A well balanced visually pleasing romance
I'll try to keep it shortpoints the drama excelled in: cinematography, production, acting, story, main lead characters, main lead chemistry, music.
points that needed improvement: scenario, second male character, side couple, story wrapup.
the cinematography: you will feel like you are enjoying a landscape photo gallery, super artistic with the color hues, only shooting in picturesque locations around the world was nice, though in Seoul as usual it sometimes felt over done a tad, but I could still understand, afterall you would not be advertising all the beauty of other countries and skipping the homeland.
production and directing: Top notch! every sequence and scene and angle well thought of, they didn't hold back with their budget and it definitely showed. most of the drama including scenes in closed locations, or the delusion sequences were a feast for the eyes.
acting: great job by both of our main leads, comedy, romance and Melo-wise. I also appreciated the choice of the male lead if nothing else but for his deep and emotional voice, it totally suited the role and effect, she was connecting to his voice and feeling his presence close to her, so the moments his voice plays in her ears, you are bound to get butterflies.
story: well balanced mix of genres, comedy, romance, melodrama, horror, psychological thriller... jumps between the genres felt smooth and natural.
I appreciated how they showed the backstory of each of the two leads just enough to grab us in without wasting too much screen time in needless flashbacks.
the psychological thriller part was unexpected and certainly added a dimension to the story. the transition from seeing and hearing hallucinations at first to eventually being controlled by her showed the desperation, fear and anxiety she was going through, having lived all her life believing she was undeserving of being loved due to her childhood trauma while at the same time falling deeply for someone and yearning to be loved back.
characters: in terms of excelling I would keep it just at the main lead couple, I loved their first encounter, the progression of their relationship and them both learning to understand and be there for each other. I can not say that we saw major character development, but still I enjoyed looking back at their journey and seeing how far they came. other characters I will mention later.
main lead chemistry: simply put lovely. you felt the tension and emotions just from their eyes and expressions, though many times the words they uttered would feel different and overly poetic to a jarring level, I certainly enjoyed their romantic journey.
music: great vocals, catchy songs and fitting original soundtrack.
points that needed some improvement:
scenario: although I had noticed it was a Hong sister's drama the first time the show was being announced, I eventually forgot and went into it not knowing. while watching I found myself a couple of times needing to rewind to comprehend the dizzingly-complicated interactions and bickering, somehow I could guess that must have been the drama written by the Hong sisters. I am not saying I hated all their interactions, especially since most of time it was by design, i.e. the complicated nonsense was was the FL's signature method she intentionally used as an escape mechanism. but still the amount of times, you could not fully wrap your head around how certain lines could lead up to a certain end result, it was sometimes a little bit frustrating, especially having sometimes the need to rewind to listen and read the translations a couple of times, and still not manage to follow the trajectory of the conversation. still I have to admit, comparing to their earlier dramas where it felt like listening to a drama made for radio, where every sentence uttered felt like a line out of a play, the Hong sisters' signature over the top convoluted & dramatic prose, they sure did a tone down of that here.
the second male lead: his character was overall nice but ended up as a mere story prop, I just felt his romantic feelings were sudden and could have been given more time to mature. despite saying that, still his romantic arc felt somehow more believable when compared to the second couple (producer and manager); theirs's was just too sudden out of the blue contrived on a physical attraction level let alone deep emotional one. it almost felt like they were shoving it down the viewers throats downing it with sudden and uncharacteristic skin-ship. I mean she in particular, her character which was portrayed at first didn't give the impression she would be one to move bases so fast and sudden. their whole "romance" felt totally unnecessary, I would have rather had them fix her long time relationship to her fiancé and wrapping up her arc with a wedding, than using his brother/her fiancé as a story tool like that.
the story wrap-up: the drama could have been 16 episode format if it could have helped ease the rushed feeling the last episode gave. I am all for shorter dramas don't get me wrong, but if the writers opt to throw a bombshell in our faces midway through the last episode, and choose to use a Kdrama trope such as last minute separation, I believe they could have at least wrapped things up more neatly. I was thinking at the very least, give us one post credit scene...anything for crying out loud. I mean you gave the trauma she suffered from another dimension last minute, you thankfully chose to make her face it and not run from it, maybe give the whole thing more airtime or depth not just a few curt words from her aunt and uncle. also the unrelatable second couple got to give a glimpse of commitment putting a ring on it, don't you think the main leads were deserving of something similar.
overall impressions: great recommendation if you're looking for a light romance comedy with a hint of drama and thriller. it sure had it flaws like any other drama, but you will not regret the watch.
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Alchemy of Souls Season 2: Light and Shadow
39 people found this review helpful
This review may contain spoilers
A shorter oddly more draggy sequel, that traded epicness for romance
A deeply flawed yet highly entertaining ride this drama has been.☆DISCLAIMER☆
This review is only to those who have watched season 1 and season 2.
I will be discussing each aspect of my rating separately.
Story and writing:
The story, in terms of the fantasy and lore, unfortunately suffered a lot this season.
Season 2 hits off with a flash forward 3 years after the end of S1, we are shown quite a lot of clumsily put-together flashbacks to explain to, or rather mystify, the viewer as to what exactly took place after the death of the FL in S1's finale, and even after we manage to satisfy ourselves with the explanation given to us, we are still dealt some comically mystifying and convenienty mashed up rules to the magic involved in order to satisfy the needs of the plot and make it move forward.
To elaborate further;
Much of the rules, if they were ever properly explained didn't make much sense and left one *rolling eyes* mumbling okeeeeey!. We also come accross a couple of contradicting aspects and sudden power shifts like healing powers etc, that in hindsight leaves one wondering why they were never utilized prior. Also seeminly highly wise and powerful characters would constantly be changing their explanation of how the magic behind soul shifting works, and even worse things just ultimately transpire in a totally different manner. other times powerful side characters (park jin, seo yul, master lee) would mysteriously vanish at the most critical moments only to suddenly reappear after sh*t had already hit the fan to stand around and discuss it. A lot of these minor frustrations add up to make one feel like the writers were giving themselves enough viable cards and options to wriggle their way out of any tight spots that come up, all thanks to the highly sophisticated and complicated world that they themselves created in the first place.
Among the other smaller gripes that I had with the story writing, was how everything was built in a way that ensured our main leads were brought together, and despite that being a common trope of many a rom-com plot in K-dramaland, it still felt forced and too convenient, I guess one just has to accept the "they are destined to be together" card and simply roll with it.
