Alchemy of Everything...

Honestly, I was a little excited because of So Min and Jae Wook when the news broke out, and that was fair, but that’s it. I thought I’d check it out when it drops. When it premiered and the response was huge, including in my circle, I wanted to try out soon. Very happy to announce that it went beyond my expectations. Such a well-made drama with mind-blowing plot development and intriguing elements. If more of such dramas are made in Korea in future, this will definitely be in the top 5, along with “Arthdral Chronicles”.

Produced by ‘Studio Dragon’ & ‘High Quality’, “Alchemy of Souls (환혼)” is an adventure fantasy, set in an alternative period drama. Written by Hong sisters (Jung Eun & Mi Ran) and directed by Park Joon Hwa, the drama ran for 10 weeks, originally on tvN and internationally distributed by Netflix. The principal photography was done in the filming set worth 5 billion won, constructed in Maseong-myeon city of North Gyeongsang Province.

The show takes place in the backdrop of Daeho, a fictional country, and follows a tale of the mages protecting the world against the evil that is trying to bring back a legendary object that will be accompanied by chaos and destruction. ‘Alchemy of Souls’ is a prohibited process used to switch souls between bodies. It keeps at center, Naksu (Go Yoon Jung), an elite mage with unbelievable power, who gets trapped in the body of a mysterious girl, Mu Deok (Jung So Min), and loses her power. Then she meets Jang Uk (Lee Jae Wook), a young master who is in search of a master to learn spells as he was prevented to do so immediately since birth. Together they try to gain and regain their power, as they keep discovering the intertwined fate, they were in bound to come across.

Daeho have different lineages of families of mages, each of which play specific positions and are connected with the leadership of the royal family. Seo family owning Sejukwon the grand infirmary and hub for hospitality, Park family owning Songrim, the most influential space training best of mages, Jin family owns Jinyowon, the place of rarest items and host of powerful priestesses and Jang Family, the hire to the Danju of Chunbugwan , the record keeping organization.

Seo Yul (Hwang Min Hyun) and Park Dang Gu (Yoo In Su) are Songrim mages with ParK Jin (Yoo Jun Sang) as the leader. Heo Yeom (Lee Do Kyung) is the leader of Sejukwon and Maidservant Kim (Oh Na Ra) is the housemaker at Jang Family. Jin Ho Kyung (Park Eun Hye) is the leader of Jinyowon with her daughter Jin Cho Yeon (Arin). Jin Mu (Jo Jae Yoon) is the Asst. Danju at Cheonbugwan. Go Won (Shin Seung Ho) is the crown prince, whereas Go Soon (Choi Kwang Il) and Seo Ha Sun (Kang Kyung Heon) are the King and the Queen of Daeho. Ju Wol (Park Soo Jin) is the leader of Chwiseollu, the place of gisaengs.

Plot development is amazing, very balanced at that, with fair share of twists, peaks and revelations in each episode, that are well-explained at their due time. The connecting plots have been arranged and embellished in a way that it intrigues at each point. The introduction itself was gratifying, indicating an appealing journey ahead, and the furtherance in next few episodes was smooth and engaging. The plot elements get intertwined soon after and everything seems intricated, as intended by the makers and the paced revelations of key facts is what makes the audience to keep going with the show throughout.

Hong sisters never disappoint. Just like their previous dramas, this was amazing and probably their career best, for the story and concept is unique, the elements are intriguing as well as overwhelmingly outstanding, the plot development is pleasing and the twists plus revelations are astonishing to core. Some facts were a bit assumable but considering the number of key elements and lengthy runtime of the drama, that’s very low. The characters have been built-up with great care and have fair shares of depth to themselves and the development of the ML Jang Uk was visibly very gratifying. The process of unveiling the mystery bit by bit was entertaining and satisfying.

Park Joon Hwa PDnim for the ace he is, has come back stronger after 3 years with the drama, which prolly is his first period fiction even though its an alternate fantasy; this should go to one of his best dramas list. The amount of time taken for the production is definitely worth seeing the outcomes, both the quality, the experiences and the response of audience, i. e. the popularity. The scenario setup for all of the major places were aptly done, along with the maintained and regulated changes to the actual culture. Both the CGI & VFX work were well-incorporated as necessitated which should be sufficiently commended. The cinematography also deserves an A+.

Composed by Nam Hye Sung PDnim, the show has a good set of OSTs
# “Scars Leave Beautiful Trace” by Car, the Garden felt like a force of motivation to me than a confession of love. The lyrics is beautifully coded to empower someone’s willpowers and is my most favorite for the way its been used in the drama.
# “Aching” by Kassy is soulfully melancholic song about foregone adversities that have caused immense pain until achieving prosperity. The notes of the chorus is gut-wrenching.
# “Just Watching You” by Jung Se Woon is a touching divulgence of sweet memories to create with someone you are in love with. The lyrics is very well-versed.
# “Raindrops” by Gummy is heartfelt rendition of one’s emotions of being loved at times of odd.

The other 3 tracks are…
# “You’re Everything to Me” by Shin Yong Jae
# ‘Breath” by Kim Na Young
# ‘Love Letter (with you)” by Big Naughty

The concept of alchemy and controlling earthly elements with the flow of energy, rather than citing it as just magic tricks, came as a very fresh illustration of fantasy in Kdramas and the idea od ice stone as well as the process of performing soul-shifting were as beguiling. I loved how this basic aspect were incorporated throughout into an interconnected and intricate narrative, involving the characters and to ease the murkiness in the ambience, we got moderate comedy, teen romance, heartful confessions and everything else that we see in modern drama.

The drama and its alternative world gave the makers the advantage of altering and introducing aspects historical without any hesitation, hence bringing out unique propositions, from outfits to cultures and from architecture to laws of the land. The modification of hanboks into solid and designed clothes, while preserving the basic outlines plus the various hairstyles and dyed hair, and then the simple accessories, all of them felt very fresh. I particularly loved them not abiding to the strict-law formulas, that we often see in real sageuk dramas, which also included no class differentiation among people though there were poors and riches.

I came to admire the narrative surrounding the mighty “ice stone” and how both Jang Uk and Mu Deok utilized their knowledge to decipher the underlying meanings and take actions as necessary. The idea of defining it as a medium for the flow of energy between the sky and the earth, in an indescribable form than a mere stone of ice, did strike me to core. The use of elements like Gwigu and ‘Word of Hearts’ as props were very well-handled. The legend of Master Seo Gyeong and the charismatic acts of Master Lee plus his discovery of certain other elements were both entertaining and enticing.

The storytelling was able behold everyone’s interest for its way of defining characters, elements and sub-stories, all combined into a beautifully appealing script. Hong sisters got wise about dividing the entire development of the current time with multiple narratives: the 200-year-old chaos, the 10-year-old misfortunes, the past of Naksu and Mu Deok, the current tragedy, Jang Uk’s journey, Jin Mu’s pans, etc. The careful establishment of connnections between different subplots and explanations for each suspicion have been very adequately done.

The incorporation of the swords and using it as a part of casting spells, controlling energy and performing different tricks was another intriguing element that I loved the most. The way the sword demanded the master’s competence to get activated and their appearances as in the designs sketched over were beautiful. Every duel between the mages were absolute treats with the well-organized actions. The performance of “alchemy of souls” and the graphics used to represent were bewitching to begi with and Naksu did it the best, be it in her own body or in Mu Deok’s.

Jung So Min and Lee Jae Wook chemistry will surely be a favourite, for the manner in which the relationship between them developed with two dimensions was an amazing experience. It was like two people altering their moods on two sides of a sheet in the same room. The way Jang Uk’s mood changes from Seonsaeng-nim to Mu Deok-ah in just seconds, I could not help but laugh until my stomach hurt. I guess those unsettling boundaries made them fall in love without their conscious and I particulary loved Uk’s way of showing his emotions.

Jung So Min is actually talented and I really hope she gets to play roles of different spectrum from now on. The duality she carried in two contrasting moods, Naksu and Mu Deok, was tremendously delivered; I can say she has improved a lot in a decade and this will be one of his best performances. Escalating the country-style habit of speech to behavior of Mu Deok to the solid and steady manners of Naksu, and vice versa, wasn’t really that smooth of a task.

Jang Uk had evidently the best character development among all bc of how his character was built-up from the scratch; from a guy with no power to turning a powerful mage who can outrank everyone else easily, we saw a engaging jouney, with Naksu obviously. Idk what but I presume it was his love for Mu Deok that also nourished him to be a thoughtful and wise man and made him carry out tasks that nobody thought he’d do or be able to. His expressions are something else; one moment he’s too serious and then he becomes an innocent puppy; his playfulness around Mu Deok were admirable. Lee Jae Wook deserves all the praises and appreciations for his acting, I hope his era is finally here.

Shin Seung Ho as the Crown Prince was developed with good amount of attention and honestly his character grew in an unexpected direction; be it his bromance with Jang Uk or his tease-party with Mu Deok, I loved his interactions with others, when I thought he will not have much to do in the story. But at the end, I ended up admiring him so much. Arin and Min Hyun as rookie stars did deliver nice; Cho Yeon had limited time but she appeared so geaceful and Seo Yul as a handsome and talented mage, might not have much importance in the story, but he shined very bright within his character. Yoo In Su as Park Dang Gu was a great source of humor and his presence in the scenes did lighten the mood, for sure.

Final Remarks… I don’t think I have much left to confess about the drama but I can say with confidence that everything about the drama has influenced me a lot, in various ways and various points. The fact that most of aspects from writing to direction and acting to outcomes, have been a good experience, we must appreciate the team for their efforts in making a nearly flawless piece of art. I also wanna commend them for bringing this amazing cast together and it will stay in the memory forever.

If you are fan of sageuks or fantasy or alternate realities and adventure, this is a very good compilation of all of that, presented in a gratifying manner. There should be no doubt in starting it if you are still in the dilemma due to the longer runtimes and 20 episodes bc the time invested will be worth. I am happy they cleared the air about the possible 2nd part with confirming its arrival late this year, before finishing this one, so I will be eagerly waiting for my new year treat, hehe. Also, its needed bc the original script is that long and the makers had already decided on it, even before beginning the project, so no complaints.

