Honestly I was just contemplating whether to write a massive rant or to just go straight to season 2, but I'm…
Did you watch Betwen fairy and devil or Till the end of the moon? I think they have a similar feel to it. And if you don’t mind bromance/censored bl then the Untamed or Word of Honor would also fit the vibe. All are c-dramas. I would recommend checking out the Wuxia tag maybe for the ancient/historical fantasy stories :)
Honestly I was just contemplating whether to write a massive rant or to just go straight to season 2, but I'm…
Yeah, the dad coming back had no purpose… other than it made Uk more pitiful in the viewers’ eyes and sort of got all the old scrooges to accept Uk since his dad chose to atone for his sins. However, Uk didn’t really seem to care or reflect much on his death even though that has been the whole core of his origin story. In regards to Uk’s character, I actually find it more consistent in S2, he’s more solemn throughout the whole finale but it did make me miss his antics from S1. Despite the flaws, he still had an entertaining devil-may-cry attitude that I guess sort of burns out because of the tragic incident in ep 20.
What made me really start to rethink/question the whole plot was the Soe-i character, they spent so much time on her suffering to become the fake daughter but then she doesn’t even do anything… acting all pathetic. Not gonna lie, I was expecting some epic villainy from her. Which could’ve been a new arc so that we could finally move on from Jin Mu.
Also, that energy dome thing with the ice stone at the end… it came out of the left field. Lol, I mean, Uk was busy talking with the prince to notice that everyone else was trying to kill Mudeok. What the heck even? And all that mage training we had to watch, it felt like a waste of time when Uk didn’t even get to use his powers (I mean come on, he made it rain?) and then he had to give them up on top of it all. It’s a bit of a different story in S2 but still, I can’t justify 15+ episodes of him trying to master his magic/energy core for it to be nullified like that.
Also, I feel like the Hong sisters didn’t dare (or didn’t want) to go the whole mile with the characters arcs, keeping everyone a goody-two-shoes until the end. Well, except for the designated villains. I think the characters were actually very similar to their other drama; A Korean Odyssey, which took me out of the story a little.
Hehe, sorry for my own rant. I truly wanted this story to be more but yeah… but I still like it for what it is, it’s a cozy fantasy adventure ❤️
I enjoyed the slow burn at the beginning (while getting used to the new FL) but started to wonder where all of it was heading since it felt like a completely different show from S1. Nonetheless, it picked up in ep 8-10 and ended on a strong note for me. Did not care for the So-i plot line and fast forwarded most of the assembly people screaming at each other (gave me a flashback of heroes conference in Word of Honor). Would’ve liked if they explored more of the darker powers of the ice stone, but that’s because it reminded me of the Untamed.
I loved this show, however I felt that episodes 16-18 were a drag because of all the talking that didn’t bring anything new to story, they were over explaining things too much at this point - as if trying to fill any possible plot holes with more nonsense. And the BIG BAD fell flat for me, I expected things to blow up more since they hinted at higher stakes throughout the story but nothing of the sort happened…. Until episode 20. Anyway, off to watch season 2 now!
The high level of acting pulls this through, but it's lacking something - first, there's way too much of Achi's…
I agree there’s something lacking, can’t pinpoint what though. Not a fan of the over animated voice-over thoughts (that sometimes don’t sound like actors at all??), they kind of pull me out of the story too much. Otherwise it’s pretty decent.
This was cute, and I love the fact that they tried to keep some of the “jdorama” aesthetics; the suits and corporate job, as well as the hazy filter that’s present in many jdramas. So far so good 🫶
I think it's his usual size. But we used to see him in a better fit suits. His stylist is an anti to give him…
The clothes are fine, it’s just sort of too oversized and too loose/wide? The suit he wore during their wedding in ep 5/6 had more of a regular fit I think.
What made me really start to rethink/question the whole plot was the Soe-i character, they spent so much time on her suffering to become the fake daughter but then she doesn’t even do anything… acting all pathetic. Not gonna lie, I was expecting some epic villainy from her. Which could’ve been a new arc so that we could finally move on from Jin Mu.
Also, that energy dome thing with the ice stone at the end… it came out of the left field. Lol, I mean, Uk was busy talking with the prince to notice that everyone else was trying to kill Mudeok. What the heck even? And all that mage training we had to watch, it felt like a waste of time when Uk didn’t even get to use his powers (I mean come on, he made it rain?) and then he had to give them up on top of it all. It’s a bit of a different story in S2 but still, I can’t justify 15+ episodes of him trying to master his magic/energy core for it to be nullified like that.
Also, I feel like the Hong sisters didn’t dare (or didn’t want) to go the whole mile with the characters arcs, keeping everyone a goody-two-shoes until the end. Well, except for the designated villains. I think the characters were actually very similar to their other drama; A Korean Odyssey, which took me out of the story a little.
Hehe, sorry for my own rant. I truly wanted this story to be more but yeah… but I still like it for what it is, it’s a cozy fantasy adventure ❤️