MattPeddlesden
Kent, UK
Longer...
The FL is 10 years older than the ML. They've known each other for many years and the ML and his sister have practically been raised as siblings to the FL following their own mothers passing and their father abandoning them... so there's some taboo's to overcome when the FL and ML realise their feelings for each other have grown significantly.
This story is one of love, romance and hardship. Fairly early on the couple are getting together and the way in which they overcome that first hurdle of - who makes the first move - was really nicely done. As the relationship grows, the FL's character visibly brightens and changes, she gains confidence and literally becomes more bouncy. There are the silly childish games that couples play in the honeymoon phase along the lines of "no, you hang up first" with some cute scenes involving him dropping her off at home and them taking a long time to actually separate.
There's the FL's brother, the ML's sister, the FL's parents (who by some extension are also somewhat the ML's fake-parents), all of which are probably going to have a problem with this relationship. These are tackled one by one and I thought handled well.
The FL's mother - probably one of my most disliked characters in a story. On the one hand, she's obviously a caring mother, she goes out of her way to help and OUGHT to be a fantastic mother, but she's so controlling and interfering she becomes the clear "bad guy" in this story (that's not a spoiler, it's fairly clear early on who the problem is going to be!). She's acted well though I have to say.
In addition to what's happening in her personal life, the FL has problems at work with sexual harassment from a couple of the male senior staff. I found this whole aspect of the story really hard to watch, but more because it was portrayed well and therefore all the more shameful - not so much about the actual act of harassing but all the scheming and tactics to try and dodge it, cover it up, pass over the blame etc. Ultimately the story kinda builds to a conclusion on this and then SKIPS it however so you actually only find out what ultimately happened via a reminiscence later on, a huge shame.
None of the sound track really stood out for me, it does all seem to be English lyrics which was interesting. One of the songs is a remake of Stand By Your Man - which plays sooo many times - but I found it appropriate if only because this story is clearly - Stand By Your Woman. The FL is going through so many challenges at home and at work, she's a flawed character who makes mistakes on top, and what she needs most (and, for the most part, what she gets from the ML) is support.
So, was it worth watching?
I'd recommend watching this one because of the first 2/3 being SO good, it goes beyond the ridiculously cute honeymoon phase to further in where things become more normal, to where they upset each other, decisions are made and things happen, there's the happenings with the family and with the ML's sister. There's really only two threads (their relationship and the harassment story line) but they are both quite involved.
This is not a story where good people make only good decisions, be prepared to throw popcorn at the screen and shout "just be honest!" "argh no don't do that you fool!" - but that's ok because in the real world, people are flawed too.
The wheels do come off later, the time skip is unannounced and utterly confusing and contributes a lot to the problems in following the story in the last few episodes. The harassment story line is done a huge disservice by not having its conclusion covered properly too.
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There are lots of strong characters in this one, the main leads are of course there but the seconds are just as present and have good interesting plots and backgrounds in their own rights.
My favourite character by far was Baek In Ha - her character teeters on a fine line between "ugh she's so annoying get her off the screen" and wacky enough to be different and given the relatively flat and understated natures of the main leads, In Ha's stark contrast was actually a welcome shot in the arm. The actress (Lee Sung Kyung) did a brilliant job with an almost constant stream of outlandish facial expressions - this girl wears her heart on her sleeve and hides nothing from anyone around her, but she's selfish, bitchy and clearly has some issues. It was good to see that ultimately those issues got explored as part of the male leads story, and I particularly liked the utter contrast when In Ha has something of a breakdown and ends up in care for a short while as things come to a head in the story. I am absolutely going to look up some more work from Lee Sung Kyung though, I absolutely need to see her talents in other roles!
I can draw some parallels in this story against "Remember - War of the Son" - both stories cover the warped way that chaibol kids are raised and the impacts that it has on them as they grow, how they react / respect the people around them and the impact that it has on those people. Baek In Ha and Baek In Ho are hugely impacted by what looks to be a wonderful gesture from Mr You, the father, to bring them in and adopt them - but they ultimately pay a price because of how it affects them, and that starts to talk to how In Ha ends up the outlandish character that she is.
