Reviews

A Modern Kdrama with a Touch of Older Kdramas that Can Be Confusing and Unpredictable at Times

“Destined with You” is a drama with a mix of light and dark genres, which starts with a light tone, then the tone shifts, darkens as it gets more serious to reveal the backstory, and make viewers realise that they’ve been given clues along the way, and they just need to connect the dots as the story is unfolding, which means…

…it is also the type of drama that needs you to pay full attention or you will miss out on the details left by the writer/director. Trust me, I’d been rewatching while waiting for next episodes and found details that I didn’t notice on my first watch.

The drama does not spell out every detail for you due its non-linear narrative, but gives enough hints and details along the way if you pay attention. It does not hold smooth consistent tones from start to finish, nor are the characters all perfect and more akin to flawed human beings you find irl. The characters have layers and depth that you need to understand as a whole and if you only chose to see them from the surface, then you will definitely misunderstand them and their motives, actions etc You have to be patient with both, story and characters, in order to see it all unfolding and to enjoy it.

I missed the kind of feelings I get from Kdramas that remind me of how I fell in love with Kdramaland 13 years ago. Most modern Kdramas have become more westernised, most storylines and characters have become rather… ‘forgettable’. Kdrama has been losing its essence since few years ago that I switched to Thai/C/Jdramas that feel more like home.

But this one, is some kind of refreshments for me. It’s modern, but it also contains some tropes we saw in older Kdramas.

We have leads with FLAWS, which allows space for character development. We have dramatic, confusing and exciting plots - best when we watch it ongoing, sharing theories with other viewers.

My final say:

I suggest if you’re ready to start watching this drama, go with an OPEN MIND. Just go with the flow (it has non-linear narrative, so that’s where it gets confusing sometimes), so that you won’t be questioning why this happens, why this character did what they did, etc..

Don’t be too stuck up and too strict. This way you might end up loving this drama as a whole!

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Preachy with questionable lessons and toddler love story.

Can’t believe I watched a whole show with a cloud of flies as the villain. Why did he do what he did? Because he is evil. Why was the war happening? No one knows, it just was. Why was the leader of fairies wanting to keep the war going? Why not I guess, they just hate each other.

Here’s the thing, if you take 10 random viewers of the show and ask them to describe in detail what was the plot of the show and motivations for all the characters, you would get a description of 10 completely different shows. Why? Because all this drama had was a framework of the plot, but no substance inside it. There was little to no world or character building, no proper set up, no proper conclusion, no details of the magic system and rules how it operates. The drama just lacked… writing.

I could potentially still enjoy it for the romance, if the romance was good. It was not. I just cannot get behind the weird toddler with grown up man romance. Here me out - I have exactly zero issues with childish female leads, there are quite a few dramas with them that I enjoyed, but I am completely against child-like female leads. There is a huge difference between a character behaving in an immature fashion, and a character behaving like a child, and sadly the Fairy was just an annoying toddler.

Possessive and toxic love story? Sign me up, but not when it feels like a romance between a father and his minor kid. I do not care if she matured in the last 6 episodes - too little too late. This whole pairing freaked me out for a good 30 episodes.

Orchid just ain’t it. Girl was dumb, loud, irresponsible, pretentiously good (sorry, but a guy colluding with evil for 30k years and getting so many people dead because of his delusional love was not just a small mistake). While Dongfang Qing Cang was truly hot during many scenes, I still could not enjoy the character to his full potential because of the context of his romance with the little flower. Out of all the characters, the two I truly enjoyed were Die Yi and Dear Daddy Devil’s little brother.

Yes, the performances were strong. Esther Yu was perfect for the role of the most annoying child female lead and delivered all the proper expressions and lines needed. The emotional scenes were great and I actually really liked her in the last 3 episodes. Dylan Wang ate the role. All the pain and suffering, all the confusion about the new emotions he was feeling, all the internal and external dilemmas he was facing. Not to mention both Esther and Dylan did a phenomenal job with the soul switching scenes (even if I did not enjoy them, I am not going to deny the acting skills needed to deliver them).

Production value was great, at least in terms of special effects and most of the set and costume designs. There were few extremely cheap looking additions to few dresses and war armors, but overall - for sure more beauty than trash. Truth to be told, it kind of felt as if they used 80% of the budget on the aesthetics.

