A Korean Odyssey (2017)

Packed with comedy and mystical fantasy!

This is one of my favorite dramas and one of the first K-Dramas I ever watched. The lead actor is def in my top 10 favorite K-drama actors. He does the whole arrogant obnoxious brat thing suuuuper well but delivers his lines with such good humor and intelligent understated comedy. He especially seems to play well off the supporting characters in the show, which creates a real feeling of synergy and chemistry. A lot of Kdramas that are good seem to also have sort of stale interactions with supporting characters, but this drama really does an awesome job of individually scripting each supporting character to create a fleshed out world full of detail. It's a lot of fun to watch in every scene.

My only real dislike with this drama was a minor one...I really hate it when they take a strong independent female lead and turn her into a simpering lovesick weakling by the end. But it wasn't too bad in this particular drama, she still kicked major butt and the actress did a really nice job portraying an aloof but deep character.

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Before i write my review, pls forgive me if i write anything wrong or not match with the drama or whatever if u dont like me, let me say I'm sorry.
ive been reading all the reviews here and all of the reviews actually made me dont really wants to watch this drama. but i watched it anyway because my beloved lee hong ki. yes. and the first episode catch my breath and heart, plus the comedy cracked me up. THE COMEDY IS ABOLUTELY THE BEST. THEIR TONE AND JOKES. i love the casts very much! hmm.. this drama made me want to rewatch but not until the end of the drama, like in the 20th episode. the saddest episode TT. Btw, before i watch the drama, i got myself interested by the trailer. yep. and i found really nice ost from this drama. even the saddest song made me cry bc reminded of the scene within the song flowing :( cant even move on for abt a week after done watched the drama. and for now, im in love with LEE SEUNG GI. he is the best and hottest guy ive ever seen so far and he is very cute. and how he talk to the female lead made me more more in love with him. well, you guys should watch this drama and i reccommend this drama very much. you'll got their modern,historical,romance, broken hearts and sadness in one pack. sorry for my bad english too, and thank you!

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♡They Slap The Guemganggo On The Viewer! ⚙ A Total Guilty Pleasure♡

What to think of this?

In the first couple episodes I couldn't u/s this acid trip. I peeped Wiki & learned that it's based on the classic 13th century (some of the stories are older) Chinese fantasy-quest novel: Journey To The West. The most outlandish elements of KO are taken directly from this classic. Having ruled out KO being devised under pharmaceutical influence (in the 21st century, at least), I trekked on.

KO opens with an adorable little girl, actress So Won Kal. She's wonderful as young Jin Seon-mi, who is duped by Devil King/”DK”. He may look like a man, but he's really a /monster/. He asks her to collect something from inside a magical chalet. His warning: Never acknowledge the being living in there; she should act like she can't even see him.

Why send a little girl, you ask? DK /knows/ she can do this, b/c he noticed that she is able to see spirits.

Little Seon-mi has gotten herself into the middle of a cosmic, centuries long game being played by I'll-do-anything-that-makes-me-look-cool Son O-gong/”SOG” & DK. SOG is the being that's trapped & Seon-mi is no match for him - yet. He makes a protection deal w/ her: If she will set him free, he'll come help her whenever she calls for him: He'll always protect her. Once free, Mr. Slyboots removes his name from her memory. She won't be able to call his name now, & he'll never have to honor the deal. He didn't realize they were destined to work together to save the world, however.

Fast forward a couple decades. They meet again, & SOG is not indifferent this time. This time, he has the illest of intentions: He wants to eat her! She is, as it turns out, a Samjam - she's one-off-a-kind special. Consuming her will make any spirit or monster vastly stronger: Her very scent is intoxicating! He soon discovers their deal, actually does protect her. He can't proceed with their contract in effect. How about a new, #much-better-deal☺❔️? NOPE. She ain't trusting him again✋️. He tries to get her to willingly agree - she's going to get eaten… At least he'll be gentle... Not a working strategy either. Aigoo, until he can figure something out, he'll have to protect her so nobody else can get a bite in first.

I know, right? So WRONG.

Under his wing, the delightful world of monsters & spirits opens up to Seon-mi. They occupy the most coveted positions in the world: entertainment, business, politics, & so on. Though there are bulls, monkeys & pigs (O MY!), etc, they look just like us. That allows them to blend in while keeping the populace at large blind to their existence. Even Hyun Bin (from Crash Landing On You) is one! We mortals are powerless against them, indeed;)) When a CEO shows up to cook & clean at DK's house, we get a sense of the privileged life they lead.

KO is a visual extravaganza. The fashion is bold & exciting, yet Seon-mi is always understated. Much of the show takes place at DK's house. That's a good thing, because anyone would want to hang out in this glizy, uber opulent abode. From the marble floors to the intricately composed walls of beveled mirrors & 1930's streamline gleam, everything shines. Most of us have never seen the like. Yet it still seems comfortable - a design marvel.