I've read some reviews and other commentary on this show and it seems a lot of people wanted Hong Seol (the female lead) to end up with the second lead (Baek In Ho), but I must admit throughout I was routing for her to end up with Yoo Joung (the male lead) - throughout the story he is clearly developing as a person, she's dragging him to some sense of reality and she's the one person that he wants to hold on to enough that he improves himself to do it. I enjoyed his transformation including the ultimate realisation of just how far he needed to come to ensure that he didn't hurt those around him any more, and taking responsibility for that change.
For those looking for the fluffy romance, look no further than secondary characters Bo-Ra and Eun-Taek - at the start he jokingly comments that he's her "servant" but wonders when she will release him from being a servant. It's clear that he wants more out of the relationship but she seems dead set on things staying as they are. This is developed and explored throughout and was as well done as some main couple stories. I'm glad this was present in the story, it created some light moments as well as giving you multiple couples to support and hope would find their way to a happy future.
Music - nothing really stood out, I need to listen to the OST to see if I was just paying too much attention to the story.
On the topic of Music, Baek In Ho is portrayed as a character who is a genius with the Piano and numerous times in the story he is seen playing various pieces. The piano is my favourite musical instrument and I was delighted to see it included in this way - some of my favourite scenes were with In Ho and Hong Seol sitting side by side playing a piece together and having fun.
Conclusion - I think it's worth a watch, i'm not sure if i'd rewatch it in a hurry but that's almost entirely down to the absolutely rubbish way they concluded it in the final few seconds. I genuinely thought i'd pressed a skip button on my phone or something. On reflection I think they were just trying to be coy or imply the start of something bigger but having gone to the extent of the setup prior to the final moments (trying to avoid spoilers here) the final scene was just a complete let-down. One more episode was almost needed, at least, in order to put a proper conclusion to this and then i'd have been much happier with it overall.
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Don't take it too seriously :)
Short: It's so over the top in places you can't mistake it for anything trying to take itself seriously. I loved the various characters and the general story,. I liked the little nods to other things like a scene from Parasite and it had lots of energy. It's not going to be top of your list, but it's fun and easy watching. I certainly enjoyed it. I don't think it was bad at all, it was silly and OTT but also lots of fun :)Detail:
Ok first I have to call out the little cameo moments that I thought were amusing as heck. In one, the father goes to be a driver for the ex-girlfriends family and takes a test drive - and it's ripped straight line for line out of Parasite, and also refers to how she had to fire the last guy because he stank from living in a basement (which the guy did in Parasite). In another, Ahn Chang Hwan turns up in the store, and immediately Dal Shik - played by Eum Moon Suk, who was also in Fiery Priest along with Ahn Chang Hwan - start doing a riff where Moon suk starts asking Chang Hwan to say "peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers" just as his character did in Fiery Priest. Later, he re-assumes that role when he goes to help Saet Byul who visits someone that's trying to blackmail the store - he dresses up exactly as his character in Fiery Priest, including the voice etc. I love these little cross overs, they don't matter if you don't recognise them but they're a fun "aha!" moment when you do... though they perhaps tell me that I watch too much KDrama, I shall meditate on that point as I watch another KDrama...
Fiery Priest had the same Director, Lee Myung Woo - so you can kinda expect the same slightly OTT pace and style to everything.
I also noted the similarity between Ji Chang Wook's name (the ML) and Kang Ji Wook (the character name of the actor friend of Saet Byul's) :)
The main leads have some great chemistry, and I really liked the independence and strength they gave Saet Byul. I also liked that Ji Chang Wook's character knew when to back off and leave her to her own thoughts and come to her own decisions no matter how hard it was for him, he supported and encouraged when it was right and backed off when it was needed.
I think the take away message from this is about really understanding what's important, understanding what defines success for you - is it money? what is happiness? Once you understand that (and there's no point fooling yourself, only you lose out), you can make decisions you might not otherwise have made and find that happiness.
Second leads Seo Ye Hwa and Eum Moon Suk make for a very amusing pair as they go through turbulent times (probably more over the top than the main leads) but are also heartwarming in how things develop between them.
The drama has the usual tropes lined up almost numbered so you can call them out one at a time. Multiple Love triangles, the wicked girlfriends mum (well, ex-girlfriend but interfering none the less), misunderstanding after misunderstanding, you name it, it's probably there. But, as I said, it's kinda all hammed up a bit so rather than frustrating it becomes quite amusing more than anything.
