"Eenie, meenie, miney, mo — who’s the vessel for Park Il-do?" - Dramabeans (Recap Ep 12)
The above line perfectly captures what the drama quickly descends into after the first episode. I'll admit that the first episode was scary, and I almost wanted to stop watching because I was spooked, but by episode two's end I could tell there was going to be a pattern to this. Hwa Pyung will reunite with Kang Gil Young and Mateo, and go from case to case trying to find where Park Il Do is. The funny thing is that he has no plan whatsoever for vanquishing the stubborn, superior demon, and is aware that previous attempt of exorcising the spirit failed. His shaman friend continues to dissuade him from his mission, reminding him that no one can deal with the demon as it is extremely strong. However, Hwa Pyung refuses to heed the numerous advices given to him by various secondary and main characters over the course of the series.

I was bothered by the lack of character development in all three of the main characters. We are not told what Hwa Pyung has been up to during the time gap between his childhood and his adulthood. His bosses in the taxi service apparently allow him to wander wherever, shirk his duties, damage the taxi he drives, spend large bouts of time not doing his job, and still pay him. He remains stubborn, emotional and reckless throughout the series, at least up until where I watched. Honestly I got sick and tired of the name Park Il Do coming out of his lips every five seconds in every episode. There are no obvious traumatic signs from his childhood incidents, and he doesn't really display any guilt or internal torture after having killed his mother and grandmother while being possessed. He doesn't seem afraid that he might get possessed again and might end up killing the remainder of his family (there's no immunity against being possessed you know!).

As for Kang Gil Young, initially I disliked her character because she is equally stubborn and remarkably slow-witted in the first few episodes. Her interactions with her partner became so repetitive and cringeworthy after a while. He keeps jumping when Hwa Pyung shows up, keeps asking why Gil Young hangs out with him, and she continues to keep him in the dark. Lather, rinse and repeat. A similar pattern is seen with Hwa Pyung and the shaman, with the latter being meek and reluctant, trying to dissuade Hwa Pyung from his reckless endeavors, and essentially being used and discarded as per Hwa Pyung's needs. Shockingly I was fine with Mateo's character, perhaps because his hard-to-read physiognomy suited his job as an exorcist and his background. He displays emotion when the possessed people remind him of the horrors his big brother committed, and he starts to care for Hwa Pyung and Gil Young, while the latter two don't seem to have much attachment toward him.

The CGI was a little disappointing as well. The multiple eye stabbings and people gulping down water like crazy became overused and redundant. The background of the Park Il Do spirit was lackluster and vague. A guy goes to Japan and comes back evil, kills his wife and kid and gives himself over to the devil. That's it?

I found that clicking the next episode was becoming very difficult, and I was watching the drama at nearly 2x speed till I quit and wondered why I should continue to waste my time. The drama was not scary at all after episode 1, and I find it really odd that so many people seem to have enjoyed it.

Read More

This is a surprisingly solid watch, despite the fact that after episode 8 I started watching most of the episodes in 2x speed. I really liked this. It was short, sweet, light with a nice message (you need to have someone with whom you can talk about your problems, and you need to have a proper conversation to connect with people and clear misunderstandings). I don't know why some people complained about the last episode being too jarring. True, the last episode seemed a little rushed to wrap up the series, and yes it's a happy ever after ending but I think given that the whole series is very light and lacking in angst, that a tragic ending would have disappointed us all. The characters did a great job, and while I was skeptical of Hwang Jung Eum's acting, this character has suited her really well. She's acting her age, and has the right attitude to fit the character.

I think my main problem with the series was the colossal pile of nonsense that the main villain Won Hyung is. I mean, he's just salty because his father didn't pay him attention, so he murdered, betrayed his best fried, plotted treason, and escaped from hell to wreak more havoc? That's a bit of an overkill, right?

Regardless, this one really surprised me with how much I liked it. I definitely recommend it if you want to take your mind off of any tensions in your life.

Read More

Very rarely do I finish a drama and immediately feel a longing and yearning for it, as if a dear friend has departed. I have just finished watching this drama and I am filled to the brim with this feeling. Words cannot explain how this drama conquered my heart and colored it with so many emotions. This is one of those dramas that live up to the hype and go above and beyond. There are plenty of other reviews here on MDL that word it better than I ever could, and I hope they manage to convince you to give this one a try. Don't be daunted by the 54 episodes, the political tag, or the numerous characters. I guarantee you that in just three or four episodes, you will be able to follow the characters and the story easily. I used the help of a recap blog to memorize character names and faces, as well as a character map I found on Google Images. That little effort is worth it, because this drama is an experience you must undergo. It is truly phenomenal. I enjoyed every minute of this drama. I fell in love with Su Ge-Ge and Fei Liu's friendship, with General Meng's cute facial expressions, with Nihuang's grace and undying love, with Jinyang's sense of justice, and even Gao Zhan's wise, caring presence. I want to watch this all over again!