PLEASE WATCH THIS!

Read More

I lie to myself all the time.

A famous quote by Virginia wolf goes like, "If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people." Just because something ain't a lie doesn't mean that it ain't deceptive for a liar knows that they are a liar, but one who speaks mere portions of truth in order to deceive is a craftsman of destruction. This drama and the original novels are quite vocal of it, that you'll realize as you set out on a journey alongside Anna, a woman who made choices out of bravery yet found herself in an endless pit.

Produced by ‘Content Map’ and edited by ‘Studio Briv’“, ANNA (안나)” is a mini Korean web drama, based on the full-length novel “Intimate Stranger (친밀한 낯선 사람)” authored by Chung Han Ah. Lee Joo Young takes charge of both screenwriting and direction of the drama which is the 2nd venture for ‘Coupang Play’, an emerging and rising OTT platform in South Korea.

ANNA follows the story of Lee Yu Mi (Bae Suzy) who lives a life full of lies that resulted from her aspirations to do big but inability to make it up to anything. In short the story keeps at centre a woman who has Ripley’s Syndrome. I think this is enough for a drama with only 6 episodes and less than 50 minutes runtime. The MDL bio says nothing of the story, nor can the show be described with a particular plotline. This can be considered a roughly 5 hours long movie.

“Ripley's Syndrome” is an antisocial personality disorder that causes patients to believe lies about themselves. Sometimes, these lies even urge patients to commit crimes. The condition got its name from Tom Ripley, a con artist and serial killer in Patricia Highsmith's 1950 psychological thriller novel "The Talented Mr. Ripley."

Many familiar faces other than Suzy that you see in the drama are: Jung Eun Chae, Kim Joon Han, Park Ye Young, Kim Jung Young, Kim Soo Jin Baek Ji Won and Woo Ji Hyun. There are also some known faces in guest roles.

The story and plot development of the show (won’t say is not for everyone) will be likable among viewers who appreciate cinematic values and are avid movie fans. The beginning sequence is intriguing for sure; starting from 1986, i. e. from Yumi’s early childhood to her late-30s in 2022, the chronicle is a portrayal of what kind of life she has been leading. As the story begins with her getting involved with a lady of knowledge and receiving life-lessons from her as a barely 5yo kid, the furtherance takes us to different phases of her life, showing her ‘the then’ status with year stamps.

Her journey is not a smooth one, as she thought it would be, until she messes up with something and ended up getting abandoned. To save herself from miserable judgements and due to personal insecurities, she starts lying and to cover one lie, she lies further and further, she didn’t look back or she couldn’t look back? Well, there lies all the confusions and criticisms, giving scope for reasonable debates and a horrible yet beautiful in-depth character analysis, which I won’t do in the review in order to keep out the spoilers.

Creator and Director of the acclaimed 2017 movie “A Single Rider”, Lee Joo Young-nim might still be a rookie but possesses great creative cinematic skills, which is in fact adequately reflected in this miniseries. The performance of the actors in their respective roles, particularly the central character Anna, and the insights put into the arcs and the overall outcomes, say a lot about the ideas of the maker incorporated with sumptuous sense of creativity. Well written and well directed, in short.

Cinematography by Lee Ui Tae is of great essence, which is quite unexpected but as evidently showcased. The time-shuffle in a sync through years and ages accompanied by growth, was gratifyingly presented. The definite structures in hazy premises and plain tones of the backdrops were of appropriate for what the maker wants to narrate through the story. Additionally, the background theme and composition of various scores is good and did blend well with the show's essence.

The delivery from the rest of the character was up to par as expected albeit Suzy did shine extra in the show; definitely not her best performance but surely stands out as a unique one and I'm certain she did her homework of understanding the character Anna well.

The central character is flawed and radically unideal but who says the devil can not have it's own story? It's always welcoming to witness different perspectives of and particularly the portrayal of a character like Anna with reasonability to her circumstances, is pretty much delivered.

Greed, money and power make us egoistic and arrogant and the through Anna, the writer has done a detailed analysis of how arrogance has the ability to become our prime characteristic feature and can land us in misery, from where, it's sometimes difficult to turn back. Greed also makes it easier for us to give a nod to everything that's offered to us without hesitation even with the realization of guilt.

Loved the manner of storytelling by the creator and the amount of naturally and realness she has decorated in the narrative with the intentions to put forward the shades that we often forget/deny to acknowledge.

Two of the most striking dialogues from the show are...
"Remember! The poker face!"
"Even the way we breath has some meaning and we can get evaluated on it."

Final Remarks... "Anna" is not something not extremely intriguing or exciting as it might seem from the synopsis but it surely has insights of truth and reflections of reality, that help you dissect characters and their psychology, in a manner that might not feel realistic, but makes you realize by the end of show, that lies require commitment and to fulfill it you must sacrifice one thing or the other. It surely was an interesting watch for me and would like to recommend to those who are into movies or are suckers for intellectualism.

Read More

As good & thrilling as the main drama.

Moebius: The Veil, also carries the same message as the main season, The Veil. Human's own conviction of truth and righteousness is something that can either raise them high or destroy them for good. And when it comes to to loyalty, what harbours, nurtures and strengthens it is trust upon each other. The 2 episode short spin-off, had these things to convey.

Plot is nothing but the back story of the main series, keeping Seo Soo Yeon (Park Ha Sun) at the centre. How & why she ended up in the NIS and during his mission he discovers astonishing facts about the agency and at the same time gets involved with Chang Chun Woo (Jang Moon Sung), the black agent who has been cornered by his own agency years ago. They develop a close bonding between them and the story ends with a mission and it's subsequent results.

This also is a proof of how personal greed, power trip and high ambitions ruin an organization, putting the life of people working in it, in danger. Lies, conspiracies, greed for wealth and power, etc. bring hazard to intelligence agencies like this.

The production value is again very high. The direction and screenplay are intriguing. The short yet intricate & exciting development within 2 episodes with awe-inspiring twists and revelations, truly amazed me. Action scenes and the characters' skills and performance has been delivered well, which is worth looking forward to. The writer didn't forget to showcase human emotions and psychological behaviours this time either. The melancholic elements with the shady tracks and bg scores will melt your heart.

We all craved for more because the main series has only 12 episode but thanks to this pre-planned spin-off episodes that was on the productions' mind all along, we got another treat of a superb action thriller, yet again.

Also, some were mad about Seo Soo Yoon's insignificant role in the story, but lil did we know about how significant her character was, that laid the foundation of the entire thing years before. Her character makes so much sense now. This was much needed.

Read More

Keep calm and drink on!

While modern affairs says Moonshine is a brand of corn whisky, according to medieval literature, it means high-proof liquor that is produced illegally and the name was derived from a tradition of creating the alcohol during the nighttime, thereby avoiding detection. The drama, in fact, is based on the same concept and truly depicts and justifies throughout.

Literally titled "When Flowers Bloom, I Think of the Moon (꽃 피면 달 생각하고)", the show is created by KBS Drama Division & 2 other companies and distributed by KBS. This drama is a debut for the writer Kim Joo Hee and directed by the exclusively KBS PD Hwang In Hyuk.

A period of 10 years ban on alcohol leads to the formation of hidden Moonshine organizations who secretly produce alcohol to do business and to take advantage of the ban by earning plenty. Sequence of events lead to the discovery of stash of such alcohol and while unveiling the forces behind everything, even bigger truths are disclosed which seem to be involving the main leads as well.

Inspector Nam Young (Yoo Seung Ho), appointed at the Prohibition Office (Sheonbu) is a law-abiding officer who craves for justice and truly carry out the ban as ordered by the King. Kang Ro Seo (Lee Hye Ri) is a poor noblewoman who got no skill but to make excellent quality liquor. To live a normal life by making money, she dares to disobey the laws but got a pure conscience and uprightly morale. Byun Woo Suk plays the naive yet calculative Crown Prince Lee Pyo and Kang Mi Na plays Han Yae Jin, a noble lady who is easy peasy and believes in being honest.

In supporting cast, there are many familiar faces like Choi Won Young, Jang Gwang, Jung Young Joo, Moon Kou Kang, Park Ah In, Kim Gi Bang, Im Won Hee, Seo Ye Hwa, Hong Yeon Pyo etc. The acting department was full of decent actors and the performance was overally very good except for Byuk Woo Suk. He didn't show any improvement from his previous dramas and him playing a main character wasn't a good impression though his screentime was significantly reduced in the later half.

Most of the major characters are likable, especially, the ones played by Seungho, Hyeri and Mina; I liked their roles and their characters. The one with the least experience is Mina and I was actually happy seeing her doing good in here.

Plot development is more than just good. It's not a brainy intriguing watch with lots of angst or even heart-fluttering moments. Plus, unlike most of the Korean sageuks, where the central plot gets diverted to plenty of political conspiracies and somehow becomes romance-centric with the goal of uniting the ML & FL in the end, this truly sticks to its main plotline for most of it's parts. The first 2 introductory episodes were able create some impression regarding the moonshine businesses and the progression throughout remained up to snuff and satisfactory.

It obviously has several peak moments as expected but not that stupefying in general; I think that's the speciality about this drama. The ending sequence however got a bit repetitive but it was okay. There's not really much to discuss about the development honestly and it was a good watch throughout. In addition, the pacing remains constant plus up to par and it didn't demand me to skip anything or even fast-forward it at all. I think the biggest plus point for this was the fact that it never ran out of substance involving the main theme, despite an average storyline.

