A Lenda do Mar Azul (2016)

Another great drama from a spectacular writer!

The Legend of the Blue Sea is probably one of the greatest multi-genre drama series out there. Starting from the fantasy genre that all of the kids grew up with, continuing with romance, comedy and thriller all throughout the show. The cinematography was superb, especially when shooting historical locations and scenes. The story is pretty much straightforward, however, it lacked some originality, especially towards the end.
I enjoyed the cast of the drama a lot. Wasn't a fan of Lee Min Ho actually, but his acting was ridiculously good. I wouldn't imagine any other actor playing his character. The main and side characters made me fall in love with them as well. Furthermore, I want to put a huge emphasis on the fashion that the stylists chose for this drama. The clothing items were an eye candy for me and an inspiration.

Definitely a drama to come back to after a couple of years. It's magical, romantic and very fresh. Big applause for the directors, creators, actors and the staff, they did an amazing job!

Leia Mais

Only watch it for the plot

This film is a romance drama with elements of fantasy. The plot is creative and was the main reason why I persevered to the end. Some episodes, however, weren't interesting at all. Lee Min-ho is the male lead. I know he is a very popular actor but his performance in this drama was decent at best. He seem to have only one expression. The female lead, Jun Ji-hyun outshone him. She has charisma. Her performance was expressive, layered and convincing. I found her interactions with the homeless lady particularly enjoyable because they were full of respect and tenderness.

Leia Mais

This is my first of Lee Min Ho, yes you've read it right. Inspite of loving KoreanDrama since 2009, I've watched lee min ho for the first time(2017). I did not hate lee min ho, but he came out too famous to start with and I was not fond of going with the hype and so i skipped his dramas. hihi. And then decided to watch him out of curiosity. For some reasons,watching him in this drama gives me an impression that he is a good person. His acting is not superb and I am too familiar with his face, but I found him charming because of his height and gestures after watching him. I'm planning on watchign his other dramas next. About the drama, I enjoyed the shallowness, the humor, the atmosphere, the location shoots, the suspense, anger,lonliness,regrets, love that were all not to a deep extent but just enough for me to be entertained, to be fluttered, to laugh to cry. I enjoyed the drama from start to finish!

Leia Mais

Love it or hate it . . .

If you fall in love with the mermaid out of water storyline in the first couple episodes, you will love the show. She is THE main character, and I loved it. I thought Jun Ji-hyun was electric, playful and a bit sarcastic in a way that was up to matching Lee Min-ho's aggressive acting style. I wanted to watch her all the time. I liked Lee Min-ho's protectiveness/jealousy/action-ness for this storyline where it made much more sense than say Boys Over Flowers or Heirs.

The fantasy elements give an added sense of drama and tragedy but if you were hoping for a full fantasy world, this is not for you. There is barely any undersea water universe/other mermaids or sea creature scenes at all.

The plot is extended with yet another out of place serial-killer type storyline (why??? K-dramas, why???). It really was not needed to add such a disturbing element in.

Music didn't register for me. Some scenes do linger on - again I just really liked the interaction between the two main leads a lot.

I grade on other criteria as well.

Complex Themes - 6.5
Not too much. Greed is relentless through multiple lifetimes - you need to address and confront it not let it fester. Your family is who has your back and sticks with you, not simply who has married in/is a blood relative. Life on earth is wondrous if you can take a step back from it.
Character Growth - 7.5
Jun Ji-hyun shows a lot of different facets to her character, and she gets harder, cynical and a little rough around the edges as the plot goes on. Lee Min-Ho basically is the character he typically plays.
Complex Women Characters - 8.0
The high score is almost solely for Jun Ji-Hyun's portrayal of the mermaid. There are other female characters but they play very supporting roles. The main couple has the majority of the interest/screentime.
Cinematography/Production Values - 8.0
Competent. There were some scenes where Lee Min-Ho came off as very 'cool' in a way that I had to credit the pacing/shooting of the scene. I loved the use of real/in person locations. Lots of shooting outside and in-person gave it a much better 'feel'. It was shot in a cinematic style (focusing/unfocusing in different areas, shooting from different angles) - it didn't just try to capture the whole room clearly in every shot.

