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Visually Appealing Period Piece. With Monsters.

Park Seo Joon and Han So Hee, along with a cast of sterling supporting actors, elevated a monster story set in Japanese-occupied Korea.

The pawn shop was gorgeous, the town was visually appealing, and the hospital was appropriately stark and chilling. The drama had charm as a period piece. The underlying camaraderie of the oppressed people knit the community together and made the viewer want them to succeed.

There were issues with writing. It drives me mad to watch stupidity in action. Every time the heroes were in peril and were trying to escape, they'd stop in a hallway and have a meaningful conversation. Have a sense of urgency when you're being chased by evil people!

I have no idea why the bad guys had such a hard time keeping up with our heroes, because they always returned to the pawn shop. For 100 years, they always returned to the pawn shop. Why bother tailing them? After an especially harrowing escape, I thought (silly me!), they had best hightail to a hotel or remote cabin somewhere to elude the bad guys. No, back to the pawn shop, where everyone knew they holed up. They still couldn't find them half the time!

TL:DR: Season 1 had compelling stories: occupation, freedom fighters, separated families, blended families, and the struggle for survival. Also, too many long dialogues during tense moments.

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Hou Ming Hao is Anime Pretty

I enjoyed the initial push and pull of the leads trying to outsmart and outmaneuver one another in charming and amusing ways. Both leads were attractive and exuded chemistry with one another.

Once they knew one another, the drama suffered a bit in trying to manufacture conflict that wasn't sensible and only served to pad the episode. Noble idiocy struck often and hard. Misunderstandings abounded when just one sentence could have cleared everything up. Thankfully, the leads started to work together and actually communicate without massively lying to one another, but it was frustrating getting to that point.

The OST was good, the costumes were attractive, and the cast was beautiful.

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Sweet, Wealthy Mother of ML Breaks the Mold

The drama was short and sweet. It touched on childhood trauma, medical illness, and evil capitalists, but it stayed light and concentrated on the relationship of the stoic ML and the bubbly FL. Due to its mini-status, it didn't have time to do in-depth stories or be innovative. Having said that, the ML's mother was a breath of fresh air. She was supportive of the FL to the point of pushing their relationship. No fat envelopes of money or water dashed in the face! This mother removed the extra sleeping bag on a camping trip and brought out photos of the FL cavorting with the ML to show to his fiancée. That's worth an extra half star from me.

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It's Good Until It Goes Horribly Bad, But I'm Not Mad

I don't expect as much from itty-bitty series, so I grade on a curve. The drama started well, and I thought I was going to be pleasantly surprised. Midway through, it began to meander and not always make sense, but I was still entertained and rooting for the beleaguered couple. I considered it one of the better itty-bitty dramas: the leads were appealing, and the story was engaging. Then the last episode hit, and things got bizarre in a hurry. I can only speculate that drugs and a preschooler were involved with coming up with that finish.

Director: "Hey kid, what would make a cool ending?"

Kid: "Make a lady eat centipedes! And she'll grow Wolverine claws. Her name is BLACK WOLF. Good, huh? She's a bad guy and will fight the good guys with her claws and ninja powers!"

Director: "Sounds super cool! There's no budget for a fight scene, though. How about I do a story time with Black Wolf instead?"

Kid: "Boring! Does Black Wolf die in the fight?"

Director: "For some reason unknown to anyone, Black Wolf must have been defeated, and now she is the Story Time Lady."

Kid: "That's stupid."

The kid is right. That was stupid. Stupid ending for a drama that started out well. The leads deserved better.

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I Think I'm Fated to Watch All The Versions of This Story

I didn't expect to like this rendition as much as the Korean one (Jang Na Ra, Jang Hyuk, and Choi Jin Hyuk were wonderful in their roles and set the bar high), but I was pleasantly surprised by the Taiwanese leads. The ML was appropriately alternately angry and tortured, the FL was a long-suffering sacrificial lamb, 2ML was sweet and supportive, and 2FL was a horrific excuse of a human being.

The story was much the same, but there was more slapstick comedy to angst ratio, and I didn't mind that too much, as the Korean version was emotionally painful to endure. I could have done without the FL's family, though. They were so loud and annoying! And Anson. The best thing about him was when the ML would zip his lips! I never wanted him to unzip them. Some of their scenes could have easily been cut to tighten up the drama; 24 episodes weren't necessary.

The OST was mostly lighthearted; the Korean OST was heart-wrenching ("Goodbye, My Love" by Ailee is one of my favorite songs from a drama: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=UEVjA5CdkPk).

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Dental Hygiene is Obviously Important, But There is a Limit!

I'm accustomed to product placement in Asian dramas, but great googly moogly, this was beyond obnoxious. I think this was supposed to be a censored boy love story about overcoming mental blocks, but it was really about dental hygiene: floss, toothbrushes and their sanitizers, mouthwash, and breath spray. I recommend this for people in the dental industry only.

