Mystic Pop-up Bar (2020)

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

well, i really liked this drama, tbh i started because sungjae was in it and im a big fan <33.
it suprised me in a good way, i was not expecting this to be so good.
the story, the characters an even the ost i liked it all. im not very good at doing reviews because i cannot express my feelings well in words but this drama was amazing. really worth watching, i loved the trio sm and the chemistry between ye rin and kang bae(cutest couple <33)
it also had sad moments and parts that makes us think about our actions and our future wich made me love it even more.
so, if you like light and fantasy type of drama give it a go. i promise you will not be disappointed ;)

Leia Mais

Different from the Normal Cliched Drama

Mystic Pop-Up Bar or Ssang Gap Pocha is not your standard k-drama. In fact, it is just different enough, that I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to watch something out of the ordinary. It is the story of Wol Joo (well done by Hwang Jung Eum) and her tragic death five hundred years ago which means for the last five hundred years, she’s been working as a after-life employee helping people deal with their life long regrets through dreams.

STORY: Wol Joo is someone who can enter others dreams (even when she was alive and mortal 500 years ago. In the beginning, we see that she is called in to help the crown prince who appears to be in a coma because of some bad vibes. Because she’s young and pretty and so is he…..well, you know what happens. The resulting turmoil leads to Wol Joo committing a sin involving a spirit tree and a curse. Now 500 years later, she only has a few more people to help. She is aided by Chief Gwi and her friend the Sam Shin. She also finds a mortal (Han Kang Bae) who can help her and agrees to help him with his problem if he helps her with hers. I’d say more but then I’d be giving spoilers and frankly……you don’t want to know these spoilers ahead of time.

Its enough to know that Wol Joo is doing time as an afterlife government employee and over the next twelve episodes, she needs to complete her quota in order to save those she loves most. There is very little romance in the show, but I didn’t miss it (There is some….don’t worry). There is a good amount of comedy which made all the difference in the world!

CHARACTERS: Han Kang Bae played by Yook Sung Jae is actually the most fascinating character as the mortal who would love to give up his spiritual abilities and live a normal life. Is there anyone sweeter in this show? He’s nice, he’s caring, and all he wants is a family. A character such as him sometimes can be played too melodramatic making us pity him, instead I found myself cheering him on. Maybe its that super sweet smile of Yook Sung Jae, but I just loved his character and how selfless and loving he was. Watch the show just for him.

Choi Won Young plays Chief Gwi who is kind of goofy and a little mysterious. He’s also a civil servant that helps Wol Joo with her quest. We don’t find out the truth about him until much much later into the episodes (not that we didn’t see it coming). His story line is interesting, and his character is both funny and engaging with just enough enigmatic behavior to make me curious to keep watching and hoping he was who I thought he was. Okay…Watch the show just for him.

Wol Joo (great job by Hwang Jung Eum) was loud, funny, sad, strong, but NEVER whiny. Oh, how I love strong female characters and Wol Joo is up there as a strong female character. The more we watch her the more we see that Wol Joo has her heart in the right place and is willing to sacrifice EVERYTHING and I do mean everything for those she loves. This is my first show with Hwang Jung Eum in it and I will say, she’s got fabulous comic timing and I do love that she was able to be vulnerable without being weak. I have no patience for weak female characters. Now that I think about it….Watch this show just for her!

There is a whole cast of smaller characters including Jung Da Eun playing a young mortal and an old immortal (great job…by the way). Each enhance the story of the three main leads instead of taking from it. I especially enjoyed the friendship between Sam Shin and Wol Joo……again with those strong and interesting female relationships.
MUSIC: The music was good and enhanced the show. None of the songs stood out to me but its likely because there were only 12 episodes instead of the usual 16ish….barely enough time to really flesh out the characters let alone the music.

REWATCH VALUE: I haven’t re-watched it yet (because I’ve moved on to something else) but I will likely revisit Mystic Pop-Up Bar again. It’s a very interesting story that I wouldn’t mind viewing it again and again. Its doesn’t have me in the throws of obsession like some dramas (ahem…I’ve written many articles about those), but it was really well done.

OVERALL: Mystic Pop-Up Bar was a refreshing and new type of drama for me. It was a gripping story line that blended magic, mythology, and modern-day issues in a very entertaining way and I just loved all those fun characters. Heck! In the end…..I’d watch it again, just for all those enjoyable characters.

Leia Mais

Exciting and mystifying

This was a wonderfully solid drama however the start was the most exciting, I wish it was as exciting all the way through. I love the visuals and Hwang Jung-eum's costuming most of all. They were beautiful enough to give IU in Hotel Del Luna a run for her money.

I started watching this because of Yook Sung-jae, I've been following him since the start of both his BTOB and acting career. It'd been so long since I've seen him act in something and I knew he'd be awesome. How has it been 3-4 years since Goblin? The premise sounded interesting but I was wary of Hwang Jung-eum, not because I think she's a bad actress but more so that I don't think she fits a normal Kdrama romance lead. She's good at the comedy though.

