Extraordinary You (2019)

A happy mistake

Yep, it was one of those days where I was completely bored out of my mind. Scrolling mindlessly on what to watch when I stumbled upon this little thing. I watched a couple trailers and was sliiiiiightly interested. Altough hesitant because of the episode count, I pressed the play button and let this drama take me on an adventure and, what an adventure it was!

Have you ever liked a drama so much you binged 20 episodes in one sitting? I feel like I could’ve finished the series in a day but, old timers like me gotta sleep. I can’t explain how much I absolutely love this drama. The characters, music and most importantly, the plot! Something I feel like has never been done in a any drama, Korean or otherwise. Imagine waking up one day to realize you’re a character in a comic book and a supporting character at that! Tag line taken straight from the drama itself but, really, that’s the question I had in my mind the whole time I was watching. Some days, I feel like the main character in my own life and some days, I feel like an extra. This drama makes one think about their own significance in the story they’re telling. How important am I to the story and who’s the writer of my comic?

While I admit, the first 20 some odd episodes were a breeze, I’m starting to notice a drag in plot. I feel like things get repeated too often and the characters become very predictable. With all that being said, I love this drama and encourage everyone to give it a try!

Read More

A fun romcom turned into cringe story

Not gonna lie the story is indeed very unique and interesting but the plot was soo repetitive and dull. Let me make it easy for you; Dan oh keeps getting rejected by Kyung on stage, Haru keeps trying to be Dan oh’ saviour and change her fate, Kyung and Haru keep engaging in cold and hot war over dah oh.. These scenes repeat atleast 3 times in every episode. It was soo annoying to watch. The writer really was out of ideas as how to proceed the story after first 6 episodes.

The comedy was one factor that kept me going but it also turned into cringe romance as the story progressed. The love triangle between the 2nd leads was more interesting. Du-hwa is the best character in the show. He looks good with Joo da and is more deserving to be with her.
Dan oh started off as strong female lead soon becomes a damsel in destress, who relies too much on haru. I liked how she was in the beginning but she lost herself in the middle of the show and became cringe. Haru turned out to be a simp with no existence or story of his own. And kyung had serious anger issues.
I feel like 2nd leads had more conscience and better story. I am not at all curious at this point as to what will happen to the main characters..I do want to know who the writer is thou. But it’s soo cringe I am giving up

Read More

after somewhat enjoying W and seeing that this had a similar set up i was pretty excited to check this one out. and what with the overwhelmingly positive reviews on it most people give i was sure i would love it.

but i didnt

not even the lovable, spunky eun dan oh could convince me i like this show. it is one of the most boring, dull dramas i have seen in a while.
and i should have guessed, as soon as i saw the joseon era backstory :|

not only that, but the instrumental osts are absolutely grating. they sound almost alien and everytime one started playing in the middle of a corny declaration of love i felt like ripping out my earphones and slamming my laptop shut.

Read More

Ugh. Where should I start? I believe this drama is overhyped and overrated. It was good the first two episodes because the female lead had an actual significant role and it looked like she was ready to do something to fight her destiny and get her happy ending.

Ever since the romance took over the show, though, Dan Oh forgot who she was, what she wanted, and everything else apart from her boy crush. I swear her running after the guy and going "Haru-ya" every half a second was the most annoying thing EVER. For a drama that was supposedly about gaining your agency and becoming the owner of your own choices and life, Dan Oh became a non-entity outside of her romantic storyline. Not happy with that, the writers made her two love interests (Haru and Baek Kyung) far more relevant than her character and completely sidelined her. She became a damsel in distress waiting for the "Haru in shining armour" to save her. Where is the empowered female lead we were introduced to in the first episode? All I see is a girl with no character growth and an obsession with romance. SMH. However, I didn't drop the drama right away hoping for an improvement. I waited patiently... until the moment Dan Oh threw away her medication because Haru had disappeared. (*facepalm*). That was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. What's the big idea? If the object of your affection disappears, you're supposed to throw away your life?! That's about the most messed up message I've ever seen in all of my kdrama watching history. Wasn't Dan Oh absolutely desperate because she didn't want to die? Let me get this straight, was Haru her only motivation to want to live? Has she forgotten that other people love her too? I never expected this drama to stoop to Twilight-levels of terrible writing, but it did. It had so much potential but it threw it away.