They add numerous touches to fill out the space nicely, such as putting Mrs. Ma (a dog) in purple lipstick to make her mouth look more dog-like. Another example is when they are looking for a mermaid. The hallway they walk is lit to look like wavy water. It's such details that separate the mundane from the marvelous.

There's clever juxtaposition. The other kids know she can see ghosts, so Seon-mi is picked on horribly at school as a child. She's different. Taking note of the insulting hate inscriptions carved by her classmates, she sits down at her desk and slaps her ETHICS book down. This is the beauty of film. One could write volumes on the topic of bullying, and they were able to reduce it all to one slamming book. I always need a moment to geek out over morsels like that〰

Ok, I'm back. The acting is terrific. Lee Se-young has 3 parts total, including Richie, my favorite character in the series. Cha Seung-won, as Devil King, must go through Samjan fits & display all manifestations of rage. They both just knock it out of the volcano.

We get a look at some fun relationships. SOG is a capricious, mean, surly, brat of a being. He & DK don't hate each other; they've just been playing tit-for-tat for centuries because they're bored. Neither one wants the other to perish, as that would make life even more boring. Hanging around the two of them when they're acting up is like a carnival ride. SOG & Seon-mi's dynamic goes from predator & mark to something quite different over the course of the series. It's truly special.

There's heavy foreshadowing. Familiarity with this director and writer prompts a caution: Believe their foreshadowing. These two value Duty Over Pleasure. Here may be sniffles. Tears, even. In the scene that shows the darkest augury, black is the theme. It's heavy & dark feeling w/ both characters in black. As we get closer, we can see that one's wearing a shirt with gold trim over black on one half, & gold trim over white on the other. There is still optimism.

Now for some Scooby Snacks〰

○We meet the cutest, hot zombie ever. Lil sumpum for the boys....
○There's a group chat that's a well done running gag.
○SOG moves into DK's place without even asking. What he likes, he says, is that "Parking's not an issue." He's using 3 spaces, it turns out, & DK is in trouble with the manager over it. Parking's an issue, just not for SOG.
○There's oodles of ice cream.
○We see a CEO cleaning & cooking at DK's. He makes snacks for the kids. The CEO even cleans Seon-mi's fridge! Her assistant would have fainted over that.
○Speaking of said assistant, Lee Han-joo, he's comical. He's always terrified, as he can sense the ghosts around them, but can't see them. Ms Jin has kept him in the dark about her capabilities, but he knows things aren't quite right. °He's always thinking about quitting, but then something amazing will happen. As Jin Seon-mi gets tangled up with dieties & their agendas, mega stars & other mysterious beings start showing up at the office. He's not leaving now!
○One day he due to an emergency he leaves his kids with Ms Jin. When he picks them up, they refuse to leave at first. They saw (real) dinosaurs & PK, (the pop idol) the CEO made them snacks... and they got to play with a girl that can pop her eyeballs out! Ha! That one made me suddenly laugh so loudly, I scared the cat.

Now for a couple examples of how they bollixed it up〰

●The undisciplined dialogue is the biggest flaw.
●There's too many contradictions.
●There's too much wavering back and forth, forth and back, and forth. And so on.
●Yet some things that weren't said were even more vexing.
●There's dead ends running amok. For instance, we're told that SOG has never felt real pain, but they also had informed us earlier that his heart was broken after being betrayed by a human. Later, that sunk to the bottom never to be heard from again. In the world of film craft, that's basically inexcusable. Quality productions don't do stuff like that.
●Finally, Lee Seung-gi looks Waaay better with the long hair. Why'd they cut it?

Here's the journal I kept while watching KO, until I gave it up, being at a loss〰

》It's so bad. Undisciplined, running amok all over the place. It's awful.
》Oh, look. Even Ritchie's in the group text. Look at SOG, trying to act like he doesn't care. It's too much for him. That's hilarious.
》This is so wrong. If he says he doesn't like to see her hurt, then why is he telling her he can't wait to get rid of her? He's the only one hurting her. This is frustrating.
》Ha! That one was outrageous. What fun.
》They all stab her in the back. They are all #monsters. She needs to run away. Go grab Jonathan, please! Save yourself!
》Hey, that kiss was something. They truly seem to care about each other. Sweet.
》PK, really? Feed (X) to (Y)? You're rotten!!
》》(W), how could you work with a goddess to steal (A's) soul!?!

》That's so cute.

》》No, it's awful.

》Just look at the way they look at eac..ch...othr.

》It's funny.

》》It's turrible

》Why du I like it

》》I don... No do. Nonn em Emmmm

》》》Augh!!!!! My head's exploding!

