exactly like Li Xun.
So Old Gao... You spiralled out of control but don't blame it on Li Xun, blame your own stupidity. Don't blame others for your own fault. Makes my blood boil.
Sigh...
I'm staying for the chemistry of the main couple... That's it.
1
1
Now My Demon has always indulged too much in the pretty and the fillers but episode 15 is by far the worst.
Most problem with K-dramas is not the overused tropes ( though I hope 2024 stops the trend of reincarnation because 2023 has gone too far ), when it comes to originality, very few dramas, novels, movies you name it... have high concepts.
Most of them are retelling of the same stories albeit repackaged so originality is really not my issue here。
But man... I wish Koreans did like China: Episodes of 45 minutes or 50 minutes at most。 Most K-dramas would benefit from the shorter length.
They did get better compared to the early 2000s, when the stapple was 16 to 20 episodes ( or even 24) for mini-length dramas。 Now it's not rare to get series of 12 episodes or less... But the length is definitely hurting most shows。
With all the fillers in My Demon, we could probably remove 3 episodes and that wouldn't have changed a thing plotwise all the while giving a tighter story with enough time to let in moments where characters could breathe。
Alas, Korea is enamored with its long a** too long episodes and by the time you get to the final albeit for a few shows, people get mostly tired and rant about how bad the show is because they're just fed up with the dragginess。
Haven't seen episode 16 yet, but I'll probably give that one a solid 8. I loved it but I'm removing 2 points for all the useless fillers。
I fear episode 16 is going to be worse.
EDIT: Scratch that. Probably gonna be a 7.5. I'm just too disappointed by ep 15. I've seen way worse show to which I gave the same ratings but the disappointment is just too huge. Song Kang, I'm sorry. I know lots of viewers are saying you have no talent and just a pretty face and those who like you are only teenage girls... Well I'm no teenage girl, and I think you're a terrifc actor... but this drama is not it.
Also keep on using that pretty face and great body of yours as much as you can. It's not gonna last so better make use of it while it's still here. You'll have plenty of time to act as an alcoholic police officer whose wife has divorced him and left with the kids in future years。
Japanese humor... not for everyone.
This drama is hilarious, but I completely get why the ratings are so low. I myself struggle with Japanese humor when they go the over-the-top route. It works well in anime but in drama form in can be really off-putting.
This one works for me, but I really need to be in the mood particularly because it's 100% Japanese hyper-energy, no holds barred. If you're interested, watch the first episode...Basically this is what you're gonna get albeit slightly toned down in following episodes. If you didn't like it... no need to stick around.
On a side note, currently Vikii has the three main series but not the movies.
If you want to watch the whole package, including the 2016 original movie which laid the foundation for this 2018 remake, head over to GagaOolala.
( I don't know how the story ends but I bought the book and checked and there are sweet epilogue stories so here you go).
This show was good for most of its run, but the last 4/5 episodes were a huge let down. The last episode felt like a filler episode more than anything. I would have preferred 30 minutes of cute and at least 30 minutes of grovelling on the Mountain God's part. Also given the fact that he is a guardian supposed to protect his Mountain or whatever, isn't there supposed to be some consequences for him leaving his duties?
I also felt very sorry for the Uncle. They played it as something funny, but I don't see what's funny in a poor dude who can no longer speak...
Also, lack of coherence here. In the previous episode, he was supposed to have forgotten human speech hence he could no longer type messages on his phone, yet in this episode he typed one to Hae Na as he was barking.
Talk about a let-down.
That's a 7.5 for me because it was still very good at the beginning, I'm just very disappointed by what they turned it into.
Started this one 3 days ago and thoroughly enjoying myself. It's cheesy as fudge but gotta give it to Idol Factory to deliver something different. BUT I really have to put my brain cells off whenever the investigation aspect comes in, too much exposition and too much telling not showing. Probably comes from the fact that they always stick to 12 episodes... which arguably is longer than what you would get in the rest of Asia when it comes to BLs but still too short to cover a whole novel.
I find the show strangely addicting though and I've got to say...
It does deliver...
On the abs front. And the veeryyyy well shaped muscles. They probably only ate salad and chicken for 6 months to get these bodies. I salute their efforts.
I would be very embarrassed if I were in these actors' shoes but on a PURELY ARTISTIC point of view, I do appreciate the... anatomical display.
It's just very poor timing all around. The guard should have told her that he would release Seo Won and none of this would have happened. Unfortunately he didn't, she ended up making a mistake she regretted but it was too late, she could not longer backpedal...
My main issue is with the Mountain's God writing though... Now that we know the whole truth, he seems even more like an extremely stupid vengeful a**h***
Can't feel even a thread of empathy for him.
I hope we get A HUGE AMOUNT OF GROVELLING on his part next week, otherwise I think I'll remain pretty pissed at this drama.
As a long time K drama watcher ( Been watching them since 2005), I'm interested in how dramas are doing nationally because of only one thing: There used to be a time when dramas were cut shorts if they didn't fare well nationally ( the reverse was also true btw but it hurt the shows less then being cut shorts)...
Wild Chives and Soybean soup for instance was cut short to 26 episodes when it was originally planned for 50...
There was also Moorim School... which originally run if I'm no mistaken should have been 24 episodes and not 16.
The list is actually quite long though only these two exemples come to mind as I'm typing this... They were both butchered because of national ratings in spite of being pretty good shows when they started. They just weren't even given time to get a decent fanbase and became lackluster show not because they didn't have the potential but because channels decided to cut them short in the name of "ratings".
