michelleoc

Started out great

I'm not a big fan of historical dramas, but the trailers made this look like it would be more comedy than melodrama, so I thought I'd give it a try. I liked it a lot...until I didn't. Unfortunately, they took a show that was really working as a comedy and switched it to palace intrigue/kill the crown prince/don't trust anyone in power/melodrama about halfway through, and it became a different show. Did they switch writers halfway through or something?

What I liked:
-the comedy in the first part of the show.
-Rowoon's (as Jung Woo) comedic timing, goofy facial expressions
-Jun Woo's servant. He was excellent and so much fun to watch!
-a good king
-beautifully filmed. The sets were beautiful. The camera work was interesting. I especially liked the filming of the wedding of the multiple couples. Filmed from overhead so it reminded me of a game board, which was appropriate with all that was going on.
-The costuming was good as well, other than the front of almost every dress the FL wore. The top layer of her dresses were gathered and shorter than the rest, probably so you can see the layer underneath. But it just looked like she got part of her dress stuck in her belt and she needed to pull it down.

What I didn't like:
-the whole melodrama aspect. Does every historical have the storyline of trying to kill the king or prince? The murder plots were messy and took up too much of the show.
-Rowoon's constant throat clearing. Give the man a lozenge!
-no chemistry between leads. I mean, seriously, no chemistry.
-one REALLY bad kiss in episode 12. I couldn't get over how bad it was. Their lips weren't even aligned correctly, no movement, no feeling, no chemistry.
-There's a lot said about the fact that no one recognizes the FL without makeup, even her brother. That was so unrealistic, because they didn't recognize her voice either?! There was virtually no difference between how she looked with and without makeup. Gorgeous either way.
-Did I mention no chemistry?
-A few of the bachelors looked alike, as well as some of the potential brides. It was hard to track who was who.
-Too many storylines to do any of them justice.
-A 14-year-old marrying the oldest of three daughters. This was just all kinds of no.
-Each episode had either the ML or the FL talking about why they couldn't be together. One episode it was him, the next episode it was her. Due to their lack of chemistry (have I mentioned that already?), I didn't think they should be together anyway, so this just made the show more drawn out.
-The evil mother-in-law. Excellent acting. But everyone knew that she had not only been part of the planning to kill the crown prince, but she actually murdered her husband and her brother, and the only thing that happened to her was she lived alone at the end of the drama!?!?!? And she told her daughter-in-law to kill herself? This woman was obviously a burger short of a happy meal and shouldn't have been allowed to roam free.
-The whole multiple people, convoluted mess of a wedding.
-The FL going on and on about how much she had loved her husband. It was talked about so much, but the FL's actions didn't line up with what she was saying, and I felt that this really diminished the feelings that the ML and FL were supposed to have for one another. But since they had no chemistry anyway... (sorry, I digress.)
-The whole storyline with her supposedly being dead. I didn't feel the emotion of loss from him, she just shows up out of the blue, and his non-emotion continues.
-The ending. Lackluster is the only word I can come up with. He almost died, he thought she was dead, we've spent 16 episodes watching them try to get together, and they stand there talking about whether they should get married or just date?! As I watched the ending scene, all I could think was that the actors actually hated each other and were agreeing to the ending as long as there was no emotion, and they didn't have to touch each other.

If you are a fan of historical dramas, you might have the patience for this one. As for myself, if I'd known my feelings were going to change so dramatically by the end, I would have dropped it halfway and given it a higher rating.

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Middle-of-the-road for me

I love actors Park Hae Jin and Jin Ki Joo. Park Hae Jin normally plays a pretty stoic character, he was a lot warmer (and smiled a lot more in this one). Jin Ki Joo is just sweet and easy to watch.

I didn't find it to be an original storyline and it suffered from lack of direction. Is it a comedy? Is it a mystery? Is it a thriller? Is it a romance? All of the above, but it doesn't do any of the genre's justice. The pacing was pretty uneven and too quickly tried to slide from one thing to another. The romance was developed quickly and quickly became boring, possibly because there is so much other stuff going on. I'm gonna be honest, romance is normally the most important aspect for me in the things that I watch, and I could not really understand how these two got together, other than the fate aspect.