Oh, and those endings where something key is about to happen and the screen freezes for it to conclude next episode, yeah, few of those, swore a couple of times at the TV for that :)
Probably not everyone's cup of tea but heck I enjoyed it :)
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A gem of a Legal drama
Short: A very clever legal drama, if you enjoy the legal dramas where it's all about winding your way through the "devil in the detail" clauses and exceptions, the machinations and maneuverings of the various characters as they try and achieve their goals and all on the legal stage then you will absolutely love this. I think it comes off really pretentious, but is perhaps justified through its quality. "We Are" sound track still going around and around in my head too!Detail:
I'll start by explaining the use of the word "pretentious" above. It was the first thing I was thinking as the drama starts, wow, this one is taking itself SUPER seriously... deep voices, stern comments, powerful people, important phrases and people reflecting sternly and importantly on the statue of Lady Justice. In the first episode especially, it's almost too much, I remember thinking "oh geez just get over yourself and get on with it". It does lighten up, but this tone persists throughout.
Now that i've finished it however, I think it earns the right. There's a lot of detail and effort gone into the story and some really clever twists and turns as the characters fight to gain the upper hand through the use of the law. It definitely feels like you're watching a chess game played by experts.
Characters are great, they have flaws and strengths. Sol-A was definitely my favourite - she's the complete underdog, the under achiever, she barely belongs in the university at all and is struggling to keep her grades high enough. But what she lacks there, she over compensates with her drive and passion and when the genie is unlocked proves that she at least as good as everyone else.
I thought that Sol-B's issues were also nicely done too, there's a common thread in many dramas about how the wealthy are often driven horribly by parents who place unreasonable demands on them, and I liked how this one was handled. It was a well played character and must have been quite challenging to both write and embody, she's cold and has flat expressions and constant tone but she's not uncaring or unfeeling and she's there for her fellow students and friends.
There was one scene that I thought just felt really off, and it was another "oh here we go taking ourselves too seriously again" moment, in the court, one of the characters is in the defense and the professor is her defense council. At a key moment he announces sternly and proudly, that he we will be resigning as council, shocks and gasps from the viewing gallery... and then he says he will allow his student (the defendant) to use her write to defend herself and proceeds to turn the whole thing into a lecture, even at one point rebuking the prosecution when they object to something by saying "in MY lectures, there are no objections", completely ignoring that this is actually a court room and a real proceeding... but it's ok because the judge also forgets that too, so we carry on with the "lecture" :) I mean it's not the end of the world, it worked for the character development very well, allowing him to empower the girl to find her strength and stand up for herself in a situation where she'd otherwise been on the receiving end of everyone elses manipulations.
Overall it's a superbly written story, if you like the legal maneuverings and careful interpretations of phrases, all that super detailed stuff that's the essence of the law, then you will find that in spades here. There's some great twists, great characters, fun moments too, and a nice sound track (the song "we are" is still going around in my head and will be for some time i'm sure!).
Definitely recommended.
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Very enjoyable :)
Short: Bullying in school, corporate and political crimes, all come to a head when the Mothers get involved. Good story with some fun moments, I enjoyed the ride and I was happy with the ending though it did seem like a couple of smaller points got skipped over it didn't spoil it. I don't think it'll be the best drama you ever watched, but it will be among the better ones :)Detail:
34 year old mother poses as 18 year old student and enrols in school, nobody bats an eyelid. As long as you can get over that, you'll do fine - and it does create some amusing moments such as when one of the students starts liking her :)
This covers a range of areas with similar themes whether it's abuse, bullying at school, political crimes, slush funds, conglomerate chairman crimes - it's got them all. It unravels itself bit by bit as the mother tries to do her best to protect her daughter.
One of my favourite characters was Han Gong Joo, played by Go Soo Hee - she has a completely different and always over the top fantasy princess dress on every single time she's in a new scene, everything's over the top for her but she's a solid character overall - it would have been easy to overdo it and for it to go wrong but I think her character was done very well indeed.
Difficult to pick particular issues with it, other than the base premise being a stretch (but aren't most?) - though the fake brick wall at the end was so badly done it was hilarious. It's good light hearted fun that plays on numerous old school formulae, enjoyable to watch but probably won't be at the top of your rewatch list (though... it won't be at the bottom either, for sure).
