Caçadores de Demônios (2020)

well worth the watch!!

I fell in love with this drama from the very start! From the acting to the plot, it just captured my interest and hit all my sweet spots for a drama ie. action, comedy, drama, mystery, fantasy, suspense. I loved it all!

I think the most beautiful thing about this drama was the friendships/relationships between characters. The Counters truly became a tight-knit family and their bond feels so real. Their pain became each other's pain and there was no unnecessary contrived conflict between them. They loved each other and had each other's back. All the conflict was external and I quite liked it that way.

Honourable mention: So Mun and his 2 best friends were the most wholesome adorable friendship I've ever seen in a drama. Their undying love and loyalty for So Mun was unparalleled and you could feel his love for them too.

As for the plot, I saw a few complaints that the story diverged from fantasy-action to more about political corruption, but I think everyone saying that is missing the biggest message of the entire drama. In a world of evil spirits and supernatural horror, the most evil monsters are the corrupt and greedy humans around us. I felt like the whole drama pulled in all these aspects really well and tied it together perfectly.

Also, Jo Byung-gyu's acting as So Mun was outstanding. I loved everyone in this drama but his acting was so phenomenal. I felt everything he felt, ached and hurt when he felt broken down. He truly did such a wonderful job in this role and I wish him so much success for the future in many more lead roles.

Anyway, I sincerely hope there is a Season 2. With the way the drama wrapped things up in the finale, I really believe they did so in preparation for a season 2.

Leia Mais

OVERRATED, needed 6eps only

don't get me wrong, I love the main cast and I loved them as characters but as a plot it offered nothing new. it was just a mix of every other dramas;
the bullying happens in every school genre, the evil corrupt politician happens in every law/crime genre and the main evil spirit was like every other psychopath, like strong woman dobong soon.

the only things I enjoyed were the hugs, the unexpected familyness and the 1st big fight when the evil spirits collabed which created a good amount of angst.
afterwards it was just another repeated mess of cliches. they kept trying to kill of Mae Ok becasue she was the "weakest" link.
the bullying honestly felt like a fight club, there's no way anyone could not see what was going on. with that severity of bullying every kid would've been dead or crippled..

Wi Gen "betraying" them the 1st time made no sense. she didn't talk about it and she wasn't against them but it was just used for cheap struggle.
the bully just looked like a 30 year old hurting kids and well the actor is 30 so that was a big mismatch ;/ and the whole wrap up of that part is a horrible lesson to teach kids. "take bullying, don't fight back, love and forgive the bully until they redeem themselves" ;/


the pace was slow, the evil people got too much screen time and they didn't achieve their full potential, I don't know if the writer change happened in this season, but they need a better writer.
though nothing will make me watch s2 ;(

Leia Mais

Super power heros meets kdrama

I'm not sure what all the high reviews are about. This drama was 14 episodes too long, basically the whole story was 2 episodes (and this point was VERY clear from the first two episodes), and it dragged forever. Of course we know like always good defeats evil and prevails. Then we have all the cheesy actions from ML being the strongest like any other Hollywood teenage series. There were no character development, perhaps it was more for the bad guys than the leads. Then we have the corruption scandal which is becoming a core part of almost every single kdrama. The plot holes and illogical course of action the leads take just left me baffled on how the writers and producers came up with such lame scenarios.
Overall, felt the writers just wanted to show some cool action scenes to satisfy teenagers, and then had to come up with a story to justify it and nothing beats corruption and some tearjerker family murder drama.

Leia Mais

Oh, the power of teamwork :’)

Man, this drama was by far one of the best things to happen in 2020-2021, started off great, had a plot that for the most part stayed consistent throughout all 16 episodes, it had protagonists you were rooting for the entire way, and even some antagonists ... Due to some background reveal, I cannot stress enough how much I loved this series because it had one core message:

“You can’t do it alone.”

Which is entirely true, you had a protagonist like So Moon, who you cared for throughout the entire series due to him trying to find his parents (which thank god, HE DOES, woot woot!), not to mention he was bullied along with the rest of his friends, and by the end of the story even though his leg was healed, he stayed humble, cared for his grandparents and had probably one of the best developments of the whole series, he went from a small to TALL lol, in the best possible way, but he couldn’t have done any of that without being a counter, and trusting and relying on the other counters, who each had their own backgrounds and I loved that ... Especially Mae Ok and her son, sweet lord, I cried internally many times ... Throughout the whole show they helped each other and that’s what made this a great watch, they were all like family from beginning to end. Not to mention the end is probably one of the best kdrama finales of 2020, it wasn’t anticlimactic like most I’d seen that year, it had just the amount of firepower to call the end satisfying, not to mention most characters got their closure, including the counters, Moons friends & Moon’s parents, and most importantly the villains got their justice. YES.

