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The Bride of Habaek korean drama review
Completed
The Bride of Habaek
0 people found this review helpful
by Dreamer
Jun 27, 2021
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 7.0
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 6.5

Okay Show But Needed More Fleshing Out

What I Liked About It

I liked the supernatural aspect. I always like when supernatural beings come to earth and have trouble understanding the ways of life as a human. It was funny to see Ha-baek learning about money, getting a license, and navigating a cellphone.

When his power was shown, which wasn’t often, I liked how it was presented and wished there had been more times where he got to use them. I suppose that wasn’t the moral of the story. He needed to be without his power so he could understand the process of not relying on it and also see humanity in a different light. Not having his powers helped to curb his arrogance.

A lot of the music was memorable and set the mood for certain scenes, which I felt was well-done. I thought the storyline with So-ah’s past and her torn relationship with her father had depth and when you find out what truly happened, it’s actually really heartbreaking. That storyline was very well-done and well-acted.

I liked most of the characters, but the one who stood out to me was Shin Hoo-ye. I felt Ju-hwan’s performance was gripping. He made us feel for his character, who I never hated. I wasn’t sure if the writers wanted us to dislike him simply because the gods did, but I felt more for him than the gods even after their reason for hating him was revealed. His character actually understood what it felt like to be human, to make mistakes and have to live with them. I just felt for his character and perhaps that had everything to do with the way Ju-hwan portrayed him. I would like to see what other dramas he’s acted in.

I liked Ha-baek and So-ah’s relationship. They were funny and cute together and I was rooting for their love the whole time. I really enjoyed watching their romance unfold and liked their performances together and apart.


What I Didn’t Like

I didn’t like that all the gods looked like models. I understand that they’re gods and are arrogant and want to be praised, but it seemed kind of blatant to have Ha-baek be tall, slim, and sought after because of his looks while his servant, Nam soo-ri, is overweight with glasses and pursued by So-ah’s friend, who was painted as weird (though I liked her). I know So-ah was a god’s servant too, but in the end, she was Ha-baek’s bride, so she had a higher purpose than just serving some god. Soo-ri didn’t seem to mind working day and night for his god because he was brought up as a servant. The whole obvious opposition of his and Ha-baek’s appearance was a little annoying to me. It was representing the gods’ appearance as the only appearance that is worthy, but I guess I’m looking too deeply for representation that you don’t see often. I just like a non-offensive, diverse selection of characters. Nam soo-ri was there to be a servant, he had no other purpose but to serve Ha-baek, the beautiful, tall slim god. Just sayin’.

I didn’t quite know what the overarching storyline was for a while. I knew Ha-baek came looking for his servant/bride and was looking for the stones, but there was also Hoo-ye’s character, who I thought was painted as the overall villain. For a while, I didn’t understand Bi Ryeom and his anger toward Hoo-ye and even after the reason was revealed the storytelling still felt vague to me. The flashback scenes of the gods’ world felt disconnected from the rest of the story. The real storyline was So-ah’s story. Everything else felt a little extra. To be honest, when I reached episode 13, I took a break because I was annoyed at the repetition with Bi-ryeom hating Hoo-ye and not understanding why.

I wanted to see more Ha-baek’s powers, but that’s just because I love seeing supernatural magic. I didn’t like the build-up to the revelation of powers he ultimately never showed. But I can forgive this if it was done for the sake of the moral of the story.

I did not understand Shin Ja-ya’s character until the end and even then, her character still felt meaningless. It seemed that her scenes were there to fill up space that could have been used to flesh out the vagueness of the main storyline. I didn’t like Moo-ra except when she was with Bi-ryeom. Their scenes were interesting because Bi-ryeom was more caring with her than he was with anyone else and Moo-ra was more soft-hearted and uncertain when she was with him. Apart, they both seemed kind of callous and a little obnoxious. I got to understand their characters better when they were together, and I saw that there was more to them than just the surface face they revealed to everyone else.

Would I Rewatch It?

For the most part, yes. There was humor, supernatural elements, nice music, and a deep storyline with So-ah’s character. I also really liked Hoo-ye’s character and performance, so I would rewatch for this, but it’s not the best drama and could have benefited from more fleshing out in the storyline and the characters.
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