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This drama had such a good start and theme. I absolutely loved it up until around ep. 12 or something when Ha Na learned about Seo Jin's ilness.The way she kept on holding onto Robin and feeding into that illusion is seriously damaging and abusive, there's no way someone in real life would do that to someone after finding out they're ill.
She kissed, asked to marry and, as was implied, had sex with Robin who is not a real person and is a result of DID. How fucked up is that?
Ha Na was so selfish that she convinced Seo Jin to live mentally ill for the rest of his life so she could be happy. When that wasn't possible she cried and basically begged Seo Jin to stay ill. She then guilt tripped Seo Jin and Robin for seeking treatment and only accepted Seo Jin when she found out he still had a part of Robin in him.
Everyone else around him also fed into this illusion and nearly made a funeral when Seo Jin was finally cured. What even.
At first I hated Seo Jin's father but after he said Ha Na's behavior was destroying her son and she was the reason he was still ill, I saw that he was the only smart and sane person in this drama. Simply a father(even thought not perfect) rooting for his son's mental health, which is the most important, when not even the psychiatrist seemed to care.
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A Mess And The Worst Ending
It had a great start, the village of widows and the male lead's shenanigans were very entertaining. The acting was good.Then the romance started and things started going off the rails. While the comedy aspect was dialed down to let the narrative take a darker turn, the romance felt out of place due to its childish nature, the male lead seemed to switch personalities in the romance scenes. The main characters turned unlikeable because their intentions were so vague, especially the female lead's goal which I found so ridiculous. I even started rooting for the supposed vilain(the King) that was more interesting.
The romance consisted of miscommunication, cheesy lines that are repeated a hundred times and childish fights(i like u, wait, no i dont like u, i have to leave u now blablabla), I cringed everytime. I saw no reason for them to love eachother so strongly right from episode 4 or 5. It took too long for them to talk about their goals. By the final episode the romantic lines lost all impact because they were repeated so often. The female lead should've been the assassin lady, a more interesting character and more relevant to the plot, which would have made a more cohesive and original narrative.
And the worst of all:
Nokdu shouldn't have temporarily worked with the prince to betray the King, instead he should've dealt with the King in a different manner(because deep down he still had some good in him) but no, instead Nokdu went to live in an isolated island "happily ever after" while the King was then ambushed by the prince to start his reign of terror. What about the kingdom and its people? The fact that it ended with the prince as king was the worst ending possible, how can I believe that they lived happily ever after knowing that they left such a cruel man on the throne of the country? What if he finds out where they are?
Even if he never finds out where they are, how is a life in hiding (which Nokdu's brother hated so much and made their mother die), happy?
At least, they should've addressed them going back to that miserable life with seriousness or if it's too much too ask at least with one line or something, not with a silly half episode and the ending card "and they lived happily ever after"
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Sometimes Less is More
Firstly, the editing is very professional, the filming locations and rooms were perfectly chosen and the special effects are well-done. The female lead acted perfectly like two different people. The plot is gripping and well-written, it's obvious that a lot of effort was put into it.On the other hand, the worst thing is the over-complication of the plot. There is one twist too many in this drama, everytime I started getting invested in the characters and their overall situation, it suddenly switched to another dynamic. In consequence, I lost the attachement I formed and ended up not caring about the characters as much as I could have done. Particularly the two main leads, whom I disliked more than I liked.
The main leads, especially Li Zi Wei, came off as selfish at some points and some of their actions and words didn't sit well with me. Huang Yu Xuan's explosiveness(also the comparisons between a 17yo girl and a 27yo woman irked me) , Li Zi Zei's childishness, his inaction (he should've contacted her in the future) and the exaggerated way he treated Chen Yun Ru when he found out Huang Yu Xuan's gone (Chen Yun Ru wasn't perfect but he didn't need to be so rude especially knowing that she was in a fragile state, besides, it's her own body after all).
At first I didn't like Mo Jun Jie, it seemed that he would be the typical second lead in dramas, but in the end I felt that he was the most humane. His actions were level-headed even though they weren't always right. Aditionally, he also told off Li Zi Wei when the damn well needed to be told off.
All in all I feel like the emotional pay-off wasn't really there, I lost the emotional connection. There was this constant feeling of uncertainty about who is who or what they did or what they will do, the crazy serial killer plot felt unecessary, Li Zi Wei died and came back so often it lost its impact...
Nevertheless, I don't fully not recommend this drama. There even were moments, even though that sentiment was eventually proved wrong, where I felt it had the potential to become a 10/10 drama to me. It has a good premise, is aesthetically pleasing, interesting and kept me watching until the end. It was still worth watching.
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However, compared to them, the side characters were bland and unlikeable to me. I couldn't care less about them.
The story at the start was fun and exciting due to the fact that I was under the impression that it was carefully crafted by the writer, this impression only lasted until about episode 10 when it started to get stretched and therefore losing a lot of quality.
The struggle to fit into the 16 episodes format was very noticeable, they delayed the revelation of the lie the plot revolves around until it wasn't possible to delay anymore. After it was revealed, they pushed weaker plot points to fill in the gap and all interest was lost.
In the end I can't say I totally regret watching it. The show had a lot of potential, if only the filler episodes were cut and the story condensed to about 10 episodes it would be perfect since the premise was good and unique and the acting was excellent. I would've shed some tears if the plot was handled differently because it had the potential to make me.
