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I have to say, they are backed by two actors who did more than good; Kim Kwon and Kim Da Som perfectly embraced their roles and they grasped the personalities of their characters in a way it makes it easy to jump right into the plot.
So after praising the actors, I should praise the plot right?
Well that's where the drama loses points. Although it was a nicely built story, I was still bothered by some incoherences and the inevitable moments of boredom. The plot revealed too much, too quickly: the multiple flashbacks sure were interesting and nice, but I do believe they weren't exploited to the maximum of their potential. Which leads me to the main point of my critique: suspense fell flat almost all through the drama for me. If you paid enough attention to what was going on, you knew what would happen next, and in my opinion, the writers didn't succeed in building up anticipation and dread, which are vital for that kind of thriller drama.
To sum up, the drama is worth watching, for the original plot as well the skilled actors, but could have been much better plot-wise.
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The tragic beginning to the story and then the slowly unraveled tragic history/background really grabbed me. The drama had me wanting to know what happened next as well as wanting to uncover their pasts with all the details as quickly as possible.
The drama was relatively predictable for me, but it was so fast paced and heartbreaking that I didn't care.
Both MCs were likable, though they felt very young (not in a bad way). They were so full of energy, drive, and motivation. I liked the layout of the story in how they were introduced with the initial tragedy that starts the whole story, then we meet them as seniors in high school, and then the story finally takes off at full speed with them as adults. This built the story and the plot very smoothly because through this, we also met the relevant side characters who played roles in the later plot, whom were also likable and enjoyable too.
I was very sad for Kang Seung Mo's character the most. I became very attached for his character, through I predicted his role from the very beginning. His story was so horrific and there's a romantic part of me that feels like his ending wasn't fair (even though, logically and realistically it was more than fair, especially if this story had occurred in real-life). I desperately wanted him to have a happy ending and live a normal, successful life. This is a personal problem I have though, not something objectively wrong with the drama. His relationship with Lee Ahn was particularly precious, especially when you learn of his past. I also think that he did romantically love Eun Ji Soo and was just pushing her away the whole time in his own way to protect her.
Aside from my tragic love for Kang Seung Mo, I really adored Lee Ahn. I loved him because he wasn't your usual MC. He was kinda dumb and I don't say that to be mean. He just literally doesn't have good sense or book smarts, BUT he was kind and good natured despite his past. It was refreshing to have a MMC who wasn't overly perfect in every way. He was obviously flawed - he was impulsive, reckless, and not smart, but he learned, took criticism well, and always took things in stride. He played to his strengths, wasn't afraid to show weakness/vulnerability, and didn't develop an inferiority complex. What I'm trying to say is that he was particularly lovable.
I would have liked for this drama to be a bit better balanced in tones. It was pretty well balanced with humor and tragic pasts/scary cases throughout, but it got a bit heavy and sad for me toward the end (~last 4 episodes). Honestly, I think this is more an issue with me though, not necessarily objectively with the drama - it only makes sense that the drama got sadder and darker as their tragic pasts were completely revealed toward the end, but I feel like the writers being the experts could have maintained the balance a bit better somehow...
While watching He is Psychometric, it reminded me a lot of some other dramas:
While You Were Sleeping (the beginning of the drama in tone and pacing and fantastical abilities)
You're All Surrounded (throughout the drama somewhat in plot and tone)
Pinocchio (the ending of the drama in plot and tone)
What set He is Psychometric apart from these dramas was the unique fantastical abilities of psychometry and the MC, Lee Ahn.
I would definitely recommend this drama, especially if you like one of the above dramas - it would definitely be worth the invested time. The OST is also enjoyable!
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STORY:
I read few reviews and I can see not everyone liked the story. I get it, it's different from most of k-dramas (especially those categorized as rom-coms) because the ending may seem unfair, sad or like for me bitter-sweet. However, that's what I like the most about this series; creators weren't afraid of breaking the (for the lack of the better word) "rules" of making certain type of drama and that may not please most of the fans, but it certainly adds depth, suspense and shock to the story, well, at least for me. That's why I like it, the story gave me some fuzzy feelings with romance and all, but more importantly it gave me what most of the dramas doesn't shock, frustration (the good kind of one) and heartache.
I do however, have some reservations or objections. It may feel like this drama is not sure what it wants to be, the first part of this series is mainly romance whilst the second is much more centered around the thriller narrative. This may create a feeling of dissonance in the story and could have been easily avoided if only there was more mixing between the two parts. There is also the problem of pacing - I feel like the narrative is running like crazy in some episodes and then it's slow and lazy in others and I'm not sure if I like it. Finally, there is the amount of long-winded, all-talking scenes which for me could have been shorter or shot in other, more interesting way, but it may be just me and my short span of attention.
