A lot of twists and turns but it is worth it
I started watching the series a month ago, I watched the first 10 episodes in one go. I kinda loved the spice of it being a little different and not the same old stuff you would watch every other day. I kinda for some reason stopped watching the drama for a few days since I fad a feeling of what the ending would be. After a few days of waiting I started re-watching it twice untill I continued watching it from where I had stayed. After watching up to episode 15 I stopped again for some reason. Again I thought I would have to wait a few days to continue I just decided to watch it till the end this time.After watching the full series I would say, I enjoyed it because it was different from other dramas even tho it had a lot of twists and turns. The actors and the acting was great as well as the plot was good even tho the plot in the last two episodes got kinda boring and depressing. The OST wasn't memorable but it was okay.
All in all, I'd say if you want a murder mystery with a little romance and twists and turns. This drama might be something for you. I would even rate it with a pretty high re-watch value.
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Definitely a fun watch, not a must watch
So many twists and engaging story throughout all 18 episodes. I would have rated it high (8 or 9) if there weren't so many, and I really mean so many plot armour scenes, plot inconsistencies, probably the worst action choreography, one dimension-ally written FL & so many more similar frustratingly irritating reasons.The ending is acceptable, since I have already seen Mouse by the same screenwriter, and was expecting an impractical but self-sacrificing & morally superior ending.
By far, my fav grim reaper related kdrama.
7/10.
PS. Some of the brilliant trolling comedy in episodes 2 & 3.
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Struggled to finish it
There is beauty in simplicity and I think this writer should learn it.The drama was really interesting at first and I was immediately hooked up, however I have more complaints than praises for this drama.
First of all, the writer did not follow the rules they set up for this fantasy world in the beginning of the series, a lot of the times it was just bad writing (forgetting what was already established in-universe or not explaining soemthing) but quite a few times it was done on purpose to bring some shock value and unnecessary plot-twists.
Secondly, it seemed that somewhere along the way the writer forgot who was the most important one and whose story they were telling. It is hard to explain this without giving any spoilers but to say it simply, while the premise is that 444 comes to Earth to catch the run away partner, we don't get to hear anything about it until at the very end the writer and ML remember it and show had that storyline ended.
The last criticism I have for this drama is to do with everything I said above. The writer wanted to make such a complex and gripping story that they made it unnecessarily confusing and overly complex for no good reason than to deliver a plot-twist after a plot-twist and to keep the viewer guessing. By the end of the show, when they revealed the "main" villain I already forgot who he was and how he was related to the story. The million sub-plots and side characters made it even more difficult to follow the story. To say something positive, the writer did wrap it up to an extent in the finale but at that time I was already too tired of never ending puzzles and seeing the same event repeated endlessly just from a different pov each time adding one small detail, which at first was interesting and then got really tiresome. Oh and the finale and solution to the heroes problems was the worst I have seen in a while. Seriously, I made myself to watch the last two episodes and regret that decision even know. It was not simply dissatisfying but made me regret even watching the drama in the first place.
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Its so worth it!!!
The previous reviews made me believe that it was a show worth watching. It was engrossing and there were twists and turns at every step of the drama. I believe that while initially it had been a slow drama the next part gets you waiting at the edge of your seat. A good plot and cast forms the base of this drama. After completing it I can promise that it will be on top of your watched list. In any good drama there are a number of factors and this one happen to exceed my initial expectations. I strongly recommend giving this drama a try.Was this review helpful to you?
