The characterizations have a decent amount of depth and some very engagingly so, but some characters are purely one dimensional with nothing to explain their behavior from their arrival to the show and to their departure.
Delivery of the story has been great so far, but one could only wish to see the protagonist more often and sometimes the political campaigns feel a bit blown out of proportion and at times very dragged out. But I understand world building is very important, but the problem is that unless they go for another full season or in other words 3 chapters, it would be very hard to wrap this up in a satisfying and convincing way.
The action scenes are great but sometimes not very well coordinated. It's almost as if there was a perfectionist on set sometimes and other times they just leave it at good enough.
All in all, from the way it expands the story to developing it's characters it has been doing a good job. It's very political although it's not modern politics, so I can't say everyone would've enjoyed this, and perhaps some feel it's tedious but stick to it for the great performances of the actors/actresses.
Hopefully there will be more of this and there will be more dramas like this in the future that break from the norm.
Edit: They wrapped this up pretty well and declared another season. Really excited to see where they go with this and when they'll start airing.
Only gripe is that they kind of spoiled a little too much at the preview of what's to come, at the end of the last episode.
Was this review helpful to you?
An Epic Fantasy that deserves more recognition
What a watch. I'm absolutely amazed at the intricate yet amazing world that has come about, the plot twists and characters. Part 3 didn't disappoint and even exceeded my expectations.I loved every episode and am so excited for the storylines that will come together for the Second season coming September 2023.
And were you looking for strong female characters? Then voila. I am impressed with the range of women in this show, be it those that learn as they go or those that persist with their strong personas.
There's quite a chunk unanswered at the end that might disappoint you, but I'm excited to find out.
Was this review helpful to you?
Awesome
Awesome ??????????❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Nothing like other dramas
Definitely one of the best dramas I've ever watched. I'm not talking about just the k-dramas. This is far better than any of them. First of all, this is nothing like game of thrones. The story line is totally different and I think far better. In this one, there are different tribes and a union leader. Not all the tribes fight to be the leader so this one doesn't have "game of thrones." This is more like the war between the religions and the leader.So the spoiler part. Don't read this if you didn't watch it.
I loved the idea of two different human kind and one inbetween. (igutu) The best part of the show is an unimportant event or sentence of an episode can be the key of the next one. I mean script is a really good written one. I also loved how Wahans changed and loved being a citizen and let's say embracing capitalism.
Was this review helpful to you?
"And the winner is... " -> watch Arthdal Chronicles 2: The Sword of Aramun
Two tribes live in a mythical land called Arth; the red-blooded humans who can't dream and the blue-blooded humanoids who can dream, and who are also faster and stronger than humans. A war for resources breaks out between the two and the humans end up winning the war through some trickery. Years later, the struggles and greed of power continues...This drama is unique, it brings you to the bronze age. There's a lot of knowledge on anthropology, evolutionary biology, politics, civilization stages, farming, domestication, religion/mysticism. More than just entertainment, they kept me occupied intellectually. I appreciate them to realize this daring concept into a drama. The story itself is using the common fantasy trope; like a prophecy, a mysterious barrier between two tribes, and it's very plot-driven.
The characters are a lot of fun, especially Tagon, the human leader, he's morally ambiguous and dignified, at the same time he hides a dark secret which is a real high stake. I have to say his younger self gave me chills more than the adult version, he had a very cool charisma; great job Moon Woojin, I always admire you, also in It's Okay to Not be Okay, The Devil Judge, yeah). This is also my only favorite Song Jong Ki drama so far, he's magical in his dual twin roles, together with the irreplaceable Kim Ji Won. There's a lot to enjoy within their relationships and dynamics.
Overall, I think it's a really darn good fantasy. I wanted to know more, the characters surprisingly got stuck with me personally, like I think about them when i'm not watching. The first season is laying a wonderful groundwork for the 2nd season.
Was this review helpful to you?
Eun Seom and Tan Ya made a name for themselves
LIKEMomo clan's spirit to return favour to those who they owed and to revenge who owned them even if it took generations
Silly and kind Eun Seom who won Ip Saeng and Ago tribe over
Tan Ya who vowed to win the hearts of Arthdal's citizens
DISLIKE
When Ta Gon said he came this far but did not shed any blood - literally rolled my eyes...
MUSIC
Not to my liking
REWATCH VALUE
Shall re-watch someday
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
A good attempt at an epic fantasy
Part 3 delves deeper into the concept of nation building and the fact that common and personal interests often supersede blood ties. The storytelling is complex and very well written showing Wahans gradually breaking away from the tribe and joining Tagon, and, Eunseom helping the Ago tribe to destroy narrow-minded clan leaders and unite the tribe. At the end, a need for security and survival always prevails.Characters go through more major changes emotionally and make tremendous steps in their quest for power. Tagon becomes the king and finally accepts that cruelty is the only way to consolidate and maintain power. Taealha starts to plot her own schemes to preserve tribal secrets and attain her own brand of power. And, Eunweom finally gets a large following. One of my favorite things about the drama is how well the writers portray the fundamental differences between Eunseom and Saya. Eunseom is kind and very straight forward. Saya is cunning and cruel. Kudos to Song Joong Ki for playing two different personalities so well.