As for the soundtrack, can we talk about that one song that sounds like an anime intro that felt painfully misplaced in the story? Too many tracks were completely mismatched, and while they sounded like nice tunes, they did not fit the scenes at all.

Overall, I am just happy I survived this watch. I hated the preachy narration at the end about how love can cure us all, when literally the whole villain story and all the wars happened because of one dude’s delusional love. The writers need to reread their material before they write dumb conclusions, really.

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In this one, the bad guys are despicable, the main actor is always covered in bruises, and things rarely make great solid sense.

Nonetheless -

GOOD - (EYE CANDY) Lets face it, if you're a fan of Kim Hyun Joong, you're going to watch this drama regardless. Eye candy-wise there will be a few more surprises, mainly Song Jae Rim, and not only him. BTW Kim Jae Wook is there for less than half of the series.

GOOD - (ACTION) If you love action, different styles of combat and disciplines, then perhaps you will like this drama. Theres a lot of fighting.

BAD - (STORY/WRITING) The story had so much potential, its a huge pity the writing wasn't at all up to par. It wasn't as bad the first 10 episodes, but then they switched writers, and subsequent episodes dragged and lacked logic, production value also became worse.

MEHHH - (ACTING) The casting wasn't bad. The acting itself was phenomenal coming from some of the actors. KHJ has improved as well... although he's still not amazing. Problem is, the acting is greatly exaggerated.. as in a lot of moments are over-acted. Its a bit awkward...

OVERALL - Watch for the eye candy and the fighting. Do not watch if you like a solid story, humor, goose bumpy romance or fast paced storytelling.

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I thought the first episode of Signal was solid. I thought the second episode was fantastic. And then . . . well, then the show decided to go full throttle for “big emotional moments”. There were a lot of explosions, a lot of lurid cases, mostly involving ghastly things done to women, and a whole lot of crying. Despite excellent acting by Kim Hye Soo and Jo Jin Woong and stylish directing, I found myself becoming less and less engaged. Thrillers, especially those that dare to mess with the space-time continuum, demand top-notch writing, and while the script was serviceable, it never fully worked out the logistics of its crisscrossed universes. The actual detective work was also slighted, with its crack team instantly solving crimes that had baffled cops for years. Pinning all the blame for cases turning cold on “corruption” may be satisfying wish-fulfillment, but it felt lazy, especially in a show gunning for gritty realism.

On the plus side, the show's fast pacing tends to paper over the plot holes, but it shortchanges the development of most of the secondary characters. They become “innocent victims” or “evil elites” we’re supposed to mourn or hate simply because of the suffering they endure or inflict on others. Occasionally there are glimpses of greater depth before the show bustles viewers off to the next crime scene, but I would have appreciated fewer set ups and more follow through. The concept is intriguing, but once you unwrap the layers of snazzy time warp packaging you’re left with a pretty ordinary procedural. The present may be able to change the past and vice versa, but the conventions of the crime drama survive unscathed.

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Self sabotagists in edgynonsenseland

Started strong, after first 2 episodes I thought it may be something great. But then, it got retarded, and the longer it went on, the dumber the story got.

Fl and ml are both complete self-sabotaging morons. FL doesn't think things through and then regrets, rinse and repeat. She has only two moods, angry and shouting and then regretful and crying. First she denies ml surgery, screams at him, destroys his meds, even hits him in the head and then is like surprised pikachu "wHaT dO yoU mEaN hE'S goNNa dIE!?!". The ml, no better, starts off as a dedicated doctor who just wanted a life saving surgery but turns out it was just a joke, he's as crazy as her and his goal is to die on surgery table killed by his apprentice.
The entire story is them making each other's lives harder while actually caring about each other, but not being able to express it because of mental illness and poor writing.

The other characters are non existent. FL has two sidekicks who enable her and go on with her idiotic actions while bitching and moaning and then doing nothing about it. ML has a female sidekick who has more or less the same role but she's less obnoxious about it. The police officer investigating the case is dumb as brick and disgusting, and gangsters look and act like 1980's japanese yakuza.

The drama doesn't seem to know what it wants to be. Does it want to be an edgy black comedy, or tearjerker melodrama? It tries both, switching from one to another from scene to scene, but excels at neither, and the contrast is jarring.

The french insert song is pretty nice tho. It's called "dis-moi, je t'aime" just in case you wondered.