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This review may contain spoilers
The star of the drama is definitely Black
A viewer needs to pay attention to the smallest details in this drama because all are incorporated in the overall plot. It feels a little chaotic and disjointed in the earlier episodes as you meet a lot of characters and situations that appear to be unrelated, but as the episodes progress to the end, all these details are drawn together to culminate in one overarching event that involves our leads. It’s a masterfully woven plot that makes sense until the last 10 minutes where everything you’ve just watched is nullified and voided, bringing us to the old problem experienced with time travel plots – remove a character in the past and you’ve just opened up a can of unsatisfying worms as the viewer is left with more questions than answers. I understand the desire for a happy ending – I want a happy ending too – but I think a better ending could have been created for our MC. I’ll discuss this at the end in more detail. Also, just a FYI – almost everybody wants to kill themselves at some point. I’ve never seen so many suicide attempts on one drama.The star of the show is, of course, Black, the grim reaper stuck in a human body, and Song Seung-Heon does a fabulous job bringing this character to life. First of all, he’s just damn good-looking with his upswept hair and black clothing, and his badass attitude just oozes ‘cool’. I loved how this character at first disdains humans, being rude and bad tempered. It was a good transition between actors as well – from Kim Tae-woo as GR Black to Song Seung-Heon as MG Black. KTW set the tone and SSH maintained it. Episode 2 is hilarious as the grim reaper adjusts to life in a human body in a human world. Who knew a grim reaper could be so funny? I just loved his bad-tempered grumbling, outbursts of annoyance and frustration with FL as she continually runs off to save someone, placing herself in danger and forcing him to break GR rules and save humans. At one point, he calls her a beagle, and my advice to him – put a leash on her. I shared his frustration as this girl didn’t know when to stop her crazy quest to save pretty much everyone who’s scheduled to die. It’s amazing how a grim reaper could so quickly become an ace detective, connecting the dots and completing the investigation that Det. Na had been working on. Not to mention solving the Joon mystery. Loved in episode 15 how he’s in Moo Gang persona when confronting the congressman but when he comes outside, he’s Black again with black clothing and upswept hair. I guess he made sure to bring some hair putty along with his change of clothing. HA! Also, cute how Man-Soo’s hair takes an upward turn when he temporarily borrowed one of Black’s suits in an earlier episode. HAHA!
I liked FL when she was tough and gutsy, but boy, this girl manic depressive! Like Black, I began to get frustrated with her impulsive rush to save everyone with a shadow. I mean, chill, girl! Her reckless, impulsive behavior from child to adult caused quite a few problems. As she found out, sometimes you need to be selective regarding who you save because you may be saving a serial killer. Personally, when it comes to ‘shadows’, I think it’s best to let fate take its course and not interfere. Was this actress pregnant during the filming of this drama? They continually dress her is very baggy, ill-fitting clothes that make her appear frumpy.
Many of the characters were interesting and added to the overall drama. I liked Black’s grim reaper friends (although I’m not sure why Hip Hop had to change in appearance – something about GRs not having human faces – and once he was found, why didn’t he go to heaven like Clara? I know he said he would go with Black but can GRs decide when they will and won’t go?) I liked Man-Soo although he needed to grow a pair with that deranged brother of his and stop letting him pummel him with a golf club. I couldn’t watch when he lost his dog. I’m surprised the writer even put a scene like that in, but this drama was a lot gorier than most so I guess cruelty to animals goes along with showing us intestines and brain matter.
The ending was a disappointment and as mentioned above left the viewer with more questions than answers. In the last 10-15 minutes, Black, in front of the death squad, asks for Joon to have never existed. We then see Ha-Ram living a happy life without either Joon or Black until she’s an old woman. Black comes to pick her up and they walk off together to paradise, I guess. Here’s my problem with this – Joon was involved in multiple people’s lives so what happened to those characters? Without Joon, Moo Gang doesn’t get a heart so did Moo Gang die? Without Joon’s heart, MG wouldn’t have thought Soo-Wan was the girl for him so chances are MG and SW were never involved (if MG is alive). And how does Joon never existing stop Ha Ram’s father from dying and being taken over by a reaper, thus keeping HR from being half reaper? And then, if Joon never existed, why does Black still look like MG when he meets Ha Ram after her death, and if Joon never existed to go missing that means Black would never have been a reaper. Since Joon’s body was found (or having never existed), why is Black meeting Ha-Ram? Shouldn’t he be in heaven or not even exist? And why does the loser inside of Leo still remember Black/Joon and have his bracelet if he never existed? See what I mean? So many unanswered questions because the writer felt the need to give Ha-Ram a happy ending. Couldn’t she have been happy dying and joining Black in the afterlife sooner? Or better yet couldn’t the writer have found a way for Black to become human and live the life his stepmom had denied him? And if you were committed to having Ha-Ram live a happy life without Joon/Black, the writer could have at least had her married to Man-Soo instead of some unknown husband. After all, Man-Soo deserved a happy ending after the crappy life he had. I’m just saying that they could have created a better happy ending than the one we got. It was only minimally acceptable. Enough said. Oh, wait, one more thing - why do old ladies always have to have curly gray hair, especially when they always had straight, long hair in their younger years? Such a bad makeup job on these two.
