klmnumbers
Overall, this show was OK. It was extremely uneven, flying back and forth between melodramatic romance, zany comedy, genuinely creepy horror, etc. Some of it worked. Some of it didn't.
Story: I actually really enjoyed a lot of elements of this story. I thought it was a clever re-imagining of Journey to the West with the geumganggo being a hold over his heart rather than a crown over his head. Many of the throw away lines about his position in heaven prior to throwing a fit were great references. There are elements of this story that I found wonderful and interesting. The back and forth of whether his love for her was real or not could have been fleshed out so much more and made more interesting. There could have been a lot more sturm und drang on the both character's feelings toward whether his feelings were completely manipulated or only gently coaxed. It feels like it pops up a few times for her, but she never really reckons with it and continues to abuse the relationship. It's odd. Also, the entire last episode bothered me. I'd rather the last episode be about what they suggest the open ending to be (him breaking into the afterlife).
The characters, however, were extremely uneven. Ma Wang, in particular, is a mess of writing. They use him for physical, ridiculous comedy over and over, but honestly his strongest scenes were those with emotional gravitas and his misery over Princess Iron Fan and feeling used. I also struggled with how he treated Son Oh Gong. They seem to not know whether Ma Wang is supposed to be a villain or hero. That works for me a little, but it just KEPT going back and forth to a ridiculous degree. He kept making broad statements about how Son Oh Gong deserved all this misery, but the show only gives us Son Oh Gong doing innocuous and non-hateful things to Ma Wang. So, it felt misplaced. (7/10)
Acting/Cast: Honestly, this cast (for the most part) was the strong point of the drama for me and completely wasted.
Lee Seung-Gi was wonderful. I've seen him in a LOT of mediocre dramas, but his performance is never the weakness for me. It was interesting seeing him play a character that on paper is relatively similar to Choi Kang Chi from Gu Family Book (literally - a 'demon' who is controlled by a bracelet who falls in love with a woman, and one of them is prophesied to die by virtue of their relationship with the other) but vastly different on the screen. I liked seeing him take similar subject matter and spin it. He plays the emotional heart strings well, and I buy his comedy a lot more than the others. He did a good job of playing mixed and confused emotions, and I enjoyed the slow change to how he said "because I love you". To me, he clearly commands the screen.
Cha Seung Won - I already addressed this a bit above, but the character was a mess which made the performance suffer for me. He committed to the humor, but I didn't find the joke itself funny which isn't his fault. The extended physical comedy bits (like the bit about his body odor) just fell flat. I almost always preferred him playing drama.
Oh Yeon Seo - The character and performance were just so flat to me. There was almost no change to character whatsoever across the course of the show. I know we're supposed to feel this subtle change of her letting people into her life and building a found family of people who care about her after shielding herself for so long, but I never saw her emotionally open up for it to happen. It was more like... it just happened. There was no emotional catalyst for it. I found her pretty expressionless throughout, and it was made all the more obvious by how much gravitas Lee Seung-Gi had as a scene partner.
Others - special mention to Lee Se Young who had to play like 5 different characters in this show and was legitimately outstanding. She did creepy horror physical zombie comedy at the start, young hopeful idol trainee in flashbacks, broad comedy zombie, "Bu Ja" the bright and innocent, sweet zombie, and then the Priestess - conflicted and heartbroken but dark. And then all the shades in between. Priestess as Bu Ja. Priestess feeling Bu Ja seeping through, etc. I found her wonderful, and I hope she gets more leading work in other dramas soon.
