6
Very meh
Immersion-breaking scuffed production, tone deaf story, mediocre performance and all around plain boring.Was this review helpful to you?
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Too stupid...
The first 20 episodes were fast paced and full of hype but anything after that was just straight up disappointment one after another. When the truth was confirmed and the revenge started, things got painfully repetitive and boring. I liked the concept but the story never went as I hoped for. The plot twists initially were fine but they had so many twists that it became just plain stupid and a mockery of a story. It was unbelievable how dull Kang In Wook character was, might as well just remove him from the drama.Was this review helpful to you?
Disconnected and scattered
Just another historical drama confirming, yet again, how much I don't like seeing 'Choi Soo Jong' in a historical setting. You would be dreaming if you thought the drama will utilize the 200-episodes runtime wisely. Expect a lot of useless scenes/chapters/arcs/stories/characters. I really wish they didn't waste too much time with the childhood period, the first +20 episodes were too much for an introduction. A quick introduction of max 2-3 episodes would have been way more than enough to establish what needed to be established.When zooming out, the drama is split into 3 major parts. The first 1/3 consisted of the back story and the personal relationships. The second 1/3 consisted of forming the religion then turning it into a cult and watching madness ensues. The last 1/3 is was just generic wars and battles. The last 1/3 had a major tone shift and turned the drama into something different. It was a bit too disconnected to associate it with the first 2/3 after what had been already established. It should have been its own thing and the drama should have ended after the second 1/3. I feel for those who had to watch it serializing for 2 years, the shifts were too unpleasant as if they were jumping different shows.
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Disappointing
Most of the cast were underperforming on their roles. Aside from the main female lead, there wasn't much appeal going for the drama. Which made the drama utterly boring with its insane 24 episodes nascence runtime, it felt painfully infinite. The drama had a poor pacing with every section/period. The first 10 episodes all served as an intro and could've been condensed down to couple of episodes at best. Some gisaeng "training montages" were laughable and straight up ripped from anime-esque training arcs followed by an instant skill power up, despite having all the time in the world to flesh out the gisaeng journey from an artistic point of view. A drama about gisaengs that doesn't put the effort and needed attention into the gisaengs. To top it all off, they couldn't even deliver with the ending, I hated the last episode, everything felt force for the sake of progressing the drama. By the way, Jang Geun Suk shouldn't be listed with the main cast since he's only there for a few episodes.Was this review helpful to you?
Ruined
Too much shouting and weeping that constantly yank you out of the drama. For the first 20 episodes the drama was somewhat fine but after episode 21 it became utterly unwatchable rancid fuming hot garbage. They blew up all of their budget on the first 20 episodes that the rest left them roaming inside the mansion with bullshit plot for the remainder. The story lacked a more concise direction and the transitions in the story were always jarring and ungraceful.Was this review helpful to you?
Decent enough....
The first few episodes you get to see everyone going through break-up/divorce/remorse/grief/old love/unrequited love/infidelity just to clear any past relationship and prepare every single character to start a new romance/relationship. The leads' love triangle/square might be the worst one I've ever seen. They are also the weakest part of the drama. At the same time, the main leads had a ridiculous amount of kisses and face slaps that the ML began anticipating to be slapped on the face. Writing wise, anything related to them was mostly problematic.The drama ran into some seriously stupid moments/events that made it dip into unwatchable cheap melodrama territory "temporarily" but it still have its good moments to pull itself back up. The drama's message about family and self-worth was well presented. The last 10 episodes or so were nothing but smooth sailing, minimum conflict and good vibes. Of course, they had to go for the "maximum baby making" route for the ending. Give it a shot it's decent.
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Late Stage Capitalism Love
It's really hard to trust a Netflix series with inexperienced writers, in this case, it seems this drama is still the writers' only project. The combination usually results in producing flops and slops, and the pattern seems to be consistent with this one as well. It goes without saying, this explains why the dialogue was unbelievably atrocious and mind numbing. The story itself remained in a nonfunctional state throughout its run and mixing it with a half-assed social commentary piece resulted in a certified stinker. Even its creator know that it was a failed attempt so they abandoned the idea after a few episodes. Amidst all of that, somehow, they managed to create 16 episodes. I guess having the characters talking in slow-mo helped, which made it more painful in combination for how the dialogue was.Was this review helpful to you?