There were only a few things about the series that could’ve been better imo:

1. Hyuk Woo (aka Mayors son) joined Moon’s friend group, he had one of the best developments alongside Moon, by end of the series. The guy was an asshole from the start, but NOT to finish, as a matter of fact he was a victim through the whole series, but of course nobody finds that out until halfway through, which I also loved. His dad was abusive and didn’t care about him, but in the end he learns to live with the things his father has done, sends off some apologies to Moon’s friends and anyone else he’s hurt and goes his own way, what sucks about this, is now he’s going to be known as the son of a murderer, yes the mayor ... So his life probably won’t get any better, not to mention he doesn’t have any friends, I hope by s2 we see him join the group, because he grew on me as character and he wasn’t disrespectful to Moon’s grandparents when you know ... He got possessed and tried to kill the counters, and woke up at Moon’s place lol, I think he just wants a normal life with friends and people who care about him, and that’s why in s2 if possible I hope he gets that :’)

2. The fight scenes were great but could’ve been better tbh, there were a lot of punches and throws but I also felt for a good chunk of the series the counters were overpowered, which to some extent is fine, but not all the time ... I don’t want to see some ass whooping in characters other than the villains lol, especially ever other episode

3. Episodes had a “meh” dip at the last 6 episodes, bedsides the finale where, some things happened, but some of it was filler, or felt like it to me.

Those are the only things I wish could’ve been done better in this drama, but hell guys, if that’s all I’m picking out here, and tbh those are small things, this drama was written RIGHT, the plot, cinematography, OST, and acting chops were all glorious in this, and I’d recommend it to anyone who’s looking for a story with “family,” as the primary plot focus, it was incredibly well done, and I give a shout out to all the cast & crew who worked on this drama.

Leia Mais

If you step outside, I'm pretty sure you can hear me screaming.

I told myself I was going to do 2021 differently and stop giving 10 stars so easily but OH MY GOSH!! How can this not be rated 10 stars!?
Everything and I do mean everything about this show was amazing.... okay maybe not *everything* --but I'll come back to that later.

The Uncanny Counter is probably the first show I have watched that kept me stalking the next episode release date. Lol but not only that, every episode was so packed with action that there were no boring parts. There was never a time I wanted to stop watching and it kept me glued to the screen because I knew if I looked away I would miss something important. Lol That says a lot to though because I'm not really big on action but the uniqueness of this show kept me hooked.

All of the actors did so amazing! Even small scene actors took it to a whole new level and made you remember them. I've never been a fan of shows/movies that have a lot of characters, especially random ones that somehow were "important" -- they always left me like "okay but if you are so important why are you coming in now and I don't even remember your name" kinda thing. Lol BUT.... The Uncanny Counter just had some kind of magic in it that left me feeling completely different.
Like episode 15 for example when they brought in that new character. That really threw me off because I was like "um... why are you here? There is literally one episode left. WHY ARE YOU HERE?! WHO ARE YOU!?" lol but in the end, even though I still don't fully understand WHY, I can't even be mad. Lol It's so weird.

While the sudden show up in episode 15 was ..... something. Lol another problem I had with the show was Hana's back story? She is a full ass whole mystery herself. Which is cool and all but we know everyone else's history and all through the show we get glimpses of hers and the demons ALWAYS bring up her past-- so we know it HAS to be important to the story to help understand her character. But... did we ever even get the full backstory or answers? I feel like I blinked and missed something? Did they explain it but I'm too dumb to understand? Don't get me wrong, I like her character. I just am confused? If they didn't tell us, will they tell us in season 2?

Speaking of season 2, why? I mean I'm glad we will get to see them again but this season ended perfectly. and I mean PER-FECT-LY!! I can't stress that enough. I feel like if we get a season 2, there is no way it will be as good as the first and I feel like it's bound to make us lose a few of our favorite characters. WHICH I CAN'T GET DOWN WITH! lol
I am *concerned*. Haha

Leia Mais

Engaging and well-written beginning with a repetitive and draggy second half

Being the highest rated OCN drama in history, you'd have high standards when going to watch this drama.

The first half of the series very much lived up to those standards. The second half however, not so much.

