Eye candy with some splendid visuals but some flaws in writing and pacing (especially in 2nd half)
This drama is about the encounter between strong heroine/chaebol Do Do Hee (who runs her own company among some family dissession regarding the group succession) and very charming, powerful Demon Jung Gu Won who makes dangerous but very tempting deals with humans.I truly enjoyed the first half of the show but it unfortunately lost a bit of steam in its second half. The writing is full of great ideas, there is a mix of genre which is really well done and the set up and characterization is quite strong for a lot of the protagonists. Unfortunely, the pacing is not good and the series can feel sluggish at time with the central plot not moving very fast and a lot of gimmick being repeated to seemingly "fill" time. Instead of some fillers scenes, I would have preferred some fat to be trimmed from the story: the same story could have been done in less episodes (or shorter episodes) in a more dynamic way. I also regret a bit that the ending did not adress enough certain questions important for the future of some of the characters, after a very strong start and entertaining first half, the latter part of the drama felt a bit weak.
Fortunately, despite some of the flaws in the writing/pacing, there are a lot of very entertaining elements that makes this series an entertaining watch. I love both the female lead and the male lead: their pairing worked very well, they were beautiful together and a lot of their scenes felt very dreamy (and almost like an ad for perfect couple). Song Kang (playing the Demon) is really the king of visual in this !!! Let's be honest, he is a real pleasure to watch, his acting was good and he really elevated by just his presence the eye candy factor !!! Kim Yoo Jung's acting as Do Do Hee was very good and I cannot wait to see her in other works.
The production value was amazing: the clothing, the decors, the style and directing were all top-notch. There was a lot of details that made the fantasy elements feel very real (the office of the demon, the book, the clocks,...so many details helping in the world building). The fight and action scenes were convincing and there was some pretty iconic moment in terms of filmmaking. The OST is pretty great as well with the intro song really beautifully opening each episode.
I would recommend this to people looking for a high production value rom-com with some fantasy elements. Despite some flaws in the writing and pacing (especially in the second half), the casting, directing and filmmaking make it worth it. I was mesmerized by the decors, the clothing and the visuals of both male lead and female lead, they really brought a dreamlike quality to their relationship. If you enjoyed drama as "My Love From The Star", you will likely enjoy this.
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"우리 모두는 서로에게 파괴자이자 구원자이다."
I was fighting off the desire to steal all the Gu Won's wardrobe till the end, especially that fuzzy white cardigan.My Demon is a beautiful homage to Doom at your service and Goblin with a light sprinkle of Succession/Penthouse.
🔸️With the K-drama industry becoming more diverse and less dependent on its progenitorial techniques in the recent years, I'm sure the fans are yearning for those goofy nostalgic and lively projects. My Demon is exactly that energetic romcom that preserves all the best tropes and kdrama traditions on top of having a great chemistry between the leading actors, and it doesn't cross the line of being cheesy. I mean, Song Kang and Kim Yoo Jeong are both so attractive, "but who should I look at, is it Shang or Mulan?"©
🔸️The story doesn't break any expectations but meets them closely. A cold supernatural being unexpectedly falls in love with a human - and here goes everything you'd expect from such a story - funny misunderstandings, love contracts, break-ups "because my presence harms you", extravagant habits of the male lead, the villain pursuing the female lead, past lives in Joseon, and so on. But there are also many touching side plots, like the one of Jin Ga Yeong who was saved by Gu Won as a kid.
However, the most definite weakness of the writing would be excessive borrowing from more successful dramas, like the dissipation scene from Goblin or the "charging" from Doom At Your Service. I didn't feel anything in the climax BECAUSE I'VE SEEN IT ALREADY almost shot-by-shot identical in another drama with the same result.
🔸️That said, My Demon is still absolutely worth watching of you want to enjoy the authentic kdrama dynamics between the main characters and the supporting ones like "from enemies to lovers" of the two hilarious secretaries, or Gu Won's most faithful mob army, or the funny colleagues in Do Hee's company.
For me, the most interesting character is Do Gyeong. His story is more multifaceted than you expect, and the actor Kang Seung Ho did an amazing job with his performance. 박수!👏🏻
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déception pour le dernier épisode
l'histoire était originale, les personnages méchants bien construits, mais le dernier épisode ne sert quasiment à rien. Il y aurait pu y avoir plus de suspens, plus de drama. L'histoire laisse plusieurs sujets effleurés sans réponse. Comment est il réellement revenu, où était il, que va-t-il se passer lorsqu'elle va vieillir et mourir. C'est vraiment dommage de ne pas avoir exploité plus en profondeur les arrangements de conscience des uns et des autres, la création même du démon et son rôle. Grosse déception vraiment sur le dernier voir les deux derniers épisodes qui sont plats et sans saveurWas this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Overall very good but…
Overall it was a very good fantasy romcom, one of the better ones. The chemistry, the comedy, the visuals and the actors were the most outstanding part of this drama. It was a fun watch, BUT the writing was lazy in the final few episodes. There was no good explanation to Gu Won’s return, it was also rushed and I missed the character development on his part. I do not undertstand why the series spent so much time exploring on how he is getting back his human self if in the end he stayed a demon??!! I think it would have been a much better arc if the ending is him making peace with his humanity and comes back as one. Maybe he could have given up on his powers in exchange for a human life with Do Do Hee.Keeping everything as it was is very lazy writing in my opinion.