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Before you rate this review down, horrified by the rating, please let me explain myself. My rating wouldn’t (and shouldn’t) have any meaning without the proper explanation as to why I think it deserves a 3,5.

In short (if you don't want to read the big text below)- > The characters make little sense and there's a bunch of plot twists for the sake of shocking the viewer rather than them having any justifiable sense for most of the time.

Good? ok. Now let's start.

Story

Some of you might say “This person is an elitist!”, “This person is nitpicking!”, however I do not consider myself a fiction elitist nor am I trying to nitpick; I just don’t watch/read any type of fiction for only my entertainment. I say this because I know most of you watch dramas (or any type of fiction) mostly to fill in a “fun” factor or you watch them because you want to get all the “feels”, then the rest is mostly superfluous as long as you can manage to find a justification for it. The difference between some of you and me in the way that we see fiction became very clear as I was watching Empress Ki.
What is my point with this? If I would have managed to shut my brain and watch Empress Ki only to discover who is going to get backstabbed next and who was going to die next or who was going to get framed next, only for me to cheer or be sad depending of the situation, then yes, I would have said Empress Ki did its job and a very good one at that.

However, my brain kept questioning and demanding consistency and logic from its world and characters. Empress Ki is mostly an up and down of plot twists for plot twists; doesn’t matter whether the characters are even able to do what they do, the drama will find a reason for them to pull the plot twist even if it makes little sense. The story progresses mostly in this manner, there’s no time to just breath and let everything settle in because somebody will start plotting something else the moment the last conflict is over. I just can’t enjoy these types of fast-paced executions, mostly because I feel like even with 50 episodes I wasn’t able to even remotely “care” about most of the characters and that’s a big issue for me.

I must also question the random mood switches, being serious, then the next moment switching to comedy, without taking into consideration the bittersweet feelings that I was supposed to get right before that. It’s only normal that I’d be confused in what I was supposed to feel anymore when I have to face such contrast in moods. Is this a k-drama thing? I guess I could notice a pattern, but then it becomes a formal issue directed to the whole genre.

There are also several time skips that I would have wished to have never been there. Mostly during the last time skip where most of the changes occurred. It almost seemed like an easy way of not showing us how everything came to that conclusion, which was quite convenient, not to say lazy.

Empress Ki also doesn’t seem to know if it wants to stick to being a “realistical” (for how much realism it portrays…) pseudo-historical or a fantasy, because there’s this arc where they actually use magic and, in my bafflement, it was actually working and perfectly able to hurt somebody in real life. Just what are you doing, drama? I understand that at the time they believed in magic and whatnot, but from praying to actually making it work? Don’t bulshit me. They could have killed the entire royal family with those methods if it were that easy. *breaths in* *breaths out*

Also, just putting up a fact here, Empress Ki is far from being a historical. If it happens in the past and some of the characters actually existed in the past, it’s not enough to make it a historical when most of the story itself is only LOOSELY based on real facts and most of what happens in-between is purely fictitious. Empress Ki is a pseudo-historical. Common misconception.

Characters

I can pretty much copy-paste what I wrote in the story section. Characters were mostly one-dimensional.

I can put an exception flag on Togon and Nyang over here, but Wang Yu? I’m sorry, and this doesn’t have anything to do with me shipping TogonxNyang, but Wang Yu was entertaining for the first couple of episodes and then he became such a drag to follow that I was happy everytime he was gone. Why am I being so salty? Because he’s the valiant hero that’s too good for his own good. And that’s literally everything that’s up with him. His story resumed in Goryo! -> Nyang -> GORYO!! -> being a hero -> Nyang ! boohoo! -> Throne! -> no throne! -> Nyang! - > Nyang – THRONE-> no throne again etc. I could go on forever and I hope you got the point: it was painfully repetitive.

Is Wang Yu the only one guilty of repetitiveness? Haha, not even remotely. Tanassiri, the Dowager, El Temur (guilty of openly shaping and breaking the laws and rules like butter and nobody calls him out on that too), Bayan, bitchy maids, please all shake hands and join the circle of repetitiveness now.

