W (2016)

As a SciFi/Fantasy this is an extraordinary production. All the usual annoying tropes are present but in this story they all make sense in the comic setting and they are what drives the story forward. Anything can happen and I was on the edge of my seat through the whole series. Constantly with the question WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

The production value is really good in this drama with excellent special effects and settings. The ensemble of actors are great, with really good directing and amazing chemistry between the leads. The action scenes are well made and exciting. The protagonist and antagonists are believable because they are suppose to be over the top black and white from a webtoon. The story takes so many hard turns it's at times like a crazy joyride with death around the corner. You know what is going on, but then again it can all be flipped over by a stroke of the pen. As a romance it's pretty satisfying with the cheesy, sweet moments.

The existential crisis and growth could have been a tad bit more clear, however spelling it out to people would probably dumb down the whole feeling and clever people can read between the lines.

Even though I felt the story was wrapped up nicely, I still have loads of questions that were never explained. This is a MUST if you like SciFi/Fantasy/Supernatural dramas!

Leia Mais

Wow, so I just finished watching W. I can't believe it. What a rollercoaster!

The story is just mind blowing. Everything is set out nicely and I can identify the creativity of this kdrama as it is very unique and original. Some scenes were really confusing but I think I got the gist of it. I still love the story though. Literally nothing ruined the story. If I had one word to describe the feeling I had while watching this kdrama, it'd be exhilarating. In my opinion, I prefer the first half of the kdrama but the second half was just as good. I just enjoyed the first half a tiny bit more XD The end felt a tiny bit iffy for me but nevertheless, I overall enjoyed the build up to the last moment.

Lee Jong Suk really outdid himself in this drama. I think this is the best I've seen of his work. He looks stunning in this drama as well. Han Hyo Joo's acting was really good, and she is so naturally beautiful too. The character, Soo Bong, was entertaining to watch. Many scenes that I had a chuckle that he was in. Kim Eui Seong played his role very well too. *OTL* to the whole cast :)

I've heard the OST soundtrack and I really like it. Heartwarming is the word I'd use to describe most of the songs.

Oh and I'd definitely rewatch this kdrama. It's worth it because there's just so many little details that are incorporated into the story.

I'm so sad that it's over ;_; please watch it, but warning: watch it when you have a lot of time ahead of you because I bet 99% of you who start this now will binge watch it and finish it within 2 days. Fighting!!! <3

Leia Mais

Story: The idea of this story is refreshing but the execution of it faltered half-way through the drama. In a nutshell, a woman was unexpectedly pulled into an alternate world of a comic drawn by her father to save a dying man. From there on, she gets pulled in into the world of W whenever the hero of the comic thought or required her to be around; hence becoming one of the characters of the comic world. Like all comics, there's a baddie (or two) who's after our hero and all through the drama, the hero and our initially-reluctant-heroine tackle the threats posed by the baddie(s) while trying to find a way to end up happily with each other, despite belonging to two different worlds. The first half of the drama created a huge impact and garnered interests from viewers because of its fresh concept of an alternate dimension/world in a comic book and the fast pace of the development of the romantic relationship between the hero and the heroine but the second half of the drama started to fall flat on its earlier premise as the writer struggled to find a way to sensationalize the struggles between a comic hero and its villian(s) while also trying to 'force' a happy ending for the hero and the heroine. It's a bit like trying to give a ghost and a live human a happy ending - to put together a fictional person and a real person together requires a lot of bending of logic. Personally, I think that this drama would have been so much better if the writer wrote from the perspective of a sad or open ending, instead of insisting that our two main characters end up together as per standard KDrama endings. Since the writer had started with an unorthodox beginning for our couple, why not follow on with an unorthodox ending? That would have made W a one-of-its-kind in the KDrama world.

Acting/Cast: Beautiful casts and good acting but why do I get the feeling that the cast themselves felt bored and flat-out half-way through the drama? It's as if they are just acting for the sake of acting to complete the drama...which was a great waste of the talents in this drama!

Music: Not the main attraction of this drama.

Rewatch value: Not in a hurry to re-watch.

Overall: It was good enough to keep you watching just to see how the writer's going to end the whole mess but not good enough to create a huge Wow! factor till the end; hence I rate this drama 8/10.

Leia Mais

Don't watch this if you have trouble with complex plots

I've read a lot of negative reviews about this drama, which I think is completely absurd because this drama was masterfully done. The plot is intensely complex, however, so it's possible some people just aren't following the entire thing well enough to understand why certain plot choices are made. This seems to happen frequently with transferring webtoons to tv dramas. There's a LOT of content, and it can be difficult to give the drama the same impact as you can with the much more freeform webtoon medium.

