Arthdal Chronicles: The Sword of Aramun
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This review may contain spoilers
THE MOST DISAPPOINTING SEQUEL IN THE HISTORY OF ALL SEQUELS
I have A LOT of grievances with this drama. I was invested in the story and worldbuilding that happened in the previous season, and I was genuinely interested to see what will happen with the trio in this season. But apart from the initial animation that gives a recap of the previous season, it just goes downhill from there on. I understand that there might be budget constraints and shitty set pieces and all of that, but a good story??? A tighter plot? How could the makers skip on those things by giving the excuse of low budget? It was just shit okay, and the viewer did not deserve their patience to be tolerated at this level after giving some 80-odd minutes of their time for each episode. I understand the last season needed to have these long episodes, because they packed a shit ton of stuff in each episode, and because there was so much worldbuilding to do, the long episodes made sense and weren't boring. But this was just torturous to watch, even on 2x speed. Just sad and bad and annoying AF.First, let's get the acting out of the way. S1 had Song Joong Ki as the ML, and he played both Saaya and Eunseom so well that I could totally believe that they were two different individuals. I'm not saying that Lee Joon Ki is a bad actor or that he can't act or anything. It's just that the transition from the 20-year-old Benetbeot brothers to the older, more mature brothers never felt believable. I blame the shitty writing for this. And then there was Kim Ji Won as Tanya in s1 who was replaced by Shin Sae Kyung. I try really hard to like her, but she's not meant for roles like these, where the actor needs to appear strong. Its just so meh. She was able to portray the kind, softhearted religious leader very nicely (thanks to her features), but that was pretty much all to it. Behind the soft exterior also lies a shrewd politician and that aspect of her character was completely LOST because the actress could just not make it believable. The stars of this season were Tagon and Taealha, HANDS DOWN. From being a revered hero to becoming a Macbeth-ian character to regaining his shrewd and clever self just to protect everything that he built from scratch... Brilliantly played by Jang Dong-gun. And then there was Taealha... she was my favourite character in the whole series, from a fierce warrior to protector to a conniving leader, calm under pressure... she played her part with perfection. There was never a dull moment in watching her. The rest of the characters were just meh; they were as good as cardboard cutouts, so no complaints to the actors who played them. They had nothing to begin with; what else would they do with such shitty characterisation anyway. Speaking of shitty characters, WTF WAS KARAT EVEN? Why was he there? Just because you need to bring the Momo Tribe reference does not mean you introduce the most random character who has no job but to insult people and bring some form of comic relief. It was not even comic. Just shit. Even the Neanthal people were shit.
Second, the story. What story? Where story? The makers just ignored that a fantasy series as this requires a legit story to back it up. Without a story, a fantasy drama is just stupid. And guess which drama falls into the same pitfall? This one, of course! The first episode... the very first episode of the series, and you get to see an Eunseom who is FLYING from a horse to kill enemies. WHY WHY WHYYYYY. This is not the Eunseom that we knew. Yes, it was all scripted that this character is meant for great things in the future and he's going to be the Numero Uno and what not, but FLYING? FROM A HORSE? NO. STOP. And it just goes downhill from there. There's no plot twist, no political intrigue, no nothing. The ML and FL were winning from ep.1, and that was such a letdown, that as an audience, I was rooting for Tagon and Taealha more. They had more motivation to retain their kingdom than Eunseom ever did. We never get to know why Eunseom wanted to capture Arthdal, except that its Tagon's kingdom that's why. I mean, how does this make him any different than Tagon? And while the idea of Tanya's motivation to group the common subjects together to protest against the King was interesting, the way she did it was just shit. Didn't work for me at all.
Third, the music. WHO PUTS ENGLISH SONGS IN A FANTASY DRAMA SET BETWEEN THE BRONZE AND IRON AGES? WHY? Every time the BGM started playing (which was whenever Enuseom did any flying on screen), it literally hurt my ears. I skipped scenes because of the BGM; that bad it was.
