This review may contain spoilers
Who doesn't love a good reincarnation story or finding resolution/closure for wandering souls? However, the one word I can sum this up in is "long-winded". I watched the entire series through severe fast-forwarding and ended up with a pretty weak ending.The positives to say is they did focus in on the backstory of your main leads and your main supporting characters. I found myself looking forward to unveiling of everyone's past that was presented in bits and pieces. The chemistry between all of them worked pretty well. The only major disappointment was our lonely firefly who was misunderstood for so long and then just pretty much kicked to the side. It really downplayed the strength of their long tragic love story and made it too real, where one easily replaces another these days. Why build up the lovely surreal to smack us with this coldness of reality? It would have been fine if it didn't feel so awkwardly done.
The cases where they assist souls in resolving issues was also a bit below average. It started off fairly interesting but just slowly descended into not much. If you're an absolute romantic, then you might enjoy this piece more than I did. As much as I appreciate a good love story, this one dragged on too much with each scene unnecessarily. It didn't help with the excess flashbacks that assumed the viewer didn't pay attention at all a couple of episodes ago. Overall, it wasn't great and it wasn't terrible but doable in higher-speed viewing.
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I just now finished watching Hotel Del Luna and boy oh boy - it was pretty much the same I felt about it ep 5 onwards.
Most of Hong Sister dramas have been a hit or miss for me and this falls closer to miss than hit.
Story/Premise: I was looking forward to it since months ago when IU started teasing about this drama on her Instagram. The premise seemed fun and the first few episodes were solid. Then from ep 5 it started becoming repetitive and the episodic format lost its pull for me. I was more interested in the main characters than the useless subplots introduced every week in an episodic format. Some were good and most were just meh. There are two parts to the drama : the flashbacks and the modern story. The flashback was solid and a winner for me since the beginning to the end. In fact I was way more invested in the flashbacks than the ongoing struggles of our characters.
Acting/Cast: IU was good for me in her role. This is not the best she has done nor the worst. But she is definitely one of the highlights of the entire cast. She carried it strongly with her presence for most part and was a delight to look at. She is so PRETTY. Yeo Jin Goo did nothing for me here and I say this as his big fan of past projects. I feel like he lacked the maturity to play this particular character and it would be better for him to take on lighter and more youthful roles. Then again, most child actors fail to shine once they get older (I might be triggering some of his fans here but just being honest). I felt no chemistry between the leads although individually they weren't the worst. The hotel side characters were all good actors expect PO. He was just cringey and horrible and even a rookie like Mina was better by a step- but who cast this girl? I LOVE the actors in the flashbacks. I see a lot of potential in both who played Chung Myung and Yeon Woo (I am poor with names). I am not familiar with their past works but would love to check out more in the future.
Music: The OST is solid. I would recommend the tracks by Punch (both), Taeyeon (it is lovely), Gummy and Paul Kim. Rest of the songs are good too but these ones stood out to me. I have them on repeat and will continue to for some time.
Final Thoughts: I feel like they had a nice idea that they failed to execute well. Romance with Yeo Jin Goo was a snoozefest for me. The premise was good but it was a weak and lackluster script. Had the writing and casting been better, it would have been one of my favourite dramas. I did enjoy the random references to variety shows and the celebrity cameos. The ending was fine for me and I wouldn't have settled for anything else after the way they set it up all along. I was not happy with how they ended the 'older story' loop because I was enjoying it too much. The last episode was sad but had nice moments. I think the best part was the epilogue. This universe comes to a certain next stage and watch it yourself to check out who they cast for the "sequel". It was a surprise and I can't wait for it. ^_^
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As far as the plot is concerned, commendable world building by the writers here. The story is based on a hotel that exists in between of our and the afterworld, in which spirits, with unfinished business, go before moving on. Deities, malevolent spirits, reapers, interesting backstories ect are a given.
With such an interesting premise I gotta mention the main characters who were pretty fun. The drama generally focuses a lot on comedy, which, most of the time, hits the spot. The romance is there and plays a predominal role. I can't say it was particularly memorable, but it sufficed.
Moreover, it should be mentioned that the driving essence of the drama are the back stories of the main two protagonists, particularly IU's character, something that becomes apparent from the very first scene of the drama. The show beautifully connects ancient eras with modern times linking present and past lives in a worthy backstory that is interesting and well-written without ever becoming too serious or heavy. Every prominent character gets their development and their sub story. Everything is fun and well written.