But going to much happier stuff: Togon! He is the character that managed to come through the most, though sometimes he’s affected by the same incoherences and random “instincts” because “plot demands so!” like the rest of the characters, Nyang included. But he’s still way better written: arrogant, egocentric, selfish, sometimes cute, sometimes hateable, sometimes fully understanding of his role and position and actually pained by the reality of it all and his inability to escape. The feeling of always getting used, no matter in what situation. He is ultimately the character that I “felt” the closest to me through the whole drama and I was quite sad about him.

Nyang………She has her ups and downs. Sometimes I am pleased with her, some other times she tries to make sense but fails horribly. I really preferred her when she used to be into genderbent and stuff were actually simple, but she kept being this ambiguous character which I feel like I could never be able to completely get to know. She's stuck between a romance drama and a political drama. She just never seemed to know what she wants: one day she would be just fine with protecting something, then the next moment she’d want to rule the world. I am really not sure how am I supposed to take that.

For the rest, it’s really pointless for me to talk about, since I’d just repeat myself. With one exception…Tal Tal. Now, Tal Tal has been the character that, while still mostly one-dimensional, was able to bring the story and its characters back on the right path in more ways than one. He was my ray of light and voice of truth. He’s supposed to be a very smart and rational person, who is able to see through mostly every situation, but limited by his own loyalty. He gets some sort of development when he crosses paths with Nyang, but unfortunately, his character wasn’t even remotely explored further which was a shame. And the last episode really treats him unfairly. That’s all that I can say.

Acting & OST & Scenography

Well, I had nothing major to complain... besides Wang Yu and Tangqishi’s actors which I was trying to forget, but I really particularly liked Togon’s actor, maybe part of why I liked his character so much as well.

The soundtrack, unfortunately, while pretty, it gets repetitive very fast and there’s not much good use of it when it was actually needed.

The costumes were just gorgeous! The settings too, though overall repetitive as well, they were beautifully decorated and the make-up (as in wounds), as well, definitely better than what I’ve seen till now. See? I do have some stuff to praise !

Conclusion

Even though this review is quite bad and I really don’t want to take anything back, I am still sorry. Most of you might be outraged, but I really couldn’t enjoy it safe for the entertainment that it provided when it stopped being serious. Maybe if I wouldn’t have watched it with a friend, I wouldn’t have even been able to ever finish it.

Whether I recommend this? Eh, I do actually, but just if you watch dramas for entertainment purposes. If you’re like me and tend to take it from a formal point of view in terms of writing, then just run away. Really.

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There's nothing new to say about Park Eun Bin, she's definitely an experienced actress.Her acting skills will make you fall in love with her.To be honest, I didn't like her before.
But one day I am big surprised for her acting skills ,that drama is a Extraordinary Attorney Woo.
That is September 22nd, Iam scrolling phone suddenly i saw a Extraordinary Attorney woo video clip.I was amazed by her acting skills at that time.Those of you who haven't seen Extraordinary Attorney woo won't understand why I'm saying this.
Essentially the struggle to become an advocate for an autistic woman,To be honest, her acting skills made me cry.

His look in Hyper knife surprised me.And I really liked the doctor's acting.
Hyper Knife is not just another medical drama - it's a nerve-wracking, high-stakes thriller that pushes the boundaries of morality and ambition. From the very first episode, the series draws you in with its intense storytelling, morally complex characters, and chillingly realistic surgical scenes.
I wasn't expecting this to be so dark and I'm so excited for the next episodes, I wish I had waited for the whole thing to air.
Park Eun bin went from playing Innocent Doe eyed Lawyer in her previous drama to unhinged psychopath Doctor in this one two completely different personalities and she played them perfectly.
This drama is proof that she can adapt to every role.

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Full of action without a soul!

Before I start my review, I want to say something, so people can understand why I think, this is just another below average Japanese adaption!

I LOVE Yu Yu Hakusho since I was 10! I still remember that every week when the new episode aired in my country, I recorded every episode on my VHS. Yes, I'm that old, I used a VCR.😅 Then I watched all the 112 episodes, over and over again. I've seen the anime at least 50 times. So, when I say, YYH is my favorite Anime, I'm not exaggerating at all. When I first saw the trailer for this adaptation, my first thought was that it looks cheap, like basically every Shounen Fight adaptation that was made in Japan. Even tho the casting looked good, and the best part in this adaptation is the cast and the acting, I don't think I can name other positives.