But what I hated above all was creating emotional dying scenes and even holding a funeral, just for it all to turn out to be fake, only for the sake of creating a cheap cliffhanger. It made me just wish they were actually dead. I don't mind the suspense with a grievously wounded lead like Seo Yul, but to fake deaths, that was such a sick move by the writers. Also in my humble opinion, you can create an epic saga about good fighting evil with the good prevailing, while still showing sacrifices and deaths on the good side, not every single character has to survive physically to be considered a happy ending. Just saying.
The pacing was not one of the best apsects about S1, but still overall it was highly enjoyable. But season2 easily outdid its predecessor in bumpy pacing, with 2/3 of the drama wasted running in circles of ( missed hints>confusions>angst>break up>making up>and back to more missed hints ). Although watching the two re-fall in love from scratch honestly felt fun to watch, the romance plot line just took comparatively too much run time for its own good, it reached a point where it felt clichéd and dragging I just wanted the big reveal to happen already (and when it finally did oh boy was it lackluster), and it also took away much needed time from the core issues at hand that needed to be addressed to insure a proper closure, those issues were only given less than a third of the running time, leaving us with 2 last episodes that are too rushed, one almost feels like gasping for air watching them, and with sudden shifts between scenes feeling like whiplashes. We are promised a grand and epic battle, only for it to end in mere minutes with every one watching at the sides in a safe environment and Jang Uk doing all the work. Honestly, nothing made much sense with that fire bird plot, evil plotting wise or how it was handled (if it is destined to hatch then let us hatch it earlier duh!)
the characters:
Our all so mighty ML who is supposedly feared by even the greatest of mages thanks to the power of the ice stone, was somehow rendered into a middle schooler both in emotions and inconsistency. Still his journey climbing up from the dark pit he had thrown himself into at the beginning, and how the FL helped warm and light up his world was endearing and heartfelt.
The bigger problem though was our FL, who was, even by her own words, foolish and weak especially during the first half of the drama. She had the face of Naksu (for reasons that made not much sense to begin with) so I would assume that most viewers were like me in hoping that she would regain her powers and we would finally be graced with more scenes of our bad-ass FL for a change , a prospect that was dangled in front of our eyes since the character was introduced S1ep01, but alas, we only ever witness a shrivel of Naksu in character, and even Jin Bu Yeon's powers are only ever displayed briefly. There were a couple of instances where I thought there had been an ample opportunity for the writers to choose to show her stand up and defend herself, to be deserving of the powerful souls that lies within her, like when after regaining her memories she decided to face Jin Mu, the man behind her madness and death in S1, and chose to dive into a treacherous place for the sake of beating him. I thought surely then she will somehow survive and come out on her own (after all we know that among the remaining powers left within her is the ability to cast away evil writhes and spirits), but God forbid no! they still chose to create an unbelievable sequence (involving coming up with the idea that she is the reincarnation of an old powerful mage) just in order to make the ML be the hero of the day and save the damsel in distress. Even in the final scenes of the finale, they totally had the chance to show that Naksu, whose soul had been spared the owner of the body, was working on regaining her long lost prowess. But no! The exact opposite, She adamantly expresses her absolute wish NOT to train, and to stay completely dependent on the ML. That was just disappointing tbh.
As for much of the side characters, they were mostly just that, side kicks stored on a shelf only picked up and utilized for conveniency's sake or to provide some elements of humor and immediately shelved back thereafter.
while I really liked how the crown prince was portrayed here and was somewhat satisfied that his character was thankfully one of the ones that witnessed a redemption, I can not still get over the fact that he left Jin Mu to become gwanju after all his evil deeds in S1.
Seo yul, felt bland as ever for the most part, but on a positive note his brooding sad expression here perfectly matched his lone wolf life in this season more than the previous one. The only instance were I felt emotionally connected to him was in the plot concering So I , which I honestly was moved and brought to tears by.
Jin Mu this season was too comical of a villain, he was powerless and totally dependent on his minions and other higher ups to realize his evil master plan (which was utterly stupid to begin with)
The acting
Superb on the most part.
A lot of people were turned off and disappointed by the FL casting. story-wise aside, I have to say I found her acting to be very good, especially in the second half when she had started to regain parts of her memory as Naksu. I also strangely felt more romantic chemistry in this season than season 1 (which made me feel kind of torn up), maybe owing to more physical intimacy and kiss scenes, dunno.
Seo yul was a nice cool dude but I have to admit I found the actor's portrayal to be a bit lacking, and how the character was written this season didn't help either.
I can't say I didn't enjoy this drama both seasons, but to be honest, I am of the belief that if there had been less filler plots in both seasons, both could have then been made to fit nicely into a 20 episodes format drama. Then I think with such high-end CGI and great casting, this could have easily been one of a kind classic.
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>>Story (9):
The story is just so special and sooo well written, the slice-of-life, the medical, the romance, even the comedy....all aspects were given the utmost care to come out so convincing and at the same time emotionally attaching.
A big point that adds to a good story and script is the character developments, and Good Doctor didn't miss a character however small it was and gave each the motive and the chance to change so beautifully it simply gives you ENERGY and HOPE.
Also, all the characters even the side ones all had their of their own little stories going about, so it feels like they're all breathing life into the main big story and giving it more depth.
Why I gave it a 9 not a 10? It's because there was this side story line progressing all through the drama, at first it didn't really bother when we were still being introduced to the characters and their relation ships progressing, but later on with the drama it just felt like "I honestly don't give a da** about this stupid business war, it's a medical drama for God's Sake!!". It would have been a LOT better if they had settled the whole matter a bit earlier not in the final episode like they did, so we can concentrate on our main characters. But anyway, it's a GREAT story so I honestly feel bad giving it a 9.
>>Acting (10)
A definite OUTSTANDING!! if there we no other actors other than Joo Won it still deserves a firm 10!! It's never easy to bring out a mentally disabled person so convincingly, having to act like a little pure child but at the same time always showing proofs of being a real grown-up man deep inside. From the expressions to the smallest gestures to the posture and body moves, Joo Won was simply PERFECT!
All the other cast also delivered a very firm acting all along *thumbs up*
>>Music (9)
Great OST!! though there were rarely any instrumentals that stuck (I'm a bit into instrumentals rather than vocals) but there were some beautiful songs in this one, and their lyrics was always soooo fitting the story it always manages to put you in the right mood.
>>Re-watch Value (10)
I'm positive I'll be watching this one again, especially coz I can then skip the take-over business fight filler scenes and jump to my favorite scenes to my hearts content ^^
>>Overall (10)
Good Doctor deserves to be watched, deserves to be added on your favorites list too.
come to think of it, Good Doctor might as well be my first medical drama, and though sometimes I was a bit dizzy from all the complicated medical terms, and at times I was never quite sure what was wrong with the patient and what they were supposed to do, or what went wrong with the operation, but it never mattered. In a sense it felt refreshing, I think I'll be watching more medical dramas afterwards.