Fourth, cinematography. Shit cinematography. I hated the yellowy, sepia toned look of the series. Arthdal means civilisation, so less trees, so more sepia tone. What the... why even.
Last but not least, let's talk about Saaya here. WHAT HAPPENED THERE? The story starts 8 years after Tagon becomes King of Arthdal, and the next thing we know is that Saaya is in cohorts with Tanya and Mubaek and they're all scheming to get rid of the king. How? Why? The last time we knew, Saaya swore himself to be faithful to the King. And now this. And then he's the blandest doormat there could ever exist, who's just yes-manning to every plan that Tanya makes. Saaya was a guy who could think. Where did his brains disappear in this season? I get it, that he's in an identity crisis and that he can't figure out his path and all of that heroic tribulations, but treat him better? He's either running away or getting saved. Like stop already. And then whatever happened to the curse that Tanya put on Saaya in the first couple of episodes in s1? Those details are lost and forgotten. Instead of building a mystery around the whole Neanthal lore, they just IGNORE it. So frustrating. I loved his character in s1, and SJK looked ABSOLUTELY ETHEREAL playing him, but here's LJK playing him, and while he does a good job in his own way, there's just so much lacking. It felt like the only characters who have matured in the series were Tagon and Taealha, and the 3 Children of the Prophecy were just overgrown kids who were just playing Barbie doll roles of their favorite kind.
After all of this rant, I will still go back to watch s3, if there ever appears one (the ending of s2 totally hinted a sequel coming up), because I AM INVESTED IN THIS WORLD. But a sincere request to the makers: please don't ruin our viewing experience just because of your laziness and shoddy writing. The characters of Arthdal deserve more love and care than just copy-pasting the most obvious "Avengers"-like superhero tropes available in pop culture. Please give us a better ending to this saga.
If you're a story buff like me for whom not knowing what happens next is fatal, then watch this season. But frit your teeth and be prepared for some major heartbreaks on the way.
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Tastefully, Uncooked.
This drama had the potential to be SO MUCH MORE. It just fizzles down. To give you an understanding of what watching this drama felt like... Imagine Uncle Roger, watching Jamie Oliver's egg fried rice video for the first time.He starts off with high hopes and aspirations, because egg fried rice has his favorite ingredients. But the recipe starts getting weird after the most perfect prepping up. But he doesn't give up on Jamie Oliver's video yet, because he hopes things will get better from now on. Then he sees Jamie Oliver put water on the half-cooked rice, and he ends up putting his foot down, seeing the atrocity unfold in front of his eyes. Now, imagine you are Uncle Roger, and the atrocious egg fried rice video unfolding before your eyes is Tastefully Yours. It went the exact same route as Jamie Oliver's egg fried rice recipe. It started off weird, then got a little decent, and then just suddenly decided to FORGET ALL LOGIC and became such a convoluted mess. When the writers forgot what they wanted to show, they decided to bring in a big actor to bring extra intrigue. But the extra actor just brings with him confusion and ZERO intrigue. Then, when they got tired of the big actor, they decided to gift wrap his story in a neatly tied bow and scoot him off the set.
The only saving graces in this drama were Jungjae's coworkers, Noonim and Cheung-Sung, and Bomwoo's mom, played by Oh Min Ae. And it truly hurts when a drama with such good actors takes this bad of a nosedive midway through the series. They had so much potential; the drama could be so much more. But towards the end, it became just another rip-off of Culinary Class Wars (They even called influencers and chefs who came to CCW >_< ) . I think had they taken lesser-known actors, it would've made better sense, but wasting the potential of two of the best actors in the Korean industry is just sad. Do better, kdrama. There's only so far that food can take you.
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THE LEAD COUPLE'S CHEMISTRY SAVES THIS DRAMA
It's extremely disappointing when a good concept, a good story, and great characters are WASTED AWAY because of LAZY writing. The drama should've finished at ep. 30. The last 6 episodes are just an extended epilogue, and were so completely unnecessary. ππWhat saved this drama, was the lead couple's chemistry. THOSE TWO WERE SUCH A TREAT FOR THE EYES. And I loved that their romance was not all sugary sweet, but with a lot of tiffs between them and quite competitive from the get go. And their acting never felt fake, although Luo Yun Xi was a little too camera conscious for me at times (his poses are too picture perfect and don't look natural after a point).
