DurHanNi
England
Story: 10/10 - This is easily one of the easiest criterias to evaluate in regards to this drama. Being one of my first korean dramas (first I watched as it came out), the thing that captivated me to actively watch this drama was definitely its story. It was very creative and original considering woman and girls in Korea are elevated and pressured in standards that our lead actress clearly run from. The fact that people believed she was a man was always entertaining to watch, and her comical interactions with the other workers at the palace was just delightful. It was beyond enjoyable to watch the friendship between the prince, his guard and Sam Nom (Ra On), and it easily surpassed the romance between the lead in my personal opinion.
Acting/Cast: 8.5/10 - I was very tempted to give the acting/cast a 9 but I need to admit that while I loved the main lead (Kim Yoo Jung), I did find her acting a tad bit cringy at times, and that was one of the bases for the 8.5. Park Bo Gum, the charmer himself, stole my heart with this drama. He caught my eye from the very first episode, and though a little dramatic, he always made it work on his advantage. It was also a joy to see Jin Young on the screen, giving us everything we needed from a second possible love interest. I don't even want to mention how much I actually loved Kwak Do Yeon's character and his friendship with the main lead. It goes by unsaid that this friendship was one of the highlights of this show.
Music: 10/10 - This OST is one of the most beautiful out there. It had just the right amount of romance and sadness (maybe more sadness than needed).
Rewatch Value: 9/10 - This criteria is a bit hard to judge for me, seeing as I am a person that doesn't enjoy rewatching things that much, so I have decided to judge this based on how much I predict I would enjoy it in case I did rewatch this drama. I think I did score this one quite high (in comparison with my usual 8s and 7s), but it is in my opinion one of those exceptions that will always be justifiable. Besides its beautiful colors, characters, relationships, music, ect... This drama represents, for me, a lot and different emotions that I would like to relive.
Overall: 10/10 - I feel like I have said a lot already and it goes unsaid that this is one of my all time favourite dramas and that I would recommend this to 10/10 people.
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To objectively evaluate this drama I will rate each episode individually and then evaluate the drama as a whole.
EP 1
Story: 9/10 Acting/Cast: 9/10 Music: 6/10 Rewatch Value: 8/10 Overall: 8/10
EP 2
Story: 8/10 Acting/Cast: 9/10 Music: 5/10 Rewatch Value: 8/10 Overall: 8/10
EP 3
Story: 7.5/10 Acting/Cast: 10/10 Music: 5/10 Rewatch Value: 8.5/10 Overall: 8.5/10
EP 4
Story: 6/10 Acting/Cast: 7/10 Music: 5/10 Rewatch Value: 6/10 Overall: 6/10
EP5
Story: 5/10 Acting/Cast: 5/10 Music: 5/10 Rewatch Value: 5/10 Overall: 5/10
EP 6
Story: 6/10 Acting/Cast: 7/10 Music: 5/10 Rewatch Value: 6/10 Overall: 6/10
EP 7
Story: 7/10 Acting/Cast: 8/10 Music: 5/10 Rewatch Value: 6/10 Overall: 7/10
EP 8
Story: 5/10 Acting/Cast: 7/10 Music 5/10 Rewatch Value: 5/10 Overall: 6/10
Every Episode:
Story: 7/10 - This web drama was quite fast paced and easy to watch. The story didn't develop itself that much and in my opinion some stories were much more enjoyable to watch than others. The ending in my opinion really lacked.
Acting/Cast: 7/10 - I love all the actors involved in this project, however the acting was just so messy and rushed in some of them. It was really hard to connect with the characters as well.
Music: 5/10 - Warning: The main song gets on your nerves.
Rewatch Value: 6/10 - I have rewatched some of it in order to write this review and while it was good to re connect with the main character, some of the episodes just cringed me out so much...
Overall: 6.5/10 - To objectively evaluate this drama I split it into 8 episodes and reviewed each one individually. As you can see I loved some of the stories and really did not like others. It was hard to try to evaluate each character because even though I do love the actors I really did not like some of their characters. It was really hard to connect with them due to the short time of each episode, and the rushed story in each of the episodes.
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Story: 9/10 - I really enjoyed this drama's story. I must admit that I did prefer the first half of the story and I do think the concept of Jong Suk and Se Yeon did tire me towards the end. The North Korea element really boosted the story for me and definitely kept me up at night! I am sure I will never forget the first 4 episodes of this drama. They have sticked with me until now, and I think it drove this story to the 9 it is now.
Acting: 9.5/10 - I LOVED this cast. When I say the cast, I am being a little biased considering 2 of my favourite actors are the main characters of this drama (Lee Jong Suk and Park Hae Jin). However Kang So Ra was also a great protagonist, and our dear Chun Ho Jin was ever the great villain!
Music: 8.5/10 - Okay, this soundtrack was indeed great and I remember actively singing along with it while I watched this drama, but the sole reason for this 8.5 is the fact that for the life of me I could not remember any of the songs as I started writing this review. After a quick look at my k-drama soundtracks playlist I indeed found some of the songs among my favourites.