- STORY -
The story begun very consistent and engaged audiences through the concept of 'counters' that attack evil spirits and well, disguise themselves as noodle shop owners. The main antagonist was introduced very early into the story, and it paced itself well from there on as the viewers not only watched the counters try to defeat the Level 3 spirit, but also as our main protagonist (So Min) tried to settle as a counter and deal with his anger issues and ongoing grief for his parents.

One of the faults that comes with introducing a main antagonist early on is that the story itself, drags on for 16 episodes, and by episode 10/11 the story became repetitive in a 'rinse and repeat' format as the counters continue to fail at killing the main antagonist, and the antagonist of course, only got stronger.

This 'failure' also lead to many plot holes and introductions to over-powerful material such as harry potter-looking sticks that feel unnecessary and almost, humorous for a plot-line that isn't meant to be funny. Additionally, So Mun is never seen going to school nor does the 'noodle shop' have anything to do with the main storyline, leading it to be unnecessary in the log-line and synopsis.

- CHARACTERS -
The strongest part of this drama is the well-written main cast and each of their own backstories. The greatest part of our protagonist So Mun is that he truly is written to live up to his name, an 'uncanny' counter. Being a kid, he's immature, angry and reacts inappropriately in situations that truly reflect his age. Motak and Hana are also written to act, think and react in ways that appropriately reflect their age and their traumatic pasts that led them to be counters. Jo Byungyu, Kim Sejeong and Yoo Jun-sang really proved themselves with their incredible acting performance.

The antagonist was also so well-written to point where he's almost likeable. Himself and the Presidents son became antagonists that I genuinely enjoyed, and wishing for more scenes involving solely them. Props to Lee Hong-nae.

Despite this, there were also flaws in the writing of some characters. For example, the 'Yung' team being unlikeable, useless and completely unforgiving in the way they treat the protagonists. Despite them having their own backstories, such as the son, I struggled to feel any sort of empathy for them, as they relied entirely on the counters to let them live their lives. Furthermore, The dragging of the President's story and his 'followers' ruined the like-ability and interest for the characters, emphasising the poorly written second half.

-----

Overall, I still believe that each person should give this drama a good-go. Especially for the captivating first half that balances intense fighting scenes, humour and sadness perfectly.

I am interested to see where the second season of this story leads, hoping it does not continue the rinse and repeat storyline that many people complained of.

Leia Mais

A lot of qualities and many flaws too but it is enjoyable overall

WHAT I LIKED:
- The many characters with different personalities and tempers. They are able to form a good team supporting each other. The relationship between them is well told.
- The background story of the counters. Each of them has a well made backstory which give them depth and makes them endearing.
- The pace: the drama is fast paced with a lot of good action. I enjoyed the fights.
- The mix between thriller and supernatural is pretty well made even if I wished the realtionship between the bad humans and the evil spirits was stronger and lasted longer
- The supporting characters are interesting: the sponsor, the female cop and her trainee, the two friends of Mun...
- Most of the actors are very good.

WHAT I DID NOT LIKE:
- Too much unnecessary violence
- Sometimes repetitive: Abducting someone and making a call to threaten to kill him. This is done several times
- Some flaws in the story: How come visiting your own memories can lead you to enter the memories of another person and fight in his memories and so find where he is hidden. It is a stretch.
- Some events and elements do not serve the story and are just here to create emotions: the ankle broken and repaired several times, the bullying and beating by the schoolboys thugs, the kid with disease, the orphans, the old folks... plenty of usual tropes.
- The main lead allways accuses himself of being responsible for everything bad happening and cries too much. It became annoying in the end.
- The story is thin: they catch bad persons and evil spirits. It was so thin, from the middle of the drama, it started to be draggy like they don't have a good story to tell and they focus on creating repetitive and useless scenes focusing on the characters' emotions. The bad guys are catched way too easily between two emotional scenes. The final fight was also disappointing.

OST: It was ok for the genre.

REWATCH VALUE: I won't rewatch it.

OVERALL: This drama is a huge success. Personally I found it was emotionally a roller coaster ( a bit too much sometimes) but storywise it was not so interesting. It is entertaining mostly because of the sympathy you have for the main characters, their story and their suffering and their success but I was clearly not amazed by the complexity of story. I still recommend it as a good and easy watch.

Leia Mais

I came for Kim Se Jeong, and stayed for the amazing unlikely hero cast.

