kkasiora
All the potential for a great drama is there, but it still fails
I started watching this series not having high expectations, since I'd already read a lot of bad reviews. Still I thought I could get through it to see for myself if it actually is that bad, very naively so. I have to say that it was one of the very few times that I struggled so hard to watch a drama 'till the end and many times I wanted to relieve myself and give up halfway.I have so many critiques for this drama that I could probably stay up all night still ranting about it. My main problem, however, with it is that it started off with all the potential to be a great show: a very interesting plot, a grand budget, a great cast with amazing skills and visuals and the list goes on. So how did it manage to fail? The scenario was just plain bad.
The story doesn't flow naturally at all, from the very beginning until the very end. The main plot feels like it just kind of lands there, much like Ha Baek himself, and then wanders around with no true purpose. The main romance, which I thought could be one of the saving virtues of the drama, started off noone-actually-knows how, so of course if it doesn't have strong foundations it can never be believable. As the episodes pass, the story gets even more confusing and the subplots feel like they're patched together in a very obvious and rough manner. Also, I found it very hard to bring myself to like most of the characters. The gods and goddesses that are supposed to be virtuous beings of higher intellect seem completely immature and sometimes fail to understand the simplest of notions. The main female lead is always making wrong choices and also acts like she's a child sometimes. I couldn't help myself from thinking that her being a psychiatrist apparently is doing more harm than good to anyone, as well. So many characters felt completely unnecessary, especially secretary Min and Ja Ya and even the more "important" ones for the plot like Namsuri or Jin Geon. The only actually complex role with a tragic backstory that was facing real problems and even at some points had the potential of becoming a villain was CEO Shin and he is actually the only character I managed to like and also thought he deserved so much better.
All in all my experience with watching this drama was not enjoyable. I would have given an even smaller rating number, but didn't for the sake of the production, which is actually really good, the acting and the character of Shin Hoo Ye.
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This review may contain spoilers
"Extraordinary You" was one of those dramas that I started watching not really expecting anything. I had just finished watching another drama and wanted to start a new one, but didn't really have any in mind. I kept seeing this title online so I thought I might as well try it out. I was completely blown away, at first. The plot was very original and featured characters that seemed different from the normal. Dan-o, who lived her whole life not knowing that she is, in fact, a mere extra in a comic book, realised that what she really wants is to decide her own fate. In order to do that she needs the help of a boy with no name that, however, seems to have a connection with her that not even the writer of the comic book can control. The story was set-up really well in the first episodes and established all the characters and their backgrounds excellently. I caught myself wanting to watch more and more each time and I was so interested in the direction the story seemed to be going. I was especially surprised with the way Ju-da's plot progressed. Ju-da, the female protagonist of the comic book who, at first, follows all the cliche decisions of the writer and is completely dependent upon Nam-ju who is the male protagonist, slowly finds her own self. I would never expect for her to gain the freedom to stand up for herself in such a way, nor that she would end up choosing Nam-ju for the reasons that she did.
However, by half-way the drama fell into the classic trap that seems for some reason difficult to avoid, especially for fantasy/romance dramas like this one. The point of the story was slowly being lost, as a lot of the same things were happening without an actual impact on the general story (e.g. someone losing their memories but conveniently getting them back within the same episode, Dan-o being rushed to the hospital but nothing really happening besides that). The dialogues seemed to be dragging forever with no real value and there were so many filler scenes and scenes that were being repeated over and over. I felt especially bad for poor Baek Gyeong that was always saying the same lines. Even the main mystery of the story in the previous comic book was unfolded in such an anticlimactic way.
By the end of the story, so many important questions regarding the writer, the comic book world and the truth to the characters' individuality and bonds were left unanswered and the only thing that seemed to kept going was the relationship between Dan-o and Ha-ru. It felt like there was no real resolution,
Overall, this drama had a lot of potential and even though the last few episodes were really disappointing, it had a very strong start, so I wouldn't say I regretted watching it. If you like light-hearted romance dramas with no serious plot twists this might be a drama that you enjoy. But don't have too many expectations from the story because you are bound to be disappointed. Instead, focus more on the romance between the main characters and be grateful that you, yourself, are not a comic book character!
