sweetmint
United States
And the actors....to put it straight, they were not good at acting. Now I'm not talking about the main fox guy (he was very good), I'm talking about everyone else, and literally everyone else, except for the evil characters (crown prince was awesome!). It was so cringe-worthy watching everyone else act that I really couldn't get myself into the drama, especially with the dubbed voices on top of that.
The only reason I ended up completing this drama was that it was so short at 22 episodes and 20min long each and because historical dramas are my favorite dramas. However, I loved the production of this drama; the scenery and cinematography was exceptional, and watching this drama was very pleasing to the eye because of the excellent HD quality! The music wasn't that bad either; I liked the intro and ending songs that played at every episode and occasionally other songs would come out throughout the drama.
Overall, watch this drama because it's so short if you have a lot of free time on your hands, just want to see what it's about, or just don't have anything else to watch since this drama isn't really worth it so don't go into it with expectations like I did!
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To start off, Joon Hyung was the most kind, caring, and sweet boyfriend I have ever seen in a drama. He cared about Bok Joo so much and wasn't a jerk like other kdrama male leads. And Bok Joo was adorable, even though she played a weightlifter and wore some pretty nerdy clothes at times, you can still see how pretty and true to life she really is. Their chemistry together is one of the best that I've seen; no moment they were together was dull. There were so supportive of each other and they depicted a love that was very realistic and pure without any cliches like other dramas.
And there were also so many supportive characters and I loved every single one of them. Bok Joo's friends were always so supportive of her, and it really made me realize how important it is to have such amazing friends like them, and at times made me envious of Bok Joo for having such great ones. Not to mention, Joon Hyung's friend was hilarious and I loved watching his interactions with Bok Joo's friends.
I have to admit, at first, when I heard that this drama revolved around weightlifting, I had my doubts about watching this drama because personally, I don't like that style because most dramas I watched with sports themes don't turn out very well (but I decided to give it a shot bc Nam Joo Hyuk). But gosh did this drama prove me wrong. The sports theme added elements of hope and ambition that wouldn't be there otherwise. This drama just proves that not every drama has to have a complicated storyline or evil characters that get in the way, because this one had none of that and was still so amazing, and the high rating is really justified by it. I definitely hope that more dramas have pure romances and happy stories like this one!
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The music was phenomenal and made important scenes all the more emotional and heart throbbing. I especially enjoyed "For You" by EXO which was played in the beginning of the drama, but I was disappointed that this song was not played more. Although, other pieces were great as well and whenever I listen to them again, get nostalgia from this drama.
I loved how Hae Soo was very bubbly and lifted the mood whenever she was around, making all the brothers laugh even when there was awkwardness between them. She was loved by everyone around her, and soon, many of the princes fell for her, eventually creating many rivalries. However, as she was faced with difficulties and saw the deaths of many she loved dearly, I feel she lost hope in life and soon became not as bright. It was difficult to watch because she looked like she had depression and was always absentminded and did not show her feelings as much.
The scenes I enjoyed most was in the first couple of episodes when Hae Soo was still fairly young and had not been exposed to the machinations and evil schemes of others yet. I thought Wook and Hae Soo were very compatible and happy when they were together, and I wished for them to be together. I was wondering how So would be the main lead; but I soon found out. Wook, imo was very pitiful because of his ambitious sister and mother, and because of his love for them, sacrificed Soo and in order to protect her, became evil. On another note, I also very much enjoyed watching Baek Ah & Woo Hee's romance blossom, and sometimes that was the only thing I was looking forward to watching near the end because everything else was just so depressing to watch because nothing went right.
What made this drama so hard to watch was the drastic change in Wang So's character. He was always someone who was kind, though did not always show it, and wanted his brothers to all live in peace with each other. However, his personality definitely took a turn for the worst when he took the throne and became ruthless, killing many, and ruled like his brother Wang Yo did, if not worse. And I feel like So and Hae Soo's romance was not very developed as Hae Soo had no feelings whatsoever in the entire first half of the drama, as she was in love with Wook. And So at times did not trust Soo when others wanted to come between them, and that was what ruined their relationship. There were times where they just grew more and more distant from each other.
The ending was very disappointing; I was hoping that many events would somehow be reversed, but I knew it was impossible. Though I expected a sad ending, especially with the episodes leading up to it, I was still hoping for a happy one. Overall, the cast, music, and scenery where amazing, but the storyline could have been better especially with the last half of the drama. However, I will definitely watch if there is a Season 2!
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I was looking forward to this drama because the cast looked pretty good with Kim Soo Hyun and Sung Jae, but this drama really didn't do as well as it could have. Some parts of the drama where fairly good except rather confusing at times especially with the mysteries surrounding the storyline.
