Black (2017)

ALL THE FEELS

I am not sure what I expected from this drama, but once I got into it, it blew me away.
Which is funny because I remember talking to one of my good friends in the beginning, basically agreeing that it would take us a little more time to watch and finish it because it didn't catch our interest. And the things that did catch it, were very heavy topics that we needed to take a day to digest. It was a lot of information and misfortune. Honestly, in the first couple of episodes, I rated the drama...a 6 or 6.5. It was heavy and I didn't like Han Moo Gang nor the Grim Reaper.

But OMG...once you get past episode 7, and the Grim Reaper (444?) finally starts to get a little bit of a clue, the drama kept getting better and better. It was like the first 7 episodes were very blunt and needed to set up and give us all the information we needed for the rest of the drama, but with zero context. It was very, "it is what it is" and zero surprises. It wasn't until my favorite character, Oh Man Soo, got into some trouble, where I was like...if this drama is going to continue to be blunt, then I'm dropping this. But it wasn't. That was when the drama started to throw twists and turns around every corner, that not only were really good but were clean and made total sense. Most dramas I see where they add twists, I am like, "oh ok...sure...not sure how you got from point a to point b...but I'll go with it." But not this one. They give you all the information you need from the beginning, and it is your job to almost be a detective with Ha Ram and the Grim Reaper and piece the information together.

It was a wild ride, and I am mad that I couldn't give this drama over a 9, but I had to because the drama started off very poorly for me. I wish the consistency was there from the beginning. I wish that I liked one character from the beginning, but didn't.

A few things that didn't make sense to me though, were I enjoyed Ha Ram and the Grim Reaper working together, but at some point, Ha Ram just disappeared and became a minor character. It was random and inconsistent. It made sense why she wasn't in those few episodes, but it was odd that one of our main characters, who played a huge roll in this drama, wasn't relevant.

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Also, SPOILER. Don't read ahead if you don't want to be spoiled:

I think the ending is what also saved it for me. It showed major character development for the Grim Reaper, especially when he found out exactly who he was when he was a human (hence, grim reapers were souls of people who died, but their bodies were never found or were laid to rest). I was literally in tears in the final few minutes of the drama. It reminded me of Edward Scissorhands in a way. BUT, I was also up all night thinking about the ending.

In the end, The Grim Reaper basically asked for his punishment to be that he never existed as a human, therefore no one would remember him because he was never...alive...right? Yes. But I wasn't sure how that affected Ha Ram's parents getting into that car crash in the beginning, therefore her farther being a grim reaper, and her being born as a half grim reaper and seeing ghosts. Therefore, she was able to live a healthy and happy normal life, like she always wanted. BUT if that were true, that means that there was still underground minor prostitution, and no one was there to catch it, or to save Kim Sun-Young because she still got raped? Right? Maybe some other police officer figured it out? But this ending doesn't seem very happy for that whole prostitution side. And when his existence never happened, did Moo Gang still exist? Or did he still have that heart issue? Was he saved? It also makes me a little sad that because of his lack of existence, Ha Ram and Man Soo never met. Honestly, they would have been such a cute couple and they should have tied that in somehow. Man Soo can get the girl and so can the Grim Reaper. But imagine...at the end, The Grim Reaper coming to get Ha Ram so they can spend eternity together finally, and her poor husband who was deceased and waiting for her in the afterlife is forgotten.

I have hope that I am just missing a minor detail in the ending because everything else tied in perfectly.

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Spoiler over!

Overall, this took me by surprise, and normally I am not into crime dramas, but the supernatural aspect got me.

This drama hurt my heart because it was super intense and evil, but the ending made me believe in happy endings and that anything is possible. I had almost lost hope, but the whole drama had amazing writing (yes...including the first 7 episodes that I wasn't a fan of) and I knew there was one more trick up the writer's sleeve and I thank them for coming up with a drama, that made me feel all the feels.