Hwang In Hyuk PD-nim is a familiar face in KBS Drama Division with more than a couple of hugely acclaimed dramas in his resume and the decades of experience seems to have been reflected despite the drama being not a masterpiece of some sort. The screenplay management, premise settings, the scenario conduction and the cinematography have been well taken care of. The overall screen editing is nice, and despite the least amount of emphasis on colour pallettes, the vibe organization using appropriate hue, is brilliantly done. The pacing is good as well; which at few places (for instance ep 9 & 11) felt like becoming slow, but glad they picked up the acceleration shortly.

Writers making a decent delivery in their debut is not new, however, this was indeed a beyond decent one from Kim Joo Hee, and I believe, she should be paid her due credit. The overal value of the script is way more than average though I can't deny the flaws, but I feel those were manageable and I'm sure many of the viewers wouldn't notice. The plot development is simple, steady and entertaining. Some plot elements could be predictive for avid watchers but that clearly doesn't decrease the quality; I must mention, it's a light and decent sageuk. Unlike 90% of recent sageuks, the screenplay doesn't have any fillers and complementary side plots just to complete the 16 episode quota.

In fact, the amount of romance is very less and equally balanced with the bromance line. The development of bonding between different characters including the love relationships, is simple, good and not exaggerated. The patriarchal dominance is almost nonexistent and to my delight, this has so many feminist female, and not to lie, male characters. Using a contrary approach, the female lead here is the saviour of the male lead and in way, anything misogynistic has been included either.

Composed by Park Se Joon, the OST album ha a total of 9 songs and all of them are likable. My most favourite is "Even Though" by Monday Kiz which has beautifully written lyrics that render your heart. "Love Me Again" by Sojung (Ladie's Code) has the old K sageuk vibes. "Who You Are" by Ha Sung Woon is a song with is a soulful romantic track. "Missing You" by Minseo is a heart-rendering song with great vocal values. "Once In A Minute" by Seo Eun Kwang (BTOB) is a jolly track. Other tracks are:
# "Fly High" by LUCY
# "Moonshine" by JAIME
# "Someday" by Miyeon
# "Love Your Everything" by Golden Child

What I liked...
# The feminist female characters.
# The plot transition
# The character arcss and their growths
# The unique conspiracy plot
# The balance between different factors like: romance, bromance, family aspect, royal affairs, conspiracies, comedy, fighting & stunts, etc.

Final Remarks... Overally, "Moonshine" was a good watch in my opinion. It was likable, engaging and not time-wasting. It could have been a very good thing given the concept and storyline but the fact that it is one of those dramas with least amount of noticeable flaws, makes it an average and decent piece. I won't say it's a must watch but please do it in case you're not looking for a simple sageuks with typical yet balanced elements.

Read More

Catching up with life.

I don’t think we need another review for the 2nd season of “Yumi’s Cells”, so this one will be me casually talking about the parallels, the changes and the newness of the show which will also include few complaints, ofc. And it will contain spoilers for obvious reasons, so to know about the quality of the show, please refer the reviews for the season 1 bcs it’s almost the same in this season.

DON'T READ AHEAD IF YOU'RE NOT DONE YET.

# SO, It begins with the B&W face of the person that we loved in the s1 with all our heart. The pain in those eyes though, very heartfelt.

# We have to go through a ‘moving on’ era and process the breakup, with whom? Obv, with Yumi and her cells. The various tactics she pulls to get rid of her feelings and just forget, the time she takes to get over everything and let go, all of them were sad.

# I am glad they remembered the fried egg umbrella.

# Book as a sign of love and book as source of comfort, truly liked that.

# The rainbow music player device is still there. Gays are winning AAAAAA.

# Ruby remains annoying but the writer-nim put some sense to her character in this season and that made her very likable. She’s cute anyways.

# Was hunger cell always that calculative? I mean I knew it was clever but the way Yumi ordered stuffs in that restaurant along with that free stuff was clearly jaw-dropping.

# They continue to present some of the conversations between the cells as chats as the character thinks about stuffs during confusion.
# The fan and anti-fan war between cells for Babi was so cute man, I enjoyed till it lasted.

# I honestly was not sure about Babi at first and the reason was obv Woong, but by the end of ep4, I realized that he was a charming man.

# The recycling garbage dump of Yumi was a creative thing for sure.

# Yumi slowly falling for Babi with the confusions she held and with the fears she possessed was a rough yet sweet journey.

# A lot of things felt like déjà vu, bcs we were again falling in love, may be in a different manner, but feelings were regardless the same.

# There were contrasting paralles between the two relationships that we saw in the 2 seasons and I loved how they were represented by the makers, even so unintentionally?

# Yumi having reasonable suspicions in every matter following her fallout with Woong felt very real.

# Babi’s cells welcoming Yumi’s ‘SARANGH SEPHO’ was one of the sweetest things, I cried.

# Embracing newness and changes that come along is what life demands from us, was the moral of Yumi’s responses in her new relationship.

# Changing profession so as to honor your passion is a fulfilling feeling. Yumi qutting her work and becoming a writer was a witness to it.

# Aurora as the new lights and the turning points in the life, a reasonable method of relating.

# The blackout in Yumi’s village when she gets drunk was so funny.

# Rationale cell’s voice is worth falling for.

# The naughty cell had a blast this season, my gosh.

# The 40kg lingering feelings behind the trunk of the pride’s car put by conscience was also another relatable idea worth of appreciation.

# Woong appearing at the end of ep 4 and that thing continuing in the next episode was painful and heavy. The 5th episode that started with misery, I found myself relieved by the end of that episode because of the way Yumi dealt it. Woong was at least given a perfect closure, I was glad.

# I am so happy they didn’t introduce new OSTs and used the ones from the s1, indicating a perfect continual flow, However, it was also a lil sad for it reminded me of Woong too.

# Introduction of many other body parts as cells, like tongue cells, hair cells, foot cells.

# P. O. as Control Z (read Control JEE) was the cutest. I honestly didn’t know about his role and seeing him was so joyful. Then he was made to stay longer, and I was so happy.

# Surprising was Control Z and Ruby falling in love and dating, and I guess it was for all of you too, haha.

# Babi and Yumi’s relationship was smooth and sweet for a long time, very likable. The way it was shown definitely played a big role in making the audience want for more when, in fact, Babi isn’t as significant in the webtoon. Nevertheless, we all fell for Babi.

# What happened to their relationship was not expected but was I surprised? Not really! Was I mad? May be but not that. Bcs I knew Babi wasn’t the man for Yumi in the webtoon and how Woong and Yumi ended up, I learnt a lot from it. It also taught me endurance.

# Long Distance Relationships are not easy and for most of us, it’s a myth. It was bound to be shaken one day and by any means, which happened to be a third party disturbance in this case, which was again natural. Not justifying it at all but getting swayed towards your colleague when you’re away from your partner is real so it’s upon the person to have control over their emotions, at which Babi failed.

# We have all the rights to be extremely angry bcs after all, Yumi is our primary concern and her feelings matter more to us than anything else.

# Yumi’s response to this was also natural and one of the two options she had left to do and she chose what her then emotions and impulses demanded. She could have stayed and given Babi another chance but with furiousness she simpy chose to walk away.

# Again, again, again, it was only natural how upon meeting Babi after a long break and being confronted, she melted like butter despite her efforts to resisit. It was because they were away for a while and seeing each other again made them realize that they were not over each other. So the time asked them to get back together and they did.

# I will never understand people who lowered the ratings or started shitting on the show bcs the show didn’t have a lovey-dovey relationship entirely as shown in the first half rather it turned rough and realistic. It’s only natural to be mad on the characters but this is stupid.

# The process of Yumi becoming a writer was an ecstatic journey. We saw her spending carefully, thinking through a lot, being calculative at everything and manage her love life at the same time. But the way she bloomed into an artist and flew with colourful wings by the end of the show, I was so happy for her and for the fact that she got what she wanted and rightfully deserved.

# The editor in chief’s character was super funny and so was the scenes written for his cells but those ugly ass weird cells made me so angry, I mean why would you make his cells like cylindrical human beings? TT

# Woong coming back to screen, and that time with a fair possibility to get back together with Yumi, had made me so so so happy but why in the world the writer had to bring him back with the intention of hurting harder??? I was very mad, ngl.

# I was never happy with the 2nd innings of Yumi and Babi, not bcs they made choices to do so, but Woong’s comeback had me excited. And as expected, they were clerly not completely happy with whatever was happening though thankfully it never turned toxic.

# Well, but the ending of the 12th episode somehow felt rushed and abrupt, I mean the way they decided to get married out of impulse did bother me, bcs I was assuming they’d break up for the 2nd time then.

# Okay then, I was expecting a blast to result from that scene in next episode or at least in the finale, which didn’t happen, rather things were wrapped up smoothly and ig I am not mad about it.

# The metamorphosis card thingy was relatable wow.

# The cold virus and it's fight with the throat cells were so aptly presented, also with the ginger molecules, haha. The way the immune cells were acting up then was very biological.

# Ahn Dae Young and Yi Da??? let me cry bcs they were also cute.

# The fat cells were so cute, I'll kms.

# I liked how things were processed between Woong and Yumi’s in the finale, which obv made me expect things but atp, I think everything happens for a reason (honestly I cried about it not happening).

# About the ending, I am satisfied and happy about the way it ended. It was the best possible closure to me. Yeah, It was confusing a bit and we can say we are gonna have another season where Yumi finally meets her soulmate but I will wait.

# The guy whom we saw in the party, i am sure people are going crazy to know but first of all, I want them to announce the renewal, then I want to know whom they are gonna cast and that will probably happen few months before the season airs.

# As much as I wanna know who the actor will be, I think it will be a huge huge huge surprise if they introduce him right in the 1st episode of the s3.

Not gonna list out the complaints but lemme rant a bit. The plot development was not shoddy or anything there are definitely some plot elements that felt off. I can completely dismiss my criticisms if I think of it as a realistic option, but I am still unconvinced on personal levels. Few of the screenplay felt a little off and slow which should not have happened for a 14 episode show with multiple short and long time leaps.

