This review may contain spoilers
Ahn Jae-hyun was cute
Well, at the end of the day, that's what this drama boils down to. Ahn Jae-hyun was a cute looking vampire. I wasn't expecting much from it to start out with, which I feel is the right way to approach anything vampire-related that is not "Train to Busan". Was I entertained? Yes. Was it GOOD? No. Did the end make any sense at all? NO (spoilers at end). My mostly coherent thoughts about this drama:The medical aspect of the drama was pretty captivating, particularly as they begin understanding the nature of the virus, its origins, and how it mutates. I'm not a medical doctor, so most of it went over my head, but it did make the drama seem smarter that it probably was. I'm very easily impressed when I first finish a drama (because I try my best to get into the story and character development) and my personal notes say that the ML had good character development and that the music matched the theme well by being appropriately dramatic.
Notable characters:
- I'm still not sure how I feel about Ahn Jae-hyun's acting chops, but he looked pretty good as a broody, yet soft, vampire who wants revenge for his parents. He does seem to do a good job at balancing between hot shot and goofball (like with the "expensive glasses" he makes a big deal about that were easily replaced with some street knock offs)
- Ku Hye-sun was bearable in it. I found her completely obnoxious in Boys Over Flowers, and she had much better chemistry with Ahn Jae-hyun than she had with Lee Minho, which makes sense since she married AJH a year later. Their relationship turned from hate to love pretty quickly, but at least you could buy into their attraction.
- Jung Hae-in was great comic relief with his mothering of the ML, and robot antics.
- The two main villains (director and uncle) are both pretty hateable, so I guess they accomplished their roles.
- Intern was pretty bad ass as well.
Ending spoilers (my take on the ending that made no sense): I'm assuming this drama ran into the same type of problem that many kdramas encounter. For some reason, they either run out of money or time and need to rush the ending. After our vampire hero presumable dies on the rooftop, FL makes a trip to Romania. As she's about to get attacked by vampires, Ahn Jae-hyun's character pops out and somehow he's alive and saves her. The possibilities are that some other person saved her and she's imagining it's him, or that he truly did survive. My take is, he somehow survives the sunlight in the rooftop (why did she just leave him there then?? who knows), but had an extended period of recovery (again, why he didn't reach out?? who knows.) After his recovery, he follows her to Romania where he saves her. They live happily ever after.
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Actually , I don't like vampire films/dramas ect. , but this drama is very different from others . I'm serious . Vampires are so impressive in this awesome drama ! Vampires supernatural powers are so impressive too !
Another thing about this drama ... It's so dramatic and funny !!! Characters are so compatible !! Ahn Jae Hyun is so cool and I love him !! I LOVE THIS DRAMA !!! SO PLEASE WATCH IT !!! I RECOMMEND IT !!! YOU WON'T REGRET !!! TRUST ME !!!
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Story: Don't let the poster fool you, the comedic parts of this drama are more towards the beginning and the second half gets darker than I was expecting so it kind of threw me. The overall plot was interesting and fresh, vampirism as a virus rather than a completely supernatural theme was a nice change. But it was a bit heavy on the scientific jargon at times and it made me zone out from time to time.
Acting/Cast: For me, the reason the entire drama fell short for me was the acting. For some reason I just couldn't connect with Ri Ta's character, and because of that I didn't really like the building romance between her and Ji Sang. And I love a good romance, but the chemistry is key in making me root for the couple through everything, and this totally missed the mark for me. Everyone else, I loved their characters. As a matter of fact I LOVED Ga Yeon's character more than Ri Ta, & thought that if the actresses had changed roles or if Ga Yeon had been the lead Ji Sang fell for I would have loved this drama. But as it was, the romance was not doing it for me, and that was half of the drama. Shame.
Music: Good, not great.
Rewatch: No. It was hard to get through it the first time without dropping it once i was halfway through. I will say that the comedic parts with certain supporting characters are gif-worthy and remain my fav parts. Other than that...
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The bad guys in this drama is cliché enough to give me cancer; the boss man is all talk and no action, his minions are 2 dimensional with no personality and easily killed off by himself or Ji Sang, their goal is some nonsense that is never revealed in the drama. The good guys are not any better; in fact they are worse. I can't count the number of times i face-palmed at Ji Sang running into a 5 vs 1 and getting beaten up then repeat. Does he have some psychic powers to know the bad guys won't be carrying a gun and therefore he is in no danger of being unloaded with bullets? There is no 'cool' factor or 'wow' factor in walking into a beating over and over again, therefore i have no clue why the scriptwriter keeps pushing Ji Sang into a mob of bad guys with no plan whatsoever.
