roddib

A quality historical drama but no masterpiece. I liked how the last episode was clearer about the actual history of the returnees from Qing and crown prince Soohyeon's fate. But from the beginning we were expecting the death in the beach and this affected the whole viewing experience. I'm fully okay with sad endings especially when real history is dealt with. Part 1: I haven't been so angered with drama lead characters ever before. In part 1 the main charaters were so incredibly frustrating. Full of vanity, pride and cruelty toward each other. Then in part 2 they suddenly become near-saints.I do like character growth but by this point I already didn't care about the ML and FL or their romance, at all. In the break between the parts 1 and 2, they decided to change the ending to cater for the romance audience. That's at least how I interpret this ending. That was so wrong, so wrong. It wasn't meant to be a conventional romance drama and only a sad ending would have been satisfactory to me. We went from actual history straight in k-drama tropeland with memory loss trope and irrealistic return from death trope. So f******* dumb.

as was the death in the beach. We knew from the beginning that JH is going to die in the end and then they went and changed the ending. So f******* dumb.

the last episode gives the answers about his past

They changed it.

I agree. I can still acknowledge it was a quality historical drama, but boy was it frustrating. I don't like how the main characters who were so superficial and full of themselves and downright cruel to each other miraculously became near-saints in the ending.

The prime minister. His daughter was friends with Ryang Eum and therefore helped Ryang Eum's friends.

very true and accurate. I also pointed out that Gil Chae's husband was a decent man who just followed the norms that everyone followed at that point in history. Someone said that these things should be watched outgoing from the norms of today. Some even had a hate campaign in their pages with posters of Gil Chae's husband as a wanted criminal. I hate how they changed the ending and brought in the amnesia trope. From the beginning we were led to believe this would be a correct portrayal of the tragedies of the Qing invasion and its aftermath. Ryang Eum was correct all the time when he said Gil Chae was not good for Jang Hyun. And Ryang Eum was also attacked as a villain here. I'm so disappointed that they changed the ending to cater for those who were only invested in the love story and not the actual history.

Who else is learning to do daily compliments to self? Am glad I watched this!

I feared that too but I got immersed. There are always lighter and hopeful moments. It's more healing than depressing, imo.

I liked Believer 1 (8.5) but decided to drop this after 20 mins. I watched the first part 3 months ago but still had to rake my brain to remember all the characters. And why was this even made when it's mandatory to remember the first part? It was just clear this would add nothing new compared to part 1 but be like a reheated dish.

He was great in Evilive. I didn't realize I had seen him DP 2!

pls no. Remakes are totally unnecessary. She deserves better.

9.2 !!!! am happy. Well deserved !!!!

Yes but both broke each other. In the early episodes it was shown that Do Young expected and wanted them to be real friends and continue as equal business partners and Dong Soo was the one who at that moment said he didn't want to ever see Do Young again. That moment broke Do Yong because he was lonely.

ain't that the truth!

The ending was too predictable imo. There were so many excellent crime & thriller dramas this year (Miraculous Brothers, Worst of Evil, The Day of Kidnapping) that this felt pretty mediocre compared to them. Kim Young Kwang as Seo Do Young was amazing though. It's kinda rare that an actor can portray so much of the character when doing absolutely nothing. We knew there was so much going on in his head. I loved the bromance but in the end it fell flat. They could have emphasized more the moments when Han Dong Soo could have become real friends with Do Young but didn't take the chance. I know I'm in the minority but I almost wished Do Young would have outwitted Dong Soo or that they'd have become real partners in the end. 7.5

Soul Mechanic

I agree that Rowoon is a very good actor, already in Extraordinary You. School 2017 was a test run but he has already proven how solid he is as ML. To me, the problem with the drama is with the script and the director (director doesn't seem to want us to watch Rowoon since the takes are from far away mostly). What I'm seeing is that Rowoon doesn't really have any chance to show his skills in the drama. Very little screentime so far. I hope it gets better but not too optimistic about that since both the writer's and the director's earlier dramas have been instant drops for me. I wouldn't care about the comments, since there are as many who see the plot going awry from what we expected (aka, into the same old palace politicking) and those who blame Rowoon's acting. Let's see whether palace politicking murder mystery and a comedy about matchmaking will be a working mix.

reviews should be organic and not from a movement.

Disney -style k-drama. Leaves out the first episode which lets us get to know the main characters and their background in an in-depth manner and goes straight to the punching and bloodbath. I think I'll prob pass this one. I'll read what people say when it's finished and then maybe get back to this.