Supernatural with cute comedy and great bromance
I have said it before and I will say it again, this was a supernatural drama with hints of horror at times. The true chemistry was between the King (played by Kim Ji Hoon) and Yun Gap/Gang Cheol (played by Yook Sung Jae). Their comedic timing was perfection and their banter felt natural. Bo Na's Yeo Ri initially felt a little stiff to me, however as the show progressed and I understood the character's backstory, I came to realize that stiffness actually was the actress doing a good job playing Yeo Ri who has experienced profound grief and loneliness and therefore holds herself apart from others, even as she cares deeply.Kim Ji Hoon and Yook Sung Jae both completely took me by surprise. This is my first drama with Yook Sung Jae and I will keep an eye for future projects and try his older works. Kim Ji Hoon blew me away with his deep, heart rending portrayal of a man balancing his responsibilities as a king and as a father. The torment of this powerful man born into royalty, and has always been alone as a result, feeling helpless in the face of an enemy he cannot even see, trying to do his best for his people, only to realize his ancestor had abandoned them in the worst way, the guilt, the remorse and the wish to make amends were so masterfully played. I really, sincerely hope Kim Ji Hoon picks more such roles which give him a canvas for the talent we saw here. Out of all the characters, his was the one that resonated the most with me.
The story of a girl who denies her shaman roots and focuses on making eyeglasses (a good metaphor perhaps for shamanic talents - helping people see things more clearly) only to get swept into a tug of war between good and evil that exists in the palace was an entertaining show but had deeper tones to it. The nuanced plot, where good and evil cannot always be ascertained merely by identity, or even current actions was an interesting overlying message. Those who seem good, have committed vile acts and still attained high positions, while the good are left to suffer until the resentment burns so deep that their very anger at the injustice forces them to become evil. That people are not born evil, rather are created by their experiences and choices, yet once they step on that path, it is almost impossible to remain untainted.
The juxtaposition of two equal and opposing forces that was the focus of the show was exhibited throughout the drama using explicit imagery like the fire spirit vs. fresh water deity, the female and the male warding stones or the implicit like the imoogi ascending at the same time when the human king stoops low, saving his life by sending a whole village to its death. It eventually became so interesting how the Yin and Yang was woven throughout the story that I actively began to watch out for it exclusively.
The supporting cast comprises of veteran actors who were stellar in their work, and I applaud the whole team for the fabulous run for 8 weeks.
The drama fits the historical, comedy and fantasy or supernatural tags, however as a devotee to the romance genre I feel the romance tag is a bit of an overstatement. Yes there is romance and even a HE, however I wish for more scenes where the chemistry between the Imoogi and Yeo Ri could be deepened, it felt sudden and then not enough. Over all a good drama, I don't know if I would rewatch it. if I did rewatch bits of it, those would be the scenes where Imoogi and King banter back and forth and I guess that says it all.
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This review may contain spoilers
She is Dominion, He is Devotion
This show….where do I begin.I came into it thinking the story line sounds pretty much par for the course, revenge, hidden identity, eunuch vs. royalty blah blah.......... but my cynical self is really surprised at how much I have enjoyed this drama. For a short drama, they have done an amazing job. The plot is a lot more intricate than expected from a short drama, with actual problems and cunning solutions that require creative thinking and not just moral high ground. The characters are detailed, there is massive development on both the leads' parts and the chemistry is oh so good! Despite the heavy content there are moments of comic relief just so your heart can at least rest for a moment. The settings, the costumes, the make up, all was in line and contributed towards the storytelling.
The game of chess/ Go - I saw the game as a character in its own right in this drama. And it had so much to say. This short drama managed to convey the intricacies of the game a hundred times better than Captivating the King did in 1/4th of the run time. Kudos!
Cast - absolutely top notch. FL and ML had my heart fluttering, butterflies in my stomach with their chemistry, their soulful gazes and their determination to do the right thing from the beginning. FL as king made my justice-seeking self sit up and cheer in her court scenes. Every time I thought this puppet king was finally defeated, she would show up and show them all down. I have only seen one other FL play the king with the right attitude where you are forced to believe this is the king and that was in My Uncanny Destiny.