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Have wanted to watch this one for a while and it recently popped up on Netflix so it was next in line and I've been hooked on it. As some other reviewers have said it does seem a bit slow at first but it's setting down a lot of stuff and building up the layers and story that it will unravel and explain later - stick with it, it does make sense and is worth it.
One of the reasons I was always drawn to this one is the "shy boss" thing, while I don't suffer from it as much any more I'm still fundamentally an introvert and find socialising very difficult. I have tried going to our company dinners here and I just find them too awkward and uncomfortable so I really related to the main character. I'm a Senior Producer and lead a team of something like 50 people - so there are more parallels there and again, while I'm nowhere near as bad as I used to be (I couldn't function in this role otherwise!) I thoroughly relate to the character. I thought Yoon Woo Jin did a fantastic job in the role. On the occasions he lets out a smile (drunk while looking at Ro Woon pulling a funny face in a photo someone sent him) he lights the screen up with the contrast from his normal expression.
Park Hye Soo places the FL, she's not an actress I've seen before but am definitely going to look out for more of her work, like Kim So Hyun she has a unique presence on screen that stands out.
This drama looks like it might just be a light fluffy romance, and there's certainly good elements of that throughout, but it covers some really heavy topics including Suicide and Self Harm as two major themes in the show (aside from the main characters anxiety issues). The opening scene is a woman jumping from a building to her death - so I feel it's really important to warn anyone ahead of time because such things can be an unpleasant shock. Throughout the story it progressively picks apart what happened, who is to blame, who is taking the blame and the impact it has on the family and everyone else around that person, it's not trivialised but instead examined throughout and thoroughly. I liked where it went, and I thought that Self Harm was dealt with well too. Both are difficult subjects.
The romance element is fantastic, these two actors absolutely nailed the on screen chemistry.
It's a great story, you need to give it a few episodes to lay its foundations before it will lock you in, and you need to just be aware of the main topics and make sure these are going to be ok for you to watch.
Music is very catchy too!
Definitely recommended!
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First time i've seen either of the leads othre than Ha Seok Jin's brief role in Crash Landing on You - and enjoyed the pair of them very much. Go Ah Sung plays Eun Ho Won, who finds out that she only has a limited time left to live and decides to be a bit more blunt and frank - a really interesting character with an absolutely rock solid moral compass.
Weak bit - The other male lead, Seo Hyun, I just thought that his story was done a total disservice. There's a conflict with his dad, and a soured relationship with his brother because of it - and yet we never see any of this, so it's really difficult to really build up any appreciation for his character at all. At one point I was convinced he was going to turn out to be a sociopath or something but I think they were really aiming for something with more depth, they just did a really awful job of actually expressing it.
This story is about three people and their respective journeys, Kang Ho and his journey for independance from a super domineering mother and a father (again, that we never see) who rejects him. Ki Taek and his relationship with his girlfriend and his feelings of inadequacy about being out of work for so long. Ho Won who just wants the opportunity to prove herself and to devote her life to an organisation and the people she works with.
Some really fun moments of humour from everyone but often from Ho Won's little outbursts or reactions to things, or Yong Jae's reactions to various things as he's either over commanding of people or sucking up to his superiors.
Must admit there was at least one friendship or potentially relationship that I thought was going to go further, but the moments they did share were good to see.
Kot Bi, the directors secretary, she was fun and again her muttered under the breath retorts were amusing.
Overall, it's a fun story with some interesting characters. The overall message is about living for today, because if you make today happy then you'll be happy the rest of your life. We all spend too much time waiting for tomorrows happiness - but tomorrow never comes, so find your happiness today.
Worth a watch, it's fun.
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What did I just watch?! This was brilliant!
Three women living together in their thirties along with one of the ladies gay brother. Everyone has a story, sometimes the stories come together, sometimes they're quite heavily entwined, some times they're not. Whether it's one of the women who is facing severe grief following the loss of her partner, with moments that will likely have you reaching for the tissues, or another of the women and her hilarious relationship with her director, or the relationship one of them has with a co-worker.
Strong women, strong men. Great characters and brilliant performances by their actors.
The stories all go in different directions and the writer brilliantly crafts the tales to take those stories to places you probably didn't expect by the time they're done.