The worst thing in this show is not the fact that it's only 5 episodes. They literally adapted 66 episodes from the anime in 5 episodes! Okay, okay, technically this isn't true, because they left out some side-stories, not to mention important characters and backstories. The worst part is not this. The fact is, if you never watched the anime, I don't think you're going to feel anything towards the characters. Sometimes it made me emotional, BUT only because I know these characters already, and I know why those things happened. Also, why these characters acted like the way they did.

If you never watched the anime, maybe you'll feel that it was a fun, because it is action packed and there's no slowing down, not even for a second. Still, I don't think you will have any connection with the characters. This adaptation is like a recap of 66 episodes. You will know the basics, but what's the point watching a recap when you can watch the whole story with real emotions, and you can see the whole journey and character developments? Not to mention, you'll understand why these characters became friends. They completely left that out from the show. This is like when you play an online game with strangers. They're not your real friends, but it's still fun, except that you will forget about them after you closed the game. This show is exactly like that!

So, yeah, it's not bad, but you're going to forget everything and everyone after you finished it.
I don't see the point of having another recap season. The best part in this show is the fight scenes, the acting, and the fact it will make people watch the anime!

Lastly, I have to say that the OST (the songs and the score too) was boring. One of the best part of the anime is the score!
Also, the VFX is not always bad, but it wasn't anything special. It's a typical Japanese CGI anime adaptation.

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disappointing ...

I will start this review by saying that I am a regular rom-com enthusiast. I absolutely loved Business Proposal but King The Land failed to achieve anything that Business Proposal did in the span of 12 episodes.
King the Land had a flimsy, basically non-existent, plot and absolutely no proper conflicts or red thread to carry on the drama. I am not saying that shallow romcoms can't be good but jeesus fucking christ there was NOTHING to wait for. Maybe this drama was great for those who just wanted to watch Yoona and Junho but I couldn't manage the last 4 episodes without skipping maybe 50-70%. And don't get me wrong, I do think they make a beautiful couple but this drama was borderline garbage. I have never been this bothered by product placements in my 7+ years of watching kdramas. The plot and the characters were such shallow cardboard cut-out humans that I couldn't even enjoy the romance by the end.
Were we supposed to act like the sister was in any way a proper villain. She seemed like a child who needed attention and craved for love but decided to be a bitch in her 40s. I just felt mildly annoyed by every scene she was in. She just kept being like "I want the hotel -_- humbh you have no right to the hotel". Like I don't care?
The business talks were the most ridiculous bs I've ever seen. I don't know anything about business but those scenes were so romanticised that I felt like slamming my head through a wall. Just shut up. When did Gu Won ever even work (literally in like one scene)?
Also the other friend in a sh*t marriage and all that was played out for a few laughs and cute bossy kid moments?? Am I supposed to feel okay that at least now she is the head of the household? Like ummm okay ... what a creative way to promote staying in loveless marriages I guess?

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Not your typical Star-crossed lovers yet one of the best shows of 2024!

This is a Melodrama, so the story is not your typical fluffy Japanese/Korean drama.
The drama started off with a fast pace. The story is very straightforward and no slow-burn trope here, yet the story is mixed with angst. There are misunderstandings too and language barrier and cultural differences are the themes of this drama.

A very romantic couple end up getting separated after harsh circumstances only to find each other again years later because guess what? FATE shows up., but they haven't moved on from each other. The yearning is palpable in every episode.

The leads have an awesome chemistry. The kiss scenes, hugs, them holding hands, everything is done so beautifully. I dare say this is one of the best Asian dramas i have seen where couples' interactions and romance is so natural. Despite the language barrier, they play so amazingly.

This drama's main point is that love can conquer all if couples COMMUNICATE.

The cinematography is artistic. The director of this drama is known for indie movies so cinephile fans will greatly appreciate the aesthetics and details shown.

The OST is amazing! the background music pieces are just marvelous. The cinematography and colors they used truly match the mood and also show the emotions of the leads.

Overall, if you're in for a romantic mature angsty melodrama, this is for you! don't miss it!

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a mediocre watch at its best & painful at its worst

How this drama went from being a dark and violent action thriller with cases that would either make you furious or leave you heartbroken in season 1 to this lame attempt at the same plot is unfortunate!

