Felicidade (2021)

I enjoyed the show so much?

ok now i will be super real with u so basically i enjoyed the show i have always been fan of zombie dramas and this one was also soo good.REASONS I LOVE THIS SHOW :-
1.new story i have seen plenty of zombie drama and to be honest this one is so unique and new.
2.Chemistry of male and female lead was fire🔥.
3.Strong female lead🙌🔥
4.Villains were too annoying i hate them so much as i should..this proves that how good it was.
5.I loved some comedic parts 💓.
6.intersting supporting casts all were so suspisious
7.love how it was not a typical zombie drama
8.Ost was so good.
9.Bond between sae bom and that kid was so adorable🦋💓.
10.Happy ending🤫🎇🎊
so these are reasons i loved the drama so much i dont care if people did not like it not everyone has same taste.

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Happiness is a must watch for all the Kdrama enthusiasts♡

I have no words for this drama! It was just Insanely well written, with an epic cast, tons of twists and a huge roller coaster of emotions. I myself got anxious around the last few episodes but this drama never failed to keep me hooked. The evil seemed very evil, the good seemed very good until we all got to see their hidden sides. This story also helps you to have a totally different prospective of humans in general. How most of them are the scariest even when they are 'normal' and how the ones who got the disease were far more innocent than them.

The greed, the urge to be on the top and the need to survive is all these normal humans need to forget all humanity and be worse than those who actually were turned. The drama will open your eyes towards a different world and will make you realize how everyone turns selfish in a matter of seconds. You will realize that the only ones rooting for you and worried for you is family. No matter just how much far you have gone, you suffer with family and you survive with family.

All the characters did their jobs effortlessly. They pulled you in so hard that there are times you want to get into the screen and slap the careless ones or throw the troublemakers out the window, sometimes you will want to get in there and protect someone, other times you would want to scream in someone else's face.
The actors have done a mind blowing job and proved that Noone could have done it better than them. Park Hyung-Sik shines throughout. His expressions, his words, his actions, his aggression, his adorable smile, his bravery and smartness, makes you fall head over heels for him or deeper for those who already adore and love the man.
Han Hyo-joo plays a very important part throughout as a female lead. As a person who loves strong and independent female characters, I respect her role tremendously. She kept the drama and our dear man safe and sane from the very start. Their chemistry was so on point that they will make you blush with even the slightest of proximity between them. It's a treat to watch the two of them together in this beautiful drama. Not to mention Joe Woo-jin who plays, Han Tae-seok. His charisma, the power he holds and his way of handling situations was just my cup of tea. Man had my attention all the way.
Also much much credits should be given to the supporting casts too. Every single character was relevant and unique in its own way. The director and crew did a superb job with the cast.

The sets were interesting and very well chosen. Every single one of it gave full justice to the ongoing scenes. Coming to the plot, don't take this drama as a repeated one or something you won't be surprised to watch. Trust me when I say this, but it will give you the greatest shocks in the most unpredictable times and leave you on the edge, all anxious but excited at the same time. It had enough plot twists to not let you get bored anytime. The 12 episode journey will leave you in a storm full of emotions and when it gets over you would have to take a deep breath to recollect yourselves. I am genuinely impressed by the story telling skills of the director and writer, Mr. Ann Gil-ho. He gave us a full package to have all to ourselves and just let go into his creation of Happiness.

And don't even get me started on the songs. This is something very common in all the kdramas, their choice of bg songs always being perfect. That one tune which is especially reserved for our dear couple and their soft scenes or the one which gives you a feeling of peace even though there is nothing to be at peace for are just so soothing for the ears.
Everything, the cast, the plot, the songs, the drama, the emotions, the settings and the dialogues was just supremely satisfying. You might feel the ending was a bit rushed, but trust me, it's the best as it is. Enough to calm your anxious heart down but at the same time leaving you longing for more.

All in all, Happiness is a must watch. I binge watched it in two days and it was more than worth the time. I am elated I gave it a shot after a few months of its release because I was surely not disappointed.
Do give it a chance to take you on a breathtaking journey full of deep sentiments and an ocean of emotions, cause Jung Yi Hyun and Yoon Sae Bom are coming to steal your hearts. Which by the way, they will surely succeed in doing.

Go find your true happiness. It lies somewhere close to you, waiting to be discovered.

Leia Mais

!!!!!please watch this drama!!!!!