A few areas could've been more developed especially the 'bad guy' part. I'm still confused in regards to the bad guy but I also wasn't interested in that person so I don't really care. It felt like they were evil for the sake of being evil and they were so vengeful despite being the one who was evil in the first place. Basically everything about it wasn't that believable, especially when they hid in someone else's body, they were alternately too calm and too vengeful.

Overall this was a solid drama with some great acting and great visuals and I recommend it for any supernatural comedy lovers.

Quote:
When you run a race, you either come first, second or last. But it's important to have a fair start. - Wol Joo

Leia Mais

Unexpected Gem in Fantasy Genre!!

I'm absolutely blown away because of how amazing this drama is!! I didn't think I would find my next favourite so easily, but here I am, just couple of minutes after finishing this show with such a warm feeling!!

This drama made me smile, laugh, swoon and cry from sadness, but happiness as well. I absolutely loved the concept and the way the storyline was made. I usually don't like much when dramas are going to the past experiences, but Mystic pop-up bar did it perfectly and I couldn't be happier with all the twist, turns and connections.

I recommend everyone who love fantasy to watch this! I'll definitely rewatch more than once. I hope everyone who is reading this will watch and enjoy the ride in the same way as I did❤️!!

Leia Mais

One of those drama which makes you guess every episode!

And you can never guess it 100%! I like how it makes me want to continue watching this drama even though I read countless spoilers and reviews. It is one of the rare case of most drama where you need to watch to feel and understand the whole story. Kudos to the scriptwriter, director and actors, they did a really good job to portray the character development in the whole show.

It is heartwarming, tear-jerking, you feel like you are solving the issues together with them as a audience. It has been a while since I had this feeling. And the best part? What you thought was going to happen will be a surprise!

Try at least watching the first 2 episodes and episode 3's preview and you will know.

Leia Mais

Would you like a soju that will relief your grudge? Watch this

All I can remember is I had a fun ride watching this series and it's also bite-size because of it's 12 episodes. The plot is very interesting and the twists and turns are really exciting so I definitely recommend this drama.

The casts were also picked perfectly. This trio is really something worth remembering. This is fun ride that will take you to a different world and I really enjoyed it.

(I know this review is crappy because I made this months after I watched this series and I honestly don't remember everything that I watch by heart. I just remember the major details and how I feel about it. I'll edit this after I re-watch it this year.)

Leia Mais

This is a surprisingly solid watch, despite the fact that after episode 8 I started watching most of the episodes in 2x speed. I really liked this. It was short, sweet, light with a nice message (you need to have someone with whom you can talk about your problems, and you need to have a proper conversation to connect with people and clear misunderstandings). I don't know why some people complained about the last episode being too jarring. True, the last episode seemed a little rushed to wrap up the series, and yes it's a happy ever after ending but I think given that the whole series is very light and lacking in angst, that a tragic ending would have disappointed us all. The characters did a great job, and while I was skeptical of Hwang Jung Eum's acting, this character has suited her really well. She's acting her age, and has the right attitude to fit the character.

I think my main problem with the series was the colossal pile of nonsense that the main villain Won Hyung is. I mean, he's just salty because his father didn't pay him attention, so he murdered, betrayed his best fried, plotted treason, and escaped from hell to wreak more havoc? That's a bit of an overkill, right?

Regardless, this one really surprised me with how much I liked it. I definitely recommend it if you want to take your mind off of any tensions in your life.

Leia Mais

Absolute love!

Initially this title caught my eyes with the presence of Yook SungJae (my kpop heart felt some nostalgia of the old times), I the watched trailer and I had to watch the drama! It was amazing, I couldn't stop watch it!
The story keeps you with suspance till the end, it gives you important details long the way and not all at the beggining (risking that the watchers might already know how it could end and loosing like this their interest).
I could empathize with each of the good characters thanks to their stories., I almost shed some tears.

Drama Time Playlist check: Dive by Chung Jin Woo

Leia Mais

Unique and awesome gender role portrayals

I'll get the cons out of the way as this series wasn't perfect. The last 2 episodes felt rushed and the wrap-up employed a deus ex machina device for the ending; this cheapened the story, imho, which was otherwise great. Part way through, we find out that Wol Jo had a child with the crown prince and this led to her 500 year ordeal now. This didn’t sit well with me as she was hired when Yi Hon was suffering from psychological and physical disturbances caused by his nightmares. This essentially gave her a quasi counsellor role in his life at a time when he was vulnerable, especially since they were meeting in his dream realms, which can leave a potent emotional impact, enough for him to fall head over heels in love with her when he meets her in his own dream psyche for the first time and he becomes besotted with her and is giddy to the point that those near him notices that he was behaving oddly. In this sense, I felt that what Wol Jo did justified the salacious gossip as she had overstepped her professional duties and acted in an unethical way. Because of their power imbalance, it could be construed that she seduced him. However, I did not deduct stars from this for various reasons. One, no matter how vulnerable he might’ve been in the mortal realm, Yi Hon would’ve been lucid enough to choose for himself in the spirit world and he eventually chose a difficult path that gave him a chance to be reunited with her. For me, his free will, which might’ve been compromised in the incarnated life, was re-established here. Two, the pros of this series far outweighs any cons.

