Only average!
It started pretty well, but overall it's just average. I think 78 episodes is way too much. The acting is good, but the writing could've been better. There's like 3 or 4 characters who's actually good, but basically everyone makes dumb decisions. I think 40 episodes would've been enough. Also, the fight scenes, especially in the war scenes, are hard to watch because there are too many cuts. Most of the time it doesn't feel like a war, I didn't felt anything except when a main character did something. Overall, it's not a bad drama but without Chae Shi Ra, I don't think I would finish it. She's literally carrying the whole show. The music and the score aren't the best also. There were a couple of great score, but that's all, honestly.Was this review helpful to you?
Don't judge Hell by its cover!
Without spoilers, all I can say is that this show deserve the hype, BUT it's not perfect!The first half of the season was a HELLA FUN! Park Shin Hye as Bit Na carried the whole show, and that's not even surprising. Honestly, at first I thought we're gonna get some weekly cases, but that doesn't really happen. The overall story was good, but predictable, especially if this isn't your first fantasy Kdrama. I had some problems with the writing, because even tho I don't like when they say everything out loud, the case of real Bit Na and what happened to her would be nice to know without doing research online.
The biggest issue with the show is probably the fact that it lacks consistency. The problem with fantasy shows in general is that the writers creating a world and rules that they can't follow later on, because if they would, they need to kill the main characters. I don't want to talk about the mythological part of the show, because it wouldn't make any sense, but the plot armor helped the main characters a lot, because there's no way in hell (no pun intended) Bit Na is stronger than her leaders.
Also, even tho the main leads were cute and all, I think they were better as a bickering frenemies than lovers! I think the romance is kind of took out the fun from the show, but it's not a big deal. I just didn't felt they had a great chemistry as a couple.
The main story with the serial killer and the families were amazing, where the show really shines is the drama, the comedy, and the action.
For me, the best "couple" of the show is easily BitNa, aka "Soon To Be Dead" and the "Old Hag"! That part is still making me laugh!!!😂 Park Shin Hye and Kim Young Ok were absolutely amazing together!
The OST and a Score is also great, especially the latter, and props to the director and cinematographer, and of course the VFX team! This isn't really a big budget Kdrama, yet it still looked great!
I'm not sure if we're gonna get a 2nd season, but if we will, I'm gonna watch it for sure, because this was entertaining!
If you can look past on the flaws and just enjoy what you get, you won't be disappointed!
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
This is a good show overall!
I watched this after a really long time, because I tend to ignore shows that are more hyped!The concept is fantastic, nothing original, but good. The whole romance story was weird as hell in the first half. I mean, the girl is 18 and the Goblin is 900+ but even if we don't care about that because this is a fantasy, his real age is around 30+ or something. The chemistry between Gong Yoo and Kim Go Eun in the first was more like a dad and daughter, and when the romance started for real it was even more weird, because she always called him "Ahjussi". After the 9 years time skip, it was much, it was like two adults. I feel they should've start with Eun Tak as an adult already.
Also, like with many other Kdrama, especially with fantasy, the plot was all over the place. I hate when characters don't speak up and say what they want to say.
Some of the problems they had to face were solved pretty easily. When he finally dies, I thought he might get a second chance to live a normal life, but no. He came back as a Goblin again. Why? Makes zero sense. If they bring him back as a Goblin, at least let them live together till she dies in old age.
She spent 9 years "waiting" for him, she even wrote a note for herself, yet in all these years she never mentioned it or moved on? Come on now. Only 2 people remembered him, so she should've moved on. Especially, because Sunny never said a single thing. She watched her friend suffering, even had to take pills for her heart, yet she didn't do anything. This whole amnesia plot was messed up. The way they brought him back is even worse! In 9 years, she never blew out a candle? Who believes that? It's not like she lived alone. No one ever bought her a cake in 9 years?
The most frustrating part of the story is probably the fact that they killed her in the finale, so they can have like a 2 minute long scene at the end as a child again. What the heck?
At least the story with Sunny and the Reaper was better.
The bromance was funny as hell, and there were so many good things on the show, it's just frustrating, because with a little more focus on the writing, this show could've been perfect.
Even with all the problems, I think I will rewatch it once or twice.
Was this review helpful to you?
The Ultimate Beer Comercial!
This Kdrama is like your favorite beer! You know why you love it, ergo you know what you're gonna get, and in that, so you won't be disappointed!It's not extraordinary or special, but it was a fun! It's not a surprise that Kim Sejeong carried the whole show, but the side-characters were good, too!