Ok,so i have seen so many dramas in the last 4 years i can not even keep up with them lol anyway and this has to be for some very odd reason my favourite/one of my favourite kdramas of all i have seen,the drama itself does have some plots here and there and it is quite easy to watch and to go thru,i am going to be honest...u will hate a lot of the characters but i have watched and rewatched this drama a lot of times and i always recommend it to everyone and i really liked the main leads like gurl they slayyy and they just match so damn well like ahhhhh u know what i mean,u will know after u watch the drama so please watch it. on another point the ost is quite nice for a short drama too like the songs are sad,yes but like so damn good and not overly played in weird moments so it is quite nice to hear them too.the acting is of course chefs kiss ^^ and the story in my opinion is ok/decent honestly,i do understand that some people did not like the drama because of its annoying characters but it is ok in my opinion,i have seen worse but still prepare yourself mentally ;))

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"Hell is other people." -Jean-Paul Sartre, No Exit

The title Happiness is an ironic one: the series is set a little after COVID-19 has become controlled, but with a new rabies-like syndrome spreading. How Patient Zero was created was never identified, but it was identified that a virus that functions largely like the rabies virus slowly transforms people into feral zombies that thirst for human blood. One novelty of the series is that instead of hydrophobia (or fear of water), people afflicted with the virus suffer from excessive thirst. Once they turn and taste blood, however, it becomes only a matter of time before they are overrun by the virus; if the virus reaches the brainstem, the patient becomes terminal as there's no cure discovered yet with the onset of the series.

I think that the series as a high-concept thriller performed reasonably well, except that its early episodes had struggles with characterization: for instance, Yoon Sae-bom, despite being a member of the Special Operations Unit, was being careless and even put people in danger despite her training. Her impulsiveness had brought quite a few people at risk, and her gung-ho attitude would have resulted to her demise had she not been counterbalanced by the cerebral yet placid Yi-hyun.

I do admire how the CDC chief, Han Tae-seok, was written. His efficient and highly rational actions saved a lot of people's lives because he was quick with lockdown procedures and even killing those who had become terminal in order to limit the spread of the virus. In fact, the lockdown that occurred within Seyang Forest was because of him: after he had established that one of the side effects of the medicine they had been selling before was the rabies-like syndrome, and that it had been sold in the apartment, he immediately locked it down.

Because of the lack of supplies, however, the apartment tenants have to fend for themselves, and this is where their personalities are laid-bare. Most tenants are selfish, but there are a few like the lead couple who show their grit and kindness consistently. In fact, one of the series's high points is how it has seamlessly written into a thriller one of the healthiest romances in K-drama.

Because both have been trained in high-pressure situations, Yi-hyun and Sae-bom never lose their humanity, even with those infected within. They try to maintain order, provide equitable distribution of food and water, and try their best to protect the other tenants from the infected without. However, because "hell is other people," selfish tenants willingly put other people at risk, and even lead a few to be infected or killed.

As a viewer I approve how they wrote the disease. Even their treatment modalities toward the novel disease were sensible. One major plot hole that I think wasn't adequately resolved were the children playing outside despite the lockdown in their apartments. I thought that was inconsistent with the accuracy with how Han Tae-seok implemented pandemic control principles, as social congregation should be minimized in these events, especially without a certain cure.

The final episode was also a bit underwhelming, although I loved how it magnified the toughness of the relationship between the married couple. As a fan of romance, I also enjoyed the culmination of the love that percolated for years. Outside these minor nitpicks, however, Happiness is a great and enjoyable thriller anchored by one of the healthiest romances this year. Recommended.

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Romance themed zombie show with actually good acting. Not enough zombies though.

I'm not going to lie, after finishing the show and looked back at the 8.9 score, I had the urge to write this question and answer review to give my thoughts on this show that badly. I will try to make this as Spoiler-free as possible.

Q1. Is the Happiness k-drama about zombies?

A1; Yes, it is definitely about zombies. One thing I have to say is that if you enjoyed All of Us Are Dead or Kingdom, this show doesn't really deliver the hype when it comes to zombie scenes but there are other things that make this show actually good.

Q2. So it is about zombies, what exactly are the differences from this show to others?

A2; The pacing for the story was slow but it did manage to keep me watching. That's not the only main difference, the romance, like ROMANCE? I mean sure almost every zombie show has romance whether it's the main leads or the side characters but this show managed to heavily implement that part to the story and it actually worked which is why the score is 8.9 (as of September 12, 2023). Also like I said in A1, the zombie scenes weren't that hyped but I definitely got scared in most of the scenes but it's just that there just isn't really enough zombies shown.