Read More

I've seen a lot of 9.0, 10.0 rated reviews of this show on this site, but I had trouble agreeing with that rating. I was interested up to the first half of the drama i.e. Yixi's murder arc and the mystery surrounding it. I'm afraid I couldn't keep up with the convoluted connection between different crimes surrounding the Ye Corporation and the drug/human trafficking going on in Myanmar. I did not find it very interesting and I admit I fast-forwarded the last few episodes. As someone who has watched Korean thrillers like Signal and Tunnel, I found this one a bit lackluster. I also had trouble with the two lovelines. I did enjoy watching Xu Xu and Ji Bai interact, and they were always cute together. The drawings were adorable of course. But I just didn't sense a lot of chemistry between the two, particularly on Ji Bai's part. I never got an impression that he cared about Xu Xu more than any other subordinate, and so the ending scene was a bit jarring for me. Many others have pointed out that the series seems a little rushed, particularly the last few episodes and I agree with that.
The characters were portrayed very well, and I loved the acting. I did feel a little disappointed that Xu Xu underwent so much physical training under Ji Bai and she did not get to show it off except when she shot General Po. I suppose considering how short this series felt, it would have been weird to see Xu Xu suddenly engaging in physical fights, but still I would have liked to see her hold on her own during physical confrontations, even just for a few seconds. This doesn't mean that she was a weak character, far from it in fact. But Xu Xu's strength lies in her mind, and so it felt a little incomplete to have everyone around her help train her but then have no visible results.
All I can say is that this one wasn't for me. I didn't hate it, but it didn't get me hyped either.

Read More

A solid, worth-your-time watch if you really love horror and mystery

Although this was more of a mystery-thriller than a horror for me, nevertheless there was a time when I felt like there was someone watching me beyond a door at night while I was in the middle of watching this series. I loved the overall idea, the premise, the twist and the ending. I also liked that the police were involved as well, and there was a nice overlap of natural and supernatural. I could not stop clicking on the next episode, one after the other.
The only complain I have about the drama is the motive behind the actual spirit's hatred/resentment. That could have been more fleshed out. But overall, I really enjoyed this.

Read More

I deliberated quite a lot whether this drama merited a full 10/10 rating, and I decided that the minor cliches and bloopers weren't important enough to put even the slightest dent in my utter love for this drama. I completely enjoyed every second, and this drama has soared to the top of my most favorite list.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I'll admit that there are certain minor things you will have to overlook (like characters recovering from brutal torture and whipping within a day or two), but once you do you will agree that this drama deserves a 10/10. Here are a couple of reasons why:

MIND-BLOWING ACTING SKILLS:
This hasn't happened for a long time, but I ended up developing a crush on Joo Won for his superb acting skills. His crying will make you cry, and his smile will put a smile on your face automatically. The scenes involving his mother and brother's deaths, and his torture were utterly gut-wrenching. Joo Won has given his soul to his character, and one rarely gets to see such dedication. He completely blew my mind. He definitely deserves the awards and accolades he got for this role.
Other actors such as Park Ki Woong (Shunji) and Han Chae Ah (Ueno Rie) were remarkable as well, and very very convincing. I don't even need to mention how good the senior actors were, because that goes without saying.

COMPLEX CHARACTERS:
This is what I always look for and don't always find; dynamic characters with complex inner lives, making them seem very real and human. Lee Kang To's inner struggle and tug-of-war with his Korean loyalty and his need to earn money for his family's survival, Shunji's conflicting thought processes when he must either pick being loyal to his Japanese roots or being compassionate to fellow human beings regardless of nationality, Ueno Rie's similar dilemmas and other examples are all what contribute toward the greatness of this drama. Characters make difficult choices, regret their actions, project their own faults onto others, delude themselves, break down, and pick themselves up.

HISTORICALLY MEANINGFUL AND ENGAGING STORY:
Set in the 1930s, the story charts Japan's imperial dominion over Korean peninsula and Korean people's rebellion against this imperialism. It touches historically sensitive topics such as the shipment of Korean comfort women to Japanese soldiers, and the sheer brutality that the Korean people faced. I learned that the story is an adaptation from a manhwa, and that makes so much sense because while watching I often felt that the drama was much like a manga. I always have a high opinion of manhwa adaptations.