Anyways, this show is a parody of the godawful "Boys Over Flowers", but it wound up being equally terrible because of its one-dimensional characters, cliche tropes, and messed up messages. The only saving grace is the cast's acting. Hard pass.

Read More

So Bad! Even though the plot seems really interesting you'll regret watching it

This drama is so bad. Don't waste your time on this instead go help your mom/dad with the house work. The female lead is really annoying and a bad actress. The writer (of the drama, not the character "Writer") is even worse. Overly complicated plot and most of it make no sense. Really repeatative and the story makes little to no progress in most of the episodes. Even when it make some progress then in the next couple of episodes they backtrack all the progress and take it back to square one. The characters have no growth. They become more cliche every episode. The ending is one of the worst I have ever seen. The only intersting thing about this drama was the 2nd lead couple. But they gave them an ending so cliche and so bad that you would want to gauge your eyes out and erase your memory. I skipped through most of the episodes still I was frustrated from the bad writing.

Read More

A fascinating plot ruined by poor writing and too much repetition. It started off with a bang but got boring too soon too fast. I didn’t even reach half of the show and the story got boring .I couldn’t find a reason to continue. There was zero chemistry between Rowoon and Kim hye yoon. I didn’t feel anything looking at them. It was blank. The 2nd lead couple was more interesting and had better chemistry. Don’t even get me started on baek kyung, he was a toxic character. And had serious anger issues.
I need to feel chemistry between main leads even if the story gets boring otherwise I can’t keep watching.

Read More

If the story and acting was good?

It was super drama...especially the cast and rowoon was extraordinary...I liked this drama very much...watched it repeatedly 3 times...I actually don't like to watch anything twice...but I liked this drama a lot...rowoon acted extraordinarily and his visuals were mind blowing...I can watch him all day...all the other members also acted so well...overall I like the drama....I loved it ...rowoon was extraordinary...I hope he acts in many many more dramas....
It was super drama...especially the cast and rowoon was extraordinary...I liked this drama very much...watched it repeatedly 3 times...I actually don't like to watch anything twice...but I liked this drama a lot...rowoon acted extraordinarily and his visuals were mind blowing...I can watch him all day...all the other members also acted so well...overall I like the drama

Read More

So this kept showing up on my Netflix recommendations and I kept skipping over it because the name sounded so boring. But then when I read the synopsis I was hooked. I had to watch it.

Story - I love the ideology behind the story and the conceptualization of the storyline. The idea of becoming self-aware that you are actually a character in a comic book, and then everyone having to come to terms with the fact they are not actually the protagonist, or even an important character. I loved that.

Do-Hwa is probably my favorite character in this show. Him and Dried Squid Elf. He was just so cute and adorable. With his "I'm gonna give up on you, but I can't, but I'll support you from the sidelines, why must I play this stupid violin" "OMG this is so cheesy" and he's so cheesy! I LOVE HIM SO MUCH! HE IS SO CUTE! SOOOO CUTE!!

DSE was so cute too. With his cryptic yoda-ing, and the way he's cold to Gyeong. And the way he's secretive and dodgy. I love it. I love how protective he is of YKW. I'm so glad she came at the end. <3

Gyeong is my second favorite character. Second-lead syndrome it is real! Although, I totally get not rooting for him. I wasn't in the beginning, but when I started to realize that he was being self-aware. When I started to realize that he did actually love Dan Oh, but was stuck in the role he had to play. In the Shadow is when we see how frustrated he is by the fact that his father is using Dan Oh for her money, and using her sickness and her affection for Gyeong to his advantage. In the Shadow we see how much Gyeong is suffering. How much he doesn't want to lose Dan Oh like he's lost everyone he loves, like his mom. The reason he hates the hospital is because he watched his mother suffer and die there. And now he's watching the woman he loves do the same. It's so sad. I actually love Gyeong and his suffering so much. And I usually don't like the tragic boys who don't like to talk and hurt the girls they love. But Lee Jae Wook was adorable. I totally felt everything he was putting down. I love his story with his brother - I wish they expanded more on that. I wanted more. That was such a sweet ending for them. I'm glad they have each other even if they have a horrid father.