Adding to it, I would have love some elaborate explanations about few things involving their relationships which didn’t happen here, and which was very much prelevant in the s1. The faster flow could be to blame but I guess they also wasted time on focusing on some additional characters, so why not this?

Will there be a season 3? Well, I am both uncertain and optimistic about the possibilities just like I was at the end of s1. So, it might or might not happen, which we’ll know within few days if we are lucky, but as much I know about the webtoon, there is definitely more to the story and personally I would love another season. But I will also be okay if they don’t plan to make one. Considering the original work and the buzz, its more likey to be renewed though. Anyways, I want one, so please.

As I am come to write the ending note, I urge everyone to realize that the relationship in the season 1 was a realistic one where the one in the season 2 is a idealistic one so the appreciations and complaints will differ in a varying degree, basing upon personal references but rationally speaking, I am still standing on a neutral stance. I liked both of them for different reasons albeit the fact that I liked the season1 better, regardless, I think there is no firm requirement for comparing the two for they’re the same continual drama.

Final Remarks… Overally, “Yumi’s Cells 2” was again able to make us feel different and had crucial influences on our hearts and minds. The show retained its originality by once again proving that the story is about the cells and not human beings. It had some rough points technically and the makers could have worked on it, but it is still good and I am sure that, if you’ve been reading through, you loved it too, haha. Will eagerly wait for the season 3.

Read More

ACTION THRILLER OF THE YEAR

Note: DO NOT EXPECT A BRAINY CRIME THRILLER & A CONTINUOUS STORY

Yes, you read the headline right! Do check it yourself. TAXI DRIVER is not a crime thriller, rather an action thriller, where you see a lot of action and stunts and it'd not be false to say that the action by Lee Je Hoon (Kim Do Ki) is not at all exaggerated or overdone unlike crime thrillers or simple melo dramas where everyone just flies off, climb walls like a reptile or jump high places like a squirrel (lol).

TAXI DRIVER is a perfect balance between thriller and melo, and a lil romance. The drama being based on a combination of real crime cases of Korea, is created on a concept of a transportation firm, namely Rainbow Taxi Service, that help people get revenge to avenge there dear one's death.

I am happy how brilliantly the main writer of the drama came up with this idea of portraying real cases and it's actually enthralling to witness this kind of direction. At the same time, I am unhappy how people have slept on this absolutely wonderful thriller piece. PEOPLE, DON'T DO IT.

I saw some people disappointed because there is no romance between the male lead and the second female lead, but what's with you expecting to see romance everywhere? Not everything necessarily has to be about it. Go watch romcom dramas.

I loved how this drama is straight-forward. Obviously, there are back stories for each of the major characters but you know what? They are not that long; even if they had stories to tell, those were shown as prologues and epilogues at the beginning and ending of each episode. You might not like the fact that there is almost no depth in there characters but I don't see that as a problem, given the drama is an absolute treat to yoyr mind & emotions.

Are you expecting a steady plot development to back a major protagonist-antagonist story? Well, it's better you to be aware that, you won't find a solid 16 episode long narrative here. Various cases that would be over come in broken prices will come together at a time in the end to haunt you down, haha.

Let's talk about acting? What exactly should I tell you? Just ummah! People, you have literally slept on Lee Je Hoon's acting till now. I am telling you he's one of the top 10 Korean actors. Let's start recognising his skills because it's not too late, okay? Esom noona is fierce as always. She did her job really nice. And oh my goodness, Pyo Ye Jin, I really really wish this drama will be a breakthrough to her carrier. This lady has waited long enough for such a role, which ahe deserved, and she's doing nice. Kim Eui Sung-nim is as always a solid actor. Jang Hyuk Jin & Bae Yoo Ram have done a impressive job as supporting characters which they've been doing fkr a long time.

Special mention to cinematography and the screen editing. The background themes and the songs that give you goosebumps, uff! Fabulous direction, coordinated and well organized script. A bit disappointed with the change of the main writer when only 3 eps were left but okay.

Please don't hesitate to watch. I am assuring you, this is the year's on of the best thriller because 2021 is indeed the year of thrillers.

P. S. First two episodes are introduction episodes. So don't drop the drama thinking it's slow, okay?

Read More

Don't judge a book by its cover.

My first impression of this show wasn't really good; I didn't assume it'd turn out bad but I thought it'd be a basic average story, full of Kdrama romcom clichés. To my surprise, it decimated ( destroying large proportion) my prenotions, it proved to be a competent romcom of the current trend, and stood out in terms of using atypical elements. (using the term "decimate" because it wasn't complete finished off)

Produced by Arc Media and broadcasted on KBS, "Crazy Love (크레이지 러브) [2022] is basically a romantic comedy Kdrama along with elements of melodrama and mystery. Written by Kim Bo-gyeom and directed by Kim Jung-hyun, the show was also distributed by Disney+ Korea.

The story follows the build up of office romance between a Private Education Academy CEO and his secretary, equally emphasizing the fight for power within the company and mystery of conspiracies.

Noh Go Jin (Lee Jae Wook) is the CEO of GO-TOP Education and top math instructor, who despite of his educational qualification, has created and made the company No.1, with his knowledge and capabilities. Being as popular as a star, he is loved by the public but known to be a selfish & narcissist by his employees. Lee Shin Ah (Krystal Jung) is an introverted lady with sedulous & responsible personality who has managed to keep up with his notorious boss, with the cost of her degrading mental health. With the dream of becoming an instructor, she contributes her best to accomplish her task and strives to make her ends meet. The story begins with Gojin getting into a threat, as Shin Ah gets entangled with his life, and furthers with the consequences.

Oh Se Gi (Ha Joon) is the Dep. CEO of GOTOP, the dearest to Gojin and Baek Soo Young (Yoo In Young) is the budding educationist and Park Yang Tae (Im Won Hee) is the CEO of Ilpum Edu. Other familiar faces in the drama are: Go Gyu Pil, Park Han Sol, Yoon San Ha, Lee Si Eon, Kim Ki Nam, Lee Mi Young, Kim Hak Seon, etc.

I have mixed feelings about the plot development, more than "mixed" it's like particular moods for particular portions of the entire show. As said earlier, for the pilot episodes, I was not really interested, but then it improved and finally sored to another level and made me wish hard for it to retain it's quality. It started going downhill, right from the beginning of 11th episode, I can't say how, but I think most of you can guessz since it's a romcom drama that has to result in unison of the lead couple. Anyways, enjoy it till the fun lasts, it's extremely funny and rarely angsty and there is least amount of romance for the first 2/3rd of the show, though there is a definite buildup of chemistry between the ML & FL. You'll know when the actual romance starts and even so it comprises of clichés scenes, I guess we sometimes crave for it behind the curtains? Haha. I would have loved to see more of Ha Joon's sides and also a complexity to the mystery plot, which somehow got lost in the latter half. Anyways, the ending sequence with extreme conspiracies and power trip was interesting and the show ended on a good note.

Writer Kim Bo Gyeom debuts through the drama, and from his bio, it's apparent that he must have been a part of good script teams, led by prominent screenwriters. Provided his experience, I would say that it is a beyond decent delivery, no? The pilot ep might not be impressive, but the furtherance is amazing and the buildup is worth looking forward to, though the ending sequence isn't as nifty or crackerjack. Given the cult-classic genre with a basic story, it isn't something very difficult to plot and write, but surely implies his skill as a debutant.

Director Kim Jung Hyun with a well-known career graph, is the producer of several popular dramas of contemporary trend. The management, execution, screenplay setup, screen-editing is up to par. The urban romcom and office scenarios were of apt mode. Sound production is probably the best thing about the direction, in my opinion. It's actually that good to be particularly mentioned, for any comedy drama.

There are 6 OSTs in total and they're crazy good, I must say. "I'm Crazy" by the AB6IX duo Jeon Woong and Lee Dae Hwi is a endorphin-releasing song with lyrics that depict confession. "Stay Alive" by formis_9 is a high beat yet soulful track about warmth of love. "Bite!" by NU'EST Baekho is an enticing song meant for motivation and inspiration to climb up the ladder in your life. "Dive into you" by uri love JAY B is a heart-touching & romantic track, and his vocals makes you cry as always. "May be" by DAVII is again a track of pleasurable and fun-living love, his vocal is always a favourite. Lastly, "Wide Open" by Juniel is a softcore romantic song with the vibes of old romcom ones.

What I liked...

# The steady plot development is likable and engaging; though there is nothing outstanding, but provided the fact that the recent plain romcoms fail to retain their qualities, this is comparatively pretty satisfactory.

# The uncharacteristic plot elements and concepts used are what make the show stand out the most, in my opinion. I had assumed it will have all the Kdrama romcom tropes and still wanted to give it a try. Even though the pilot episode didn't interest me much, by the end of the 6th episode, I ended asking my friend, "Where are all my cliché scenes at?" This was the exact line.

# Noh Go Jin, the character is another factor that, in my opinion, is helpful to extents, to make the audience keep going, like a motivational force. His expressions, his reactions to things he's told, his dialogue delivery and even his way of walking, everything makes him a perfect self-obsessed plus funny male lead, which most of us tend to love, no?

# The romance build up is fresh, yes, because modern urban romcoms tend to follow the old plots and there is zero sign of creativity. But, I am glad, even as a debutant, the writer has attempted to do something outta his zone; fortunately, the implementation was successful.

# The Comedy elements are the reasons, a viewer should look forward to and stick to the drama for the amazing ride, even so the initial episodes make you wanna drop.

# Sound editing is again particularly noticeable, especially, for the heavily funny scenes, and, particularly, involving Noh Go Jin. The unexpected violin notes and softbeat instrumentals during scenes where Go Jin is teased and made fun of, were so so so hilarious, I was very engaged to it.

What I didn't like...

# Once again, Krystal's acting was a turn off. I still don't understand whether it's her acting , that hasn't improved over years, despite her constantly doing dramas, or it is the characters sje play, i. e. Bbad choice of scripts? Nevertheless, she could be better and there always that ample amount of space for learning and improving herself.