My biggest problem is that we only get 12 episodes, and we had too many storylines, like the one with the soldier boy. That could've been so much better, and honestly, it deserves its own show, but we only got like 1 episode worth of story overall, and they moved on from it pretty fast.
Not to mention the plot with our main guy and the life-saving incident. They didn't do anything with it. I'm not talking about the obvious and typical Kdrama trope, I'm talking about the reason he had to be saved. They completely ignored that!
The usual stuff, like the romance and the main plot is predictable, but if you expect something else, this isn't for you. If you watched one show like this, you know them all, but that doesn't mean you're not gonna enjoy it.
Overall, it was fun, but nothing more!
Was this review helpful to you?
She's my Venus!
The first half was really good and a lot of fun, the 2nd was decent, I'm glad they didn't do anything ridiculous in the finale, but the time jump after the accident was irritating as hell. ML was really selfish. He's lucky FL is so understanding. And let's not even talk about the 2nd lead couple, 'cause what the hell? Don't know why everyone treated them like it's nothing special when it's clearly not a couple that people should support so to speak. I'm not talking about the viewers.They could've done more with the show if they exclude the accident, that had no reason to be in the show at all. Choi Hyeran's story is just another level of madness. It was written so poorly.
I think the show had a lot more potential!
Anyway, overall, it was a good show, it's now in my fave list, Jisub and Mina were great together, also the boys and the Korean Alfred.😅
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Don't expect too much and you're gonna enjoy it!
First of all, it's not the best show on Earth, not even the best medical drama, and it's not really accurate either, BUT it's a LOT of fun, and feelgood drama with well-written stories, and characters.I think the biggest problem with the show is the main couple, I don't think there's any chemistry between the leads. The show could've been better without the romance plot. The fact that in the finale, all of them got a love interest was a bit much. Sabi and Jaeil were easily the best "couple" on the show. Their dance scene was one of the funniest part of the show.
The banter between the characters and the way SOME senior doctors taught their juniors were fun and interesting. I'm glad the so called "villain" of the story got her well-deserved ending, but I'd loved it if FL go on rampage because of her.
The 4 residents were likable and had a great dynamic, but I feel like the writers didn't do much with the plot. We could say YET, because I have a feeling we might get a 2nd season. It's more like a week-to-week drama with new cases, so don't expect some massive main plot. To be honest, it doesn't need anything like that.
My other problem with the show is that when real problems occurred, like deaths, I don't think the characters had much time to deal with it, they basically forget about what happened in the same episode. It would've been better if we actually see them struggling a bit with PTSD or something.
Overall, it's a fun show, and if they're planning a 2nd season, I'm up for it, but only because the characters are great. Especially the 4 main lead.
Was this review helpful to you?
Just a run through of our lives!
This is "Melo Movie" in a nutshell!If you expect a deep dive into the lives of these characters, a finished story, resolved problems and a typical happy ending, this is not for you!
I'm not gonna lie, I was only interested in this show, because of Park Boyoung, but the truth is, everyone, including the director and the writer did a great job in what they tried to do!
I have to mention the director separately, because if you know his work: "Hotel Del Luna", "Castaway Diva", "While You Were Sleeping" and so on, you can tell how good he is in making beautiful, and colorful scenes! The cinematography is amazing!
I didn't have a real problem with the writing after I understood what they actually tried to do with the characters.
At first, it was weird, because I felt like we're missing some key moments, and we're just jumping from one scene to another, but as I said in the title, this isn't really a coherent story, this is just a run through of the lives of these characters!
Honestly, I'd watch 10 more episodes. Sometimes, it was feelgood, funny, sad, cute, and real as it gets.
This is a well-made Kdrama, not perfect, but absolutely deserve the 10 hour of your life! Especially if you love these type of stories.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Great 1st half, and bad 2nd half with a dumb female lead!
Honestly, I would ban the writers to make more shows, because it's madness what she did with this show in the second half!The story is nothing special, just the usual sageuk drama with one of the worst written love triangle. I don't understand why it was necessary, but if you want to include it in your show, at least do it right.
Eun San, never says anything, they never make it obvious who she loves, it's just a pure guessing game. The first 10 episodes is basically telling you that she likes the prince, then after a random episode, she loves the other guy.
The show is basically about 3 idiots who never experienced love, and they don't know what to do. My biggest problem is that both the prince and the second male lead told her how they feel, but she never said anything, till the finale.
