So so good
Not only was this a great thriller but it was a wonderful touching love story.The acting, characters, casting (the young HyunSo and his father looked so like Lee Joon Gi), music, plot - all brilliant. All the ‘goodies’ were likeable and the villains were perfectly villainous.
The only niggle was that I’d like to have seen the whole ‘family’ eating together like HaeSo wanted.
Watch it if you haven’t. The only reason my rewatch value isn’t 10 is because I have so much other stuff to watch and won’t have time to watch again😆
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Too long
The first few episodes were so good. The chemistry...swoon, the slow burn of them liking each other....swoon, the flirting and silliness; it was lovely. Even when they first got together, it was still nice and exciting and heartfluttering.Then people found out.
The brother over reacted, the sister overreacted. Their dads were the only normal people. And that mother....oh my god, I have never hated a character more in my life. As a mother I found her behaviour towards her daughter from the very beginning - even before she found out - absolutely abhorrent. I assume it shows the relationship in that culture as they are, but come on....the manipulation, the hitting and screaming at everyone, saying it was for her daughter but really she was a groundlessly elitist snob . I really hoped she'd fall off a cliff like a Disney villain, I haven't been so annoyed by a non violent non murderous character since Delores Umbridge in Harry Potter. And her insistance that she go back to that ridiculous ex who should have been put in jail but instead just seemed to cease to exist...absurd.
Sadly the leads' chemistry seemed to disappate after everyone found out too. The fact he hugged her like a child was consistency off putting.
On top of the vile woman was the needless involment of JunHui and GyeongSeong's father...added nothing.
The sexual harrasment at work side storyline...added nothing.
The amout of time that could have been saved by cutting down the 'walking around looking thoughful' scenes would have halved this series running time...no need...added nothing.
And the music....dear lord....anyone who has watched this show in its entirety will have heard those 3 songs more than anyone involved in the production, writng and singing of those songs. It was awful, repetitve and distracting. If I never hear a rendition of Stand by Your Man for the rest of my life, I'll be okay with that.
IMO JunHui, once they got together was a little too into her, and treated her like a delicate flower. I'm not one that is against protective men, I like that trope, but considering she was supposed to be 15 years older than him, he treated her like a child at times. And it took way too long for anyone to stand up to her bloody mother, not that it made a difference.
And how she just let him go despite an awful controlling mother and a shitty masogonist filled job was absolutely beyond me. 'I'm more mature now, I've grown up...' WHAT?!?! So act like a grown up and leave with the man you supposedly love!
I was also super confused and frustrated how she made out he was the one in the wrong for leaving. How was any of that his fault. He did everything he possibly could for her. She didn't even want to move in together, if I ever watched it again - which I really can't imagine I will - I'd watch it with an eye to see if she actually really did ever have feelings for him because her behaviour would imply she didn't. Certainly not as much as him.
And finally....how could she tell that mother of hers that none of it was her fault!!!
Jung Haein was the saving grace of this show and Junhui deserved better. She wasn't worth it.
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Watched to one reason and one reason only
As Aghase and Youngjae ulted of course I was going to watch him being a baddie.Was it ridiculous and nonsensical? Yes
Did it start off well and intriging and then get a bit random and weird? Yes
Was there enough of the love story? No, but we got the jist.
The acting was good. I adore Lee Hyeri and Chung SuBin was great too. It was as convoluted as webtoon adaptations often are and I'm aware that ByeongJin's character was written for the show but he definitley added an albeit tenuous peril to the whole thing.
It did end quite nicely IMO and doesn't need a second series.
Would I watch it again? Maybe but only because of him, not because of the story.
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Way too short
I never thought I say a kdrama was too short. They do have a tendency to needlessly drag but this was pulled at a sprint that got confusing, and really really needed fleshing out.The idea was great, the cast was enticing, the action and fight scenes in the first episode were good.