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A psychological crime thriller of many layers
Beyond Evil definitely deserves recognition as one of the best dramas depicting psychological crime detective thriller.With a dark gripping and highly thrilling plot to keep you at the edge of your seat.
the story first starts as a whodunit mystery of a 20 year old case that haunts our protagonist and essentially destroyed his family and life. and the story is written in a way that makes you doubt each character, if not for being the criminal, but for harboring evil and hiding a dark side in one way or the other. The first couple of episodes were a bit slow paced but serve a very important role in setting the stage, introducing the characters and the background story. The pace then steams up into a rollercoaster, you will be amazed at how each episode brings a new bomb of a revelation that leaves you shocked and intrigued. Starting halfway through the drama, I found myself constantly wondering "If all of this is revealed now so early on, how will the writer fill the rest of the drama?!", and each episode just proved me wrong. I will not say that the plot never loses steam, but let's just say that this drama left me feeling like peeling an onion. You think you've uncovered the truth, only to discover that you've only just hit the surface and a lot more is yet to unravel.
The story itself had many aspects which were all well balanced and perfectly written, it portrayed deep sorrow and hope, psychological pain and strength of character, vengeance and trust, frienship and enemosity. And the smart script, marvelous cinematography and direction helped bring out such a story in a gripping and truthful way (the story takes place in an undeveloped rural area, and I appreciated how the lighting especially in dark scenes was kept to a minimun to convey both the natural and mental feeling of darkness)
Above all the acting was one of the strongest points to the drama, thanks to solid performances by the two male leads, and their friends from the police force. In particular Shin Ha Kyun delievered a stellar almost-flawless performance, his acting was perfect shifting seamlessly from sad to mysterious to crazy to scary to evil to cute. He at times showed how broken and unstable he was, other times he was strong with a unwaveringsebse of justice, he was vengeful and other times forgiving. He had the best smile to send shivers down someone's spine. His acting alone could have carried the whole drama, but our second lead Yeo Jin Goo also delivered a very strong and believable performance that helped the viewer care for the two male leads' dinamic and how their relationship will evolve.
The music was very good with a lot of great tracks both instrumental and vocal that all fitted the atmosphere of the plot.
This is a strong recommendation to all crime/detective drama fans out there. Do not be fooled or put off by the slow paced plot the first couple if episodes, for you will be soon thrown down a dark pit of mystery and evil.
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Despite always following a fixed pattern, the episodes were never boring on the contrary this pattern leads one to expect always the same flow of events which makes any change however slight it might be a surprise in itself. That's what makes the whole idea behind the repeating a fixed pattern a Plus.
The Story(8): The drama is an adaptation of a series of mystery novels, but according to what I've read on Wikipedia, there are numerous differences between the drama's screenplay and the novel, like the fact that in the novel Enomoto is a thief who makes use of his vast knowledge of keys and locks to help Aoto who is a lawyer solve murder cases that take place in a seemingly locked room believed to be impossible to break through. The contradiction of being a thief but yet helping solve criminal cases, is explained by Enomoto's argument that although he steals he definitely can not tolerate murder.
Another difference, is the creation of a character that doesn't exist in the series, this character is none other than Serizawa who plays the role of Aoto's boss and the owner of the law firm.
The Drama basically focuses on the crimes and solving the mystery, so the character & their background development is found to be rather slow. this and the fact I found some of the cases and the basis on which they were solved a bit far-fetched are the main reasons why the story didn't get more than an 8.
The Cast/Acting (10): was by far the biggest merit in this drama, the choice of the leads in particular was spectacular and they all played their roles wonderfully(it's said that the producer/scripwriter had Ohno in mind while preparing for the show because he fitted the image he had of Enomoto Kei's character). Ohno's poker face and robotic moves were AWESOME, and the best part of it were the moments when you catch a glimpse of facial muscle movement that shows how excited or moved he was. I also loved the chemistry between the leads (the three of them) and although this drama has no romance, I still enjoyed the "Enomoto X Aoto" couple a lot
The Music (10) I enjoyed the OST in this show a lot, the music was utterly unique, fitted the scenes very well, and I also liked how the BGM was used to give shape to the pattern that I explained earlier, i.e. the same pieces were always played at the same parts of the pattern. I also LOVED Arashi's Face Down and the lyrics which perfectly fitted the show, it might just be coz I'm a big Arashi fan myself ^^
Though I feel I'll mostly be rewatching this show or some parts of it sometime soon, I only gave it a (9) not a (10) for rewatch value because I'm sure I'll still be fast forwarding and looking for my favorite scenes only and not watching the whole thing all over again. But I can never tell, coz I've just finished it and I rarely rewatch a whole drama through right after I finished watching it for the first time though I HAVE done that before :D
This is one drama that I definitely enjoyed.
I won't be spoiling anything, but the finale is BY FAR the BEST episode in the show so please if you haven't given this show a try or have started it and for some reason decided to drop it, at least try watching the last two episodes (since the 10th episode is a to-be-continued)
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As every one knows this is a drama-remake of a very popular and high grossing Korean Movie of the same title, of course the story is a whole lot different than the original movie's of course because we're talking about a 20-episodes-long drama compared to a 2-hour-movie.
This Drama had potential, the story's layout is quite interesting by most standards, bit of a "Mr & Mr's Smith" with all the spy Vs Spy missions and the romantic line involved causing the dilemma. But despite all that it would be fair to say that this drama didn't make the utmost use of all these weapons it had at hand, and sent most of them down the drain.
The first few episodes (to be specific until they got assigned to the NIS) weren't interesting enough to keep me hooked, but as an old K-Drama fan I know how most Korean dramas are a bit hard to warm up to at the beginning. To be honest with you, one of the main reasons why I couldn't get myself to warm up to the show quickly was my annoyance at the female lead's choice. I don't want to keep talking about how old she looks comparing to Joo Won (he should just call her "Noona" lol)coz I guess many people must have already killed this issue discussing, but also her acting wasn't that great and to add insult to injury the character she played had so many nasty points to it, in a nutshell it was mostly hard to sympathize with anything she said or did.
The romance developed quite fast, too fast that it made the watcher go all anticipating as to just how much we'll be getting busy through out the rest of the drama, and no argue we REALLY did get busy!! but not with the romantic or comedy plot, but rather with the plot that the writer just simply sucked at; "The Spy Game"
If this drama was a spoof for spy movies it would have made sense, I mean why the hell did nothing those NIS agents did that made any sense whatsoever. Let's say that this is a Rom-Com in the first place and that it shouldn't be judged on the whole spy line. OK even if I manage to agree with that, let's be honest, the whole idea behind the drama is that they are both agents who fall in love but have to keep hiding their identities from each other, so ultimately the two lines; romance and spy, have to end up getting tangled. And this is where it all felt so frustrating.