The ending feels like a new beginning. All three parts serve as character arcs for Tagon, Eunweom, Tanya, and others to find where they are meant to be before any major events start to take place. I really enjoyed the drama. It was a very good attempt at fantasy with great world building and story telling. I hope there will be more to come in the future.
Was this review helpful to you?
Please help bring Arthdal back if you enjoyed it
http://chng.it/v8FDMDtn5d
I 100% loved this show. Great and compelling acting. Yes, the CGI could use some work but honestly its some of the best I have seen compared to other Kdramas. The plot of twisting and had enough time to build into it and not just jumping from twist to twist, plot idea to plot idea. I know there have been complaints that it was 'slow' but I think that is based on how fast typically Kdramas run especially being only 1 season when this was obviously meant to run much longer. I actually enjoyed the slower pace and built of anticipation.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
Anticipating slow paced drama about politics
I recommend this series to those who can watch a long and slow paced story. I actually watched this series without knowing that it was divided into three parts and that it will be a major cliffhanger because it has season two.First, I will talk about what I liked about the series.
1. The visual effects and cinematography. It's gory but with just enough gore unlike Game of Thrones. 2. It's refreshing to see ethnic tribal cultures in a korean drama. While watching it, I can't help but hope that Local TV in my country can make something like this, maybe in the future? Lol I'm from Philippines btw.
One thing that I'm not really fond with this drama is its pacing. I get what the writers, producers and directors are trying to do here. They need to build and show every character relationships, arcs and developments and that's okay. I'd love to see all that and I don't want it look rushed like *ehem* Game of thrones *ehem* If you've already watched GoT, you'll know where I'm coming from lol. But I think there are scenes that's too long and needs to be cut. There's too many fillers. Maybe its intended because they needed to make it 1 hour and 19 minutes long, I understand that too. Personally, I've watched similar dramas like this in the past and with more seasons or episodes (Game of Thrones and Queen Seon Deok) and I'm only teenager that time. I have more patience and time in the past maybe that's why I finished those series and it didn't bore me idk hahaha but now I don't think I can do that anymore. So I'm hoping that netflix won't drag the story for too long and we get the climax and ending on season two.
Overall its a really good series! If you have a knack for politics, history (not really) and a bit of gore, watch this.
Was this review helpful to you?
Humanity's Mirror
(Review for all of 2019 parts, aka "Season 1")This isn't a romance. It's not about the ancient setting, the fantasy or the CGI. This tells the story of how different temperaments behave when confronted with adversity, power, wealth, technology, friendship, loss, honour. And it tells it all.
For that to work, you have to have 80 minutes per episode and keep you on its toes throughout. Every episode is much better paced than other Asian drama's where you can easily cut out and ditch a fifth because of repeats and lengthy slow motion zooms.
It's not the case here. Where things are going slow and focus on facial expressions of the characters, you have plenty to think about. You wonder what got this person to that point. How could they have been saved. Was it always in them? You start wondering because you know that the world we live in now, was built on the same foundation of deceit, greed and power. And that the basic fault we still and soon have to correct is the notion of ownership. How many of us think about how odd it case that man can own land, air, animals. And who looks at what that notion of ownership did to our morals, our habitats and our kin. Arthdal Chronicles is humanity's mirror.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Absolute best and layered characters I have seen in a while
I am too lazy so I am going to review this drama as a whole but also talking about the third partI seriously believe this was the best part out of three because we could finally see eun seom rising from the rock bottom and yes Tanya rising to power.
There are two types of people watching this drama. One who believes this is the shittiest drama ever made and the other believes it's a masterpiece.
I do think this drama is really great. Some moments would def give you goosebumps. and people hating on tagon because he got most of the screen time. but I did really enjoy his screen presence. He pulled off his character well. and it was really great to see him go from a determined ambitious and admired leader to almost like a mad man. I feel like this drama showcased the rise of Tagon. Tagon is def the villain here. and most of the time, the back stories of the villains are told in a small 15 minute scene or so. but this drama def felt like tagon's glorious rise to power and madness. and the next would probably be the fall of tagon and probably eun seom as a leader and his rise to power. I honestly loved all the characters here. Good or bad.
The performances:
IT WAS GREAT!
thats it. SJK really shined. Tagon too. and Tealha my god, she was great. I can;t explain but she really does act well. and finally Tanya. Girl stole the show for me. Esp in the mid to late arc. Her finding her powers. Her curses and he determination. In the last episodes, her character does seemed to have dulled a little but still I fell in love with her.
P.S:
I sincerely wished Tagon's younger character had more screentime. This is just me being a thirsty a**. but yeah I enjoyed him while he was there.
also i feel like this review is all over the place. I should probably start to structure my reviews but I just wrote this when my emotions were on a real spike.
Was this review helpful to you?