Mystic Pop-up Bar (2020)

"Ghost Whisperer" meets "Cheers" with a dash of "Dead Like Me" and "Fantasy Island"

Netflix has been hit or miss for me this year. But this drama was engaging and entrancing. I liked it so much that I slowed down my usual binge watching so I wouldn't finish it quickly. By my rating system, the overall drama was excellent. Last year I only rated 1 out of every 25 dramas at 9 or higher. This one was a 9 for me. ENJOY!

What made it so good?
1) PACING: the episodic nature gave each show its own twist and yet each episode built on the previous one to see the main characters' pasts more clearly.

2) PLOT: None of the plot lines dragged. I ended up on the edge of my seat every episode. I even cried some during the final episode. But best of all, I didn't immediately guess all of the back stories. I was actually surprised a couple times.

3) SETTING: we observe four universes: the historic real world, the present real world, dreamland and the afterlife which has many different types of hell. Each universe has its own set of rules. Every time I thought I had a handle on the system, some strange exception occurred.

Everyone forgets their past lives before reincarnation? oops, someone bypassed the shower of oblivion or fell into a coma and woke up remembering the past.

Your reincarnation is determined by what you do in the real world? oh, someone violates a rule in the afterlife, barters her good deeds or escapes from hell and then everything changes.

4) TONE: everything wasn't black and white, good vs. evil. We saw shades of gray: good intentions that deeply hurt others, betrayal that converts the naive into a misanthrope, malevolent actions (using someone like a tool) and then recognizing their humanity. Despite the misery of many characters, there was still hope. Even if a person made bad choices in real life, he might be able to repent and be redeemed in this strange (alternately mundane and ethereal) afterlife.

Got Alzheimers? Don't worry your family will remember.

Leave your family in generational poverty? Compete in an ancestral ghost pseudo olympics so your offspring can win the lottery.

Commit suicide by hanging yourself on a sacred tree? Spend 500 years to help humans settle 100,000 grudges.

I had to stretch to come up with some less desirable aspects. So what detracted?
1) the ending felt a bit too "cherry on top" with everything wrapped up sweetly

2) the first date movie was far too similar to the characters' challenges, even their reactions felt super obvious; it wasn't foreshadowing so much as beating me over the head with their struggles

So what's the take-away? These were minor issues in a gloriously crafted, mystical story.

Leia Mais

i will be short and fast.

firstly being 12 episodes should start to be trend in kdrama. when it's shorter all the drag parts go away maybe that big part of loving this drama. their aren't that awkward 2/4 episodes when you think "ah should i drop it/ should i fast forward"
This drama is light but so deep too, you can take it as a joke but it's so heart warming at same time.

To be honest i start this drama thinking i will drop it after 2 ep , i just give it a chance because of sungjae. as you may know i dislike Jung Eum acting and always talk about that but this drama kinda make me like her, the role suit her, i fell for the drama in the start for the young ver of the lead but then the 3 leads own my heart, their chemistry make me feel like they are family, usually you want drama to surprise you but in this i will just pray that they give me what i expect because that's the best thing..
the small stories inside the big one give a lot of lessons and the big story will own your heart too, the love of 500 year and how selfless it is, they don't work for their happiness but other happiness. will make you wish them happiness.

sungjae couple was so cute i wish they give them more time but again the team time was so fun to pass.

acting i love their chemistry they look like real family they did well, sungjae was so good and who own my heart was manager gwi man was cut, fun and everything my fav character.. And can someone cast the young ver in school drama they look so cute ^^..

ost wasn't that strong, good but not memorable for me.

i really enjoyed this drama, i will miss the team chemistry. give it a try i also start with just a try but end up enjoying. 2020 are giving us a lot of good drama..

Leia Mais

What A Rollercoaster

Lately I had found myself dissatisfied with dramas but this one revived my love for them! It was a rollercoaster of emotions where you can go from weeping into your blanket, to laughing out loud , to sitting at the edge of your seat cheering on the characters.
The parallel storylines where beautifully written and merged seamlessly, I was invested in every characters story arch and constantly asking myself who is who until it was all finally revealed. I especially loved how big moments where carefully spread throughout the entire drama instead of saving everything for the final episode.

After becoming used to predictable K-Drama story lines, this was something unexpected and completely welcomed, I highly recommend it!

Leia Mais

Beautifully written, with a lot of heart (and a side of gummy smiles by Yook Sung Jae)

This drama had everything I like in a drama plot : a portion of its story set in historical times, a tragic backstory, fantasy, reincarnation themes and star-crossed lovers. And it lived up to my expectations.
While this drama is far from perfect, it has a whole lot of heart and sincerity to it. The meaning of this story is so beautiful. The acting is really good, the leads were great and the side characters were also pretty good. I often found myself being touched by the stories of the side characters and their grudges were very relatable, for the most part.
Side note: Yook Sung Jae has the biggest gummy smile of any Korean actor change my mind. His smile light up my heart everytime, guaranteed.

I definetely recommend this drama.

Leia Mais

When nothing goes right, go to sleep ?

Hwang Jung Eum in hanbok was the main reason to start this . I liked her in she was pretty, loved her in Kill me Heal me and it kept growing in this drama. 2 actors of (oh ri jin and manager) as main leads in this should convince you to watch this drama ❤️
Story- Unique story of living realm and afterlife which you would have never seen anywhere (first ep people might compare with De luna but it’s totally different). The pace is great . Every ep has kinda mini stories along with main plot line which keeps it interesting throughout the drama.
There’s Comedy, Drama, Mystery & romance which will keep you emotionally invested.
Go for this drama - it has the secret of how to resolve your grudges???