Honestly, I ignored this drama for a while. I didn't even bother to check reviews about it even after it repeatedly showed up as a Netflix suggestion. It was only when I started to obsessively watch "A Business Proposal", that I decided to watch this to fill the time in between those episodes. I figured I liked Kim Se Jeong so much in that cute rom-com that maybe I'd like her in this too. I was right about that, but I had no idea I would instantly love this odd group of unlikely heroes just as much. This drama started off grabbing my attention from the very first moments and the pace never slowed down for me. I was intrigued by the mysterious story, impressed with the cheesy but exciting and well-choreographed superhero action scenes, and loved super cute Cho Byeong Kyu as So Moon.

"The Uncanny Counter" in many ways is So Moon's coming-of-age/superhero origin story, so Cho Byeong Kyu being so likable is a huge reason why it works so well. I won't say too much about his journey and how it starts but I will say the permed hair element was a really nice touch. The character is so super sweet and easy to root for, and he's the perfect, believable, choice for this role. The rest of the team is just as perfectly cast. Kim Se Jeong plays the tough and guarded Do Ha Na. Yoo Joon Sang plays tough guy Ga Mo Tak. Yeom Hye Ran plays nurturing mother figure Chu Mae Ok. Their team seems completely mismatched and I think that's what makes this show so good as we learn about "counters" and what they are called to do. I also loved that each counter has their own story and reason for joining the team, their own unique strengths, and none of them really outshine the other. Teamwork is the major theme in this plot, in spite of the focus on So Moon specifically, so it's great that all of the leads shine.

The supporting cast is filled with great characters and performances too. Kim Eun Soo & Lee Ji Won were so great as So Moon's protective BFFs, which is amazing considering the real-life age gap between them. They are definitely #friendshipgoals. Ahn Suk Hwan is funny as the fifth-wheel member of the team and flamboyantly rich Choi Jang Mool. I loved the wholesome grandparents, the equally mismatched "Yung" beings, especially the motherly yet disturbingly creepy Wi Gen. The villains are pretty campy and over the top, but work well with the style of the drama. The real evil MVP, however, is Lee Hong Nae who is so good at being bad, and dare I say he made evil a little too sexy. He is the perfect match for the main team of heroes with a great evil grin and those eyes... I love a good villain and although this show is full of evil types he definitely out-evils them well.

I don't want to say too much about the plot itself because part of the fun of this drama is discovering everything as the main character does. There's a lot of violence, and many bullying scenes, but nothing that I would call gory or scary. The story is pretty dark and often sad, but I would still say it is more of a lighter feel-good drama. The story also has a great pace, with thriller elements and many moments that I didn't quite expect. There are many tropes that you would expect in a show like this, beginning with the infamous white truck of doom, but I applaud the writer for keeping the story exciting from beginning to end. I LOLed, I cried, I cheered, and embraced the blatant messages about the power of having support and alliances and letting go of trauma and guilt.

Would I watch this again? Absolutely. Even though there is a suspenseful element to this story there's so much more than that that makes this drama so enjoyable. It's also inspiring to watch So Moon's determination despite all obstacles, that's a whole mood all by itself. I also think some of the early scenes will hit different knowing how the story unfolds and who the characters are. I'm sure there were a lot of small details I missed.

Overall, I'm so glad I decided to watch this drama. I definitely consider it a new favorite and I am excited about the thought of a Season 2. I would definitely recommend it to fans of superhero stories, movies like the Matrix, or people who love to root for the underdog. This drama is great as a complete story, but I can easily see all the possibilities of continuing the story of this whole "counter" universe and I'd love to see more of this specific team.

This drama is equal parts familiar and original. It makes the unbelievable relatable. It also, like So Moon, surprised me by exceeding my expectations. I can't compare it to the webtoon, since I obviously never read it, but I am almost tempted to, although I would never want to ruin whatever ends up inspiring season 2. Next Season Count me in!lol

Leia Mais

This show was not perfect, no show is. But it was so engaging, I was able to ignore and not think about any possible plot holes or “convenient” plot lines until I finished it. My overly critical and overanalyzing brain was so emotionally connected to the characters and plot, it couldn't care less about any mistakes.

If I had to describe the plot in just a few words I would say: Fight against the supernatural evil, and the one hidden in humanity, that leads to bettering oneself. The format is repetitive, it’s undeniable truth. They dealt with one evil spirit, a new stronger one showed up. How come it’s not boring?

At first, the cases are simply a background for introducing the characters, creating a team work and So Moon’s dive into a whole new world. Slowly, the past connections between different characters are discovered, and the background plot starts to take a forefront position. The progression from the simple procedural plot to uncovering the past mystery and dealing with the main villain is perfectly gradual, and speaks of the great pacing The Uncanny Counter has.

