Honestly, seeing the reviews and overall rating I expected it to be goofy. But I like goofy stuff from time to time and I was looking for something to spend an hour on, so I played the first episode, ready to laugh at the silliness. It was around 1 pm.
Then I just played the second one, because I was curious how will this one play out.
Then I convinced myself that it’ll probably have like six episodes (somehow I forgot and didn’t check later), so oookay, I can binge watch it till evening.
... and then it was 3pm in the next day and I felt like my heart was ripped out of my chest and I just need to see the first episode again, because I don’t want to leave the world and characters just yet.
A few days later I showed the drama to my mom and we ended up watching it all in just three days.
And now I enjoy my flashbacks whenever I listen to “If you were me” in instrumental version. Music in the drama is very good!

In the beginning I enjoyed the humor and really could feel the main character. I laughed at small silinesses (ultimate kabedon to name one), but I couldn’t help being dragged more and more into the characters.

I get it, it’s my flaw - I crazily enjoy urban fantasy / adventure plots with bits of romance spreader here and there, like Noragami. I just enjoy watching characters slowly getting to know and like each other better.

And that is what Hwayugi is for me. It doesn’t revolve (too much at least) around oh so complicated feelings of the main characters, and when it does, it works it naturally into the plot. I really liked the fact that I never thought “WHY ARE YOU SO STUPID, JUST TELL X TO Y AND EVERYTHING WILL BE RESOLVED” (since this trope always makes me gesticulate angrily towards the monitor). If a character was hiding something important, it was always understandable and I couldn’t just overlook their feelings or point of view.

And I think that this “groundness” of the show is what really made me watch it all in one sitting, spending friggin 25-26 hours looking at the screen. I never once felt that characters are irrational, that they are doing stuff not because this is something they believe in, but because plot needs it. I feel that their actions always had a logical explanation.

I also feel obliged to mention that I don’t cry on any dramas, animes or whatever. Even when characters face awful endings, lovers get separated and this cute character sacrifices so someone else can live (I’m not talking about any particular show, don’t worry) I watch it with poker face. I can sometimes get a bit emotional, but crying? Meh, they are actors anyway.
Not with Hwayugi, though. I was really surprised when I realized I’m crying over piece of fiction, and believe me, I cried a river there. What it worse, when I was rewatching it, I would start tearing up whenever I saw something leading to what I knew was a sad ending. Even my mom was surprised that I actually can feel so sad because of a drama.

I really loved the characters. As I mentioned twice, I could really understand their reasoning and didn’t feel like anything was “for the sake of the plot”.
Lie Seung Gi’s character was a perfect “bad boyfriend”, switching between caring for Sun Mi (main lead) and trying to kill her.
Oh Yeon So’s character, on the other side, was a perfect mix of care, independence and low(ish) self esteem. I felt like her fatal flaw was dreaming of true love, what greatly impacted her relation with Oh Gong.

I know though that my opinion is separated. This show is very similar to Goblin in many aspects and when I talked about both dramas with my friends who have seen both, everyone agreed that Goblin was better and made them feel more. In my case it is the opposite. Nevertheless, I do not know what I missed in either of these shows to have this opinion.

Anyway, if you like watching an adventurous drama that fiddles with quite a few genres, if you enjoy kind of a “push and pull” romance and you appreciate when fantasy is a bit more grounded in reality, I couldn’t recommend “A Korean Odyssey” more. Just prepare to deal with bits of cringy CGI.
I know that this show will stay with me for a while.