Alias: Healer (2014)

This drama left me wanting more. I was addicted from beginning to end, and this gave me mad withdrawals.

The only negative I can give to this story is I didn't exactly believe the leads' chemistry. I did enjoy the kissing and affectionate scenes, but the majority of the time I had difficulty believing their romance was genuine.

The rest was positive. Individually the actors were beautiful and talented. I love both their characters. A lot of the scenes had pretty background and music. The beginning had plenty of action scenes to help you get the feel of what the guy's work entailed. The plot was wonderful with plenty of awesome twists. I liked the mystery. I liked the ending very much, and I hope to see more dramas like this. They definitely got a lot of it right: drama, action, mystery, romance, and a little bit of comedic relief all in one smart and endearing package.

Definitely worthy of watching over and over again.

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A drama that contains a bit of everything but that has aged badly.

It's the story of Seo Jung Hoo who is a special kind of night courier, known only as "Healer" by his clients. His latest job leads him to a second-rate tabloid writer, Chae Young Shin, and the successful reporter, Kim Moon Ho. He begins to uncover the mystery of his own shared past with the two reporters, thus putting them all in danger.

This series is a lot praised, and I understand why in the sense that it brings together all the elements of the typical K-Drama. There is comedy, romance, action and suspense, so it is a mix that brings together a lot of people.
And even if we have emotional scenes, and the antagonists always do what the antagonists do, basically bad things, I must say that the drama is really light-hearted and very much cheesy.

Now, I don't mind the fact that it is a series that has been shot in this direction, precisely with the desire to give a light-hearted series for everyone and that also, it is a series that dates from 2014.
I believe that for its genre, and people who love the combination of all these, this kind of series is really good.

My perspective is influenced by the fact that when I look at an action thriller, I expect better, darker and raw, I expect realism. And this is entirely personal, that does not influence the fact that this series is good, but just not my style. "Vagabond" is the same kind of series in the spirit, but to me "Vagabond" did so much better while they had the same elements of romance, comedy and mystery.
This series rather approaches the subject with sometimes incredible scenes, endearing or slightly annoying characters who lack realism, where Seo Jung Hoo, the male lead would have almost supernatural skills at this stage.
I am not a fan of romance, but some series manage to convince me, here unfortunately it was not the case. Not that the two actors were not good, I just didn't felt it.

I would also like to point out the songs and OSTs. I think it's really the only thing that objectively lacks this series. They had a truly light/happy sounding song/instrumental playing in the background while the main lead fought or had intense scenes. It really spoiled the impact of it.
And then I'm not even talking about this English song, which started playing as soon as the two actors (Chae Yeong Shin and Seo Jung Hoo) thought of each other, or had flashbacks, or some random moments. The "Promise me this is forever" really did get on my nerves, it was so cheesy. Also, admittingly I skipped several scenes, specially toward the end, to me this series could have been done with less episodes.

As for the acting. Park Min Young, who performs Chae Yeong Shin was the best for me. Generally, especially in this kind of drama, I prefer male lead, but here I must say that she was the highlight. She was strong and sometimes vulnerable, relatable, funny and kind.
Yoo Ji Tae, played Kim Moon Ho, and this actor that I have seen in several series has still failed to convince me. His acting is barely decent, the only things he shows are to smug face or angry tears. His roles are different but in the end, I always have the impression of seeing the same character in each of these series.
Ji Chang Wook, played Seo Jung Hoo. It is very rare that a male lead does not win first place in my top, and I would not say that it is because of bad acting because it is false, he showed several layers, but I cannot help but being disappointed because I was waiting for more. I'm going to watch others of his series, and I hope that I will find this missing thing to his acting there, but overall he did a good job.

If I had to summarize this series, I recommend it for people who love romances, comedy, action, a very interesting storyline with mysteries to discover. The acting is decent and overall, it's good - nothing more.
On the other hand, for people like me who do not like romances, or series supposedly thrillers but who in reality are more in the category "mystery and action", because it was not a thriller let's be honest, I do not recommend.

I saw the series to see it until the end because I wanted to know how it will end but honestly, if I would have known, I would not have watched it.

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The best things about the drama -
Strong acting from the entire cast. I have a cynical heart, and get real tired of kdrama stereotypes and lazy acting... But there isn't much of that in Healer. Ji Chang Wook plays the dark, troubled soul type stuff with an ease that makes me buy it. I never had to work too hard or analyze the situation in order to understand his feelings; it flowed naturally. (Plus, he's super funny when he wants to be.)
Park Min Young plays the cute and quick-witted girl with reality, combining spunk and fearlessness with an honesty that sometimes gave me goosebumps. The supporting cast is so obviously golden I don't even really need to talk about them. (ajumma!!)

The chemistry between the two leads was refreshingly real. Damsel in distress, hidden identity, etc; all those things were there, but Healer used them creatively, making them new. And when the relationship needed to move forward, it did: frustrating misunderstandings which kept our leads apart were resolved quickly and responsibly and not allowed to drag on for episodes at a time.