WELL-EXECUTED PLOT:
Apart from a few minor hiccups that can easily be overlooked, the plot is well-executed. There were no glaring plot-holes, and the pacing was excellent, making each episode entertaining, thrilling and entertaining. I can't recall a single episode where I felt bored or felt the plot was dragging. The ending is satisfactory and realistic.

As a rule I don't rewatch dramas, because there are so many new ones out there that I want to watch, but I'll make an exception for this one and will rewatch it sometime in the future. That should tell you how much I loved this show.

Read More

Somehow I feel a fleeting nostalgia when I see the ending credits in the last episode, the behind the scene pictures of the staff with the actors, and the group photo in the end. A lot of hard work went into this drama, and it shows, but I wish that it had not disappointed me with the unsatisfactory plot. In my opinion, the drama went a bit downhill after Episode 11 i.e. after the first strife. I felt like the rest of the story was just an add-on or filler. There was a lot of angst, a lot of swords running straight through people and then failing to kill, a lot of unnecessary sub-plots like that of Hui Jae and Bang Gan. While the acting of the main leads, and almost all the secondary actors was amazing, I felt Se Jong's portrayal of Hwi was lacking; Hwi didn't look broken when he heard from Seon Ho that his sister was dead, he continued to fight in the army while knowing he didn't have a sister to go back to. Hwi's tactical brilliance and his insight in predicting the moves of his opponents didn't sit well with me, considering we've never seen Hwi as a tactical genius in the past, we've only seen his brilliance with weapons like the bow and the sword. Hwi continued to have this innocent look in his eye, despite the mountain of sorrow he's buried under. He didn't lose his humanity, he didn't become cruel or hopeless, and for some reason I couldn't understand that. I also felt like there was no chemistry between Hui Jae and Hwi, and I skipped almost all of their scenes together. However there are moments I enjoyed the show, especially the scenes with Jang Hyuk. The fault is not in the actors, but how the characters and story is written. The actors did a superb job with what they were given. Hats off to Woo Do Hwan for really shining forth with his facial expressions and dialogue delivery.

Read More

Great to watch during a pandemic actually

I loved how short and meaningful this was. It is just a story of three youths becoming each others' page turners, but therein lies the true worth of the story. Each character uplifts the other and makes them shine in a different way. The drama depicts the difficulties youth face in choosing what they want to be in the future, in dealing with parental and peer pressure, bullying and yearning after approval from others. There are a couple things you will have to overlook and chalk off as fantasies of dramaland if you really want to enjoy this; things like Yoo Seul's sudden blindness after a car accident, and Cha Sik's quickly improving talents in piano. I'll also admit that Kim So Hyun wasn't the best in portraying a blind character, considering I've seen D.O do it in My Annoying Brother and So Hyun can't even hold a candle to that performance. She often looks up right into the eyes of another character while speaking to them, which made it very hard to believe that she was blind.

Nonetheless, the music is amazing of course, so is the message behind the story and the general pacing of the drama. i would give it a go if you're in a drama slump or stressed with the current global situation.

Read More

I was pleasantly surprised by how entertaining this was, despite my prior reservations that it would be nothing more than light fluff, lacking any serious themes. The drama has a sweet romance, an interesting story and some deep messages regarding friendship, sportsmanship, mental health, sports injuries, the importance of truth in journalism, the dangers of cyber-bullying, and the misunderstandings that can swallow up love and leave behind pain.

The acting was superb, and I loved the humor as well. Li Yubing's facial expressions were everything! I found myself chuckling quite a few times. Tang Xue's personality needed some getting used to, but I loved the little moments of growth and maturity she showed. Her friendship with her roommates and Little Liao was adorable. I loved every moment they showed of speed skating, figure skating and ice hockey. The cinematography and the filming was beautifully seamless. I especially loved Li Yubing's interactions with his coach. They were so endearing.

There were a few things which bothered me though. I did not like the interactions between Zhou Ran and Bian Cheng at all and I found their motives for acting they way they did so weak that it seemed just a waste of time to pay attention to them. Bian Cheng was just a hot mess, and his facial expressions did not convey his feelings well enough. His obsession with Tang Xue was just cringey to watch, and Zhou Ran was such a trope that it was hard to take her seriously in any way. There was absolutely no need for the ML and FL to have love triangles. I was also put off by Yu Yan's unhealthy attachment to Tang Xue which no one saw fit to correct. Li Yubing getting beaten up by the opposing team's goons was expected and a little boring. The drama did lose its momentum towards the second half, but not enough to make it entirely boring.

Overall, this was a solid watch.