My other special mention is to Lee El who always seems wasted. Secretary Ma was such a great minor character, and Lee El was just great. I always felt drawn to her in scenes. (8/10)
Music: I actually really liked this OST. A lot of the songs stuck with me, and the lyrics were pretty appropriately on the nose. The only thing that drove me nuts was the lyric "Always behind of you." I know that English inserted into Korean songs isn't always perfect, but "of" isn't necessary there, and it was used so prominently in the drama. (8.5/10)
Rewatchability: Some episodes are pretty good, and I could see myself rewatching. But honestly, this wouldn't be high on my list of dramas to watch again. (5/10)
Story: I actually really enjoyed a lot of elements of this story. I thought it was a clever re-imagining of Journey to the West with the geumganggo being a hold over his heart rather than a crown over his head. Many of the throw away lines about his position in heaven prior to throwing a fit were great references. There are elements of this story that I found wonderful and interesting. The back and forth of whether his love for her was real or not could have been fleshed out so much more and made more interesting. There could have been a lot more sturm und drang on the both character's feelings toward whether his feelings were completely manipulated or only gently coaxed. It feels like it pops up a few times for her, but she never really reckons with it and continues to abuse the relationship. It's odd. Also, the entire last episode bothered me. I'd rather the last episode be about what they suggest the open ending to be (him breaking into the afterlife).
The characters, however, were extremely uneven. Ma Wang, in particular, is a mess of writing. They use him for physical, ridiculous comedy over and over, but honestly his strongest scenes were those with emotional gravitas and his misery over Princess Iron Fan and feeling used. I also struggled with how he treated Son Oh Gong. They seem to not know whether Ma Wang is supposed to be a villain or hero. That works for me a little, but it just KEPT going back and forth to a ridiculous degree. He kept making broad statements about how Son Oh Gong deserved all this misery, but the show only gives us Son Oh Gong doing innocuous and non-hateful things to Ma Wang. So, it felt misplaced. (7/10)
Acting/Cast: Honestly, this cast (for the most part) was the strong point of the drama for me and completely wasted.
Lee Seung-Gi was wonderful. I've seen him in a LOT of mediocre dramas, but his performance is never the weakness for me. It was interesting seeing him play a character that on paper is relatively similar to Choi Kang Chi from Gu Family Book (literally - a 'demon' who is controlled by a bracelet who falls in love with a woman, and one of them is prophesied to die by virtue of their relationship with the other) but vastly different on the screen. I liked seeing him take similar subject matter and spin it. He plays the emotional heart strings well, and I buy his comedy a lot more than the others. He did a good job of playing mixed and confused emotions, and I enjoyed the slow change to how he said "because I love you". To me, he clearly commands the screen.
Cha Seung Won - I already addressed this a bit above, but the character was a mess which made the performance suffer for me. He committed to the humor, but I didn't find the joke itself funny which isn't his fault. The extended physical comedy bits (like the bit about his body odor) just fell flat. I almost always preferred him playing drama.
Oh Yeon Seo - The character and performance were just so flat to me. There was almost no change to character whatsoever across the course of the show. I know we're supposed to feel this subtle change of her letting people into her life and building a found family of people who care about her after shielding herself for so long, but I never saw her emotionally open up for it to happen. It was more like... it just happened. There was no emotional catalyst for it. I found her pretty expressionless throughout, and it was made all the more obvious by how much gravitas Lee Seung-Gi had as a scene partner.
Others - special mention to Lee Se Young who had to play like 5 different characters in this show and was legitimately outstanding. She did creepy horror physical zombie comedy at the start, young hopeful idol trainee in flashbacks, broad comedy zombie, "Bu Ja" the bright and innocent, sweet zombie, and then the Priestess - conflicted and heartbroken but dark. And then all the shades in between. Priestess as Bu Ja. Priestess feeling Bu Ja seeping through, etc. I found her wonderful, and I hope she gets more leading work in other dramas soon.
My other special mention is to Lee El who always seems wasted. Secretary Ma was such a great minor character, and Lee El was just great. I always felt drawn to her in scenes. (8/10)
Music: I actually really liked this OST. A lot of the songs stuck with me, and the lyrics were pretty appropriately on the nose. The only thing that drove me nuts was the lyric "Always behind of you." I know that English inserted into Korean songs isn't always perfect, but "of" isn't necessary there, and it was used so prominently in the drama. (8.5/10)
Rewatchability: Some episodes are pretty good, and I could see myself rewatching. But honestly, this wouldn't be high on my list of dramas to watch again. (5/10)
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