ACTING:
Acting in this series was exceptionally good, Park Jin Young and Shin Ye Eun have really nice chemistry and both of them have the abilities to show a wide range of emotions without me feeling like some of them are faked. As for Kim Kwon at first I wasn't sure about him, something about his acting method rubbed me the wrong way, but after ending the series I must say he portrayed his character very well. Although I must admit that the person who stole all the scenes for me was Kim Da Som - my eyes drifted to her every time she was on the screen.
MUSIC:
There is not much to say about the music here. I liked the OST it's nice but I feel like it didn't match the story. Regarding the music in scenes this drama tends to be more silent than most of the series in this genre category (e.g. Strong Woman Do Bong Soon).
REWATCH VALUE:
Well, I don't see much rewatch value here, but let's be fair most of us rewatches series that we love, so perhaps you'll find it (granted it'll become your fave).
OVERALL:
I liked the drama. I liked that it played with my emotions, but it's not for everyone and you should know that if you're looking for sweet ending like for instance Do Bong Soon, that I mentioned earlier, this is not the one - keep looking, but if you don't mind bitter-sweet one give it a try!
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The story of a boy who can read people and objects by touching them. A sprinkling of romance. A secret from the past. The effects of corruption. The warmth of human relationships. The issue of moral ambiguity. The need for redemption and the difficulty of forgiveness. Plot twists that make you sit up and pay attention, then leave you rattled.Is this show able to keep your interest and make you come back for the next episode? Yes.
Do you become invested in the characters? Yes.
Does the story try to give an unexpected spin to otherwise predictable clichés? Yes.
Does the combination of cinematography, acting, pacing, music, and plot work? Yes.
Is it worth your time? Yes. Uhm… well… probably.
Is it worth rewatching? No.
It’s a type of show that is enjoyable to follow while on-air. Some of the gaps may become more visible when binge-watching.
He Is Psychometric is destined to suffer from the M. Night Shyamalan syndrome: the main draw is a Big Reveal gimmick; once the central mystery is resolved, the other components of the narrative don’t compel you to revisit it any time in the future. And unfortunately, to add to the viewer’s dissatisfaction, the show doesn’t successfully address one central point of the mystery: why was the coming together of the main couple—especially as trainer/trainee—so insistently and deliberately orchestrated? The reasons are implied, but not spelled out: a defect frequently found in Korean dramas which repeatedly state what is non-essential and obvious, but fail to clarify a core issue, leaving it diffuse or glossed over.
[NOTE: spoilers beyond this paragraph!]
As a viewer I found myself almost resenting the feeling that I could practically see the wheels turning in the screen writer’s head. If put into a monologue, it would go something like this: “Let’s see now… we need a spin on the childhood connection trope… Ah, Healer had this trio of the younger male and female leads, plus an older second male lead… And he was ambiguous most of the time, we couldn’t figure out whether he was a good guy or a bad guy… Let’s add this…Great… Now, what about the shared trauma and its potential to destroy the newly-formed couple? Hey, speaking of Ji Chang Wook projects, Suspicious Partner had this apartment fire thing… and the guy discovering that the girl’s dad is the one he blames for his parents’ death… but the dad is wrongfully accused… Awesome, this will work, let’s throw it in there in the exact same sequence, no need to mess with a working formula… Can’t make the parallels too transparent, though… How about a little twist here: the scale of the fire is a result of cutting corners because the big construction company is corrupt. Super! (Good call, BTW.) OK… So… what we need is a stark contrast between the puppy-cute young couple and a dark world of obsession and crime… Kind of like Strong Woman Do Bong Soon, but darn, we are not doing mixed genre parody here… hmmm… still, I like the creepiness of confining a woman to a lightless basement… alright, let’s do it! Major benefit: can link the backstory to the crime organization that appears at one point, then reinforce the arc on police cover-ups. (Another good call.) Well… we need to up the ante here… Let’s sacrifice a main character. Good, it’s unexpected! What else, what else… How about defy expectations and make the non-monster an actual monster? Oh, yeah, they won’t see THAT coming! [Pat on the back for being original]”
There’s nothing inherently wrong with this line of thinking. It could have been successful, too.
However, in order to create a really good story as opposed to a merely intriguing one, the focus needs to be more on the characters’ development in reaction to the events, not so much on the events bending and spinning the characters.