I think Destined with you was superior in this sense even with all of its flaws.
Anyway, it is a fun watch (especially the gang), but do not expect anything out of the ordinary.
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The Devil is Hot
Would you ever consider making a deal with the devil? What if it wasn't to save yourself, but someone you loved? I really thought this was going to be a pretty shallow storyline, but about half of the way through i was proven wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed this series. The cast is gorgeous and the costumes and scenery are beautiful. I do feel like they could have gone just a bit further with the series, but I'm also not mad about where it ended.Was this review helpful to you?
Disappointment
I had such high expectations from this show and all it did was just bring disappointment to me. I really don't know why this show has such good reviews. Its clearly overrated. You guys are only cheering for this kdrama because of Somg kang and Kim Yoo Jung ( no hate to the cast they did an amazing job) let me explain what im trying to say.______story______
This kdrama started off strong and had so much potential trust me. Upto episode 4 I was hooked but overtime I just wanted this show to finish asap because of the repetitiveness of misunderstandings with the leads. The leads looked so good together but they doesn't really justify how they used to hate eachother and oneday all of a sudden they fell in love. It just doesn't make sense to me. Also from like episode 8 they had soo many misunderstandings between them. Too many misunderstandings between the main leads is a turn off for me. Also the past life story is overused and was just to make the kdrama long enough to reach 16 episodes.
_______Main leads_____
Now when i say main keads im only talking about the characters in the kdrama and not the actors irl. I didnt like Jeong Gu won too much. His personality never changed not even a little bit even after he got closer to humans. As a demon i know he has a very high ego but calling humans insignificant every two minutes even after marrying a human- tell me about it. Do do hee was fine. The "cold heiress" term only matches her till episode 3 or 4 after that she isn't even cold. Shes a soft person but talks less with most people thats it. Nothing was wrong with her personality.
______Ending_____
The ending could be better- much better there were too many plot holes in the last episode and i dont like "all of a sudden" because of something magical fate changing endings. Here the writers were too desperate to give a happy ending it felt rushed and unexplained.
_______Would I recommend?_______
Personally, even after yapping so much about why I dont like this drama i still would recommend it to people since so many people love it. The person I'm recommending it to might just be like most of you here and might end up putting this show on their top tens.
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Should you watch?
If you don't mind plot twists and character development you've seen before then this series will reliably entertain. I noticed borrowed elements from 'Goblin' and 'Doom At Your Service' to name two. The walking out of the fire scene midway through was taken from the American series 'Lucifer'.The set up was good, but the follow through weak. For example, the main character is a demon, who it was shown must make deals periodically or perish himself. Ok, but then this was dropped and only alluded to much later. The story twists and turns don't make use of this seemingly important initial set up and constraint. What if he had had to make deals with the human present?
The first third of the episodes had more misses than hits. The balance began to shift in the middle third as we see some entertaining traction. The last third worked much better and had me binging the episodes for the next reveal. The ending seems a bit forced leaving ends loose that naturally come to mind. A big one is the female lead's father, who was not evil and made his deal out of desperation to help his wife, and yet he ends up in hell suffering eternal damnation. And the female lead expresses no concern or remorse over this inconvenient development. I was expecting something to tie this unfortunate circumstance up given all the other feel good endings we witness.
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idylic/classic 'kdrama' twist on a demon, BUT IS IT WORTH WATCHING?
