Let me first state that the era from 1860-1945 is probably my favorite time period to read, watch dramas, documentaries, movies, and more about. The era of the 2nd industrial revolution, countries around the world being forced to open up their economies, seeing old decaying dynasties/monarchies bite the dust, seeing harrowing stories about struggling peoples trying to make ends with the little resources they have, governments forced to reconcile modernity with tradition, the world witnessing some of humanity's greatest achievements along with some of humanity's greatest atrocities, and much more, make this time period in history arguably the most captivating of all. Of all areas around the world, I'm most interested in East Asia. Any drama/movie/book dealing with China/Japan/Korea/Mongolia during this era is something I'll eat up right away. After watching Mr. Sunshine, Nokdu Flower, and Chicago Typewriter, I was ready to dig in to this drama. I've watched tons and tons of C-Dramas/K-Dramas/J-Dramas, and just by the trailers alone I saw for this show, I was super excited (which is saying something). The music sounded great, the actors/actresses looked convincing, the atmosphere and tone created was sublime, and the story looked like it was going to be enthralling. This was going to be a show on par with Mr. Sunshine and Chicago Typewriter, maybe even surpass both of those.

However...I was left bitterly disappointed.

The first few episodes start off...kinda strong. Usually dramas like these take a bit to get into, however, so see a drama build up so well in the beginning was surprising for me. However, it quickly devolved into insanity.

Incredibly predictable plot with characters who make very questionable decisions. Nothing feels very believable here, and the tropes that plague the drama from the very beginning were too much for me to bear to continue watching. If you know anything about this period in East Asian history, you'll realize that a lot of what's going on simply doesn't make any sense. Japanese soldiers speaking Korean? A Japanese soldier raising a Korean child, allowing her to speak her native language and respecting her Korean traditions? Travelling to Mongolia so willy-nilly knowing that the Japanese will be on your case every step of the way, making incredibly careless and stupid decisions? A Japanese lawyer who *instantly* falls in love with a Korean doctor and is making it super obvious that he's trying to help a Korean woman do things that are antithetical to Japanese imperialist policies and faces little to no repercussions for it (at least in the beginning, I don't know about the rest of the drama, didn't bother finishing it)? I mean, the Japanese lawyer in the show is pretty high up in the chain of command in terms of his importance, and he's willing to sacrifice his job for a woman who he just met and doesn't know all that much about? The other thing that bothered me was that *literally every single time* there is a "secret meeting", somehow, there's a bad guy that happens to listen in to the conversation and blow the whole cover. I know this is a trope that's inevitable (I'm looking at you palace harem dramas), but it's overused here just as much as it's used there.

All-in-all, I know there is a good plot somewhere, but it's lost in the mud with all the sins the writers of this show have committed. The complete incompetence of the group of "revolutionaries" is genuinely astounding. Some of the things that they do in the episodes I've watched, I seriously wonder what's going on through their heads. Do they not understand what enemy they're dealing with?

Also, some of the acting is very...strange. The guy who's in charge of the Korean clique that the main characters are trying to get support from, when he does his "evil laugh" at some point in the beginning of the drama, I immediately cringe. It's sooooo cringe lol; terrible acting. He tries to come off "badass", but fails miserably. The acting from the other cast members are ok; not fantastic, but certainly not bad. Good enough for me.

The saving grace, however, is OST. I bought the OST and am listening to it, wishing the show was just as good. Seriously, this OST is just gorgeous. Do yourself a favor; skip this show, and just buy the OST. It can be described in one word: glamorous.

Watch Mr. Sunshine, Nokdu Flower, or Chicago Typewriter instead of Different Dreams; all three are far better in every way. Different Dreams feels like an American drama but with Korean characters and a Korean story stickered on.

P.S. - Why does Mongolia have the "Mexico Filter"? Mongolia isn't "orange". I see Korean cinema has been taking notes from Hollywood.