I should preface this by saying (none of you many mega fans kill me please) I don't appreciate Lee Jong Suk as an actor very much. I don't think he has a lot of depth or variety and I haven't been a fan of many of his performances. W is an exception, however. He was really solid in W, thanks largely to the female lead who is very intelligent in her performances. The two leads have a good amount of chemistry in W, but the passion and drive comes largely from Han Hoy Joo's performance. She doesn't overact and she knows masterfully when and how to apply emotion and energy to a scene. The supporting cast also had some really solid character development and charismatic interactions.

W itself is one of those alternate dimension sort of shows, with a lot of dimension swapping going on at various points. The handling of interactions between the dimensions and their affects on each other was really well developed. It was interesting to watch the story develop and become more intense as you got closer and closer to the central piece linking both worlds. The romance plays really well into the overarching story without becoming too overbearing. The ending was well conceived and well delivered and fit the story perfectly without being too predictable or trite.

Overall this is a really really solid drama with a lot to offer. It's absolutely one of my favorite Kdramas...but then I tend to like dramas with complex storylines and intelligently interwoven themes.

Edit: some nice person caught me...I actually have literally no idea what a Webtoon even is and was 100% wrong that the script for this show comes from a webtoon. IVE BEEN OUTTED AS A POP-CULTURE NESCIENT.

Leia Mais

This drama was mind-bending and imaginative and a lot of fun. I liked the fact that I never knew what was going to happen next. The writer was very very clever and managed to pull it off, for the most part. Lee Jong Suk was perfect for the role. After all, he looks like a manga character come to life. I always underestimate his acting ability due to his looks but he routinely exceeds my expectations. No exception here. And I always love Han Hyo Joo, who seems to pick good projects. There were a few particularly inventive things that stood out from the usual drama. The fading in and out from manga drawings was magical, especially due to the fact that they kept the manga aesthetic rather than trying to make the portraits exact copies of the subjects. And I could tell that the writer tried really hard to make everything tie together, while throwing in unexpected delights such as the water in the bathroom, probably my favorite scene. Well done, everyone.

Leia Mais

Wow. This was INSANE. As a writer, I cried because it felt so accurate. I felt the pain of having characters who don't want to listen, when it feels like they are acting of their own accord. As a reader, I was feeling ALL THE FEELS because what reader hasn't imagined meeting their fave characters in real life and falling in love??? And as a hopeless romantic, I was completely enthralled by the chemistry and love shared between the leads. It was such a treat to watch! And on top of all of this, it avoided all of my least favorite technical tropes in story-telling and stayed well within the rules they created in the world-building, while also continuing to shock me and break my heart over and over again. I will be watching this one again soon. What an incredible show!!

Leia Mais

Angst and Time Jumps

This KDrama never got boring and kept me at the edge of my seat the whole time. I even went as far as sneaking my phone during class cause I NEEDED to know what happens next. I'm not usually the type to go for violent romance dramas(full disclosure: there is a LOT of violence) but this drama did it pretty well and I totally fell in love with the leads and their romance. The comedy in this drama is also very well done and really helped me through some of the depressing moments. This was actually my first ever drama and it is what got me into korean dramas to begin with, so I'd say this is a very beginner friendly kdrama to watch!

Leia Mais

From meaningful story to be a boring superheroes movie

At first the story is interesting. I'm so excited to see how Kang Chul manage to fall in love with a new lady that coming out of nowhere to his life.

Like first half of the episodes are making you want to see the story development more and more, especially after Kang Chul realize he is in a comic, and then magically go to the real world to throw his anger to the author. That's very unpredictable! what an awesome plot!
It's a melodrama, really romantic, mature yet very meaningful. It makes us learn in this real lfe how painful it is when the author of our favorite book is suddenly not appreciating his works.. and just stop half way. It breaks the dreams of us as the readers, also break the purpose of the characters in his story as well.
Kang Chul is really teach the author a lesson.. and make us want him to be a real human.. so he can make a good life which is not being played with series of tragic events, based on the personal life issues of his author.

But then, after the evil Father has appeared as a super villain character in episode 10, I suddenly feel like I'm watching a superheroes movie.. when the villains are getting stronger and did everything uglier, meanwhile the heroes tried to win the battle with their magic "drawing tablet". Then, some dramatic events suddenly come up like Kang Chul's memories gone.. like WTF.. and like most of korean drama with break up scene. Ok fine.. but second half of the episodes...it become a new drama that not focus on "W" meaning.. but suddenly to be a story of an author getting eaten by the monster that he just created. I finally saw this drama is getting unnatural, and so foolish.