Q3. What about the characters?

A3; I wasn't really shocked with the male lead but the rest of the characters definitely did their part. Especially the evil characters, they did so well to make the audience hate them but I guess the story plays a big part as well. I have to say, Han Tae Sok as a character is pretty interesting but I get annoyed sometimes with Sae Bom even more than the evil characters. And yes, Sae Bom and Ji Hyun are the important characters to keep this show going.

Q4. Is the story that good?

A4; I mean, I won't say how the ending went but throughout the show, I did get frustrated a bunch of times at the "evil" characters, I managed to not get too impatient because the climax or the part where zombies start to eat people doesn't happen until a few episodes later (which I won't tell which one exactly). Oh right, ROMANCE! It did play a huge part in the story, you will even get wholesome scenes every episode with the main couple which I didn't really enjoy but didn't mind. The zombies in this story are not that impressive although the way they can get infected is pretty interesting but not really that unique. Like I said, for the 3rd time, the zombie scenes are not that hyped, I meant to say that there isn't really an epic chase scene, there are 1v1 scenes but overall the collection for zombie scenes of this show isn't really that impressive. Overall the story is alright but way better than many zombie shows. The story mainly really just takes places in the apartment which is kind of like #Alive, a zombie movie that is kind of similar to this show. There are messages from this show that are actually really good life lessons so that's a plus.

Q5: Are you willing to rewatch this show again?

A5; Hell no, I'm going to give props to the acting and the unique theme for this show but I'm someone who doesn't really rewatches a certain show, let it be k-drama or anime but the only time I rewatch a certain show is when I really feel like watching again after a long time. I don't have to urge to watch the show again after finishing it unless the show is just so amazing.

Alright, alright, it's time to summarize this very underwhelming Q&A review.

Summary:

Story: 8/10 - It's pretty consistent and doesn't fail to keep on delivering but it just lacks when it comes to the way the show handled the zombies.

Acting/Cast: 9/10 - Pretty amazing choices for the cast I'm not going to lie, a lot of them played their part well, they can keep the audience rambling and keep watching the show.

Music: 6/10 - I don't really remember the music for this show but it's alright I guess.

Rewatch Value: 5/10 - Not really the type of show to rewatch unless you loved the characters.

Overall: 7/10 - Decent story, amazing cast, can't remember the music, wouldn't really rewatch, this show is alright to kill time but I wouldn't recommend it if you're looking for a zombie show with very epic scenes and such.

My bad if this review sucks but I just want to place my opinion right here and get it off my chest.

Leia Mais

Annoyingly disappointing

Just finished this today. Extremely disappointed but not surprised. I was easily caught up with the narrative and characters in the beginning, and Han Hyo-joo's performance as a competent special forces soldier had a great unselfconscious swagger of someone with confidence in themseles. and her equally unselfconscious selfcentredness in the beginning when schemng to get the apartment was genuinely amusing. But from about halfway through I was watching more from duty and still some interest in what would happen to Sae-bom than anything else. Perhaps it is because the really strange social setup and peculiar startification of class (?) which comes across as pretty alien even to this British person who has been used to class-consciousness all their life. It just seems *different* and hard to believe that anyone would have put up with it even for a day in such unusual emergency situation. The whole idea that people would be ordered about like that by people with no real authority is genuinely amazing. This seemed MUCH mor emphasised than in any other KDrama I have seen (except maybe THE PENTHOUSE) and I watch a lot. Anyway, tht made it hard to completely empathise with and suspend disbelief. And then the whole coherence of the plot seemed to unravel. Now I completely accept that I may be missing subtleties in the original Korean, but the narrative as supplied by the subtitling started to make no sense at all. I actually put off watching the final ep for several days because I felt it was going to be a let down, and it was worse than I had expected. So, good beginning, gradually declining middle, and totally weak ending. The most disappointing Kdrama I have seen *all the way through*

(I am the sort of person who recently watched and loved 'Hotel del Luna', 'Hometown Cha Cha Cha' and 'Sell your Haunted House', 'Attorney Woo' and 'Mad for each Other' and 'Inspector Koo', just in case that explains my reaction!)

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Questionable, but Justified

Happiness, when I heard the name, I thought it would be a rom-com, specially with Hyung Sik and Han Hyo Joo on board.. Totally unexpected setting, a very interesting start, questionable actions by a lot of characters, you find them dumb and stupid until you finish and really think about the situation they were in.