Lee Ahn and Kang Sung More, the two male protagonists, highlight this point.
Park Jin Young as Lee Ahn does a decent job, the character grows on the viewer with every episode. It’s a pitty that his presence in the story has so many underwhelming aspects. There should have been more coherence when presenting his psychometric abilities: how come he sees in 3D, outside of his own POV or the POV of the object he touches? If psychometry is draining for him, why isn’t this consistent or tied to specific contexts? How did he evolve, provided that he actually did improve? A lot of emphasis was put on his training and the unreliability of how to interpret what he was seeing, then it all dissolved into a non-issue. Ah, writing for K-dramas: rarely the paragon of logic and congruity.
Kim Kwon in the role of Kang Sung Mo is very, very good. He is nothing less than magnetic in the last episodes, his portrayal more heartbreaking than chilling. The writer’s decision that this character get the short end of the stick is unfortunate. He was humanized only to be dehumanized in the end. Why? His arc of atonement could have been served equally well—or even better—by emphasizing the amygdala difference, and making him act more out of panic rather than calculation. The pre-fire murders could have easily been presented as a knee-jerk reaction to the nosy building manager walking in at the inappropriate moment and seeing the contents of the suitcase.
To put so much effort to transcend genes, conditioning, physiology and life experiences, to develop ties of genuine affection, to become sympathetic through the need for human contact and love turns out to be futile for this character. What was the writer trying to say? A bad seed is a bad seed, no way around it? Very disappointing. It could have been so much better if the message was that trying to be better is worth it, that redemption is possible.
A major problem with this show is the fuzzy focus on what the story is actually about, apart from the suspense elements.
Is it about the struggle between Nature vs. Nurture? Is it presenting a negativistic, “evil is relentless, effort is futile, endeavor is meaningless” worldview? Or is the sudden flip in favor of biological determinism simply a ploy to make the viewer uncomfortable, just because?
Or is the story about the difficulty of possessing, gauging and effectively using abilities that are considered paranormal? Is it about reality and interpretation, and the limitations of perception, no matter how augmented? Is it about the value of knowledge and training – or the irrelevance of either?
Is the show introducing violence in order to talk about repentance and forgiveness? Their possibility? Their impossibility? Which one, exactly? Even if the main point is the inherent ambiguity of notions such as love, hate, good, evil, this should be made clear. Annoyingly, core ideas are left undefined.
It doesn’t seem that the writer put any significant effort to conceptualize the big-picture story. It hurts both the value and longevity of the show, which in hindsight remains fairly pointless.
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In my opinion, the first part of the drama, which focused more on Lee An and Jae in's romance and back stories was boring, but that was because I didn't like or care that much about both of them although they are the main leads. But then on episode 7 or so, the plot started getting more intense and it got more interesting to me.As mentioned before, in my eyes the main leads weren't my cup of tea, they weren't able to captivate me. The secondary leads (Seong mo and Jisoo) were more charismatic. And it didn't help that Seong mo's story seemed to be the central plot of the story and Lee an's could as well have been a secondary plot. Seong mo was a better main lead material.
Sadly they did my 2 fav characters dirty...
I felt indifferent towards the romance between the leads (and that's a rare thing to me because i'm a romantic at heart) and felt that some of the romance scenes were unnecessary.
Two things annoyed me: The show seemed to like to remind us that Lee An is dumb, I guess they thought it was funny but I just cringed every time there was a scene showing that. And the second thing was the two leads' recklessness (going to places on their own without calling for help).
In my opinion this drama was just okay: Not good enough (imo) main leads, wasted potential of the second leads, some parts of the plot were confusing and the first and second part of the drama seemed liked 2 different dramas, it should have found a balance (the first part was more light-hearted with hints of comedy, and the second part got too serious and dark out the blue).
This drama doesn't have a happy ending at least to the one character who deserved it the most, considering what he went through his whole life, so beware of that.
I'd save myself of the pain had I known before I started watching this.
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We can not stop curious about the next episode. It is totally frustrating!
But the best thing is that you will never get bored for the whole episode.
This drama can bring you the horror situation that make you feel you watch a horror movie ???? but it is not.
The atmosphere is great.
If you want to see a cute, lovable, and romance for the ending....you must give up about it.
This story is getting serious since 7 episode.
You are thrilled since it.
I like the plot twist of the story.
The casts are doing their acting so great.
The ending is unpredictable.
The OST songs are lovable ????
You should watch this!