A strong part of the drama is IU's character, her fashion, her facial expressions, her reactions, her sassyness. It could be argued that this is an one woman show written entirely on and for IU, which, in my book, is totally a pro. If you're an IU fan, you'll enjoy it.
My favorite part of the drama was the homage to horror pop culture (references to classic scary movies, ex. The ring), or mentions of other recent horror kdramas (ex. The guest), which made the whole scary context that much more fun and contributed in making this drama feeling like a part of a whole along with the fun recurrent feeling of parodying horror pop culture.
The acting was overall great, but not really memorable. The plot was too light hearted for any of the actors to showcase any actual talent. That being said, everything was executed magnificently.
Overall, this is not a bad watch if you are interested in rom coms with fantasy elements. There are several ghost substories that aren't that important and not scary at all, but pretty interesting and fun to watch, so there is also that. The OST in this one is particularly polished. I'd recommend this to everyone searching for something light and fun to pass time. That being said, there is nothing notable about this drama other than its base premise.
Have a nice day everyone and enjoy!
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The backstories of some of the important characters are weak with several plot holes and the acting of the both main actors are weak or may be they are miscast especially IU. She was perfect in "my mister" but here she didn't convince me at all. For yeo jin-goo, I've watched hime in "the crowned clown" and sadly I'm not a fan of his acting.
The story is original (slightly inspired by beauty and the beast) but I didn't like it especially towards the end.
My favourite character in the whole drama is Sanchez :D
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This show is just like a Disney production, spectacularly set and lavishly comely to the eyes. But this one just keeps us reminding about the impermanence of such beauty. It establishes promptly that throughout its run, the theme which is gonna be addressed is ‘to learn to let go and move forward’ .
While the stories of different guests were interestingly written while being emotionally deep, it is the main story of the leading couple which suffers from blatant inconsistencies and unnecessarily dragged to diminish the effect of goodbyes.
It sets the show and settings really well in the first few episodes. The comedy works out well here and there. The romance of various couples other than the main one were not sidelined and were actually more interesting when viewed with their backstories and connections to the main plot than the main couple.
As the show progresses the different guests and their issues which sometimes get infused with the main story keeps the show going rather the romance of the two leads.
Still it manages to make us give a little attention to the main story with its flashback sequences with classic viewer deceiving tactics.
The deception works because it keeps us reminding that despite all this extravagant and pleasing looks, there is so much tragedy and sadness within the main character.
It has comically yet interestingly depicted the concepts of God, Heaven and Afterlife, It has meddled with those concepts to create serious and comedic dilemmas for the characters which was interesting to watch.
Even though the side stories were thematically same, each of them had its uniqueness a sort of fresh wholesomeness to them. It was sad yet prepared us for the impermanence of life itself with unexpected variety of stories based on all living beings.
While all the different stories of various ghosts prepare both the viewer and the main characters for the inevitable separation, some bad writing choices greatly falters in closing the show well. It subverts the effect of that inevitable separation just to prepare one of the characters to accept that split well.It also remains irritatingly vague after that particular decision in writing which actually disrupts the core theme of moving on. Thus it stretches out the main arc and also postpones some closure for characters to the frustration of the viewer.
The most alluring aspects of this show is its music, OST, grandeur in sets and visuals.The inside of the hotel, costumes of the lead and depiction of different eras were splendid.
The music and original songs were adding to the mood of the scene, comic and tragic. It really brought out the emotions which were hidden in the visual grandeur.
A dreamy series filled with visual opulence driving home great message necessary for everyone who is alive faltered along the way to decrease the effect towards the end.
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The snoozefest I didn't see coming
Hotel Del Luna (HDL) was an extremely hyped up drama when it came out in 2019 and I thought the title was appealing in the sense that it really evoked fantasy cinematic vibes. Having briefly looked at the premise however, it reminded me a bit too much of the 2013 drama, The Master's Sun (TMS). Despite being a human, the leading lady in that latter named drama also had this exceptionally rare capability of being able to see and communicate with spirits; thereby being an exact replica of Gu Chan-sung's (GCS) character here in HDL.Now it's also important to keep in mind that these kinds of themes/ideas are unique to a specific writer(s) for a drama, and so as it turned out, it was none other than the Hong Sisters who wrote the scripts for both HDL TMS. So, in that respect, perhaps one of the many reasons why I didn't enjoy HDL as much was because I found myself re-watching a drama which had almost the same plot focus as its predecessor. Having said that, HDL was just not hype-worthy sorry to say, but what I will say is that it was exceptional in many other aspects other than its storyline.
