A Lenda do Mar Azul (2016)

Legend of the Blue Sea was the much-awaited show of 2016 as it marked the return of Korean heartthrob, Lee Min Ho to television dramas after almost three years. Moreover, the show had Min Ho paired with Jun Ji Hyun who is one of the most popular and highest paid Korean actresses which meant a big deal. The hype around the show led to high expectations, which the show couldn’t live up to. Legend of the Blue Sea had a lot of things that worked against it including a dull storyline. Its paper-thin plot made the drama suffer and despite Min Ho and Ji Hyun doing their best nothing could help lift the drama beyond a point of stagnancy.

Let’s weigh Legend of the Blue Sea on our show beam balance and see what was good about it and what wasn’t.

Good Weights
Funny Moments: With actors like Lee Min Ho and Jun Ji Hyun the one department you can’t go wrong with is, comedy. The two actors have good comic timing, which is evident in the drama. Scenes where Joon Jae is jealous or where he tries to act smart in front of Cheong are too funny. Similarly, when Shim Cheong is new to the city and innocently believes whatever people tell her or when she over thinks about Joon Jae’s actions are too adorable.



Bad Weights
Chemistry: Lee Min Ho and Jun Ji Hyun were good individually but as a couple, they just didn’t click for me. They did not look convincingly in love let alone be soul mates for past several births. It was only towards the end that I got to see some chemistry between them but by then I had lost interest in the show. Lead pair chemistry is pivotal for a romantic drama and when the main ingredient is missing the dish becomes too bland to taste.  
Predictable: I wasn’t sold to the whole reincarnation scenario or even the history repeating itself angle. I felt the writers desperately tried to make the story interesting by constantly shifting the role of an antagonist from one person to another. I found the story twists too feeble to feel surprised by it. I could even see through some of the supposed twists that were there only to divert the viewer’s attention when in reality it had no greater purpose in the story. [[Spoiler]] For instance, Nam Doo suddenly seemed to turn evil be siding with the step-brother, Chi Hyun. It was so evident that the angle was added only to take the viewers by surprise. Nam Doo was a positive character all through the show, making him negative in the last few episodes for the sake of a twist would have been too lame.[[Spoiler]]


This drama has a lot of funny moments but sadly it doesn’t touch the highest point of entertainment. Even when it has a lot of things working for it, it still seems like there is nothing alluring about it. The drama wasn’t boring by any means. It just wasn’t enticing or engaging enough for me to want to catch up with every episode. Legend Of The Blue Sea could have reached greater heights with the kind of cast and budget it had. Sadly, the story failed the two actors who did everything they could to save the drama.

Legend Of The Blue Sea is a decent drama with several enjoyable moments. Watch this show only if you are a Lee Min Ho or a Jun Ji Hyun fan because these two are the only reasons to watch the drama.

Originally posted on www.alphagirl.in

Leia Mais

So lovely! Legend of the Blue Sea is delightful to watch. It's a fun mix of romance, comedy, action and fantasy. The story follows reincarnated star crossed lovers across to 2 timelines - with the Joseon timeline as a dramatic backdrop and the modern day story played out with more comedy and romance. I was surprised at how cute and funny most of the drama is. Even my kids laughed at all the "mermaid out of water" antics. Fans of both the stars will not be disappointed and fans of "My Love from Another Star" will most likely really enjoy it too. Though the plot and characters are totally different, they have a similar feel (but I would say this drama is a few notches lighter in tone and doesn't really try to be as emotionally heart wrenching).

Jeon Ji Hyeon is my favorite thing about this drama. Cheong, the mermaid character is strong, endearing and so funny. Lee Min Ho's con artist character is likable as well. Joon Jae seems similar to characters he's played in other dramas - kind of arrogant, charismatic and, underneath it all, a good guy. But I like him best when he is acting cute and happy. They are both so good. There is a reason they are so popular. Though this is mostly lighthearted, the sad emotional moments are stirring as well. I found myself laughing out loud (especially in the first half of the drama), crying, and swooning over the beauty and adorableness of the stars. Each episode is a visual treat.

The supporting characters are fun to watch too. The relationship between Joon Jae's roommates and the mermaid's friendships with the eclectic characters she befriends are sweet and satisfying. I enjoyed the little bit of Ocean's 11 feel with a couple of plot points that took me completely by surprise. The pacing is good with each episode revealing something new. The storylines don't get overly dragged out or complicated as they often do in dramas. The flashback scenes are a little too frequent and there may be things you can nitpick about some story details. But it is such a pretty and fun ride I can easily overlook it. This drama does what romance should do - leave your heart feeling warm and melty.

