K-Drama 
If You Love Makjang, You'll Love This Show!
This has got to be one of the craziest makjangs I've seen. Everyone is unhinged, they all say the meanest things to each other, and I've lost count of how many hair pulls and slaps happened!
The biggest highlight is the ML villain. He's extremely over-the-top (in a good way) and absolutely hilarious whenever he confronts the main characters. Then, he has a bit of a human side where, despite the fact you hate him, you also understand the tragedy behind his actions, where he truly believes he has to do these things to survive and achieve his goals.
The other characters are also great. The FL is absolutely terrifying when she goes in a revenge rampage for her daughter. The FL villain is very threatening, yet tragic because of how she was raised. The ML has a strong moral compass and uses it to convince others it's the right way (to a benefit and a fault). Seriously, this show does a lot of things right. The loan shark family is also really funny. Don don don don money money money money.
If you're expecting a bit more romance between ML and FL, you're not going to get it here. In fact, the romance is one of the weakest aspects of the show. However, the revenge elements more than make up for it.
Some storylines do slow down a bit (around episode 70-80), but they pick back up again. Some character goals also don't make much sense initially. However, the strongest part of this show are the characters and their relationships to each other. There were several times I cried during the show (for the plot twist reveals and the sad parts, of course), but I also cried because I was terrified for the characters.
If you find yourself wanting to skip episodes to find out what happens, you are probably better off not watching the show at all. Like many other long-form makjangs, they are all about the journey and the experience of watching it episode-by-episode. If you're not enjoying the experience, don't torture yourself for 60 hours.
Overall, the show doesn't do anything new, but it does it really damn well. I have to give it a PERFECT score.
The biggest highlight is the ML villain. He's extremely over-the-top (in a good way) and absolutely hilarious whenever he confronts the main characters. Then, he has a bit of a human side where, despite the fact you hate him, you also understand the tragedy behind his actions, where he truly believes he has to do these things to survive and achieve his goals.
The other characters are also great. The FL is absolutely terrifying when she goes in a revenge rampage for her daughter. The FL villain is very threatening, yet tragic because of how she was raised. The ML has a strong moral compass and uses it to convince others it's the right way (to a benefit and a fault). Seriously, this show does a lot of things right. The loan shark family is also really funny. Don don don don money money money money.
If you're expecting a bit more romance between ML and FL, you're not going to get it here. In fact, the romance is one of the weakest aspects of the show. However, the revenge elements more than make up for it.
Some storylines do slow down a bit (around episode 70-80), but they pick back up again. Some character goals also don't make much sense initially. However, the strongest part of this show are the characters and their relationships to each other. There were several times I cried during the show (for the plot twist reveals and the sad parts, of course), but I also cried because I was terrified for the characters.
If you find yourself wanting to skip episodes to find out what happens, you are probably better off not watching the show at all. Like many other long-form makjangs, they are all about the journey and the experience of watching it episode-by-episode. If you're not enjoying the experience, don't torture yourself for 60 hours.
Overall, the show doesn't do anything new, but it does it really damn well. I have to give it a PERFECT score.
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