Firstly, I commend the people in the costume department for providing such an exquisite array of outfits for Jang Man-wol (JMW). I've never seen anything quite like it before to be honest, whereby the female lead had about ten different outfits, hairstyles, and accessories per episode which in many ways, was all thanks to her character's impeccable taste in fashion. Secondly, the production was quite amazing needless to say; I could not fault one episode which did not scream "attention to detail". In particular, I was in awe of the grand magnificence, size and classiness of the hotel.
However, was this enough to save the storyline?
Characters
If I can recall correctly, there were about six deities in total which starred in HDL (i.e. rich, poor, life, death, health, and love). Each served a different purpose, but it was mainly just one which really contributed to JMW's existence (save for the rest which had more involvement with GCS's character).
In terms of JMW's character, I thought there were some aspects of her which painted her to be quite headstrong, but also many others where she came across as needy and short-tempered; thereby making her seem like a damsel-in-distress and very unlikeable. But just some further examples. First, thriving off money and luxurious purchases to be able to live is not a new concept in the K-drama world - without this materialistic aspect, JMW would be nothing she says. Second, JMW's elegant fashion sense and mesmerising beauty no doubt won the heart of many viewers, but that alone could not save her character's god-awful temperament.
GCS's character was well... I'm not sure? I love Yeo Jin-goo, but his character I felt was more like a supporting cast type of role rather than a breaking male-lead kind. The characters around him were so twisted yet he treated them all nicely only to become their sacrificial lamb. Not to mention, why him? All of JMW's previous human managers could have been given the same responsibilities and duties as GCS thereby speeding up her process of heading to the afterlife by helping resolve the wishes of her hotel berieved guests. Sure, I get her past managers weren't all men, or as young, handsome and savvy like GCS, but at least they were humans who were emotionally present and could have helped her realise her mistakes sooner if Mago planted that moon flower inside any one of them.
As for Mago and the five other Mago's - why are there so many is my question? I understand the purpose of each one, but I found the whole premise of having a "deity" to be extremely convoluted and random by the end. The deity of health and wellbeing for example - I mean, what does she do with all the other medicines she makes apart from the flower-based drink JMW eventually drinks? Deity of wealth - extremely random and unnecessary given she appeared for less than 5 minutes to give JMW advice and then poof into thin air.
Storyline
Well, this one was just lacking in all aspects. I understand JMW spent 1,000 years living to right her wrongs but why did it take that long when another human could have landed the scapegoat role within that time?
Not to mention, there is no plot hole - the plot is simply finding out what murder she committed (which was hardly a surprise by the end) and then being freed from the chains of the tree which tied her down initially. When I read the plot analysis and saw the sentence "for a crime she committed but could not remember", I just thought well, what crime could be worse than murder itself? It's pretty self-explanatory isn't it? But the most predictable was her finding out the crime and then being sent to the afterlife before coming back as herself (I think it was) at the very end.
Come to think of it, the only plot holes were that of the ghosts - why did they die? How did they die? What were the circumstances surrounding their death? In many ways, they weren't all that interesting considering most didn't even talk and had to keep leading GCS on a chase/mission to help them get to the afterlife. That said, their sidestories were more powerful than JMW's.
Also as we are all aware, what is a drama without a plotting romance between the two leads? Sadly, and much to my dismay, I felt absolutely zero connection between JMW and GCS. Whilst you could see that GCS cared deeply for JMW, and JMW very subtly did the same, there was no romance to simply put it. For there to be romance, you have to feel it - the intensity, the chemistry and the pain in the eyes and portrayal of emotions.
Other comments
Unfortunately, the camera compositions and flashbacks became very tedious to look at. The tree, the entrance, the grand hotel foyer, and hallways, etc. - each setting/backdrop did very little to present new ideas and was more or less the same each time. For example, the significance of the Moon Tree was that it claimed JMW's immortality and in many ways served as a powerful symbol of growth, death, and rebirth. Yet, a lot of the time was dedicated to the protagonists standing in front of it trying to pull out any emotions you would have developed towards them and sure, you may feel some sympathy towards JMW, but not me. Similarly, the hotel served as a safe haven for lost/restless souls who were unable to move onto the afterlife but by the end, its purpose was made redundant when it disappeared after JMW's ties with the Moon Tree severed.