I'm going to say that I really enjoyed the ghosts. They were my favorite part of the whole thing. It wasn't a bad watch by any means, but I did fast forward through quite a bit of it.

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If you love historical dramas, watch this one!

I'll start by saying that I don't care for historical dramas, I find the hats distracting, everyone with a beard looks alike, they tend to be very formulaic (evil king or else evil family member trying to kill the king). So, if I was rating solely on my enjoyment of this drama, my score would have been a lot lower. I did rate it a little higher, knowing that this type of show is not my cup of tea.

Acting - Jang Dong Yoon at NokDu/Lady Kim was exceptional. I don't care for gender bender shows, because I always feel like they think we're stupid, because it's completely obvious that the character is not the sex that they are pretending to be. However, Jang Dong Yoon was terrific as both a male and a female. As a female he had the right tone of voice that didn't sound like he was trying too hard. He has such a beautiful face and his long hair helped as well. NokDu was trying to find out who he was and it was an interesting journey. I loved his interactions with all the ladies in the widow's village when he was Lady Kim.

Kim So Hyun as Dong Dong Ju - she had her own secrets that she was trying to deal with. I have loved this actress in everything I've seen her in. She's got such a sweet face and she played her part very well. The "I like you" "go away" got a little old, but I really appreciated that they didn't stick with cliche responses to her finding out NokDu's secret

Kang Tae Oh as Yool Mu was exceptional. The arc of his character was a joy to watch. From sweetness and light to evil personified.

Lee Seung Jun as NokDu's father was very good. I've seen him in things where he's a little goofy/funny. This serious role suited him.

Jung Joon Ho as the king. WOW!

CHEMISTRY BETWEEN LEADS - they were a treat to watch. Their bickering was such fun and her standoffishness played well as he kept trying to get closer to her. Their chemistry was great. The way he watched her and the smile that he got when he saw her, sigh. There were some great kisses and I really appreciated that she wasn't missish and acting like she was terrified of him. Their quiet times sitting together talking were lovely. It seemed that they wanted to be there for each other, helping the other when they had a problem. I could see/feel the progression of their relationship, I rooted for them and I believed the love between them.

ACTION - lots of swordplay and blood.

BONUS - unlike other historical dramas I've seen, this show had multiple scenes of Jang Dong Yoon being just yummy eye candy. Shirtless changing clothes, wet clothes sticking to him, shirtless when he gets wounded and she takes care of him, and my favorite - open robe as he twirls around showing her how to do a fan dance.

ENDING - Plus - it wasn't rushed. There was a wedding to tie up the story. Minus - no consequences for the bad guys and our leads live the rest of their lives on an island? Since there were no consequences, I felt that the bad guys could show up at any time which, as a lead, character, would certainly throw a pall on my happiness!

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Beautiful to watch

This is a beautiful show to watch. Beautiful cast, beautiful set, beautifully filmed, etc. I was impressed by IU's progression throughout the show. I really hated her at the beginning (as I was supposed to), but her character really progressed and you could really see her pain and her vulnerability. Yeo Jin Goo was very good at the reluctant hotel manager. There was a sweet romance, but this spoke more to me about resolving issues in our lives, and the fact that family doesn't have to be nuclear. The hotel staff had their own lovely family.

I thought the special effects were very good and added to the enjoyment of the show.

The costuming of IU was the standout for me. Her clothes and her jewelry were always so stunning and classy. I've watched some other K-dramas recently and have compared the feeling of the clothes/cinematography to Hotel Del Luna. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!

Add the cameo appearances of Lee Joon Gi and Kim Soo Hyun - bonus!

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Was I watching something different from everyone else?!

I must have been watching a different show than everyone else. I didn't care for this show at all. I didn't find it funny in the least, and so many of the characters were completely unlikeable. Her original boss was the worst, and I'd like to think that he couldn't really get away with being that evil for that long. Daniel Choi did a good job, I think the problem was with the script. I really didn't care for the female lead's character. She was always in his face, even when he told her he didn't want to see her, asking him all kinds of personal questions. The first kiss that they shared was the worst! He looked so uncomfortable, bent over to reach her lips, and it didn't resemble, in any way, a real kiss. So many cliches - wrist grabbing, pulling the car over and telling her to get out, excessive drinking, evil mother, irritating ex (2 of them!), emotionless back pat, umbrella in the rain, the list goes on. On the plus side, the kisses did get better. Happy ending, but nothing specific to it, walking into the sunset talking, that's it!

