Alike any avid Kdrama fan, I was surely looking forward to a decent drama when the final cast was announced. I didn't have high expectations from it, ngl, but U wanted it at least to be a decent drama with average ratings. However, I found it difficult to keep myself up for this after the interval, i. e. 8 episodes. I was praying hard for them to improve the quality but then, I had to fast forward from the 11th since I am bad at dropping anything; so I just finished it for my mind's closure. So I'm gonna write the minimum for this saeguk supernatural.

The saeguk is set-up in the Joseon Dynasty, during the rule of the 3rd monarch Taejong. Hong Chun Ki (Kim Yoo Jung) is the only known woman painter and has divine powers inherited from his father who was a Royal painter involved in the demon sealing ceremony that took place 28 years ago. Ha Ram (Ahn Hyo Seop) is the son of the head shaman Ha Sung Jin, who led the same ritual. Both of them have a ill-fated yet intimate relationship, established during the childhood. They're a fated pair, meant for sealing Ma Wang, the demon in a portrait that will act like a vessel and hold the evil power within. When both of them meet again as adults, their lives become complicated as they're get involved with the King, the royal family & it's power struggle and the royal court affairs; everything leading to one single event, i. e. To seal the absconding demon again in the royal portrait.

Grand Prince Yangmyung (later Moarch Sejong, the great) is played by Gong Myung and Grand Prince Joohyang is played by Kwak Si Yang, both of whom are the 2 major characters having great influence on the plot. There's a very good line up of old & seasoned actors casted for other major characters who indeed did well in their respective roles. Also, the new and less familiar ones were able to deliver a decent job with the limited screentime they're provided with. However, I am disappointed with the acting element of the drama as a whole, particularly from the main cast, who are actually experienced enough to serve appropriately but couldn't do so for most parts, and rather offered an underwhelming performance.

UTTER DISGUSTING thing about this drama was the kise between the 2 kids who played the younger version of Ha Ram and Chun Gi, the ML and FL. I mean it is a saeguk that runs in the medieval world and irl, such things could have been a thing but brooooo, this is a fu*king TV show, how dare you make 2 kids kiss. I mean it could have been fine if you had shown in subtly, indicating they were kissing but what's with directly showing it? Are you even sane? I wonder why no one is talking about it.

Plot development is something that's unworthy of mentioning for this drama. Except for the basic plotline for the lead couple involving the demon, the gods and the entire thing about sealing demon, I couldn't count on the script screeplay accompanying it. That was just very stupid; in fact very interesting to make someone give up without any second thought. Sometimes it becomes slow and sometimes becomes rushed. The writing is awfully inconsistent throughout the series though manageable till the 6th or 7th episode, just because of the emphasis put on art, painting and artists through the competition held to choose skillful painters for Gohwan. There are not 1 or 2 but uncountable number of plot holes in the drama, which makes the viewer confused and the way many things were left unanswered and some other popped out of nowhere, I don't know how to describe that without spoiling.

Not sure about the original novel and it's play but the screenwriter for the drama has made obvious about her lack of experience very thoroughly. Can't help but rant about how shoddy the entire script has, despite a decent basic plotline.

Even that wasn't enough, the script was unreasonably dragged post the interval with the addition of many unnecessary side plotlines and use of needless elements like dates, romance, love triangle, toxic relationship practises. The way they were represented was even very unrealistic for a saeguk. The lead couples childhood connection was revealed as soon as in the 4th episode and from the next episode they start dating wtf. It could have been a 12 episode drama but for that one forthcoming goal, the way did they drag really seemed pathetic to me. It goes smooth till the 6th episode, then 7th & 8th becomes super slow and again 9th & 10th are suddenly rushed, as if they want to end the drama in next 10mins, lmao. That's where I lost whatever lil interest I had left abd started fast forwarding at 2x.

The characters, both main & supporting, and their nature are another problem of this drama, which again is a fault of the jakka. Firstlyz they were inappropriately shaped, even for a supernatural fantasy and medieval historical. And then there was no improvement and development for them, which could have at least compensated in the later half. Both Ha Ram and Chun Gi, couldn't become the potential lead duo who could carry the show; the inconsistency is the major issue here. Grand Prince Yangmyung as the 2nd ML didn't seem to have an essence and major contribution for the entire event. The minor characters casting good actors went into waste because of unsuitable and little screentime they got. The character arcs are simply not prominently drawn for a drama of such genre with lame development, leaving no door open for any improvement.

What else could have made up for the poor writing? Direction! Yes, but look at them failing at that too. Surprisingly Jang Tae Yoo PDnim is not a rookie with less experience, rather has a record of directing a number of good script in years but I wonder what went wrong. He could have directed scenarios well at least to yield satisfactory outcomes but it felt like he was entirely inattentive. The main cast is good but still youngsters who could have done decent jobs upon appropriate guidance, which the PD failed to provide. Again, the screenplay management is of low-grade quality, the pacing is either very slow or very fast, with plenty of plotholes. Editing is kinda fine I guess; since OSTs are pretty good, their use plus the sound production with background scores were good enough to give off the suitable vibes at respective events.

2 thing that intrigued me when I had started the drama and made me go on with it were the emphasis on medieval Korean painting and the supernatural plotline. As someone attracted towards different forms of art, I thought this is a unique approach in a Korean saeguk, which was true to some extent. Then, the supernatural plot based on Korean folk beliefs was a pretty interesting investment. The portrayal of Sam Shin and Ma Wang fight over years, the fate decided for the leads and the editings meant for showcase was actually nice for first few episodes and also in the last 3 episodes (only the ritual parts I repeat haha). I liked how Sam Shin was intervening at necessary places and guiding them to their purposes of life. But well, I am disappointed the drama went down hill just like that.

I think I have ranted enough so now let me sum up everything. Overally, "Lovers of the Red Sky" isn't even par the average quality drama. It's a trash which can also be described as ridiculous, boring, uninteresting, exaggerated, shoddy, etc. etc. It's completely shitted on unanimously by the cast & the crew. It's not even worth the one time watch so if you're planning to start it, please drop it in your 'use me' box and move ahead with something else.

OKAY BYE