W (2016)

Convoluted Creativity

The initial episodes was very exciting. Original story with webtoon characters coming back to life. But as each episode kept getting fresh twists and turns, it became too convoluted and complicated to relate to. Even the writer must have found it difficult to get out of this maze of their own creation. They should have stopped with 10-12 episodes.
Even the doll-like cuteness of the ML and FL and their acting could not make this story or their romance relatable. There were scenes where the ML / FL was crying and I was just bored and waiting for the story to move on. It took a couple of months for me to force myself to finish watching this series, just to have that sense of completion and to get it over with. The last few episodes were watched at 1.5 speed. I am celebrating my successful completion of this watch by writing a small review as a reminder to myself mostly. Will definitely not choose to rewatch it ever again.
Watch this if you want some fantasy brain twister story where you can never guess what will happen next and stop with episode 10 or 12. I'm sure many people would get sick of the series by then like I did.

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I loved it because of the many twists and turns!

This drama was on my list for a while after I heard it was similar to Extraordinary You which I really enjoyed.
It has a fresh concept and a very intriguing plot. It has a number of twists and turns (some people even said too many, but tbh this is what kept me at the edge of my seat) and nearly all episodes ended with a cliffhanger (which makes it very hard to stop watching). It's quite adrenaline-filled as well and its second half kept me at the edge of my seat either screaming at my laptop or chewing at my nails.
What I also really enjoyed was the merge of a variety of genres from a cheesy rom-com (first half of the drama) to an action-packed adventure and thriller in its second half.
The first few episodes are filled with comedy and I genuinely was able to have a good laugh and destress after a tiresome week at work. I especially enjoyed the character of Park Bu-Song, he was an extra and purely there for the comical relief, but he executed his role so well!

SPOILERS:
I also really enjoyed the FL. I thought she was hilarious and relatable. I didn't see her as a damsel in distress either. Her facial expressions whenever she was dragged into the webtoon were hilarious, especially when she was trying to make sense of the whole situation at the very beginning.
I especially loved her desperation to leave the comic-book world at the very start of the show.
My favourite scene was when Yeon Joo was desperately looking for a way out of the webtoon in episode 2 and resorted to at first slapping and then kissing Chul, poor man was so confused but sorta liked it and we all knew it 😂. I was also expecting this (it was a little obvious in the lead up to the slap and when that didn't work my thoughts went "omg she's gonna kiss him now ... there she goes!")
I think what would have made Yeon Joo's character a little better was if she had a little bit of Chul's sassiness.

Okay, now let's talk about Chul.
This man is unbelievably attractive (and not just physically, but as a character). He has so much charisma. The way he carries himself just exudes this sort of influence and power like you know he is badass, successful, rich but also a sweetheart.
Every time this man winked my heart was ready to just burst. He was so sassy and flirty that most times I couldn't even tell whether he was being serious or just messing with the FL, but what I can tell for sure is that he was messing with my heart ... and I was ready to give it all up ... even though he's a fictional character.

The romance, I'll be honest, felt a bit unnatural to me. Not because the ML and FL literally kissed in the second episode (I honestly liked that ngl) but because I couldn't tell whether Chul really liked Yeon Joo or not. I think this became even more confusing to me in the episodes that followed the whole amnesia memory erase scene.
I also think this barrier between faking the kisses and I love you's that Yeon Joo sort of initiated as an attempt to get out of the cartoon world and actually liking Chul (and him developing feelings for Yeon Joo) overlapped a little bit.
The episodes following the amnesia scene where the couple is reunited once again are a little bumpy in terms of their romance. I know it will take Chul some time to get used to Yeon Joo and get to know her once again but again I couldn't tell whether his actions (dates and kisses and stuff) were justified by his feeling towards her or because he wanted to remember what he felt when they were together.
Also, I really wish they didn't wait for 15 episodes for Chul to say "I love you" to Yeon Joo and I really wanted that to come out way sooner in the drama. When he finally said it, it felt really unnatural. Like he just said it, because Yeon Joo was sad he never said it to her before and he just wanted to make her happy and didn't really mean it.


The drama has quite a few plotholes too, especially in the last episodes. I quite liked that Yeon Joo's father was a sacrifice that meant his daughter would lead a happy life. It was also the most logical part of ending the series. I mean, he started this mess and he was going to finish it.
Her father was unhappy, despite the success he gained from the webtoon and a drunk who seemed to not have much going for him. His life was sad which is what personally I think made his sacrifice even sadder.

