Reviews

What a wonderful journey! 20 hours of complete bliss, fascination, love, loyalty, freedom, friendship and brilliancy. Cliff hangers at the end of each episode and surprising events. Admirable writing and capital production. No loose ends and no let’s-squeeze-this or fill-in-that.

Healer might sound like a typical justice-prevails story where the good guys go through troubles but win at the end and the bad guys get their punishment; with a super hero jumping across roofs and defeating bunches of guys at the same time. Well that’s true, if you want to think of it that way. But strangely, no matter how ordinary and overused the plot might sound, it’s portrayed perfectly. Genuineness is not only about new ideas but new and fresh portrayals of the already tackled ideas.

Of course acting is superb. Every one did a wonderful job. What impressed me the most was the younger selves of the 5 friends! How could they find people who look so much alike and with such skills? Every time one of them would be on screen I’d simply stare.

The chemistry between the leads and the supporting actors was evident. Everyone seemed comfortable and well-aware of their roles. No one covering for the lack of skills for another.
Not a dull moment. No taking your eyes away. Especially the moments of Healer and Young Shin AND Moon Ho’s emotional outbursts. Moon Ho for me was the best thing about the drama and I officially fell in love with him.

The new Park Min Young was groundbreaking in every single aspect.

As for themes; I loved how they tackled the concept of family in its different aspects and probabilities; in a touching way. How money and authority can change people. How much freedom of opinion are we practically allowed?! Can people actually change each other and help them become better people? Are dreams definite sources or can they be changeable? And the most urging and universal question; does justice ultimately prevail?

Leia Mais

It was interesting how this sageuk played out. It wasn't long and it didn't seem very historically accurate and to call it a historical romance seems wrong since the romance was so disjointed. I loved the story, I always love Cinderella type story lines, but I also loved the characters. The main characters of-course Yeonwoo and the Prince are likeable, but Yeonwoo is less so. I wish she had smiled more, been more loveable and sweet.

The Prince was intelligent, kind, caring, sweet and oh so lovable especially when he smiled or joked. They did a good job with making his younger and older versions look alike. I wish he had not been so hateful to the Queen I am not sure the contempt he had for her was necessary. The prince's brother was fun, I wish he too had been even more jovial than his character already was. Like so many K-drama's there was a love triangle but this one unnecessary as well. I think their love story could have carried the show without the other brother also being in love.

I loved that the Prince/King actually had a good relationship with his brother and with the friends. I loved Woon- I think a side love story with him would have been fun- but even by himself I just liked his devout character. I even felt sorry for the Princess and of course for Yeonwoo's family. I wish people had been more forgiving.

Overall I liked this drama as a cute historical romance but some parts were slow and others underdeveloped. I wish the characters had been more resolute and more open. I would suggest this drama to people who like historical romance novels.

Leia Mais

There is almost no way to describe this drama much less score it accurately. So starting from the top, there are key points of the story that were amazing but there were also some holes. I don't like to rewrite the summary but basically our main character Cha Do Hyun has split personalities. A total of 7 personalities in one body. He meets a Therapist whom he connects with (for multiple reasons) and she helps him through the discovery of the creation of his personalities. Many of the begging episodes are pretty good, with each personality almost getting their own episodes so you can get the know them.

I did not like one thing about Shin Se Gi - while he is one of my favorites the tattoo is too much. Ahn Yo Na is my favorite personality of all. Hwang Jung Eum(Oh Ri Jin) is the lead female and I was not so impressed with her or her character or her acting. That is all I can say about her really.
The acting of Ji Sung to pull off each of these characters is very impressive. For some of the personalities you can tell he has changed just by watching him. Ji Sung was the key to this drama getting as good of a rating as it did. He was spectacular.

The story over all was good, but once again they tried to wrap it up all too quick. One key problem I had was the appearance of a new personalty at the end, and I wanted more of a back story on a few of the personalities mostly the twin's (I don't feel they were explained as much).