The ML was the most flawed hero I have seen in Cdramas in a long time. He was afraid, he was torn between loyalty, love and duty, between his hatred of his foster father and his fear of his secret, yet looked for the right person for the throne for the beginning. He was able to apologize and ask for a second chance, is progressive and fair, yet at the end chooses sacrifice instead of fight, perhaps a result of the complex he has lived with all his life… one can only speculate. I found it hard to justify the last act as he left the FL to make the hardest decision ever, and to live a long, lonely and difficult life.
The villain had me hating, fearing and disgusted by him all at the same time. Wanting justice done, seeing his flaws and the larger than life persona that was so well played by the actor, I wonder if any of his future dramas will be overshadowed by this character for me. And they even threw in a moment of comic relief for him (when the aunt comes up from the underground, she says “ husband, you have major trust issues” He looks so flustered and tells her to be quiet, he did the hen-pecked husband thing really well in that micro-moment!
The plot - Tight knit, fast paced and logical. Until the end….. there were ways to tackle the prince issue…. I wish ML had kept the faith until the end and allowed our genius FL to come up with a solution. Knocking off a few points just for the writer’s need to make us cry.
PS: After In blossom I only have one request: Li Ge Yang can you please not die in at least one drama???
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Intelligent and sweet
If you are a fan of intelligent leads, healthy relationships and green flag couples, watch this drama. I stumbled on to this drama because I was looking for other dramas by featuring Zhang Wanyi and I am so glad I did.The acting from the whole cast is stellar, the villain was human with shades of grey and not just evil alone. The OST is beautiful and the sets gorgeous. In the beginning, I thought it reminded me of The Story of Ming Lan, there are some parallels there, then it stopped doing that in the second episode and became its own show. It's much lighter, sweeter and faster paced than TSoML where I found the atmosphere much more oppressive and gloomy and I definitely enjoyed TRoN more.
The biggest positive for me were the leads who were all in when they thought they were siblings, all in when ML knew they were not siblings and all in when their relationship changes to more. its a healthy, intentional and reciprocal relationship of two equals with small misunderstandings, easily and quickly resolved through honest communication on both their parts. Can we please see more of these???
This drama has very quickly been added to my favourite historical dramas and let me tell you that is no easy feat.
I highly recommend it, whether as an easy binge watch or as a serious drama craving, it satisfies all your drama needs.
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RomCom where Com is before Rom
I dunno when was the last time I saw a rom com that made me laugh so I much. I would categorize it as a comedy before a romance though romance is certainly a bulwark of the plot. It had a plot that certainly used the general tropes of romcom genre but they were used well, the cohabitation, the cold powerful CEO and the bubbly cheerful FL. Yet they were not mere props but actually used to move the story forward. ML definitely made me a believer in the character he was portraying, as did all of the support cast. If I had to pick one thing, I'd probably say the FL while good in her own scenes, left me feeling a bit empty in her scenes with the ML. I don't know why, but their chemistry was better when they were not in love. Which is weird to say the least?The comedy was perfect, the supporting cast did an amazing job and their characters were just adorable. I do like my romcoms with a dash of bromance and this was bromance X 6 (let's not forget the prosecutor nyim). Speaking of, I wish his story arc was also closed to some extent. While I agree that to show him switching to another woman right away would be depicting him as a shallow person, which he is not, I wish the closing scenes had shown his movement forward, we know the officer in his office likes him, would have been nice to at least see him realize there is a spark there.
The story of preconceived notions, society's harsh views and redemption, was relevant, we often forget that our criticisms and harsh judgement can deter someone from trying to do better, because we push them back towards the path they are trying to escape, simply because it is what they know, it is comfortable or it is all that is left available to them in order to survive.
All in all I highly recommend this story if you like fluffy, rom coms with focus on comedy, bromance and what it means to be family.