I enjoyed the first half of the drama, to say before the Baddies made their first appearance. I enjoyed it because it was full of cuteness and funny silliness not the type that frustrates you though. At the beginning I could to a certain extent feel empathy towards Seo-Won's character and even sometimes feel bad for her, but later the more the plot developed and all cards got revealed, her insistence on not sharing everything with him and acting all mighty made me just hate her and wish he would just do the same.
I know I said the plot evolving around the NIS' missions and spy work should not be my main point in reviewing this drama but I still can't hold back some of my comments concerning that one.
The whole baddie guys' revenge was stupid and badly written so I on purpose tried my best to ignore it so even if some parts didn't make any sense i wouldn't linger and wonder a lot.
The NIS itself and all of it's agents felt like a bunch of dummies playing 007 and not even managing to make it close. The mere idea that they get to cover such missions after only one year of training (which I bet involved basically drinking and dancing and gambling classes) felt so unbelievable. But I must congratulate the writer on one thing, the agents did seem like a bunch of rookies who just didn't have any idea what they were supposed to be doing.
Starting with the supposedly strongest and most experienced of them all; Do-Ha with all his spilling and tripping and pink-panther-sneaking during a mission! to Sun-Mi who fires a gun at headquarters by mistake, and instead of feeling any remorse just goes butterfly on her crush covering her!! (she should have been told to hand her resignation just there) To Seo-Won who can't even drive properly but can still snowboard and use a sniper even while shaking and sobbing!!!
Even the baddies most of the time seemed they just had no idea what they were doing, going around in circles not even reaching an agreement on the meaning of taking revenge.
Let all these plot-holes aside and concentrate on the romantic story line and you might enjoy the drama more (like I can say I managed to).
Putting the action aside and concentrating on the characters and their relations, you will still notice some irritating flaws with the characters:
(as I previously mentioned) Seo-Won with her meaningless wish that Gil-Ro believes her although she does absolutely nothing to gain his trust but rather act all the more suspicious.
Do-Ha, who says that he can even do bad things if it's for the good of his country but later on with the drama ends up conniving a crime that of course has nothing to do with anyone's good.
Sun-Mi, was by far the most childish character and should have never been an agent in the first place. So although I really liked her tomboyish character at the beginning I ended up hating her bad-loser clinging puppy personality.
The big guys (Won-Suk and Director Oh) with all their "if anyone finds about what we did we will be dead" bullshi*
(Needless to say) the Bad guys!!!!!!!!!!!! GO TO HELL!!!
So the writer nearly sucked badly at the spy parts which covered most of the drama, but somehow I still managed to enjoy this one, but only for the laughs. So the serious emotional parts I watched with one eye closed, and the action spy parts I watched looking elsewhere. lol
So why did I give it 7 and not less? it's because I loved the silly/funny/cute comedy scenes a lot, and also found some heartwarming plots to cling to (like Gil-Ro and father conflict).
one last advice, if you're going to watch this one through, better skip seo-won's parents' scenes, these are simply a waste of time and energy.
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This review may contain spoilers
A fast paced bullet train of a revenge drama, that almost ended in a train-wreck
[DISCLAIMER] MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!!READ ONLY IF YOU HAVE FINISHED WATCHING THE DRAMA
I binge watched the whole drama in 3 days. With a unique and fast paced plot, it felt like riding a roller coaster. The whole cast did a marvelous job, especially SJK as the grandson and the magnificent LSM as the grandfather. That duo was everything for me, how their relationship progressed from suspicion, to enemosity, to camaraderie, to trust was a work of art.
Now I wish to discuss the main issue at hand, which is the plot itself.
While the fast paced first episode pulled me in, the fantasy element in ep2 initially put me off (my mistake for not checking out the original work's synopsis first and not taking the title literally), but eventually we come to accept the fact that our hero HW had died and was reborn (for some reason midway) as DJ; the grandson of the soonyang family, the owners of the corporation he had previously worked at as HW. We also soon learn that the person he was reborn as, the youngest grandson DJ, had been dead and long forgotten by the time we saw HW working at Soonyang in 2022.
Although at a loss as to why and how he was reborn as DJ (just as much as we are), he accepts the truth (too swiftly tbh) and soon finds a purpose in this newfound life he was bestowed; he decides to take revenge on the Soonyang family that were behind his murder as HW, while also trying to salvage his poor family and save his mother from her untimely death.
First, He has to fight his way towards success and power in order to establish a place for himself in the family that he was initially not considered a part of (his father is an illegitimate son of the founder, who married an actress against his father's wishes and got disowned). He uses his knowledge of future events and the mental capabilities and expertise he acquired in his previous life, to one-by-one beat down all the evil and corrupt members of the Soonyang family, in order to reach his ultimate goal of becoming the chairman of the company, a promise disguised as a warning that he had made early on to his grandfather and the founder of soonyang.
So, in essence the story at first seems to depict an elaborate, smart and meticulously plotted revenge. He chooses to squash the business of the evil and corrupt members of his family, whom he knows one of which had orchestrated (in the future to come) his murder as HW and most probably had been behind DJ's death.
We are also shown clearly, that despite DJ's ability to utilize his knowledge of the future to change certain outcomes in the present, it is clearly established that when it comes to matters of life and death, there is nothing he can do, and no matter how he manages to change details in people's lives, ones who were destined to perish will ultimately perish (like HW's mother). So by this point, any rational viewer would realize that DJ as well is bound to meet his demise sooner or later. And despite an initial failed attempt at his life, I for one knew I would be disappointed if the drama ended with him alive.
So for that reason, I was not shocked or angry like others seem to have been when the writers opted to show him getting killed. On the contrary, that was one thing that made sense to me (much more than the mechanics behind his reincarnation into DJ or his shifting back to HW did). In all honesty, somewhere in my brain that was already exercising a major amount of suspension of logic, I somehow had the feeling that the drama will choose to use the card of "HW hadn't died", and I foresaw the possibilites that he might as well die as DJ as destined to happen, and return to his previous/future self as HW.
And that was exactly how it unfolded, but with a major plot twist. A twist that helped answer a question that must have been on everyone's minds since ep 1; namely the unrevealed background story of how a impoverished high school graduate managed to climb his way up to become a team manager and the trusted right hand man of the chairman of a large corporation, it managed to provide a convincing albeit sad, dark and unexpected answer. That exact same twist, served also as a kind of hint as to the important question that we as viewers had chosen to push to the back of our minds all through the drama; none other than why he was reborn as DJ in the first place. The "how" is impossible and futile to try to wrap your head around at that point, but "why" he, HW was reliving his life as DJ, was a question that certainly needed answering.