To be honest, until we are dropped into a hellish situation where there is no food, no water, no protection, no electricity, being completely oblivious from the outside world.. Leaving them completely clueless about when they can get out, and where each and everyone starts doubts the person next to them..

We cannot really judge them for doing stupid things, because in such a scenario nobody would be sane.

It's easy to think that why did he do that, he could have done that, because we are watching from a third person perspective, but in a similar situation most of us would probably end up doing similar things..

So in the end, I think the 'stupid' 'dumb' things the characters did, were not non-sense or not logical, because many of them already were 'lacking' many things in life or some of them were already devilish in nature. Their actions were based on what they had gone through in their life..

Might be a stretch, but some of the characters fit into the list of sins really well.. Some had multiple traits even..

Pride - Oh Ju Hyung / Doctor (Who thinks everyone is beneath them)
Lust - Koo Hae Song / Attorney (Who craved into lust)
Gluttony - Kim Dong Hyun / Vlogger (His hunger for content was unbelievable)
Greed - Woo Sang Hee (Her desire for crypto never ended till last minute)
Envy - Cleaner Couple (They risked everything to get what others had)
Wrath - Andrew / Murder (No need to even explain.. )
Sloth - Kim Jeong Gook / Police Detective (He didn't want to be involved with anything.. )

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Great suspense and an endearing friends to lovers romance ....

Will this end on a cynical, happy or tragic note? Finding out the answer kept me on the edge of my seat for all 12 episodes. More thriller than horror, Happiness reminded me of the old X-files series in the US. The main couple treat each other as equals, long time friends who can communicate without speaking a word. They both are bad*ss and excel at their jobs.

Similar to his role in Strong Woman Do Bong Soon, Hyungsik is excellent at portraying someone who is head over heels for the woman next to him - in all her strengths and weaknesses. Han Hyo-joo does an excellent job of portraying very grounded, protective qualities with no patience for the strong hurting the week.

The ~12-16 side characters are distinctive with GOOD and BAD qualities that are played as archetypes/caricatures. Overwhelmingly, the bad qualities are delusion, greed, and narcissism. Despite exaggerated portrayals, I thought the personalities represented were accurate and rare to see. I was as invested in side plots as I was the main plot, and didn't feel any urge to skip the side character scenes.

(*SPOILER* big minus points for interjecting a needless serial killer storyline, and also using the sociopathic doctor one too many times)

The music was really well done with two very distinctive styles: amped up/industrial and mournful, nostalgic guitar. The two different music styles kept you guessing as to whether the show would end happily or sadly.

Rewatch - I'm not sure about rewatch, but definitely a lot of the visuals are going to stick in my head, I felt like I was stuck in the apartment building with them and that I knew these characters and cheered them (well some of them) on.

(*SPOILER* minus points for making the end scenes not at all reflect the depth of the show - it was like all the trauma etc. was all magically erased)

I grade on other criteria as well:

Themes: 8.5
Greed and never-ending desires are the downfall of human beings. Continuing to be narcissistic, self-centered, and fantasizing about triumphing over others in crisis are unfortunate traits in many. Trauma and tragedy often magnify the character traits that already existed. Keeping grounded in reality, surrounded by family and friends can keep hope alive and the ability to continue to be a community minded human being. Home, family (blood or found) are the keys to happiness. Overcoming disappointment early in life and finding reasons to live can provide resilience in tough circumstances down the road.

(*Spoiler* if the show had ended differently, I would have given the themes a higher score, but in the last 15 minutes it's like the whole disease never happened.)

Complex characters/Character Growth: 7
The general was an excellent complex character, with a mix of opportunism and a moral center. The rest didn't so much grow as illustrate how different types of people respond to crisis. It was realistic that people would still obsess over real estate portfolios, wealth and how to take advantage of a crisis for their own benefit. I also thought it was realistic that people would take silly risks on the optimism that they were special/unique or wouldn't trust others evaluation of the dangers until they had experience it themselves.

Complex women characters/Relationships between Women: 7.5
Yoon Sae-Boom is a really wonderful mix of caring, nurturing and can't stand societal niceties. Despite her slight figure, you never feel like she couldn't kick *ss and take names. It was a realistic blend too, not whiplash between two different selves. I liked the range of women presented and also a minor theme about how women handle crisis vs men. The show, however, had a ratio of 1:1 women to men characters, and the women didn't have rich relationships with each other.

