Like a tire with a slow leak

This drama started strong. Then somewhere in the middle third it began slowly deflating, until by the end it was completely flat.

The premise of a fictional character with such a strong will to live that he begins to influence the writer and eventually more is intriguing. Pulling people from the real world to the world of the manhwa through the tablet was clever, and it was made clear that there had to be certain circumstances to switch universes - until suddenly that no longer seemed to be necessary. No longer moments of suspense or excitement where a "to be continued..." cliffhanger would normally occur, but instead characters were coming and going as they pleased without a reasonable explanation - except for when it would be inconvenient to the plot for it to happen. The same sort of inconsistent changing of boundaries also occurred with who could traverse between universes, characters creating themselves or being completely outside of anything entered on the tablet and the originally set idea that when the main character is doing something time doesn't flow normally for the rest. It was frustrating to see such a novel idea turned into an empty shell after an exciting beginning.

There were moments when the acting was the only reason to keep watching, but unfortunately the acting also became worse as they show progressed; I believe the actors also realized the story was completely derailed beyond hope by the midway point and they just wanted it to be over. The leads were well-cast, and Han Hyo Joo and Lee Jong Suk both have electrifying smiles. Unfortunately they were unable to overcome the plot holes and absurdities, but this was not through any fault of their own.

Finally, I'd be amiss if I ignored the ending. There was once again a sudden arbitrary rule placed so there had to be a happy ending and a sad ending. It didn't make sense with anything that had occurred so far, and Kang Chul's reappearance in the real world when the link had been severed felt like nothing more than the writer trying to force a fairy tale ending with no explanation. Really, the best way I can sum up both the happy and sad endings - my eyes stayed completely dry for both.

끝

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This is the hardest review I have ever tried to write

My Mister is a superlative meditation on life. The description does not even begin to do it justice. This is, without a doubt, the best thing I have ever watched, in any medium and from any country - and yet my emotions and reactions are indescribable, in part because there were so many in any one moment. The writing, direction, and acting all came together in such a way that it almost felt as if I was experiencing events as they happened onscreen, rather than viewing them.

This isn't a story of people with perfect lives; instead it is a story of people doing the best they can. The screenwriter did a masterful job of showing that everyone has their own troubles. More importantly, it showed just how much a kind word or act can make a huge impact, and the power of coming together in times of joy, trouble, and tragedy. At times the crushing weight of what the characters (all of them, not only the leads) were dealing with seemed almost unbearable, but each time there was someone there to help lighten the load or help - sometimes in the most unexpected ways.

The casting for this drama was as amazing as everything else about it. Every character was perfectly cast - it was apparent that thought went into every one, even guest roles that were on the screen for no more than a minute. The cinematography was breathtaking, and the OST absolute perfection. The best way to describe it that I can think of is that everything about this drama was done with intentionality.

One other note, as a viewer of this drama in 2024. The representation of depression was very realistic, and some of the lines regarding it and the feelings of despair and hopelessness that come with hit particularly hard thinking of Lee Sun Kyun's tragic death.

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Swag

This is a drama about love: romantic love, love between friends, familial love, love between classmates , love of sport, love of self, love from authority figures... almost any sort of love you can think of, there's an example in this drama. And it's a beautiful thing - as a viewer you can't help but feel embraced by all this love also, and it is a good feeling. The only sport where this sense of love and camaraderie was missing was with the rhythmic gymnasts - and they seemed quite miserable compared to every other student; miserable, jealous, and enjoying the problems of others instead of the more nurturing and friendly environment enjoyed by the swimmers and weightlifters. In some ways this also feels like a treatise on coaching methods.

I'm not going into details about particular characters - each of the mains had a different trajectory, different obstacles to overcome, and different ways in which they finally learned and grew., whether it was finding their ways to the beginnings of their times as national athletes, or coming to realize and accept the end of their competitive career. I will say that Bok Joo and Joon Hyeong's love story moved me a lot - they were both such sweet characters, and romantic love based in a strong friendship is quite endearing to me. Most of the supporting cast ere also well-developed and had their own journeys and opportunities to grow.

Two small things I disliked:

1. Nan Hee was obnoxious, irritating, loud, consistently in the way, and essentially acted like she was still in middle school throughout.
2. The rhythmic gymnastic athletes other than Si Ho essentially disappeared from the show somewhere in the middle, and the contrast between how unhappy they were in the beginning compared to the others was striking - they took their misery out on the weightlifters at first, but then just kind of vanished midway through.