# Limited screen share of Segi and other characters is what disappointed me a lot, specially in the later half and particularly from 11-16. Ha Joon is a good actor and despite his less experience, plus given the character's importance, he should have appeared more. Ok Hee & Soo Ho also should have been given more.

# The plot turning typical starting from 11th episode, made me go mad, though the cliché romance elements were insignificant & inconsistent. Won't complain much but I would have loved if they had retained their original way of development.

# Extending the previous point, the mystery plot, involving conspiracies and counteraction, was forgotten in the later half; sometimes it was completely gone. It would definitely affect the quality of the drama and reflected in the ratings, as well.

Final Remarks... "Crazy Love" which starts as a basic random show, progressed to be an worthy ride with unexpected elements, though turned into a typical mess by the end. I honestly don't think it's something that will suffice everyone's taste but it's a fair one time watch. If you're a fan of old-styled romcoms and crave such plots, yet looking for new things in one, this is definitely for you. You might want to fast forward a little in the last 4 episodes, and that's very fine, but I suggest you don't give up on this soon. I mean, yeah! I was also proved wrong, judging it from only 2 episodes. Go ahead :)

Read More

Use it as a trash watch or drop it, won't matter.

Police University should have come 5-6 years back to be accepted as something good (not even very good because Kdramas had such dramas back then too which did extremely good). With a basic decent plot, this production messed up with every different aspect of a show, creating several flaws that can't be ignored.

Police University is basically the happenings of a university which is definitely different than other academic educational institutions along with an accompanying plot of cybercrime thriller that the main cast tries to solve. Yu Dong Man (Cha Tae Hyun), an ace in homicide plus cybercrime investigation with 20years experience ends up in Korean National Police University (KNPU), as a disciplinary action due to messing up a high-profile case. There he meets Kang Sun Ho (Jung Jin Young) as a fresher with whom he have had bitter experience in recent past. Due to multiple encounters at critical moments, they decide to work together on the case and gradually grow fond of each other. Oh Kang Hee (Krystal Jung) a girl determined and hardworking, have had hard times because of her mother who has been prisoned multiple times. She also finds the case to be linked to her mother's conviction and helps the duo in solving it. There are also Roh Bum Tae (Lee Dal) and Jo Joon Wok (Yoo Young Jae) who are the lead couple's closest friends in the university and are also a part of the secret investigating team.

Other minor yet important characters are:
Park Min Gyu (Choo Young Woo), who is also a good student, in one-sided love with Kang Hee and plays cheap tricks few times; Choi Hee soo (Hong Soo Hyun), a judo professor; Kwon Hyuk Pil (Lee Jong Hyuk), law professor, Seo Song Hak (Kang Shin Il), professor of Scientific Investigation & Public Administration.

I can't say that the plot development is very bad but it's definitely below average and awfully dull. It was dragged at many points that it becomes boring and so many illogical as well as useless elements. There are plenty of instances of inconsistent writing and the there is a null character development for the even the main characters. The screenplay writing skills are of poor quality, no doubt the writer is a rookie. The story, plot or screenplay, none of them felt like that of a university life in 80% of the drama. I mean police university is different from the usuals but this was very far from that.

The story is dominated by Cha Tae Hyun and Jung Jin Young giving other very less screen-timing, making them insignificant. Whatever the characters other than these 2 did, awfully looked like mere showoff which was forcefully fitted to make the drama lengthy and attractive, which became a miserable failure.

Park Min Gyu who is supposed to be the 2nd ML turned into a noone after 5-6 episodes, adding to his pathetic acting; ngl, I don't think he's prepared for cable dramas yet. Jin Young needs to improve his skills; his character rarely did give off the vibes of a male lead, his expressions to be particular were not very suited according to the mood, also annoying. I wonder why Krystal accepted this drama where her character even as a FL is nothing but an annoying, immature girl and isn't appealing even in the peak moments. The character was only there to fulfill the ML's love interest. Firstly she's not a rookie actress and secondly she's worked in good dramas but this just---. I have admired Cha Tae Hyun from his pree 2000 dramas and movies and he's a nice actor but I couldn't get myself to like his character in here. May be he was directed to act like that but that also made him lose the essence of his own skills. And Young Jae plus Lee Dal duo who are supposed to be comedy sidekicks kept passing lame jokes till the end which weren't a bit funny.

Director could have compensated this bad script but even he failed to do his best. In fact, another major drawback for this drama is it's sound and screen editing skills. I swear it low-key felt like that of a pre 2010 drama but again, those drama did better job in this regard. The camera work sucked to it's core making the viewer lose interest to continue. OSTs are good, I gotta admit.

Comparing it to some of the dramas with similar setup, a very good drama comes to mind, i.e. LIVE (2018). Though KNPU things were for just one episode followed by the story of a patrol division, the movie did an amazing job seeking attention and winning hearts but look at this mixture of light comedy and lame investigation work. I'm not sorry that I couldn't even enjoy it as a light drama.

The story felt kinda good for the first 2 episodes. The rapid yet touching progression of the plot, Sun Oh and his adoptive father plus brother, his backstory and present life portrayal were all good but it somehow fell through in 4th episode and nobody could help it. I feel it should have been a 12 episode drama only for the sake of not making the viewers lose interest and eventually drop it in between. However, one of the very few things I liked about it was the mystery plot, as for to discover who the key personality at the top of the pyramid who have deployed so many people for his greed. They managed to keep that in suspense till the very end and the revelation was quite astonishing. I'm glad for that.

Overally, Police University (2021) deserve the least hype and I'm glad it ain't that popular in real time. I had so much expectations from the story because of the cast obviously even though I was aware of the skills for most of the characters but I came here to be disappointed. It's totally fine even if you don't try this. It's just me who is bad at dropping so I anyhow forced myself into finishing this. Or if you wanna kill time, use it as a trash watch.

Read More

As the name suggests, the drama itself is a doom.

WORTH DROPPING

I don't wanna talk much about it. Given the initial plotline the writer could have done a much better job but this drama ain't even average. Let alone the the basic plot, the screenplay is totally slow and a total cliché. The same old stuff sometimes are executed in such beautiful way that they don't feel cringey but this drama failed to do so.

I have a bad habit of not being able to drop anything at all. Could never leave anything no matter how bad it is even if I have to finish it at 3x and rant a lot about that later. Well, Doom at Your Service goes to that category.

So far, Goblin has been the best supernatural which not only had a good plot and story but they executed all other things well too. Even Tale of the Nine Tailed had some depth to the story even though it was an average cliché screenplay. But this drama didn't even make sense. To be honest I could manage till episode which was the introduction to the story but as soon as I entered to the 4th, it instantly became boring and unbearable.

There is no solid storyline in the drama except for the unique opportunity concept of a Doom. The climax of the story is a disaster which was even revealed way before the interval of the drama, i. e. the 8th episode. And after the interval the way they messed up the plot, I actually wanted to throw my laptop away. Everything had became repetitive from 7th episode anyways and they kept doing the same thing, over and over again, and till the very end.

There is no character development or whatsoever but one the major reasons of its failure should be credited to plenty of unnecessary characters. Lee So Hyuk, Kang Tae Oh and Shin Do Hyun...their story and characters are absolute side kicks. They are somehow related the lead couple and their main plot but the story created by the writer for these 3 people has no essence at all. The writer created it to make the drama 60mins and 16 eps, I am sure if that. It could have been a mini drama at least?

Cast is actually somewhat cool and that's the reason so many people started watching but I don't think that's how we should be be judging. I am not lying I fell for all of them too but well haha. It's actually funny how many people never knew Seo In Guk before this drama and went mad over his looks after seeing him now. Another fact, I can never with how annoying Park Bo Young is. I feel she a good potential but she always ends up choosing stupid dramas with very annoying characters.

Screenwriting is a trash and to make it worse the direction is totally poor. It felt the writer actually forgot their own story while writing the script. No significant editing and VFX skills have been shown, let alone cinematography. OSTs are actually somewhat beautiful and appealing tho. It felt nonsense, stupid and illogical. It could have been an average drama given the basic plot but I truly regret it turned out to be a trash.

It has a same plot of tragic past, miserable life, death, punishment, supernatural stuffs, reunion, memory loss and blah blah blah. Even as a romcom, it's very stupid. Because of Seo In Guk's comeback I was honestly expecting it to be a good average story, if not something fabulous but here I am willing to voluntarily hit my head on the floor after watching it.

Won't talk about the ending either because I told I don't wanna talk about the story.

It's my problem that I can never leave dramas unfinished but if you ain't into cliché romcom and illogical storylines, please give up before you even start it. Don't even bother thinking even if it's for Seo In Guk. Thank you for bearing with my rant TT.

Read More

Not good, not bad.

Produced by JTBC Studios & Megaphone, "Green Mothers' Club (그린마더스클럽) [2022]" is a mild makjang Kdrama putting particular emphasis on parenting, education of kids and friendship between mothers. Written by Shin Yi Won and directed by Ra Ha Na, the show was also aired on Netflix.

This will be a simple review.

The story follows five mothers, residing in the same neighborhood, and the growth in their motherhood in the course of time through thick and thins, learning and unlearning as well as adapting and rejecting, ideas, notions and behaviours, while they strive to deal with the concerning problems about their own. It also depicts the establishment and development of friendship between mothers as they attempt to tackle issues surrounding them and their kids.

# Lee Eun Pyo (Lee Yo Won), a mother to 2 little boys, is a self-confident woman and a loving person, who believes in relaxed education for kids and always puts emphasis on how it's important to help children grow to become good human beings rather than making them academic robots. She's personal flaws though which is irritating.

# Byun Chun Hui (Choo Ja Hyun), a mother to a boy & a girl, is a highly ambitious woman yet under-confident, who has contradictory beliefs to Eunpyo and can go to great extents when it comes to make her kids reach the top of the race.

# Seo Jin Ha (Kim Gyu Ri), a mother to a boy, is an highly esteemed artist, yet struggles to deal with her own mental health and is greatly emotional & expressive.

