4
14
This review may contain spoilers
Interesting concept but a little overrated
I will admit... I kept putting this off thinking that watching it will be a chore. I am not one to be ecstatic about dramas with over 16 episodes. Things tend to be dragged on for too long and I get bored easily, even with 16 episodes. I was also under the false impression that it was a political drama with superheroes for some reason which made me avoid it like the plague. But, seeing the high rating, the reviews, and Han Hyo Joo in the cast list, I kept it on my PTW planning on checking it out eventually. This was recommended to me by @Lighter for the 2025 Recommendation Challenge by Xiao Zi and I chose it for February to prevent myself from delaying watching it even further. I ended up completing it in four days after I started it, finishing it 2/27/2025.
After finishing the show, here are my thoughts:
I love shows with superheroes and the fact that this was about that made me intrigued from the first episode. I loved the variety of powers our main characters had. Also the shows duration time wasn't over an hour like I feared but maintained relatively around 45 minutes which I loved. It felt more engaging without having overwhelming long episodes.
I LOVED the teenagers! They were so cute and heartwarming and I was assuming that the show was going to be focused on them more than what it was. But it unfortunately wasn't. After only a few episodes with the kids, it changed to the parent's backstories and I couldn't help myself but wonder when it was going to change back to the present. The show's tone changed very drastically and I couldn't appreciate it. I love brutal violence, but it wasn't how the show presented itself for the first few episodes, so it was too sudden. Now don't get me wrong, I wanted to know the parents backstories and it gave me background on the whole show, but it lasted a little too long when I cared more about the kids. I don't like watching romance in my action dramas, but I loved the romance between Lee Mi Hyeon and Kim Du Sik and Jang Ju Won and Hwang Ji Hui. It kept me invested in the parents backstories and prevented my rating from going to an 8.
(A little spoilery after this section)
They underutilized very interesting characters that I felt should've been part of it more. For example, Frank was an interesting character and I wanted to see him more but his departure from the show felt too sudden. I kept expecting him to pop out randomly at the end but he didn't. Another example would be the North Korean agents. Im Jae Seok didn't have enough depth for me to feel sympathy for him when he died. I also didn't care for Kwon Yong Deuk's second chance as a character I knew barely anything about. I thought they should've put more focus on how the two main antagonists of the NIS (the head of the NIS and the "principal) were dealt with. Their deaths were just kinda thrown in my face without anything satisfying enough given that they were absolutely terrible human beings.
I also didn't appreciate how none of the parents prepared their kids for any potential dangers. Come on, they were all part of the NIS. Those kids could have easily been killed by the trained North Koreans. Which reminds me of the gym scene. Since Lee Mi Hyeon didn't train Beong Seok on flying at all and he was very amateur at it, it's not very believable that he's able to control it in a few minutes. I know he tried practicing outside, but I didn't see enough of his efforts to lead me to think that he would suddenly get relatively good at flying.
Even though I loved the fight scenes and the violence, it did feel a little repetitive sometimes and the end fight lasted for a little too many episodes. I wanted to see more of Lee Mi Hyeon than what was shown, making her feel kinda secondary to the others that had a lot of screentime in the fight scenes.
Lastly, the end scene with Kim Du Sik reuniting with his family should've been way longer than what was given. Like I mentioned earlier, the screentime went to the "Uncle" with his second chance. The reuniting scene should have been way more emotional than what it was. It was also shot oddly as well, like we're floating in the air staring down at them. It felt odd and insignificant.
Anyway, I conclude this review with what I said in the beginning, interesting concept but a little overrated. If there was news of a second season, I would tune in to watch it but I wouldn't go in with high expectations. I don't regret watching it and I would turn to my past self that was so adamant about avoiding it to just watch it because it definitely wasn't a waste of time. I want to thank @Lighter for recommending this to me, because I probably would've continued to avoid it without your recommendation.
Final rating: 8.5/10
After finishing the show, here are my thoughts:
I love shows with superheroes and the fact that this was about that made me intrigued from the first episode. I loved the variety of powers our main characters had. Also the shows duration time wasn't over an hour like I feared but maintained relatively around 45 minutes which I loved. It felt more engaging without having overwhelming long episodes.
I LOVED the teenagers! They were so cute and heartwarming and I was assuming that the show was going to be focused on them more than what it was. But it unfortunately wasn't. After only a few episodes with the kids, it changed to the parent's backstories and I couldn't help myself but wonder when it was going to change back to the present. The show's tone changed very drastically and I couldn't appreciate it. I love brutal violence, but it wasn't how the show presented itself for the first few episodes, so it was too sudden. Now don't get me wrong, I wanted to know the parents backstories and it gave me background on the whole show, but it lasted a little too long when I cared more about the kids. I don't like watching romance in my action dramas, but I loved the romance between Lee Mi Hyeon and Kim Du Sik and Jang Ju Won and Hwang Ji Hui. It kept me invested in the parents backstories and prevented my rating from going to an 8.
(A little spoilery after this section)
They underutilized very interesting characters that I felt should've been part of it more. For example, Frank was an interesting character and I wanted to see him more but his departure from the show felt too sudden. I kept expecting him to pop out randomly at the end but he didn't. Another example would be the North Korean agents. Im Jae Seok didn't have enough depth for me to feel sympathy for him when he died. I also didn't care for Kwon Yong Deuk's second chance as a character I knew barely anything about. I thought they should've put more focus on how the two main antagonists of the NIS (the head of the NIS and the "principal) were dealt with. Their deaths were just kinda thrown in my face without anything satisfying enough given that they were absolutely terrible human beings.
I also didn't appreciate how none of the parents prepared their kids for any potential dangers. Come on, they were all part of the NIS. Those kids could have easily been killed by the trained North Koreans. Which reminds me of the gym scene. Since Lee Mi Hyeon didn't train Beong Seok on flying at all and he was very amateur at it, it's not very believable that he's able to control it in a few minutes. I know he tried practicing outside, but I didn't see enough of his efforts to lead me to think that he would suddenly get relatively good at flying.
Even though I loved the fight scenes and the violence, it did feel a little repetitive sometimes and the end fight lasted for a little too many episodes. I wanted to see more of Lee Mi Hyeon than what was shown, making her feel kinda secondary to the others that had a lot of screentime in the fight scenes.
Lastly, the end scene with Kim Du Sik reuniting with his family should've been way longer than what was given. Like I mentioned earlier, the screentime went to the "Uncle" with his second chance. The reuniting scene should have been way more emotional than what it was. It was also shot oddly as well, like we're floating in the air staring down at them. It felt odd and insignificant.
Anyway, I conclude this review with what I said in the beginning, interesting concept but a little overrated. If there was news of a second season, I would tune in to watch it but I wouldn't go in with high expectations. I don't regret watching it and I would turn to my past self that was so adamant about avoiding it to just watch it because it definitely wasn't a waste of time. I want to thank @Lighter for recommending this to me, because I probably would've continued to avoid it without your recommendation.
Final rating: 8.5/10
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