The OST "Auditory Hallucinations" is one of my favorites right now and fits the drama perfectly.

Overall if the drama had been a little more clean at the end I would have rated it higher.

Leia Mais

It took me 5 days of mind wrecking just to decide on an overall rating for Empress Ki. The eternal reviewer's doubt whether it is fairer to value a drama using the brain or the heart is maximized here: this is an epic tale where almost every single aspect is at the same time exceptionally good and glaringly bad. In trying to elaborate this, what follows may become very long, and for this I apologize in advance.

First, the pace.
If you are preoccupied by the length, be assured the rhythm of the narration is so fast you'll come to the 51st ep. wishing you could have another 10. There isn't even one moment of boredom among the hundreds of little and big events that follow one another. By the end of each episode, I sat there wide awake wishing it wasn't already 4 a.m. and I could watch another. The downside of such a fast pace is that it never gives you respite. I wanted to linger, now and then to bask in the sweetness, or simply see these people being happy for a while, but it was not to be. Every time an issue is concluded the next is ready to shatter that glint of satisfaction it was so hard to finally obtain. The infamous last 10 episodes I've read many criticize, could have been the most poignant part of the drama if they hadn't been so incredibly rushed, to the point that events seem to make little sense. As a matter of fact they do make a lot of sense – with the glowering exception of the silly Maeback botch – but you have to think the entire journey over in order to see it.

Which leads me to the script and its characters.
This isn't a journey to begin in search of historical dependability, not in the details, at least. Little to nothing is known about the woman who became the Empress of Yuan before she entered the palace as a tribute from Goryeo, and there isn't much information about the single steps that were taken in order for her to sit on that throne. The writers have taken many liberties both in characterization as well as chronology, but I personally think they did a great job in always making those steps exciting and suspenseful and when you reach the end you will realize the plot is rounded up very well, with a couple of exceptions. This is why I think knowing a little about Empress Ki's true story in advance can actually enhance the watching and explain the choices some of the characters make.
For instance, we can assume Crown Prince Ta Hwan was exiled to Goryeo when he was only a teenager, which perhaps will make you judge his character with some indulgence. King Wang Yoo of Goryeo, on the other hand, is by all means the most fictionalized of all the main characters, so much so that knowing his true story is not only unnecessary but extremely counterproductive. My humble advice: stay well away from the true known facts about him if you want to enjoy the drama.

When history is taken into consideration, a lot of the twists invented by the writers acquire significance, since the opening scene tells us in advance where we are heading and curiosity is all on how they'll get there. History also explains why so many characters in this drama change side, go from good to bad, from bad to worse or are suspended somewhere in between. It obviously does not explain or justify the fact that everyone speaks Korean, but I am aware that having the huge cast speak different idioms would have rendered the watch almost impossible.

To this drama I own the realization that I possess a dark side too. There have been moments when I wanted to see blood and wished some characters would not only be killed, but killed with pain. It's such an alien feeling for me, it shocked me. It goes to the credit of writers and actors to make me hate with such an intensity, but I'm not sure I want to experience that kind of emotion again. Attachment and love to some characters, though, was equally intense and I swam in it with gusto. It's going to take a very long time before I can get these people out of my system. While it kept me highly entertained in the first half, in the second this drama almost broke my heart. It has very little to do with characters dying or living, and a lot with them losing their innocence. At some point I almost wished the leads had died on that exile island and remain forever what they used to be, before being scarred and marred by that terrible imperial palace, "a place with no blood, no tears and no mercy". to quote Lady Park.

