willy
this drama may as well be the definition of Han.
(i dont rate rewatch value, neutral 5)- a uniquely korean concept (emotion) that is generally defined along the lines of a deeprooted unresolved pain relating to historical injustice, universally felt by koreans. it goes an extra layer deep, and pretty much explains a large part of what makes korean media as good as it is. (and why my ass be cryin during all these damn kdramas.. they literally feel more.)
Heung would be the counter, explosive and contagious joy, which this show also delivers in spades. Go Soo for one literally makes me smile just being on screen. damn near laugh even. he's so funny and kinda wacky that he almost seemed out of place at first, till quickly he became the only person fit for the role. my girl Ahn Sohee in here bossin (i say my girl but this is also the first time i saw her lol), Ha-Joon goin truh his things, Heo Junho on Go's side. and THOMAS. it's the most charming freakin cast ever, and they bounce off each other so well.
but yeah, what's more of an injustice (Han) than being killed, not even knowing why, and existing in limbo because your body hasnt been discovered? but.. then.. whats more of Heung than that limbo being a colorful, warm little village of people in the same position as you, all loving and caring for one another. on the one hand, developing all those relationships, youd wanna stay.. but on the other, you probably want someone to find you, for your loved ones to get closure.
without going any deeper into the plot, that's where Han and Heung meet. that's why the final ep was a waterpark on my face. nothing hits like kdramas hit. these mfers just whip out masterpieces like its nothing.
if you like the show Pushing Daisies i think that'd be the closest western comparison i could make, tho i was a kid when that was on and barely recall it. it has the same kinda blend of dark subject matter with a whimsically light scifi twist.
at 12 eps i cant give it anything but a perfect score. this is just everything. i'll miss you thomas 😠and i aint even mention the puppies
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Kaczynski's Frankenstein, a complicated love story
(i dont rate rewatch value)this dramas ability to condense something extremely complex into a concise package is nothing short of admirable. you know, just like creating smart glasses with integrated A.I. theres multiple layers of self awareness that get triggered at different stages, like the premise itself, falling for someone you can't touch, or the potential privacy concerns that come with such a device/technology, which is decidely a lot more spaced out. blend the two together and throw in a handsome recluse genius orphan developer, and you got yourself peak A.I identity crisis. the lines between artifical and human get blurred, and so does everything else.
tho not to forget go sung hee's mannerisms, which are like 60% of this shows charm for the majority of it, her interacting with something that in everyone elses eyes isn't even there. i didn't know it yet, but thats where the first seed was planted for how this show would ultimately conclude. doing an amazing thing of both maintaining that innocence that keeps this so pure, while still facing the very reality that challenges that innocence at every step. it's the perfect human conundrum we're all in the midst of ourselves right now.
simplifying the complicated has been the ultimate end goal of every commercial venture in history, but nothing can match how far digital technology has taken it. i didn't think theyd have time to touch on that as extensively as they did the identity side of things, but then.. hold up, doesn't go sung hee's facial blindness make her a perfect analogy for humanities last resistance to the complete loss of privacy facial recognition will (already is) bring? (she works at a company called PRISM ffs) and how about yoon hyun min being forced into becoming a complete ghost from society?
this drama manages to convey the same hard hitting messages as a good scifi flick, or a black mirror ep, but it does so on the down-low, while still just being an innocent romance drama about a girl, an A.I., and his creator. it's normalization of that premise reflects our own normalization of these technologies, our own innocence part-taking in them in the early days without paying much thought to how rapidly it all could, and did, evolve to work against us.
the last thing i expected was for this to turn damn near extremist by the time we hit the last 3 eps lmao. all those seeds planted truhout grew to trees in our absence, and we start runnin truh forrest with chainsaw for the final sprint. where else do you find energy like this outside of kdrama land?
in one word - sobering.
in a couple more words - this came at an eerily on-point time for where i'm finding myself rn, giving me a bit of assurance about some things i was unsure about.
getting into kdramas just continues to be fulfilling to no end. my ass even been slacking on movies cuz of them..
12 eps, just press play.
