Reviews

What I truly appreciate about "You Maniac" is how it handles red flags. Dean and Moth’s flawed behaviors aren’t the over-the-top, exaggerated red flags you usually see in other dramas; instead, they reflect the realistic indecisiveness and toxic tendencies of real people we encounter in our lives.
From the well-crafted storyline and thoughtful scene setups to the intentional camera angles and perfectly placed soundtrack, everything feels purposeful—nothing feels extra or missing. Combined with William and Est’s remarkable acting precision and effortless chemistry, they bring these grounded characters to life so convincingly. For me, it was a film genuinely worth every second of my time.

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Well, at least they got together quite sweetly <3

I came to this drama late. I was looking for something to watch and I keyed in "food" and this drama popped up. I read the synopsis and the reviews and thought that it was not too bad. Furthermore, I watched the FL before and found her quite cute and rather endearing. Thus, I went right in. I was shocked by how stiff the ML was at first and that he looked so gaunt with those dark circles under his eyes and how he was quite skinny. Luckily, things turned out quite all right and I'd rate this drama a passable 7.5/10.

What I Liked:
- ML and FL turned out all right. ML always liked FL and that did not change. I always like sincere hearts.
- FL remained rather adorable but she was not a foolish person. She had her own mind and she was determined to do what she put her mind to. I liked this. She was not a pushover. She was not super feisty but she was independent and had a mind of her own. ML too.
- There was some drama here and there which made the show move forward.
- The ML and FL did have some chemistry. The height difference was "cute" and I rewatched episode 20's kiss scene in FL's home a few times. That scene was very sweet indeed. It was also, to me, very beautifully shot. I love that kiss scene -- tender as well as full of love and yearning. After they got together, they were loved up and there was enough "skinship" and so, everything was good!
- Happy ending for the good people.


What I Did Not Like:
- The cooking part was secondary.
- The knife-stealing agenda was weird to me.
- The other Jiang members were all kind of stiff and weird. ML's sister was, to me, a poor actress. I believe that her voice was dubbed too and very oddly too. I cringed at her scenes. The other female chef was odd too.
- Some parts were definitely draggy.

Nonetheless, I'd say "can watch" as this drama requires very little attention and brain cells. It serves as a good filler/ background while one is folding the laundry and so on, or just want to zone out for a bit with something to watch for a while.

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Agent Kim was great before things went south

I went in with pretty high expectations as the ratings were high and the ML is "da bomb".

I watched him as Kim Bon and he was really great there.

To cut to the chase, I agree with other reviewers who said that the drama should have ended at episode 8 instead of 10. I went past 8 for a bit and could not find the motivation to continue. It seemed that the show was all done already because (1) he found his lost daughter after a long and bloody game of "hide and seek" mixed with deceit, bloodshed, revenge and revelations and (2) there was the apology from the culprit's father. It seemed all done already and then, he had to go on another mission of sorts and I was lost from thereon. There was no more drive to continue despite wanting slightly to know the final outcome. What held me back from continuing was because (1) I do not like the teenaged girl. I found her quite odd in her acting. The other teenage girl was also odd. The fathers seem to be obsessed with their teenaged daughters. I get that she was lost and anyone would have lost their minds in trying to ensure her wellbeing. This I get, no issues. However, it all seems rather odd to me; (2) the north Korea part was, to me, boring. I did not like that odd and hideous-looking man whom Agent Kim had to chaperone.

Well, I decided that "enough was enough" and since it became boring to me, there was no need to continue.

Life's short.

Move on to other dramas, I guess?

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You may turn your head a time or two but you will not be bored.

Escape is not for the faint hearted, I barely made it through myself. It tares at your heart all the way through.

Lee Ji Hoon as Im Kyu-Nam gives us a glimpse of what it must be like for someone in NK to want freedom at any cost, even their very life.

Koo Kyo-Hwan as Ri Hyeon-Sang gives us the very opposite view of someone in the same country, possibly once desperate to live free, who made compromises to just live.

For LJH’s and KKH’s excellent performances alone I highly recommend this movie. The were perfectly paired for their roles.

Hong Xa-Bin as Kim Dong-Hyeon gives us the heart wrenching portrait of one of the many desperate for freedom who, for whatever reason, could not see their dream through to reality.

I highly recommend this film. In spite of its flaws (some implausibility) it is told with raw intensity. You may turn your head a time or two but you will not be bored. In many aspects, is probably not far from what happens, to one degree or another, daily in the Hermit Kingdom.

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Too Many Overpowered Characters it Got Lame

Sadly this is also one of those Netflix series that shouldve ended with single season instead of having sequels. The evil spirits become more ridiculously powerful as even the afterlife beings that were supposed to govern the world could not anticipate their powers and abilities. How mindblowing is that? It’s fine to have one superhero that could harness unfathomable powers, but to have even the demons do so is too repetitive of the same thing. They never explained how Hwang first become the most unpredictable demon but then decide to create another with even more powerful than him. I was like, really? So now we have 3 humans, Hwang, Ma, and So suddenly becoming this superhumans with superpowers that constantly evolve without any governance from the up and above?🤣😆 The writer ran out of ideas is it? For higher beings, the Yung people definitely looks too clueless at their job.