》》》Get out of my head‼️《《《

Conclusion: like deities, it's up & down, but it dons the guilty pleasure genre like sweet smelling, comfy slippers. This show slapped a Guemganggo on me, and I'm liking it against my will. I hate it too.. Maybe... It's doing to the audience what the characters do to each other. (Not for a second do I believe that's by design, but it would be awesome if it was).

Finally, there's an exploration of the idea of being forced to love someone. We aren't talking about a love potion where somebody's drugged into an obsession. In KO, a flawed and selfish character is either forced to (truly) love, or given the gift of love, depending on how we look at it.

For the character, this is a wonderful feeling without losing the sense of self. Said character becomes a better, deeper person. If God gives us love, are we to enjoy it? Are we to be angry that it didn't originate from ourselves, or that we don't have a choice? No.

Love is a gift 〰♥️〰 It's always a gift.

QUOTES〰
It's dangerous to assume others think the same way you do. Thinking you're Ultimately different from others is also dangerous.

The reduction of the universe to the compass of a single being and the extension of a single being until it reaches God. This is love. ~Victor Hugo~

IMHO〰

RATINGS
Directing 7
Acting 8
Romance 8
Flutters 7
Art 9
Ending 8

LEVELS
Action/ Excitement 6
Thought provocation 5
Snores 0

Suggested Age 15+

Don't miss:
K: My Only Love Song 8.7;
The Legend of the Blue Sea-7.2;
Mr. Queen 8.5;
Oh My Ghost 10;
It's Okay Not to Be Okay 9;
Hotel del Luna-8.4,
Alchemy of Souls-8.3
Black-9
C: The Sleepless Princess 9.1;
The Romance of Tiger and Rose 9.8

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A Korean Odyssey is a great retelling of Journey to the West franchise. I loved how they tried to set it in the contemporary world and put romance between the monkey king and SamJang. I loved how the other characters look so fancy supporting each other and playing with their scripts. It felt very homey and friendly. The OST is amazing, very catchy.

What I didn’t like tho is the animation editing and the numerous failed edits in some scenes which is noticeable. There’s been some scenes cut hastily or not shown which makes the whole flow a bit rush and lacking. There’s a lot of fillers that should have been compressed in few episodes, too. 1 evil spirit for 1 episode is a bit much.

It is also predictable and closes in an open ending. Some might find it uncool.

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To tell the truth I have a really ambiguous opinion about this drama. If I didn't know that it's based on a novel, I would say that it's a clear copy of Goblin: a similar supernatural love story of a woman and a supernatural being united by the fate, a bromance between two supernatural beings living in the same house but actually being enemies (incomparably more charming and subtle in the case of Goblin), the atmosphere, etc. In such a situation I must say that Goblin has a much higher quality in all aspects (including the acting, undoubtedly). But... I've give ten for the acting in this drama. Why? Well, I've never been a fan of Lee Seung Gi, he always seemed to me a bit too much immature but here his character is almost impeccable. Also I must say that there are quite a lot charming, impressive, unexpected moments in this drama which don't let you simply drop the drama. Somehow you keep remembering its atmosphere, some moments, the acting... So I resign and admit that I really enjoyed it ;) (although if there are quite a lot of scenes with an akward humour... :/ )

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I've just finish this drama that I though it would be my first "drop off" drama. I started to watch it when I was on holidays in Korea two weeks ago, it was on Netflix and it seemed different. Although the first episode was really interesting (and "different" from other dramas), when I was on episode 3 I stopped... the pace was slow, and overall, I didn't get what the story was about.
Then, some days later, I found out the article The Myths behind "A Korean Odyssey" in MDL and after reading it I was curious to watch something more. So I tried again. And I finished today.
Story: I really can't say what it is that I liked about this drama. I think it's the strangest drama I've seen so far. And sorry, it's not Goblin. It's stranger than that one.
The story, as I said, is slow and sometimes incoherent. I didn't like the main couple very much and the seconds leads also were sometimes two much. But I don't know why, I continued watching it. There were some moments in every episode that I loved, funny or nice moments, not as much with the main couple as with the actions of the rest of the characters. Overall, I liked very much PK/Piggy and Zombie Richie. They were cute together.
As for the ending... I had already imagined that it would be something like this, so, no surprise there.
Acting: I haven't seen Lee Seung Gi before, and after this, I'm sure I'll see at least three or four more of his dramas. He's too good. I didn't like the female lead, not the actress, rather the character... even if I understand she would be kind of "special" with a childhood as hers. But her character was tremendously bland...
Music: I like it very much! I knew and liked the songs even before episode 3 and before having dropped the drama.
Rewatch: Emmmm, I don't think so. I know already everything I should know.
I liked this drama, in its own way, but I can't recommend it to everybody. You should watch it if you are looking for something different, you don't expect two much and you see it after having read about the myths I told earlier.