But I can't help and be curious about what happened to the other characters of the webtoon. Do Yoon and So Hee specifically. We knew Chul was no longer the webtoon's main character and my only guess on how he was able to come to the real world was because the author intended on that's how his story would end - after all the author was the God. But what happens to the webtoon's universe? Do they continue living as if nothing happened or do they cease to exist since there's no longer a story to tell?

Also, I really wanted the drama to explore the whole how did this happen scenario. And why was it all controlled through one drawing tablet? Was it a magical tablet or was it just magic because it was the og tablet used to create the characters?

Apart from the plotholes, it left me a little confused with the very tacky time jumps and some unnecessary scenes that didn't really fit in well with the whole plot of the episodes. Sometimes I caught myself reminding myself that Yeon Joo was either dreaming or reminiscing or imagining things just so that I was not left even more confused.
Several parts in the drama are easy to catch on to (like you know what the characters will say or do before they say or do it). For example, I could tell pretty early on that Yeon Joo's father never really knew who the killer was in his comic book because he never got to develop that character.

Overall though, this was a great show. I watched it in two nights just because I could not let go and was so obsessed and eager to see how the plot will evolve. The many twists, in my opinion, really reflected the whole theme that this comic book suddenly had a mind of its own and its plot would move in unpredicatable directions.

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could have been better

w failed to deliver many things and the main thing for me were the characters. none of the characters seem fleshed out, and their relationships felt surface-deep. cheol and yeonjoo didn't seem like they had any real connection, like i didn't feel any chemistry at all. their relationship did not seem developed at all.
another thing was the nonsense of it all. bad things were constantly happening and our main leads never got to take a break. i wish there was at least a moment where they could have enjoyed being together and got to know each other more, but it's villain after villain. some of it didn't make sense to me and things could have been better explained. the ending was kind of mid, i didn't even realize it was the last episode until there was no more.
performance wise the acting was cringe to me sometimes. it was so "kdramalike" the way their eyes move and the way they'd smile at nothing, or thinking out loud.
all in all i think the first episode set the tone for the rest of the show. didn't expect much and i was right

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Cuando la incoherente historia es salvada por sus protagonistas

Historia
La verdad es muy interesante y parece estar basada en el vídeo Take On Me - A-ha. Por la trama en la que se desenvuelve, la verdad fue muy novedoso y me atrajo mucho. Pero la verdad es que a medida que avanza la historia no tiene ni pies ni cabeza, pero a pesar de los agujeros cada vez más grandes, es salvada por los protagonistas que te hace ignorar lo mal que está planteado. Que sea fantasioso no significa que debes aceptar todo, pero al final termine haciéndolo, no queda de otra. (Ya mire la mitad)

Actuación/elenco
La mire por Lee Jong-suk y no la termine odiando por el.
Los demás actores, estuvieron bien, me gusto el amigo de la prota (denle un protagónico)

Musica
Me gusto, recuerdo una canción que me encanto, fue de los primeros episodios. Así que ost aprobado.

Valor de repetición
Lo que prefieran, me gusta Lee Jong-suk. Pero no lo miraría de vuelta. En otro k-drama si

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So convoluted

When I began W, I found it extremely exciting and fast paced and I loved that. After completing it, I feel like the writer/director decided to keep adding twists and turns and the sheer number of complicated storylines is what brought my rating of this show from a 9 down to a 7. W is certainly impressive but I also have to agree with those that say that episode 12 could have easily been the finale. I do see the effort behind the writing but I just got a little tired of it by the end to the point that I didn't care if the ending was a happy or sad one. I just felt exhausted for the poor protagonist. Any normal human being would need lifelong therapy after just half of that.

For those that enjoy romance, you will get plenty pretty early on. The action scenes were at times just average. However, I loved the animations and the blending of reality and the webtoon visually beautiful. The cast did a good job portraying their respected characters. However, the actors playing the male lead, Kang Chul's friends got a raw end of the deal. Their characters are not particularly deep or impressive. At times I wondered if Kang Chul really did consider them friends or not.

There also seems to be a missing element to this plot. Neither the creators nor the characters were truly in control. Then what made this webtoon special that brought life to these characters and what made Kang Chul resist the edits. Why was a window between the two worlds created in the first place? I would have loved to understand that and how the window was closed by Kang Chul.