There’s a test that sets a standard for female representation in any work of fiction (whether lit, film or series) called the Bechdel test. It has a basic two prong condition of showing two named women talking with each other about something other than a man. Mystic Pop-up bar fulfils this test easily and goes the extra mile with having a female char start the show, who is not being sexually assaulted, molested or abused when she is intro’d. Those extra two are my own personal conditions but overall, all four conditions are fulfilled by male characters in fiction easily and effortlessly majority, if not all, of the time so it’s not unreasonable to expect the same portrayal for female characters. On this alone, mystic pop-up bar earns brownie star points.

The other brownie star points are clocked up by the male tritagonist Han Kang Bae. This dude is a seriously refreshing creation. What appeals to me about his masculinity is that it is quietly confident. On his own, he comes across as a bit nervous, uncertain and easily frightened. When reunited with his soul parents he is given a platform to show his strength as his unshakeable conviction for karmic justice is displayed over and over again. He is not beyond sacrificing his own well being and safety to help others and is a sensitive, considerate, kind and introspective young man, traits not normally demonstrated by or expected in a man however, these traits are the hallmark of a true leader, which Kang Bae, in his own unassuming way, is. But it is when he finds his complementary soul partner that his masculinity really shines.

Yoo Rin is a “thank gawd for this gal!” strong female character. She may be one of the few bodyguard type female character there is which makes her that much more special in film & TV land. She has an overabundance of energy and is the potent animus to Kang Bae’s more subtle anima, the literal yang to his yin. Brownie star points are racked up like a winning slot machine with this char. Yoo Rin makes a change from the usual portrayal of strong women with facial ticks, such as the over exaggerated pursing of the lips and eyes when talking portrayed by “strong” tomboyish woman Bok Joo (Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-Joo) and Ja-Din in Boys over Flowers. Yoo Rin has no medical or neurological condition and is your average human albeit a stronger and tougher woman because of her background in sports and martial arts. Most of all, she is feminine. Like all women, she can take or leave make-up (she leaves it). She can take or leave heels (she occasionally takes it but mostly leaves it for work) and she has long hair. What a multitasker! She is refreshing for the very fact that film and tv execs seem to finally realise that strong women are also (shock, horror, gasp) NORMAL!

And when Ms Normal meets Mr True Man, what we get is a fantastically functionally and healthy dynamic, as only a balanced yin and yang can give. There is a scene where Yoo Rin tries to amp up her tomboyishness to scare off Kang Bae, instead, he is in awe of her potency and vitality. Another scene has Wol Jo trying to speed things along between Kang Bae and Yoo Rin by getting her soul son to open a glued up bottle thereby showing his muscles. It fails spectacularly and Kang Bae thinks nothing of asking for assistance from the woman he admires. And when Yoo Rin opens the bottle top effortlessly, there was no shame or awkwardness on his part, it’s written on his face that he simply thinks she is awesome+. Quite frankly, Kang Bae’s masculinity is true and beautiful for the fact that he is never once threatened by Yoo Rin’s superior strength, vitality or assertiveness. He accepts her, completely. And that’s the true sign of a real leader and a real man. He doesn’t just stop there though. When captured by Won Hyung, Kang Bae doesn’t try to use physical strength to fight. He instead uses the biggest muscle a true man possesses to fight Won Hyung’s baiting—his heart. The maturity and insight he shows by being able to see the greater picture of his soul parents' suffering shows a depth that is rarely portrayed, or expected of, by male characters engaged in a romance story arc. I really like him. And I love his pairing with Yoo Rin. They work so very well together and both made me emotionally invested enough to finish this show despite the unethical glitch in Wol Jo’s story arc that I mention above.

I hope viewers will give this show a try. It’s not perfect but most pioneering shows will have teething problems. I do consider this a bit of a pioneer because of the different perspective of gender roles it was courageous enough to portray so I excused the glitches. And it is nice to see strong women portrayed as normal and feminine. Possibly the only thing I would’ve liked to have seen was Yoo Rin taking on Won Hyung. Because of her character profile, I felt she was the perfect person to fight against the amped up evil spirit. That would’ve made for a better resolution of her grudge, imho, but I can see why the writers needed Won Hyung elsewhere. Still, this definitely doesn’t take away from the well deserved 10 stars.

Oh yeah, and the Gout Lovers were FANTASTIC!!! I nearly died laughing. LOL

Leia Mais