CLICHÉ but still ENJOYABLE....without spoilers , keep reading to see my thoughts as someone who loves fantastical characters like demons, angels, vampires etc.
its a story of dodo hee who gets entangled with a demon guwon. the suspense, twists and full of drama story of these two also wants to be a fractal or smaller depiction of good/evil in the world (in a figurative way). there are direct references to christianity ( i assume some producers rely on christian concepts while others on buddhism? ) that are very well done! others less ( the God references, but thats my personal opinion)
on top of all of this, we also get historical past lives and let me tell you, its one of the best ones done!! ( and i've seen many cliché impossible love stories with past lives issues!)
i like a drama that gives titles to its episodes that sets the mood and has a reliable main female lead that has room to grow too.
i did not enjoy all the secondary characters but i did understand their presences in a bigger picture. i was relieved to see the main actors 'own' their characters better and better as the show progressed!
its undeniable the main leads actors were really an almost perfect duo! age, traits and vibes, we could easily root for them! and i hope to see them again in other dramas!
now... the less enjoyable elements of this show...
this drama is fast paced, sometimes too much, tries to do too much, and dives too fast in the characters before we have the chance to actually connect with the characters. theres a lot of clichés/cheese too...
i honestly had a hard time connecting with the main leads until a few episodes in, not because of the actors, but the rushed events!
it felt really immature teen-style fantastical story at first, but the story holds itself just enough to see deeper things unfold!
its an almost idylic classic kdrama.... but is it worth watching??
if you like fantastical stories, definitely give it a chance!
i really appreciated the original parts and special scenes ( 3 words: CAKE, TANGO, JOURNAL) and i wished there was more creativity! i will remember it as a good show overall.
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enjoyable to watch
the plot was good. I enjoyed the cast but the chemistry between the 2 main characters was lackluster occasionally. I did like them together. I did rewatch and it was okay to watch again. I enjoyed it and would recommend.Was this review helpful to you?
Great visuals and nothing else
The short version? Goblin wannabe with worse story, worse setting, worse chemistry, and infinitely worse acting. Go watch Goblin instead.After failing to bring myself to open the next episode on multiple occasions, even in times of extreme boredom and suffering from a long drama drought, I've decided that this is it. The show is not worth it.
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The trailers and concept photos looked great. The premise looked great (but reliant on execution). The actors looked their part.
So far, 4 episodes in, and that's all this drama has to offer. Every ounce of energy was invested into making the leads look as attractive as possible. Their impeccable outfits, their perfectly coiffed hair -- only the overzealous filtered lens leaves something to be desired. But the story, the pacing, the direction, and last but not least, the ACTING, is nothing short of atrocious.
For rom-coms, you don't necessarily need a novel concept to make a good, enjoyable watch. And this is certainly no original plot. However, when the plot is predictable, a heavier burden is placed on the cast. Business Proposal notably makes a tired story come alive with the superb chemistry amongst its cast. But from what I've seen so far from Song Kang, I'm sorry to say that the man cannot act to save his life, and this drama is no exception. I haven't watched enough from Kim Yoo-Jung to say anything about her acting in general, but she is not good here either. In their defense, the dialogue is stunted, and the story has no flow. Their encounters and interactions are incredibly forced. Certain story elements are nothing short of cringe. Perhaps TOO MUCH of an emphasis was put on their looking absolutely perfect that acting integrity and script delivery was compromised. Either way, I did not feel the chemistry, which is arguably what is supposed to hold up the entire drama.
Aside from the failure to establish a swoonworthy romance and the cringeworthy moments abound, the family power play and serial killer subplots are underwhelming and curiously uncompelling. The company politics in particular are laughably childish and painfully unconvincing. In short, the only reason to watch this drama as of right now is for pure visual enjoyment, because it has nothing else to offer.
Alternative upgrades:
- Park's Marriage Contract is a currently airing drama that's also a rom-com that focuses on a contract marriage with fantastical elements. However, it actually has good pacing and a cohesive storyline that isn't hellbent (see what I did there? ha ha ha.) on being purely aesthetic-centric.
- Goblin is the show that this drama is trying and failing to emulate. It has everything this drama doesn't: good acting, a good balance between romance, comedy, and drama; funny but not cringey banter; chemistry between different actors. Also good acting. Wait, did I mention good acting? Yeah, Goblin has good acting.
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This review may contain spoilers
A Fantasy Romance Between a Demon & a Heiress
A dangerous yet spicy romance between a devilishly handsome demon & a strong minded chaebol heiress!The tagline definitely fits the bill as we talk about SBS’s latest fantastical offering, “My Demon”. Starring Kim Yoo Jung and Song Kang in the lead roles, this was one of the most anticipated romances of the year and rightly so. While the concept of contract marriages is nothing new in Korean dramas, this show strongly hinges on the “Opposite Poles Attract” premise. The settings are beautiful, cinematography is lush while the CGI effects are mindblowing. It has been a long time since I watched a drama that instantly grabs your attention. Being a huge fan of Song Kang, this drama was on my “Must Watchlist” and I’m glad that it lived up to the expectations. There is something exciting about watching an immortal demon butt heads with a cold hearted heiress. They both have unique personalities which merge well and I’m totally enjoying the joyride. Without further ado, let’s dig deeper into the pilot episodes!
Read the complete article here-
https://kcdramamusings.wordpress.com/2023/11/26/my-demon-first-impressions/
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