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This review may contain spoilers
Fighting through the frustration to find at least 1-2 likeable characters to hang on to
I'll start by saying that I have not read the manhwa which this drama was based on and will therefore base my review solely on what I've experienced through the drama version of it. The review will be rather long, as my frustrations with this drama were many, and you will see me using the realistic-unrealistic argument a lot. That is because I've seen way too many people trying to excuse how badly the plot develops by it being "realistic", which is something I very strongly disagree with.The main problem with Nevertheless, in my opinion, is that I barely found any character likeable, which would have been reason enough for me to at least reach the last episode naturally. On the contrary, the frustration that was slowly and steadily building up since the first episode from nearly every character's actions grew almost unbearable nearing the end and I was ready to give up at any point, honestly.
At the forefront of this was Yoo Na Bi, of course. The main character, the one that is supposed to carry most of the show and to draw most of the attention from viewers. I can very well understand and even empathise with her attraction towards Park Jae Eon and how great of a temptation his interest towards her can be, to the point of her wanting to throw her better judgement out the window (which she does multiple times). He was a very handsome and charismatic character, with as much of a mystery to attract your attention and make you vulnerable to his smooth advances. But his f-boy behaviour gave one too many wake-up calls (or rather slaps across the face), to both Na Bi and the viewers, for her ignorance to seem realistic.
What was even more unrealistic was her "friends" directly or indirectly supporting this toxic relationship. That is a special call out to her "best friend" (as was suggested at the first few episodes) Bit Na, who as I understand was even a fan favourite too. There is no way a real friend that was aware of Jae Eon's f-boy tendencies would not be strictly against his involvement with Na Bi and not try to persuade her friend to end this relationship, even with her more progressive view on sexual relationships, because she would have clearly known that that is not what is best for her friend. But Bit Na, on the contrary, looks as if she is having fun watching Na Bi being the victim of this unhealthy push-and-pull game. And as the drama goes on it looks as if she is slowly disappearing from Na Bi's side while the screenwriters develop her own storyline, which also feels unexplained since a good amount of the first half of the show was dedicated in establishing their close friendship. Instead, we watch Yoon Sol and Seo Ji Wan take Bit Na's place as Na Bi's closer friends, which is probably healthier for her since those two look like they would be better friends to her and not as self-centered. Even still, Sol seems to also not hate the idea of Na Bi and Jae Eon's relationship, despite seeing Na Bi being a wreck because of him, which is questionable for her character but I can give her a pass since she found out much later on the whole relationship timeline and I can see a few reasons why she might want to take that approach. The other people from the friend group, including Ji Wan, had no clue so they can be exempted. The conclusion that I arrived to is that Na Bi didn't really have any good friends that she felt she could seek support from and that is probably the saddest part of this story.
Na Bi's inability to resist Jae Eon's aggressive pursuit of her would have been better explained if perhaps we would have gotten a better glimpse at her relationship with her mother and her feeling a lack of attention from her, as well as her possible experiences of growing up in a household with no healthy relationship patterns. What we get instead is a brief scene of a rather important event in Na Bi's life (her mother not only forgetting her birthday but also choosing to spend the day with her romantic partner instead) and nothing more. In fact, the screenwriters do this a lot throughout the series. They quickly brush over important details for the sake of the story moving forward and give more screentime to stylistic filler scenes that may look nice but grow tiring very quickly. That is most evident towards the end of the drama, especially regarding the situation with Na Bi's piece for the final exhibition breaking, which is supposed to be a very shocking and unfortunate incident but is instead solved rather easily in the viewer's eyes within the same episode. Parallel to that, Na Bi's constant struggle with finding the motivation to work and satisfaction with the pieces she creates, which was a major plot point since the beginning, is quickly resolved by Jae Eon being her inspiration in a way that was never really addressed, in my opinion. That is especially vexing for me since I also draw and have had the same struggles as her and I know from experience that finding a solution is rarely that simple or related to anyone else but the artist and their state of mind.
