If you are familiar with the Hong sisters you pretty much expect a decent amount of crazy weirdness but this drama definitely went above and beyond with insanity! Loosely based on the story Journey To The West it felt less like an epic adventure and more like a disaster film. Now don't get me wrong there are some pretty great things about this show that make it interesting and somewhat addictive but not enough to redeem all it's unusual faults. Suffering from a slew of production and broadcasting issues this drama is the poster child for why some shows need pre-produced!
Story: The main story line is a complete convoluted disaster. If it hadn't been for the interesting characters and addictive sub plots this drama would have flopped hard! As with most Hong sisters dramas the main story line is almost completely overshadowed by the romantic sub plots. This usually isn't an issue for a fluffy rom-com lover like myself but considering this is an adaptation it was very poorly executed. There is an abundance of plot holes and over use of prop gimmick instead of actual story and character development. The saving grace are the interesting/entertaining characters and romantic/comedic sub stories, something the Hong sisters do very well. There are also some pretty great ideas and moments scattered through the crazy mess of a story but as a whole the story never delivers in a satisfying way beginning to end!
Acting/Cast: This has to be one of the best cast dramas i've seen in awhile, and that is a complete shame! Instead of making use of the great talent at hand production chose instead to rely heavily on props and an assortment of unnecessary sfx to sell the story. There are probably a lot of people who have negative things to say about the actors based on the poor development of story and character instead of actual ability of the actors. I honestly think they did the very best in a bad situation.
Music: The best thing about this drama is definitely the soundtrack, it's great! I have several songs downloaded to my playlist and listen to them daily now. I highly recommend checking them out even if you decide to skip the show.
Re-watch value: Very low for me. If I do it will be with the help of my trust fast forward button to get to the sweet and fluffy stuff.
Overall: This drama is mostly disappointing for me. It started out plagued by production and broadcasting mishaps and just kept on skirting by week to week from there. I fully believe it has some really great thought behind it which could have made for an epic drama but the execution was just so lackluster. A drama like this truthfully should have been pre-produced instead of filming to broadcast due to the abundant amount of story complexity and special effects needed. I believe that much of the cringe worthy mediocrity of this show can be attributed to a "just to get by" attitude adopted from unrealistic production constraints. It has great characters and very memorable moments I'll not soon forget but the lack of real substance to the sweetness leaves you feeling unsatisfied, what a shame!
Story: The main story line is a complete convoluted disaster. If it hadn't been for the interesting characters and addictive sub plots this drama would have flopped hard! As with most Hong sisters dramas the main story line is almost completely overshadowed by the romantic sub plots. This usually isn't an issue for a fluffy rom-com lover like myself but considering this is an adaptation it was very poorly executed. There is an abundance of plot holes and over use of prop gimmick instead of actual story and character development. The saving grace are the interesting/entertaining characters and romantic/comedic sub stories, something the Hong sisters do very well. There are also some pretty great ideas and moments scattered through the crazy mess of a story but as a whole the story never delivers in a satisfying way beginning to end!
Acting/Cast: This has to be one of the best cast dramas i've seen in awhile, and that is a complete shame! Instead of making use of the great talent at hand production chose instead to rely heavily on props and an assortment of unnecessary sfx to sell the story. There are probably a lot of people who have negative things to say about the actors based on the poor development of story and character instead of actual ability of the actors. I honestly think they did the very best in a bad situation.
Music: The best thing about this drama is definitely the soundtrack, it's great! I have several songs downloaded to my playlist and listen to them daily now. I highly recommend checking them out even if you decide to skip the show.
Re-watch value: Very low for me. If I do it will be with the help of my trust fast forward button to get to the sweet and fluffy stuff.
Overall: This drama is mostly disappointing for me. It started out plagued by production and broadcasting mishaps and just kept on skirting by week to week from there. I fully believe it has some really great thought behind it which could have made for an epic drama but the execution was just so lackluster. A drama like this truthfully should have been pre-produced instead of filming to broadcast due to the abundant amount of story complexity and special effects needed. I believe that much of the cringe worthy mediocrity of this show can be attributed to a "just to get by" attitude adopted from unrealistic production constraints. It has great characters and very memorable moments I'll not soon forget but the lack of real substance to the sweetness leaves you feeling unsatisfied, what a shame!
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