Leia Mais

The reason why I didn't watch LOTBS while it aired is simly because I was fed up with Lee Min Ho at that time. Don't get me wrong, I really really really love The Heirs (it was my first KDram, so forgive me, I still love it!), and after watching it I had to watch (almost) all Dramas with LMH and PSH. So I did. And then I was fed up with him because honestly, all the other dramas with him (prior to The Heirs) were just not as good :( So when LOTBS came out I wasn't ready to give it a chance. But now I did, and boy, where did I get myself into!? :D I bingewatched it over the last three days, I just had to! Let's see, why:

Story:
Love ties from ancient times are the reason for a mermaid and a human man to fall in love in the recent time. What follows is a hilarious and adorable story of a mermaid coming into the human world, making crazy friendships, falling deeply in love, and ultimately making a family (partly) reunite. Sounds like a great story, right? It is! Why I took half a point of is because I am not that much into these fantasy story lines. I think it would have been enough to just let them be reborn and fall in love again, without all this mermaid stuff. Some story lines would then probably not work anymore, but still. I prefer "realistic" story lines.

Acting/Cast:
Full points! The characters were all perfectly depicted, and I believed them everything. JJH was hilarious, and thanks to her I burst out into laughter several times. Also, LMH did a terrific job! He's back on my favorite actors list. But also all the supporting characters were great, adorable, and some I would have loved to see more often (Shin Won Ho for example, who plays Tae Oh).

Music:
Well placed and alright, not disturbing.

Rewatch Value:
This drama is really beautiful and funny, but I don't think that I will rewatch it any time soon. Ultimately, I don't rewatch dramas very often. The only two dramas that I rewatched so far are The Heirs (and I only rewatched like the last 6 episodes) and DOTS (all of it). So I am simply not a rewatcher :D

Overall:
An almost perfect drama, with tiny flaws, but great acting, and many (great) surprises =)

Leia Mais

I just finished watching this show, two days in a row, not because I needed to see what was happening, just because I had free time... so, we could say it’s OK to watch it if you have time, if you like dramas as “My love from the stars” (and you don’t expect to see anything so good so far...).
+/- the story
+ The fact that the settings of the first two chapters are in Spain, my country, that some of the scenes are in La Coruña, a place really near to my family hometown and a city that I know by heart since I was a kid... and that a Korean drama choose this place to do the drama... it’s really got me! So only with that, I was more than interested in watching the show.
+ the cinematography and photography of the show is amazing. 
+ it’s funny. There are several parts of the show, as when the three con artist friends are doing their jobs, or when Tan Oh is doing photographs of the mermaid all the time, that I simply loved.

The casting:
+
Not being a big fan of Lee Min Ho after “Boys over flowers” and “The Heirs” I can say that I liked him here. He improved his acting.
-
I didn’t like Shin Seung rol as a stupid/Innocent mermaid. I get that she gets out of the sea and she doesn’t know how the world works... but sometimes it was too much. The script showed that she was really smart and she could learn really easy but it didn’t show nothing new about her competence as a learner... so for this reason it seemed that every other lead would think as she was stupid all the time...
On the other hand I couldn’t really see the romance between the two main leads at least until the last episode. I like their acting but separately. I would prefer the scenes where they were not together. In fact I think their love story was the thing I was interested the less. I don’t know if it was that they lacked chemistry or what, but I always had the feeling that they were missing something.
+ or - the music: The music is ok, even when I think most of the songs, are too cheesy, but I liked very much “Lean on you”.
Rewatch value: probably I won’t see this show anymore, but perhaps I would watch the two hour special recap.

Leia Mais

LOTBS was pretty entertaining and funny. It had its cliche moments and the plot was pretty mediocre. However, it was worth watching as it gave the audience empathy for a couple of complex characters. I personally liked the character development. But I felt that the villains were defeated way too easily in some places. The chemistry between the main leads was mediocre in my opinion and the entire drama is okay to say the least. I would recommend it for casual watching without great expectations for a complicated and thrilling plot. This will also be super entertaining for people easily moved by emotion.