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Extremely unlikeable FL

There are a lot of shows that you watch that start out with an unlikeable character. This show adds the fact that she makes stupid mistakes, is insubordinate, doesn't go to the ML for help but the 2ML, and she isn't even very nice. The way this character was written is very unfortunate. I have dropped very few shows, but I just couldn't watch this anymore. She didn't appear to be growing or progressing as a person, and I would have really been mad if I got to the end, and she hadn't learned from her mistakes. And how do you expect me to believe that there is supposed to be a relationship between the ML and FL when she never turns to him. Not the beginning of a healthy relationship, that's for sure.

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Watch it for the main couple! Seriously!

I've never seen Jing Bo Ran in anything before, but as ML Lu Chen he was excellent. He wasn't cold, he was stoic. But his heart was on his sleeve for Gui Xiao from day one! Okay, you can never go wrong with a man in uniform, so that was bonus. His stature and demeanor were such that you totally bought him as soldier/police. But being the romantic I am, I loved all of his scenes with the FL. The small gestures were a testament to his love for her. Closing his eyes when hugging her, burrowing his head into her neck like he just loved the essence of her, the kiss in her hair when they hug. Every action was butterfly-inducing.
I love Tan Song Yun and she was lovely as Gui Xiao. She is a good actress, she's so beautiful, she is a beautiful crier.
Their chemistry was amazing! Bo Ran has very expressive eyes and manages to convey so much love using just his eyes. And when he smiles, my oh my! Lots of wonderful kisses and hugs. The scene where his back is to her and asks her to take his hand - beautifully filmed and so tender. They were yin and yang. She was so bubbly and effervescent, and he was serious. I can't stress enough how much I loved this couple together.

Big bonus - thank you SO MUCH for not adding the conniving female trying to break them up, or the sad/morose male that loves her from afar. This truly was a drama about them and the strength of their love.

The second couple was cute to watch.

So why is my score so low, after waxing poetic about the strength of the leads?
1) There is SO MUCH filler in this drama!! They spent an inordinate amount of time showing the training and the missions of the SWAT team. I couldn't quite figure out if it was patriotism or propaganda. All that extra stuff took up at least half of the drama.
2) The flashbacks. There were, I think, three different years that they kept flashing back to. I didn't think that the flashbacks were used effectively, especially since the actors pretty much looked the same once they got out of school. The last episode's flashbacks finally gave us the whole history of their relationship, which was nice to see, but then the drama just ended!
3) This might be just a translation issue, but she asks if he still remembers her and he says, "I'd still remember you if you turned to ashes." They showed this a couple of times, and the wording is just a little creepy to me.

I can highly recommend this drama for the main couple. Plus, you might not be bothered by all the time spent on work stuff, but I didn't find it interesting.

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I thought I would binge it, yet savored it instead

It's been a while since I cried so much watching a drama. For me, it had the perfect balance between heartbreaking and heartwarming. There was such a juxtaposition between ML's life and FL's life, you would think that these two could never make a relationship work. ML is from a loving and happy home, and it seemed like life was just handing him everything he wanted without effort. On the flip side, FL's home life consisted of being foisted off on one relative after another. No one wanted her, and no one loved her. I think this made her emotionally stunted, always trying to protect herself from being abused/left again.

I loved the mix of high school and current times. The writer did a good job of slowly revealing more and more of the ML and FL history. When their high school breakup is initially shown, it didn't make much sense to me, and I thought the FL was unnecessarily cold. However, as the drama went on, we saw how she was trying to protect herself when she had no one else to protect her.