When it comes to the much talked about love triangle, I must say I jumped on Seung Nyang & Ta Hwan's ship very early on and never wavered. I could not see or feel any chemistry between Ha Ji Won and Jo Jin Mo and while my brain kept on telling me these two characters had a lot in common and it was logical for them to fall for each other, my heart never agreed. In fact, my heart unyieldingly refused to accept it. Ha Ji Won and Ji Chang Wook, on the other hand… I could have watched them waltz one around the other for the whole 51 hours run without complaining even once. Some of the most poignant moments in the entire drama involve these two and they are the main reason why I enjoyed Empress Ki so much.
This said, the love triangle was not only central to the story, but dual purpose too. Because on final analysis the true seesaw is not between a woman and two men, but between a woman and two countries. The issue of eradication underlines the whole narration and should never be forgotten in order to understand Seung Nyang's choices. This is, after all, her story, how she's initially forced to abandon her country and her roots and gradually develops an attachment to her adoptive one. The more she distances herself from Goryeo, the more the story focuses on China and takes the viewer along.

Spectacular acting by Ha Ji Won - no news here, not for me, at least. I doubt any other actress would have pulled off such a role with that seeming ease; Ji Chang Wook - yes, I'm just a little obsessed with him right now, after seeing him in two very different dramas I loved and being impressed by his ability to convey such a varied range of emotions. His Emperor is so controversial I could write a review only on him, but let's go on; Baek Jin Hee – Danashili, my most hated and beloved villain was terrific too and Jin Yi Han, who possibly didn't deliver the best performance of his career, but whose charisma alone made him into an all time favourite, unforgettable Tal Tal. The rest of the cast did great too, although I was more impressed with the young actors than the older ones.
A word needs to be spent on the villains. There are a lot of them here, all evil for different reasons. A few of them are very consistent; others are such since the beginning, but the viewer is manipulated to the point of thinking otherwise; some suffer from inexplicable 180° turns. What they all have in common is the unyielding conviction they never did anything wrong, which for me is the saddest trait of this drama and even when they got what they deserved, I was left feeling… empty. Their evil logic is at times extremely lucid and makes the line between good and bad blur.

Music is the hardest aspect for me to rate and perfectly mirrors this drama fluctuating between good and bad. The instrumental pieces are hauntingly beautiful and extremely powerful. Listening to them with closed eyes might be the biggest spoiler of all as to how this story is going to end, which is an achievement in itself since an Ost exists to tell the story via music. The songs, on the other hand, were not only very annoying to my ears (personal taste) but also inserted too abruptly at times when not completely random for the scene they soundtracked. I ended up using good old maths: instrumental 12 + songs 5 = average 8,5.

To come to such a high overall score despite the glaring shortcomings of the script, I took the whole picture into consideration. A 51-hours long story that manages to keep the interest alive till the very end is commendable in itself and the fact that I already know I will definitely re-watch it in the future is proof of the high level of emotion it made me feel. Furthermore, this is not a book, and the visual means is used at its highest, with stunningly beautiful sets, costumes, colours and camera work. If you are able to suspend belief at times and focus on style and emotional impact, you'll no doubt enjoy Empress Ki as much as I did.

Leia Mais

So watching zhong ji yi bian has become my guilty pleasure. I accidentally a linked to angel n devil n fell in love with teddy of spexial. Do i said, im watching you later... Then ive loved it. I craved for more so i decided to watch ko one return, finished it in a week. Then here comes ko one react. Honestly the story and acting per se, its not perfect but damn im so loving the cast. Im not into boy idol groups but i just loved spexial and their music tho most of their eongs are composed by korean. Oh well, i just love how friendship and camaraderrie among students are portrayed even the love n care of faculty and so as parents and sibling love hate relationship. The things that i hate are: ending, so theyve disappeared? Dadong lei ting and even wan jun.. Like, wtf happened there? Didnt king promised wan jun in ko one return if theyll make thru it theyll stay together but i didnt know what happened not that im complaining cos i love leiting dadong together., qiuqiu & zhan def looks good together, but qiu wiu said zhan didnt really like her then bam, no more. Then here comes yan yan , not sure cos yanyan def has her eyes with zhan but blushes with whats his name. And does anybody knows what happened to the driver who beat up duan ren chen? I think they just have to wrap the drama up so much loose end but id like to see whatever happened to dadong. So he didnt graduate after all. It would be nice if at least therell be sort of closure here but i think jiro is too old to be portraying a high schooler. So im watching x dormitory next while waiting for the rumored ko one 4.

