bloomingtide

also debating if i should still save myself from watching any further than episode one lmao

Me, grabbing popcorn : Time to read this comment section 😂🍿

watch episode 2 after that, gets much better in pace and it will explain a lot, building on eps 1 w/o sending your head spinning, promised xD

Well sure, it is far from being realistic but it is a romance kdrama first before all the tech stuff, so it is basically just there to serve the plot and have him being able to do whatever they need at that moment. Kdramas are in general not being known for their realism tbh, so starting this now i will just roll with it and not think about logic/probabilities too much haha

Yeeees. So glad he is back, at last. Comedy is definitely his forte, but i love how he is able to give depth and add nuance to every of his characters with small gestures/expressions. other than just being funny/comedic only. (I loved the different facets of Cheoljong in Mr. Queen, raaaaaange he has it)

With his abilities and versatility as an actor, i would love to see him in a serious role next tho. Not melodrama, but thriller would be cool, maybe even as the scheming bad guy. Until then I guess Kkokdu is the closest we get to him playing a gleeful "unhinged" character (God why did he have to look so handsome ice-killing that trash dude? haha)

Nah, they have been divorced for 2 or 3 years at the point where the drama begins. Ample time for ML to go broke due to the high alimony agreement/payment each month.

i mean this is the reason i am here, tbh, not for the tech stuff lmao 😂 Robo romance go go go 😏

I see. I am not surprised to hear that tbh, but still.... yikes.

Yes those were the days, heh. Admittedly, FNOS had better pacing from the start, but eh i didn't got hooked on it till their big talk after the reveal of backstory and conflict. This is where it clicked for me.

With Kkokdu, my love for Kim Jung Hyun and the way he lives each of his roles makes it easy to enjoy this drama, especially since it has all the tropes i enjoy in a fantasy drama. I just love his acting and talent for comedy and timing (his interpretation of kkokdu being more of a petty grinch instead solemn, broody god of death already cracks me up fr.) Generally tho, i am not hooked at or invested in a kdrama until around eps. 4-6, when i know more of the story and characters. I never judge it on the first 2 episodes alone because i know a story needs time and room to develop. If i am still not feeling it, then i move on, yeah.

Imo, this kdrama is a good light brain- off watch and really to be seen at face value but it depends on your current mood and expectations toward it if this is going to be your thing. I am gonna stick around for KJH no matter what, because i could watch this man playing charade or read out of the korean dictionary for 16 hours and not get bored XD

Yeah this thinking so stupid, tbh xD Oooh given good experiences/similar taste i trust your recs. I stumbled over it on NF and will put it on the list to watch for now, as it is not a kdrama i am currently in the mood for. Especially not now where i have shortlisted Taxi Driver to watch, seeing that the second season starts soon hehe. Thank you, however, always happy to get your recs, as said.

i am normally not someone who writes reviews (too lazy lmao) and especially not after two episodes, but after the ridiculousness and inability of people even to chill a little, i felt the need to say something:

https://kisskh.at/profile/bloomingtide/review/256439

Oh yeah, just another reason why i am SO DONE with this repetitive comparison uuuugh. I hate the "Everything fantasy is like Goblin" mindset as much as Kkokdu hates his job, tbh xD

lol, the editing made it way more confusing than it actually is, unfortunately. This is where they talk about the whole testify thing but honestly i have no idea what further bearing this whole corruption plot has for now on the rest of the story. So just know that it went south when FL actually testified what she saw and heard that day in the office, was branded a pariah/liar and Do Jin was nowhere to be found (didn't even testify.) Trying to find him to clear her name she asked her brother, who is a detective for help and he did a search but didn't find much. He said that the doctor probably ran away, and she does not find him until he literally falls down on a car next to her from the roof. Which is kinda traumatic for FL since she lost her mother in a car accident as a kid and could not help her (which is the reason she became a doc to be able to help) but then he dies and well, Kokdu takes over the driving seat.