In that sense, the twist that was revealed at the end of ep 15 although shocking and somewhat disappointing made absolute sense, and neatly tied all the loose ends. HW was partly responsible for DJ's demise. We had also been shown at that point brief flashbacks of HW's miserable life at the time, paving the way to our understanding of how he was pushed into silence and obedience, and why he chose to do that against his conscience in order to secure himself a stable income that would help pull him and his family out of misery and poverty, living for 20 years serving his masters, the same people that he always had known were capable of the most heinous of deeds, without questioning their orders or judging it. One can say that he kind of brainwashed himself into becoming their ever-so loyal servant and slave.
Having a rego at life as DJ, he thought, his purpose lied in taking revenge. But he ultimately found out that it was all for repentance. He needed to right the wrongs that were done to him, both as HW and DJ, and hold accountable the people responsible. He was reborn as DJ to gain insight into the person he had witnessed getting killed with his own eyes and chose instead to erase all memory of his existence and untimely death. He was reborn as DJ, to learn about the machinations of the chaebol family he once served, to achieve the things he had long craved for; a higher education and a stable family life. But although he was focused and determined to prove himself and make the most out of the miracle that is him being reborn as a chaebol family's youngest grandson, he must have known that no matter how much he tried, he could never alter his destiny.
Logistically and logically speaking, him switching back to HW at first felt ridiculous. How come a week-long coma could enable someone to experience 17 years worth of life? But, seeing the events that unfolded, how HW chose to give justice to DJ's wrongful murder, while also ridding his grandfather's legacy, that is soonyang, of the corrupt and evil family that almost but all destroyed it. But, how the writers chose to achieve that feat was somewhat laughable imo (check the finale's recorded phone call, a conspirator for murder who forgets to end a call, and address his criminal mastermind boss who comically names himself for the audience LOL), and although that kind of dampened my enthusiasm in the plot that up to that point was neatly and tightly woven for the most part, setting my frustration aside and focusing on the outcome, that is HW took revenge for himself both as HW and DJ and that although DJ was tragically killed by his kin, his death wasn't totally in vain, soonyang was rid of the poisonous venom that was choking it.
On a side note:
I learned after watching the final episode, that the original web novel has a totally different ending, what could be considered a conventional happy ending. Some people might be enraged as to why the writer of the drama chose to change the ending in such a drastic way instead of simply adapting the same ending. I can not speak with certainty since I haven't read the original, but as a rule, I am of the firm belief that if a story that has a fantasy or sci-fi element chooses to establish certain terms and codes, it MUST stick to it. And since Reborn Rich had chosen to (rightly) establish that altering people's death is out of the question, it only makes sense that they stick to their rule, however much it might upset the fans.
Watching the final couple of episodes, I had a suggestion to how differently the story could have been written. they could have instead chosen to adopt a parallel universe scenario (one which was almost alluded to near the end with a side to side shot of HW and DJ) ie, that two peoples' souls swapped into each other in two different universes. My suggestion although a bit confusing would have been then that they make another actor play the role of HW after our lead was reborn as DJ, and when he returned as HW they show DJ as the same actor in flashbacks. I know Some might laugh at this, but look me in the eye and tell me you were not bothered by the fact that no one recognized HW's face as that of DJ. *side eye*
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This review may contain spoilers
This drama is unfortunately one of the biggest disappointments I have had in a Korean drama in years, including the ones I chose to drop midway. I have to admit I decided to watch it ever since news came out of the casting, because as a fan of both seasons of Stranger, I have come to admire Cho Seung-Woo greatly, and was excited for his next project, and for this reason solely, I didn't hesitate to watch, and for the same reason I kept pushing through no matter how frustrated I became with the drama.
Sisyphus is a scifi futuristic drama years in the making, boasts a high production cost, and casts a great ensemble, so what went wrong you ask?
while the production budget aided in creating hollywood-worthy looking scenery thanks to great CGI, and insuring rich cinematography, making the drama come out sleak and eyecatching, but alas the core element of any drama was deeply flawed; the story.
It was a drama whose creators may have well utilized a big production budget, but ended up focusing more on the visuals, and losing focus on what matters the most which is the story, and the cohesiveness of the science fiction plot.
While I admit the premise of the drama is original and cool (time travelling back in time to prevent a war and save the country), the story at its core turned to be a mess and plagued with plot holes, incohesive sequences, unexplained rules, and above all the science behind time travelling if any provided was illogical to say the least.
It goes without saying that any scifi media that discusses time travelling or time bending elements in many cases can prove to be a bit complicated and even sometimes dizzying to watch. But a neatly weaved plot and well written script that establishes a set of cohesive rules to the science behind it, are the key to help the viewer follow along. But in Sisyphus' case, especially during the second half of the drama when the plot finally started shifting from all the meaningless cat-and-mouse-like action phase and started to focus more on the time travelling aspect and the mission to change the past, the scenario in many times ended up creating more questions than it did provide answers, and even when it did provide answers they came too late, were sometimes unconvincing and other times downright illogical.
First, let's discuss the directing and general pace of the drama.
As I mentioned earlier the first half heavily leaned towards elaborate action, featuring a lot of car chases, gun fights etc. Although most of those (especially the post-apocalyptic future scenes) were craftly made and it showed the huge budget and amount of dedication put into creating them, I found myself feeling detached and not interested most of the time. The cinematography was top notch with many of the action sequences relying on sophisticated camera angles (using drones etc) fast moving shots, and wirework, but unfortunately like many other things did in this drama prove, too much of a good thing is not always to the better.
Proof to that, is how the writers time and again chose to assign precious airtime to slow-building action sequences in the future arc, that do little to the story's development other than maybe shedding a bit of light on how the Female Lead survived the harsh distopian post-war Seoul and came to learn to fend for herself, which many times unfortunately felt dragging and a distraction from the present day arc, and created problems in the pacing of the drama.
Or how, for the sake of creating catchy frames and thrilling action scenes, they chose to make everyone fire live ammunition at each other, even though the plot stresses on the fact that one side needs the other alive at all costs....and don't forget to mention that during such shootouts the leads rarely ever get hit, and if they do it is just a graze or a small cut to the arm, but the enemy always falls dead!
Second issue that made the show difficult to enjoy was the characterization, especially that of the antagonists, which was to put it mildly a total train wreck.