The romance in this drama is one of the few times romance just seems completely out of place. To say there is no chemistry is an understatement. Between looking for a cure and discovering who murdered his parents, Ji Sang literally has no time or effort to fall in love. That's why the chemistry between the main leads is so awful. Normally I am a pro Nona/Donsang relationship person but in the case of Ah Jae Hyun and Goo Hye Sun I believe the pairing failed spectacularly XD
The soundtrack employed in this drama is mediocre at best. The problem is that there is only ever one soundtrack for action scenes and every single time something is about to happen the soundtrack plays and gives away the scene. Nothing really stands out in the music score that really caught my attention except maybe the ending theme I liked the piano.
Overall my gripe about this drama is its failure to live up to potential. This drama would have been much better without the stereotype bad guys and romance to mess up the pace and create needless conflict.
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The story of this drama is quite interesting and unique with its cross between medical and supernatural. This is more so medical and action rather than romance, so if you're searching for a romance packed drama, this isn't for you. There are very few dramas that deal with vampires and the idea that they are truly humans just infected with a virus is really intriguing. There are a few plot twists which were surprisingly unpredictable and caught me off guard which makes it more enjoyable. Overall, the story is different with, of course, some cliches that are present in about every drama, but still worth watching.
ACTING/CAST:
Ok, let me make this clear, I know what everyone is thinking: "I don't want to watch this because of Goo Hye Sun." I felt the same way when I first started watching, but she's not that bad here. Her character is very strong-willed and it kind of grows on you. I'm not saying that I loved her acting, but it wasn't horrible to the point where I couldn't stand watching her. If that's your reason for not watching this, OPEN YOUR MIND! Additionally, Ahn Jae Hyun is very new to acting and I think he did a pretty good job for a rookie. There were moments where his acting was just a bit too... well not good enough and sometimes I found myself laughing at how awkward it was. But the majority of the time, he did a well enough job.
MUSIC:
You know those OST's where it's so catchy that you find yourself humming it throughout the day for weeks even after the drama has ended? Well... this is not one of those. I enjoyed the music while watching the drama, but none of them really stuck. That's the only reason for its low rating, but from what I remember, none of them were annoying so I thought they did a decent job here.
REWATCH VALUE:
Yeah, this isn't the type of drama you'd like to rewatch. Maybe you might enjoy rewatching the rare romance scenes or some of the action scenes, but it's not really worth rewatching unless you want to take a trip down memory lane (the downtown region).
OVERALL:
Overall, this was a decent drama but due to certain plot twists and loose strings at the end, it's value significantly decreased. I want to say that i thoroughly enjoyed every bit of this drama, but I just can't. Some things happened which I think were just uncalled for and unnecessary (why screenwriters?) which I just won't be able to forgive and forget. There are good times, but to me, the bad times overpowered them.
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**I am a big fan of Ahn Jae Hyeon ever since YWCFTS, and he is the main reason I watched this drama.
This drama has received so much backlash in Korea ever since its first airing. It really did start off as boring and confusing, but as you go on, the episodes would get more interesting and exciting. The plot was nicely done. There are a lot of twists and turn of events, it will caught you off guard. Such nice twists to the characters, you'd go "What?!," Really?! Wow!" and more.
The acting can't be called excellent, but it isn't that bad though. I bow down to Ji Jin Hee, who did really did such a great job. The more he does evil things, the more you get crazy and mad at him.
The osts were also good. It did captured and melt my heart while watching the drama.
The ending was so painful, it makes you cry. Crying scenes were delivered naturally.
Overall, it was a watchable drama, but I personally think that the ending could have been expound as it brought confusions and big why's and how's.
I don't really re-watch dramas, so I don't know for those who loves re-watching.
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There are not a lot vampire dramas out there that are good yet this drama proved to be one of the good ones. It was interesting and kept moving forward.
But it also began to grow tiresome and predictable. I wouldn't rewatch it again because it does't hold more than a one time interest for me plot-wise.