Coming from someone who, when presented with anything that is centred around vigilante justice, will devour it up, this season was a huge miss and it physically hurts me to say this.
In season 1, you could connect to the deluxe taxi team members and understand where they were coming from- each one of them had been wronged and were carrying unresolved trauma from the past, they had stories to tell and justice to get.
Even the other cases depicted were often so raw and so brutal that it sometimes got overwhelming but then that was the essence of this drama. It made you question at times what exactly was the right thing to do.

This season however had none of that. It was considerably less violent and dark and the cases- that very much had the potential to be brutal and tug at your heart strings and make you feel something- were presented in a very lacklustre manner. And what were those punishments? did you see what that guy was doing to the kids? how does taking his wealth away do anything?

The major flaw was the weaker writing this time around. Our heroes for justice had it too easy throughout the show and the villain despite having a lot more power were always one step behind. It was caricature-ish at times which I think was intended with some over the top performances but yeah didn’t work for me.

More often than not I can take my brain out and set it aside for some mindless entertainment but for that I must love the main characters, unfortunately there was no chemistry among the team members - nothing,zilch- I felt nothing for them and couldn’t be more bothered about who got hurt or even which actor played whom except for maybe kim do gi (who doesn’t like a good looking man?) There was no character development whatsoever- could very well have had machines doing their jobs!At least one of them should have had an individual arc or maybe could have introduced a new character who they end up taking under their wing.

One of the bits that annoyed me was the comedy if you could call it that- the two car guys were essentially there for some slapstick comedy to lighten the mood but boy did it not work! I would often find myself cringe at their lame attempts.

They couldn’t even make me hate the bad guys. Embarrassed to say it out loud but I was so done with the good guys always getting their way that I found myself rooting for the villain- like please for once be smart and don’t do the dumbest and most predictable shit ever but I guess they didn’t think of me as someone powerful enough to listen to and well see whose loss it was!

Also, do these writers know that it is okay to maintain an aura of secrecy around a new character and not letting the audience know about their true intentions? Make us doubt if they actually are the bad guy for once! I am so done with those characters sticking out like a sore thumb while pretending to be normal and this is also both the actor’s and director’s fault. How about introducing a new character who doesn’t scream I am a foe for once?

The product placement was still very much in your face - someone please take notes from our one dollar lawyer- but the prosecutor not being a part of this show spared me from that stick balm thing to look refreshed.
Coming to that I missed her here, not that her character wasn’t pretty bland and annoying at times but her joining the deluxe taxi team was something to look forward to and I wish they had cast someone else for that role given the original actress had prior arrangements.

They left too much unresolved for the last 2 episodes. If you’re going for a redemption arch do it sooner and not squeeze it in the last episode.I really liked the cameo in the last episode, that woman has such great screen presence that she lit up the screen and I for once wasn’t tempted to shut down my laptop.

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A beautiful story about love and friendship

I want to start off by saying I havent watched the original yet but I may update this review after I do.
Update: ive now watched the original and to me i do think this remake did it justice. Tbh I enjoyed this more than the original because I think the writing and pacing was better. They added more elements that fleshed out the characters where i could understand their decisions more.


Now if youre worried about a love triangle, dont be. The male lead is just a secondary character with a secondary storyline. The main event is the friendship between mi so and ha eun. You see their journey as friends from childhood to adulthood. Its by no means an easy journey as they drift apart often but in the end they always find their way back to each other. This isnt exactly a sapphic movie either but its a beautiful love story about a female friendship.

I really wanted to watch this movie cause of kim dami and jeon so nee and they did not disappoint. They portrayed their roles perfectly and they had great chemistry. I also liked the directing as it felt really raw and brought out the actresses strengths. It had an independent film feel to it.

I will also say to bring tissues as this film may make you cry.

I really enjoyed this movie as a coming of age story about a female friendship and would recommend for the story and acting.

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Empty vessels really do make the most noise

Just for my edification, I need to know who signed off on this. I would then like to snack some sense into them by travelling to a time before they agreed - and this stupid setup I've come up with is aces better than anything they did.

Who? Who thought this was okay? This is a masterclass on how to create lackluster hype and somehow ruin the lowest of expectations anyone has for you. Because even the combined forces of over ten seasoned professionals could not save this sinking ship.

The non - existent plot follows Tae San, who is the incarnation of the tiger zodiac. You may be wondering why I say that when the show is called Twelve.
Let me explain.

