A great watch

If I had to summarize this drama in one word, I'll be - fillers. In my opinion, the story was stretched unnecessarily, and it felt like forever, rather painful to watch through certain scenes. It got so annoying at one point that I nearly considered dropping this drama. Adding to that the whole age gap thing just felt pretty weird to me, the kissing scenes pulled the whole 'romance' out of the scene. I just couldn't take the 'love' part seriously for the first couple of episodes, it just felt very out of place? I dropped this after episode 13. But alas, I eventually had to go back. The awesome soundtrack and acting couldn't get out of my mind. The top-notched 'bromance' kept getting me curious about how the Reaper-Goblin relationship will grow and bloom into Episode 16.
For my money, the story was pretty decent. The bromance and the funny scenes added to an amazing experience. The acting was phenomenal and I LOVED every part of it. I'd be lying if I say I didn't want to see more of the story centered around certain side characters. Some felt like they deserved more screentime. Kim's General's reincarnation is a good example. Seeing his story, him happy with his family, living in comfort, possibly with Kim looking at him and iconically smiling would've been pretty satisfactory. The Reaper and Sunny scenes towards the end were SATISFYING. The best part after the bromance.
Goblin decided to have an open ending, which I would say was a pretty good idea. Despite wanting to know more about what happened to Goblin and the bride after they met again in Canada. I believe the open ending was more effective in leaving a strong impression on its viewers than a closed one. Ultimately being one of the elements that helped the show get a strong ending. Lastly, I wish there was some form of indirect interaction between the Reaper and the Goblin towards the very end. Leaving a "Some friendships are so strong, they can even transcend lifetimes" taste in the mouth, but well, guess it's too good to be true.

I didn't initially plan on giving a high rating to this drama on MDL, but I am an emotional creature and the last 2 episodes got me good.

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Worth the sleepless nights of binging

"It's Okay Not to Be Okay", these words didn't really mean much to me until I watched this drama. I always thought of these as just another word of pity, nothing special. Which has now changed, because now it carries a story of a lifetime for me. It has become just so many things to me, that I find it difficult to express in words.
This show is one of those rare shows that leaves an empty void in my heart after it's over. I rarely get emotional over shows, since I know, for a matter of fact, that they are fiction, they lack a taste of realism, there are no happy endings because there never was a start, to begin with. But man, this story hit me like a train, it touched every emotional corner in my heart that I forgot once existed. I can't describe in words just how great and amazing of an adventure it was for me to sit and binge this show. A rollercoaster of emotions and a journey of emotional learning.

The chemistry of Kim Soo Hyun and Seo Yea Ji is phenomenal. I can't believe just how well they both fit into their characters like they're are specifically made for them and their phenomenal acting tops it off. The Eyes scene from Episode 1 gave me goosebumps. Their expressions, body language, everything was perfect. I just can't believe this wasn't real, and it was just fiction. Oh Jung Se nailed his role as Moon Sang Tae, which I believe was one of the most challenging roles in the entire drama. The way in which he portrayed the character was sheer magic. Every character in this drama fit perfectly with each other like a jigsaw puzzle.

It is said that storytelling is an art, and not everyone can do it. And Park Shin-woo is definitely a master of it. Everything about this show is perfect, the OST, cinematography, acting, scriptwriting, the chemistry between characters. The consistency of the characters and the emotional buildup were perfect. This drama picks up a very interesting way to portray trauma, people, and how it impacts their lives, and this sets them apart from the rest. Whoever came up with the fairy tale idea deserves an award. It was beautifully portrayed and well connected with the overall story. The final story - Finding the Real Face, sums everything up perfectly. I love how no character was ignored or forgotten. Someone's trauma is not more or less important than someone else's trauma everyone has their own story to tell and the journey they must travel to face and overcome their fears to grow.

"So don't forget any of it. Remember it all and overcome it. If you don't overcome it, you'll always be a kid whose soul will never grow."

I feel this drama feels so much different from my general troupe because it hits home. I can relate to everything said here on various levels. Trying to face my traumas from behind, cover them up with petty lies to feel at peace. Always be running away from them. Trying to fill this emptiness with distractions.

