orangebloom

OMG right, even if she choose to continue to publicly live as Jin Buyeon, I wondered if they finally clear her name since Yul found out about the bells and Jin Mu's divination spell. I hope they did.

Not your fault, he's just so lovable and charming and so so gorgeous. I watched their past promotional videos just to watch him more.

The way that I'm understanding it, his character's importance is the reason they're crediting it as a guest role since supporting role is still regarded as regular cast member whose roles are not as important as the main leads. He's also an established actor, his days as a supporting cast has long gone; and the industry prefer to credit established actor/actress as a guest role (or special appearance by) when they make a small appearance instead of a supporting role.

I wasn't aware she was going through this. Hope she's recovering well and stay healthy!

I found Minhyun's video performing the song live from last year before releasing his version for Part 2 and it was so good! It's adding to my crush on him.

I'm not sure if there's any standard to this, but his appearance is not very long in those eps, but because his played an important character, I think it still fits under a guest role.

Ah I wasn't following the drama when it was released, so I wasn't aware of how they went about promoting it. I thought GYJ had been part of the promoting cast from the start.

Yes, people seems to not realize that Mudeok's outward behavior is a persona adopted by Naksu/Cho Yeong because from the flashback snippets, the real Mudeok/Jin Bu Yeon didn't act the way Mudeok's Naksu acted. I agree that it caused so much confusion for viewers, especially those who prefer Mudeok's persona than the real Naksu/Cho Yeong's character. And that's on the production team's fault for not planning things thoroughly.

When I was just looking forward to the next guests, the show's ended! This is one of my healing show. Really hope there'll be a new season.

I get your point that they're all the same Naksu/Cho Yeong inside but with different outward appearance and persona, I think it's just marketing by the production and to avoid spoiling the drama or confusing to non-viewer, so they chose to introduce GYJ's character as Jin Buyeon.

Yeah, it bugged me as well but because I chose to continue, I ignored it for the most part. I'm not an I would have been happy if they showed at least one scene where Mudeok trained Jang Uk properly in Danhyanggok, like maybe Mudeok leading with the basic steps and movements with Jang Uk following her because it was told that he didn't even know the basic of swordsmanship but no, he went straight to try catching a drop of water while she just stood there watching him, then he only learned the basic and some more on the go as he fought for the bird's egg jade. The master-pupil relationship has a lot of potential to be explored more but they were passed over.

This could potentially be spoiler for you, but Naksu couldn't access her energy after soul shifting because Buyeon's soul prevented her from doing so (to keep them from running wild and petrify).

I assumed it's a grim reaper-esque character and in the drama, Park So Dam will portray this character.

it's a happy ending

I had hoped that the famed and often mentioned General Seo, Seo Yul's father who is a direct descendant of the legendary Master Seo Gyeong, would make an appearance when his son was in critical condition. Given his ancestry, I'm just so curious of his power and influence over the other mage families.

The grand finale when they released the fire bird and Jang Uk slaying the fire bird in less than five minutes feels rather underwhelming, but since Jang Uk has mastered his power and advanced even more in the three years time skip, I guess it made sense. Also, Seol Ran/Bu Yeon said they needed seven people to safely send the fire bird to Lake Gyeongcheondaeho but it didn't look like they did or helped her with any of that part beside standing there and watching her do it.

Kudos to the writers and both JSM and GYJ that even with the obvious difference in appearance, behavior and mannerism and as audience we have the benefit of knowledge, but their portrayal still gives the feeling of the same character. In Part 1, we saw her adopting the behavior and mannerism of a village girl then that of a servant to blend with the body and situation she has found to be in, she's so different to her true self that were shown when she was alone or as a master to her pupil Jang Uk. Now, in Part 2, we saw her again, finally showing her true personality but without the need to adopt a persona to hide and without the desire for revenge, but with a longing for freedom. This is the young girl who met and befriended Yul in Danhyanggok, before she found out his name and was reminded of her revenge agenda.

I want to also extend my appreciation to the hairstylist team for getting rid of Jang Uk curls and LJW himself for his amazing performance and expressions. As character, in three years, Jang Uk grew from a reckless and childish young master who easily sulk and choose the easier path because that's what his life has always been like, to a mature man, carrying the burden and responsibility of having the ice stone power. The fact that he'd also come to the same decision as Seo Yul did in Part 1 that if he acknowledge who she was, he had to take responsibility showed just how far he's come.

In that regards, I get that some are surprised and upset at Seo Yul for planning to kill Naksu and himself in Danhyanggok, but that's been foreshadowed since Part 1 and he had been internally conflicted since then. He didn't even take the medicine for the blood parasite because he's felt more pain at being unable to stop Naksu when he could and prevent her from running wild. To add that as long as his knowledge went, this Naksu could still run wild and hurt innocent people, until Master Lee assured him that her soul will soon leave the body and he learned of Jin Mu's divination that controlled her violent actions.

10 episodes feels too long and too short at the same time. Some parts made me wish that the story progressed faster, but more parts made me wish that they give us more actions and backstory.

All in all, I'm satisfied with the whole production. Though I wouldn't mind a third part dedicated to more of their adventure in hunting the rest of Jinyowon relics. And some more of Seo Yul and his swordsmanship in action, also man really is just so handsome I can't get enough of him. I would pay to watch him leading Jeongjingak, recruiting more students and putting them under a strict training regime.

Everything's great and all until the last episode happened. I have been so willing to accept all of its flaws in creating a magical world, but I disliked the way they so obviously made ep. 20 as plot device to usher season 2; the Crown Prince seemingly swayed by Jin Mu's manipulation or the fact that neither Songrim nor the Royal Palace put more effort into searching for Jin Mu.

Also, it's disappointing that after all the build-up with the Gwanju , him being one of the strongest mages that no other mages dare to break Jang Uk's energy gate, his five seconds appearance is so anticlimactic. I actually feel bad for the guy, he's put in corners where while he ideally could refuse both Jinyowon's matriarch and the late King's request, he simply unable to refuse both of them since he seemed to be too soft at heart. The resulting mess is beyond his control.

My conclusion after watching HDL and AOS, while the whole stroy is great, Hong Sisters' fantasy world don't hold much under the surface, so many holes and sketchy on some parts. But, despite that, I enjoyed watching both dramas. Let's see if they managed to deliver better in season 2.

In that case, Seo Yul better still be alive and kickin' ass until the end of season 2.

Here for Seo In Guk! Can't wait for the drama to air!

Second and third part... does it mean the drama will be released in 3 parts/seasons? Or will has only one season with seven episodes as stated above?

It wasn't really mentioned how he died, but since he's reincarnated and died again, he must have gone through both lives until his destined lifespan.

The Smile Has Left Your Eyes had arguably his best performance, but it's quite dark.

My first and favorite drama of him is Reply 1997, it's one of my comfort drama. He's also great in Hello Monster (I Remember YOU) and Squad 38. If you're looking for cute romcom, Shoppingking Louis is a good watch.