All in all, this is a refreshingly funny drama, and definitely worth enjoying.

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Sometimes shorter is better

This actually began nicely - I was intrigued by the story and looking forward to seeing what came next. Sometime around episode 20 everything began getting ridiculous, and then for the next 20 episodes or so there was nothing happening at all, just week after week of the same ridiculous things padded by multiple flashbacks of things that had happened minutes before. Then all of a sudden the writers realized they had to actually wrap up all these dangling plots from 20 episodes ago, and the last 6 or so episodes have things happening at breakneck speed. Unfortunately the resolutions to most plotlines were generally absurd. I've watched disaster movies that had more believable storylines.

There are genuinely funny and sweet moments throughout, even in the worst episodes there were always scenes that made me laugh. In the end, though, the main reason I wanted to keep watching was to see exactly how unbelievably ludicrous the plot would finally end up.

The highlight of the soap is absolutely the grandmother, both in acting and writing. She was fantastic both being cantankerous and when her attitude changed. The best part was that this happened naturally over the course of many episodes rather than a sudden mood-swing as happened with every other character in the show.

Production-wise, the costuming was generally dreadful, and the sets often seemed like it was just some furniture placed in front of a green screen because they had no depth.

All the same, I watched all 50 episodes. I just think this would have been better served a 16 episode drama than has a 50 episode soap.

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Bittersweet

It took me several days to be able to write this review. I kept starting and stopping, writing and rewriting, and even thinking I was finished and then deleting it all. This story is an incredible combination of beauty and tragedy, and is a love story that really makes you think about the high price that can come with power and how it affects evrything, even how you love. At one point Deok Im asks King Jeongjo if he had ever thought about what it would have been like had he been a commoner and she not a palace maid - and the thought was so alien to him that he could scarcely reply - for him this tragically lonely life was the norm. He was betrayed and lied to by his best friend, the woman he loved (and who loved him back) tried her best to not be with him to avoid losing her freedom, and he had to be wary even of family members. Not an easy or happy life, despite the power and comforts a king had. As their love story unfolded and finally came to it's eventual consummation I was ripped in half - the sweetness of their love is marred by how much she doesn't want all that comes with it - being tied to the palace and unable to leave for the rest of her life is the worst thing that could happen to such a free spirit. As she said goodbye to her younger self I bawled.
I really appreciated how much of the lives of court ladies this drama portrayed. Seeing them having fun together, working together, being friends, and even the gossiping, scheming, and organizing into a cult gave them a lot more depth than is usually shown to the people who work in the palace.
The fact that this story is a fictionalized version of actual people and an actual love story makes it even more beautiful and heartbreaking to me.
This is definitely a drama worth watching, and a story that will linger in my mind.

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Heartbreaking

In the beginning, I enjoyed this drama because of how unusual it is. For me, the unsettling nature of how events unfolded left me constantly reassessing how I felt about characters. Nearly every interaction could easily change a dynamic, so I found it impossible to predict would happen next a few times. I had a couple of early guesses that were correct but they were not actually providing the impetus for the behavior as i thought - watching the story progress means feelings about nearly everyone and everything changes at some point.The end result is that as a viewer I felt the same uncertainty that Jin Kang had to be feeling the entire time as events happened to and around while well-meaning but misguided people hid the truth from her to protect her.

There were a few things to the plot that didn’t make sense, for example, Jin Gook’s visceral reaction to Moo Young from the very beginning. At a couple of points the plot’s misdirection provided a plausible reason, but those were continually shot down.There were a couple of other points I hit on, but that was the biggest.

Acting was exceptional. Seo In Guk’s phenomenal agonized reaction to the misinformation he was given about Jin Kang will be seared in my memory forever. Jung So Min’s frustration and confusion by everyone around her acting irrationally was masterful. And Go Min Si completely nailed the part of a troubled young person. The rest of the cast also gave stellar performances.

The ending broke my heart. Long after the closing credits I was still sobbing uncontrollably.

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Terrible is too high of praise

Watching this, my overwhelming thought was how could a collection of people so absolutely stupid be enrolled in a university. Too many shallow characters, and it seemed like none of them actually took school seriously or studied. The entire show would have been more believable as a story about students in their first year in high school. The best characters by far are Yoo Eun and Oh Hyun Jung - they seemed completely out of place with the rest of this cast, and both actresses deserve high praise for their performances.