Finally, the flashbacks were repetitive and didn't add any excitement to the drama. While I understand each flashback served as a memory/indicator of the people JMW was surrounded by, including the events leading up to JMW's vengeance, they did very little to contribute to her character growth. In the present, she remained just as arrogant, uptight and vain as she was/did in the past and that made it all the more difficult for me to feel any sympathy for her. If anything, I thought JMW's ties to the hotel and Moon Tree served her just right, and felt way more pity for GCS who was chosen to be her sacrificial lamb.
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This review may contain spoilers
The shining part of this drama was IU, if I'm being completely honest. Her acting has improved tenfold since she entered the game, and she's just such a captivating lead. Not to mention, her makeup, styling, and wardrobe team were absolutely on fire for this drama — props to them for dressing and styling her so gorgeously and uniquely for every single scene.As for the overall drama, while it's not bad, it's really not anything super captivating. It was also definitely way longer than it had to be. Most conflicts were either too easily resolved, or resolved in a way that I didn't understand why there was a conflict in the first place. And while I loved the cast, there was just a huge lack of chemistry between them for some reason.
I loved the was Man Wol was written, but what lost me was the romance. The romance really lacked progression. Suddenly Man Wol and Chan Sung were in love and I had just zero idea why. There was just no real process to it, plus the leads had NO chemistry. I'm sorry y'all — I love IU and Yeo Jin Goo, but just not together.
What saved this drama was nice production quality, a killer soundtrack, and great acting from IU though.
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The plot line captivated me from the get go. I knew there would be past connections, betrayals, healing and just a truck load of heartfelt emotions. I got half and half of everything. The stories of all the primary ghosts were sidetracked and stretched far more than they could handle. They lacked the substance and depth to be spanned across 10+ episodes. In contrast, some of the shorter stories of the ghosts were more interesting.
There are instances where the story tugs at your heart but it fades away without leaving a trace. I felt no genuine connection between the main characters. Nothing. From the first episode to the last, I never smiled or frowned or cried with them. The secondary story of Man-Wol's past stirred me deeply though. I teared up every time their memories were shown. Which made the way their story was concluded even worse. A story spanning 1000 years was thrown aside, bid good bye without shedding a single tear? I felt that, as a viewer, I was cheated at that moment, having invested so many hours warming up to the ghosts of the past only to have them vanish as if they were nothing.
Maybe it was the way the character of Chan Sung was written but it was a chore to watch him. Everything about him is perfect on paper, but his personality felt so flat and two-dimensional. Man-Wol on the other hand is one of my favorite characters so far. Her feisty nature and personality commanded every scene she was in. I give her 100% credit for coaxing me to finish the show. I only wanted to watch her character evolve. These two as a pair felt forced and unnatural. The few scenes that Man-Wol had with Yeon-U and Cheong-Myeong had more feels and emotions than all the scenes of Man-Wol and Chan-Sung combined.
The acting was really good, a great cast indeed. If I keep aside the way they were written, the actors all portrayed their characters flawlessly. IU is a delight to watch in every frame. Her dynamic performance as the temperamental Man-Wol is one of her bests yet. The music of the show is hands down one of the most memorable ones I've come across, the OSTs are definitely going to be an addition to my playlists.
To be fair, this show is by far one of the most beautifully shot dramas I've watched. The production was top-notch. The cinematic elements were really really good. But they still couldn't make up for the depth that the story lacked. I'm afraid this might just remain as one of those dramas that could've been. Maybe I've been spoiled for good by the likes of Moon Lovers (which still makes me weep when I think about it). If the elements of fateful encounters, reincarnation, supernatural intervening interest you, there are better shows out there than this one. If there ever is a sequel like the end credit hinted, I hope they build a solid foundation of story first rather than a flimsy card castle painted in gold.
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Cons (for me): One of the most boring and cheesiest dramas I have ever watched.
Genres: Action? So little that I find it ridiculous that it is listed...
Suspense, Mystery? A little bit.. but not the thrilling, addicting or exciting kind (for me).
Horror? Yes but not really creepy (kdrama "horror" average). Not really a con for me though.
Romance? Yes but "a bit" boring (for me) - mostly there for comedy and the emotional weight of the drama.
The best things about it were IU`s character and the visual aspect. But they relied way to heavy on it. They overdid it sometimes with the colored lights, the fogg and the emotional "moments" (when the characters paused because they just thought of something (emotional) and on cue 3 seconds later a new soundtrack would begin (this felt like 80% of the drama).
