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I think that would be quite accurate.
This was such a lovely, heartwarming and captivating story. The poster doesn't give away a serious vibe. But when you get to know the story, it actually fits perfectly. It captures the tragic theme and still remains somewhat happy. The further you watch, the heavier it gets, and yet it doesn't weigh you down. Even though it makes your heart ache, it keeps its joyful atmosphere and spark of hope. The tragic that lies beneath only seeps in with small drops, and only at the end you feel its heavy scope while it wrenches your heart.
Amnesia is one of the most hated tropes in dramas, but Devilish Joy made it its main force. I'm not that much against memory loss in stories, but I admit that I was skeptical in the beginning. They tried to explain how it worked for the main lead, yet I didn't completely understood. And since I work in the medical field, it shreds my heart into pieces when they use words like "atrophy". It's as if you cross the ocean with a small boat and forget your paddles at the beach. Later on I could somewhat grasp a rough sketch of the big invisible "monster" without getting too many details that would might have confused me eventually. In the end though, it doesn't even matter if you know the smallest cogwheel because other more important things come to the fore.
So, despite my initial doubts, the story cast a spell over me. So much that I desperately wished for a wonder to come. The cast lashed out and comforted me at the same time. Most of it a big hug though.
The music, the side characters and most of all the main leads played a big harmonic part in the story and turned the drama into something precious. I'm glad the focus stayed on that one important relationship facing that illness. The leads were plain great here. Their acting felt very natural and nonchalant, their relationship felt mature and sensual, yet fragile.
Who would have thought that this drama became one of my absolute favorites. One of the better surprises in a long time. For the sake of a composed and touching story, it made me overlook tiny irregularities and small makjang elements.
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What I liked esp. in the beginning was that despite the story not being really deep or heavy, it does have basic approaches to trigger thoughts like what does it mean being "human"? How can you compare these things? Where stops the logic and where starts the "heart"? When can you call something an object and when a person (with that the character Seo Ye Na became quite the annoyance which lasted till the end). Is it right to treat something that looks, acts and "kind of feels" like a person, still like an object (is it right to treat it any way you want to)? What does it mean to love it? It's makes you think of those people that marry their dolls or cars or... whatever they feel bonded with. Who is the crazy one?
For a while the story follows a similar path as the movie "Bicentennial Man". So, you might get a clue of what will await you. The approach of a robot to understand human emotions? Trying to feel them, too? Nah, it's nothing new, but still a luring treat, right?
Just awhile ago, I wanted to say that Shin felt a bit too human sometimes. But then I remembered James Cameron's "Aliens" and the android character in it. Everyone thought he was human until... well, until it was accidentally revealed. Seo Kang Joon did a good job with portraying his character. Repeating certain habits that made you recognize him right away, i.e. the subtly awkward blinking or that stiff smile.
What I thought was scarier than a robot imitating a human, were the company projects. I mean with every new thing that is being developed for humans' safety and longer living and eventually avoiding death... Call me cruel, but I'm always thinking about global overpopulation and further consequences.
Even though this drama has a mainstream plot, it's still an enjoyable ride. I'm thankful that it stayed consistently good and didn't change between good and bad periods. The plot was predictable like certain details you anticipate to see on screen. It even surprises you sometimes. Most of characters' motivations are relatable and if they are not clear enough, it's due to the actor's good performance and his ability to stay grey until the right time comes. Yes, I'm talking about Lee Joon Hyuk. No matter the role, he keeps impressing me.
I'm a bit sad that they didn't explore the relationship between the real Shin and his secretary a bit more. There was so much telling within their acting in those rare moments, that it made me wish to know more about their past. And in the same breath it's a shame that they didn't show more of the real Shin's growing-up either.
Towards the end when a certain step within the story was reached, it became a bit TOO predictable and I kind of wished for another ending. The funny part is now, I actually wished for this ending regarding the basic concept. But because of HOW it happened, I would have been much happier about a different path. It just became TOO k-drama-like for my taste. The grand finale was well done regardless and a real tear-jerker. The characters grew on me so much that they turned me into a crybaby after all.
Yet there's one crucial point to be mentioned: The finale is constructed on a major plot hole. It makes me wonder if I'm the only one who noticed it or if it was just because I marathoned the drama and therefore didn't miss it.
The OST is really nice listening to, and fits the story well. And as being one of the newer dramas out there, this one also gets a place in the "visually beautiful" row.
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First of all, Kim Soo Hyun upstaged all of them. He was the brightest actor among them all, his acting was matchless and the awards he got for this are damn well deserved. Yeah, the other leads were good, too (esp. since I really like Gong Hyo Jin), but not as much as him. Following KSH, IU was the second one I was really impressed with. I totally loved her character and IU acted her out pretty well.
I laughed off my butt through every episode. Seriously, Kim Soo Hyun's character was so loveable from the beginning to the end, esp. his drunken state (and his family! was great). The actors and their characters went very well together. They harmonized pretty nicely, you could feel it.
The unusual way of handling the camera, the scenes, editing, interviewing and everything else was refreshing and fit into it (well, this drama WAS all about 'producing'). It took on so many clichés and exaggerated them so hilariously, that it clearly made my day (well, many days, to be exact).
There were two things I was disappointed about. First, the romance part. It started nice, I was full of expectations, but the way it turned out left me quite unsatisfied. Why start something like that, develop it so nicely and then...? I don't want to spoil the outcome though, maybe I'm the only one who felt that way and others were satisfied with it. Idk.
The second one specifies the "2Days, 1Night" scenes. I would have loved to see more scenes from the show that was aired within the drama. They shot the scenes and talked about the editing and the airing, but showed too little exact scenes from it. Every time I got so damn curious and was left empty.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed the drama and I did gave it a 9.0 rating because I laughed so hard so many times that I won't forget about it for a long time. It even got me to cry in full scale in one scene.
Rewatch value only 5.o because although it was good, I don't think I will watch it again, in reagrd to my 'plan to watch'-list. It didn't get to the point where I would rewatch it when there are so many other dramas prior.
Music was nice, nothing remarkable though.
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