The description of the show claims that Mi Rae is insecure and begins to regain her lost confidence and discovers true beauty is on the inside. Funny, since while finally in episode 16 one could generously say she began to gain some self-confidence, she absolutely remained self-absorbed and shallow to the very end.. The character who actually grew as a person is, surprisingly, Soo Ah.

Extremely disappointing, True Beauty did this plot so much better

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Asinine and monotonous

This drama is a poorly conceived, poorly written, and poorly executed yawn-fest. I do not understand at all how it has so high a rating. The only thing that made it worth watching at all was the supporting cast, in particular Ok-Hui and Deok-Hee: her for being a total boss and every scene where he translates what the locals mean for Jang-Yeol. They were all funny and fresh, a town full of people with different personalities and quirks. It was just that the leads were abysmal. Jang-Yeol was a jerk and a bully, Seon-Woo should have been direct and honest, and Ye-Bong was first an actual idiot that the most unrealistic part of the show is that she could have graduated from university as a veterinarian, and second such a pushover that she let herself be mistreated by friends, family, and total strangers.
The final reveal of the mystery plot and its eventual resolution was anticlimactic, and focused way too much on the uncharismatic leads instead of the rest of the residents of Mujin.

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I really didn't like this, but...

This drama was odd. It was essentially a fictionalized and more psychotic version of the Stanford Prison Experiment from the 1970s. The fact that the ringleader was in many ways a sociopath from the very beginning was definitely a recipe for disaster - and an interesting spin on the tale of what happens to ordinary people when they get unlimited wealth and power. I had a few small problems with the storyline - it was never entirely clear to me how 4th floor became a part of the elite since she was from a lower floor, and I think it would have been better if each episode had began with explaining how each person came to accepting this offer as was done for 3rd floor in the first episode. When there was finally more revealed in episode 8 it came a little late for understanding the motivations of characters in the previous ones. Still, interesting plot idea, and excellent acting from a very small cast.
What I did not like, however, is that there were a couple of episodes that were essentially nothing but torture p0rn - it wasn't a psychological thriller or mystery, it was just large quantities of extreme violence portrayed in a way that I felt was excessive and beyond serving the plot. Showing it continuously took the sadism far beyond using it for shock value, and in my opinion was detrimental to telling the story. That doesn't make it a bad show, it was simply not to my taste.

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Fun

This drama was fun to watch. There were times when I had tears rolling down my face and my stomach hurt from laughing so hard. This romantic comedy leaned hard into the comedy aspect, and it was truly delightful to enjoy. There were refreshingly few cliches (yes, I'm sure some would protest that "but past lives intertwined" but it was done in such a unique way that it doesn't feel like a repeat of the usual tropes at all). The progression from disinterest (or even mild dislike) to friends to lovers between the leads also felt new - and also led to some of the funniest scenes imaginable. It's really no surprise at all that the writer of Mystic Pop-Up Bar provided us with another fantastic series, and I look forward to watching more dramas from this screenwriter in the future.
The cast was, for the most part, well chosen. Park Hae Jin and Jin Ki Joo were perfect in their roles. and the 3 ghosts portrayed by Go Gyu Pil, Jung Suk Yong, and Park Seo Yeon provided much of the comedy that made this such a fresh and delightful drama to watch.
The only real problem I had with the drama was that the OST was not particularly engaging or enjoyable. It was a real letdown for what was otherwise such a delightful watch.

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Funny and cute

This is not a drama that is heavy on plot - it requires a lot more suspension of disbelief than typical in a show that no matter how socially awkward a person as intelligent as Min Kyu would believe Ji Ah is actually a robot. The important thing to know, though, is that it doesn't make a bit of difference to how enjoyable a show it is. I found it to be sometimes sweet and sometimes silly, but there were also poignant moments that showed depth to the core group of characters (who were all portrayed brilliantly). The plot may be ridiculous, but it is genuinely funny most of the time. This is definitely more of a comedy than a romance, though this does not negate the sweetness of the love stories.

The parts of the plot that were meant to be suspenseful and dramatic were less successful than the comedic elements. This is perhaps due to the lack of focus on them at all; in general they seemed more disconnected from the rest of the plot and characters due to how little interaction there was between them to cause tension.

This is definitely a drama worth watching if you're in the mood for something to put a smile on your face.

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Potential obliterated

This drama should have been so good. It's an interesting concept, based on a fascinating mythology. The cast was great, the OST perfect. There were beautifully shot scenes at incredible locales.