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Gentle and Heartwarming
This drama came to my attention through recommendations in my Role Reversal Club. And while I saw the role reversal - the ML is definitely the homemaker, the caregiver and the FL is the dynamic, workaholic CEO with a hard shell around her heart, it was also so much more. Sometimes the RR dramas have over the top FLs who are aggressive in their pursuit of the ML however that was not the case here. This seemed to be a mutual case of pursuing gently and with intention. I returned to Kdramas with this show after almost 6 months of watch Cdramas, mainly because even though I prefer Kdramas, nothing released was capturing my attention and I am so glad I decided to watch it.I like that the leads are more mature, in their 30s/40s and have lived a life. They are not impetuous, but stable and yet there is room for growth. The OST is beautiful and the head hunting industry is explained well and woven throughout the show, so at no time are we focusing on just private lives where the work is just a backdrop. It is through their work that they meet so it makes sense that work continues to be a binding force bringing these two people together and allowing them to see each other as human and also in their work persona, at the same time giving them opportunities to discover the things that makes the other person attractive to them. The image that came to mind throughout the show was the FL like a parched earth who was soaking up the gentle rain of support and affection from the ML to gradually return to life.
They are both wounded people, however they have chosen to deal with their hurts very differently. Eun Ho has devoted himself to raising his daughter and providing a loving stable home for her while Ji Yun has closed herself off from humanity and placed her heart in a bunker not even a tank could tear down, choosing to focus instead on her work to the exclusion of everything else. These are both typical trauma responses (people pleasing and hyper independence), however having a daughter who needs him has given Eun ho a reason to retain his warm, sunny personality. The support cast was great, the office employees had their own distinct personalities, and the cut-throat business of talent scouting is a thrilling aspect of the show. There are some comic moments, some heartbreaking ones and some that leave you cleansed. The romance was done really well, as well as the supportive relationship they are creating. The gradual changes in all the characters, not just the leads felt natural and organic.
I have knocked off 1 point for the whole previous connection and shared traumatic incident. I find it is used way too often and I do not like the lazy writing to tie up the characters together. Why can’t they just be people hurt in the past because of various
reasons and find each other as adults??
Overall this gentle yet blossoming of couplehood was very healing to watch and I will definitely be going back to watch it again some time.
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Bromance and Good vibes!
I usually like my dramas with a good dash of romance and happy endings are a must. Watch me take away major points if the end is not happy! Sorry I know we all watch dramas for our own reasons and I can forgive historical inaccuracy or bad editing etc. if the plot is good and ends in HEA. That being said this drama gave me so many positives, I loved the concept of the supernatural meeting the rational/ pragmatic field of law enforcement. The wider concept of how the creation of "God" is the biggest myth of human kind and all sort of acts.... benevolent and malevolent are attributed to mystical beings, when in fact it is humans running the show behind it all. The idea that by simply "othering" people who are different from us or casting them as evil, we may force them to become evil eventually. The paradox that the so called demons can work for good while humans can be the truest evil of all.I loved the concept, I would have liked to have seen more of Li Bing in his cat form and not just with the feline eyes.
The whole show rode on the bromance and the comedy was stellar. The whole Dali crew was superb, their interactions really cute and the way they grew into their better selves along the way warmed my cold cynical heart.
I only have two gripes here: The character of Vice Minister Shangguan felt like it was created as female merely as a nod to have at least one female main character and give Ali Baba's character some depth. For me it was really disappointing as I have seen the actress do a great job in The Rise of Ning and felt she could either have been given more scope or make the character another male minister with grey intentions, it felt like a device and not a plot requirement. And the second: Zhang Yao is such a fantastic comedic actress (if you haven't watched her in The Rise of Ning and Oh My General, you must) and her guest role in episode one as the wine seller/ crook had set me up to expect big things in the drama, only to find out she was only on screen for 15 min in the whole show. Felt like such a let down. AND she didn't even make it on the guest role list of actors on MDL for the show!
The interactions between Li Bing and QQZ were so soulful, at times I almost fantasized a whole BL around the two of them (where QQZ did not die of course!!). They almost felt like soulmates in the show and kudos to the two actors who played them, their deep bond came through clearly, specially towards the end.
Overall I really enjoyed the show yes, but would I watch it again, most likely no.
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