Yes IU`s play of emotions on her face was good and because of that and because she is so beautiful it ALMOST didn't get boring. Even though the drama touched on the heaviest subjekts it stayed relatively shallow on them (which made it - yes BORING) while still trying to emotionally wring us out like a wet towel as often as possible. I guess my emotional well dried up too fast because I was often over it and started to get... Also not a big fan of long & frequent "staring at each other, frozen in the moment" moments...
I only watched this drama because of IU and because for ONCE I was actually okay with watching something slightly boring. Though I didn`t think it would be so unexciting. The plot has a nice sentiment but is really not impressive.
I also found ALL the characters except IU`s boring.
I am mainly just disappointed that they didn't have an exciting plot and intriguing characters to go along with the nice scenery. Because of the budget, IU in the cast and the genres I had hoped for something epic.
When will we ever get something like "You Who Came from the Stars" again (with a age gap in the romance under 20 years (at least of the actors) please!)?!
For further reference about my taste:
https://mydramalist.com/profile/LauraK98/lists
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STORY:
I've seen many complaints of the fact that Hotel del Luna was heavily filled with filler arcs and did not focus on the main story enough. However, I disagree, the filler arcs were not pointless, in fact, without them the story wouldn't make sense. I thought that the filler arcs served the important purpose of showing the character growth of Man Weol as well as the side characters throughout the story. After each arc, Man Weol learned another lesson and changed to become the person she is by the end of the drama. And for someone who's not a fan of filler arcs I didn't feel bored by them at all. I thought that the story was well paced and not slow despite the filler arcs. There were suspenseful and unexpected moments that made the drama interesting watch, and there was a good balance between the horror, romance, and comedy aspects of the show.
ACTING/CAST:
Man Weol definitely was the star of the show with a refreshing personality and complex backstory that made her character so appealing. She was hilarious and badass, but still had flaws and scars like any normal person. However, the other characters were just as good. The employees of the hotel also had their own backstories and character growth. I enjoyed the banter and interactions between them, and they definitely added to the enjoyment of this drama. I thought that the chemistry between the entire cast was great.
There were also complaints that compared to Man Weol, Chan Seong's character was lackluster. To some extent I agree, his personality and traits were nothing unique, but he didn't need to be, I thought that his normalness compared to crazy ghost world was his charm that separated him and made him a lead character. He was a good balance to the extravagance of Man Weol, and his loyalty and ability to sacrifice for others was admirable.
MUSIC/CINEMATOGRAPHY/ETC:
The cinematography was beautiful and the music was just as amazing, but one random thing that just happened to catch my eye was the fact that Man Weol literally changed her outfit like 5 times in an episode. Her outfits has to be one of my favorite things because they were beautiful and just perfectly matched the extravagant nature of her character.
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This review may contain spoilers
Disappointing
First time warching a Korean drama (I am in UK) but when you are under lockdown you have to take what you can.Very different from English speaking shows, not really helped by some interesting sub-titles. The acting seems overly exagerated and dramatic at times, but that may just be how Korean drama is.
Sets and costumes extremely lavish and overall story good, but tries too hard to fill the time.
Ending was sad for me and not what I was expecting. Was Man-wol a ghost, how did she die?
I read they are making a US version so I expect the ending will be different.
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Very hyped and very much of a let down.
Honestly for such built up hype, this drama seriously failed to deliver. I.U. was not the best actress to represent this role but that also is a conflicting aspect, as I.U. is honestly the best at representing a struggling character from a lower class. But her as a rich character just doesn't fit, although her feisty acting style was very endearing.Her character was a little too inconsistent, it was almost as if she was suffering from hysteria or bipolar disorder throughout the entire drama.
The male lead on the other hand, had almost nothing special to offer, and his character was an infuriatingly excessive "good guy" character through and through. His cowardliness was a little excessive as well.
As always when a Korean drama or movie showcases Korean deities, it's just infuriating or extremely irritating. In attempts to be ambiguous they become redundant and self-contradictory and do things in roundabout ways, when far more efficient solutions exist.
Supporting characters had depth to them but at times ignored that for cheap drama intensification.
Cinematography was great, essentially very similar to goblin but the SFX were nowhere near up to scale and at times just horrendous. Music was okay.
Overall, a decent drama but nothing great.
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