Leia Mais

Brilliant fun!

Short: If there was ever a role that suited Hwang Jung Eum, this is it. Many good fun moments, general warm message of helping people through their "grudges". Some good music, and an original story with interesting characters played by a superb cast make this one an easy win.

Detailed:
So much fun :)

It's 12 episodes, which allows it to remain punchy and stay on point. Many amusing moments come out of Wol joo's character being something of a brat, constantly acting up and bossing people around, particularly her faithful sidekick.

It just looks like the cast, directors, writer had a blast - there's a lot of energy in it and numerous times that some interesting scenes were in there that perhaps didn't even need to be (like one scene where she turns to face the camera, breaks the fourth wall and sends out some facts to the viewers, or another where they subtly introduce 'the new guy in heaven' - Steve Jobs of Apple, who's sitting there taking one bite out of an apple in just *that* place) - but the presence of them just made it all the more fun.

It has a good message, everything you do reflects on you later, whether it's big or small, good or bad, it will come back to you later.

If there was ever a role that Hwang Jung Eum's very extrovert acting style suited this one is absolutely it, even if you haven't appreciated her as much in other roles give this one a shot, it's spot on :)

I particularly enjoyed Jung Da Eun's character, Yeo Rin, the security guard. She takes no prisoners, she's tough, but she's still a person and shows warmth as well.

Highly watchable, definitely recommended :)

Why only 9.5 and not 10? It's not "goblin" good or "crash landing" good, but I can't bear to give it even a 9, so i've gone for 9.5 :) There's no science there at all! :)

Leia Mais

Despite being in a drama slump, I managed to start this & the fact that I even got past the first 5 mins says a lot! I hadn't heard anything about this drama prior to airing and only started this on a whim because my favourite kdrama twitter account loved the first episode. And let me tell you, I'm so glad I did! There was a perfect balance of comedy, romance and angst as well as some action here and there. The cast all did amazingly well bringing this drama to life and had me very excited to watch upcoming episode to see how the story would unfold. I'm definitely going to miss this family, even the side characters who made their own way into my heart :( I definitely recommend watching this!

Leia Mais

Very well executed

This drama doesn't have complicated plot with bunch of plot twists, everything you see is at it is. I pretty much figured the whole story line after episode 3. However I didn't enjoy the drama any less because of that. I actually liked how straightforward it was. Each concerns of the guest characters were quite simple however very relatable and they also managed to create a connection of those stories onto our main characters.
In dramas I often see a large amount of characters being introduced but then end up doing nothing for the story. This drama deserves an applause for actually being able to do the opposite. Every character had a purpose and were somehow connected to each other so it made sense why they were introduced into the story. The actors and actresses have done a good job portraying their characters, Yook Sungjae has once again proven that there are idols who can act.
Some may have complained that this drama was too short as it had only 12 drama, but personally for me I thought it is the perfect amount of episodes. The drama didn't feel too draggy or too short. In the end everything has been explained and there are no remaining questions. Overall this drama is pretty lighthearted and doesn't deal with any heavy topics. It is just a story about love and misunderstandings. It is a very well executed drama. I highly recommend this drama to the beginner viewers.

PS. Special mention for production and special effect team. It is admirable how they have managed to incorporated special effects into this drama without making it look tacky like some of other fantasy dramas. I have read that they have spent 6 months working on the the sacred tree scene (kudos to them). I have especially enjoyed the fighting scenes.

Leia Mais

each episode is a refreshing glass of a cold drink!

A very original way of portraying the story and hardships of people. Including aspects of fantasy, slice of life and comedy this drama is a whole package!
Especially the first few episodes really show relatable characters, almost all of the characters are well written,even the minor roles,makes you feel warm inside!
The three main characters have so much chemistry, putting them in one screen is the best thing ever!
The historical elements of the show are handled really well by the writer, the past is presented perfectly, and uncovered slowly, always keeps you wondering.
The acting of all the of the cast is really top notch! I have no complains in this department, they all did an amazing job!
The music for the show was really good especially the first part of the ost. The instrumentals in the intro was really good too :)
I would like to also add that the cgi in the show unlike alot of the other show was perfect!
I didnt like some parts of the show which had ridiculous fantasy elements like (conception ball claw machine???), passwords for entering the subconscious mind(????) etc I lost interest in some parts of the story and put it off for later, which made me finish the drama later than usual.
Still was very fun and interesting drama!

Leia Mais

I'm on the fence...

First let me say that the acting is this show is great. Everyone does a phenomenal job in their respective parts. And the story is interesting.

But for me, this show was lacking, but I can't really explain why. I found myself being irritated at the flashbacks even though they were very necessary to the plot. There wasn't really enough of a romance between any of the characters to focus on that one way or another either. My favorite character was Yook Seung Jae's role, but I felt like more could have been done with it at times as well. I didn't really like the "other realm" stuff either...for me those parts were just annoying.

Overall, the drama is good and I think the parts that bugged me were more specific to me than anything else. I'm glad I binged it because if I had paused between episodes, I'm not sure I would have gone back to it very quickly.

Leia Mais