1
하백의 신부 2017
The Bride of Habaek offers a unique blend of fantasy (Habaek actually being part of Korean mythology) and romance that feels fresh and enjoyable. Habaek, Mura and Biryeom are such fun gods and I like the different vibe. I especially loved the character dynamics and the memorable love story. While it may seem a bit absurd at times, its playful tone adds to the charm. There is enough depth and details that make it a really good fantasy romcom (further review in the comments), in my opinion. The witty humor was really nice at times, and it's a visually stunning drama with some great dialogue and lines.
On a side note, "The Bride of Habaek 2017" is a spin-off of the original manhwa, which has a historical setting (not for me), so it's almost completely different.
To many, this drama may seem bad (although it was a hit loved by many people), but for me—as someone who’s always loved fantasy—it’s good in its own way. It’s a drama worth giving a try—and I say this as someone who had his own moments of boredom and frustration with it, especially around the middle, if I remember correctly. Yet, I ended up sacrificing sleep to watch the last episode and woke up too late for school. Since I was watching it with a friend, my first reaction to the last episode was: "MAGNIFICENT".
No plot and no twists? That's not true and I'm glad it's a 16-episode drama. The plot is between the characters and their development, and there is definitely stuff going on without the script being too predictable, thus feeling "unfocused" I guess but it's my cup of tea.
As for the complaints about bad acting, especially regarding Shin Sekyung... That's nothing but a generic complaint from international kdrama fans who have no idea what they're talking about. Nam Joohyuk and Sekyung were really good and I loved their chemistry. To each his own. Their performance becomes even better when you learn that Sekyung fought her phobia of water for the role (like the character...) and Joohyuk his fear of heights. A last thing, the director actually told the screenwriter to stop watching Goblin because of the similarities, and they had to make changes in the script to make it more different and unpredictable. This surely turned out well for me, because I dropped Goblin after the first episode.
Finally, Habaek is truly more than just a drama to me. Habaek and Soah stayed with me. "If something gets bathed in the moonlight, it becomes a myth. I guess our story will become a myth." - that's how special they are to me.
I wish Netflix gets it back, but thankfully it's on Viki.
On a side note, "The Bride of Habaek 2017" is a spin-off of the original manhwa, which has a historical setting (not for me), so it's almost completely different.
To many, this drama may seem bad (although it was a hit loved by many people), but for me—as someone who’s always loved fantasy—it’s good in its own way. It’s a drama worth giving a try—and I say this as someone who had his own moments of boredom and frustration with it, especially around the middle, if I remember correctly. Yet, I ended up sacrificing sleep to watch the last episode and woke up too late for school. Since I was watching it with a friend, my first reaction to the last episode was: "MAGNIFICENT".
No plot and no twists? That's not true and I'm glad it's a 16-episode drama. The plot is between the characters and their development, and there is definitely stuff going on without the script being too predictable, thus feeling "unfocused" I guess but it's my cup of tea.
As for the complaints about bad acting, especially regarding Shin Sekyung... That's nothing but a generic complaint from international kdrama fans who have no idea what they're talking about. Nam Joohyuk and Sekyung were really good and I loved their chemistry. To each his own. Their performance becomes even better when you learn that Sekyung fought her phobia of water for the role (like the character...) and Joohyuk his fear of heights. A last thing, the director actually told the screenwriter to stop watching Goblin because of the similarities, and they had to make changes in the script to make it more different and unpredictable. This surely turned out well for me, because I dropped Goblin after the first episode.
Finally, Habaek is truly more than just a drama to me. Habaek and Soah stayed with me. "If something gets bathed in the moonlight, it becomes a myth. I guess our story will become a myth." - that's how special they are to me.
I wish Netflix gets it back, but thankfully it's on Viki.
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