I absolutely loved discovering how he loved her, in the many ways he tried to protect her, and all the efforts he took to just see her in her world, a world that he was not a part of. I thought initially he was being awfully cocky toward her, making it sound like he thought she was chasing him, but I think he thought (and rightly so) that she was very skittish and he didn't want to scare her off by coming on too strong. He always seemed to be looking only at her, yet she had difficulty making eye contact with him. It felt like self-protection.

I thought the writer making her leave him seemed out of place, but again, we saw the difference between her being in the sunlight with him and being in the dark alone.

Her entire family was a complete nightmare. It made sense that her character was emotionally withdrawn. She just wanted to keep her head down, remain unnoticed, and get through life the best way she could. Kudos to the writers for not putting in a redemption arc for her family, that would have made me mad.

I loved their scenes together, as teens and as adults. They made each other better versions of themselves. I thought their chemistry was on point. Some very good kisses.

For me, C-dramas tend to be too long and drawn out. My fast forward button got a complete rest while watching this. A lot of people might find this drama to be unrealistic in the romance department. But for the romantic in me, it ticked all the boxes.

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Cute enough...

If you want an easy to watch, low angst romcom, you might enjoy this. You can turn off your brain and just watch for entertainment's sake. The entire cast was good. The main couple was very cute to watch, and we got to see the progression of the relationship, as opposed to quickly moving from I hate you to I love you. I also liked the growth of the relationships between the leads and the staff of the school. It shows that people can quickly believe something based on how someone looks, but by taking the time to get to know them, the come to like the person inside, just not how they perceived them.

The teenage couple was cute enough, but honestly, I have no idea why he liked her, she was just not a nice person. However, they ultimately kind of grew on me.

I wouldn't say the main couple had amazing chemistry, but there were some good kisses.

This is a show that can definitely be called a romcom and it sticks with the genre. May be too simplistic for some, but I enjoyed it for what it was.

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Time I'll never get back

This is just my personal opinion, please don't come at me. I will say, I was one of the few that didn't like My Beloved Summer at all - if you liked that show, you will probably like this. It had the same feel.

My biggest problem with this show is that I found it extremely boring. I was mad at myself throughout for being someone that has to finish things I start, because dropping this show was something I should have done.

I love Choi Woo Shik, but I didn't buy him in this role at all. I spent a lot of time thinking that he was miscast. I struggled with Park Bo Young (another actor that I really like). I just felt like she wasn't committed to the role, or didn't know what to do with it, or something.

So, again, if you watched and liked My Beloved Summer, give this one a try.

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WAY too many episodes!!

Just my own personal opinion, but this show was hard for me to finish. The writer should get some kind of award for making a show with the most unlikeable characters in it. I understand that there need to be some people that we don't like in order to provide some tension and move the story along - but when that includes the lead characters, it's a problem. I couldn't root for the leads. I couldn't care about what happened to anyone. There was too much backstabbing, too much hate, too many antagonists.

The story line itself was a meandering mess. It moved one way, then it went in another direction, then decided to go into a yet another direction. Was it a mystery? A revenge story? A comedy? The body swap was messily done, and much too often. I didn't feel that the actors were able to differentiate enough when they were inhabited by the other person. To me, there is a difference between a strong FL and a B****. She definitely fell in the latter category. Once she changed a little, it was too little too late.

As for the romantic relationship, I will say that the kisses were technically well done, but I didn't feel chemistry between them. They were too cold to each other for entirely too long. Bring in the revenge factor and that makes it even worse.

One more thing, since the writing didn't work for me, I found myself inordinately focused on the wardrobe. So many short, short skirts, which seemed odd since they were always on that giant stairway. People were always looking up at the people on the stairs or the people standing on the second floor - short skirts don't work in this instance. They put the FL in a number of strange outfits. I hated the boxy, oversized, mannish suits they had her wear, as well as the patterned sweaters, belts, multilayers she wore when she was inhabited by the ML. Lomon in a suit, however, can never be a bad thing. Then, the final thing we see is him walking toward her in the most ridiculous shirt/jacket I think I've ever seen.

Not that it was ALL bad -
1) Again, technically good kisses.
2) Shirtless Lomon in episode 8.
3) The team that worked in the basement was somewhat entertaining.
4) Lomon in a well-tailored suit.

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