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robotic swoosh sounds
(i dont rate rewatch value, neutral)i need more sh!t like this!! this drama is on the verge of outrageous from the get, and just goes there more and more. transhumanism to 3 varying extremes in 3 of our 4 leading good guys (dont play around with min-a tho, she'll snap you in half either way), zombies, mindcontrolled goons, and an endless barrage of unecessery (sometimes quite shocking) death on the baddie side. every last fight scene is fu€#ing (how wish i could curse here) blockbuster level, with the cheesiest robotic transformers ass sounds behind every swing. 10yr old me was JUMPING the same way anyone infront Gi-Beom or tae woong's punches was when they were sent comically leaping.
on the one hand virtually everything is one-upped, but then when we to the storytelling, they actually choose to tone things down a notch to elevate it in that way. not saying it's not a completely engaging and exciting story, it freaking is, and i love everyone with my whole heart, but they do take a step back compared to shows where theres 10 different plot lines you're anticipating to get resolved. here they purposely limit it to just a few, and take enough time with them that it's only really towards the end when they kick into full effect. most of the journey up to that is just pieces of the puzzle organically being layed out. in that sense they accomplish that rare thing of making every one of the random action scenes count towards a greater goal. we feel Gi-Beom growing stronger. ..we feel his modification growing stronger. and they're challenging one another.
if you like action dramas this is a nobrainer. i'm already a few eps into 'Bad Guys' starring my boy Tae Woong with babyface 😠but same role 😂
such a wholesome ending too, still brought the laughs with mere minutes left on the clock.
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The Legend of the Blue Sea
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pearl tears
(i don't rate rewatch value, neutral stars)4K
i was going to say something about how supernatural love stories are unfair because they can f#%! you in ways normal ones cant.. but i guess when talking kdramas it doesn't matter what it is, they'll find a way to strap your heart right on the exterior of that underwater space elevator rollercoaster either way.
legend of the blue sea is the fastest i've finished a drama thus far, running through 10 eps in a night and finishing the rest within the next 2 days (fit some films inbetween). i didn't even expect id finish it today starting from ep13 in the AM, but here we are, a couple hours and 7 eps later. the 20 ep lenght i was initially put off by turned out to make for perfect pacing. they resolve everything with an ep to spare, and somehow rebound from the shinkick that #19 was in #20 effortlessly.
this is plain magical. whoever had the idea to cast jun ji-hyun as mermaid love interest, i bow to. knowing her from her strong role as freedom fighter in Assassination going in, seeing her go full kookoo born-sexy-yesterday trope for the first 1-2 eps was as jarring as it was cute, but then the turnaround when she first starts speaking??????? her deep voice?????? literally stomping out any concept of a trope. theres no one who could have nailed this like she did. super strenght, all that.
lee min-ho is also amazing and handsome and endlessly charismatic, and so is the entirety of this freaking cast. his roommates, the other families, the friends ji-hyun randomly makes upon arrival.
you get a laugh out loud comedy, scifi escapades, a joseon era period piece, outrageous crime stuff, outrageously sweet love story, and even lowkey mystery elements, all jumbled in one. the fact that so much time was spent at or around their amazing house makes it so cozy you'll wish you could live there. i don't think theres many kdramas about young love where the couple just lives under the same roof from the very get.
i absolutely adored every second, rly talking to my tv like an atashi all immersed after work. my girl rly dropping lil vegan remarks left and right with the mermaid POV, and she's not the only one!
if you want to feel all the things, look no further.
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Children of a Lesser God
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but then u go and tell me that the both of them starred in a kdrama together?
as detective duo?
literally magic.
i refuse to believe better casting is possible.
this blessing of a show starts as a whole rollercoaster of tones and genres, and for the most part remains true to that, even as things take their turns. always a light just around the corner even in its darkest moments. it exists on its own terms yet is married to the fabric of reality moreso than the kdramas i've seen up until now. this stuff has turned out to rly be a science, and i can't believe that i almost gave up on trying to get into them not long ago.
it's a a technical marvel too, of course. in its lowkey way, score carrying all the things, camerawork grand and simple at once. they did that thing of blending a dark fairytale with real life in a seamless manner that i don't think you could replicate in this form with merely western sensibilities. (which is to say that this show does incoorperate some obvious western tropes, but in a very playful, almost meta way, as compliment to the rest)
when kdrama peaks, it rly does peak.
(once again, i don't rate rewatch value - so neutral 5. tho with this one i can definitely see myself wanting to dive back in some years down the road.)
