arkwen

I'm giving this Drama an over all score of 8 because the acting was good, the atmosphere and flow of it kept my attention and I laughed more than I thought I was going to because I originally only started this drama out of boredom.


WHAT I WAS HAPPY ABOUT (without trying to spoil anything):

Kang Ji Hwan's performance and his character. When I first saw him I thought I wasn't going to like him;he looked stiff, boring and mean. But I found out that I was wrong and I was soo happy that I was. This is the first drama I have seen him in and It makes me want to look for other things that he's been in. I liked that the 'love triangle' focused more on the future potential relationship aspects as opposed to the entire drama being about the leads getting over their past loves before they even notice or become aware of the person in front of them.


HOWEVER:

Like most others, I agree that this drama was a bit on the long side which is strange seeing as how it's the standard 16 episodes. I got up to episode 13 and then put it on hold. I do plan to finish it but I tend to binge-watch dramas (as I am sure most do) and at that point I just had to stop.

Switching gears slightly: Another thing I was happy to discover was that Sung Joon was not as annoying as I thought he'd be in other dramas, it was just this one. I watched I Need Romance 3 and I LOVED HIM in that so it was just this drama and his character who annoyed me. And I guess that's just a good sign that he's a great actor, right? ^__^

Hope my rants were helpful. x

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Give it a Try—There’s more to this show than you think

I think that some people struggled watching this show because there were some links to Devil Punisher being a lot like Goblin.

But let me just tell you that it’s not really the case. The show had a lot of layers to it that all lead to one major tipping point by the end.

And while romance/love is a strong, consistent piece of the story as a whole, The Devil Punisher is a combination mystery, karma/fate, revenge and supernatural/ ghosts.

In fact the whole things kicks off due to a 1,000 vendetta against the Ghost King but the signs of another character at play were even clear in the first episode and that mystery element is what hooked me right away.

But like I said there’s a lot of mention of karma and a trial meant for the main lead character, Chong Kui, that only he can indoor by the end. To me this was probably the most annoying thing to find out because he was surrounded by gods and he couldn’t really do anything at times.

At the same time, this brought humility to the show and his character because as an ordinary person when face obstacles in our lives we can’t just make them go away with powers. (And obviously, I could relate to seeing him mopping around.)

And this linked/faded battle between the villain, Lu Chi, in the center of the story brought to light even more barriers within the story’s construction of the “three realms” that give pause to some (American) viewers which I understand.

There’s a lot of instances where we were like “why can’t they do this?; why can’t this happen?” but just based on the rules that show up in the world of the show that the “gods” can’t really interfere with the whole ordeal as a while actually starts to make sense as you continue to watch.

Is it annoying? ABSOLUTELY!!!!! Did I find Chong Kui’s determination to face all of it on his own without considering Meng Po’s perspective ridiculous?

Absolutely!!!! But that was just something his character seemed to even more aggressively by the end because he knew Meng Po wouldn’t sit back and do nothing when she felt so responsible for Lu Chi’s actions.

But, as an American viewer, there where themes and details I had to wrap my head around while watching this as it seemed to reveal a lot of cultural and mythology elements that I wasn’t familiar with.

By the end of the show, I realized why we got so much time in the “mortal world” between the two leads and why there was so much buildup and (at times) what felt like “filler” leading up to that last few episodes.

Moreover, because of the way the ending is and really how things started in their past lives those scenes were basically there to show us and to give the main characters time together because it becomes clear that it wasn’t something they had before.

The ending made me cry but I am so glad I watched it till the end because there is a resolution to everything.

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Where Do I Begin??—So happy this drama came to me when it did.

I was able to connect to nearly all of the characters at these different points in our lives. I laughed I cried I was shocked I cheered and I was always so very excited and eager to see what each episode it was going to show next. It’s very present is very progressive narrative it’s very supportive group of characters.

Not the clichéd fighting/cattiness of the other kdrama characters. These are characters that you could connect with they felt real they felt sincere you could understand why they act the way that he acted why they said with that he said and did what they did. I know that the lead mail was difficult to connect with it first but his motivations and pain was just as clear as everyone else’s. And I love that Ji-ho knew that.

She would pick up on that and she’d sense it. And I think that the way the drama ended was right for them. This is a spoiler here but they needed that break they needed that caused from what their marriage originally composed of. For them to start a new and fresh by themselves. I have even love the fact that she didn’t sign with a production company of his ex and then at the end too. Because she wanted to settle what she needed to settle with that horrible ex-worker in the previous production company that tried to silence her. And she did she that which was able to bring her closure and move onto another production company that wanted her to come on to write for them.

I mean, guys, I loved everything about this drama—even the sad bits. And made those moments when he stepped out of that box he was trapped under and showed those strong powerful emotional reaction specially when I came to Ji-ho even more powerful and more prominently important.

And that’s what those scenes was about. Yeah, sure in real life we would all love for the lead character,Se-hee, to be obnoxious and loud and angry and just show what they were thinking with their feeling. But in reality, that’s not what happens ; all the time because of his emotions, like our pasts, they do spread and seap into all areas of our lives. And a lot of us wear that like armor; it’s how we survive.

Because love and marriage is different. Because dating and marriage is different. Because being lovers versus being parents or partners is different. And we can’t wholly go into a relationship and do our best if we are broken ourselves. How can we really expect to have someone else be a pillar of happiness and great happiness if we can’t we do not know how to be happy on our owner or not a yourselves?

Besides stories secondary characters are just as important as the main leads Ji-ho and Se-hee, let me tell you guys, just as important!!!

I LOVED THIS DRAMA!! IT CAME TO ME (like a heart) just when I needed it to the most. Please, watch it.

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