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Plushie

Candyland

Plushie

Candyland
A Korean Odyssey korean drama review
Completed
A Korean Odyssey
6 people found this review helpful
by Plushie
Mar 5, 2018
20 of 20 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 8.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 7.5
My first ever experience of watching a "Currently Airing" drama. And it was worth it!I still remember the first time I read about this drama. Lee Seung Gi wasn't confirmed yet and all we really knew was that it would be a modern day adaptation of "Journey To The West". Oh boy, I was skeptical. Actually, I think everybody was. I remember commenting something among the lines of "This will be either loved or hated." And I have to shamelessly admit that I was right! Some hated it, others loved. I see some middle ground sometimes but the great marjority is one of those two extremes.I'm on the side that actually liked it, however I don't close my eyes for it's imperfections.I didn't read Journey To The West, but I had heard of it many times, and after beginning this watch I decided to do some research on the actual story. Turns out it's actually different but at the same time the Hong Sister's added some pretty clever references and similarities. The ggg for example (no, I don't really know how to spell the name and I'm too lazy to look for it), was very thoughtful since it actually opens an opportunity for romance to happen. And we all know that kdramas, no matter how non-romance focused, always try to push down our throats some kissy-kissy times.However I must admit that the consistence and overall pacing was a bit off for me. They decided to stick to the "Monster of the week" formula. Pretty similar to Master's Sun if you may ask me. But instead of compelling stories though, I felt they were...how should I put it...boring and paled to the main plot. There were some well done instances, but overall I ended don't really caring about anything at all.The romance aspect was something. Maybe the Hong sisters have a thing for emotional sadomasochism(or at least as far as I've seen on their dramas), and it either annoys or tortures the viewers. I found myself strangely curious about the relationship between Oh Gong and Sun Mi. It was like the relationship in the drama Secret, where you can't help but wonder how the f* will these two end up loving each other and to what extent? But they do in a rather twisted way that, admitedly, I don't really know how to feel about.What really shined on this drama were the characters. From the leads to the supporting cast, all of them were complex and multi-layered, with varying degrees of development. I didn't watch many LSG dramas, but here he delivers a pretty solid performance. His character is purely chaotic and you can sense that just by looking at his condescending smirk and that even reflects on his fashion. I've read a lot of complains about Oh Yeon Seo's character and performance, but honestly I thought she was actually pretty okay. Searching about the character that she was based on, their personalities (mostly the passivenes) were actually pretty similar. So yeah, kudos for faithfulness. Also, she had some pretty awesome and strong moments going for her, and her actual insecurities feel more than justified. Exaggerated maybe, but she still has things going for her.Talking about good performances, next we have Cha Seung Won. He was the perfect mixture of ridiculous over-the-top and someone you should actually fear. His extra behaviour was hilarious in some points, but you still didn't forget who he actually was and the lenghts he was willing to go to fulfill his goals. Actually, he was one of the most ambiguous characters because we are aware that he means "good", but only to reach what he really desires. And he didn't hesitate on changing temporary goals for that.And last but definitely not least I'd like to talk about the best scene stealer: Lee Se Young! After watching Hit The Top, I didn't think she was a good actress at all. She was bland and expressionless, and she lacked charisma. But here she's anything but bland, expressionless and definitely she has a LOT of charisma. Bu Ja was one of the cutest, most interesting characters I've seen in a while. I'm glad that LSY improved so much.The music was great. I loved almost all OSTs, and for me to say that is really rare. In my opinion, an epic dramas has to have good OSTs. The plot, acting, everything else can be great, but if the OST isn't at least memorable, I tend to take points off. Since I was betting so much in this drama (I don't usually watch currently airing ones), I was fearful that the music wouldn't be on pair with the greatness I was expecting. Luckily, it turned out to be good.The cinematography was also pretty good. It was beautiful, with dark tones but some light so that everything didn't turn so overly depressing. I also noticed the strong presence of strong colors like red, blue and yellow, which was an amazing addition to the more bleak atmosphere.Since it's such a recent drama, I don't know if I'll rewatch it, not on this year at least. I'm not one to rewatch dramas, but if one day I feel like it, maybe I'll pick this one to pass the time.All in all A Korean Odyssey isn't a perfect drama. But there was a reason for me, someone who never watches airing dramas, to turn back to this drama and wait for next week after next week: because in the end we don't really know why we like something. We just do. There are the pros and cons but in the end if someone asked me if I liked, if I enjoyed myself while watching, I would say yes without a second thought.
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