I added an extra star, because my Rewatch Value was extremely low (I would never rewatch unless I was incarcerated with no other entertainment; hence, the one star), and the leads didn't deserve such a low score, being such sweet boys.

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Kiss the Cousin, Married Man, or Your Student?

Harumi Junko became 32 without going to the university of her choice, getting a good job, or finding a husband. As often happens in dramaland, she went from a complete dearth of romantic partners to three, all with Western taboos: a married man, a cousin, and a 17-year-old student she was teaching. The drama is highly rated, but I couldn't cheer on any of the relationships, even though I liked all three MLs. They were decent people as rivals, which is rare to find in dramas. The problem, for me, was with the heroine. She was exceptionally dense and used noble idiocy as an excuse to lie and use people. Yes, she was fairy beautiful, and I realize men are sight stimulated, but 32 is a bit late in life to have the awareness of a potato.

I've allotted an extra star for a love square involving sweet, kind people.

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An Engaging Fairytale about a Dragon and a Spunky Girl

The leads were anime-pretty, especially Hou Ming Hao's eyes. The story suffered a bit from too many episodes, loose ends, and unanswered situations. The ending made little sense. It had been 15 years, yet when ML met Xian Ge, her oldest child was about seven years old; she'd been heavily pregnant the last time he saw her! This could have been an 8.5, but it lost its way.

Still, it was worth the watch to see Hou Min Hao as a baby dragon in an adult male's body: the look of innocence mingled with indignation and ire, culminated in tiny spurts of dragon flame shooting from his mouth. I'd watch the drama just for that. I've awarded a half star for that cute baby dragon.

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Light, Funny, and Sweet

I needed a short, funny drama, and this fit the bill. Was it silly and nonsensical? Absolutely. And I enjoyed nearly every minute of it. I realize my rating is too high, but I derived that much pleasure from it, so judge away (or wait to judge me further, because I'm going to discuss Bruce as one of my cats again).

Bruce Hung played the merman, and his performance was delectable. I'd seen him as a sweet, adorable romantic figure in Hello Again! As a merman, he was fierce, irritable, and clueless. Excuse me, while my brain goes wacky here, and I reveal I think he's the embodiment of my cats. My review for Hello Again! stated he reminded me of my most beautiful cat. As a merman, he evoked memories of my most simple-minded cat, S. He, too, didn't understand human actions or interactions. He didn't understand personal space or respectable behavior. He'd walk across the back of the sofa and decide my head looked like a good spot to land, or he'd jump up next to me and stick his butt an inch from my face (my cat, not the merman). So when the merman climbed on the back of the ML while he was at his computer, I had flashbacks of my cat S doing the same. I could never stay annoyed with S, because, like the merman, he was so adorable. The scene where the merman was eating hotpot in the bathtub with the anticipation and enjoyment of each bite was exactly like my S looking forward to his treats.

Besides the merman's dimples and attractive torso, watch for the wonderful chemistry between the MLs. The story arc had them both growing and learning, and the bond they forged was pleasurable to watch. The supporting cast was warm and supportive. All in all, a life-affirming drama.

I've added a half star for the sweet memories Bruce evoked of my ridiculous cat.

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A Game That Teaches a Philosophy about Life

I've never played Go, but I was drawn into the competitive world of that game by the endearing characters of this drama. Shi Guang was a naughty, lazy child when the spirit of Chu Ying came into his life and introduced him to Go. Shi Guang naturally rebelled and rebuffed Chu Ying's attempts to teach him. Their interactions and growing relationship were rewarding to watch develop.

All of the relationships were realistic, as were the villains—which were run-of-the-mill bullies and trash talkers. The viewers watched the leads grow from young children to seniors in high school, and the character growth of each was gratifying to watch. With such a large cast, it would have been easy for some to be filler cardboard characters, but most were developed and distinctive.

I had put off viewing because it had 36 episodes. Sixteen hours is generally my sweet spot, but I would have happily watched at least 40 with this cast and story. The drama could have used more episodes to tie up loose ends: Hong He's love interest and his future; why the monk was so unhelpful; explanations surrounding Chu Ying; I would have liked to have been shown some championship wins of the two MLs together.

I highly recommend for those who like slice of life, rich relationships, and universal lessons about dreams, loss, and adaptation. I also recommend watching with a box of tissues at hand, because it's surprisingly touching.

I added an extra half star for the pure enjoyment factor.

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Obsessive Detective and Mysterious Woman Carry the Show

A maverick detective and a mysterious woman with an organized crime background joined together to take on cold cases. The detective was haunted by the brutal death of his junior partner; the woman was working towards an unknown goal, which maintained tension, as no one was sure whose side she was really on.

The leads were exceptional in their parts. I'll look for more of their dramas. The criminals were over the top, like comic book villains. The poor police force seemed inept and perpetually late. But it was a well-paced paced show, and I was never bored.

Added a half star for Takahashi Issei and Shibasaki Ko's acting.

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