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revenge deconstructed
translating bullying to the screen in a way that captures the severity of its lasting effects is no easy feat. theres a lot of films specifically out of east asia i can think of that fell flat trying to take the extreme, relentless route, which by no means voids accuracy, but often just ends up as the laziest means to an end, losing out on what ought to be the most crucial element.. the victims perspective.what makes the glory a success is in how it manages to go about it as extreme as you can go, straight up sadist levels, while using clever time-jumping storytelling to juxtapose the effects of it across different points in the victim, our leads, life. we don’t get a hero here, we get a shell of a person so fundamentally chewed up and spit back out that any instinctual human drive to continue existing is replaced with the sole emotion of desire for revenge.
to do ALLL of that without going full soap opera, with a lead who doesn’t put up any kind of facade when engaging with the perpetrators, openly telling them how they broke her, how they’re the only thing on her mind, how they essentially succeeded in owning her. like to the point where i as viewer became irritated at moments like girl why are you giving them the satisfaction still .. just to realize again who the bigger person is
or isnt, actually. because again. nothing particularly righteous about her arc. the intents are as on the table as can be. she essentially gives them a head-start by making things crystal clear. literally putting herself in positions of weakness again doing so.
you could peel down a lot of layers of the human psyche at play here, while still packaged in something ultimately as straightforward as can be. i can’t think of any revenge related piece of media that gets as straight to the essence of this uniquely human emotion. long-game sh*t. more drained than cathartic by the end creds.
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masterpiece televsion
(i dont rate rewatch value, so neutral 5 stars, though in this case i have no doubts this is endlessly rewatchable)4K
i seldomn ever (actually.. ever) call something perfect, but this is straight up perfect. when the only flaw is that i wish it wouldn't stop, what else would you call that?
tight and concise as can be, 6 episodes polished to a glow, on real 4k. no time is wasted setting anything up, yet all the info we require, we get. the bulk is done through incredible visual storytelling, adding emphasis to every spoken word all the more. the peak of everything korean media has to offer from film to tv boiled down into a flawless package. bae doona & ju hi-hoon rly in the lead, and my man kim sang-ho carrying the support with sung-kyu. my interest for period piece drama is beyond the scale rn.
i hope this'll open the doors for a new parallel netflix kdrama evolution, with more freedoms to do stuff regular ones cant, like the gore here. maybe even embrace of the season format. truly epic event TV.
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ball of fun
i can’t even be mad at the sort of shoe-horned in side character backstories that bypass the legwork of actual character building, since it works anyway lmao, like rly well, but also because the lead is just done so damn well.just a straight up decent friggin guy, whose decent-ness as a human being gets continuously highlighted as more virtuous than it is, merely because the environment this is set in fosters turning down ones humanity. a humble guy going nowhere in life fast forwarded to a major CEO position, casually making amazing decision over anything he touches because he’s not perverted by the system yet.
oh and also the wacky fun as hell concept of park sung woong being trapped in a phone orchestrating the whole thing. that man really brought the same caliber of performance he usually brings, while playing a pulsating personal assistant blob on a phone.
wholesomeness from the left, wholesomeness from the right, a healthy amount of meta-ness as sprinkles, and to top it off some deep cutting reflection on the uncanny viciousness that is the korean job market
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500 characters idk how many to go, the fx was fire, ill never not appreciate some gore in my kdramas, unblurred bloody knives
(no rewatch value rating)
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Is there anything in Korea that money or power can't achieve?
(i dont rate rewatch value, neutral 5)i hope whatever Ji Sung channeled into this role made for a cathartic personal release in the end, because it borders on abuse what he had to go through for a massive chunk of this.
it's a theme throughout this drama, continuously pulling him 2 steps back for every one he just barely manages to make, which in this case requires some suspension of disbelief as we get to the mid point. they eventually straight up tell you what american show they're basing the largest segment of the drama on, through multiple references and mentions, which as it gets stretched over more and more episodes just seems a bit out there. ya know, for 2017, south korea, i wont spell out what it is, but its not hard to figure out i think.
kinda funny how the two eventually share the same downside given the fatal flaw in that american shows whole premise, but being that this is a kdrama, and thus naturally superior, there's a purpose behind it all!
again i wont give anything away.. but again, its not like these ever end with our heroes losing, right? a systematic takedown combined with a much deserved lighter overall tone, the ending makes use of every second we spent leading up to it. it's even more fullcircle than i would have expected thanks to characters getting fleshed out in ways they hardly deserve.
this is nothing if not a taxing drama, but for me, at least, it did end in catharsis. relentless criticism of south korea is a big bonus, and kudos for the whole cast providing enough smiles throughout to not completely wear me out.
(as devastating as a lot of ji sung's performance was, it kinda leaves me conflicted as to just how good it really was. depending on who you ask it could be one trick pony, or dedicated method acting where his lingering sadness colors the lighter moments as well, making them feel more wooden. at those peaks it was harrowing enough to imply he rly has the chops, but i'll have to see him in something else.)
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relentless justice. my first k-superhero!
