6
Not good
A well sizeable chunk of the beginning was wasted and failed to hook the viewers in for quite some time. The ending as well was equally bad if not worse than the beginning. The writer completely gone mental in the worst possible way. Maximizing the cringe and the illusion of creating something artistic, not knowing he was a clown in a circus. The drama itself was embarrassingly dry and lacked appealing elements. A story not worth telling. I'm not sure about the historical accuracy but they did a poor job with storytelling regardless. They also turned Empress Ki into a joke of a character. The drama had a dislikable selection of leading cast. I hated watching Son Chang Min as a lead, Jeong Bo Seok was too much in your face and Seo Ji Hye was just okay-ish.Was this review helpful to you?
Try again!
Practically, this drama is just a shirtless men expedition. It featured one of the most deplorable writing efforts and attempts to be edgy and hip with the times (2010). The drama had absolutely nothing to offer other than Jang Hyuk presence. They made Jang Hyuk as an edgy cringey whiny kid full of stupid one-liners and little to no real characterization put into him. This is a prime example for how to NOT write a broken and traumatized character. The drama had no real fights, just a handful of flashy dances in slow-mo with little to no weight to their strikes coupled with unfitting soundtrack for the fight or the moment. To reach the 24 episodes mark they had to stretch it thin, literally, with a lot of repeated scenes, extremely elongated stares and gazes, irrelevant dialogue and random slow-mo shots which all resulted in a poor utilization of the cinematography.Was this review helpful to you?
Coffee innit....
A decent concept but the drama didn't hit well with me. I didn't like either of the main leads nor was I interested in their boring sappy personal story. The support characters and their stories were slightly better. You better off just drink a cup of coffee anyway.Was this review helpful to you?
Do yourself a favor....
Just from reading the synopsis it turned out to be as rancid as it sounds exactly! This feels it was made for a college group project while trying to be edgy and trendy. The standards keep getting lower nowadays.Was this review helpful to you?
Big bait
This drama was a big bait. You may think this is about an uncle and his nephew, although that's partially true, but the biggest focus was on the mothers’ committee and everything surrounding it. The drama quickly turned into another boring high-class circle jerk lacking any creativity or nuances. The uncle nephew relationship was always a side story progressing in the background. The last 2 episodes were utterly useless, the drama ended by episode 14 and the remainder were all random made-up last-minute events. The writer blatantly gave up. The drama is still watchable just for the sake of a handful good scenes otherwise it's underwhelming for its genre.Was this review helpful to you?
Bad prequel
It was too expensive to keep Namkoong for another 2 episodes so we got this instead. These sloppy 2 episodes further highlight the worst points about the original series. Soo Yeon once again proven to be the worst character. We got less violence and a worse story, action and performance. If you barely got through the original one then I recommend skipping this useless prequel.Was this review helpful to you?
Weak attempt for a sports-themed drama
It's an oversaturated manufactured cheap emotional bait that lacked the genuine human connection and necessary depth but rather opted out for easily digestible cliches. Most of the cast, especially the younger ones, were desperately overacting in an attempt to translate the youth energy to screen but it came off as fake most of the time. The actual sports scenes were average at best, it's themed around the sport but not the sport itself. Most scenes with a sweaty face, the sweat looked as fake as it can be. It's so damn laughable that some scenes the neck was sweaty but the face was perfectly dry! The cast didn't do a good job in showing the physical exhaustion of performing the sport whether it was while training or competing. Again, making the sports scenes even more fake. What's up with the drama trying so hard to pair every boy with a girl? Really unnecessary. This drama would have fared infinitely better as a standalone one-off movie. The drama really highlighted the "bad" in badminton. Going into this I had the slightest tiniest bits of hope to get something that can be remotely and ever so slightly similar to "Ping Pong the Animation" but I quickly realized within a few minutes it wouldn't be the case.Was this review helpful to you?
How!
The lack of resemblance between the younger and older versions of the cast was striking. This drama was like one of those scuffed TV Novels, just a tad bit detached from reality, trying to mimic humans but not quite there yet. The drama consistently followed a peculiar and sporadic direction, which hampers any potential for viewer engagement. This inconsistency, coupled with incoherent pacing, weak plot elements, and dull execution, contributes to a well packaged disappointment. The drama fails to deliver something substantial, leaving viewers longing for literally anything worthy. Furthermore, the drama features one of the most underwhelming last episodes, further adding to the sense of disillusionment. It almost made me reach the point of detest if it wasn't for some of the cast's performance. Highly not recommended!Was this review helpful to you?
Okay...