Read More

I loved the first half of the show, especially with guests like Hong Jin Yong, Super Junior, and Kim Min Joon as well, but there were also guests that were rather boring. I admit that as they had to continue shows without audience for the sake of safety, it got a little lackluster, though it was necessary.
I cringed when the show had a teenage fan of Kim Jong Kook wailing on the stage asking him to marry her, and when the Tone-Deaf Detectives assumed that because a contestant was good-looking he shouldn't be able to sing well ?
I admit that with the tone-deaf contestants always being 2 in number, it was easy to predict that the guest would end up with a good singer once 2 tone-deaf ones were weeded out.
I like that they've added this feature that the detectives can vote on which contestants they want to pick in each round. At the same time I wish they wouldn't get a guest or host to lip-sync in round 2. That part I tend to skip.

Anyways, this is one of my favorite variety shows, and I look forward to season 8.

Read More

"As I grew older, I realized that age wasn't soaking into me... rather, I was adjusting myself to my age." What a powerful line, and so relatable.

This is a masterpiece of a drama. I expected a lot of romance and fluff but I was pleasantly surprised by the raw realism, the emotion, and the human experiences portrayed here. This drama shows you how love isn't just hugs, kisses or yearning, that it matures with years, and is more about being open and honest with each other, and understanding each other than anything else.

I loved the subject matter more than anything else; difficulties in relationships, a parent's love for a child, dangers of hiding your feelings and lacking communication, youth, friendship, caring for each other, and learning to step into each other's shoes.

The acting was top notch. There's no one who can rival Jang Nara in her ability to make you cry when she cries. The other actors were all amazing as well.

I think the only thing that would be a weakness in the drama would be the explanation behind the time-travel, which is barely even considered as something worth an explanation, till the last 3 minutes of the last episode. But I think one can let go of such things, because it's the content and the subject matter that was much more important in this case, than technicalities.

This drama made me cry and laugh and smile, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is hesitating to watch this.

Read More

Rarely do I come across a well-rated, oft-recommended drama that fulfills all my expectations, and this is certainly one of them. This drama had everything I typically look for in a good drama, namely: good characterization, excellent acting, well laid-out plot, well executed and entertaining. While a story based on slaves or oppressed servants/people rising up against the corrupt and the cruel people in power is a well-worn and cliche idea, yet I have come to believe that it is not what the story is, but how it is executed; journey before destination, after all.

I will first talk about my two favorite characters/actors I've completely fallen in love with: Nok Su (played by Lee Na Hui), and King Yi Yung (played by [i] Kim Ji Suk [/i] ). I'm a sucker for well-portrayed villains and characters caught in the grey area, not quite good but not entirely bad either. Nok Su's background, the motives behind her actions, her inner struggles and her determination make her an excellent character. Lee Na Hui's acting is beyond superb! Her expressions are everything! I've seen her in Come Back Mister and the film Extreme Job, and let me tell you, she becomes the character and owns it. She is the best at what she does. I was equally floored by the villainy of Yi Yung, his twisted mind, and yet he is not simply evil. Though Nok Su claimed that Yi Yung was incapable of love, yet he was capable of recognizing and valuing the loyalty and love of Nok Su and Second Eunuch Ja Won, the only two people who stayed by his side throughout. Kim Ji Suk's dialogue delivery, his expressions and his body language brought the character alive, and I could tell that he had completely owned the character.

Worth mentioning is the acting of Chae Soo Bin (I loved her acting so much! Glad she pursued her love for storywriting), and our main hero played by Yoon Gyun Sang. It was my first time watching both act, and I was extremely pleased with what I saw. I enjoyed Kim Jung Hyun's (who played Mo Ri) acting as well, though I have to admit that the character was not much fleshed out.

The plot and the episodes themselves were laid out and planned very well, and the drama did not falter nor became boring for me at any single point, which is a BIG PLUS. Usually there are one or two episodes where I just skip quickly, but not with this drama. Every single episode had meaningful, well executed scenes that added something to the story, and fleshed out even the minor characters Lady Jo, or Eom Cha Ji. There were very few scenes where I had trouble believing in what the story was trying to tell me (like the arrival of Oh Ri Ni and Ga Ryoung at court, and their close proximity to the King) , and I appreciate that.

The only reason I gave less stars to rewatch value is because I don't rewatch dramas. Period. There are too many new ones watch lol.

Overall, if you are hesitating in watching this drama, worry no more and just dive in!

Read More

I suppose I may be the only one on this planet who didn't enjoy this drama. I confess that after the first two episodes I watched the rest of it on 2x speed, I felt that detached.