It's fine then.. I keep watching.. until the repeating stories where the father monster being a horrible villain. He keep appearing again and again, even after he died, he make his come back to the story.. and it's totally out from the logic. I know it's a fantasy story.. everything can be happen beyond our logic there.. but I feel the story become out from its focus on Kang Chul's character development. It's not even focus to find out Who and Why. It's a complete mess with W turn to be "WTH".

In the middle of the story, this "W" drama forgot its main focus to emphasize how female lead should be a better doctor through her experiences in comic life, and how Kang Chul should be a super cool character and a great shooter! He never did a super cool actions again, despite of becoming a smart detective to find out how the comic's work so he can easily teleport from comic to real world and otherwise. Kang Chul suddenly become smarter than the real human, even more than the author itself.

The way the main leads solve the mystery is getting less interesting, and slowly its turn out they simply just go with the flow as how the comic wants how its ended. What you see is MONSTER FATHER + EVIL POLITICIAN VS THE FUGITIVE.

When the female lead dead, and getting alive by some magic drawing.. I was like "ok.." because they can make next "magical healing" story in new chapter, with those magic drawing tablet. But then, how come the monster can be alive again by possessed the human father? The story line is getting messy.. it's out of control..

Last challenge: female lead has to choose between Kang Chul or her father to go back to reality. Do they need to push the story to be very dramatic so it become mind blowing? Sorry.. It doesn't work for me.

Hello!! All the human of course should go back to their real world. It's ok if the drama never want to explain why Kang Chul can be a human later on,
but what's with the concept there about human can become a cartoon? LOL.
Can you imagine how the story in "W" comics turns to be messy there? I wonder the best selling book suddenly turn out to a complete confusion for the readers.
Well.. It's a sad ending in the comic.. where the hero: Kang Chul is dead, just like that.. with 1 bullet, and all villains remain survive.
The readers must be think how a cool "W" comic that started as an action story, turns out to be a romantic melodrama.. and last.. change to be a mess by making his super cool main character get a tragic dead by getting a single shoot.

Last episode.. we finally know that the fact that is all villains are dead in the comic, but Kang Chul is not dead, and he can be human. It just the readers never know about this side of the story.

The human dad then become a comic character but disappear for good... and TADAA... the "happy ending" just happened in reality. Yeah..just like that.. after Kang Chul went to the jail for 2 years to clean his name in the comic, he then teleport to real world to be a prince charming.. and satisfy us as the audience to have a happily ever after.. by a closing kissing scene in the end of fairytale.
Hell yeah!

Honestly.. W has a unique concept. They can make a better story without trying too hard to make so many surprising plot! If they want to make it an action movie in the first place.. so be it.. they have to be all out about it till the very end.
But even if it's main focus is more to romantic story.. they should make a beautiful plot till the end too.. with clever human character who are the female lead and her dad go to comic and help Kang Chul kill all the bad guys, and make "W" project as his successful achievement. So they can back to reality together with a super cool final chapter of the book.

But we only watch a "cry baby" female lead who is desperate, and Kang Chul who become very busy with his runaway from the police and villains.
After all.. I thought at least the drama will give us a moral of the story in the end. Unfortunaly it's not. The dad ain't getting better: from drunken human in real life to be a freak, till he choose to disappear into the unknown for the good shake of everybody. And Kang chul in the "W" readers' mind is remain dead in misery.

As the good news: at least we still have Lee Jong Suk and Han Hyo Joo as the main leads here, with their good looking face and brilliant acting to be a positive side of this drama :)

Leia Mais

Ah, W.
My first Korean drama, and the one that ruined me for all others.
With how amazing it was, of course (:

Basically, my *only* complaint about this drama is the music. Which... wasn't terrible, but also wasn't great. It just wasn't exceptional or noticeable in any way. But it also didn't ruin anything. So... it was sort of just there. Not really to hit you in the feels, though.

Aside from that, anything and everything about W was fantastic.
The plot, the characters, the acting.
The concept of this drama is so very unique, and I felt that the actors did justice to it.

It was heartwarming, heart-pounding. I smiled, I was sad.
I didn't cry, but it certainly did hit me in the feels.
It was... *intense*. One second you're all "awww" over the romance and the next you're "oh god what is happening noooo!" over the action and suspense.
The perfect combination, and I loved it.

Final thoughts: I *highly* recommend watching this drama. HIGHLY. It has it all - heartwarming romance, touching scenes, funny moment, happy moment, sad moment, wonderful moments. You'll fall in love with those characters and you'll root for their happy ending.
That's the kind of show W is.

Leia Mais