I really don't want to say too much and undo the writers fantastic work, you just have to watch it.
Very re-watchable too.
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Picked this one up because of Jun Ji Hyun whom I first watched in You Who came from the Stars (by the same writer) and wanted to see her in something different. The mermaid tale is an interesting topic that i've not seen in a KDrama before so that made it more interesting too, and then seeing it had Shin Hye Sun - well, sold.
On the whole I enjoyed it and I didn't have any doubts about continuing to watch it to completion - but - I had some issues with it...
I'm still trying to work out how well the two leads chemistry worked... some times there were sparks, other times not, it just wasn't consistent.
I really liked the links back and forth between the past lives and the current ones, it provided some interesting insights and background and a variety of settings to see the characters in, both in terms of the parallels and differences.
I really wished that the FL had some kind of other goal in mind, but as it was, she comes to the surface and is completely naive and inexperienced which leads to some funny scenes - but sets the scene for the ML to refer to her as his "dummy" the entire story. Now, there are many things that happen in the show that could be seen as just "hey thats fine, it's cute" or not - so there's a lot of interpretation to be had on the "strength" of the FL but i'm gonna go and just say - I don't think she was very strong at all! - constantly chasing around after the guy working out what to do to get the guy - I dunno, didn't feel like the best message. It's a relatively minor itch for me on the overall show (which, as I said, I enjoyed) but an itch never the less.
Now... Shin Hye Sun's character Cha Shi Ah was really good - your understanding of Shi-Ah changes and develops through the story and her oddball relationship with Tae-Oh is brilliant I honestly was looking out for the scenes with these two more than anything else some times.
There's baddies too, in the shape of the "Wicked Stepmother" which I guess has to be there and was ok, but wasn't that exciting for me really.
Sound track was good, really liked some of the tracks that are now ear-worms.
It's a good story but I don't rate it up there with some of the other works by this screenwriter, which include Crash Landing on You and You Who Came from the Stars, two of my favourite dramas. It's just "normal" good :)
The little girl that she meets early on and meets up again with numerous times... wish they'd tied that one up in a nice bow at the end, felt it just needed a moment "more", just as she did with the fashion-lady.
FYI On Viki, this shows up as:
Episode 0 - which is the special, DONT watch this first even though its the first thing they dish up.
Episodes 1-20 - this is the drama, watch this.
Episodes 21 and 22 - these are directors cuts of episodes 1 and 2. Watch these after if you wish :)
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It's Hong Sisters so... does it need more description? :)
Gong Hyo-Jin is the main in this one for me, her character has the ability to see ghosts and ever since it started she's been terrified by their sight and unable to sleep properly or live in the world properly. When she discovers the So Ji-Sub's character has the ability to make the ghost world temporarily go away when she touches him, and finds that he needs to hear from a dead girlfriend to find out what happened in his past - the two are forced to spend time together.
What results are some comic escapades as the two are from such completely different worlds as those worlds collide, and hard!
There are numerous stories about how she is able to help the living and the dead through her ability to communicate with them, and she gains confidence in doing so as she realises she can run to Ji-Sub's character if it gets too much.
The sound track on this one is absolutely fantastic, numerous songs on here that make my playlist now!
Definitely worth the watch!
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Visual effects are quite interesting as Lee Ahn uses his ability and they fade the screen between the various memories he's seeing.
Acting - I wasn't totally convinced by Lee Ahn's character, though it wasn't bad at all, just something felt a bit weak in the performance. I thought Jae In was great, and she had some fantastic moments. Sung Mo was brilliant, I found it hard to read him and that gave me some clues as to where his character was heading but even then it wasn't quite 100% - very nicely done.
The little side thing that goes on between Dae Bong and So-Hyun didn't get enough time for me, I thought that was interesting and they only dipped into it occasionally and briefly. It was a good opportunity to expand more on Lee Ahn's best friend and actually put some of the story of him winning So-Hyun over in. It would have added some light moments in between what is otherwise a pretty heavy story. That said, what was in there was good.
Overall I really enjoyed the story, thought the actors did generally a great job and definitely glad to have watched it. The nature of it being a mystery however does make it less interesting to watch a second time as all the mystery is now gone though a second viewing would be interesting to see what clues I missed in the first viewing perhaps.