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This is my first Korean drama and I picked it because I saw the MV "When I Saw You MV" by 범키 (BUMKEY) .

Absolutely brilliant OST! Despite all the negative points on this drama, I think what made me persisted to the end was the OST. The other song which is brilliant is 네 옆에 있을게 (I Will Be By Your Side) by 멜로망스 (MeloMance). The OST also made me go back to rewatch this drama again despite its shortcomings.

The plot was ok, rhythm is ok too.

The character I liked most in this drama is Cha Seung-won as Woo Ma-wang. He made this whole drama so hilarious with his comical expressions. I cannot think of anyone else that could replace him in this character.

The character I dislike the most in this drama is Oh Yeon-seo as Jin Seon-mi. Haiz.. .. so forgettable, so replaceable. Some of her expressions were just too cake-ky, like a thick layer of buttercream on a cake.

Shortcomings - I think some scenes were not well edited, but honestly, I completely missed it. Didn't even notice the shortcomings until I read it online.

If you like to watch romance fantasy that defies logic, this is a good one. Just surrender yourself to the story line.

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Not my type of humor

After the master piece that was Doom at Your Service, I started this show to try and fill the hole that one had left.

It had big shoes to fill, and it failed miserably.

I really struggled with the first few episodes and almost gave up. Everything would be going well, and then they'd add these horribly over the top scenes with extremely cringy, unfunny humor. I powered through because I saw potential on what the show was building with the main couple, and wanted to know how that would continue. Luckily, after episode five or so, the cringe lessened significantly (either that or I just grew desensitized).

As a whole, I have to say I think quite of bit of thought was put into writing this show. There were a fair number of characters and a ton of different plot lines, but somehow they all ended up being interconnected and tied together in some way or another. A lot of them I didn't care for, and wish would have been taken out for the sake of making the show shorter (I don't think this needed to be 20 episodes long). We spent a whole chunk of the show on storylines completely unrelated to them main couple and plot, but at least there was a point to everything that was added.

Lee Seung Gi definitely was the MVP of the show. His acting was fantastic. And him and Yeon Seo played quite well off each other. I really enjoyed every scene they did together.

However, coming back to the fact that I was expecting an epic, fantasy love story riddled with angst and heartbreak, this whole thing ended up being a huge disappointment. I went in fully expecting to cry, but I never even teared up.

If you're thinking of watching this and haven't seen Doom yet, go watch that one instead, it's better in every single aspect.

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I Loved it!

Please, before I say anything just hear me on this. I have read a lot of reviews for this drama and there are some positive ones and some negative ones. If you are considering watching this drama but are unshure if you should because of the negative reviews, please, give it a chance. I know that not everyone will like it and I respect that, but everyone has a diferent taste and just because someone on the internet sait that is's bad doesn't mean you will also think it's bad. So give it a try. Besides, if you don't like it you can always drop it (no harm done to anyone, and you got to see for yourself, and decide for yourself if you like it or not).

Ok, now for my opinion of this drama

Hwayugi has become one of my favourite dramas so far (and I have watched my fare share).

In my opinion the casting was perfect since the acting in the entire drama was wonderful, I couldn't take my eyes off of them and found myself thinking of them more as drama saracters than actors taking on a role.

I have listened to the entire OST (multiple times) as well and I think it fits perfectly with the drama, but the songs on their own are beautiful and I listen to them often.

The only so called "problem" I have with this drama is the ending. I won't say what happened in the end but I have just found myself a bit.... not disapointed but a little sad. The ending suggests that there is more to the story, it is an open ending. In my personal opinion, I prefere closed happy endings, but an ending that is open is still better than a sad ending. It would be absolutely incredible if there would be a second season with the same cast and caracters to properly end the story (but I doubt that will happen).

Overall, this drama has been a rollercoster of laughter, horror, drama and romace and I am soooo glad I watched it. It is a beautiful drama through and through and is and will always remain one of my favourites.

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Hi All,
I actually started to watch this drama only because of LSG. But, later in two episodes, I was so excited about the story and their twisted fate.
which made a human and immortal to love each other. I could not even find one negative point and distracting side in all the 20 episodes. I actually
was worried that it would end very soon and also was hoping to look forward to the second season. The male and female lead together make a cute, lovable and fighting couple. Not only them the whole Hwang team made an incredible pair to each other. I actually don't have words to express my love for this drama, I really really recommend people to watch this drama.
The reason I don't want to write the storyline because I don't want you to know the before ahead of watching. Which lose suspense. People who love fantasy and thriller really really will love this drama. Am guarantees 99% for this drama.

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