A Última Missão do Anjo: Amor (2019)

~ Review originally posted on unbotheredunnies.com ~

I truly do believe that a state of mind can affect how you view a piece of work. For me, I just went into this drama thinking I needed something easy to get through and this seemed simple enough. At time of me watching this drama, I wasn’t really drawn to any of the actors. I thought Myungsoo was okay, and I have never liked Lee Dong Gun’s acting in literally anything I have watched. The biggest reason I didn’t want to watch though, was Shin Hye Sun.. I held a lot of resentment towards her from My Golden Life and unfortunately could not separate the role from the actor. I knew it wasn’t her fault that the character was written the way she was in the drama or what the viewers were saying about the other actors/characters. Eventually, I just went for it and I am glad I did.

The storyline of this drama wasn’t anything new or profound that was added to KDRAMALAND. If you’ve been a long time viewer such as myself, you already know how this goes and what the end will look like. The pacing of this drama was faster than I expected and this prompted me to think of the storyline from two angles: conflict and romance. I don’t know if I have mentioned before, but something that I appreciate a lot of is when there is a good and interesting central conflict that keeps me engaged. Often with traditional Korean dramas that is not the case, but there are elements that will make up for it. I can highlight two major conflicts of this drama which is her becoming a ballerina again and taking back her parents’ company, and the relationship between her and Angel Dan. So now going back to the pacing of the drama, all the smaller conflicts were resolved quite easily.. She gained her sight back within two episodes of us being introduced to her. She started walking and moving on her own again within two episodes of her getting new eyes. She got back in shape within a week even though she was BLIND and didn’t dance for THREE YEARS. I don’t care how much of a ballerina genius you are that shit is not possible. The problem with the fast pacing though, is that it made the major conflicts a bit weaker. From my perspective, it would have been better seeing her have these struggles for a little longer because it would have made the romantic aspect a lot stronger.

I hated the romance. I hated the romance. I. Hated. The. Romance. The reason I hated the romance was because I was unable to determine why they fell for each other. I didn’t understand why Yeon Seo liked Dan. I didn’t understand why Dan liked Yeon Seo. I didn’t understand when or where Kang Soo started having feels for Yeon Seo as Yeon Seo and not the doppelganger of his ex. I understood that this is a sort of fated and destiny type of drama, but thing was that everything was just way too coincidental that it was just inauthentic. If they had maybe shown us how Yeon Seo and Dan really started to care for each other, I would have been more compelled to believe and actively root for this couple and want them to survive the relationship conflict. It was because of this lack of showing that had me like “well k…” about all the other relationship conflict that came up between them. I never felt like they were in this desperate/defying all odds type of love. This is why the ending didn’t even make me bat an eyelash either way.

Now with all that being said, you’re probably wondering why I said I was glad that I watched this drama. The answer is simple: Shin Hye Sun. This woman won me over completely. Her acting as Lee Yeon Seo was so layered and intriguing that she was the sole reason I watched every part of this drama. I was rooting so much for this character. I could not turn away from the screen whenever she delivered her emotional lines. The dances were so powerful because of her facial expressions. Everything she did was so believable that I ended up being just completely stunned. Yeon Seo was a flawed character. She ended up an orphan at the age of seventeen with an aunt and cousin that despise her. She lost her eyesight and tried to commit suicide. She had her loyal butler who stayed by her side through everything and then he ended up dying and donating his eyes to her. She had so much loss in her life that it was insulting to say the least that we diminished it all down to “all she needed was love.” A character like this who was being called arrogant, cynical and abusive was such a perfectly flawed character that I couldn’t help falling in love with her. Maybe that’s what Dan saw lol.

So even though the story became sloppy midway and the other character’s and their development were done a huge disservice, I would still recommend this solely so people can see Shin Hye Sun give a spectacular performance. As of this moment, Shin Hye Sun has lodged herself permanently on to my favorite Korean actresses list.

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This drama was so good.
Truly, it was heartfelt, genuine and exciting.
I am very glad to say that I thoroughly enjoyed each and every episode. The ending seemed as if it would be bittersweet and yet right at those very last important seconds, something entirely sweet and brilliant happened.
I am not one for enjoying emotional dramas, though I do partake in watching them, but this one was completely enjoyable for me.
A lovely pair, those, two. I really liked the pure innocence of Dan and how well he complimented Yeon Seo.
Overall, I highly highly recommended this drama.
Get to watching, my fellow people.