The 2nd couple's romance was just meh. Initially I liked it, I thought the Opposites Attract theme would develop more, but the characters fell flat after some episodes. And that's where the character development went down... The girl, Xi Li was an absolute whiner, and the guy, Li Xiao Chan was just a cardboard character (who is he as an individual, his life in college, we don't know anything except that Xiu Li liked him from the get go). Xiao Chan and Yuan Shuai's brotherly camaraderie was not bad.
Finally, COULD THEY HAVE ANY MORE PRODUCTS TO ADVERTISE IN THIS DRAMA?! I get it that there is the occasional product placement, but why so much and so evidently???? Wearing CHANEL earrings or showing MIHOO face masks AT EVERY OTHER EPISODE was just too much.
Then there was the character of Du Lei. He was such a lovely character, he was the most layered one with different personality traits, had a proper history, and a believable character growth arc, I was legit suffering from the 2nd lead syndrome after seeing his side of the love triangle. But nope, the writers had to treat him unfair, and they had to ruin his character at the end. It was just so frickin' unfair.
Lastly, the sub plot resolutions were so hurried and untidy and inconsistent. Felt as if they wrote a shabby draft overnight just to meet with the deadlines.
I wish they were more consistent with the writing, and dealt with the story with a little more care and EFFORT as they had put in the first couple of episodes. Overall, just watch it for the lead couple's chemistry.
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What Watching a Novel Come Alive on Screen Looks Like
This is definitely not a beginner's watch. If you are expecting the typical K-drama feel, with cute characters and hearts and flowers and a generally good vibe, this is NOT IT. It markets itself as a horror genre, but I don't think that horror is the correct word to describe what was going on in this drama. The writing is *chef's kiss*, disjointed, surreal, no narrator is reliable, yet every narrator has a compelling story to tell, it felt like watching a novel come to life on screen.The aesthetic that the director used to narrate the story was very grim and dark; the atmosphere in the first couple of episodes of the drama is sure to scare the weak-hearted watcher. But it is a story that requires patience and time to sit through, so that you don't abandon it in the first couple of episodes, but watch it till the end to see how each character meets their resolution.
If you are a fan of writing, then this is a series for you. It's a masterclass in how to weave multiple narratives into a coherent plot. If at all, there needs to be a tiff with the series, it is that its OST is nothing remarkable. But that is again a writer's/director's choice; it uses silence to signify death, loneliness, grief, horror, tension, everything that the series deals with.
The only advice to anyone watching this is DON'T GIVE UP IN THE MIDDLE, watch till the end. Overall, a solid 9.5 on 10 (deducted 0.5 because ep 7 got a bit boring).
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What to Make out of this Drama? Mostly Left Me Feeling Clueless
I started watching this drama when it was still airing. They had only released 6 episodes till then. I loved the stupid, quirky charm of the FL so much that I binge-watched 4 episodes in one sitting, and decided to wait until the rest of the episodes were out. Then I would sit and binge-watch the whole thing all at once. So I waited for 2 long weeks. Finally, when I got to starting the series again, I decided to parse through the previous episodes as a recap. And then from the 5th episode onwards, it somehow started getting weird, and it just got weirder and weirder by the minute.Things that I liked:
1. Sex positivity: It was so good and refreshing to see proper kissing on screen, and two grown-up characters getting into the action without the whole sloooooooowwwwww "stolen glances, chases, hand grabs" and all that slow burn romance cliches. They knew they liked it and they went for it. Need more sex positive representations on screen like these.
2. Lead couple's romance/chemistry: Very corny, but cute. Also their romance was pretty straightforward from the get-go. No additional fluff and drama, so if you want to watch two opposite characters remain in love, this was a pretty good instance of that. Also amazing chemistry between the two.