SPOILERry stuff that bothered me:
Too many silly romance side stories and empty comic relief characters;
Aji 3 went from being completely considered a simple robot under Ji A's control to a being that they adored that went out of her way to save the data of her friend herself and THEN to thing that they ultimately destroyed for some reason and was never mentioned again;
The fact that Min Kyu was unhealthly dependent on Ji A was never solved or mentioned;
The worst offender: the fact that they all believed that he would die if they told the truth just because the other guy died was ridiculous, the circumstances were very different, the very thing he wanted(her being human) was true why would he die? He would be happy instead;
The company chaebol bullshit didn't need to exist;
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Bad plot and character writing
There were a few things i liked about this. The male lead's actor did a phenomenal job, he brought the character to life showing naturality and no fear to lose posture in order to show things people in real life do but actors might fear doing in front of the cameras, if it wasn't for him I would've dropped this show. The initial concept of the spiritualist vs the scientific guy had the potential to be fun. Some side characters like the shareholder and the mom were entertaining in the beginning.But, the things I disliked were too many for me to enjoy this drama.
The plot is very weak, it heavily lacked drama, nothing truly happened. They missed huge opportunities in various aspects.
They could've played with the concept of spiritualism a lot more. We could've had a reason why Bo Nui was cursed, not just because . For example, someone intentionally cursed her when she was born for some reason and boom you get an easy instant villain. There could've been more funny scenarios where the shaman told her to do things because of the superstition, like the having to sleep with a tiger thing.
The bad casting and character writing. The female lead's actress is one of my favourites, I loved her in Kill Me Heal Me and Secret but I don't think this role was suited for her, perhaps only in the first 4 episodes when she was her usual loud extroverted self but as soon as Bo Nui started being all mysterious and pushing Soo Ho away like a tsundere for no reason, she seemed to have trouble with showing her internal emotions. Maybe characters that proudly show their emotions are more her thing.
Because of that, her character never seemed to like the ML as much as he liked her, and the fact that he followed her around like a puppy and bid her every wish leaving her selfish actions never addressed only made it worse.
The worst thing of this show is the atrocious writing of the female lead so even the acting couldn't have saved the character anyway.
The character of the male lead isn't perfect either. He went from rude to a smooth romantic man way too quickly
and then abandoned all his values and job out of the blue like it was nothing because of an obsessive love.
Many things straight up made no sense. One of them was that they made it seem like her curse was real but it was real only when it was convenient, Bo ra was in a coma because of her, her parents died because of her, she didn't even look at Bo Ra in fear of making her die but then when she left Soo Ho to protect him from her curse she suddenly started interacting with Bo Ra with no fear of giving her bad luck anymore. There was no need for her to leave everyone without even saying a word if she lived that one year perfectly bad luck free. And when they reunited they still lived with the curse, then what was the separation for? Nothing was resolved.
The last four episodes were a chore to go through because at that point all the plot points were over, the Gary Choi and his father plot was resolved(never cared about that to begin with), the drama of who really was Soo Ho's father went nowhere and the main couple were already together.
In the end I don't totally regret watching this only because I found a new actor to check out.
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Draggy and sometimes outright ridiculous
It had a strong start, I loved the characters and the initial story, I was able to ignore some silly things... up until around episode 10 when it just got too much. The fast paced plot that went from their childhood to teen years and then adulthood suddenly stopped when they became eternal journalist trainees.The plot relied on coincidences and weird notions(why the hell would every student but one be able to afford 1,000 dollars backpacks, why would someone be fired over 60 cents, the fact that in-ha is not creeped out by the stalker that is supposed to be the second lead, the main leads' romance moving quickly for them to suddenly separate because of god knows what)
The characters always ended up bumping into each other conveniently for the plot, in one episode there were always three or four really unrealistic coincidences.
All the main plot points were already resolved by like episode 8 (the male lead's identity, his adoptive father's disease, the brothers meeting, the brother's revenge and imprisonment, the romance). I felt no reason to keep watching
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Unique And Unforgettable
I recommend this drama to those that have watched way too many kdramas and are now tired of the shallow romances, empty characters and stories that are barely hanging on by a thread, this drama has everything but that. New viewers won't be able to appreciate this drama as much and won't be as forgiving towards certain things that in the end don't really matter, I know from experience because when I first tried to watch this a long time ago I foolishly dropped it.This drama has the best acting out there. The male lead was absolutely fantastic, all the characters he played were perfectly acted. The female lead was amazing as well, her expressions, her voice and her playful demeanor were perfect for this character, no one else would've been able to play these characters like they did.
The story is rich, emotional, carefully crafted and slowly unveiled to the viewer. There are a lot of twists and turns. The smallest lines and scenes carry significance that is revealed later with a huge emotional impact.
The dialogue is excellent, the conversations sound natural and can really pack a punch at times. Some scenes became memorable because of their beautiful lines that tug at your heartstrings.
The comedy is good, some golden scenes come to mind specifically.
The main characters have actual character development and a character arc, they go through an inner journey over the course of the story and every character has their role, unique personality, goals and motivations even if they are only a side character.
The romance is honestly one of the best if not the best romance. I could really feel their love for each other because it made sense, there were so many reasons for them to love each other so when they ultimately expressed it through dialogue or even through their eyes it was really heartwarming. This is one of those couples that I truly felt belonged together.
Obviously this show, like everything in this world, isn't perfect(its flaws are mainly the cringy visual fx, the sometimes excessive crying, some emotional scenes that are badly timed and the questionable mental ilness aspect that I, to enjoy the series more, saw in a more fantasy-esque light as it was probably intended) but in the end it leaves us feeling full and glad we didn't skip on this one.
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