(i dont rate rewatch value - neutral)4K
this is as far from the case of the week detective show as i could've expected when i first heard the premise. it's a straight superhero show, and the villain is pretty much the entirety of south korea.
well, the systems that drive south korea.
dong baek's power is damn near a revelation in that sense, cutting through all the noise of politics and media and what have you by forcing him to literally feel the pain of the victims he scans, causing him to act rash and promptly make enemies of pretty much the entire country. 0 f!#k mode. - because they simply can't feel the extreme emotions he feels. how is one individual expected to stay sane when mentally and physically reliving everyone elses horrors day in and out?
the poster of him in fighting stance reflects that ruthless and fun side of the show, where he kicks criminals in the face and does pretty much everything else a cop shouldn't (including using his powers in the first place), tho the bulk of that is only contained in the first few episodes, really. from then on out the tone is generally a lot more serious. you're made to be as angry as him, theres genuine scary moments, and a whole lot of trauma. everyone seems to be corrupt and nothing is quite what it seems. heck.. han su mi, who is his co-star, spends their introductory period suspecting his ass! gun rly pointed at the head.. which makes her huge smile in the closing minutes of the finale that much sweeter.
i felt cozy with this drama early on and it just kept pulling me in closer by the episode. the no-bs dedication to justice is it's heartbeat, and it results in surprisingly varied storytelling, as every element in this thing is freaking aced. where the hacking/surveillance scenes lack any real depth past convenient transition moments, the room it takes place in has so much character you just love to see it. white mechanical keyboards. same for anything. car scenes, lawyer-y scenes, journalism scenes. prosecution stand-offs, the sweet bonding scenes between characters. it's all so organic. *good* prevails in the truest sense since despite him basically being hunted down for most of the show, the people hunting him down (police force, other agencies) all are kinda hesitant from the get to even do so.. which is why they never do lol. it's the small guys teaming up to take down the top that they all know is corrupt. but it happens mostly very subtly.
then the finale comes a long and everything just perfectly clicks into place. simultaneously graceful for the payoff resolve, but also appropriately ruthless to end with the right bite. it lays the heart bare that you heard beating the whole way. only small lil issue being the the very very final like 2 minutes where the radio broadcast and the scene following it almost lowkey undo that sense of uncompromising fairness and justice that prevails truh this whole thing. it's complicated and i won't spoil, but overreaching is overreaching, and it's not like this drama aint aware that good intentions alone don't eliminate the possibility for evil!
it's pretty much perfect other than that, but it did irk me a bit. especially since they could've easily avoided it by just writing in an extra line or two.
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my third kdrama. confidently able to say i'm fully a stan now. had a slipstream of water on my face like leakage for the entire end portion, typhoons. moo gang in all black and ha ram with the eyes. i was wondering just how they'd close it.. and then they f%##%**^%*^%#~<%%%#}{%**%^#^#^}{|}}#^*%##}in closed it.
typhoons
(i dont rate rewatch value, neutral)
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modern snow white story, all with an evil witch and a princess, an all-seeing tech mirror, dwarfs, the occasional poisoning incident, and of course, a prince!
who in one of their initial encounters literally awakes her with a kiss, lol. (well, CPR. but she swore it was a kiss!)
Ji Chan Wook was who kept me watching even after the initial opening in barcelona put me off a bit. he's basically invincible, as we can see straight from his amazing introduction in that tower, so his action scenes are always super exciting (relative to tv), while ultimately still finding ways to the stakes intact.
Yoona is amazing too. again, i don't know her as idol, don't know her group, but i may just check them out now. the two are a great fit and she knocks the childlike recluse performance out the park without ever falling too deep into the airhead trope associated with that. it's cute, but doesn't overdo it.
i appreciated the nature of their relationship as the show went on. no spoilers, but it was pretty much handled perfectly given this is meant to be an action/thriller show first.
all the sidecharacters were great too. lots of growth from everyone. seemed like a bad guy was turning to a friend every other ep during the first half. Lee Ye Eun caught my eye especially, so i'm gonna be hopping on her filmog/dramas asap.
Song Yoon Ah as the villain is nothing if not captivating. even when hating her you can't help but love. an excellently written & performed character all around.
the music is of course amazing again!! i'm loving these super memorable scores that k dramas put to work so effectively. big bonus for the fantastic ominous-old-timey-german-music (idk what else to call it lol) which set the perfect mood, every time.
this is GREAT fun. i ran through the episodes without stopping every time i picked it up. the finale, like Uncontrollably Fond, after initially feeling a wee bit rushed, given all the loose ends and storylines, falls perfectly into place once it all wraps.
now excuse me as i get to working out again so i can achieve this Ji Chan Wook bod. (after i start my next drama..)