3. Side characters: They spent enough time talking about the side characters and their story arcs, and I appreciate that.
4. "Everyone is a lead character in their own drama": This was the best line in the whole series. I wish they explored this idea in more details instead of focusing on 50 things very superficially. Like, why does the ML's best friend have a difficult dynamics at home; what is the relationship between Jo Eunae and her father. But points to the writers for thinking of new concepts to explore, I guess.
Things that I didn't like:
1. Wafer-thin plot: The plot of the story ends by the time the two of them decide to get together (somewhere around ep. 6). After that, the plot is just paper-thin. The palace intrigue has no bulk to it, random foreigner angle has no resolution (didn't make any sense at all).
2. Random kid/shaman author figure: I get it, the writers wanted to bring an additional "divine intervention" angle to the story, to tweak the story towards its happy endings, but was it necessary? I didn't see the point of any of the interactions that the leads had with the kid/shaman/deity character.
3. Second Prince: Why introduce him in the last section of the story, when he had the potential to be a bigger, more menacing presence throughout the series? Made no sense. His whole story arc had so much potential, but it just was wasted thanks to the coyingly sweet romance time of the lead couple.
4. Ending: The ending was weird, the switches between the two 'Cha Sunchaek's were very random with zero explanation on either end.
Bottom line, the series had the potential to be better, but got lost midway in trying to resolve the transmigration problem. Overall, a one-time watch, bearable thanks to Taecyeon's stoic face and Seohyun's quirky charm.
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Why was everyone pampering Li Xun?!
This drama was quite contrasting... At times, it peaked with its brilliant character arcs and storytelling, and the next moment the graph would just dip and show absolute nonsense. While I really appreciate the story and the whole journey of the characters, I must say the pacing of the series was quite slow. The series opens in the present time, where we see the leads living quite miserable lives. Then it goes full flashback, to show what really happened and how did this misery come to be, and we witness Li Xun and Zhu Yun as freshly admitted college kids. Now while I loved that they took their time to build the story and show substantial character development, taking 19 episodes to show just their college days is a little too much. The episodes were meandering in the middle, with little to no plot development, and after a point, I got impatient seeing baby Zhu Yun chasing behind baby Li Xun, and baby Li Xun throwing a tantrum to anyone who dared to cross him. I really wanted to know what the "big incident" was all about. So imagine my frustrated PAIN when the big incident was finally revealed. It was so anticlimactic. Here I was thinking of the gravest of the grave crimes that the ML could commit, and it just fizzled out like a wet cracker.Then comes the 2nd half of the story, and I prefer the 2nd part more than the first, mostly because of Zhu Yun's character development. Her transition from a sheltered princess to a boss lady was very well done, and the actress also played her part very well. However, it doesn't mean that 2nd part is flawless. While it made up for the 1st part's often meandering storytelling by having a tighter plot, it wasnt able to capture the nuances of the characters that the 1st part was able to do. This is a sign of sloppy writing, where you forget about the characters to just race the plot ahead to the finish line. The biggest gripe that I will have from the 2nd half and this drama, is how they wrote the villains. The villain's transition arc was so pathetic. This literally ruined all the character development of that guy and made him into a caricature figure who becomes a villain just because the story needs one. One minute he's crying next to Li Xun as his comrade, the next minute he's COMPLETELY TRANSFORMED to a soulless, evil character who laughs at the ML's loss, and then he even cackles evilly to reveal all the villainy things he's done. This transition does not happen overnight y'all. I need more motivation to understand why the villain became a villain. The actual villain though, is left untouched, he becomes a slick weasel, just sneaking past all retribution/punishments through plotholes, the way a rat slips through gaps and holes. Just at the end, one line is narrated by Zhu Yun to say that he deserved what he got. They should've elaborated more on his relationship with Lao Gao. But again, sloppy writing, so they decided to ignore these nuances completely. And towards the end, the villain gets a redemption arc too... Like good for you, but show me why its necessary π
Now when it comes to the acting, honestly Arthur Chen has THE MOST wooden face ever. But because he's playing a complicated, unfeeling character, his wooden expressions work. But he still needs to learn how to snap on camera and how to contort his face to show SOME facial expression. The female lead was also lovely to watch. Despite the lack of facial expressions, their chemistry was spot on. And Arthur Chen with a crew cut looks much hotter than the blonde or the black hair. So the wooden looks worked out really well as intense looks. The rest of the actors were also fine, except the actor playing Fang Zhijing was overacting at every frame per second.
