Uma Odisseia Coreana (2017)

When I finished this drama I had mixed feelings about it but after much thought I realised that it was definitely one of my favorites. The plot was quite thrilling even though at times I felt like things could have escalated much quicker. Overall there was always enough pressure on the characters to keep the audience interested. My favorite part was the relationship. Rarely can I find original types of relationships in korean dramas, however A Korean Odyssey did not dissapoint. The romance grew gradually, it did not rush anything and had a unique twist. I will not say more as to not spoil you but trust my words ,when I say the couple was absolutely adorable. The only thing I did not like was the ending. It felt extremely illogical and as if the writers simply could not come up with an alternative. Final episodes were painful to watch but I endured out of my love for the characters. In conclusion, the main points of the drama are comedy, romance and fantasy. The comedy and romance aspects are quite strong, hiwever the fantasy part lacked a few finishing touches. I wish the writers had put more thought into the ending and the consequences of some characters' actions. Despite all of this, I definitely recommend the drama.
Thank you for reading!

Leia Mais

A Korean Odyssey walks in the footsteps of Goblin, but with less cinematic value. Where the Goblin rocked with the visuals and special effects, creating the exact atmosphere for a fairy tale story, Korean Odyssey lucks good special effects and those scenes that would have made it perfect. They do make up with the mythology of the world they are introducing. Korean Odyssey has so many stories embeded in it, and whether the main story was just so so, with some intense romantic moments that were lost in the length of the drama, as they were too thinly spread out, the many characters that were likable and interesting helped keep it entertaining. Again, though, the romance was a bit tiring after a while and the drama itself is tiring as well. Finally, the performances were really good, as well as the costumes and settings, part of the special effects again. Also, the twist in the end was very original, so kudos for that too, as well as for the soundtruck.

Leia Mais

Story-wise, it had so much potential. Being an adaptation, there are plenty of material to go by. I have no problem with many sub-plots as long as the narration good and essence of the story is conveyed. That's not what happened here. The drama itself is convoluted with unnecessary sub-plots. Case in point, what was the dragon prince's purpose in all that? A sacrificial lamb so PK doesn't die? His existence in the drama itself is useless. Second, peddler and her grandson. I know the grandson is really Ma Wang's son, and then? I'd say having the GGG to make the great sage love Seon Mi is genius move but the gravity of it being relevant just sort of faded. And then there's Bu Ja and her entire story. After being possessed by Ah Sa Nyeo her existence just vanished. There were many redeeming points, the comedic strips, the love-line, but boy was that not enough to off-set every horrible thing going on in this drama.

Acting/Cast: As far as the actors go, this cast probably has the best performance and chemistry I've seen in a while. Many viewers (myself included) are kept from dropping the show solely to see an exceptional portrayal from the cast. But even then, the lousy story telling cannot be carried by great acting alone.

Music: The OST of this drama is great. As a music enthusiast myself, I'd put it up to my favorite OST's joining (Scarlet Heart, It's Okay That's Love, Cheese in The Trap, Just Between Lovers, to name a few). Song's where on point. I love it.

Rewatch Value: It's not a drama I'd go for a marathon for. I wont even recommend it to friends for first viewing. That's how bad it had been. After the emotional investment I had for this show, that sloppy ending and lazy story narration was a total slap in the fans faces. So, no rewatching for me.

Leia Mais

The reason I watch this drama is because of Lee Sung Gi and the fact that this drama is based on my favorite tale, Journey to the West. To be honest, I nearly drop this drama in the beginning.