Villain Awards: First Place – Moo Gang’s mom for murdering a child to save hers. Second Place - Congressman Kim (and all the other rich old perverts) for numerous heinous crimes, including rape and murder. Third Place – Man-Soo’s brother for animal cruelty and overall assholery. Fourth Place – a tie between Missing Finger and the psycho serial killer. Fifth Place – Ha-Ram’s mom who was living happily enough with her husband until she finds out he’s a grim reaper, and then he’s suddenly disgusting and she has to leave him and her child for a child/wife abuser.
Stupid Awards: First Place – the young Ha-Ram – did you really think you could shoot a freaking shadow, kiddo? Second Place – Joon for having a crush on Soo-wan and thus getting entangled in her problems. Third Place – the adult Ha-Ram for recklessly trying to save the world from black shadows. Fourth Place – Moo Gang for thinking the magical heart fluttering meant he should be with Soo-wan and thus following his brother down the path of destruction because of this woman’s baggage. Fifth Place – Black for doing the noble idiot thing. I much preferred his idea of living out his life in MG's body and being happy with Ha-Ram. Sixth Place: the last 10-15 minutes of the drama.
Annoying Award: Soo-wan. Yeah, she has a tragic backstory, but all this woman did was run from and fret over her past instead of confronting it and sending that dirtbag to jail 20 years ago. She was a victim throughout and only briefly got enough courage to help Black and the other detectives trap the congressman into a confession. Also, she clung to Moo-Gang like dog poop even when it was clear he was no longer Moo Gang. At least, she did the noble thing and helped Black get Ha-Ram’s trust back. Really this one girl/woman was the cause of both brothers dying.
I wanted to give this drama a perfect 10, but I took off a star for the crappity-ass ending. Ha-Ram shouldn't be the only one getting a happy ending and was it really happy without Black/Joon?
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Fast paced
If you're going to start this drama you must give it until after episode 5. The first 5 episodes didn't do it for me at all and I actually dropped it, but then went back to it and the story picked up and got really good.There is so much going on here this drama is like a mash of everything, romance, fantasy, murder mystery, revenge, crime... It's also very well acted with good production so it's a great all-around drama. The only thing that disappointed me is the romance. The romance had potential at first and ML does change a little bit but just barely. I was really hoping to see him actually soften with her but he never really does, their chemistry isn't very good because he's always just kind of being with her grudgingly. Their chemistry started to get good in the middle and then for some reason his attitude changed again to wanting to leave her. He definitely protects her and saves her plenty of times and shows his jealousy (which I actually like) but that's the only thing he does to show he even cares about her. For the rest of the time he's always mean or kind of irritated.
I get that there was so much packed into this show it would have been hard to expect that much character development. Overall it's a must see, just don't get your hopes up about their chemistry toward the end.
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Maybe SSH had this written into his contract.
"The ending has to be vague or, suck altogether. Oh yeah, and let's have Halloween-Christmas because, Why not?
I want my fans to prove they love me for me instead of my work, just like Lee Min Ho.