Dan Oh was annoying! At least in the first few episodes. And then later on when she refused to listen to what Gyeong had to say, and she just kept talking over him. But I guess I can understand where she's coming from, when you're constantly never given a voice, and you're having to shove your feminist side down because of external factors, and then you're finally allowed to be yourself. It's freeing. But she grows on you. And I really love how strong she is.

Ha Ru was my least favorite character. I mean I get it. Love has the power to transcend the will of the writer and all that junk. But oh gosh. When he was a background character his arc made sense. When he was an "extra" like Dan Oh and Dried Squid Elf, his arc no longer made sense with the whole "he can change my story" thing. Because then he was a character in the book. He was no longer a nameless, background character who could do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. It made no sense. Whatever.

Overall. I loved the idea of it. Execution was mediocre. I loved the whole idea of the two books thing.

I loved the peripheral characters like the best friend of Dan Oh who was also the bully of Yeo Ju Da, because she seems like she would have been a nice girl, but then she's a total B**ch.

Read More

this drama broke my heart and glued it back together...

I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed Extraordinary You! It was a bit of a surprise just how much too. Now I do I love stories that deal with meta things, and characters in a comic becoming self-aware fits the bill perfectly. But I really wasn’t sure what kind of story this would be or what tone it would have, and aside from Kim Hye Yoon, I wasn’t very familiar with most of the other main actors.
Extraordinary You is a very easy watch. It is bright and fun with plenty of humor. The comic world is portrayed as a stereotypical romantic comedy, so that is ripe for all kinds of jokes to poke fun at the classic tropes we all know.
When Dan Oh finally becomes self-aware, she goes through a lot of confusion and emotions. Not only does she find out she is a character and has no control over her own fate, but she’s not even the lead. She’s just an extra! She was then able to see how cringy the comic story and all of the parts being played were.
I loved delving into the rules of how the comic world operated. I thought it was really interesting how when a character became aware, they still had to follow the script set forth by the writer whether or not they wanted to. They were compelled to play out the scenes.
But when a scene ended, there was a space called the Shadow which took place in between the scenes. This is where the characters had freedom. And Dan Oh uses that freedom to try to change the story and her fate.
I really loved Dan Oh and Ha Ru’s relationship. It was super sweet with plenty of heart as they struggled to beat the story and be together. But their actions have consequences as the comic world begins to change in unexpected ways. They have to face some major trials in their attempt to be together. Their love story was a great mix of cute fun and low-key angst.
Then there’s Baek Kyung, the man that Dan Oh is engaged to in the story. I had a lot of negative feelings towards this character. He really is a complete jerk in every way and was always so mean to Dan Oh. For most of the drama, I just couldn’t feel for him.
Extraordinary You also had a very serious side as characters are really put through the ringer. They deal with separation, helplessness, and life and death stakes. Learning the back story behind the characters and the comic was really fascinating.
It’s a hard battle going up against an all powerful writer, but even when the characters had limitations, they made the best of them. Seeing their friendship, growth, independence, and determination was very inspiring. Dan Oh and Ha Ru in particular really fought for what they wanted in their lives, and no matter what they faced, they never gave up on each other.
Extraordinary You was perfect in every way. I loved the characters and the world that they inhabited. It was all kinds of fun with lots of heart. I had such a wonderful time watching it.


More detailed review here: https://bookswithnatasa.home.blog/category/kdramas/

Read More