Finally, the OST. Both the songs and the background music was good and memorable.
Honestly, this was one of the better cdramas I've watched. There's nuance, there's revenge and there's obsessive love sugarcoated by a lot of computer coding and jargon-ing!! I just wish the series was a little more edited, the watching experience would've been flawless then.
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Han Hyo Joo outshone Park Hyung Sik in this one
I started watching this drama for PHS (because he's my latest binge obsession) but ended up falling in love with Han Hyo Joo instead. Daaaammmnnnn gurl what a boss woman. Loved her character and her acting in it. I loved that neither of the leads treated the other like damsels in distress, like they were two independent, grown ass people who knew well enough what the other person is capable of, and that's where their camaraderie shone best. I don't know why people are saying they had no chemistry. They forget that the leads agreed to a MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE and such relationships don't come with roses and kisses from the get go. It develops over time, and I loved how the drama was able to show that development without being over the top dramatic about it. Proper ass-kicking, on-charge power couple they were.In terms of the story and everything else, it was basically Sweet Home but in a high rise apartment, so basically fodder for more ethical and moral questions than the usual. The story didn't wow me, I was more wowed by the leads, and by Han Tae Seok and his wit. The acting was quite top notch, so no complaints on that. The OST was interesting, it lingered throughout the drama. Just don't understand why the drama was called "Happiness", kinda seems a stretch of a name compared to what they were portraying.
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A Mediocre Saegeuk Drama that does Mediocrity well.
I started watching Tangerines and decided to skip that and watch this instead because Tangerines made me ugly cry, and I didn't want that. Now while I picked this because it was a stupider and lighter watch, I was pleasantly surprised by it. Unlike many other kdramas that have crossdressing, here it didn't feel forced or outlandish. Jeon So-nee's voice, her stature, and her general body language made all of it look very believable. And I loved the dynamic between the two leads, it wasn't the most saccharine sweet, but it was solid camaraderie. What I didn't like, however, was how their pair came to be.This drama also got me into a PHS binge spree, and I ended up watching everything else that he's acted in. Personally, I feel that PHS fits this role with perfection, he's got a very Royal, Princely aura around him, couldn't picture anyone else in the role of a Seja Joha other than him.
What worked for me was that the series was a well-made mediocre series. It knew it wasn't out there to be the BEST KDRAMA of the year and the writers worked with what they had, didn't cast large expectations. So what you see is an earnest effort to make a decent saeguk mystery, which was good. This is the kind of drama you watch when you want to just chill and go with the flow of the story.
Overall it was an okay, decent watch. Liked the acting of everyone, the ending felt a little weird but not bad, very neatly tied everything in place.
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Music Conquers All
This is an old drama, and I was extremely intrigued by the plot, so decided to give it a go. The first episode was quite confusing for me, the characters just come and go on in the screen, and no explanations are given as to who is whom. The overall pace of the drama was also a little slow. The editing was also quite jarred, so there were times when the scene cuts were very random. Also the way each episode ended was so annoying, with it stopping at one random scene, and that loud piano shaking the viewer out of their senses. Not necessary to end each episode with a loud BAM on the piano.The acting, on the other hand, was superb. Top notch acting from all the actors. Yoo Ah In deserves special mention for the absolutely brilliant job that he's done here. The facial expressions of the actors while playing the piano were a bit too loud and exaggerated, but that's okay I guess... It's an old drama, and a melodrama at that. So this much leeway the show deserves I guess. Apart from the lead characters, the rest of the characters felt very unidimensional to me. They were just rich and bitchy. I was annoyed with the Seo family till the very end. Despite these flaws, the actors acted their parts well. No qualms on the acting department.