Leia Mais

I really enjoyed Legend of the Blue Sea very much. I was prepared to give this a higher rating than I did, but there were a few things that kept this from being perfect. The story was very good, I enjoyed the reincarnation/past lives aspect and the flashback scenes to the Joseon counterparts. I wish those parts had been able to continue further into the story. The writer really set up her myth very well. I've heard some say that it was too reminiscent of My Love From Another Star, and I can see where the set up was very similar in style. I enjoyed all the characters, though, and the writer did put in some good twists to the story. There were a few inconsistencies, but nothing that distracted too much from my enjoyment. And although the ending was good, I felt like it still could have been better. They did a good job at wrapping up, but I didn't feel like they spent enough time with our main couple for the last episode. This drama was actually my first experience watching Lee Min Ho. I thought I finally got why he was such a "big deal" a few years back. (No, I have never watched BOF and probably won't!) I liked him enough to find another drama of his to watch while waiting for new episodes. While he impressed me fairly well in the first part, I found that he lacked emotional punch in some scenes toward the end which lowered my acting score a bit. Jun Ji Hyun, though, has become one of the actresses that I enjoy very much. She has a great comedic sense and stands out from a lot of the Korean actresses I see. She did an excellent job in this show as well. I thought all the side characters were interesting and well-acted for their roles. Especially all the actors doing double duty as past and present characters. The music was pretty good, but nothing that was extraordinary. The theme song was cheesy but still somewhat catchy. It's not something I would like or enjoy listening to outside of being the theme song for this show, though. So, it was good for its purpose. I think this has good rewatch value, even if I myself may not rewatch it. Overall, I gave this an 7.5. It was a fairly solid drama and I would recommend it to anyone that likes romance and fantasy elements. I think this show airing during the same time frame as Goblin may hurt its ratings a bit, but it was still a great show and I don't have any major criticisms for it.

Leia Mais

Good Cast, Average Series

I didn't think I was going to watch a fantasy series for a while after I watched A Korean Odyssey but whatevs. I wanted to watch a LMH series and the last 2 he's done are fantasy.

This was an average series with a really good cast. I thought the storyline was interesting in the beginning but then it started to get a little boring for me just b/c I was getting a little tired of the parallel/past life storyline of the characters. At any rate I think it's a good show to watch once even though the ending and more accurately episode 20 I didn't care for that much at all.

What I loved of course was LMH. The rest of the cast was really good too. I have never seen the FL, Jun Ji Hyun in anything else but she was really good here as the mermaid. She and LMH had really good chemistry and they look good together! I really adored Shin Won Ho as Tae Oh, cutest hacker ever and Lee Hee Joon as Nam Doo. There were some really good comedic scenes and as usual the wardrobe department was on fire. Really loved the Joseon Era clothes as well. I really liked Yoon Ah, the little girl and the homeless woman who become FLs friends.

There are some really standout episodes like episode 6, episode 9, episode 11 and episode 18. Unfortunately, episode 20 is a letdown but we do get our happy ending so I will leave it at that.

Leia Mais

Things don’t make sense just to cater the plot

Warning ⚠️: Might contain spoilers

Plot: Basically it’s like little mermaid but with past life and sprinkle of murder(which is interesting). However, for theatrics to work, some things don’t make sense. For example, she can’t be rained on or get wet or she’ll turn to be a mermaid, so she doesn’t shower or wash hands(?), she claims she doesn’t have money but she actually received money from Chi Hyun, how can the police not remember her when she didn’t even erase his memories( it’s not like she knows where he lives), the doctor’s role and purpose was questionable as well(even in the joseon period) and that made this drama less convincing despite the fantasy element. Still, it was watchable to the extent that you wanna know how it will end so you binge watch it. If you’re not particular with small stuff then you wouldn’t notice what I mentioned.

Acting: The kid(Yoon Ah) is the cutest. I adore her here. LMH did great, JJH decent acting. Their chemistry wasn’t explosive for me. I was more excited about Hye Sun(Shi Ah) and Won ho(Tae Yo)’s love development. The rest of the characters were good and satisfying.

Music: Not catchy enough, even the songs for the sad scenes.

Rewatch Value: Definitely a ‘no’ for me. Even the kissing scenes of main leads feel forced. I do like some of the bed scenes.