# Kim Young Mi (Jang Hye Jin), a mother to a girl and a boy, is a propagator of anti-capitalistic & advanced education methods and have the ability of self-control.

# Park Eun Ju (Joo Min Kyung), a mother to a girl, is an easygoing lady who loves her family so much and can be easily manipulated by others.

Provided that the drama revolves around the child actors to a huge extent and the fact that all of them, casted in the show, have done a tremendous job in carrying out their roles, I believe they needs to be mentioned as well...
# Jung Dong Seok (Jung Shi Yool) and Jung Dong Ju (Lee Chae Hyun): Eunpyo
# Kim Yu Bin (Joo Ye Rim) and Kim Young Bin (Kim Seo Jun): Chunhui
# Henry (Shin Seo Woo): Jinha
# Sae Bom (Jeon Yu Na) and Jul Pin (Ahn Seok Hyun): Young Mi
# Lee Su In (Park Ye Rin): Eunju

On that note, I think I should mention the husbands as well, haha....
# Jung Jae Woong (Choi Jae Ram): Eunpyo. He's the best and cleanest character of all.
# Kim Joo Seok (Choi Deok Moon): Chunhui
# Louis Bunuel (Roy): Jinha
# Oh Geon Woo (Im Su Hyung): Youngmi
# Lee Man Su (Yoon Gyung Ho): Eunju

Plot development is quite a goal (for 12 episodes); def something to look forward to. While giving the impression that the writer doesn't really indulges to a single plot element, it throws light upon several things, from family to friendship, child mental health to education system and murder to mystery; it sums up everything in a decent way. Pilot episodes were good enough to expect from the show, and so is the furtherance throughout. At every twist it felt like they're gonna exaggerate the plot, they come up with another interesting element to keep you hooked; never ran outta context. The last 4 episodes did feel a lil dragging in terms of the mystery plot, but I don't think it affects the overall quality much. Coming to my personal thoughts, the show was till 12th, then the plot became a lil choppy in 13th & 14th and finally the 15th and 16th episodes somehow went wary, even so it wasn't obvious. Whatever disappointment actually comes in the 15th ep was from the 2 main ladies of the show, rather than the overall plot; their ways of dealing with the consequences, it was stupid and funny, really. Nevertheless, the 16th episode recovered the damage to a level and the ending sequence of 20 minutes was satisfactory.

Shin Yi Won jakkanim being a debutant have been able to pull off a decent and well composed script with a handful number of flaws. I am in fact happy that the story is not entirely a makjang story, rather a melodrama with both makjang and slice-of-life elements. The plot development is beyond likable and definitely makes you look forward. The pacing is perfect, with momentary rushing/obtuse, here and there, which is manageable. I suggest you look forward to the character arcs and their development, bcs it's both simple and intricate at times and reflect reality, that has been executed by natural means. The only problem with the writing from the writer's pov was the final character assessment, where the writer decides to make the characters do stupid things.

Even though Ra Ha Na PDnim debuts through this drama, seems like they've (they/them/theirs) gathered amazing amount of experience during her previous jobs. Directing a drama special, a webdrama and assisting a full length cable drama, they have taken their fair amount of time to work on their skills. The screenplay management, the scenario establishment, the screen editing tasks, the sound production, the cinematography and the overall execution has been well taken care of. The modern urban setup with both vivid and light hues or variable pallettes were able to serve the demanded essence.

There are 5 OSTs in total which are not noteworthy though addicting. "Happiness" by Nakkyeum is a jolly song which portrays the desire to have good days ahead. "Moonlight Mother" by Jang Pil Soon is an ode to motherhood that shapes in various forms, with the soulful rendition of the artist. "What If" by Jung In is a melancholic reminiscence of alternative possibilities. "Ivory" by Jemma depicts the conflict with your own as well as with others. "A Song For You" by SAya is a track for friendship or soulmates. Other than the tracks, the background music as well the opening theme credit are beautifully composed.

What I liked...

# The plot development is amazing, with each of it's major elements in perfect proportions, that too addressing them at appropriate time. I am happy that it was not a complete makjang which also chose to emphasize on education and friendship to a great deal. I admit the last 4 episodes could have been better but I personally don't think it was ruined or something.

# The natural human instincts, changes in mind, ups & downs in friendships as well as mental health issues including the side-effects of distorted mentality, etc. have been meticulously and explicitly portrayed through variety of human behaviours.

# The particular representation of mental health issues concerning children, is another reason you should be looking forward to. Putting pressure on those blooming minds and making them go beyond their limits by forcing them to overdo can lead to grave situations, and the drama stands out as an alarmist.

# Unveiling of mystery plot isn't really very impressive of sort but it surely takes you to edge during it's peaks, which is more than two dozens in the show. I love how things were still mysterious even for the finale.

# GMC indeed shows you several sides of parenting methods as well as the pros & cons of them. Parents attempting to fulfill their own dreams through their children, leading children along shoddy roads through their actions & reactions and overprotecting, could be creating a path of disaster, no matter the amount of love they pour. You get to witness, the failure of both the protagonists and antagonists as parents and everything boiled down to what the show actually allows you to take home away.

# Friendship in Kdramas aren't new but with each drama, we get to see an unique growth and bonding. So was the case here and the most valuable one was between Eun Pyo & Chun hee, which was based on their thoughts and action as mothers of their children. Look forward to it.

# The distorted education system, the way it shapes parenting and it's effect on the children have been well drawn and felt real.

# The character development on the parts of the main adult and child characters was enjoyable since the respective growths were contributed from various factors that are experienced by us in real, from a close proximity. The last 2 episodes, however, ethically ruins the main characters a bit but thankfully the writer recovered them.

What I didn't like...there isn't much, really...

# The dragging towards the ending, though subtle, was a lil annoying yet bearable. The final delivery from the characters was annoying and disgusting per se.

# I would have loved Jinha to have more screentime for 2 reasons: firstly, Kim Gyu Ri is a fabulous actrees and was able to carry out the role stupendously, exhibiting in herself and evoking in the viewers, the accurate emotions and, secondly the character had so much scope to regulate the story itself; I admit the writer could be correct in drawing the fates in her own accord, it's just I was expecting better.

# Similarly, I was really disappointed with Jang Hye Jin having very limited screentime in comparison to other major characters. Kim Young Mi definitely was the main role in her own world, who also played the most important part in unveiling one of the key facts, but the inconsistencies in her appearance throughout the show is what irked me the most.

Final Remarks... Overally, a good show with well developed storyline, amazingly directed and executed, which had a decent outcome. Would love to recommend others. My initial experiences with the drama would rate it 8.0 but with the progress and finale I would retain at 7.5. Even so I won't really discredit the efforts entirely bcs the overall thing isn't exactly bad. I believe it's absurd to reject something based on the final experiences, so yeah!

Read More

Happiness: the state of being happy or the struggle to become happy?

We have numerous different definitions and interpretations for the term 'happiness' and we incorporate different definitions depending upon the situations or scenarios. For this drama, the most appropriate definition that comes to my mind was stated by Steve Maraboli that says, "Happiness is not the absence of problems, it’s the ability to deal with them." Don't you think it resonates with the entire drama?

The basic concept of Happiness (해피니스)is apocalypse and we are having more of it these days, no? But what makes this drama stand out is a different approach of showcasing human behaviour during crisis, more than the apocalyptic situation. Yes, that's how you have to perceive and watch the entire thing keeping that in your mind. Otherwise you gonna hate this drama if you have come here to see thrilling monster apocalyptic consequences, utter dystopia and plenty of gore elements.

Happiness is about the happenings inside an apartment building that's been quarantined due to the spread of a deadly new virus, along with other apartments of the complex it belongs to. The virus has the ability to invade the infectee's brain and gain control over it by which the diseased develops monstrous symptoms and crave for blood. There's simply no cure to the virus since it's completely new and, nor is there a way to control the contagiousness. The drama is entirely about community survival because the residents belonging to different class who are stuck in the building, has to patiently wait until the restrictions are lifted. Meanwhile they have to avoid getting infected by any means as well as solve conflicts like fight for food, water, other accessories, finding network and most importantly save themselves from each other. This seems like a better synopsis.

Yoon Sae Bom (Han Hyo Joo), an SOU cop is highly decisive, righteous and straightforward as a person. She never tolerates injustice and always ready to counter any challenging situation. Jung Yi Hyun (Park Hyung Sik) is violent crime detective who never fails to get to the root of any incident and is good at dealing with any kind of unforseen event. Sae Bom & Yi Hyun have been friends since highschool and maintain a healthy friendship through mutual care and admiration. Han Tae Seok (Jo Woo Jin) an ex-military agent has the topmost hand as a pharmaceutical company executive and constantly strive to defeat the virus.

Ahn Gil Ho & Han Sang Won, PD & Jakka of the drama respectively, are very familiar names in the Kdrama industry with a good record of dramas as their accomplished works and this drama is probably the 2nd from this duo, together. Given the concept & context of the drama, the execution and screenplay management is done well, in overall. The writer deserves applause for bringing forward a different approach in apocalyptic story. Sure we have seen plenty of apocalypse but some are more about the survival against the crisis and others are balanced between along with human problems. But let me repeat that Happiness is more about the later. It's a great idea to showcase the human behaviour during the current pandemic that the audience could greatly relate to.

We have got many actors in the drama who are more or less familiar and are good at acting. I am afraid i will end up mentioning all of their names, I will just say that Lee Joon Hyuk playing Detective Kim Jung Gook (Yi Hyun's supervisor) and Park Joo Hee as Lieutenant Lee Ji Soo (Tae Suk's assistant), are my favourites. Acting department did pretty well here but i don't think it had any character with significant scope to showcase their skills.