The usual makjang drama nothing new nothing special. You stick around to watch them go mental and laugh at the absurdity. However, this one got a really unlikable male lead. The guy feels so out of place and had zero chemistry with anyone around him even himself. On the other hand, Shin So Yool was the female lead, she always caught my attention playing support roles so it was nice seeing her as the lead. She did good. The drama lacked a consistent plot line, even the main one was scattered and mostly felt as if there were no persistent goal and antagonist. At the same time, too many side plots ended up being underdeveloped and neglected later on, like the delusional FL's father one.Was this review helpful to you?
.
The little kid stood out the most in the entire thing. The villain and the corporation arc were very lame, they wanted the drama to have some tension but it would have been better without. It just made it ever more generic. Also, it wasn't a good role for Ahn Nae Sang. Other than the kid and the food I can't see much good left in it. It shares some similarities with Couple or Trouble (2006) except that one was much better and definitely more enjoyable.Was this review helpful to you?
Passable...
Couldn't feel much chemistry between any of the trio. There was a lot of roaming around. I would prefer a little bit of more structure. The romance was its weakest part, forced and way too delayed. Maybe if they removed it and took it in a different direction would be better? It's still a passable watch.Was this review helpful to you?
Awful beginning...
The first 23 episodes were really painful to get through, mainly because they are flashbacks with the young version of the cast. The flashbacks didn't add anything to the story and they could have been easily summed up in 3-4 episodes. Even after the flashbacks there was barely anything happening. It's almost just a slice of life until the last portion. Relationships were awful and unnecessarily tangled in a love square where none had any emotional weight by the end. The drama has one of the most awkward endings, you can feel the characters melting from awkwardness. Even if I disregarded the flashbacks and the relationships, there wasn't anything else appealing to me, not even the cast performance. You might like if you are looking for a slice of life set in 1970.Was this review helpful to you?
Fine...
Extremely slow and full of endlessly recycled events, 64 episodes for two main stories that is Ji Young shenanigans and the search of that brain-dead father. At least it was heartwarming smooth sailing for the leads, not much conflict you only see them love each other for the 100th time. I didn't like how the drama made the female lead as if she came from an alien planet and just started to learn about the human race. On the other hand, the ending left many things unfinished despite this long run, the last episode was dedicated to a 4-years time skip and yet that didn't accomplish much. Why have it then? The drama is fine but it felt empty for a 64 episodes drama. P.S. the leads' kid doesn't resemble them at all!Was this review helpful to you?
Okay-ish
You may think it's a medical drama like any other medical one but it leans heavily on the business/political aspect while being in a hospital setting. So don't expect the typical medical formula of patients/cases every few episodes.There was a scene where every single doctor and personal in the hospital gathering to watch one operation, who's running the hospital then? The drama failed to keep hold of my attention since it didn't have any interesting elements other than the male lead being a semi bad guy. Some plot lines left unfinished or untouched like the infidelity one. The ending and the last two episodes felt forced to provoke some emotions and leave a stronger lasting impression by the viewers since all the prior episodes were lacking.
The drama had one of the weakest performances I've seen from Lee Sun Kyun. Keep in mind if you wanted to watch it that the remaster version, although it looks slightly better, it chops off scenes from every single episode.
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Not good...
Well, it's obvious for everyone that Do Jin Woo is the worst part about this drama, every second Jin Woo appeared on screen it felt revolting. In fact, you may include Jin Woo and Seol Ah plot line as a whole in general. I highly doubt anyway would like Seol Ah ending. Looking at what the writer did to Jin Woo and Seol Ah plot line and looking at her previous works, I'm starting to see a pattern. Is it safe to assume it's a reflection of her own life?It's not like the drama didn't have other problems. The drama was interesting for the first few episodes prior to the 9-years time skip, it gave off promising vibes with good build up then became utterly soulless, monotone and even got hit with a massive downgrade in overall quality. Maybe about 90% of the drama was uneventful, things kept going in circles with little to zero progression.
The writing was straight up bad and inconsistent. Some parts you can notice the writer is trying to create some logic but most of the time the writer end up doing the exact opposite. Most of the side stories were weak due to the lack of investment in liking any character, since none of them stands out anyway. This also made the size of the cast feel smaller than it is.
The ending as well was flat, lukewarm and lacked a meaningful conclusion to any character.
Chung Ah and Joon Hwi ending was too quick, while the other characters got a "whatever bs" kind of ending. It's really a shame what this drama ended up being since the beginning was too good, a massive bait and switch tactic.
If you can't stand single digit IQ characters then you should avoid this drama.
2.5/10
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