Overall: 5-6 stars for the thrill, animation and acting. Spain looks stunning and they showed that very well in the drama. Legend of the blue sea is not droppable but not excellent either.

Leia Mais

Uneven but the earlier episodes are incredible

So if this was set in America she 100% would have been shot in the first episode at the police station. Roll credits!

Here is a simple fact about this series: Most if not all of the good and hilarious stuff happens in the early episodes! Comical, quirky, unpredictable, and with romantic undertones, right up my alley. Jun Ji-hyun is so adorable, it's her at her highest levels of cutesy buffoonery and dorkiness.

After a number of episodes though, her character loses a lot of agency and it just goes back to average quality.

Quite unfortunate as the writing quality plummets pretty hard in the last episodes, it's like nothing makes sense anymore. This really should have ended after around 14 episodes, not 20.

Would I recommend this show? Yes, at the very least the early episodes are a strong recommend from me. I will absolutely rewatch those at some point. The rest, not so sure. The highs are really high, but the lows are quite low. This show goes from like a 10/10 in the beginning to a 6/10 at best for me by the end.

The OST stood out to me as never being annoying but actually varied and great. Male lead Lee Min Ho was also refreshingly quite younger than his love interest.

So basically this confirms that even when she's thrown in a cheesy drama filled with redundant flashbacks that overstay their welcome, and writing that takes a nose dive in quality in the back half, Jun Ji-hyun really can do no wrong. We don't talk about Blood: the Last Vampire.

Leia Mais

When I say that this was perfect. I mean that this was absolutely perfect.

I don't write reviews. It's hard. They're usually long and I'm sure all my thoughts have already been expressed before so I've never really seen a point, but after finishing this I just HAD to get my thoughts written down. The story is great. Mermaid-loving a human, clearly it's been done before but this was done oh so right. No details were overlooked. Everything connected and flowed. I am great when it comes to guessing "who done it" and predicting what will happen next but this drama was not predictable at all. The acting was oh so good. The entire cast had amazing chemistry. ML and FL were so stinking amazing. The character and relationship development are seriously some of the best I've ever seen. I've never seen anything with Jun Ji Hyun but I'm excited to check out her other projects. Her voice in this was like melted butter on pancakes. So gosh darn yummy. The costumes, the environments. every last detail made this such an enjoyable experience, i regret waiting so long to pick this one up. I just finished this and I'm already thinking about when I can rewatch it.

Leia Mais

So, Legend of the blue sea.
At first I wasn't warmed up to the idea that is this drama, for mostly the exact same reasons why everybody was looking forward to it and dying to watch it.
To rely on a popular drama and sell another one that's neither a sequel/prequel, remake or either a spin-off, by advertising it has a similar feel and story to it + share the same director and main female lead, hmmm to me that doesn't make any sense.
But I put all that aside and gave the first episode a try. Good thing I only did that after the drama had finished airing completely, for boy! was I hooked.
I loved the bad boy lead! loved the quirky comedy, the past & present story lines intermingling, but above all simply enjoyed watching the characters interactions to pieces. I found Lee MIn Ho (strangely) delivering a very strong performance, and (as expected) Jun Ji-Hyun who was just perfect as a cute, curious & lovable mermaid. I liked the story too and how it unfolded, especially appreciated that the method used to build and maintain a connection between the two leads was believable and not so reeking of drama-script-made-up encounters and unbelievable coincidences like many Kdramas fall prey of.
I also loved the overall pace of the drama, and rarely felt bored with the story (though sometimes I was bored with some characters portrayal or interactions esp. the villains). Also appreciated that the Joseon story unfolded early on, leaving well-deserved space to focus on the present seoul story.
I have to admit that certain characters' past actions portrayal felt a bit rushed and insufficiently accounted for, in a way that really didn't help flesh them out and invest me in their drama (the father). Some other characters' actions were a bit ill-written, and seemed a bit contradicting with the eventual portrayal of their strong and independent personality that it was difficult to relate to them let alone sympathize with (the mother). But still, the drama somehow succeeded in getting me invested in not only the fantasy and romance which are the main two lines of the drama, but also the family drama and friendship, I was crying in scenes involving both the two above mentioned characters so I can't say that my deeper considerations of their not-free-of-flaws script, or the gripes I have against how they were written, prevented me from enjoying the angst and drama intended overall.

Liked the music, the camerawork and direction. And LOVED the scenario.
Just admitting that after I had completed the drama that I was compelled to rewatch the thing over again (though of course with a lot of fast-forwarding and skipping all the scenes that don't involve the leads) is enough proof how I enjoyed it.