Leia Mais

This is my 1st review on mydramalist. Punch surpassed all my expectations so I felt compelled to write a review.
This is, hands down, the best kdrama I have ever seen. The shining star was the writing/plot - it was so amazingly tight, crisp and detailed and not a wasted moment or glance, that I have to say the writer is a complete genius. His characters were complex and multidimensional, and even though many of them were morally bankrupt, each one had a well fleshed out backstory to how they became the corrupt individuals who would stoop to almost anything to achieve their ends. The relentless back-and-forth between the characters and plot twists had me almost gasping for breath after each episode. By the end of the series, I fully understood why it was called Punch -- it really was like a very long, exhausting but exhilarating boxing match. (And I'm no boxing fan by any means lol).

I loved the use of poetic metaphors that the villain character delivers. You can tell the actor really relished his lines by the way he rolls them off his tongue with a deliciously evil glint in his eyes. All the actors were superb – not a weak link in sight. They did full justice to the wonderful writing by just allowing the words to speak for themselves, and not overacting or over dramatizing. Given the nature of the story this could have been very tempting for some lesser actors. All credit goes to the director as well for keeping this as tight and minimalistic as possible.

I loved the hero (or should I say antihero) – such a brilliant mind who could come up with the most twisted trick and pull it off against all odds. At first I kept thinking that there would be some magical cure for him -- this is a kdrama, after all, right? And then, when this looked more and more unlikely as episodes proceeded, I felt I would not be able to bear an unhappy ending -- not after all the struggles and heartache and redemption he goes through. (I rarely connect so deeply with a drama character ...I was really wishing for a miracle). His relationship with his ex-wife was so quiet, tinged with the slight sadness of "what might have been" but their truly unbreakable bond was their child and that finally ends up defining everything in his life. How beautiful and how realistic! When the show finally did reach its inevitable conclusion, to my surprise, all the pieces actually just fit together naturally and made perfect sense. The writer brilliantly chose to deemphasize the tragedy and instead focused on all the other events that were rushing headlong in parallel. After all, life .... just goes on, doesn't it?

The final thing (and maybe this is the most important one) that I absolutely adored was the portrayal of truly strong women in this drama. There was not one nitwit in sight, no dolled up 30 yr old acting like a particularly dumb 13-year-old, no girl getting dragged around by her wrist like a rag doll in teetering high heels and loving it, and, actually hardly any romance to be found. The women here were REAL women -- strong professional characters, with their own mind, own ideas (gasp!), and ability to think independently and fast in high stress situations without needing to sink into a man's shoulder every 2nd breath. Other kdramas must learn from this one on how to portray strong women while keeping them sexy and attractive (after all this is showbiz).

I am now checking out all the other dramas from this writer because, did I mention, he is a genius! :-).

(Note : I gave a low rewatch value, because I think that once you know what's coming next, it may not be that interesting, and I don't rewatch much anyway.)

Leia Mais

I thought this was an amazing drama. I didn't watch any in a while but once i watched this, i was addicted. I wanted to watch more and i couldn't wait until next week! Oh those long waiting periods!!!! But! Its finally over and it was amazing. Ji Sung had to play several roles since he has D.I.D. And his roles varied so after watching this, you learn he is way too amazing of an actor. The female lead was pretty good too but the attention was on Ji Sung.
I saved all the episodes and ive already watched this 3 times. The story was amazing, and again, the roles the actor's played was perfect (and thats an understatement).
MUST WATCH DRAMA!!!