However, the main star of the show is its OST. It's very rare that k-drama OSTs are musically good. They are either too kpop-ish or they're just loud. But this one does such a brilliant job of maintaining the "Forbidden Affair" theme musically. The music is taut with tension, and so measured, and yet packs so much passion into it.
The ending of the drama was a bit meh, I didn't like the way it ended. The pace was also inconsistent, it got slow at parts, but it still managed to hold the attention of the audience. And that was just because of the OST that stringed each scene and character so well with the progress of the story.
Overall, watch it for the lead couple's acting, and for the interesting subject matter. The lead actors acted really well, and the director treated their romance with care and consideration. It never felt overtly raunchy or oedipal. A decent one time watch.
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INTENSE AND DAMN GOOD
I generally watch k-dramas because they have a way of easing the viewer into topics, even though the topics dealt with in the shows might be intense and serious. This one does nothing of that sort, and it just continues to hit you in the face (in a very good way). And it's kudos to the actors, the director, and the writer for that. This has been an intense watch right from episode 1. The topics dealt with in this series are intense (bullying, drug abuse, parental abuse etc), but that does not mean that the show gets boring. It is the writer's credit for keeping the audience glued to the story despite having a pretty dark and gloomy setup, right from the get go. We have the protagonist, Yeom Si-eun, who is the topper of his class, but a loner; there's Ahn Soo-ho, who's always asleep in class, but the chirpiest (of the 3); and there's the newcomer Oh In-beom, who changed schools because he was bullied in his old school. The three become fast friends, and the rest of the drama is the story of their friendship. The first few episodes kinda ease you into watching the drama for the characters. The acting of all the characters are just top notch, each one packs a punch in their own ways. Anything more might appear as a spoiler, so this is all there is to it.All that I can say about this drama is, the drama blurb is quite misleading. The story takes its own turns and gut punches you in its own ways. Was it a satisfying watch? Nope. Was it a quality watch? Fuck yes, absolutely. I am extremely glad that the director did not succumb to the demands of the formulaic high school drama, and stayed true to the characters till the very end. Kudos for having the courage to do that.
Overall, a 10/10.
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Action packed
This drama promised action, and action it had, from the get go. The action choreography was just out of this world, *chef's kiss*. The acting was also quite good, with Woo Do Hwan and Lee Sang Yi being the best action pair one could ask for. I loved how the women were also quite well equipped to handle their own, and not mere sidekicks. I just wished Kim Sae Ron didn't have this abrupt exit though.Let me just take a moment here to shower praises on the lead actors' bodies. They have WORKED OUT FOR IT, and it shows... Every muscle, every sinew in their bodies are so fucking well sculpted, it was a feast for the eyes π I was particularly impressed by their running shots - most of them were taken in a single shot, and they sprinted the whole time. Just goes on to show how FIT AND ATHLETIC the actors were for this role. It was a short watch, but packed with a lot of suspense. Till the last half of the last episode, I was unsure if it will get over in one season or if there will be a 2nd season chasing the villain. Also Park Sung Woong as the villain was a delight to watch. Cold, killer eyes and that maniacal smile was enough to protray all the malice that his character demanded. This was quite the refreshing watch after a series of average to bad Cdramas binge sessions. Overall, would totally recommend it for the action scenes and the easy camaraderie between the two lead men.
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Let this Drama Sparkle for You! JUST GO FOR IT.
Joined late to the Twinkling Watermelon Fan Club, but here I am. One of those rare, well-made, earnest kdramas that remind us why we love watching these dramas so much. The fantasy element sounded outlandish at first, but kudos to the writers for incorporating it so seamlessly into the main narrative. I loved how the plot twists were not very concealed, in the sense that we all could figure out what would happen next, but the way the plot twists were placed and executed is what made the watching experience novel and quite unexpected.Full points to the actors for doing such a lovely job. Personally, for me, Ryeoun felt like the weakest actor amongst all, but that doesn't mean he did a bad job, he was just 2nd best among the rest of the best. Even the supporting cast did a great job. Also, a big shout out to the stylists, getting the 90s chic bang on, with the outlandish hairstyles and baggy clothes and tacky colours.