First off, the arch nemesis; Sigma, who was supposed to be the ultimate evil criminal mastermind who causes the demise of a whole nation, but who in reality ended up feeling like a silly cutout villain straight out of a comic book. No matter how I found him silly and laughable I always wished the writers had in store a strong background story to explain his grand agenda, but alas it was all just a childish and immature loser's grudge, soooo frustrating.
Also the Control bureau were just so incompetent and dumb watching them was a cringe-inducing ordeal that eventually required major adjustments to my villain-worthy standards.
Now to the main issue at hand; the story.
To end up watching a Scifi drama with half your brain occupied trying to wrap your head around what the hell anyone; both protagonists and antagonists alike; is trying to achieve (with all the gun fights and assassinations you no longer understand if they wanted him dead or alive?), or how a villain's warnings from a physical point of view make no sense whatsoever (kill me and my minions no longer look after your brother who is in limbo thanks to me existing?!!!!) , then It is not an issue of a sophisticated or smart plot, it is simply an issue of an ill-written plot.
There was a constant sense of incompleteness about everything regarding the plot, starting from the simplest and most basic of points (what was Quantam & Time intially selling that made it such a high stock company with a CEO fearured on the cover of Forbes?) to more pressing questions (what circumstances turned Sigma & the control bureau into allies and why?) To most fundamental matters on which the ending depended (If the uploader is never created shouldn't all time travellers from the future vanish simultaneously and not in such a convenient delayed fashion? Also wouldn't travelling back in time a couple of mere minutes ago to save oneself create an unescapable time loop?) And on and on...
The more you watch, the more you find yourself rolling your eyes at the caricaturish villains, and the more interactions you see between the leads and the villain, the more you scratch your head in wonder is it meet or the writers who do not fully comprehend the concept of time travel and the consequences of changing the past on the future?
All in all, Sisyphus may have been a fun to watch in terms of visuals and production, but the more you dive deeper the more you will get disappointed. I started to seriously wonder why such stars chose to take on such a project, and if they had received the full script before shooting started?
This is a drama that gives proof to the old adage, Not all that glitters is Gold.
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It is simply a drama which has compelled me to reevaluate my standards, to reconsider a lot of the 9 and 10 ratings that I have been so easily giving to other dramas.
Some may consider my review a bit exaggerated or over-the-top, but to me this sensational drama, was a huge surprise on many levels. It’s a drama that has sucked me in and left a very deep impression on me just after watching the first episode, I was determined to watch the whole thing and confident I would love every second of it. And so it was.
On paper this drama may seem like it does not differ from many other detective and law dramas, but with a mystery woven with utmost precision, a thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat, and a highly engaging battle for justice, all aided by a perfect cast and direction, this drama was anything but usual.
The drama's title was perfectly fitting to its premise, it delivers an intricate web of mystery and doubts, that just as advertised, anyone can be guilty. Watching this drama, you will constantly find yourself doubting a certain character, then trusting it, only to later harbor even stronger doubts toward him/her. The story was so smartly written, that it can so easily trick the smartest of viewers, sending fake signals; seemingly flags pointing to a certain character, only to later turn out to be a complete red-herring.
But one of the main strong points of this drama was, the perfectly executed characterization aided by the cast’s very strong and solid performance. Most of the characters, particularly the main ones, were multi-layered, with complicated backgrounds, some even deeply messed up. You could hardly label anyone “Protagonist” or “antagonist”, you find yourself liking and at the same time harboring doubts towards the same character. The characters are so believable and realistic, that however much their actions may seem unethical or outrageous, you still mysteriously relate to them, feel for them, and even sometimes love them.
But what really made such beautifully written story, script and characterization shine was the acting. There was not a single easy character to portray here, all thanks to the concept of the detective mystery; where you never know who’s not to trust and who’s to trust. The story also relied on a highly sophisticated script, which made use of a lot of blank sequences of silence with minimum or no monologues, but which still served to convey a ton of information and emotions.
All such aspects, required high acting techniques, where even the slightest look, change of expression or even lack of one, can make all the difference.
This is a drama that have time and again surprised me. Not because of all the obvious strong points that I mentioned above, but because it redefined even the small things, like what defines two characters’ chemistry, or what counts as a strong cliffhanger. Does chemistry have to be of a romantic type, involving gestures, confessions and skin-ship? Or is there another type of chemistry; a mental and emotional one, where two minds and souls so mysteriously and effortlessly relate, and share feelings of deep trust and respect. Such are the chemistries that do not require a major progress on a romantic level to attract and excite a viewer, but where a small gesture of courtesy, or an expression of high-regard, can leave you more satisfied than any other stomach butterflies.
With a very unique story, and an even more unique set of characters and events, this drama to me felt like I was rediscovering just how much perfect K-Dramas can be. Watching it, I felt so impressed, I sometimes thought how blessed I am to have been a K-Drama fan. I kept saying to myself, Hollywood should really learn one thing or two from Korean thrillers and detective dramas, feelings which made me all the more delighted to hear that it was actually airing on Netflix! It also posed as a reassurance, that this drama is receiving the attention and recognition it is worthy of.
I normally do not ship for sequels however much I love a drama (like Signal or Misaeng), but I found myself strongly wishing they’d consider producing a sequel for Stranger, preferably with the same cast. Keeping my fingers crossed that news circulating of an intention for a sequel is not a hoax.
Normally, I’d give different recommendations to different genre fans, like for instance if a certain drama lacks romance or comedy aspects, I’d advice a Rom-Com fan to approach with caution. But in this drama’s case, I send my strongest recommendations to every one! Including newcomers to K-Drama land. By all means, give the first episode I try and you won’t regret what happens afterwards.
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At first I wasn't warmed up to the idea that is this drama, for mostly the exact same reasons why everybody was looking forward to it and dying to watch it.
To rely on a popular drama and sell another one that's neither a sequel/prequel, remake or either a spin-off, by advertising it has a similar feel and story to it + share the same director and main female lead, hmmm to me that doesn't make any sense.
But I put all that aside and gave the first episode a try. Good thing I only did that after the drama had finished airing completely, for boy! was I hooked.
I loved the bad boy lead! loved the quirky comedy, the past & present story lines intermingling, but above all simply enjoyed watching the characters interactions to pieces. I found Lee MIn Ho (strangely) delivering a very strong performance, and (as expected) Jun Ji-Hyun who was just perfect as a cute, curious & lovable mermaid. I liked the story too and how it unfolded, especially appreciated that the method used to build and maintain a connection between the two leads was believable and not so reeking of drama-script-made-up encounters and unbelievable coincidences like many Kdramas fall prey of.