There's some good surprises and twists in this one - don't let the fact that there are some potential twists that are much more obvious trick you into thinking this one is easily predictable. Definitely worth a watch.
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I thought the plot line on this one was really unusual, the idea of someone changing their bodies entirely was an interesting concept. Se-Gye learns to use her monthly predicament to help people and there are some really nice scenes where she's able to use her acting, her unique placement to help and empathy to make a difference to a few peoples lives. There are also some amusing interactions and a few downright hilarious moments.
General path of the story is a positive one as the two get to know each other and then get closer. There is a tough "bad bit" but it's not really *quite* in the "stupid breakup" category for me, but the cause of the whole thing was an really interesting twist so I felt it added rather than detracted from the story overall.
Actors - where to start...
Seo Hyun Jin is probably one of my new favourite actresses in the kdrama scene, having seen her in this and "Another Miss Oh" previously I find her exceptionally good, and, I don't know, there's something about her voice... I could listen to it for hours :)
Lee Min Ki - initially I was a bit disappointed because the character seems to be just a similar role to the one in "Because this is my first life" - flat, emotionally repressed, stiff. I warmed to the character though and it's definitely appropriate for the story, someone who has no ability to recognise faces is going to have an exceptionally tough time with friendships let alone anything more - so I suspect most end up just closing themselves off. As the story progresses though there are some amazing moments where he's laughing with joy and they were brought that much more to life because of the flatness of the character previously. So, ultimately, yes, very good.
Lee Da Hee - I think Da-Hee is fantastic in everything she does but I felt there was a mismatch in her character - she's the president of an airline, she's pitched as a scary kick-ass lady, but too often she comes across as a weaker character than that. Her story as she opens up to Eun-Ho however was really nice and parallelled Do-Jae's story in that she's just as cold (albeit for different reasons) and this is her warming up and realising she's allowed to enjoy life too.
Direction - I mentioned earlier i'd watched this one after "Another Miss Oh" - and as I was watching it I kept thinking, wow, the direction of this is so familiar... turns out it's the same director, Song Hyun Wook. It made it feel comfortable and familiar having enjoyed Miss-Oh.
Soundtrack was great, looking forward to listening to it in more detail later.
Lastly - just as an aside really, in one of the opening moments there's an awards ceremony, if you've watched miss-oh you should hopefully recognise some of the cast from it flanking Seo Hyun Jin in the audience, in particular Ye Ji Won and Lee Jae Yoon.
Definitely on my re-watch list!
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That was one of the big things for me, because i'm a firm believer that every strong relationship has to have the foundation of a strong friendship, love will wave up and down over time and circumstances but friendship is the glue that keeps everything together.
The journey that the couple take as they progress from friendship through to romance is very warming and fun to watch, there's lots of funny moments to enjoy from all four of the group.
The other couple are good and are going through a different kind of challenge, once you've been together for a long time it's easy for a relationship to feel stale, or for one or both to feel that things haven't moved the way that they'd hoped and thus feel responsible or diminished because of it. It's all nonsense of course, because at the end of the day as long as you both still love and care for each other - what house you live in and what car you drive, what role you have at work and how much you earn, that's all just background noise but people let it get in the way, and that's what's presented with this couple.
There's a secondary story that comes in from the sidelines with the new landlord / building owner which was really nice but I won't go any further into that - keeps you guessing all the way through though.
If I had a beef with the story it's towards the ending, without going into any spoilery detail, essentially an ultimatum is issued, a choice is made and consequences occur - fair enough. But then a bit later, declaration to reverse that choice is made, a different path is taken - and then it's all doubled back on, but this time, apparently it doesn't matter and is glossed over. That was the only bit that really fell apart for me in the story though I can overlook it for what was otherwise 16 episodes of glorious fun to watch.
Definitely recommended.
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This is a story about coping with some of the worst situations and emotions, PTSD, survivors guilt, loss of a child, responsibility guilt to name a few.
When a shopping centre collapses killing 48 people and injuring more, everyone involved has to find a way to deal with their own personal reactions to what happened. 10 years after the collapse, there is a new building going up on the site and old wounds are re opened.
Let's just be clear, this is not a story filled with fluffy moments and joy, I would not recommend this to someone who is having their own troubles particularly, while seeing others work through them may be helpful it could simply add to your pain.