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I'm so excited it's finally here! The main leads look great together and looks swoon-worthy from the trailer I've seen. I'm looking forward to see these gorgeous pair. I've read Shin Hye Sun prepared very well for this role as a ballerina. Kim Myung Soo also looks right for the role with his angelic features.

Update: Main female lead is doing an awesome job playing a blind prima ballerina who became bitter due to the tragic incidents in her life. She was well-chosen for this role with her graceful limbs and expressive face. The storyline is compelling and draws you in immediately with its believable CGI, especially when the main male lead unfurled his wings. It also has beautiful cinematography. As you keep going, the story makes your heart ache for the main leads. How can a human and an angel end up together? Can a different circumstance of becoming an angel create a different ending? There's a lot of questions that you'll hear all throughout the story. It also asks what the will of God is especially if you're a believer or why others have to suffer and why unfairness in life exist. Questions that are difficult to answer. It will make you tear up while watching and hope for a good ending. Will true love win in the end?

Sure, this drama has flaws but it will truly at some point remind you of the importance of your life and how well you're living it.

Favorite lines: "Because it has an ending, you have no idea how brilliant each day is. Because it's not forever, we want to promise eternally". "I will make it like a day is a thousand years."

By the way, did I mention the soundtrack? It's all moving and well-chosen for this drama. I'm going to add it all on my music queue.

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Despite having some frustrations with the story and how it was concluded, I can truly say that I looked forward to watching this drama every week.

Going against what some watchers have said over the past few weeks and what I'm sure they will say in future reviews, my favorite part of Angel's Last Mission: Love was L. He brought such a playful energy to this drama and elevated it to the point where I don't think I would have enjoyed it without his presence. While the extremely dramatic acting of almost all the other characters tied the story in really nicely with ballet, L (and archangel Hu) kept all of the other aspects of this drama grounded. Their characters provided much needed comedic relief for a drama that doesn't have a story strong enough for it to try and be so serious, and I felt they were acted out perfectly.

Another big strength of this drama is the Music. The OST for this drama was honestly perfect, and it drew me in to the point of tears many times. They did an excellent job with it.

The obvious weakness is the story itself. While I found it to be fun and enjoyable, I think it's best if you go into it not expecting it to be very deep. They set up a strong beginning and middle, but fumbled with it a bit in the end. I'm not sure I ever truly understood what God's plan was for Dan and Yeon Seo. It wasn't enough to frustrate me, but it did leave me with a little disappointment. Still, I think anyone who enjoys romcoms could really enjoy it as a whole.

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This is actually my first rewiew, beside of that i am Polish = so i am really sorry for all the difficulties in understanding.

I recomend to not read rewiews before watching first episode. If you did that you could skip many beautiful dramas. Everyone has their own preferences and style, so you should judge by your own key.
Anyway i think that this was one of the best dramas i have ever watched. I am going to watch this multiple times in the future and show it to my friends. XD
I could never forget the moments when i was crying while watching this. Romance was so beautiful and actually different than in the other dramas. But there is nothing wrong with that since ML is an angel. XD
I am like… really demanding when i judge acting skills and beside all the critical opinions, i have to say that L did really god job here. As his fan i am proud of him, not biased, because i started to stan him after watching this drama = here we have the impression that he made of me.
SHS is my favorite korean actress, so in this topic i guess i have nothing to say. She was amazing as always. And her eyes… so bright and full of emotions.

The music. OMG. That drama has deffinitely my favorite OST. I have listened all the songs and still i am so drowned to them. I have even showed them to my non-korea-superfan friend and she was crying with me. Especially to the song by Chai - Oh My Angel.

In conclusion i really recomend this drama. If you are thorn, then just give it a shot. If you are not fan of fantasy or romance, then just listen to the OST. It is deffinitely worth it. <3

Have nice day!