I also loved the overall pace of the drama, and rarely felt bored with the story (though sometimes I was bored with some characters portrayal or interactions esp. the villains). Also appreciated that the Joseon story unfolded early on, leaving well-deserved space to focus on the present seoul story.
I have to admit that certain characters' past actions portrayal felt a bit rushed and insufficiently accounted for, in a way that really didn't help flesh them out and invest me in their drama (the father). Some other characters' actions were a bit ill-written, and seemed a bit contradicting with the eventual portrayal of their strong and independent personality that it was difficult to relate to them let alone sympathize with (the mother). But still, the drama somehow succeeded in getting me invested in not only the fantasy and romance which are the main two lines of the drama, but also the family drama and friendship, I was crying in scenes involving both the two above mentioned characters so I can't say that my deeper considerations of their not-free-of-flaws script, or the gripes I have against how they were written, prevented me from enjoying the angst and drama intended overall.
Liked the music, the camerawork and direction. And LOVED the scenario.
Just admitting that after I had completed the drama that I was compelled to rewatch the thing over again (though of course with a lot of fast-forwarding and skipping all the scenes that don't involve the leads) is enough proof how I enjoyed it.
I totally recommend this drama to anyone who enjoys a bit of fantasy mixed up with comedy, and a little spice of drama and thriller.
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This review may contain spoilers
Korean Thriller/Crime Genre at its finest
Story, acting, directing, characters, ending....all perfect.The story quickly pulls you in within the first few minutes of episode 1 and it keeps you hooked until the last second of the finale, with a well-woven story that covers different themes; thriller/suspense, crime investigation, imprisonment, revenge and psychological. Each theme is highly well written, with a perfectly balanced pace and immaculate writing that provides ample mysteries and cliffhangers to keep the viewer on the edge of his seat at all times. The drama is highly bingeable so good thing I only enjoyed it after it completed airing.
The Acting was top notch by all the cast, I was particularly mind-blown by the 2 Female lead duo, their performance is accolade-worthy, with the slightest of facial expressions and gaze speaking volumes. Kim Go-Eun above all takes the cake here, boy oh boy did she manage to freak us out, leave one with shivers running down the spine, feel her pain and sorrow, fear her and pity her at the exact same time. you could be watching her just laying back gazing at the sky through a hole in the prison yard shades, and you feel like you can see her inner feelings through her gaze. Then to see how that daydreaming gaze switches to apprehension and animosity within seconds; that was a feast for the eyes.
I also really appreciated how both characters were written, and while their development arcs especially Mo Eun's might have had some blank parts lacking details but I respect the writers choice to leave the intricate details up to the imagination of the viewer. And despite both female leads being at opposite ends personality, conscience and nerve-wise, to see how their relationship shifted and enjoy their moments together on screen, It had been a while since I enjoyed such a relationship dynamic so well crafted.
If I had any trouble with the plot or the story writing it would be really small gripes not worth fretting over; for example the final motive behind her husband's murder was surprisingly lacking, I was expecting the motive behind his murder would be romantic, financial or to keep him quite from exposing someone's crimes like fraud or embezzlement. But I chose to convince myself that choosing that motive was to show how mentally unstable individuals could be not just driven to commit murder for such flimsy motives, but even worse chose to commit further crimes to cover up their tracks.
Another point that I would have appreciated had this drama steered clear from, is the writing turning to the miraculous capturing of the moment a crime is being committed or a person is incriminating themselves. I hate it when the main plot's mystery is solved thanks to a lost video or recording that managed to capture the significant moment to indict or acquit someone.
The first murder lacked such evidence, and we were told forensic evidence was tampered with by the perpetrator (only to find out police had tunnel vision and did not do a proper job gathering evidence). As for the second murder I believed they could have easily chosen to prove her innocence by one of several means; 1) proving he was still alive and well after she had left the murder scene, thanks to his interactions with his gaming friends , 2) Using the fact that he was gaming both chatting and talking with his friends and was actually shown to have stated he had met her and lived.
I know it is not a major thing, and many a drama chose to easily opt for the non-deniable easy evidence in the form of perfectly timed and positioned captured media, but precisely because as a viewer who had been appreciating the masterful writing of this drama such as the autopsy scene mentioning freezing the body hindered accurate determination of the Time of death but the state of digestion of food in his body suggested death happened 2 hours after consumption, you can say I was a lit bit annoyed when none of these clues were used.
Still all things considered, I really enjoyed this drama and loved the intense suspenseful mood it provided, and the deep and rich characters and their relationship dynamics.
To sum up, this is a drama I would strongly recommend to anyone, especially crime/investigation/psychological thriller fans. Give it a watch
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lovely time travel story with good romance
I am glad for people's positive reviews which made me decide to give this drama a try, and having did I understand the reason such a low budget drama is gaining so much popularity.I loved the whole story including the time travel element, and even though there were minor small gripes that I had with the mechanics of the time slips etc, it stil never ruined anything for me. The backstory to how the miraculous time travel capabilites first come about are never explicitly stated but the viewer is shown hints as to who to thank for it all, which made everything all the more heartfelt and emotional in the end.
The best aspect by far and one that I believe accounts for 100% of the popularity this show is garnering is without a question, the romance. with an endearing love story and marvelous electriflying chemistry, watching and re-wtching their scenes together and the behind-the-scenes, it shows very evidently how the two lead actors had built in real life such great rapport and a strong relationship based on trust and respect, and hopefully even more than that ♡
The acting was very strong by the whole cast especially our OTP who did a marvelous job conveying all ranges of emotions and levels of emotional maturity.
The comedy parts were pretty well done with a lot of laugh-out-loud cringe inducing hilarious parts, thanks in particular to a marvelous set of side characters including the ML's dad, the FL's mom and older brother, the FL's old time crush Tae-Sung and In Hyuk our ML's best friend.
the OST was lovely and despite the fact that first time watching not many tracks managed to particurarly stick with me, later after rewatching parts of it I found myself humming a few tunes even sonagi <3
If there are any negative comments worth mentioning, it would mostly concern the villain and the whole serial murderer arc. I know that the story needed a plot device to push it forward and into the danger and angst zone, but our bad guy was just that, too bad and psycho down to the core, but the story never bothered to show us any sort of background story to flesh him out or show us the motives behind anything he did or his seeminly deeply rooted grudge against Sol & Sun-jae, so he ends up as a 2D caricature of a bad guy, whenever he pops up on screen I am rolling my eyes rather than being on the edge of my seat.