Production Values/Cinematography: 9
There were some really striking visual scenes, great use of music and realistic fight scenes with lots of grappling and use of the human body. In this era of CGI, the real zombies and physical fighting were very much welcome. 1 point off as it was completely unbelievable (esp. given the number of cars in the parking lot) how few residents were in the building when it was locked down - the lack of people just felt odd.

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Blends the story of love and thriller in a well executed drama

Happiness, as the name sounds, isn't all about happiness though. This thriller drama sees an apocalyptic world where virus has created a havoc and residents of an apartment are surviving for their life.

Happiness had a decent story with a very good production and overall visuals. The soundtrack though, was the best part in the entire drama. The music tuned to the perfect rhythm along with the key moments in the series.

Not forgetting about the leads who gave a commendable performance and maintained romantic chemistry among themselves. It might not be a part of my Top 5 drama of the year, but it was a very well made show which blended multiple genres/aspects and delivered a convincing result.

My Rating : 7.5/10

Leia Mais

100% FL/ML chemistry and worth the watch!

Came here without knowing who the cast were, never watched them before and super love them! The FL and ML pairing is so so good.

The show starts off slow and I honestly wanted to drop at episode 1 especially during the high school scene because I don’t see where this was going. Glad I held on til at least episode 3 and binge watched in 3 days.

The zombies are not as crazy and intense as Kingdom where is was just non-stop. The zombies here are a lil docile, I’d say. There is gore still, seeing how this is a K-drama. But if you can handle Kingdom, you can handle this.

The supporting characters are what made this show shine on top of the leads. They are SO GOOD at being such hate-able characters! The doctor and the building rep homg. You really see how selfish humans can become when faced with a crisis.

The pacing overall is good except for the rushed ending.

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A series for thought and complexity

Honestly, I cannot understand the negative reviews with things to complain about. I am someone who enjoys complexity in morals and the difficulties of human relationships with each other, morals, desires, and greed. This is a series that touches on so many topics while still holding senses of morbidity, romance, and humour. The main couple, in my opinion, are fantastic and their characters are actually well thought through, from their backstory, to the way they grow up, and the way their history together effects their relationship in the future. the side characters have such a variety of relationships and struggles, with a real focus on classism (as a lot of K dramas seem to have - rich Vs poor, hard working Vs easy living).

I really loved this and honestly, it's one of the best zombie based series I have seen so far aside from maybe all of us are dead. The virus in this acts different from a lot of other series and I think it really allows for a lot of character and plot to be built on as even people who have been infected can continue on and have a hopeful happy ending. Bringing that bit of humanity to monster, and showing the monsters of humanity, it's truly a beautiful juxtaposition that makes you question so much.

the only thing I wish was that maybe they had left more time to fully establish the ending of other key characters like the antidote efficiency, what happens to the rich guy, what happen's to Han Taeseok's wife and child. there was a lot left undisclosed however it isn't too much of an issue for me personally as open endings often allow for own interpretation. I'll mention it as this may have been off putting for some people, yet this is the thing I have seen less addressed over "wah, they had plot armour as the main characters, how annoying".

TLDR; if you are looking for a series that you can sit down and mindlessly watch, I would say this isn't for you. if you go into this series mindlessly, you miss the entirety of its meaning and story. 10/10 would watch again and would recommend to people who value the art of storytelling. also, if you just want a zombie flic, this also isn't for you; this series is very much based on human interaction and the behaviours of people stuck together in a situation that is not exactly pleasant, with people who are even less pleasant. (I'm honestly tired of people going into series with an expectation and then rating it lower all because it wasn't like the others they watched - that is a good thing.)

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You Are My Home

There are some flaws with Happiness, like the ending for example. Not only was it sad because of the victims of the serial killer, but I had wished to see him prosecuted because of it. Instead there wasn't much on that. I also wished to see more of the general and his wife, but you only saw him give the antibodies to her. The ending wasn't bad because of that, because all of it was pretty much wrapped up in the end. You saw the general have a happy ending, although it didn't go into too much detail. In the end, Sae-Bom realizes her love for Yi-Hyun and calls him her home. Happiness did not focus on the outbreak, as it is pretty much contained to the apartment, but rather Sae-Bom and Yi-Hyun. The outbreak was a plot device for her to realize how he was her home. That was the reason I loved this show. :-)

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