Izzy

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Kim Myung Soo who played Kim Dan such a cutie pie, I want to adopt him. I believe in Angels and this KDrama was right up my alley. Kim Myung Soo, you played the Angel part very well and you were very believable. I already check the background of Kim Myung Soo in his Kpop group Infinite, very nice, vocals are awesome. Shin Hye Sun who played Lee Yeon Seo, I mean seriously rude, she got that part right. Glad the Angel straightened her out. I need to rewatch this again. Archangel was very humorous to me, he did well. The storyline had me focused so I did not sleep that's how good this was. I love ballet! I loved the visuals! I love the music! The wardrobe was great. The cast and the rest of Angel's Last Mission team, couldn't have done this without you, I applaud you! Thank you!

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One of few dramas I enjoyed watching this year ♥️
ALML started off strong with great premise and outstanding characters. I'm usually not fan of melodrama and overly complicated plot but I really enjoyed all the intrigue in this drama, especially when it comes to the villains. However, I was a bit upset when the story started to focus too much on Yeon Seo and Dan's love story. It felt too instant with not enough build up. I'm not a fan of L's acting as well. He's always too goofy or too angry and I find it hard to believe his range of emotions. However SHS was extraordinary. Her acting is soooo good I was so moved, I love when she's being a badass and I wanna cry when she cries. She definitely makes this drama worth watching. I just wish she was paired with a better actor or rather given a better script that would show her relationship develop properly.

As for the other characters, I really love Butler Jung Yu Mi, Hu, and Kang Woo. They act more than just a supporting role and I really appreciate that. As for Kang Woo and Ni Na... good the potential for their story to develop is RIGHT THERE. I'm glad at how things turned out for both of them though.

The last few episodes are really emotional for me but I love it even if it gets too tedious at times and I like the ending enough. Also I love the OST and this is definitely a drama I will recommend. However I don't think I'd watch it again... at least not in the near future.

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So I have multiple emotions about this series, but it's quite fair to say that I am in love with this show. I think the premise and the start had a big enough impression on me to keep watching, though it's true I did end up skipping parts just to get to the end. I think the music in general was the biggest thing that brought the story up more than it was going.

THE STORY
So the story had a slight gothic vibe and I loved the concept. For me it started off pretty strong with the characters' personalities and their story arcs, though it slowly ran out of steam as it kept going. My biggest problems were the weak antagonist writing and the inconsistencies of some characters. I think besides Yeon Seo, the character writing was a little weak, especially the lack of motive from antagonists. I get the obsessive sisterly love of Ru Na but I'd have liked to see her do more- and actually pose a higher threat. Though it did make some sense to show a series where the characters weren't solely focused on finding the culprit but rather surviving. I actually liked the general story a lot though I felt that the world building and theology section was a little weak and got wishy-washy at the end. Don't get me wrong, I liked the happy ending but it was kind of abrupt and I wish there was more explicable things.

Another weak part was the childhood friend secret. I get that God was likely giving them a second chance, but it didn't seem all that well integrated to me. It was definitely a very ambitious concept and I applaud the writers for it. After all, I was able to suspend my disbelief while watching it and grew to love the series even with its imperfections. I definitely will rewatch again without skipping though since I know where the plot is going I can focus on the actors' delivery.

I really liked the meta aspect of Giselle being portrayed through the ballet and also a theme for the story- and thank goodness it was a different metastory than we usually see (Romeo and Juliet for example). As a former ballerina, I definitely enjoyed that they got to use ballet but agree with others that the ballet part began to take a backseat in the second half of the drama and the choreography got a little more abstract dancing than traditional ballet- don't get me wrong I like abstract portrayals but it didn't fit with the type of ballet they wanted to portray as much as it could have. Still, it added to the sort of "gothic" and the dark underlying mood of the piece.

THE CAST
As I mentioned, I ended up skipping through scenes to get to the plot points because I was kind of impatient that way, but it also showed that there wasn't anything all that special that I found about the acting. In general, the cast did a good job, and the delivery of emotional scenes was beautiful. One thing I found though was that the actors' deliveries weren't that consistent. I love L as Dan because he had a lot of the playful characteristics down but I do agree with others that he wasn't consistent 100% of the time. It could be a bit because of how his character was written. However, he was very fun to watch and I can't really imagine him as anyone else right now. Shin Hye Sun was the most consistent I think and it is true that she often carried the acting. While they look absolutely stunning together, I felt a bit of a mismatch of energies and their chemistry wasn't there 100% of the time. Some people mentioned how it their relationship moved by so fast, but it made a lot of sense to me, though around episode 25 ish their chemistry together wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. However, overall all the actors did pretty well.