So Mun also became awfully emotionally-attached in S2. His tendency of letting go Ma Juseok when he couldve been captured on multiple occasions keep on reducing the counters’ chances to summon Ma Juseok while he was still in control of the demon, and then So Mun dares to give off disappointment looks when the rest of the crew voted on elimination. I mean, hello! You are the sole reason why Ma Juseok’s situation escalated to almost beyond saviour, don’t look at the crew like they have completely given up! 🙄 this is why in the law enforcement, you don’t get to handle cases where you have any interests in it. Policemen don’t get to investigate cases against their own family or relatives, the same goes to prosecutors, cuz it is naturally impossible to remain objective and unbiased in such situation. How So Mun reacted to Ma Juseok is exactly why he shouldnt be involved at all. First he can’t bring himself to summon the demon in his beloved Uncle Ma, then he can’t bring himself to catch him, then he can’t bring himself to kill him despite seeing Aunty Chu draining her lifeforce trying to revive and fix all the people gravely injured by Ma’s rampage. That brat deserves more than a punch from Ga Motak because his obsession of saving one man led to countless of others getting injured and killed. I am totally with Ga Motak on this one. And the plot armour around So Mun is ridiculous. All this while Ma Juseok cant even take control of his body but suddenly he could heal Han-ul after breaking his neck? 😌🙄 that is just the plot trying to make So Mun the flawless hero again.

I thought S1 had enough bawling and crying by the male characters, then come S2 that blasts episode after episodes of So Mun and the rest of the crew bawling their eyes and snot out. OMG, it got so repetitive and predictable that the FF button had to work extra hard this time. The writer also tried too hard to create many sentimental and touching scenes that they became corny instead. Oh gosh i dont know how much eye-rolling i did throughout the series. That last reunion of Wigen? Totally unnecessary. I think the actress was rather bad in S2 too.

I liked the actress for Gelly though. She was so damn awesome here. She really did it with Gelly, i think she shined more as a villain than Hwang and Ma. The one who played Ma Juseok is pretty good too, cuz he needed to play 3 different characters here, the kind-hearted firefighter, the vengeful husband and finally Hwang the supervillain that didnt give off super vibe much. Well done.

Lastly I am disappointed there wasnt as much screentime for Juyeon and Ungmin here, I missed those two very much.

All in all I am not impressed at all with S2. And if they ever come up with S3 I dont think I’ll be watching.

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Gripping suspense and incredible acting

I initially passed on this after seeing the low MDL rating, but THANK YOU to the other reviewers who insisted it was good and gripping because it WAS. The plot unfolded with excellent pacing, piquing my curiosity and then adding more and more mysteries with unrelenting suspense. And the reveals weren't immediately obvious; the writers kept us guessing about the truth until it was time for us to know. PMY is always reliably good, but her performance in this was amazing. I think some of the bad reviews were due to the prickly character she portrayed (esp at first), but the story is largely about how she became that way. WJH as the ML also created a nicely layered character, and the emotional scenes with the two of them had me clenching my fists and forgetting to breathe. There wasn't much lightness to break up the suspense, and I really wish PMY would put on a few (or twenty) pounds, but otherwise it's a good watch.

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Steady paced and cohesive story that does this genre justice

I think, first things first, the actors make this look so organic and real. The dynamic of characters make sense and the viewer is left with trying to understand the character more than trying to fill loop holes or catch the next one. For CDramas I think office romance is kind of my goto (its not for KDramas lol). So, this hit the spot in terms of the story, acting, music and tons of variety in the scenes. There wasn't the woman falling and being caugh 5 times in a row IFKYK. I think as a western viewer there are definitely tropes of the characters that are hard to understand. I actually like this as a takeaway because I would rather question and engage with the show then just consume. So, what do I mean? I think the parts thats frustating is understanding the charcter's motivation. The show does good job of showing main characters but maybe their relationships to their family, and upbringing, atleast things the two main characters think they don't align on are not fully clear. Maybe thats just explained so much in other shows that this show didn't feel like they needed to spend time doing alot of that. I think this is more true for the FL's intention than the ML. She is ambitious and independent, but alot of her motivation is promotion and earning a name for herself. When she decides to move back to her parents it almost feels sudden, and I think its confusing if she genuinely did want that or was purely running away. Again, its nuanced in its portrayal so maybe that what should appreciated that she lives imperfectly and tries to do her best. So yeah, I don't think its like other dramas in this genre especially portraying female leads choices. In terms of the ML, its a bit hard to understand his drawbacks. He is hot and cold, like a bit too much. I think the main goal with him is that you are supposed to see his progress, but sometimes its also hard because as a viewer you are like he kinda stays the same hot head mean dude for a while, but changes once they get back like the second time for a bit and becomes more patient,... but it doesn't last. I definitely think this show made me question, should they even be together? At some point, I was like ok if they don't end up together thats fine I wouldn't mind because they tried and tried alot.

SO yeah, the realism of it makes sense (apart from no one finding out they were dating for so long), romance setup is great that viewers don't have to feel like they are watching two different shows before they get together and after, it stays in focus, but it definitely makes you question the characters.

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