She told the prince, he's the reason she started to feel something again, and she liked him. Yet, she's ending up with the other guy. This is just lazy writing again, because she knows how the guys feel about her, she even acknowledges it, and want to leave, so they can remain friends, but no, it didn't happen, so they basically became enemies, and what's worse the real enemies are even dumber than the female lead, and in the end nothing that happened matters.
They solved everything so easily, and if I'm being honest, I'm not sure if she actually chose the other guy. I swear she's with him, because the king asked her to do it, because someone need to protect him after the incident.
To be honest, I don't think the chemistry was good with any of the guys. With the prince, it was more of a kid romance with childish fights, like real friends, and it turned into real after she found out who he is.
With the other guy, it was a typical let's be sad together romance.
Also, that kiss scene was just messed up, and we have never seen how she actually reacted to that, because at first she wanted to push him away, and he literally forced her. That wasn't a real kiss, and people called the prince toxic because he wanted to lock her up? Sure, that's also a red flag, but let's be real, our main girl played with the guys like toys.
With a better writer, this could've been so much better. It's so weird to talk about the romance alone, but the rest wasn't interesting at all.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Another decent fantasy drama with a bad ending!
Honestly, this should've been only 16 episodes, and with a better writer, could've been so much better!Overall, it's nothing special, but a lot of fun. The first 2 episodes were CRAZY, 10 episode worth of story in 2. I don't even understand why they did that.
The main plot is predictable as usual, but the characters were good.
The main problem with the show, yet again, is the inconsistent writing. They could've solved the problem in the finale easily, but no, let's do another time-jump instead, and don't use the ML's father who finally back to his old self and probably didn't die, just sleeping with his lover forever!
The last episode was a MESS! I mean, if they wanted to kill the FL, sure, do it, but don't use the same old reincarnation trope. It's so lazy, not to mention, makes no sense. What's the point of them reunite again in the future if they could've done the same in the past? You either give the viewer a happy ending or a sad ending, but not a copy and paste ending.
I know the writer won't see this, but my God, this whole: "I see your future and one of you will die, because you met in a place."
Dude, they didn't even meet there first. They met as little kids! The whole point of why she has to die is the biggest plot-hole in the story.
Was this review helpful to you?
Short and sweet!
Maybe a bit too short? I think so.Overall, this is a fantastic with well-written characters and important message, BUT I have to say, I didn't like what they did with the main plot. They didn't do anything with Geu Roo's parents till the finale, basically, not to mention the story about his uncle and his problems with those people.
This drama really needs a second season! Multiple plot lines are still open.
If they focused more on the main characters and not on the so called "weekly cases", this show could've been perfect.
Also, that ending was totally unnecessary, especially if we won't get a second season! Makes no sense whatsoever! Maybe t hey wanted to use her to start thinking about love, but if there's not gonna be another season, it's just a bad ending in my opinion. Without that scene, and even without a sequel, it would be a good ending.
Anyway, this is a MUST-WATCH, because this is a really strong drama with a few minor problems!
Was this review helpful to you?
It was a good run, but that's all!
Another good, but nothing special Kdrama. The writing wasn't bad, but I didn't felt I know these characters at all. Almost every episode was random, and sometimes it was over the top.It had some really good moments, it was funny at times, especially the duo of Young Hwa and Danah, but the main lead was average at best. Both couple were cute and all, but I don't think I will remember them for a long time. The same can be said about the show.
It has some important message behind all the drama, but it wasted to be honest, because they hardly did anything with the main plot.
At some point I felt like I want to skip scenes, and that's not a good look! Not because it was boring like some people say, it's not boring, it's just the writing wasn't coherent.
Was this review helpful to you?
I won't lie, it's average!
The concept is fantastic, and the comedy part of the show is great, but I felt, they wanted too much in a short time. The first half of the season was basically all about him and his problem, but after that, I don't know what happened. So many things happened at the same in the last couple of episodes.Honestly, I loved the story about Kibaek and Woojoo's family, not to mention the story about being a celeb, but the biggest problem with the show is that they didn't really do anything with these important topics. All of these came out of nowhere, and were finished in a second, basically.
The romance was good, the two main lead were good together, but I think they could've done more.
Also, sometimes it was over the top, and cringe, but other than that, it's a good show, with a meaningful message, but I'm a bit disappointed.
It's still worth to watch, tho.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
WHERE ARE THE VAMPIRES???
Okay, so, I was like: This is a comedy show, almost like a vampire parody at first, and I'm not gonna lie, it was entertaining at first. Ok Taec Yeon and Won Jian were amazing, especially in those funny scenes, and as a couple they were good as well.BUT what the actually "not so bloody" hell was the rest? I get that our main guy wants love and all, and he won't kill people, because he's a nice vampire, but for the love of God, this is a show about a vampire, and we didn't have A SINGLE ONE vampire who actually act like a real vampire!