Rewatch Value: 8/10 - This criteria is a bit hard to judge for me, seeing as I am a person that doesn't enjoy rewatching things that much, so I have decided to judge this based on how much I predict I would enjoy it in case I did rewatch this drama. I have based this 8 on the sole reason that I think if I had to watch Se Yeon's character for 20 more hours I might get slightly put off this drama for real.
Overall: 9/10 - I think this drama is another Korean Drama classic. Besides the action packed story and great actors, it explores much more than the mere relationships between doctors or patients. It pushes the boundaries of what we think medicine is and makes us question corruption inside the government. It will forever be a drama that I remember dearly, even if some aspects of it lacked a little (Lee Jong Suk and Jin Se Yeon's relationship). I do apologise for the excessive talk on the Jin Se Yeon character, but it is honestly the only flaw I can point out in this drama.
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Story: 9/10 - Personally I thoroughly enjoyed this drama and its story. It was innovative and different, considering most alien-human love stories tend to explore and portray alien as abnormal and slightly on the creepy side creatures, which this drama did not do at all. It was also entertaining to see the life of an actress, and a difficult one at that, and it's glamour and downfalls.
Acting/Cast: 10/10 - The cast of this drama is possibly one of my favourite casts of all time. As I write this, I have had the pleasure of watching them act in various other dramas, and many of the actors/actresses still remain my favourite till this day. The interactions between characters, main and supporting, were always a delight to watch. They made the story all the more compelling and fascinating to watch.
Music: 10/10 - The music in this drama still moves me till this day. My Destiny, I Love you and Goodbye had me close to tears everytime!! Still one of the best soundtracks out there.
Rewatch Value: 8/10 - This criteria is a bit hard to judge for me, seeing as I am a person that doesn't enjoy rewatching things that much, so I have decided to judge this based on how much I predict I would enjoy it in case I did rewatch this drama. In my opinion it would go down in rating because I would probably judge the characters a little more, but it would definitely still be a high mark anyway.
Overall: 10/10 - This drama is definitely a classic for me. Besides the quick pace and never ending comical moments, I think it did a brilliant job on portraying not only the life of a superstar/actress but also a vulnerable and scared character. It would have been easy, in my opinion, to take Jun Ji Hyun's character too far, and either emphasising too much on her flaws or overdoing on her vulnerable moments. I think it was the perfect blend of fantasy, comedy and romance.
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Story: 8/10 - I did enjoy this drama a lot. The story was interesting even though it was quite short. The combination of each of the character's shortcomings and potentials was very exiting and pleasing to watch. It was a delight to get to know their stories, but I feel like the story ended half way through it. I would have liked to get a better insight of both their relationship and their business.
Acting/Cast : 8/10 - Kai was obviously the main reason for this 8. This debut was brilliant! He was surprisingly good at acting and very quick witted. The other characters were also very enjoyable and likable.
Music: 5/10 - I honestly have no idea if this drama even had music. I do not remember a single song or jingle from it...
Rewatch Value: 7.5/10 - This criteria is a bit hard to judge for me, seeing as I am a person that doesn't enjoy rewatching things that much, so I have decided to judge this based on how much I predict I would enjoy it in case I did rewatch this drama. I have stored it 7.5 (0.5 above the overall rating), because I would actually like to revisit this drama and think I would probably appreciate it a little more.
Overall: 7/10 - It is a very entertaining short web drama. Very enjoyable to watch and very quick to power through. Would recommend to someone who is either just starting to watch korean dramas or wants a quick fix. And of course someone who loves EXO!
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Story: 9/10 - I loved this drama and its story so so much. For me, this take on college life and its struggles was the freshest idea out there. I am a person that, by default, does not enjoy dramas with a high school setting, and though I tolerate college a tiny bit more it still cringes me beyond belief. But surprisingly, this story was not all what I was expecting. The normal cliches we normally have to put up with were, THANK GOD, discarded from the story, and things like stalker behaviour, obsessive behaviours, gang bullying, senior entitlement were dealt with in an amazing matter.
Acting/Cast: 9/10 - This cast was great. I think they could not have chosen better actors to portray the characters! Hong Seol was the perfect lead, confident but slightly awkward. This was my first Kim Go Eun drama, and more and more I appreciate her as an actress. The way she changes and adapts in every situation and character is very impressive. Park Hae Jin, the man himself, was probably the best antagonist in a "college" drama I have ever watched. He was delightfully bad, but still managed to make us questions ourselves everytime he captured our hearts! Seo Kang Joon was also incredible and got me feeling some type of way everytime he played that piano.
Music: 9.5/10 - This OST was just delightful!
Rewatch Value: 8/10 - This criteria is a bit hard to judge for me, seeing as I am a person that doesn't enjoy rewatching things that much, so I have decided to judge this based on how much I predict I would enjoy it in case I did rewatch this drama. I am back with my usual 8 mark because even though I did love this drama, I don't think rewatching it would benefit my high expectations and memories of it.
Overall: 9/10 - Overall this drama was amazing! It was very well thought out and very well executed. The cast was incredible and made the drama more relatable and compelling. I still do not understand people's problem with the ending, that in m opinion was perfect for this kind of drama. People need to realise that even though this is a drama and none of this is real, not every story needs to end with an happy ending (in peoples' standards).
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