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Sweet Combat? More like Sweet Misunderstandings

Starting with the nice parts, I genuinely enjoyed this drama. Initially, I was skeptical about this at first, considering the rating it has on here. (which was right) But that was quickly thrown off my mind as I started watching this. I wouldn't say it was perfect in every aspect. But it was perfect in being the drama that I needed right now!
The episodes towards the start were highly addictive. I binge-watched about half the drama in a day. The chemistry was cute and the humor was surprisingly good. This drama gave me a lot of nostalgia, making me rethink what I want to cherish in life. I was so emotionally invested in the characters that this drama have me Post-Series Depression. :(

And that is sadly where all the good things end.

They took the title of this drama and threw it out of the window. This whole drama was a dumpster fire of misunderstandings. The story felt extremely inconsistent. At one time, Ming Tian has an internal monologue about how amazing fighting someone in the ring is. How hard he's going to work to be the best and protect Fang Yu from everyone. Then the next minute, he can't even properly throw a punch or is seen wasting his time. The story made it seem like the boxing/martial art aspect would be one of the major plot points of the story. Like hell, the dude even defeated the EdgeLord! the same dude who was #1 in the yearly tournament, who also beat the crap out of Fang Yu, but then BOOM! Next year, Ming completely forgets how to box. During the time skip, all we see Ming doing is roll tires and stare into the air. The male leads have 0 interactions unless it's about Fang Yu. We've seen Sun Hao and Ming converse only three times. The group sometimes acts like best of friends and sometimes like they are, sworn enemies. The ending was another disaster that I'll talk about later, but the story had a lot of plot holes. Like what happened to Luo Guan learning the death strike move? Did Ming and his bully have another match? Did Ming go further in his boxing career? What was the point of EdgeLord? Was he related to them or did he just randomly show up? Where is Auntie Ji's son? They eventually going to marry, so did Grandpa finally agree? Everything was left half-written. I'll only call this terrible writing.

People called out the ML and FL for bad-acting. I believe the acting was pretty good. Only the dialogue delivery was bland and felt robotic at times. I think the studio did not have any money; they showed the same cutscene like 20 times in every episode. At least film a few cutscenes and rotate amongst them. It doesn't cost that much. The flashback scenes were the exact scenes. Copy Paste. Lazy editing and production.

The ending was so incomplete that the ML and FL decided to continue the story in real life and finish it themselves (LOL). Despite the show being a great binge, the ending was one of the worst ones I've ever seen. Usually, dramas follow the - "They break up midway and get back around the last second episode"; but this drama took this a step further. Giving us the 'get back together in the last 7 minutes! Like there is a way to write an 'open ending' - where you got to interpret it yourself, left to your imagination. But this Ain't it, Chief. There were so many things I wanted to see towards the end. Fang Yu joins the college again. Ming wins a tournament. Ming and bully moments. The whole group celebrates Mama's wedding. Ming finally earns a good amount of money to make his siblings live in comfort. BUT NO. They had to do some stupid fountain scene.

OVERALL - Decent drama to watch when you don't have enough brain cells to spare for dramas. When you're looking for something funny, a clingy, butterflies in the stomach kind of love story. Worth the time?? IDK

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Worth the Wait

Initially, when I got into dramas, the sole reason why I wanted to watch this drama was because of IU. I remember watching her acting on one of the random k-drama moments videos and falling in love with it. Her acting made me want to watch the drama, considering how I already simp her for her amazing songs. I remember having internet issues and not being able to watch it in 1080p. So I decided to wait because I only wanted to watch it in its prime. The wait was worth it. Hotel Del Luna did not disappoint.

I found the storyline and plot very interesting. I remember feeling bored out of my mind halfway through most of the dramas I've watched to date. But the magic of this drama kept me hooked till the last episode. Everything little plotline, character, and emotion perfectly fit together like a jigsaw puzzle to give out a masterpiece called Hotel Del Luna.

The OST and soundtracks were the souls of the drama. Moonlight Sonata was the chef's kiss, breathing life into every scene. I still remember the goosebumps from Episode 5 during the wedding dress flashback. Every song I heard in this drama was so good.

There is something magical about Hotel Del Luna that I cannot describe in words. Were there things that could've been executed better? Yes. But does this make it any less enjoyable? No. Hotel Del Luna was overall an amazing experience.

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