MUSIC
I loved the soundtrack. It gave a bit of a gothic and the underlying darker themed auras into the narrative and I enjoyed it a lot. I think the music really helped elevate a lot of the mood of scenes (though sometimes it did rely too much on the music to deliver the emotions but I'm a music junkie so it did it for me). I particularly loved Oh My Angel and Pray. I've been playing Pray on loop because I just love it so much.

CONCEPTS
I liked how they played with the colors of outfits- how Dan's outfits started off bright then as he went through his darkest moments, his clothes started taking a darker turn- then ending with the brighter pink and white again as he found his place. The videography was pretty well-done and I liked the angles and lighting themes. I think the different locations set the mood well and delivered their own themes. I really enjoyed visual aspects of the scenes and I think the set was coordinated very well.

REWATCH VALUE
I'd definitely rewatch this. While this series had its flaws, it wouldn't stop me from rewatching it right away. It's up in my favourites along with Something in the Rain and Encounter. Unlike these two, however, I think ALM:L has a sort of magic for me that I can go back to immediately.

CONCLUSION
I want a devoted angel like Dan :'). But yes, it was a good series overall, and has its own magic that will stay with me a long time. I'd rewatch for the themes, mood, and to get me inspired to write. While the antagonists and the storytelling got a little weak at times, this series is up in my list of favourites. I want more series like this one!!

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i didnt have that many expectations when i first started this drama because i was prejuduice for reasons, one that it was an idol drama, and the other because of the reviews that gave this drama a low rating. But despite the drama's flaws, i fell in love with this drama. I haven't been emotianally attatched to one in a long time, angels last mission made me smile, cry, laugh, and smile again.

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each soundtrack was so memorably beautiful it can gave you goosebumps as each song goes with each scene. also the vocals and the instrumentals of each song is beautiful and amazing periodt

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i dont get why people bash on the writing, i think it was pretty well written even if the ending was a bit unsatisfying the drama really knew how to get to your emotions as i said before, and its pretty unpredictable imo. also the character development on each character is on point! i feel like the people that were bored of this didn't understand the beauty of love, fate, and dance/ballet

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shin hye sun, i first saw her in oh my ghost, literally slayed her role. she conveyed her emotions so well almost as if you were going through the same pain when she was sad, same happiness when she was happy. When she was blind, I thought she was truly blind. when she was unable to walk, I continuously forgot that she wasn’t actually learning how to walk. Even though she isn’t an actual ballet dancer, her facial expressions while dancing made up for it. Kim myung soo also did a tremendously wonderful job i wasn't so sure of him in the beginning because i didn't like him as a child actor but he improved so much. the only part of the cast i didnt like was the second male lead, dont know if it was just his character or the actor in general but he was like emotionless imo idk

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The main couple has insane chemistry and were normally very truthful with each other i enjoyed every scene of them together to the bickering, the cuddles and to the kiss scenes just everything. the romantic scenes werent too cringy too it was just adorable. definetely reccomend if you love on screen chemistry

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oh god even the setting of this drama is memorable. the house of FL is so beautiful and i loved all the directing (same director as healer btw) And I love the colour palette where everything in the setting is so bright

to sum everything up i loved this drama that just added up to my favorite list!!!! just give it a chance with no expectations and you will not be disappointed

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LOVE IT!

I really loved this drama. I watched it because my brother recommended it to me and it became my one of my favorite K-dramas!

CAST:
I think the cast for this is good. Shin Hye Sun did an amazing job for her character, showing her happy, yet dark, sad side. Now Kim Myung Soo, he did well too! However, sometimes his acting came off as a little forced, but I liked them as a couple haha.

OST:
This OST, where do I even start. It was absolutely AMAZING. Oh My Angel, Pray, and Stay are my favorites, but I love the other ones too. They were stuck in my head for who knows how long. In my opinion, they are one of the best songs in dramaland.

Story:
The story, not too bad. The last ep got a tad bit confusing, but I rewatched some stuff so I understood it better. Of course, Director Kang Woo got under my nerves but I guess that just means the actor did a good job :)

Overall, this drama didn't disappoint me. My brother is basically the guinea pig, he watches a lot of drama and then recommends me his favorties. Since he has very high expectations, it's pretty obvious I will have high expectations too. I will recommend this drama to anyone who asks me!

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