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Kim Woo-Bin sealed the deal for me from the pilot tbh. i'm not that knowledgable about kpop so i didnt even know who suzy was till halfway truh, so! all him. his extremely captivating self. who just kept growing on me as it went. tears down my eyes un-
yeah i'll go for it, why not
uncontrollably, by the last few eps.
fantastic performance.
i'm glad to be able to call this my first drama. i feel like it set me up well for what's to come, serving as a good introduction to those sensibilities i clashed with through all my other attempts. it all just flows really well once you get on the same wavelength with it. the music, the surprisingly creative camerawork, dramatic editing. everything works in tandem to provide maximum entertainment, in a way that feels surprisingly sophisticated. like they been around the block so many times they got the formula perfected.
the constant twists and turns made the show impossible to put aside, so i ran through it pretty quickly. all the relationships worked well and were cute, minus the odd annoyance here and there, though those things seems kinda unavoidable given the nature of this subject matter. or genre as a whole, rather, since im guessing a romance drama of this kind can only really work if you continuously throw obstacles in the mix to prolong the end goal, lol.
so yeah. i really liked this. i really like kim woo-bin and suzy, although she has decidedly less character development and kinda freezes in place for the end spurt once focus goes even more to kim. (her closeups were effective n whatever, but compared to his.. she was basically making the same face at every major twist)
while the revelations in the end did feel a bit underwhelming at first given all the anticipation, and the sheer amount of stuff they had to cover, i commend them for the decision to slow things down for the landing. it left me feeling very sober, so any criticisms i woulda had are just faded now.
i'm not sure how to rank 'rewatch value' so i just put a neutral 5. it's not like that should really factor into the quality of your first experience, i dont think. tho i do think ill maybe eventually hop back in just cuz its my first, and i can see myself growing even fo-
fuck it
fonder memories for it over time
onto the next one!
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digital tears
(i dont rate rewatch value)another day, another A.I x human romance kdrama. as tropy as these are getting now, i think we're at a unique point in time now (near-ish future scifi) where it's pretty much already cancelling itself out.
i'll stop myself before i go full simulation theory, going into questions like how much more 'real' human love would be opposed to this, if we.. ourselves.. maybe, possibly aren't 100% guaranteed authentic, that it's just chemical reactions anyway, and the whole process/condition of love is quite illogical (really just a flavor of self inflicted pain after a while) regardless of who or what you're loving on. --- butttt, i do think it's clear now that it very much is exactly these kind of existential real life questions that will continue to fuel, and validate the trend as it becomes normalized.
the best part is that the drama itself doesn't even have to go this deep into the details. we barely have to get technical here. the extremes a.. what word to use, relateable? understandable? sympathizable? human + machine romance brings are more than enough to fill in the blanks. the rollercoaster push and pull this is early on when she pretty much desperately tries resisting this.. is completely freakin understandable. to the point where we're the bad guys for wanting her to like.. give in, and dedicate herself to a robot, who keeps reiterating that he doesn't have emotions. cannot reciprocate. honestly it's gonna be interesting to see how and when more complex ones will begin diving deeper into the technical and philosophical side, considering just how much you already get out of a relatively simple story like this.
relationship story that is. and simple in the relative, cuz i did shed my tears a buncha times ofc. did feel all the things all the times, ofc. the twists and turns of the bigger story are their own convo, and they're what save this from fizzling out approaching the end. part of the blame is on me for putting these final 4 eps i just binged aside for a week, but sure enough, things reach outrageous levels for the final spurt, only to be tied together in a neat bow for a classic ending.
i will dock it that one star from 9, which marks transcendent level for me, just because of how the romance inevitably lost a bit of steam at times, being stretched over 18 eps from relatively early on. but this says nothing about how much i felt for them throughout this.* Gong Seung-yeon is awe inspiring in like every way (shoulda let her flex more of her martial arts tho) and you'll probably be hard pressed finding a more fitting representation of perfection fit for a humanoid robot than Seo Kang-joon. he literally may as well be superhuman at some points here. there is no flaw to be detected. big kudos for pulling the twin role off so seamlessly, i can't spoil what differentiates the human and robo version but.. they freakin different alright.
(*not to mention the top to bottom polish, production design, visual effects, OST, i ticked all them boxes. shazam failed me on the same piece of score twice. and did i mention how gong seung-yeon is literally the most beautiful?)
rest of the cast is great too. her family all in my heart, his mom, his hyun, even Yu Oh-seong who goes absolutely O.D as the villain, but then in like one 2 second facial expression.. yeah cant tell you more. if there's one thing i'm really starting to admire it's how kdramas will insist on rounding out characters that don't even deserve it come finale.
you're sent off without bitterness, and i love that.
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