Skip to this part of him dying, which are last five minutes of episode 1, there is where the show really starts. Oh and you can also read the short recap part of episode 1 (first 2 paragraphs or so) on dramabeans that should clear things up lol

https://www.dramabeans.com/2023/01/kokdu-season-of-deity-episodes-1-2-first-impressions/

Kkokdu is a riot. I love that he is not your typical broody/tortured, stoic grim reaper/god of death, but more of a "Ugh i hate this job. After 500 yrs I deserve some work-life balance, ffs. Let's skip the details and go directly to the killing so i can go back to sleep" sarcastic, straightforward/blunt and petty grinch of death instead. He is 1000% done with everything and i can so much relate to this 😂

I bet there will be more facets to him too, soon -- because KJH doesn't do one-note acting nor characters-- but for now i soooo love to roll with his utter and complete irreverence toward everyone and his high-pitched always-on-the-verge-of-hysteria voice coupled with teen girl giggles and anger management issues.😂

It feels like that bc they put like 2 eps worth of backstory/character stories in one episode haha. Broken down it is not as confusing anymore, imo.

Narratively we have the past bits where we get to know the initial main characters with whom it all started and how they met their tragic end. Then we meet modern world version of FL and see of her struggle to get a foot into the door as a doctor and first bits of corruption in the hospital system. Down on her luck, she then meets modern look-alike of past ML (but isn't really) in a job interview and he hires her in a parachute manner. More mistreatment and corruption in the new hospital where CEO (the past char who killed ML) pulls evil strings happen. FL develops a crush on the not-really ML until she finds out the real reason she was hired is that she overheared how evil CEO/doc ordered to switch out CT scans after medical malpractice happened to blame it all on not-ML. SFL has a bad history with FL and was in a relationship with not-ML Do Jin. Do Jin convinces FL to testify once he tells her it was his mother who died in front of him on the operation table and he wants to make things right. (FL lost her mother to the brother of truck kun, black car of doom) Mr.Queen duo appears, now minted gods and helper of kokdu, marking not-ML as the one who will soon die and who Kokdu will appear as. More evil corruption happens and the whole testify thing goes south, costing FL her job etc. Evil guys murder Do Jin with throwing him off the roof, and he rises as kokdu, sarcastic grinch of death xD

And this is all you need to know regarding eps 1, lol. Episode 2 does hit the brakes a bit and instead builds up on what was established in eps 1, going in depth into the whole how kokdu came to be-deal. It is better paced and full of KJH being unshackled from the timid restrains that playing nerdy Do Jin was prior moments xD

I definitely started this drama due to jung kyung ho whom i currently love in Crash Course In Romance and his acting and interpretation of the character is definitely the highlight here. Even if i i was honestly tempted to drop it halfway thru bc his character is such a rude asshole there and has too many anger management issues that lead to manhandling FL and her being way too passive about it, which yikes. This is indeed where the drama shows its age.

However i am glad i stuck with it bc he got so much better and is now in the second half a certified dork and cutie pie whenever he is around FL. Still with a temper, but he has mellowed out considerately and is more adorable than angry. While his character development is gradually and well done, FL as a character is a bit bland tho but at least smart/perceptive and strong, given how much she is put through the emotional wringer. The early business subplot bored me to tears tho and the drama has one of the worst, most villainous SML ever. The rom in the com is not truuuuly rom-ing and stays quite one-sided for a long time. Regarding the plot circumstances FL is put through tho it is very much understandable and probably for the better they didn't rush the romance between the leads. Still FL and her lack of communication is frustrating in places.

Overall for such an old kdrama it is very amusing watch tho, minus these caveats.

This was pure narrative stupidity at the end of it, so much contrived, drawn out nonsense that could have been solved in a much more satisfying and clever way, if the script author hadn't prescribed plot dumb to all its characters. I am already used to the police being fuckin useless and incompetent in kdramaland, but this drama turned that up to eleven, holy hell. Even on 3x speed, the characters' collective idiocy and passivity toward the flock of psychopaths was so frustrating to watch.

The ending is cute/happy but it should never have taken so much incompetence, narrative circles/drawn out sob scenes, and time to get there. This should have been 12 eps at max not 16 where nothing ever happens/the same thing/flashback repeats over and over to fill in screentime. Ugh.

Give From Now On Showtime a try if you haven't yet. Both shows have the same vibe, though so far Kokdu is even more irreverent (which i like tbh)

Fr, this obnoxious"Everything fantasy in kdrama is (like) Goblin" crowd is so 2016, but they still pop up like clockwork every single time there is any kdrama daring to even *breathe* into the direction of the fantasy genre.

It has been over six years since. Be like Elsa and finally let it goooo, ffs.

That is exactly what i am saying here? So i dunno why you are telling me this, tbh haha