In the beginning, the story feels like being dragged and I can't find myself to like Sun Mi (I dislike her passive-aggressive nature it makes her lack any backbones). The romance was pretty off in the beginning and forced. I was also disappointed with the drama because I have my OWN expectations, especially the Sun Wo Kong's portrayal. In this drama, LSG did a good job in portraying the angry monkey king but he failed to add the monkey characteristic. (Maybe I'm being harshed because of my love of Journey to the West 1996 which has the best monkey king ever). LSG is too stoic here (even his previous act as Kang Chi in Gu Family Book is more lively). However, I can't put all the blame on LSG. I think the Hong sisters and the directors also have some share of faults here. Sun Wo Kong is strong, troublemaker and really really smart. He always able to find unusual solutions which I can't find here.

Another thing I don't like is the fact they put the usual CEO/Rich/Celebrity sprinkle in the drama. :(

What makes me continue:

After a while, I realize I should approach this drama from a different perspective. The Journey to the West original story is about a journey to go forward from many tribulations and used to teach children about kindness and perseverance. However, this drama is fully intended for romance. ROMANCE. YES>

Second, is my love for all the sides characters. Esp Ma Wang. He truly steals the show, for me. Cha Seung Won performance was brilliant. I can see the bull demon king character from him. His stubbornness especially! I also like Buja and PK story.

Third, Sun Mi finally shows more backbones and become a more loveable character after some character growth.

Last, the story does get more interesting after half of the story. Even if you already know the tale of Journey to the West and you are able to predict most of the story (like I did), you will still be hooked with the story about Sun Wo Kong's and Sun Mi's story end.

Overall, its a good drama. I will recommend this to anyone who loves fantasy romance.

Leia Mais

This is a fun and fantastic chimerical fantasy drama. This is a modern Korean interpretation based on the book Journey to the West. The acting is amazing! The cast did a great job bringing these complex and enigmatic characters to life, especially Cha Seung Won (as Woo Whee) and Sung Hyuk interpreting both male and female siblings. There is great chemistry and romance among the lead couple, the “frenemy” relationship between the lead males is priceless, and the rest of the cast kept the chemistry going. This drama evokes all sorts of emotions and leaves the viewer with a good feel. Enjoy it!

Leia Mais

Mi è piaciuta l’interpretazione dell’attore protagonista, un po’ meno quello dell’attrice protagonista, totalmente oscurata dal protagonista. La storia di Woo Ma Wang è davvero molto romantica e molto bella, tanto quanto quella dei protagonisti. Anche il personaggio dello zombie è molto carino. Gli effetti speciali lasciano un po’ a desiderare, mentre i luoghi scelti per girare, tipo la libreria e la grotta sono belli e romantici. Si perde un po’ nel finale ma quando, negli ultimi 5 minuti, Son Oh Gong gli regala il suo occhio rosso per ritrovarla, ovunque sia, scusatemi ma è stato top!!!!

Leia Mais

Hwayugi proves that I should never pick up anticipated or over-hyped dramas. While touting a star studded cast, a legendary production team and adored source material, this drama left a lot of potential on the table.

After a few very turbulent weeks for the production crew including blatant CGI issues, debacles in this drama’s airing schedule and a terrible on set accident that threatened to stop production all together, Hwayugi finally seemed to get somewhat back on course. Even so, this drama was never able to establish a consistent tone or pacing. Most weeks it was a garbled mess with a Monster of the Week format. Each new arc and challenge that our protagonists have to face are all resolved before they can have any greater significance to the lead couple. This setup prevented me from becoming at all vested in the story, its characters and its romance. This drama is chalk full of filler just not a lot of substance here.

This drama’s saving grace is certainly the magical and impish Lee Seung Gi in his role of Son Oh Gong! Here Seung Gi is so charismatic and playful. The only reason I continued to watch this drama, was to see this monkey in his natural environment. Lee Seung Gi truly shines here championing all of his hallmarks. His performance as Son Oh Gong kept me watching even with the subpar plot.

I can’t really recommend this drama due to how it is lacking in its story, pacing and tone, but if you are an avid fan of Lee Seung Gi, you may need to weigh your options again.