And also there is just too many times that the writer is allowed to use the exact same plot device before it becomes too repitive it essentially is no longer surving its purpose but rather it's cheapening the worth of the whole story. I mean to sum up all troubles our lead couple could ever and will ever face together all in the mere existence of one villain, was too much for me at some points. I understand that if the story was that she was going back in time to save her love after getting hit by random traffic or some other type of accident, it might have had its uncertainties and would have felt like defying fate, and I guess the writers were playing at the concept of destiny involving both good and bad bonds, so people who were meant to cross paths are destined to do for better or for worse, but I couldn't help feeling like I would have appreciated it more if there was more time given to delve deeper into our bad guy's story and psyche so he would not feel like a wack-a-mole puppet popping put every couple of episodes.
Overall despite any minor shortcomings this drama might have, still a marvelous romance, lovable characters and spectacular cast manage to turn it into as perfect a drama as any romcom could ever dream of being.
So even though the objective part of me couldn’t help criticizing certain indiscrepancies about the time slip element which can not be said to be the most original out there to begin with (what with all the other time slip dramas that come out each season), or the annoying villain, Still this drama has managed to steal a spot in my all time favorites thanks to nothing but the main lead's chemistry and swoon-inducing romance. Proof is the fact I immediately went ahead and re-watched all their scenes together. I recommend highly to any Kdrama fan out there.
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a shallow story that lacks substance
First off I would like to admit that a drama format of 8 episodes ~50 minutes each is sometimes not enough to bring out the most fleshed out characters, deliver the most believable and meaningful character development on screen, or to express properly the subtle changes in each character's emotional side or trauma, which is best portrayed through interactions with other characters and the choices that they make along the story. But still within the same time constraints of such a drama format, there have been many masterpieces that gave birth to memorable characters, moving moments, and heartfelt scripts, some even created a cultural phenomenon and left a long-lasting strong impression on many a viewer. so to say that simply a shallow story or half-baked character development arcs is owing to time constraints would be an insult to such successful short format dramas.watching this drama made me feel like I was reading a short comic book. Not just cause the story sometimes felt childish with an avalanche of convenient coincidences, or that the characters felt two-dimensional lacking depth, but also that the writers relied almost solely on the script to express all character's feelings, reasons behind their decisions and their regrets...I mean there is so much a script can do, but having to stretch it to the point of making it feel like an on-stage actor's monologue or a cheap speech bubble on a comic frame that summarizes people's intents and feelings in just a couple of words, it felt lazy on the writer's side.
Adding insult to injury the script was just so amateurish and cringe it pushed me to eye rolling and shutting my eyes to avoid watching the pure cringe taking place on screen.
the story and chatacters were cute and all but lacked in believability and relatability which didn't help, add to that the fact that the story featured an extra dose of cliché to the point I actually appreciated the meta moments where the drama made fun of its own clichéd tropes.
the romance to be honest was lacking imo, which might have been for several reasons, one of which is that the whole story felt rushed to the point that it didn't provide enough material that shows the gradual development in their relationship. we need the back and forth in intercations, the ups and downs in the relationship, the pushing and pulling of their mutual attractions etc, such scenes are exactly the key to building a strong and believable chemistry between even the most unlikely Combination of actors. this drama mostly skimmed over all that and rushed to create attraction out of thin air, the writers depended in this part on the unexplained "card" of each being the other's miracle exception to their phobia, she's literally the only person he can touch and he's the only person she can maintain eye contact with....that is a sure way to provide an inescapable base on which to push any romantic scenario to its climax without the need of much gradual development.
to put it bluntly, I felt the two actors didn't exude chemistry between them, even watching the finale I felt like it was just that "two actors doing their job to earn their paycheck" that's how their chemistry was lacking for me.
the acting overall was not bad, oguri shun did the best with what he was given and delivered the most cringe script with his utmost degree of professionalism, and even though I mostly like the actress I was annoyed with her acting here, I know she was aiming to portray someone who has to avoid eye contact with surrounding people, but sometimes it felt her movements even when she was alone felt so over the top fake and annoying.
would I watch this again. no probably not. and it will join other dramas that I will eventually forget into oblivion.
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the acting performed by most of the leads (especially Kimura and Shibasaki) was simply a waste for this drama. Definitely a waste of talent and effort on such a meaninglessly stupid drama.
I gave it a 3 and not less, coz I really liked Matsushima Reiji's character which felt kind of fresh and found his love story with Andou Asahi to be super cute, and well you can add to that the fact that the drama made me laugh a lot at it's ridiculousness....period. I honestly can't seem to think of anything else that I found positive about this whole drama.
I guess they were trying to deliver a very profound and deep message to the human world or something, but they just used the wrong method, it all felt so hackneyed in particular the final episodes, plus the obvious fact that similar ideas have already been used over and over again in previous media all over the world. Add to that the story which was soooo full of holes big enough an elephant could fit through, it made me kind of surprised coz it was against my previously perceived image that Japanese particularly excel in sci-fi and horror. Seemed after all I was wrong to generalize that idea, and need to accept the fact that not everyone can write a sci-fi story that feels convincing and above that execute it in a manner that saves it from seeming ridiculous and laughable.
I can't say it had been a waste of time watching this, coz after watching I had the great satisfaction of taking one drama off my PTW list, but I'M POSITIVE I won't be EVER watching this drama again, EVER! (no need to worry, I already deleted the thing from my hard drive "waste of space")
I'm not used to writing negative reviews this bluntly, so sorry if I may have offended anyone in anyway, it's all just my personal opinion, no ill feelings please.
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I'll get to the point. The movie was as expected and publicized a BIG HIT. I loved the touching story, not just the romantic side of it but the humane part as well. In other words, not just the relationships between the two main leads but also the ones between the family members (especially the mother and Choel-Soo's) But of course the main attraction was how Sun-Ee's feeling towards Choel-Soo gradually develop from "Disgust" to "Curiosity" to "friendship" and finally to "Love".
The acting....well there's nothing to say above the rating I gave. more than anything Song Joong-Ki did a MARVELOUS job expressing all the character's complex emotions through his eyes (I've noticed through watching Innocent Man that he particularly excels in that field) To think that such a new and rarely played character came out so nicely expressed without the use of a single word!! Park Bo-young also did a wonderful job there's not one scene where you felt her acting was not good enough.
I have some minor objections mostly regarding the action scenes especially the CG used in the transformation scenes was simply horrible, a bit of an insult to the Korean Cinema industry.
I have yet to watch the director's cut with the alternative ending, looking forward to it.
It's a movie that has laughs, smiles, tears and even sobbing. If you're the type that easily cries watching movies and dramas, don't forget to get packed with some tissues, and if you're not the type that cries easily, I think you should also keep some at hand just in case ;-)
So, now that decent (but not official) English subs are out, anyone who had been looking forward to watching this, I suggest you do now fast.
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