I am definitely not one of those people that wanted Na Bi to end up with Yang Do Hyuk by the end, no matter the fact that he was one of the only unproblematic and wholesome characters. Alas, both being attracted and not attracted to someone is something you simply cannot control, however much you want to. So I cannot really blame Na Bi for not eventually falling for the sweet nature of her childhood friend who was treating her with so much love and care nor for her trying to like him giving him a few false signals along the way. That, too, I find at least realistic.
What I would have prefered was for Na Bi to eventually realise what is best for her and grow enough to move on from Jae Eon and find her own happiness without a romantic relationship, since both her options where not really viable. Noone and, sadly, not even the screenwriters could persuade me in any way that she managed to "change" Jae Eon and that he finally realised he loved her enough to let go of his past ways and completely devote himself to her. That is not only extremely unrealistic but a big loss to the "I can change him!" idea that had us fall victims to f-boys and their ways 15 or so years ago.
On a more positive note, I have to give credit to the drama for featuring a same-sex couple and I can also say I liked the pace of the storyline they created for them. Even though I also found many problems with Ji Wan's characters, both her and Sol where genuine with their feelings towards each other and the plot discreetly highlighted the societal struggles of loving someone of the same sex. I also very much liked how after the two of them get together the people who find out abouth their relationship treat it as something completely normal and I feel it does a lot for lgbtq+ representation on-screen and especially for k-dramas.
In conclusion, despite the production team having rather promising material to create a unique drama, with realistic plot and empowering characters, while also addressing several relationship issues that many people can experience in their lives, they choose to take the standard route, ignoring many key elements to the story along the way and creating unrealistic relationships and unlikeable characters, that not even the beautiful direction and photography can help redeem. I cannot really say how strictly they had to follow the source material and try to confine it in 12 episodes of air-time, but maybe if that was the case it would have probably been better if they left it and found something else instead.
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When I started watching, I didn't really know what to expect. I had read really good reviews and that was the main reason why I started it, also because I knew there was some romance in it and that is typically what I look for in a drama. However, I was really sceptical about it having so many episodes because I do sometimes tend to get bored easily if the storyline isn't very satisfying.
The main point of this drama that really catches and manages to maintain the viewer's interest is the story. It is very well grounded and naturally unfolded, without it being forced or stretched. Actually, it is so well developed that you could very easily believe that it could happen in real life.
However, what I think is the selling point and the best feature of the drama is the acting and the chemistry between the actors. There is not a single one of the cast members that doesn't do a phenomenal job. It was actually my first drama starring Lee Joon and I had no idea he was such a great actor. He does amazing at portraying all kinds of emotions and his on-screen romance with Jung So Min is undeniably good. It is also one of the few dramas that made me fall in love with one of the female leads' character. I am of course referring to the well-loved Hye Young, whose relationship with Jae Hwan is still the most realistic that I have personally seen in a k-drama so far.
That being said, I have to say that at some point I started growing a bit tired of certain parts of the story, mainly the relationship between Jae Hwan's parents and Cheol Soo's dad plot, which for me is only natural after so many episodes. I would have preferred for the drama to shift more of the focus on the main story when nearing its end or, better, for it to have less episodes with less scenes of the aforementioned.
Still, it was so bittersweet for me to reach the end of this drama because I was having so much fun watching it and I can certainly say that I will be rewatching it.
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The story follows the two main characters, Yoon Hee Jae and Jung Geum Ja, who are lawyers striving to make a name for themeselves in a very competitive field of work, each having different backgrounds, ethics and aspirations.
What I loved most about this drama is its characters. Each and every one was a complete, distinctive persona and there was also natural and well-paced character development as the story progressed. After completing all episodes, I can definitely say that the director and the screenwriter wanted to make a drama that features strong, independent women with realistic behaviour and that is something I have to respect, really. There is no unnecessary drama, no women-pitting-against-women-for-no-logical-reason plot additions and nearly all the female characters are just as you would see them in the real world: striving for personal and professional success, while not being slaves to their feelings.