The plot development is quite good, I wasn't actually amazed by it but sure, it's something to look forward to. It isn't really constantly gripping or something that makes you to seat at the edge except for the last few episodes, ngl. I am in fact pleased how the mood wasn't drawn to be intense and heavy, throughout. There were instances of kindness, humanity, love and care, all of these incorporated at appropriate spaces. There is no crude amount of romance between the leads here, even though they're considered couple, rather, to me, it felt like a slowburn development that was invisibly progeesing through mutual care. However, chemistry between them as best friends or even partners is superb, you are gonna love it. The first 2 episodes are not that great to keep you hooked, so i suggest you to try the next 2. Also, personally, I was with the wrong impression about the concept, so I struggled a bit initially. But it's a matter of time I changed my perceptions and to my cooperation, the show came to me in a different light. The progression is nice and the last 3 episodes are makes you anxious about the further consequences. Those are the best episodes no matter how much frustrated I had become.

There are few aspects that could have been better. I understand what the drama is about but meanwhile, they could have explained more about the virus, the restricted drug, the symptoms, which could have made it even more interesting. They could have thrown some more light on the character dynamics of the the individuals stuck in the apartment, with some background settings; Ik it would have demanded more run-time, so I'm not complaining. The sound production makes it look lame which is not the case. I am not fan of Han Hyo Joo's acting, nor do I hate her but I had hard time resonating with her character Sae Bom at particular instances here. Her behaviour sometimes didn't at all feel like that of an SOU cop. Also, Hyung Sik's acting plus voice felt unfamiliar to me since it's his comeback drama. Anyways, the sole reason I was here was the cast and I am pleased with whatever I was offered through this project.

The drama has only 2 OSTs and loved both of them. "What Lies Ahead" by Joe Layne is a country song which has trenchant values, defining the title of the drama. It's all about the anticipations and strategies about one's future, requires to achieve real happiness but little did they know that Happiness comes with hardships. "Pain" by Isaac Hong is a track that yearns to escape from pain, that has trapped them witnin an infinity loop. Other than these 2, Happiness also features several tracks from Joe Layne as background scores at several instances. I am honestly not satisfied with the sound production. Given the premise, Happiness could have produced and utilised some good instrumentals as it's background score or even theme songs but they got very of them composed. In fact, those few are good yet underutilised. This influences the screenplay in a way that the drama feels slow, when it actually isn't.

Since 90% of the runtime takes place witnin the apartment, there ain't much scope for cinematography but the CGI involving the virus infected individuals and their behaviours was upto the par.

Again, Happiness is a live-action drama of human psychology and their socio-cultural behaviour during crisis, or let's simply relate it to the current pandemic. The world has changed a lot since the outbreak of a deadly virus. Despite the difference in our status or classes of different categories, we all were exposed to similar threats of health as well as livelihood. And that's how we got to see how people respond differently to the same situation. People were scared, sceptical and inundated by informations and mental health of a large group of people went into shambles, adding financial problems to the lump of other crisis. Some were craving even for a single meal wheras as some were dealing with it sitting at home, as if nothing has happened. The pandemic in fact lengthened the difference between rich and poor even more. We witnessed people fighting over something like toilet paper. On contrary, we also got to ser different group of people coming forward to help each other and pledging to overcome the crisis together. Human psyche is inherently flawed, beset by biases that distort information. It is seen as incapable of dealing with complexity, probability, and uncertainty, and tending to panic in a crisis. This is everything you'll get to see in Happiness.

The entire piece is thrilling and awes you with its suspense at several points but it might not feel compelling which is okay because it's more important that you understand the undeaying messages which the show wanted to convey.

Overally, Happiness is a good drama which experimentally shows the social science pov of human behaviour and the underlying psychology. Please keep in mind that it's 10% apocalypse and 90% about demeanor of so called social animals, namely human beings. It's definitely worth the one time watch and I would surely recommend to give this a go, at least for Park Hyung Sik.

Read More

AVERAGE & OVERHYPED

VINCENZO is like that new dish you had always wanted to try out but it's served to you extremely bland. Good story, superb plot development. BUT, plenty of unnecessary characters to fill in the unnecessarily lengthy drama, slow screenwriting, substandard screenplay editing and dragged as well as stretched scenes to the point that it becomes BORING as early as in 4th eps. Morever, so many ILLOGICAL happenings in the disguse of fiction like typical Indian show where people get killed without a second thought and the killers get away with everything easily. They did an amazing job in casting actors for the major characters but NAHH, it's not it!

Story-writing: NICEEEEE
Script-writing: MEHHHH
Story and script are 2 different things and one doesn't necessarily has to be good at writing both. The direction could have compromised it but the director's screenplay editing made it even more boring.

They have portrayed homophobia in a positive light here hence I deduct one point from it. It was horrible to sit throught how they made fun of someone's sexuality.

Totally overhyped by people who only fall for visuals. Unreasonably rated high by people who watch selective dramas just for entertainment. It is not that bad but it definitely is not one of the best. PLEASE.

Read More

Let's be honest

Produced by SLL and Zium Content, "The Sound of Magic [2022]" is the live-action adaptation of 2010 webtoon titled Annara Sumanara (안나라수마나라) authored by Ha Il Kwon. Developed and distributed by Netflix Korea, it was written by Kim Min Jung and directed by Sung Yoon.

The story follows three characters: a magician Ri Eul (Ji Chang Wook), and two highschool classmates Yoon Ah Yi (Choi Sung Eun) & Na Il Deung (Hwang In Yeop) and narrates their story of being each other's support through magic and music.

Ri Eul is a mysterious man, living in an abandoned amusement park, who performs magic for those who believe it and always immersed in his own world. Ah Yi is a responsible girl who has gone from rich to rag, trying to finance her family of 2, and still manages to do well in studies. Na Il Deung is the topper of the class with inferiority complex and a victim of domestic stress in regards of doing the best in academia. While Ri Eul helps Ah Yi and Il Deung in uplifting their souls through magic, they find out that there is more to the story of Ri Eul.

There are, in fact, plenty of familiar faces in both supporting and guest roles but their characters didn't have any scope either.

I have mixed opinions about the plot development and I must say it's an overall average delivery from the entire cast & crew. I can no way cite it 'bad' per se but it wasn't any impressive either. The dark scenario filled with misery transcending into jolly yet illusionistic colourful premise brings out great joy. While some scenes exhibit firm foundations and felt necessary for establishing the narratives, most of the events felt rather dragged and even rushed. The pilot episode starting with a long musical definitely sparked many thoughts and emotions, and fueled the excitement for the show, that were already on the peak, provided all the waitings. The show continues to be likable to some extent, particularly, till somewhere around the interval of the same episode, but that's it! Sure, it was decent but not monumental and imposing.

Together, Kim Sung Yoon PDnim and Kim Min Jung jakkanim have delivered both highly acclaimed and rapidly popularised shows and this show in particular, definitely falls into the latter category, though it was an average drama provided it's quality and execution. I had heard highly of the manga when the news about it's adaption surfaced and now, also the disappointments about how the quality of the original work couldn't be retained. The script was honestly a let down, for me and for many others, even when I attemp to judge the perspectives as someone who hasn't read the webtoon. The direction could have saved the show to a great extent, but it's unfortunate that the famous duo weren't able to understand their own homework, which is common. However, this wasn't expected from the experienced makers. The editing and arrangement of scenes required a lot of finishing and redoing. Have to commend the cinematography and VFX works, anyways, because they deserve.

What I liked...

# The musicals are what I loved the most. Given that there are not many dramas that try to tell stories through music, it was a pleasure to see the drama adapting the concept. However, the very execution of the musicals were rather lacking. They didn't feel natural, rather forced, as if they have no relevance to the story or to the characters. The random incorporation of the scenes came to me as an annoying element.

# The visuals have been undoubtedly served and everyone must agree to it. JCW in te magician attires looked 10 years younger and the aura his look for the show radiated will definitely help you get through. I personally think they could have worked a lil more on Hwang In Yeop.

# The acting was good; JCW is already experienced, HIY is blooming and CSE has done well despite her debuting background. The delivery from the supporting cast is great though the skills weren't properly utilized due to the lackluster character sketch.

# The underlying msg was the most important thing about the drama, I feel, even so the time taken to emphasize that was disappointing. Through the years, school violence and academic stresss, have nevertheless, been important topics of Kdramas. So, this drama also counts as an important factor in initiating conversation, despite the poor portrayals.

What I didn't like...

# The fantasy is the part that irked me the most throughout. Sure, it's beautiful, alluring and aesthetically eye-pleasing, etc. but what's the merit of it when that is of no significance. The author, by the end, couldn't even conclude whether to cite the magic real or not. One might think that's upto individual interpretation, but things are too unclear and subtle for the audience to decipher.

# The character arcs aren't at all likable and the only attribute you fall for is their looks, while that doesn't suffice to prove a drama. The subtle and poor development for both Ah Yi and Il Deung could have been better drawn. The characters are forgettable with not a single awe-inspiring feature. I am the most disappointed about Hwang In Yeop's role, I wondered why he went for this script.

# The plot development is off. The 1st scene was very impressive but everything that followed later was dull, inconsistent and shoddy. I was relieved the finale felt a little better and was able to deliver some important messages. Despite using elements like poverty, inequality, parent negligence and school bullying, the superficial utilization ruins the show to some extents.

# The plotholes created in the initial episode and the increase in it's number further turns off the overall essence. It's important they're filled up simultaneously, if not the makers always have a chance in the finale; this show didn't grab any of them.

# The execution and direction becomes choppy as soon as in the pilot episode itself. The forced irrelevant musicals, the time flashbacks, the sound editing, everything seemed irresponsibly done.

# The ending sequence, even so better, was not able to make everything clear. The way they finished the show without answering a lot of questions including some key facts was absurd. Even with the underlying takeaway home message, it couldn't make a significant change.

Final Remarks... The magic scenes were fascinating, the musicals were enticing and some other things were motivating, but when you combine them all, the story didn't really make sense; it was like they weren't meant for each other. I believe the drama could have been a qualitative hit if it were made around the time the webtoon came or at least before 2015, but provided how far we have come in the race, it wasn't anything great. But I insist it's a fair and decent one time watch which you use as a casual and light watch, nothing more or nothing less.