I totally recommend this drama to anyone who enjoys a bit of fantasy mixed up with comedy, and a little spice of drama and thriller.

Leia Mais

Okay this review is about 4 years late! This quarantine made me binge watch kdramas! So here I go with LOTBS review.
First of all one of the best story lines ever! Park Ji-un knows how to write some feel good drama! this fairy tale turn modern twist story will keep you on the hook from the very beginning to end! Lee min ho as Prince Charming and Jun Ji hyun as the mermaid that fell in love with a human.
Lee Min ho is truly a great actor. He embodied his character really well. From a high elite Dam Ryung of the Joseon era to Jun Jae of the modern time, he knew how to keep us love both characters on their own way.
Jun Ji hyun as mermaid is phenomenal! I can’t think of anyone else that can portray that character better than her. She has the right physical appearance and she has the right approach to the character. Her comedic performance will keep you literally laughing out loud ! she did very well!
Their chemistry is soooo good! I’ve been following The Eternal King of lee min ho and I tell ya, his chemistry with Ji hyun is way better than his co star in that show. It’s so good that you would wish they are a true couple. With that said they both acted really well on this.
The story is one of a kind. Yes I know most kdrama is all about destiny and fate kinda thing, but man oh man this one I have never seen before. the story from the past is bound to repeat itself. now it’s up to our lead actors to change it. For the sake of the drama it did! They managed to change their fate into a beautiful happy ending. Ahhh!!! I cried of happy tears! ??
So this drama has it all! Comedy, romance, suspense, history, Love for the family, test of friendships and a whole lot more! Go watch it! You will not be disappointed! I promise! jun Jae and sim cheong forever!!! ?

Leia Mais

Another drama that was so hyped it never really reached my expectations. For me, it was a reversed version of My Love from the Star that is less entertaining, less convincing and is kind of disappointing. Both dramas was almost similar you can't just stop comparing both of them. Both have fictional leads that fell in love with humans. Both have leads that is entangled to a family problem. Both have Jun Ji Hyun as main leads. But, one was just much better than the other and that is the first one and it was My Love from the Star.

Characters were well introduced. They have actors that could really up this drama. The premise was promising but the flow and the plot has nothing really new, Ost was forgettable. Cinematography was awesome. The whole drama was just forgetful.

Overall, I had high expectations for this drama because of its promising plot and very bankable leads, but it just turns out to be another drama that I watched and just seems to forget anything about it. It's up to you if you want to watch this one.

Leia Mais

I only recommend the first 6 episodes

A con-artist Joon Jae meets a Shim Chung and he tries to steal her beautiful jade bracelet. However, they ended up crossing paths from then on and had to face a lurking danger. Can Shim Chung survive the human world while keeping Joon Jae safe?

I enjoy the beginning the most for the many memorable and laugh-out-loud funny moments. Thanks to Jun Ji Hyun for portraying her characters as a literal fish-out-of-water meeting a con-artist and learning everything about human world. Lee Min Ho and Jun Ji Hyun is a great match together when they're bickering but not as lover. From the beginning I see them as strangers to friends and can never see them as lovers.

When the plot thickens, they showed mysterious and repetitive flashbacks that I found very predictable but drags for many episodes, that by the time it is revealed, there is no surprise anymore. I remember being more interested in the supporting cast scenes more than the leads because the main plot is just not emotional and feels so underwhelming.

After I paused watching it for many months right after the reveal, I ended up finishing it just for the closure. The ending is decent but fail to bring back the excitement I had in the beginning. I only recommend the first 6 episodes, the part where most of the comedies are landing perfectly. They really could benefit had they wrap up everything quicker.

Leia Mais

I'm just fall in love with this drama.This is one of my favourite drama. ????????
Best fantasy drama I have ever seen. Such a good story with perfect ending.❤️
The chemistry between Sim cheong and heo joon jea is cute yet strong ...every character has done justice with their roles...Lee min ho's acting is damn superb.
The times when Lee min ho, Nam doo & Tae-ho plays as the con-man is eye catching.????
Sometimes it seems real because of their acting!!!There is no any single scenes that makes u bore. This drama is full of entertainment, comedy, tregedy, suspense,romance ,everything.& Its music is awesome ????
Thank u everyone who made this drama sooo wonderful.????
If you have not watched it yet, go and watch it. You will never regret!!????✨

Leia Mais