Up to episode 5 the back story was hopeful and the present time seemed like it would develop nicely. However, I had to look up who half the characters represented, I didn’t understand why they had the powers they had, and the back story was patchy.
Episode 5 then really confused me, after the credits the girls are camping, we’re told that the boys are in another country. Mirr has a vision of them all injured, the title page comes on and suddenly they’re all mid fight!!!! Some at their headquarters, some in the market. And from then on it was rushed and anticlimactic.
They went on about the awesome dragon power of Mirr, the antagonist wanted her power to be all powerful, yet she did nothing. She was like a simping, feeble lead in a bad melodrama. Her supposed power was never ever apparent.
The other angels were not utilised enough and Ogwi was an almost entirely pointless character.
It had so much potential; an episode dedicated to each angel would have been amazing, a closer look at their relationships with each other, including the dead ones, having it be a procedural ‘catch the baddies’ type show for the first half and then - characters cemented, relationships established, back stories explained - the demons return and they get their powers back to fight them again. But no…
And the dead ones coming back to them would have been more poignant had these things been shown and developed. But it was just meh…no peril because I didn’t really care. And the others coming back didn’t make sense nor was it moving.
The whole thing was quite disjointed - especially episode 5.
Just could have been so much better.
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It was nice
There is so much wrong with this show.But the good: Moon GaYoung was brilliant - she did emotional well, she did silly well and her comedic timing had me laughing out loud at times. She was wonderful. I loved all the friends even SooJin, especially SooJin in fact until she did what she did, but even then…it’s understandable. The music was good. I loved the sister’s storyline and how straightforward she was and JuGyeong’s dad was adorable.
But all in all 3 words, or 3 syllables, made it for me -
Hwang InYeop❤️
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Wonderful show
I was watching this along with another show that felt like a chore to drag myself through....but this!!!! It was amazing.I was concerned as some reviews are quite negative and I was worried it too would drag like the other thing. But it didn't.
I'm not a huge fan of historical kdrama unless it has a magical/supernatural element (Alchemy of the Souls is one of my favourite shows ever) and this fit that preference. I chose it for the the supernatural element and to see Kim Jihoon play a goodie (i'd just finished a show where he was a very bad baddie). And I was excited to see Bo Na in it as I'd just watched her in the Starships Company Games thing and really liked her and of course I knew Yook SungJae from Goblin (and BtoB).
It was a nice surprise to see Kim YoungKwang as Gang Cheol so when he disappeared and SungJae became that character I expected to be disappointed, but I wasn't; the subtle change in his character was a testiment to SungJae's acting.
The bad guys were awful the good guys were great. The king was such a great and noble king (a first for me as they are usually not great in things), his wife, his son, YunGap's mother, the Monk and his flightly old charge, the guards and the head unech were all wonderful. Even those who were slghtly morally ambiguous came good in the end.
The fight scenes were good, the effects were satisfying. It was emotional (I cried a lot) and funny (the eunuch had me laughing out loud) and all the relationships were lovely. Yeo Ri and Gang Cheol had far better chemistry than when he was Yun Gap. Yun Gap's mother and the love she had for both versions of her 'son' and Yeo Ri was delightful. Gang Cheol and the king's friendship, the king and YeoRi's trust in each other, Gang Cheol and the head eunuch's banter....all were so well written and acted. And I found it a very satifying ending....everyone got what they deserved and you can't ask for more than that.
If I ever make it through all the things on my to watch list, i would definitely watch this again.
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Went in for the cast came out in awe
I love Red Velvet. I love Pentagon (particularly Hongseok) so this was a must.Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much. But my goodness what an amazing drama.
One of the best I’ve watched, western or eastern.
The acting was brilliant, the story was so well thought out - convoluted? - a little bit, but that’s kdramas for you, it was just so good.
Because the episodes were short I watched it in one ‘first day off in a long time’ sitting; and what a fantastic use of my day.
Absolutely brilliant.
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