The characters were not developed which was disappointing. I don't think I ever saw Lee Eun Bi grow as a character or student at all, and at times her character can be very depressing to watch because she does not show much emotion. Han Yi An did grow as a swimmer, but didn't see much of him overall in the drama so can't tell if he grew as a person. And Kim So Young was such a pain in the butt to watch because just when you think the whole fiasco with her and Lee Eun Bi is over, she comes back and ruins everything again and again.
Surprisingly, this drama had so pretty good music, but really only one song tbh. "Reset" was the only song that I thoroughly enjoyed and whenever that song came up in a scene it automatically made that scene more enjoyable and emotional.
This drama has a love triangle which I was really looking forward to because I love dramas with love triangles but this drama was lacking in really showing it. There wasn't much interaction between Gong Tae Kwang, Han Yi An, and Lee Eun Bi especially in the beginning but increased in the last couple episodes but was still lacking and inconclusive. This drama has one of the best love triangles- but only because both lovelines were underdeveloped since there was so little interaction/actual romance so you can't really tell who is the main guy she will end up with. I felt like it was mainly just friendly love and support rather than actual love. No scenes had me drawn with love for the OTP or romance.
The ending was definitely unsatisfying. It ended on a happy and light note but the romance was very inconclusive; not sure if they actually ended up together or not, and was more of a 'meh, you're here, how have you been' kind of situation. Overall, pretty disappointing drama as I was looking forward to it but give it a go you might like this school themed drama.
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I think this drama is pretty overrated, mainly because of the top stars in this drama and popularity of it because otherwise, I don't see a basis for this 8.9 rating. Personally, I love Kim Soo Hyun -he's one of my favorite actors- but for some reason this drama just didn't cut it for me.
This drama had a lot of potential but it kind of just went all over the place. There's a lot of genres and different mysteries throughout, which is what brought this drama down. The genres ranged from historical/saeguk genre dating back to the Joseon years to modern 20th century top-star actors to family drama to crazy messed up crime to magic sci-fi to comedy to conglomerate businesses. I like all of these genres, but when they are combined, it just doesn't work out. Like one moment you'd be watching middle-aged scholars write historical books in the 1600's and the next moment you'd be brought into reality when a top star actress is being arrogant and demands to be escorted at every second.
I loved the sci-fi theme about how Do Min Joon was an 'alien' and had special superpowers, and I think if the story just focused on this, it would have had so much more potential and still have been very interesting. But when they brought in egocentric film industry characters and psychopathic serial killers, it really made the story all over the place. Sometimes, it even felt like Do Min Joon's powers were just a side story because it focused so much on solving the murder crimes committed by Lee Jae Kyung (who was a complete psycho btw, and everytime he came on the screen, I just wanted to scream).
Do Min Joon, however, was an amazing character and I loved his personality. Deep down, he is a very kind person that is loyal and will sacrifice his life protecting others. His awesome alien capabilities made him all the more cool and I wish I could do those things like teleport lmao. Kim Soo Hyun being cast as him was a great choice, but I wish I could say the same for Jun Ji Hyun. Her character was someone that was spoiled, bratty, and arrogant af considering she plays a topstar actress. Sometimes I wish someone else was cast because she is considerably older than Do Min Joon. However, after her career went downhill, you can see that she is actually someone pretty cute with a lot aegyo, especially when she starts to realize that she likes Do Min Joon, and I thought it was very cute when she got clingy to him. Even though she seems like she has everything in the eyes of others, she really doesn't.
Cheon Song Yi's brother was hilarious. At first, he was portrayed as someone very arrogant, and I was like...? what's his purpose in this drama; but, especially after seeing his interactions with Do Min Joon his character took a complete reversal and he was really funny. Also considering the fact that Ahn Jae Hyung plays a high school student even though he is older Do Min Joon is also pretty funny. That E.T. moment though (replayed that like 10 times xD)
Okay moving on to some other characters. Hee Kyung go really annoying sometimes and it got on my nerves, but I liked him better towards the end when he realized what his brother was doing bc he was pretty smart about it. Also, his obsession towards Song Yi was kinda creepy, like no offense but an enlarged picture of her on your bedroom wall?? Okay sorry. Anyways, I also liked Yoo Se Mi's brother, the prosecutor, because he was pretty smart yet still handsome!
The music was nice, but not amazing. There's of course the infamous 'My Destiny' song which I like, but has been overplayed so much that I kind of don't like it anymore lol.
Overall, this drama was okay, but just could have been so much better! Just the plot had so many categories that it just couldn't concentrate on one thing to make it better. However, this may be a good drama to watch if you are new to kdramas!
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