What was also incredibly fun to watch was the interactions between the two main characters, Yoon Hee Jae and Jung Geum Ja. Through this drama, you get to see what happens when two strong, competitive and self-centric personalities enter each others' worlds. It is mostly chaos, but the underlying passionate attraction between them makes for a very interesting relationship. The actors had amazing chemistry, but that is to be expected since they are both renowned and experienced professionals.
I have to also give a shout-out to the OST which was incredible. Giriboy's "Hyena" is now one of the most replayed songs in my playlist. The drama featured many tracks that are different from the classic drama ballads that you usually get, which was a refreshing change.
All in all, this was a very fun drama to watch, quite different from those I have watched lately, and one of the few out there that features female roles worthy of respect and admiration. I definitely recommend it!
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Proming plot, Great acting by Lee Seung-Gi with a few minor issues
This series falls into the well-known k-drama category of fantasy with elements of religious myths and tales, so if this is your thing you will probably quite enjoy the ride. Starring established actor Lee Seung Gi, it was actually the first work of his that I ever watched and his acting was a revelation for me, as well as, I feel like, one of the main selling points of the drama. The plotline starts off very promising and develops quite naturally as the episodes pass, keeping you invested and guessing 'till the very end, which is something I quite appreciate in dramas like this. The main romance doesn't feel forced and the relationships between the characters actually seem realistic, despite them actually belonging in a fantasy realm.The only problem I had, really, with this drama is the length of it. I feel like 20 episodes is a lot, considering the story felt like it was dragging a little after the first half and featured a few unnecessary parts, in my opinion. Also, I have to say that the main actress, though quite looking the part, felt a bit stiff to me, especially when unavoidably comparing her acting to Lee Seung Gi's.
Overall, I quite liked the series, the production was very well done and the plot is worth a watch, though I wouldn't include it to my list of favourites ever.
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This review may contain spoilers
A light and feel-good romance, but lacking a bit in plot progression
I decided to watch this drama because of Yoo Yeon Seok, as he is one of my favourite actors. It is a perfect watch for someone who loves light and feel-good romance stories, with no crazy plot twists and conspiracies, but still all the good elements of a quality production.The way the story starts to unfold in the beginning is really captivating. You can't help but fall for the undeniable charms of Baek Geon Woo, as well as sympathise with the unfortunate situation of Lee Jung Joo and get really curious over the mystery revolving Geon Woo and Jeong Joo's families and the possible ties between them. The general scenery as well as the individual sets are very beautiful and they kind of act as touristic promotion for Jeju Island. Most of the characters are loveable and even the ones that act as the "villains" bring their own flavour to the drama. In general, all these elements help give the series a feeling just as described in the title: Warm and Cozy.
That being said, there are a few points that don't really help the plot progress and, eventually, come to a close just as naturally as it started, in my opinion. I feel like the romance between the two main characters is slowly and steadily built for the most part, but a big revelation of Geon Woo's feelings is kinda missing. Also, I can't help but feel really sad for the second male lead, as he was one of my favourite characters but had to experience so much heart-break even though he was an absolute sweetheart. The start of a possible relationship with Geon Woo's sister in the end doesn't really make up for all he's been through and is also not very believable, to add to that. At the same time, the romance between Geon Woo's brother and Hae Sil is also not very believeable, as it was very fast paced and felt kind of forced on Hae Sil's side. The mystery revolving Geon Woo's family made for a poor series conflict in my opinion and wasn't even resolved properly in the end, so a lot of the characters' decisions that were based on that were unnecessary. Additionally, there is not much character development for the main antagonist, Ji Won, as she basically remains the same throughout the series and even gets her own "happy ending", never actually facing any reall consequences for her actions.
In the end, I have to say that watching these series was an overall enjoyable experience, with great acting as expected from such a cast and the charms of a life in Jeju Island winning you over. However, I cannot forgive the, in some aspects, poor plot progression so I would probably not watch this again.
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