So why only (a generous) 7.5 stars? The writing was abysmal. So much squandered potential wasted on plot holes, unexplained events, and clunky dialogue. The problems continued to accumulate until the very end. I really wasn't sure how to rate it - the story itself is beautiful, the problem was entirely in the execution. Sometimes I was sure the actors were inwardly cringing while delivering their lines. I'd really like to see is a remake done by a competent writer; this story deserves to be done properly.

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Keep this show in your star pocket

This show was a delight to watch. It's mostly lighthearted, with a few moving and truly hysterically funny moments thrown in. I was pleased that it showed how love can be messy and complicated, - not always easy and instant as so many K-dramas depict. Of course, since I am also a hopeless romantic I loved the endings for all three couples.

The couples:

I enjoyed watching Ji Ho and Se Hee going from a relationship of convenience to having genuine feelings for one another. It was a cautious process for them both, and not without misunderstandings on both their parts. I did not like that she, knowing he was about to confess and having feelings for him as well decided to leave him, it just felt like an unnecessary plot twist to add tension as a build-up for the final episode. I think it would have been more enjoyable to watch the two awkwardly explore their feelings, and in general could not understand the motivation for Ji Ho to leave like that.

Soo Ji and Sang Goo were actually my favorites of them all. She was so unconventional and truly marvelous, and he was a truly good and kind man. Even before they were dating he was bothered by the offensive way she was treated by her colleagues, and tried to stand up for her even when she wouldn't herself because of her fear of retaliation. He was shocked by her wild ways, but fell completely and totally in love with her and gave her support and encouragement. I felt she was a strong woman, and was delighted when she demanded an apology from her sexist colleague, and even more so when she punched him when he made a mockery of it.

Ho Rang and Won Seok were my least favorite couple. I truly disliked her most of the time. I found her selfish and irritating - and every time she yelled at Won Seok or told him not to speak of anything that interested him I cringed. I was glad when she got a little taste of her own medicine from the very weird accountant from Sang Goo's company, and really felt that she was less intolerable in the scene when she and Won Seok finally got back together.

The friendship between the three women was also a treat to see. I could not stop laughing at the scenes that showed them all becoming friends. The way they were all there for one another in good times and bad was special.

The supporting cast were also quite good in their roles, particularly the characters of Bo Mi and Jeong Min. Both actresses were well-suited to the women they played.

This drama was fun to watch and time well spent. Definitely recommended if you're not in the mood for anything serious.

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Thought-provoking

This was an unusual story, with many layers of depth and meaning. The guilt, pain, suffering, and trauma experienced by so many characters was sometimes almost too heartbreaking to watch. The responses to trauma and loss, both big and small, were varied and realistic - and that made the story both poignant and beautiful.

The OST is beautiful, I'm sure to be listening to it for a very long time.

Incredible acting throughout, Lee Jun Ho and Won Jin Ha were perfectly cast and played their roles as survivors of a major tragedy well. Kang Han Na absolutely shined in her role as the conscience behind her brother and her ex-boyfriend - she kept them both doing the right thing even when they wavered. All the support roles were well-played, but I have to say that Na Moon Hee actually stole every scene she was in . Granny was one of those characters that will stay with me for awhile - which also tells just how good the writing is.

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Just okay

First, the positives.. This drama was funny. Extremely. There were times when I could not stop dying laughing. The scenes that were just the four friends hanging out together, whether enjoying drinking on the rooftop or all congregating for breakfast were endearing - as a story about friendship it was enjoyable. Every scene in the past with the little kids was brilliant. The mysterious landlady quickly became one of the most entertaining and compelling parts, and as the story unfolded I kept very much wanting to know more about her.

I believe in general the cast did the best they could with what they were given. The problem I had was that the main story was flat and not very interesting. The MMA scenes themselves were well choreographed and nice to watch, but it was hard to suspend disbelief sufficiently to actually be caught up in them, and to believe that the final fight would ever actually occur. The writing kept putting the women of the show in the position of being told what to do or treated like they couldn't decide for themselves or required rescuing, which was off-putting to me. Ae Ra was shown to be a strong, capable character, so why did she keep needing to be rescued? Why did Seol Hee keep getting shut down every time she tried to articulate what she did or did not want? This could have been so much more than what it was; a story about young people doing their best to overcome the odds against them should be inspiring and uplifting. In the end, though, it just felt like more fluff than substance.

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