ALSO: Can we take a second to appreciate that whole Halloween party ep. Yes, The Grim Reaper was funny and dressed up like Joe Black and made hella Meet Joe Black references throughout the drama....BUT CAN WE TAKE A SECOND TO APPRECIATE that both Ha Ram and Man Soo both dressed up as Shrek and Fiona, unintentionally? It was so funny how this billionaire's son could have dressed up like anything in the whole world for HIS party, but chose to dress up like Shrek...and painted himself with glow in the dark green paint. He would have been a perfect husband for Ha Ram. Just saying. If she doesn't want him, shoot, I'll take him.

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UGH, this drama, I finished it in like 3 days and I kind of have a love-and-hate-relationship with it.
Its start very promising and the story is a bit creepy and gloomy, but very interesting. The second episode is where you think "Ok, WTF is going on?!"

I think it's a very good drama with a lot of twists and storylines only a psychopath could think of. It really messes with your head and sometimes I even lost track, because it was getting kind of like a labyrinth.
I liked the love story in the drama, it was sweet and a contrast to all the gloomy stuff.

Personally I didn't like the ending, so I probably wouldn't watch it again, that's why I gave only 5.0/10. I mean it's an ending I could be ok with but your heart hurts while it happens and you're left with being a little mess.

So, you can see that this drama really got me hooked and made me sad and cry.
This drama gets you really and you start thinking about many things, but as it made me so sad...ugh I dunno, it's good. watch it.

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Mystery fiction full of twists that connects the real world and the afterlife

For me this drama is a bit half-half. There were parts that I love and parts that are not really my style. First of all for those people who's into mystery and fiction, this is a go to option because to be honest the plot twists here are mind-blowing. Although I also have to note that the first half is a bit bland for me because I actually stopped watching this for weeks but on the second half when I got back to it, it definitely got my attention and get to love the drama already even though it's more on a tragedy theme.

The main leads was able to portray the characters effectively especially the male lead since he basically had two personalities to portray. Personally, I don't like them much because of the vibe their giving off to me but with the acting itself they are really good.

Since this drama was released in Netflix and is targeted for international market, the OSTs are mostly English and a little gloomy which actually suit the theme of the drama.

Overall, I can't say it's a 'Must Watch' drama but definitely it is worth giving a shot.

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I've been avoiding this drama for 2years bc of some bad reviews I read but I decided to give it a try honestly I don't regret it. The first episode was great but when I got to episode 2 it confused the heck outta me but the more you watch it the better it gets & more pieces of puzzles are coming together there were a twisted part which you will realize until the end it was such a heavy ride but I enjoyed. I see some people complaining about the ending I thought it was good not the best but it was something I can go with even though I was not expecting that but I'm okay with it.
Will I watch it again? Definitely no doubt. The acting was great, never thought I would like the story but I did glad I gave it a try. Totally recommend it even if the 1st don't seem interesting leap watching cuz starting from episode 2 you will wanna continue to find out what happens next, definitely not a drama to drop so I give it a 10.

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Intriguing, plenty of twists, eventual miss landing.

(Contains unspecific vague spoilers)

Started off this drama expecting a combination of fantastical elements and suspense filled plot, and let me tell you it delivers. You’ve a girl who can see shadows and moments of people’s deaths, you’ve a grim reaper who is brought to earth in a human body which belongs to a detective trying to figure out where his missing partner is, but unaware that he has a convoluted mysterious past which needs finding.

Initially I was shocked and disgusted at various scenes, considering the present timeline, it felt very unreal how ridiculously the crime scenes were treated by this group. There’s no awareness of trying to maintain the crime scene, we’ve detectives throwing up all over the bodies and it’s disgustingly gory. I felt like with each detective in the support team, they wanted to bring the worst traits out. However, after a point you somewhat get used to their behaviour. During the second episode I was so unsure if I wanted to continue. But the mystery seemed promising and I held onto it. Then after a point i had invested too much of my time to stop.

Coming to the plot, the story line is amazing. It does get plenty frustrating though. Each episode is filled with at least one plot twist. You continue to think that something has been revealed and figure it out, and bam! You’re hit with another reveal, that the mystery and killings are far more convoluted and the ones caught are only pawns in the game.