The OST is not the kind of music I listen to, but it does stay with you long after the drama is over.
The best part of this drama is that it is earnest writing, and the humour (even though very overdramatic) is so earnestly done, you can't help but laugh at their stupidity. Life feels a little empty now after finishing watching this.
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A Makjang that features Park Hyung Sik as a grey character? Okay I'm in!
All hail Park Hyung Sik for single-handedly carrying this drama through. I saw this immediately after Bong Soon, so you can understand why I absolutely fell head over heels in love with a long, black-haired PHS.I saw the first episode, and I thought this was another version of Song Joong Ki's Reborn Rich. The vibe of both dramas is similar, but this is a little different. The first couple of episodes, when the context is being set up, are absolutely brilliant. It seems like the drama was bogged down by its own expectations. It built a plan so huge and vast that, as the story proceeded, it wasn't able to achieve the scale that it wanted to. The characters are essentially all sad characters; everyone is powerless, but everyone is also a schemer, and at the end, no one really gets to have the last laugh. The battle between Seo Dongju and Yeom Jangseon was brilliant, and it made me want to root for Seo Dongju, even though I knew that he wasn't the nicest guy out there. So points to the writer for making a flawed character memorable enough that you want to see what stunt he's going to pull next. Apart from them, there wasn't any character memorable enough. The chairman was a cunning character, but again, not a nice guy. He had his preferences and biases, gave no shit to the women in the house, and was only interested in using people to his interests. I really did not understand the logic behind why Seo Dongju (who is so particular about whom to support and how to do it) decided to stick to Chairman Cha even after all the mistreatment. The writers portrayed it as if SDJ REEAAALLLYYY wanted to work for the chairman, because the Chairman is the best boss ever. That just made no sense at all.
The second tiff that I have with the drama is with Heo Ildo's character. I kinda understand where his intentions were coming from, but still, the way they portrayed him as this villainous character in the beginning, the redemption arc towards the end felt forced.
The final tiff that I have with this series is the romance part of it. For two people who are shown to be SO PASSIONATE in the beginning, they shouldn't be able to keep their hands away from each other, especially if both are living in the same house. But their romance just fizzles away, and the FL just becomes a cardboard cutout emotional support therapist for the ML.
The series had the potential to write many powerful female characters, but they all ended up receiving cardboard cutout treatments... such a wasted opportunity. Furthermore, several characters like the Administrator, the Hacker girl, Cheon Guho, or even Madam Pi, were just random people thrown here and there without any backstory or explanations. I would've personally loved a backstory of Cheon Guho and why he chose to stick by Yeom Jangseon through everything.
But the OST was good, and so was Park Hyung Sik. He was the reason why I watched the whole thing in 2 days straight and persevered through the dragging episodes from 8-12 (didn't see the point of dragging out a subplot for so long, they could've just ended it quicker). His hairstyle deserves another essay, and so does his wardrobe. His stylist needs a raise. And his acting was both cute and evil, the λ―ΈμΉλ (mi-chin-nom) smile with the demented eyes was ON POINT.
Overall, it was quite an interesting take on the makjang genre (based on the few that I've watched) in the first couple of episodes. But it suffered the curse of the mid-series boredom and picked up pace only at the 11-12th episode or so. But by then, it was too trope-y to be excited over anything. The treatment of the series was also VERY manhwa-inspired. I actually thought that this was an adaptation of a manhwa, but it apparently is not. Either way, its a decent one time watch. Watch it for our Hyungsik-a <3
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Who run the world? GIRLS!