I mean, that Man Hwi guy did some things, but that's all. He was obsessed with money, and let those two other morons to threat him like a nobody. A real vampire would've killed them both already. Don't tell me, he's keeping all those people in his cells, but let two billionaires to threat him like that.
The plot was a MESS. The show only worked when it was comedy, and not serious. They should've done that for all season.
I could tear apart the whole plot, but it would take more time than writing this Kdrama.
I only rate this to a 6/10, because the actors were great, and overall it was decent.
I don't really care about the ending, tho, because that's the only thing that was actually surprising and good.
I watched so many vampire movies and shows, even American shows on The CW, but even those weren't as bad this one. I'm not sure if The CW would pick up something like this, even tho, that nonsense Vampire Diaries was a mess, as well.
I don't think I've seen any good Korean movie or show about vampires yet. Maybe they just can't do it.
So much potential was wasted!
Was this review helpful to you?
This isn't a love story, this is a real story!
I know, a lot of Kdrama fans wants happy ending, or at least a real conclusion, but real life isn't about that. 2521 is about real life and real people with real problems. If you want a typical romcom with the same story and stuff, this isn't your show.This show is about young kids, and how they try to live their own lives in the past and in the present as well. Some people said, the scenes in the present are not important. Well, that's 100% untrue! The whole point of the series is to teach Heedo's daughter that not everything is black and white. This isn't about who's the father, I don't even understand why people keep talking about that.
The writing was top-notch, almost perfect. I was going back and forth, because sometimes I loved the characters, and sometimes I disliked them. What I really loved about this show is that most of the time, the writer didn't go overboard, but didn't shy away from the important topics either.
Like I said, this isn't a love story, this is a real story. In my eyes, the real main "couple" are Heedo and Yurim. How their friendship evolved over the years was amazing, and entertaining. This show proved that friendships are more important than a romance. Most romantic relationships ends, because people give up, even if there's a simple solution, but real friendships are not like that. With every problem, it's getting stronger, and the relationship between Heedo and Yurim is the prime example.
Kim Taeri and Bona carried the whole show.
It's not a perfect, because the last 2 episode wasn't that good, I think they focused too much on the romance. I don't think Heedo and Yijin were good together, and in my opinion, Taeri and Joo Hyuk didn't have a good chemistry as a couple. At first, they were like brother and sister, and later I didn't think they're a real couple. They were fantastic as friends, but not as a couple.
Yurim and Jiwoong were MUCH better! They were a typical teen romantic couple, sometimes cheesy, and cute, but later they proved they actually care about their relationship. They are the polar opposites of the main couple, even tho both had the same issues, basically. Yurim and Jiwoong proved that most romantic relationships ends, because people don't work hard enough to make it work. Just like Heedo said, they only loved each other when everything was good, but Yurim and Jiwoong remained together when their lives were hard too. That's why they were a better couple.
I think 2521 is a fantastic show that actually deserve the hype, and it's teaching you important lessons about life.
Also, if you love sports, like myself, you're gonna enjoy it even more. All the hardships Heedo and Yurim, and every side character had to face to be the best athletes worth to watch this 17 hour long show!
My only problem with the show is the last 2 episode and the credit scene. That was unnecessary, but other than that, this is a MUST WATCH!
Was this review helpful to you?
A perfect show if your mood is down!
I mean, just watching Joy smile worth watching this 6-7 hour long Kdrama!I don't really know what could I say about this slice of life drama, because the story itself isn't what's important, it's the feelgood vibe you'll get while watching. One of my favorite genre is slice of life, because I can just enjoy everything without worrying about the writing or the unnecessary twists.
To be honest, I didn't have any big problem with the show, but I couldn't give 10/10, because I felt, they should've done more with Jiyul's parents and grandparents, not to mention Ja Young's parents.
There are many shows with 16 or 20 or even more episode, but in my opinion, Once Upon a Small Town deserve at least 5 or 6 more episodes. I could watch this s how for weeks, because it's just fun.
Thankfully the love story was well-written, it wasn't annoying, even the love triangle was handled well, and that actually surprised me. Usually, love triangles are really irritating.
The side-characters were also good, the secondary romance was a bit surprising, honestly, because that came out of nowhere, because we didn't see how it happened.
Anyway, if you want to watch a nice drama that you can just enjoy without worrying about anything else, you should watch this!
Was this review helpful to you?