Despite it being a series drama, there’s fair amount of humour in it. I loved the pairing of the Joseon reaper and Rap enthusiast reaper. Their conversations with Black were always something to look forward to! With other characters also there’s a good enough chemistry. I found the acting to be decent, but at various points Go-Ara felt a little off.

I don’t know what to think about the ending though. A lot of viewers told me that I should skip the last half of the episode if I don’t want the season to be ruined, and I partially agree with them. The first seventeen episodes are all working towards wrapping the plotholes and manage to do it fairly well and then comes an ending which kind of undos everything. It might have happened, but you’re left with confusion. I’m usually a fan of epilogues, but the one in Black takes it to a whole other level. The show could have done without it, and honestly if they had ended it before the epilogue, it would have still been an okay ending. Did I hate the ending, though? Not really. I can see why they wanted to go in that direction. I wish they had been bolder in their approach.

It’s a decent drama filled with lots of mystery that will perpetually keep you on your toes. Not your usual crime drama, for sure.

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It was a drama that I did not think I would see at the beginning

I think it's an incredible drama the story was well structured, I don't get bored. I'm not a fan of this kind of drama really.
The power that the girl has is something I would never have thought about, the detective is super handsome who will not want a grim reaper like that
the chain ocn very characteristic for this genre never disappoints with the special effects
Go Ara is a great actress, her performance in this drama seemed excellent to me, the sunglasses show a rather sad story but it does not lead you to hurt the character if you do not admire him
the message remains death is with us but we can really change it with small actions?
I found actor Kim Dong-jun quite cute in some scenes, for a moment I thought he was really going to die
it is certainly a drama not to be missed

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Entertaining Mystery with Humor

This drama had been hanging in my Netflix queue for a while, so I finally got around to watching it. Even though it's 18 episodes, I finished it in two days over the weekend, which is pretty good for me. Most dramas start to lose my attention by the eighth episode, but I was engaged in this enough to want to finish. The synopsis for Black doesn't do justice to the amount of twists and turns in this drama. There is a lot going on...sometimes a little too much, and it's clear from the outset the creators have a lot to say. The show deals with some sensitive subject matters like rape, prostitution, domestic abuse, and a host of corruption which amounts to a lot people doing bad things for money and power; but, if you like a decent mystery then this will be right up your alley. As a bonus there is a lot of humor and some great characters, including a rapping grim reaper and a detective named 'Crazy Dog'! The ML is the star of the show. You can't help but watch him when he's on screen. He's cool, funny, sarcastic, and easy on the eyes. He absolutely makes the show! My only real complaints about Black stem from the FL. She is poorly written and poorly dressed. She starts off as a noise machine who spends most of her time crying, whining, and screaming. She does all this while running around like a chicken with her head cut off in the dazzling assemble of a trench coat, long sleeve shirt, full length dress, AND a pair of blue jeans!!! Her wardrobe was seriously distracting and I kept wondering if the actress was pregnant during filming because I couldn't understand why they would dress her that way. Thankfully, she gets sidelined quite a bit, and it's clear at the end the writers realized they needed to do a hard reset for her character, which essentially is how Black ends. I hate endings like that, but thankfully there was enough good before to make it all worthwhile.