None of the characters were worth my sympathy, despite the writers giving them supposedly moving backstories. The main lead Jeong Hwan is revealed to have a deadly brain tumor in the start of the drama. I knew next to nothing about the character and thus felt no sympathy for him. Similarly Lee Tae Joon tells us what a destitute life he grew up in, his father's alcoholism and his drive to rise on top, however his actions and his villainy made it very difficult for me to feel anything for him. His brother's death and the scenes leading up to it were painted as very angsty emotional scenes, however I knew that Lee Tae Seop was a murderer, and that both brothers had committed crimes to make money. Furthermore I hardly think one episode is enough for the audience to feel sympathy for the brothers. Jeong Hwan's sister was a very useless doctor. She kept hiding things from other family members which showed her lack of feelings for them, and despite being a doctor was of no help to her brother at all. She was unable to judge that Jeong Hwan was hiding his illness from everyone, she was of no comfort to her mother and simply served as a newsbearer to Ha Gyoung or Jeong Hwan. I didn't understand why her character existed at all. Ye Rin too was simply there to make the audience's lip tremble every time she cried. Most of the time the child was absent from the scene and her parents would be running around being prosecutors or criminals. Every character in the legal scene except Ha Gyoung was corrupt and that made very hard for me to attach myself to any single character. The worst of all was Minister Yoon Ji Sook whose drive and motivation was completely lacking. Why did she pit herself against Lee Tae Joon? What was her personal grudge with him that she wanted to tear him down no matter what? Again, I felt nothing but frustration every time her character came on screen. Jeong Hwan's mother was an unlikeable character as well. She seemed to harbor hate against Ye Rin, would never comfort the child when she would be sad, and against Ye Rin's mother as well. Speaking of Ye Rin, you're telling me that her dad who didn't bat an eye when he found out that his daughter nearly died in a bus accident, who picked his boss over his wife and his child, suddenly has feelings for his child and wife when he finds out he's dying of a brain tumor? I didn't think that Jeong Hwan's fierce loyalty towards Tae Joon and his subsequent actions where very justified. Again, I wasn't convinced of his flimsy motivations.

The other characters kept switching sides between Tae Joon and the Minister, often making calls to each other in the blink of an eye, threatening each other, demeaning and mocking each other and in the very next moment grovelling in front of each other for help.

This brings me to the plot, which frankly was a bit of a mess. The characters switched sides and snitched on each other multiple times in a single episode that it at first baffled, then bored me. It was a pattern repeated like crazy, and it made me stop caring or being surprised. Ho Sung's betrayal was just beyond my understanding. Fine, you're telling me that everyone holding any sort of position/office is corrupt and greedy like hell, but then you present me with a very idealistic fairytale ending in which the evil is banished and the good reigns supreme. Really? The ending was unbelievable. Both Jeong Hwan and Ha Gyoung are on the operating table, one losing the brain and the other losing the heart. The doctors quickly do a heart transplant and behold! Ha Gyoung is back! -rolls eyes- It was such an Indian soap move that I had to shake my head in disappointment. None of the characters really changed for the better, leading me to think they were all very two dimensional and static. Jeong Hwan's desire for vengeance against Tae Joon wouldn't have come if he hadn't been dying, Ha Gyoung remains the same throughout, the Minister was nasty from the start and posed to be righteous till the end, Lee Tae Joon too remained villainous through it all.

The things I did like: (1) the acting was superb, especially Lee Tae Joon's and Jeong Hwan's facial expressions and dialogue delivery were on the spot, (2) I did like the love-hate relationship of Lee Tae Joon and Jeong Hwan.

I think that the big mistake was that there was so little information about the characters' pasts that it made their motivations flimsy and their actions a little hollow. For example, did Jeong Hwan break down and have depression after his divorce with Ha Gyoung? Did he really love her to pieces? I don't know. But he surely became angered when Ha Gyoung was falsely convicted of murder. Things don't add up.

If you want to watch the drama, go ahead. I hope you enjoy it better than I did.

Read More

This drama damn near made me cry and I rarely cry while watching tv shows. The cliffhangers in this one will keep torturing you till you click on the next episode. I loved everything about this drama; the story, the characters, the acting, the suspense, the subject matter, and the ending. Teacher Kim is easily one of the best villains in Kdrama history. I thoroughly enjoyed her character and I want more of that in every drama villain. The variety of expressions, the gut-wrenching backstory and the meaning behind her actions... it was all superb.

If I must point out, there are only two things I did not particularly enjoy: The one-dimensionality of Woo Joo's character, and the not very enjoyable humor coming out of Jin Jin Hee's family, it got a little boring after a while and I found myself skipping her scenes entirely.

You must watch this drama, if only for the villain, and that is reason enough I assure you.

Read More