This drama is beautifully written and amazingly acted, some of the scenes in particular are so hard to watch because of the amazing talents of the cast bearing their soul for all. Seeing moon soo break down following a shock or gang doo yelling in frustration to god in the middle of a crowded area are just two, without context they are hard to grasp but suffice to say they stick with you.
This is a hard story, but it is one that brings with it a message of hope, and a warning that wounds whether in the mind or body should not be ignored, they should be treated and recovered from in what ever form that takes.
Picked this one following repeated recommendation from other MDL readers and not disappointed, thanks to you all.
Soundtrack has one stand out for me called Where We, which has borrowed the chord progressions from the Mad World remake by Gary Jules, originally by Tears for Fears. Used well they capture the melancholy feeling of the moments nicely.
Location is a bit different too, most kdrama I have seen tend to be Seoul based, this one appears to be Busan based with some lovely shots of the local bridges and architecture as well as amazing shots from rooftops over the night skyline of the city.
I've marked it low on the rewatch list, I may revise that, it's purely because it's hard and I dont know if I'd want to watch it again, I usually watch the fluffy ones more on repeat than stories like this, but it is one that, if you are in the right mental state to watch it, you absolutely must.
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ARGH! This one frustrates me so much, I like the actors involved, it has parallel worlds in different dimensions, it plays around with alternate realities and presents a world where Joseon style royalty remains to a modern "Kingdom of Corea", it has time travel - I mean, this SHOULD have been perfect. So why wasn't it?
Couple of key areas... but fundamentally it really just boils down to there seeming to be far too much skipped out. I found it extremely hard to track where each scene was - one minute you're in the Corea world and the next cut of the camera you're seeing the same person in the Korea world, and thinking... hang on, but that person isn't in both, or is he? few minutes late rit dawns - no, they've actually travelled between worlds, I mean could they not just spell that out?
This is both a complex and a simple story combined. The principals are pretty simple but it sets out a stage that has two different parallel worlds with slightly different versions of the same characters, so Kim Go Eun's character is both Jung Tae Eul (in Korea, our world) and Luna (in Corea, the other). Multiply that up for almost all characters including side characters. Now randomly flip between worlds without giving the player any hint as to which world you're in and try to keep up. It's not impossible, I *think* I just about managed it but i'm positive I missed plot points while trying to figure out if person A is talking to the person B from one world or the other because there's ramifications if it's the other and they're impersonating - which does happen.
I don't mind being misled a bit but it really felt more like chunks of story left out.
Next you've the problem with this Uncle and what his whole game is. He's a bad guy, ok we get that. He's doing bad stuff, yep, with you. But what's his goal exactly and what's his plan to achieve it? It seemed like he was doing "stuff" over the 25 years or so from the original treason to where the story actually picks up - but then there's really no actual pay off or benefit from him doing that at all, or indication as to what it should have been and at what point this was foiled and brought crashing down. Again, I think this is just a victim of the cliff-note storytelling, except it's bad cliff notes as it's clearly missing major plot points!
The time travel was quite nicely done.
The whole thing was set up to be absolutely brilliant, I can see the skeleton of what was intended (I think) and it was an incredibly ambitious project, it had a great cast and the production values on it were sky high. What it needed was either 20 or 24 episodes to actually do its epic tale justice. 16 was just too short for a project of this magnitude.
Some people are upset about it having too much product placement but honestly i'm immune to it, I find it amusing and still prefer it to advert breaks. Sometimes I like to play Product Placement Bingo when I'm watching a drama! :) Perhaps they went too far but... honestly it didn't bother me at all.
My favourite actor in this is definitely Kim Go Eun - big fan of her work anyway - but her character is tough, strong and skilled. She knows her stuff. Sometimes the story does have her be the victim to be rescued but I actually don't see a problem with that either - you can't be strong all the time, and a balanced character will lean on others as much as be leaned on.
Lee Min Ho... comes off as a mix of the strong regal king, and an arrogant ass, but overall I thought it played well for the character.
Final episode was good which just reinforces my belief that his was a well thought out project but far too ambitious to squeeze it into the timeslot it was given.
Watch if you like the actors, particularly Kim Go Eun, but expect to have to pay attention to keep up and fill in the blanks.
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