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I just finished watching this drama and I am left somehow disappointed. Despite my disappointment I did rate some high scores because the music was good and the acting was not bad. I didn't score the story line to high because this is what brings the disappointment for me. The idea for the drama its not bad unfortunately for me the story was a bit boring at times and I found myself speeding through conversations. Like a lot of the conversations between the police officers when talking about the cases I personally found it a bit too long so I had to skip through. Then it was the way of solving the crimes. It felt like they were starting different investigations that had nothing to do with each other and all of a sudden they start connecting them all in one investigations. And one that comes to mind right now is when Oh Man Soo in the detective's Han basement started investigating some files from his insurance company that had nothing to do with the police investigation so far, and then leaves the door open and detective Na Gwang Gyun comes and sees the files and some papers and he start intertwining that with his investigation. How do you connect the two where up to that point had no connection? At times it felt like the investigation was not clearing anything, actually it was getting deeper and more complicated and more twisted which will not be bad if the viewer will not get the feeling that its just a hot mess that will never get anywhere and even they don't know anymore. The confusion doesn't stop here. I also had an issues with how the ML role was written at times. They portrait him to be this bad ass, cold, emotionless, super human, super powers entity but then he gets bit up some times like he was nothing and I'm talking in particular about scared face which was an old man but he was able to bit all this much younger and stronger guys like even Ha Ram's father. For me personally he got on with his bad deeds for too long. And once you make me see this supranatural entity with all this power and than you show me he got bit up by an old man it doesn't do it. As some people might say he was becoming more human and that is why he was not always succeeding in his fights, I will say that becoming more human was ok to stop him from teleporting and to start making him have feelings but should have not interfere with his strength. I did like the part where he start having feelings. I enjoyed that very much. I did enjoy the comedic parts through the series and I did enjoy Black's two side kicks. I loved them. But one of the biggest disappointment comes towards the end. The series leaves the viewers with more questions than answers. Black says he will stay to leave as a human next to Ha Ram but then everything he does and every action he takes is to prepare for not coming back. Well one thing I hate in life are liars and he was just that by doing that. Don't say you gonna stay by a person but then you end up leaving. That is BS. Than he asked for the highest level of punishment which meant he was going to be erased from everybody's memories which meant there was never a Kim Joon nor anything ever associated with him. You have then Ha Ram go on with her life. Also there is a mention about a husband who nobody knows and there is no mention of who that was, not even a picture shown somewhere around the house, and you have somebody telling the grim riper story which will be fine as a folkloric story but unfortunately it gets even more confusing. So when the red bracelet appeared at the end how was that possible since he was not supposed to exist, which meant she did not make the bracelet for him because Kim Joon did not existed, so there was supposed to be no bracelet. Then she gets the bracelet and gets her memories back. What memories of something or somebody that didn't exist? And if it did exist was there a previous life, a parallel life or what life because the one she was living and got old in it he didn't exist? Then again I am at it, if he never existed, why did you had him come to take her soul? I don't get it? There are still so many questions? They should have just let him be by her side as a human period. Any way the story was good, music was very good and the end very disappointing.

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Confusing but impressive and more twists then the twist

This drama is a bit confusing, when I finally thought I might start understanding something a new twist came along and threw me off completely. I happen to be a big fan of twist and turns so it was defenetly my type of drama but I understand if is not everybodys cup of tea.

The male lead did an amazing jobb portraying several characters. Hot and cold, sweet and mean... in a very handsome package.

Go Aras character was interesting and she did do a great jobb portraying a very special personality.

The second male lead was very sweet, and so were the rest of the cast. I wasn't annoyed att anyone, maybe could do without some of the children crying but I never really felt the urge to fast forward. The pace was ok but I'll admit this drama could probably have been shorter if they prioritized but att the same time looking back all had their role in this very complex multilevel drama.

The ending was defenetly one of the more intersesting ways to wrap it upp and was very unpredictable witch I see as a big plus.

So all in all if you like complicated dramas, like Go Ara and a handsome lead this is definitely one for you. Oh and you should not care to much about the details making sence.

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A very different story with a strong cast and a good script .

A beautifully complicated story that is amazing for the first15 ep then the ending goes downhill.

***SPOILER AHEAD***
Alternate ending: black not killing the last guy, instead, handing him to law with proof ( he is given a good punishment and his life is ruined ) then, black going with the death squad and being a reaper for the rest. when all this was happening haram found about everything, she blamed herself for killing everyone and committed suicide by jumping from the cliff and became a second class reaper cz she took her own life met black, reunited, got to know about everything ie her father and black himself, accepted it and became partners did their job well and after a while went to paradise

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