The acting was good, especially the male lead.
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some i really dont know of i was going to like this drama i have kind of see Gu Hye Seon in Boys Over Flower i said kind of cuzs that drama wasn't for me. I kind i didn't like her in that drama to much but watching this with her in it i get to like her bit more. With Ahn Jae Hyeon this was my first drama with him in it and i like hes acting and i think he played an vampire will.
Ok on the drama the acting in this drama i some what like and enjoy i feel like then wasnt anyone i didnt really like the acting off like i said before i was up and drown about Gu Hye Seon acting but in this i get to like for a bit better again that just how i feel about her. all in i really did like the acting and cast and i have to say i really like Jung Hae In how played Joo Hyun Woo it was my first time seeing in a drama i really hope to see more of him.
The story of the i like i have to say then are some part i dont know how to feel about but all in all i still like it and stuff but i still kind of dont get the ending of it.. The music of the drama was ok i did like some of the music but not much of it.
Well i rewatch this drama maybe not it bad or nothing i feel like out of all the drama i have watched i like the again more then this one. but overall it still an good drama so you haven't seen and thinking about it go a hand you met just like it.
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Until episode five, I was understanding the process and enjoying it a little beat, even with the lame effects, but, after that, I just was frustrated. The premise to turn the vampire theme into a scientific theme was interesting to me, but they didn't know how to put this on the script. It was too much unnecessary information and this made the story get boring. The outcome was also unlogic, to say with kindness. Nothing, in the end, makes sense to me, especially al the twists that we have (no spoilers). I felt like anything happened until episode 14, and then BOOM. The writers just got crazy and incorporate Tarantino.
The characters were also pretty superficial. I love Ahn Jae Hyun, but Park Ji Sang was a terrible role. I understand the vampire vibe, with introspection and toughness, but for me, he was just unbearable. The feelings for Yoo Ri Ta (Gu Hye Seon) showed up from nowhere and didn't convince me. I know about the past and the connection with this, but it was not enough to make a good bond. They were cute together, but the script wasn't in their favor. About Yoo Ri Ta, I like her personality, but since Ji Sang was so tasteless, she was fade out into the mess of the information and terrible relations established between everyone. I won't even talk about Jung Hae In's character because this pissed me off. The only character for me that made an excellent job was the director Lee Jae Wook (Ji Jin Hee). This villain made me crazy in anger, and I think that this is the job of a good villain. His end was also ridiculous considering his journey, but this happened with everyone because was a ridiculous end.
I think that this is my lowest note since I started to write this kind of review, but... For me, it was a wasting of time (★ ★ ). I saw a lot of bad reviews here, but I saw a few with high scores... I don't know how this can be, but this shows to me that nothing is definitive, including my opinion. I'm just exposing my point of view, but maybe you could have another opinion about it. If you didn't watch it, and you think that your taste seems like mine, keep it that way. But if you want to confirm, go ahead.
See you soon!
XOXO, Mari.
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Despite me not being a fan of vampire stories, this drama turned out as a quite pleasant surprise. The way writers carried out the whole ‘vapire’concept using medical explanations, just worked for me. The story felt more realistic, more tangible that way (or maybe it’s just the fact that I like to rationalize everything..)
Now the story with it’s many unexpected (and believe me when i say ‘unexpected’) plot twists was what really kept my interest till the very end. Let’s put it this way – I’m one of those serious cases of ‘drama droppers’. Once the story gets too draggy or boring, I drop it without the second thought. Yet here I was, marathoning through “Blood” episodes like no tomorrow.
I found myself so attached to the characters it was almost physically painful to part, and I’m not talking only about the main ones. The actors did a great job.
While I’m not too fond of Gu Hye Seon’s acting, watching the romantic development and chemistry between the leads made my heart stir. Heck, it’s a must see drama for heavy ‘shippers’ solely for the fact that the both actors got actually merried after it! (*stay calm and keep shipping* cause here’s the proof that it might actually sail ;p)
Oh, and how could I forget.. Props to Ahn Jae Hyun and his first leading role! Getting on my favourite actors’ list, you sexy devil..
Overall a great medical drama for original story line lovers as well as action and suspense genre seekers, with a bit of romance comedy thrown in it.
Or just watch it for the one-in-a-million real life couple. I won’t judge you ^.*
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