The story is mostly about Tae San, while the other seven zodiacs are basically reduced to his rag tag bunch of followers. And there are only eight zodiacs! Because the very first scene introduces us to their backstory, but we're left wondering for over two episodes why there are only eight of them.. when the show is called Twelve. This is because their absence was explained in a truly blink and you'll miss it moment. Seriously, blink and you will miss it.

Thereon, the entire setup of the show is that the Zodiacs were basically guardians of the universe, who are now living without their powers after they saved the world the last time around, which they lost when they sealed all the evil in something called the Hellmouth. So now all they do is lend money and eat. They spent more time eating than they did saving the world.

Of course if you have heroes - you need villains. Here it's a group of evil spirits who want to awaken the spirits of two ancient evil beings. I say evil because if you look deeply enough, you could argue that they were more than just villains. But the show didn't care to be anything more than superficial and I don't care enough to be dissecting their past and personalities.

The two evil spirits they want to awaken are Ogwi and Haetae, the crow incarnation and some random name they pulled out of a hat for reasons. Basically, they free Ogwi and they need to collect some soul stones to free Haetae, so they can all be evil again. Avengers knock off but not really so I'll forgive them. And they do it! All while our heroes are powerless and of course, they take over the town! This is six episodes by the way, this is all that happens in six episodes.

Then we find out that Ogwi was some angel adjacent and involved in a random soulmates storyline with Mirr, wanted to become a zodiac adjacent, couldn't for some unknown reason and chose to become a demon instead! Someone call the Academy, man, what a brilliant plot! You have conveniently thrusted every Kdrama trope into your trash narrative only to wrap it all up in the name of.. love?

After all that, we got the actual backstory in the final episode (which true to form made no sense), a bunch of corny and senseless fights and a return to mukbangs. It was all so bad. And if they were setting up a sequel with that, just ask them to read my review, because IT'S NOT NECESSARY.

This is an incredibly basic plot - and they couldn't even execute this properly. Episode after episode is spent watching our heroes eat, while our villains stand on rooftops sporting red eyes. They pretend like there's some plot - we have a bunch of moments where Won Seung (Monkey), Mal Sook (Horse), Kang Ji (Dog) and Jwi Dol (Rat) go on random side quests as debt collectors, to show off subpar fighting skills and terrible editing, Doni (Pig) and Bang Wool (Snake) are used as comic reliefs, and Mirr (Dragon) is straight out of a melodrama, like she transmigrated from some other series. None of it makes sense together, they're all in their own worlds, painstakingly held together by Marok (Manager) and his magic staff.

Episode after episode these people stand by and watch as Tae San attempts to deal with his emotional baggage, as Mirr deals with hers and Marok runs around trying to get them all together because some pendant they have notifies them that evil is back. Kind of like when your food is out for delivery, but you can't really track your driver because the app is broken. Their app is also broken because their powers are non existent, so they spend six episodes running around aimlessly and causing more damage than they repair stuff.

This may as well be the worst thing I've ever watched. You wait.. and you wait.. and you wait for the story to pick up.. and you'll keep waiting. All the episodes are spent setting up nothing, it's the continuation to a story we don't know because apparently we all had the script beforehand and knew the entire story, introducing random plots and characters like we're supposed to know who and what they are.

And I will complain about this, because this is one of the reasons I don't trust K Dramas, why the hell do you need romance??! Like this didn't already have ten thousand other genres to cover, romance?! I don't understand this obsession with forcing romance into a plot that has no substance, for what? To create some emotional connection? To make me feel for the characters? If anything, I felt more distance after that reveal, because on what level did they think romance between Ogwi and Mirr, two characters who had twenty minutes of screentime combined would be something enjoyable? STOP. FORCING. ROMANCE.

All the characters were terrible, just FYI. I hated all of them and for having actors with such name brand recognition, not a single one of them acted well. Half of them did not move their face muscles and the other half went to extreme levels of overacting.

If they'd spent just a shred of the budget they did on the cast on good writers, editors, costume design or VFX, this could have been watchable. There's no way I say it would have been amazing because this was rock bottom, but I genuinely believe there was a levél below they would've hit if it went on longer.

Do yourself a favour and do not go anywhere near this - it is irredeemable levels of terrible and even Seo In Guk couldn't do anything for me in this. And if you're watching for Park Hyung Sik, he had 10 minutes of screentime and his character is so forgettable, just do yourself a favour and stay away.

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