Leia Mais

This drama was a roller coaster ride. I watched this when it was still ongoing and I was hooked from the first episode. loved all the characters and the cast was just PERFECT. The main leads were cute together and it was great seeing Lee Seung Gi back in action after a long time. I feel that it started out great but the last few episodes felt a little lacking for me. I loved the ost especially the song when I saw you. Personally, I didn’t really love the ending of it but when I gave it another thought I realized that the ending kind of suited the story considering most of the characters were immortal. This drama was a good escape from reality and it was fun having to tune in to this show every week. Overall, this drama may not be everyone’s cup of tea and may be lacking in a certain areas but it sure is interesting and captured my heart in its own special way with its humor and lively characters.

Leia Mais

Romcom disguised as fantasy/horror

For a Netflix show, this has some crappy CGI. But it didn't really put me off as the whole show is more silly and comedic than serious and horrific as I've been led to believe by the trailer. If you are planning on watching this, prepare for 20 long episodes whose storyline could've easily been shortened to 12-15 episodes max. It's a whole lot of fun with plot holes galore.

STORY
The series follows demons who are trying to become deities and an airheaded human who can see them, who's also destined to save the world (even though the stakes never seem so high). The premise of the main storyline is extremely interesting even though it's nothing new in dramas, but it ultimately failed to wow me in the last episode in which the entire story seems to plummet into a confusion of random developments. Stories following the side characters were much more fun and engaging to me, but only one of them is completely wrapped up in a satisfied way (Ma Wang's story). By far my favorite was the potential of the geumganggo and I would've loved to see so much more done with it (philosophically and otherwise), but I'm also satisfied with the story we got along with it.

ACTING/CAST
Through the first part of the drama I was absolutely in love with Lee Seung Gi's portrayal of Son Oh Gong, but by the end all of the side characters really stole the show for me. Perhaps my favorite was Jin Seon Mi's coworker Lee Han Joo because he is so ridiculously human as opposed to all of the other demons/evil spirits which was refreshing. Also, whoever was the costume designer behind Ma Wang's and Son Oh Gong's coats and eclectic formalwear... Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. As for the female lead, I have nothing to say bc wow, she was boring and she could've been done so much better. Other female characters were done so dirty or were just underdeveloped (Secretary Ma, Bu Ja, Summer Fairy, Alice even).

MUSIC
If ''Let Me Out'' and ''When I Saw You'' isn't featured in an episode of Hwayugi, is it even Hwayugi? Those two songs and ''If We Were Destined'' are my favs. Others are ambiental and nice, it's a good soundtrack, albeit forcing some songs too much and too often.

OVERALL
I probably won't rewatch it, unless there's going to be a second season after that open and ambiguous ending (but that's sth that the Hong sisters are famous for, so there's probably not going to be another season). It's fun and silly and brimming with crappy CGI and great side characters, it never takes itself too seriously even though I wish it has at certain times. This is for people who like bromances and overpowered main characters, who don't mind crap effects and long shows.

Leia Mais

IMO this was good until around episode 14 (or maybe when the priestess showed up). I skipped through episodes 17-20 so i am not very clear on the ending. This show started out pretty good for the first few episodes however after the bracelet was on son oh gong, i feel as if the show lost a bit of its direction for me. I spent the next 10 episodes wondering, if the love is fake whats the point of watching this, and that thought never left my mind. I've seen many commenting on the chemistry between the leads, however i very much liked them together, and the geumganggo put me off because i could tell it wasn't real. The OST was great, i definitely would listen to them even outside of the drama. The cast was great, and in all honesty the only reason i continued watching up until episode 16. Honestly the ending just felt random, with all of the jade dragon and the prosecutor guy. (I didn't may much attention when those two became important to the plot) I would probably rewatch it tbh, not for the plot, but i enjoyed the interactions between all the characters, and this show definitely made me laugh. I would say watch it, as long as you like the cast, or if you enjoyed goblin this would probably be your cup of tea, even if i thought it lost its direction.

Leia Mais