The core of the show are the characters. The cast is pure perfection, and whoever was the casting director, they should get a raise. We are presented with more or less four teams: high school friends, Counters, Yung partners and the evil assholes. Each group is well written and portrayed, and even the villains are charming in their own twisted ways. I still wanted to see them dead, but I was also curious about their next actions and shenanigans. The loyalty among the young friends, the protectiveness of Counters, the moral dilemma the partner’s faced - all that made me love each and every character.

The acting is top notch. Jo Byung Kyoo is a true star of the show. His acting made me cry, scream, laugh, hit my head on my desk… He was So Moon. Kind, smol, positive, but also flawed character, that was willing to slowly learn, mature and improve himself. Easily in my top 5 favorite characters of all time.

Each and every actor committed to their roles completely. I honestly did not feel that even one scene or expression was off. I was especially surprised by Kim Se Jeong's performance. I knew she was a good actress, but she improved so much with the few roles she had previously.

Production value was everything I could wish for. It is a mainstream kdrama, high quality of visual aspects is expected though. The directing of the fighting sequences was well done, making them exciting to watch. Some of the stunts in the first episode felt slightly off, but they quickly improved and became way more natural.

I’m not gonna lie, I did not pay that much attention to the soundtrack as I was watching the show. I was completely “distracted” by the plot to notice what kind of music is being played in the background. That said, I usually don’t care that much about the OST, unless they are extremely bad, not fitting or painfully overused. After listening to the song as I was writing the review, I must say: they are good. Each has a completely different feeling and emotional quality, but they are all making me want to listen to them on repeat.

So what are the flaws? The biggest one was the slightly anticlimactic ending. With all the set up, I was expecting a bit more. Tiny, convenient plots that are either added or forgotten, like Moon, at some point, is never shown attending school. We just don’t see him going there at all. Never to be addressed nor mentioned. He is still a student, he wears his uniform… but he ain’t even close to being in class. Then we have the introduction of Oh Jeong Gu close to the end that felt out of place and useless.

Taking into consideration how well crafted the story and characters are, I was able to ignore the flaws. These cons barely tipped the scale, since the pros were that good.

Overall, damn yes. This show had such an emotional impact on me, there were moments when I had to pause the episode, since I was scared/not ready for whatever was going to happen. I loved each and every character. I was curious about the plot and how the team would deal with the obstacles they were facing. There was not one boring episode, and even though I am fine with the given conclusion, I would not mind a possible second season.

*Trigger warning: severe bullying. It’s pretty bad guys, especially in the beginning episodes.

Leia Mais

Not impressed with the finale Episodes...

I still remember the first episode that the action sequences were really impressive. Also the overall making looks very refreshing and it felt like a quality drama in the start and also they maintained that pace in the coming few Episodes as well, But towards the end it lacks many things quite bored last 4 or 5 Episodes and somehow managed to finish at last. For me its totally an average drama experience

Ocn achieved their all time best highest rating from this drama and also they announced for a season 2. But i don't think there will be a need for a 2nd season. Because its kind of boring towards its end. Also the way they ended was also really not that impactful or cliffhanger kind of setting. I heard there was a writer change in the 13 th epi.. i don't know what exactly the reason for that poor quality making in the finale Episodes. The only interesting factor that i find there was, some good emotional scenes. Its quite good to watch.

Anyway it will be a one time watch atleast for some people. Forcefully somehow managed to end, if you have a good start then you have to finish to off that well also.

Leia Mais

fighting evil, overthrowing the goverment and other extreme sports

what is there not to like really?

with a set of amazing and well written characters and outstanding work from a wonderful cast this is a set up to add more people in your favourite drama characters list. The story takes you on an emotional roller coaster, getting to know the characters, learning their motives and behaviours and watching them work hard to reach their goals no matter how many obstacles get in their way. It also gives yet another insight on political injustice, corruption and how rich people deserve to be burned.

The action is great as well as the special effects and the plot is good. Comedic relief is definitely there and it's hilarious. There's also like minimum romance which for some would be a drawback but the friendship developed between the characters is just so pure and beautiful there's nothing to complain about. Lots of great character development that makes you feel like a proud parent too.

There were times where conversations would get long and boring but i skimmed through them so i can't really speak on that lol. Nevertheless, it's one of the only dramas that i managed to keep up to perfectly while still on going and not forget about it or lose interest half-way (which happens often to me, with completed dramas too, just check my watchlist lol).

I 100% recommend, it's family friendly too. maybe prepare tissues (?)

Leia Mais