This was at a time when streaming wasn't available and it wasn't surprising to have shows with over 20% of ratings... Some such as Coffee Prince and My Girl when up to more than 30% and I'm not mistaken Jumong ( a long long lonnnnnnnng time ago when traditional sageuk were way more popular) even achieved an average ratings of 50% ( which hurt the show in my opinion, moving from 50 episodes to 60 than 80... I personally dropped it around episode 60 at the time... It was subbed by a team called WithS2 which was the biggest k drama subbing team in the 2000s... Javabeans one of the founder of Dramabeans was one of its translator but I digress).
These days however... as you said, with streaming websites, it's less relevant but as mentioned by Jovana Du, national ratings are very important for actors. I'm still checking national ratings out of habits more than anything. It always pains me when a show I truly love is faring poorly nationally. But yeah, on that front I'm like you, I don't care for social media either... but I do feel attached to lots of these actors particularly those who are around my age ( nearing 40) and whose career I've seen flourishing over the years ( or not... some stellar actors faded into oblivion and others strangely for unknown reason no longer get main roles even though they were star actors in the early 2000s). If their show do well, I'll be lucky enough to see them in other interesting projects... not so much if their show doesn't work nationally.
I'm not really into fandom mode, too old for that, but I do like some actors more than others and tend to check their dramas even if they're not in my favorite genre.
"I don't mind a bittersweet ending... I don't even mind a sad ending... as long as the show isn't depressing 90% of the time"
I really hope for you guys that it's not a sad ending, otherwise it would be realistic... but oh so frustrating for viewers. This being said, I've dropped it. I don't do "on hold" because ultimately I noticed that when I do that, it just stays "on hold" for months and when I want to pick a show up again, I feel I've got to rewatch everything .
Also I've been struggling since ep 6 with this show so for me, definitely not a good experience in spite of the production and acting value.
But thank you for your point of view anyway :D
You know what? You're right.
That sentence particularly resonated " Don't make yourself suffer by one drama when you can watch countless of others drama that fit your preferences."
I'm the type that struggle to drop shows I've invested lots of time in particularly when people are raving about them. I don't know how many times I've struggled to finish a show only to realise that I should have dropped them when I felt the first "struggles". For My Dearest... I've been struggling with it since episode 6 of the first part. So...
As you've said, there are plenty of good shows available. " A Good day to be a Dog" seems like a perfect fit for me given my current mood. [Edit: Just checked its airing schedule is a mess so I guess I'll be looking for something else until the end of december at least >_<]
I'm not putting it "on hold". I'm dropping it. Maybe in a couple of months, I'll change my mind... But right now, I need uplifting stories that make me happy and this is not it.
Wishing you all a good watching experience.
I'll probably silently drop here when the show reaches its end to see how you're all feeling about the end but that's the end of my journey with this show :D
Good luck Renn Saranghae whichever decision you take :D
It was pretty nice in the first few episodes.... But now it's just depressing. With all that's happening in the world, I just don't need more depression.
I'm on the verge of dropping it and at the same time I've passed the middle of the series... BUT I am certain that if I drop it now, I will never pick it up again because just like I avoid makjangs like the plague ( I don't enjoy rising my blood pressure no matter how exciting the cliffhanger), I don't watch depressive shows.
I don't mind a bittersweet ending... I don't even mind a sad ending... as long as the show isn't depressing 90% of the time which is how I've been feeling regarding this drama ever since the start of the war.
Is there anybody feeling the same? To drop or not to drop? I've finished ep 11 and have just started ep 12... I feel it's great place to drop it before I invest more hours... But I'm still hesitant. What do you think?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N77k56-OpuI&list=PLShqORWiDquMpEUsV6Ff_9tReieErYDRT&ab_channel=SBSWorld
Viki doesn't work well with VPN but Youtube does so if it doesn't work for you and If you've got a VPN, it should do the trick.
Good Luck!
The show is good so far but I just can't bring myself to binge. It's veryyyyyyyyyyy veryyyyyyyyyyy political. Backstabbing left right and center all the time. Tires me out. There are some parts that I fly by quickly while others are a bit harder to get through... Lee Bang Ji and Moo Hyul are my favorites so far.
It just feels like sometimes I have to force myself to get through the political stuffs... All that backstabbing and plotting really bores me when it's too long while I don't mind watching Moo Hyul and Bang Ji being just freakin' awesome.
I'm crossing my fingers that it gets a bit less political for the rest of the episodes (currently watching episode 28).
We got :
- Noble idiocy trope
- Illness is suppose to make me empathize and forgive evil characters trope (WELL IT DOES NOT, You crossed the line, no cancer is gonna make me forget this. You got what you deserved. That's called Karma.)
I have no empathy for Old Gao. Given the way Li Xun had always treated him, he should have left sooner. He always sucked it up, at some point if you always stay with people who bring out the worst in you, it becomes your own fault if you don't move your ass and change your circle of friends.
Can't even blame Li Xun. He's always been an ass, ultimately if people stay with him it's because they accept the treatment. Jesus!
I have my own Li Xun in my own family except the guy's no genius. Anyway, after years of putting up with his sh*** because he's family, I decided to leave him behind. We see each other about 2-3 times a year, family obligation, and that's IT.
And that's that because the guy is not a bad person per say, however he's a ruthless douchebag who always thinks he knows better and is right, which includes talking badly to his own parents even when they're trying to help him. Anyway. As I said, exactly like Li Xun.
So Old Gao... You spiralled out of control but don't blame it on Li Xun, blame your own stupidity. Don't blame others for your own fault. Makes my blood boil.
Sigh...
I'm staying for the chemistry of the main couple... That's it.