I could go on but I'll cut myself off and get to what I consider the drama's slightly less amazing qualities -
The complexity of the plot. Or rather, the sheer number of important players in the plot and how they're all intricately related. That DID take some work to figure out, and there's a decent amount of potential for getting confused if you're not actively paying attention.

The ending. It wasn't a bad ending by any means- the show did what it needed to. But it was slightly anticlimactic... (like 90 percent of kdramas, in my opinion).

Any other qualms I have with the drama are tiny ones, easily surpassed by the strength of the relationships and the pull of the plot.

I don't know exactly what has made Healer so easy for many of us to adore and obsess over, what it is that made masses of watchers experience euphoric giddiness at the first notes of the theme music. But undeniably, the drama has got that potential to suck you in (which we all love in dramas, right?!) and avoids a lot of the pacing slumps and boring cliches that abound in other dramas, so even if it ain't your total cup of tea, there will probably be plenty to entertain you!

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Each and every Korean has its own charm . Healer is dearest to me because it was my first Korean drama (august of 2015), everything in this show was perfect. i have watched this drama atleast 8 times, what attracted me to this drama was story-line (detective, reporter, politics, friendship, love ) and the cast, each and every member of cast has done a brilliant job in portraying their character (Yoo Ji Tae, JiChang Wook, Park Min Young, Kim Mi Kyung)

WHAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT?
No misunderstandings, noble idiocies, amnesia, love triangles, deadly diseases crop up to threaten our lovebirds.
The VILLAINS of course pose hazards that need dealing with, but the heroine in Healer is a brave young lady who doesn’t let her disadvantages or fears get in the way of her drive to be the best investigative reporter ever, She just goes for it!

The whole drama was a roller coaster ride and you will get to see action, romance, comedy and lil bit of mystery. It also had amazing OSTs and different story. The technology they showed us was meritorious.
i just love Ji Chang Wook..
A drama full of enjoyment.
MUST WATCH!!!!!

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I'm going to keep this review short. If there was even one issue with this show, I would list it, but I honestly can't find a single flaw. The casting was perfect and the acting was superb, some of the best I've ever seen. (Not to mention basically everybody in this show was attractive) The action scenes were great, and the plot was ingenious. This is one of my all time favorite K-dramas because it was just so flawless. I dare you to watch this show, and if you can point out even one substantive flaw, I'll take down this review. It was just that good! (Btw Ji Chang Wook is some serious eye candy <3)

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First, this drama is uncommon. The chemistry between the characters is incredible, we feel the strenght of theirs feelings. Then the story is interresting because it's funny to watch all this technology and the world of hackers. The must is the past story : illegal radio and close friends -> a very good mix.
I liked also the fact that there is no bad guy, or rather a stereotype of the bad guy. There are bad people, but they have some reasons to act like they do. The psychology of the characters is very impressive and good used.
Congratulations, this drama is a success.

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Story: I picked up this drama after a short hiatus from all dramas. Needless to say, this was a worthy investment of my time. This is an action-romance drama. The story revolves around what happened one day in 1992 when two men (a reporter and his cameraman) who happened to be best friends died after what had seemed like a routine case chasing after a breaking news involving money laundering in a business corporation. No one knew exactly what happened on that day when best friends were said to turn against each other - one murdering the other and then took his own life. It reeked of a big cover-up where evidences and testimonies went missing and all those involved in the case were fired from their jobs, but no one was able to prove it. Twenty-two years later, the children of these men grew - oblivious of their fathers' case but inevitably drawn to the mystery of their fathers' deaths and to each other. Throw in seamless action scenes, strategic pose on high rise buildings by a dashing hero and a brave but traumatised heroine and we get 'Healer'. It is a good storyline told at a comfortable pace. The spattering of comedy scenes here and there and the entertaining interactions and conversations between the characters add to the charm of this drama. The only thing, in my opinion, that could have gotten this drama a perfect 10 for storyline would be a little bit more action (coz I am an action freak!) and a slight re-arrangement of the storyline in the middle so that it will flow more naturally towards the ending (rather than the ending flowing in in the last 2 episodes of the drama). Although the ending did not feel rushed, it could have been entered into with better planning during the middle of the drama.

Acting/Cast: Perfect 10 for cast and acting. Ji Chang-Wook was the perfect 'Healer'. Although I watched his acting in Empress Ki and Smile Donghae, it is his acting in this drama that drew me in to this young actor. I am expecting great things from him in the future.

Music: The OSTs are good - if you are into ballads. I am surprised that they did not have at least 2 or 3 OSTs in this drama with stronger and faster tempos for the action scenes - again, a big giveaway that this drama is more of a romance drama than action. The action just spice things up a little (though not too much in my opinion).

Rewatch value: This drama is an easy re-watch despite it being a 20 episodes' drama. Each episode is interesting and has its' 'moments'.

Overall: I gave this drama 9.5/10. It is just a touch under perfect but still a very worthy drama! If you haven't watch it, you need to start clearing your schedule for 2-3 days, sit down and just marathon it. Trust me, once you start this, you are hooked!

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