Read More

Not bad!

Developed by ‘Kakao Ent.’ And produced by ‘Mays Ent.’, “Welcome to Wedding Hell (결혼백서)” is a 12 episode long romcom plus melo web series. Written by Choi I-rang and directed by Seo Joo Wan, the drama was originally aired by Kakao TV and internationally distributrd by Netflix, in selected countries.

The show follows the story of a couple who had been dating and finally decided to get married, while being hit by reality hard as they set out to prepare for their D-day. As she dreams about an all-happy life, Kim Na Eun (Lee Yun Hee) is finally proposed by his beloved boyfriend Seo Jun Hyung (Lee Jin Wook) who always moves on from matters than talking about it. As they start planning for the most important day, they have stuffs to settle before getting hitched. Overnight, their family & friends get involved in all these, eventually resulting in unforeseen and unexpected issues, that they must deal with to live happily in future.

In other major roles are: Kim Mi Kyung Yoon Yoo Sun, Hwang Seung Eon, Song Jin Woo, Im Ha Ryong, Kim Joo Yeon and Gil Young Woo, who are talented and did perfect deliveries. You will see few known faces as guest roles in the show too.

Having not watched any of their 2 previous works, Imma take this as the debut of Choi I-rang jakka-nim. And talking about the writing of the story, from the perspective of a viewer, this was pretty decent. Similarly, the seemingly rookie director Seo Jun Wan PDnim has done a good job, just like his previous web show. The drama did give off the classical melo Kdrama vibes with modern setup and the screen-editing was up to par per se.

 In the crowd of fairy-tale dramas where the leads either end up getting together or get married in the very ending of the show, happily, this particular story was on the realistic sides. This is more of a behind-the-scenes story portraying the real and relatable problems one must go through as they prepare to start a new life. Even with a short storyline and limited runtime, this was able to throw light upon many things including the conflict between the couple, dispute between the families, the ways friends and workplaces influences mindsets of to-be-married individuals and the psychological warfare everyone must overcome. As someone in his early 20s with no firsthand experience yet has grown up of seeing numerous marriage preparations, I can’t really say the show was relatable but it was definitely a reflection of reality, is all I can state.

There are 2 OSTs in the drama:
“To The Bride” by Aliee
“Marry ME” by Han Seung Yun.

 It was honestly very weird, at first, to see Lee Jin Wook playing a character so untypical of what he has been doing for the last few years. But, soon it became easy as I realized the mood of the drama wasn’t supposed to stay as fluffy as it at first seemed to be. Lee Yun Hee was as fabulous as ever and Kim Mi Kyung being the girly’s mother that she has aced ages ago.

The comedy elements as a part of the show were very funny and proved to be ice-breaker among the serious moods, accompanied by good soud-editing. Apart from the conversations between parents and friends, it was Song Jin Woo’s capabilities that carried the humor dept. of the show. 

The most important message from this drama, in my pov, is how married life is influenced by third parties, particularly family, no matter how much they seemed to have played the tiniest parts in the show. Over-possessiveness could be a poison and over-interference by parents between couples that too the ones preparing for marriage, could lead to unamendable situations, eventually resulting in fall in relationships. On contrary, well-established coordination, proper and free communication, abilities to understand, etc. are the key to healthy relationships, is what the puts emphasis on.

Before I finish, I would like to urge the ones complaining to look beyond the futile points. Rationally, there are not many technical flaws so whatever is left to criticize is how you feel about characters and situations. If you think some of the characters are unbearable and the situations are annoying, well, sweetie! This is what you see in perfectly real life. The show is made to show what’s wrong and needs to be rectified and what matters the most is how they deal with these and sort everything out by the end of show, which is clearly, again, realistically done. 

Regardless of everything, my fictional heart wanted one thing to be different. It was Na Eun's nature which the writer should have changed, a little if not drastically. There were not just one or two, rather many instances she was in the wrong and I was expecting her to have a development, or at least some growth in that matter, which didn't happen.

Final Remarks… This is definitely not the best drama or something worth of creating buzz, but it’s a well-made story with realistic elements that makes it an entertaining melodrama. I believe 6.5 will be perfect, provided the quality is average yet the decent efforts have been reflected.  I'd have actually given a 7.0 if not for the point I have mentioned above. The drama has about 7 hours runtime so I don't think it hurts to give it a try, again bcs it's not a waste.

Read More

Basically, disappointed!

The title of the show itself seemed so powerful and Seo Hyun Jin as the central character, were the reasons I was excited for the drama. But to their sheer incompetence and my utter disappointment, the show failed to offer anything that would be worth holding onto or keep it in memory, at all. I will be precise, I promise.

Created by ‘Studio S’ & ‘Viu’ and produced by ‘VO Media’, “WHY HER ()” is a Legal-Mystery thriller with romance and comedy. Written by Kim Ji Eun and directed by Park Soo Jin, the show was broadcasted on SBS TV.

Set in multiple uncertain premises, the story keeps at the centre, Oh Soo Jae (Seo Hyun Jin), a successful lawyer at Korea’s biggest law firm, who has worked it on from the scratch all by her own. She is only a step close to adding another history in her name when one of her cases takes unexpected turn and she is made to accept the offer to become a professor at a law school. There, she meets Gong Chan (Hwang In Youp), a student with a dark past and possible ties with Soo Jae. As Soo Jae attempts to gain her position back, she seeks help from Chan and the team of other students formed as a legal clinic. And during that, they discover and decipher truths and mysterious facts related to their lives. Will she get what se wants? Well, you’ll know that if you watch, but I don’t really suggest you do.

As expected, Heo Joon Ho, who plays Choi Tae Guk (TK Law Firm’s owner), is the antagonist but accompany him, other two amazing actors Lee Kyung Young & Jo Young Jin,as two supporting antagonists in the show with moderate screen-times. I don’t think there were any other notable characters in the drama so will save my time even though the drama is filled with many familiar faces. I feel bad particularly for Bae In Hyuk who didn’t have anything significant. Cha Chung Hwa’s limited appearance was joyful for me though.

Plot development is super lousy and (you may not believe) I understood it as soon as I finished the ep 3. Admittedly, the pilot episode was good and indicated a possible decent legal thriller out of the script. But the next episode somehow wasn’t up to the mark and started feeling unesay and by the midway of the ep4, it had started crumbling bad. What happened at the end of that episode did irk me to great deals. I still thought it should be given a chance given the amount of buzz it has and for I did expect from it. However, even after the ep6, I found myself struggling more. The way circumstances were setup felt very lame and the sequence of events somehow were irrelevant.
The happenings in the revelations in the 14th episode weren’t surprising but the happenings were surely unnecessary; the writer became very cruel atp. The finale week was rushed to give the story a closure and honestly “catch-the-thief-at-the-end” doesn’t work any longer ffs. I would say the ending sequence was rather funny, I’d say totally a disaster. All the villains going down at a go isn't what I signed for when I had started this. Forget about consistency, the pacing was too fast throughout the show in terms of screenplay that it felt like they had a lot to show, when irl all those plentitude of elements were lame and futile.

Seo Hyun Jin had to be the person of the show so she rightfully deserved all the screen-share and in fact the most complex arcs to the character Oh Soo Jae. Without a say, she did do her best as a crazy female lead who is always put at the centre and the writer did a good job in presenting A-Z about her story, from her dark past to her current evilness and even her weakest sides. However, in that process, the writer went bit too much over the top, as in making her do stuffs which were not necessary at all. It was a downer to me.

Hwang In Youp need better script to be able to show his skills, ngl. He has been shining for last 2 years and to accelerate his career he must be wise at choosing. Not only the character was shoddy he himself performed below average. The mystery to him made me empathize a little but the underlying suspense did come out in an illogical manner which is another downvote for the show.
Heo Joon Ho is used to acing antagonist roles and his tone of delivery is a favourite. I felt he had sufficient exposure as well as complexions to him as the man behind the tragedy and his performance was way above the par For Bae In Hyuk, I didn’t think the character was necessary or even his presence as an actor was required for the show. Yeah, it’s sad though that his hands are a lot empty but still…

The makers have done a bad job at utilizing the side characters. With so many of them appearing at the same time, not a single one got a fair screentime or even distribution of dialogues, forget about impressive introductions and flashbacks to their stories. The concept of law school and legal clinic plus mentioning them as the possible main premise was a stupid idea to begin with, for the school didn’t even feel like one, the pupils worked like some FBI agents instead of studying or even talking about law and stuffs and the premise always went past somewhere else. It never felt like Lawyer Oh was actually demoted there, lmao.

The public broadcast of disciplinary hearing of Oh Soo Jae who was an attorney at a law firm?? How stupid one could be lmao? And everything getting revealed in that process? How lousy!

Coming to the stupidest inclusion of the drama, it makes me so angry that it was a part of it. Again, I don’t usually complain about the existence and amount of romance in any drama but I can sense when it is forced and when it goes overboard. Given the thriller genre, we did not need a couple out of this but I wouldn’t have complained if it had made any sense. The romance is not just stupidly brewed but also rushed from the beginning to end, basing upon lame grounds. It felt so forced that I was getting mad with each episode, please.

There are 4 OSTs and can be passed as decent Kdrama tracks individually but I don’t understand most of their essences in this drama.
# “Vincent” by Sohyang
# “Beautiful” by Doko
# “What about us” by Hajin
# “I will love you” by K. Will

Final Remarks… The title “WHY HER” is a befitting one given all the misery Oh Soo Jae had to experience throughout as if the writer had some kind of bad blood with the character’s name. And it was the female-centric theme plus Seo Hyun Jin plus, lastly, all the buzz around it during the initial episodes that had me excited but finding out how awful of a script this is, did make me hate it. Neither the story nor the direction, or even Seo Hyun Jin’s screen presence could save the drama. Not recommended at all.

Read More