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It looked like a highschool setting at first and I was really asking myself if this would leave the highschool life. After that part the scenes were more interesting everyweek I am waiting for an episode. I was also shocked because most of the times, dramas that have a kpop idol as their main lead has a clique plot but this one gave me a rollercoaster ride of emotions and is full of plot twist which made this show the best. Also kudos to the whole cast, the acting was so accurate and the characters were portrayed the best, even tho its a small character or a big one, all of the actors and actresses did great. Plus the production team!! This drama is a memorable one
ROOTING FOR SEASON 2 @/tvN !!!
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The story had a slow start and I admit that I had thoughts of dropping it right away. The cast was unfamiliar to me and esp. in the beginning they didn't do much to persuade me. I don't know why I kept watching. Maybe it was the first serious encounter of the male lead with tragedy and his following performance which was rich of emotions. I think that was the key moment when I realized that the story could actually be worth a try. Now, reminiscing about it, I couldn't even fathom what cruel turn of events it actually had up its sleeve. I'm not into K-Pop, so I had no idea about the idol actors in this. Therefore I also didn't have any prejudices. But as you can see, Park Jin Young convinced me.
The slow unfolding of the main story kept reigning over the first half of the drama. Most of the time I wasn't bothered though. I enjoyed Park Jin Young's and Kim Kwon's interacting. They delivered a great performance of a really complicated relationship and I looked forward to every scene with them in it together.
I think the speciality of this drama is that you have a hero and a superpower which doesn't consequently mean that he's above everyone else and therefore a superior being. Quite the opposite. He can't control his power and therefore creates more problems rather than solving them. He has to learn how to do that, he wants to help but he's not the most ambitious guy out there and even tries to get to the final line by cheating. He's short-tempered and forgets to view things from all sides. Therefore he's not able to see the whole picture. The process of him learning step by step is wrought very smoothly. He's very human in his reactions to certain events.
Which leads me to the Shin Ye Eun and thus to the weak link. While I kept watching I started to wonder why I can't enjoy the drama as much as I wanted to, even though the story, the twists, the characters were interesting. Until I figured out that it was the female lead who bothered me. I know that others praise her but I don't think that she was the right choice for this kind of drama. Her performance was too weak and the actress is too inexperienced to actually convey the feelings and difficulties her character had to go through. I don't want to bash her acting, she definitely tried. I'm just saying that it wasn't enough and led to boring scenes with Park Jin Young which also includes the romance. A hundred per cent unnecessary feature in the story.
As much as I was disenchanted by the female lead, I reveled in the display of detective Eun Ji Soo. Kim Da Som did everything I missed in Shin Ye Eun's acting. And in the beginning I was even skeptical of her. She really grew on me throughout the story and I wouldn't want to miss her now. Next to the relationship of the two brothers, Eun Ji Soo had another very interesting connection to Kang Seung Mo. Instead of the main romance the writers should have focused more on that part because I think it's a bigger deal to have her influencing Seung Mo than Yoo Jae In and Lee An chasing each other in out-of-context-scenes.
Sometimes I started to compare the drama to "I remember You". Well, it's not quite the same. But if you look for a special and complicated bromance, then you're definitely right with this one. Does the plot have holes? Hard to tell, smalls flaws in my opinion. I also could have done without the corruption part since it was just a tool to make the investigation and the grounding for an already sturdy concept more complicated. But the main focus of the drama is worth a shot despite all that.
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It has the balance of romance and suspense that you're looking for.
You have to watch this drama if you want something that keeps you on your toes and something out of the ordinary and fascinating. There were even some scences that foreshadowed future events - I honestly though this was brilliant how the writer managed to do this.
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*CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS; DON'T READ IF YOU'RE SENSITIVE :P*I loved this drama so much; from the story to the characters and their relationships with each other. It was a seemingly light drama with a darker side (as to be expected from a crime centered drama) but about halfway it flipped on its head and became extremely dark. I didn't have too much of a problem with this change until it started to get ridiculous. Jisoo dies and then it comes out Sung Mo was the one who really killed all those people at the apartment and framed Jae in's dad... It felt like the writer just wanted to destroy all these relationships with Sung Mo for... a twist and shock value??? The part that had me loving this drama was destroyed and it made me so angry. Before I was going to give this drama a 8-9 stars, but the ending truly ruined so much. If you are someone who loves crime dramas and doesn't get emotionally invested in the characters and is only here for the suspense and the plot twists and turns maybe this drama is for you, but if not you'll surly just be disappointed like the rest of us. The cast was amazing and although it's unlikely I'd love to see the main four work together again.
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