Leia Mais

I find this show simply amazing to the point that, back then, I subscribed to Viki-pass just to watch this one.
First show for me with the super popular Lee Min Ho: I loved his character and how he played him.
But I absolutely ADORED Jun Ji Hyun: she is probably one of the best actresses I've ever seen and the way she goes from drama to comedy in a bit is unbelievable (though I already had the chance to appreciate her in You Who Came From The Star). Great chemistry between them.
Drama and comedy are quite balanced, too. Probably it could've been a bit shorter, but I don't complain, I liked it a lot.

Leia Mais

Mermaid Holy grail

As a massive fan of mermaids and a lover of Lee Min Ho, I couldn’t wait to watch this one. It definitely had a cheese element to it, and I don’t think the chemistry between the leads was a strong as it could be, but I still love this. The story was sweet and innocent, I love the reincarnation flashbacks and intricate details into the lives of all our characters. Jun Ji Hyun plays such a lovely mermaid with such a sweet, doe eyed innocence, I couldn’t help but love her. I adored LMH as Joon Jae. While I didn’t really feel the sparks between these two particular actors the way I have felt sparks with other pairings, I still found their scenes sweet and precious. There was also a solid romance and some truly underrated characters and friendships in this one. There’s definitely some cheesiness and typical fish out of water jokes, but as a mermaid lover I was absolutely adoring it. It reminded me very much of “Splash”, and has made it into my top 5 dramas.

Leia Mais

I recently became enamored and obsessed with K Dramas. This was the 4th drama I have watched and it's a tie for my favorite spot along with Strong Girl Do Bo Song! I loved the chemistry between the two actors, it helps that they're both out of this world beautiful. I found the story sweet, funny and magical. People complaining were probably expecting something more serious. With all that's going on in this world, I love having something that could suspend my belief and has a beautiful ending.
Since I live for fashion, I also wanted to highlight how the stylists did an amazing job with the wardrobe. The whimsical notes to the fashion were such a lovely accompaniment to the storyline.

Leia Mais

Jeon Ji Jyun , Lee minho , Shin Hye sun , Shin won ho , if this isn't a visual treat .. what else would be ! Ji hun's role will make you love her , cry and laugh with her ! Minho's role will get you in awe all of the time! This is just too good :D he certainly gave his fans a good parting gift before going in , and oh boy we did enjoy it too ! many comedy scenes and episodes have very high rewatch value .. the drama is really good and all Everything about this drama is Lit :D But still .. there's a but idk why but the romance in the air just fades a bit ? yet it doesn't looses it's rewatch value... I know , having Lee minho and Ji hyun makes it hard for the writers and direction dept to tone it down a bit but still , they're a bit over bearing in the drama .. the side characters , well technically side mains? Wonho and Hye sun definitely deserved more screen time .. all in all , you'd enjoy it !

Leia Mais

I finished watching Legend of the Blue Sea last night. This was a solid little drama, really. It stars Lee Min Ho (from Boys Over Flowers and Heirs, among many other shows) as Heo Joon Jae, a modern day conman with a troubled family past, and the amazingly lovely Jun Ji Hyun (best known for My Love From Another Star - which was very good, you should check it out) as Shim Chung, a mermaid who has come to dry land to find her love and live her life as a human. It comes complete with evil stepmothers and weird serial killers and quirky friendships. The supporting cast is just as amazing as the lead couple. I could listen to Lee Min Ho read the phone book, really. Jun Ji Hyun is not afraid of physical comedy and it was a delight to watch her as Shim Chung. The drama moves back and forth between modern day and historical with some reincarnation storylines. Got7's Park Jinyoung does a lovely job as the soulful young Kim Dam Ryung in the Joseon era bits. There were things about the plot that kept me guessing until the end, which was nice, and it kept up pretty well with the pacing. It's a lovely story.

Leia Mais