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Watching men
The drama attempted to explore the supernatural realm through the eyes of night watchmen which were a small tiny portion of a drama titled after them. The drama actually had a reasonable start but a few episodes later it got lost and scattered with no clear direction. It got increasingly messy the longer it went as it was struggling to fill its 24 episodes. There were some strange out of place pieces of dialogues that can be labeled as incoherent nonsense. In addition, a lot of inconsistencies with the characters, poor motives and sudden changes contrary to their established and developed character. The OST was awful, it was like listening to a bad cover band in a dive bar. There were moments that caught my attention but they fizzled out quicker than a damp firecracker.Was this review helpful to you?
Arararang
Well, this was a painful watch to get through. The comedy was genuinely bad and the jokes were godawful. What made it even much worse was the terrible background music of these "comedic" scenes. It killed me slowly bit by bit with every attempted joke. The long runtime drove me insane. Just like any other drama with a similar formula, the story doesn't move until the last few episodes. The story itself was weak and padding it with comedic relief characters and side stories wasn't feasible to begin with. The cast performance was fine but they didn't have much to work with in the first place.Was this review helpful to you?
Jang Hee Bin - The cursed
Any intimate scenes were hilarious to watch from any point of view, even from 1995. As if watching 2 animatronics getting physically close to each other. The first half of the drama was okay but the second one was a mess, it was all over the place. Once other sides started to intervene and the scope went beyond Jang Hee Bin, the drama became a generic palace power struggle royalty bullshit. The king portrayal probably the worst performance out of all the characters. The actor 'Im Ho' looks like a cartoon character when he gets angry. Amateur actors will bring more to the table than him. No wonder why he barely gets low tier main roles and the rest is between support and guest roles. I wonder why this drama managed to get 3 remakes. It would be interesting to see the 2002 version since the cast looks more appealing. The Jang Ok Jung (2013) remake was equally as problematic as this one. Maybe Jang Hee Bin as a historical character is cursed to be portrayed in any media.Was this review helpful to you?
Not good
This is when the genre lost its direction and was going through a transitional period trying to figure out how to be modern. This drama went through a similar downhill pace as Gye Baek (2011) which both were airing at the same time in July 2011. They also both shared similar problems except this one was edger, cringer and worse.Was this review helpful to you?
Very low rewatching value...
Although there were good moments but the pacing was unbearable. Too many episodes were completely useless and insanely boring. I guarantee your favorite characters won't be getting enough screen time. They had all the time they would need but random scenes of random soldiers were more important, i guess. Some high moments didn't quite deliver after a very long build up which made waiting for the next big moment more tiring. I can't say the time investment is worth it with this drama. The production seems to be acceptable for 2003 Korean TV production. But I wish for something higher than 480p would make it to the internet.Was this review helpful to you?
If only they cared....
An okay first half followed by a significantly worse second half but that wasn't enough as it fumbled the landing even harder. The drama massively under-delivered on the ending and everything it was building up for 24 episodes. The most laughable aspect of the ending was the antagonist, he was shown as a powerful big threat just to be dealt with in the most comical way possible at the end. The fantasy elements were passable with nothing outrageous other than the messy introduction. I certainly don't miss Bae Yong Joon, kinda under-delivering on his role as the main protagonist. Meanwhile, Lee Ji Ah earlier carrier was much more interesting and enjoyable than her latest roles.Was this review helpful to you?
Poor
Soulless and dry!! It got significantly worse when the drama forgot its main objective and focused on the parents opposing the ML's love interest. Too much unwarranted stupidity. The cast performance was serviceable at best. For a 16 episodes drama it didn't deliver anything substantial. Even if we were to condense down everything into a single movie, it still wouldn't be worth it.Was this review helpful to you?
It's something....
Back then when they dared to try something different to varying degrees of success. It's not fair to compare this to The X-Files, they have nothing in common other than sharing a similar genre. Anyway, the drama was a mixed bag, some cases were better and more interesting than others. The main story that was progressing in the background wasn't well fleshed out to tie everything together and the ending was just okay. The performance of the cast was alright, nothing major but some scenes lacked the effort.Was this review helpful to you?
Rough!
It's a really rough watch. Primitive post production VFX with cheap cuts especially the blood spatters, the absolute horrors! It has to be cheaper if they opted for practical effects. If they were really on a tight budget then abandoning the post production VFX would have been the right move instead of making the drama looking cheap from the get go. Speaking of which, what on earth was that opening theme with thunder and water splashes effects. Real physical pain. The script, story, dialogue and writing in general was nothing but comical. Park Won Sang was the only highlight for me just for being there.Was this review helpful to you?
If only....
I really appreciate its style but the plot was sacrificing way too much in favor of its supposed black comedy. Sure the drama had its high moments where the comedy really shined but the endless 12 episodes chase was exhausting and poorly executed. At least there's more to like about it, the drama had a good selection of soundtracks that amplified its stylistic moments. I wish this drama was a movie, it would have been a lot more fitting for what it had to offer. Anyway, the drama seems to be an accurate representation of Lee Young Ae's long hiatuses.Was this review helpful to you?
Inept writer
This drama was unbelievable bland. The worst set up with the worst match up of cast. Dead on arrival. Not a single working dynamic. Not a single plot-line ended up gracefully. Not a single couple were a good pair up nor were they appealing. The writing was a catastrophic miss up. Inept writer even for the lowest of standards. A failure through and through.Was this review helpful to you?
Had potential
To sell the slow burn story atmosphere, a drama needs to be accompanied with a memorable and fitting soundtrack. There was a desperate need for an actual original soundtrack in this one instead of filling it with random and generic sorrowful OST which ruined almost any big moment. Despite having an abundance of free time, the drama failed to give the side characters a "character", they never felt that they mattered. The drama behaved like a movie but failed to fit it in a drama (long) format. More often than not, it stuck out a bit too much and ended up being annoying.Was this review helpful to you?
Yikes!
The story was outright bad in the first place but its execution was even worse. Incoherent disjointed narrative, more often than note there was no clear direction or goal. It's impressive how it managed to continue for 16 episodes. The first 4 episodes were completely empty and could have been cut down to 30 minutes at most. Other slice of life dramas are more eventful than this one. As per usual the trend seems to be to over-saturate everything and turn a blind eye to anything else. This is Go Ah Ra's weakest project and the shallow character itself was tiring to watch.Was this review helpful to you?
Had some potentials...
The amount of inconsistencies and plot holes was unbelievably grand. Rendering it exceedingly challenging and distracting to keep watching. Any semblance of suspense that the drama attempted to create was overshadowed by how easily predictable it was. However, Lee Yoo Ri pulling through as usual. Overall, it still passes for a sleepy watch.Was this review helpful to you?
.
It works as an office comedy just fine, it didn't need to have any romance. However, the romance was the worst. Other than that, the concept got stale after a while, it felt they were running out of ideas.Was this review helpful to you?