Leia Mais

Although similar in some aspects of the storyline to Autumn's Concerto, each drama is different. Autumn blew me away, but Loving was also very good in it's own way. Absolutely loved Jerry Yan. This is my first drama by him, but judging from people's comments of his usual characters, he played the cold, rich businessman to a perfection. What woman watching this type of drama does not want to be the one to tame a cold ruthless rich alpha male into a loving partner who swears to take care of you the rest of your life?
I would have given this a higher mark if not for some of the pissed off moments I had watching a really naive to the point of being stupid female lead. It was really annoying seeing how many times she did the damsel in distress moments by physically falling down in front of her man. Aside from that, excellant drama, my first China drama, I look forward to seeing more dramas from there now.

Leia Mais

I've been searching for a feel good Taiwanese drama for so long and I am so glad I was able to find this gem!

The plot didn't really attract me when I first read it but considering everyone mostly had good reviews I gave this a try and I can't really describe why I liked it so much but I did. The story moved along nicely for 16 episode. There are always going to be thing that I think were dragged on for longer than needed, it's the same for this drama, but I still enjoyed it a lot. With it being 16 episode, I felt the ending was weirdly rushed but it was still a really good ending! It was rushed but still somehow worked out without making you feel like there is still something missing.

Now the cast..Had to admit, I almost dropped this drama after the first episode. I couldn't stand Hsia Kimi's character at all. It was so over the top and immature I felt my hands cringing when her voice would get too high. That being said, I stuck it out and I can say her character gets so much better as the episodes go on. So if you get think about dropping, just stick through it! Her character starts maturing while still have that "natural innocence" and I liked her character by the time the drama ended.
Chris Wu. woooo. I can't lie, at first I just thought of his character as Hua Tuo Ye and was ehh about him but I seriously loved his character and his acting! His character didn't really change that much (change in a bad way I mean) So it's easy to say he gained another fan.
Supporting cast was great too. I loved the band members, the assistant, Wei Zhen's friends/supporters everyone fit their role perfectly whether it be a good or bad character.

Music was kind of weird. They dubbed the music over and it was really just awkward. But overall the music that was used was too good. I love Mayday! this was the only drama where I would sit through the opening just to listen to the song. The insert songs and ending theme are just as amazing.

Overall, such a nice drama. Not too many cliches or I guess delays in the plot. Will probably rewatch this again in the near future.

Leia Mais

The plot is genuine when it comes to Korean dramas. There are many surprising twists. The acting is superb. Many ideas are tackled brilliantly.
If it was a 12 or 16 ep drama it would have been the best. Dragging it affected it a bit.

Though I had suspected some events, the twists surprised me still. I loved how they lay bare our human nature. No hypocrisies here. It presents humans in their true form; greedy and selfish. When money is at stake, what would humans do?
On the other hand, it shows the importance of loyalty and love to other people and how money comes second for them.

'' When will be able to know what's truly important to us?'' is what the drama is about. Even if it's late, as long as we know, we're saved. We might live our lives chasing something not realising that what really matters to us is something else.

Trust is heavily depicted here. Can't we really trust anyone? Is it destined that everyone will betray us eventually?! How deep shall our trust be?! '' Don't trust people, trust money''; how far of this is true?!

The drama is a cool one. Don't put on hold though. If you leave it it'll be hard to go back to it and get the rhythm back.

Leia Mais

This was just a ridiculous funny action drama. I rated it high coz of oguri shun. Hes so serious reminds me of Damon wayans in major Payne. one of the funny scenes was the mother. Every time sou is in a compromising position like shooting a suspect or tagging a criminal the mother would call asking him unnecessary questions and healways said "I'll call you in 10 minutes," which she wouldn't accept..... anyways twas hilarious. I wish there was another episode and i wanted to see some romance develop. The other funny character was the cop lady who would kiss the boss's ass and repeat everything he said after she had disagreed. Lots of eye candy including jinno.

Leia Mais