Come all my pretty lemmings and I'll show you a cliff. Bwahahaha!"
Don't watch the last 10 minutes of the final episode and you'll be better for it.
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18 Episodes of 1 hours and a half each. Analyzing the first half of the drama, you will find a very interesting dark\funny story with a good cast. The drama has a lot of plot twists and it will keep you interested. The acting is good and has a great cast. I have to say I'm not fan of Go Ah Ra but that's just me. Seung Heon does an amazing job and the other supporting actors do a great job. If you like a drama in which most of the tiime you have no idea what's going on regarding the plot, this is for you, but I have to say I have never seing such a complicated plot, the writers really had fun adding stuff lol. The drama is pretty solid into keep you interested but episode 18 (finale) was very weak and left many things open and many make absolutely no sense. I'm not sure if I would rewatch it but is worth to try it out if you have not seeing it
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Slow. Just...Slow
Okay, Black had one of the most exciting premises that I've ever seen, but it just coudn't perform it well, and it's one of the first dramas that I'm dropping with a tiny bit of pain in my heart. [So cold, wow!]First, I think this drama desperately tried to make gross scenes to catch attention or cause shock. I watched enough horror movies/dramas to know that you can make it at least interesting. In this drama, it was boring and...just gross, nothing else.
Boi, it was slow. Oh my god. Even when I watched movies who were purposely made to be Slow Burn, I didn't have this feeling of "Okay I get it. I really get it. Can we just go past it?".
I like and dislike the random scenes. Cause' they aren't just for the ramdoness, they are there for a purpose and Black performs it well in that part. I guess that it just makes stressing because it's just ramdoly thrown there and after a very few moments that look like hours, WOW IT FINALLY MAKES SENSE - The thing is, you are left in the blue. And it just becomes boring, It just makes it seem like I'm in an parallel universe in relation to the drama.
The acting is okay. But not like, extraordinary. It's just okay. Sometimes it really looks like people there are trying hard not to fake it. I guess the Grim Reaper did a good job though.
Like I said, the premise is so interesting, and in sometimes you look at some scenes and think "Wow, if it was performed in a good way, it would've looked amazing"
I know that my critics may be kind of harsh, but I really didn't say them for the sake of being mean. I think it's good to look at reviews and look at the pros and cons, good and band comments,. Dont take everything that I said at heart though, it may be an bad experience for me, but maybe not for others, and I apreciate all the work everyone envolved in Black did.
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not good but not bad
I was curious about this drama since I had started it several years ago, but never actually finished it. Unfortunately, it did not catch me as much as I wanted it to. I really wanted to like it, and I (for one) think the acting is decent. Some people don't like the lead actress' acting, but I thought it was alright. The male lead is super handsome, and I found his acting pretty good since he had two act two contrasting characters. It's the story that just didn't do it for me: it did not make much sense sometimes.1) Mr. Grim Reaper is supposed to be experienced and smart and whatnot but then he keeps on talking to himself about "humans" and how dumb they are, he's overall super goofy and bad at hiding that he's a grim reaper like... Sir. Plus, he has no awareness of his surroundings and people possibly shadowing him. His grim reaper friends literally have to tell him to act more like human like cmon, where is said experience??
2) Mr. Grim Reaper wonders why the female lead cannot see HIS shadow in Moo Gang's/Joon's (? lol, I am not invested enough to figure that plot line out :( )body and then concludes it must be because he's wearing all black. Mf, maybeeee it is because the body you chose is already dead. How should the female lead foresee "your" death if the body already died bffr. I find my theory more plausible than his, how can he convince himself of that...???
So far, the cinematography is nothing out of this world, same with the OST. Overall, I am a bit disappointed. I decided to DNF this on a whim because I was just watching episode 7 and felt like I made huge process, only to see I had only watched like 20 minutes max... so yeah, it drags a little. There are other shows to be watched, so I'll let this one go !! :)
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