I thoroughly enjoyed it. I am not generally a fan of Cdramas, find their heroines a little too over the top. But this one was quite the revelation. It was all about women standing up for themselves, making a living and living a life of integrity, irrespective of whatever storms life throws at them. Standing at the helm of all the feminist struggle is the FL, Hua Zhi, played by Zhang Jingyi. It's nice to see that non-ke'ai female actors also exist in Chinese dramas. She did a really good job in portraying a headstrong, go-getter head of the family, whose ingenuity saves the day. However, she was a little too perfect, had no opposition from anyone at all (except the king), and pretty much won at everything in life. It makes sense, but yeah.. not the most relatable, everyday character you see on screen.The ML was a contradiction. He had a screen presence, it was nice to see him fill the frame up with his TALL, gangly frame. But again, this is a guy who's supposed to be cold and emotionless, like a bodyguard or an assassin at best. Apart from his height and stony face, there was nothing else that could convince me that he's a scary figure. He looked too pretty to play the role of the Commander of Security Bureau. And after they showed his "softer", lover-boy side, believing him as a scary figure was just hilarious.
The rest of the side characters, aka members of the Hua family were also well fleshed out, each had a good story arc to them. But the best of all the women was the grandmother's character. Now she demanded attention on screen. Best character out of all, although she had an early exit.
The Emperor was the greyest figure of all, and even though his actions were villain-like, one could understand where his motivations were coming from. I loved his character; he commanded fear and respect. The actor did a good job. But the best (and the most underlying) part of the whole series, was the ML and the Emperor's relationship. Theirs was such a toxic filial relationship; I was always at crossroads, trying to root for either of the characters, but when the Emperor made sense, the ML didn't, and vice versa. Towards the end, when Yanxi says that he understands the Emperor, it didn't strike a chord with me, because I didn't see how the Emperor's actions were legit or necessary.
Overall, it was a neatly written, well-tied script, filled with ups and downs, good acting, and all for women power. Good watch!
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The Series should've been titled "Serious World" instead of "Wonderful World"
I really wanted to like this drama, but it was just taxing. Finishing this was extremely tedious, and this coming from one of Cha Eunwoo's fans is quite something.Story: the story was pretty simple, it's pretty much what the synopsis in MDL reads. given that there are not many "events" happening or not many plot twists in every episode, this story tried to bank heavily on the 'emotions' quotient. But that was both its boon and bane. It truly revealed the acting abilities of the actors, all of whom played their characters with such perfection that it was very good to see mature, serious performances like these on screen. But on the other hand, the more the series tried to invest in emotions, the slower it got, and hence, more boring. If there is a pause of a minimum of 20 seconds between one actor's lines and another 20-second pause before the next actor speaks their lines, then you know something is wrong here. And then every crying scene (and there are PLENTY) lasts for a minute at least... its just a bit too much. In the middle of all this slow slow emotion-building exercise, the story gets lost completely, and we are left to watch just people crying. So yeah, in terms of the story, nothing really happens.
Pace: In case I haven't said this enough, this drama is SLOW. It starts off slowly, builds up slowly, but by the 6-7th episode, picks up pace. But then again, he decides to slow things down and it becomes a slow burn again by the 9th episode; episodes 10-12 are painful to watch. I ended up watching the last 2 episodes at 1.5x speed, and they made so much more sense at that speed.
Acting: Really lovely acting by all the actors. This was one of the most understated roles that CEW has ever played. Funnily, its not like he has done anything different in terms of how he acts, but it was more like his brand of acting got cast in a sombre, no-nonsense role, instead of being cast in the same old brooding lover boy role. But either way, it was only the acting of all the actors that made the series watchable.
The OST was quite nice, especially the cover of "What a Wonderful World."
Overall, if you want to watch it because of CEW, you can, but otherwise, not watching it won't be a loss either. If at all you want to watch it, watch it on 1.5x or 2x speed, that's a better alternative. But on an ending note, this drama deserves praise for being quite liberal thinking... full 100 points to showing strong, independent women; grey areas of marital relationships; dicey family relationships; and people who are not completely good or bad. These nuances made the drama quite watchable. If it had been a little faster, it would've been one of the best dramas I've watched this year.
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