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conflicted

i don't even know how to feel about this one. you know how sometimes you're js sitting there like: "ah, so the plot thickens" or whatever? yeah well i had that moment probably like 16 times, which is quite a few too many times. The plot felt a bit convoluted, but at the same it wasn't confusing, it just felt like too much. there were so many times where i felt like the show could've just ended right there, but nah the plot thickens LOL. BUT at the same time the concept, and parts of the story were definitely very interesting.

However the reason i stayed was because of the actors. i am absolutely a big fan of han hyo joo, and she is the reason i watched in the first place, and i think her and lee jong suk both did great jobs in their roles. kim eui sung also did a great job with yeon joo's father.

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It's been a while since I've written a review, so please bare with me as I try to find the words to describe this. It's also been a while since I have decided to watch a kdrama as well - before I would sit down and binge for a few days, and now I think it took me 3 weeks of watching a few episodes here and there before finishing. Recently, I realized that I watched a lot of "underground" dramas, instead of the popular ones, and maybe that is why I haven't had to desire to watch anything new... so I decided to pick a "popular" drama from random and that is how I landed on W.

I remember my previous roommate watching this one and loving it, a few years back, but also that she had a knack for spoiling plot lines... which is why I kept putting this one on the backburner. Now, a few years later, all I knew about this drama was that it was a love story about a girl and her "book boyfriend" and that Lee JOng Suk was in it... and I still can't believe this is the first drama I have ever watched with him in it.

Overall, I very much enjoyed the beginning and end of the drama. The middle was alright.. but I felt like there were 10 different subplots in the middle where I honestly forgot why certain characters would start blinking out of existence. I liked the newness and surprise from the characters in the beginning whenever they would meet in the comic world and how much Kang Chul had this childlike wonder when it came to Yeon Joo. Then at the end, when they were both in life of death situations, I loved how Kang Chul would do anything to keep Yeon Joo safe and happy. That being said... I am not sure if it was the 10 different subplots, or Lee Jong Suk's acting... but I could NEVER tell what he was thinking. Even when he would come out and say how her was feeling, I still didn't believe it. I felt that Kang Chul's character went through 5 different character changes, along with the plot changes... where I just didn't believe that he was in love with Yeon Joo until the very end. Then we have Yeon Joo... who was this spazzy but strong character in the beginning and then gradually just became this person that her dad and Kang Chul needed to protect. Eventually... I just didn't care much about her or her character.

I don't think I will watch this again, BUT I am curious to see another Lee Jong Suk drama to figure out if it was the script or it was just the way he acts. I feel like I've been a similar drama like this.. but instead of a comic book, a video game, and it was done a lot better. Don't get me wrong, I loved some of the subplots that were thrown in.. but others, I felt were unnecessary. If I was a mundane living in this world and waiting each week for an episode to be uploaded... TBH... I might have dropped it once there was a supernatural element to it. Plus...I would have been bummed by the comic ending.

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Confuso

Desde o início foi um drama estranho.
tirando os momentos fofos entre os dois protagonistas, a história foi muito confusa.
Muitos saltos entre a realidade e o mangá, foram tantos que a certa altura não consegui mais entender em que mundo a ação acontecia.
Achei que em algumas cenas faltou mais emoção nos personagens principais.
Não gostei nada do enredo.
Apesar de ser uma história diferente, não me cativou e em vários momentos não sabia se devia foca na trama e conseguir compreender os vários movimentos de um mundo para outro ou em encontrar uma ligação lógica entre as várias situações.
Consegui chegar ao final sem largar só por curiosidade
Mas ainda estou confusa...
Resumindo…. Não é de todo ruim, mas certamente não está entre os dramas que eu gostaria de ver novamente.

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semua karena writer nya!!!

aku suka banget sama drama fantasy, tapi yang satu ini agak kurang. di awal episode udah bagus banget, lucunya dapet, bapernya dapet, aku aja sampai ikut salting juga. aku kira drama ni yang kayak drama terang gitu, ternyata dipertengahan udah agak dark. aku juga ikut deg-degan di akhir-akhir episode. inilah karena ga nyari tahu dulu sebelum nonton. but, aku sangat menikmati drama ini, walaupun ada beberapa scene yang menurut aku kayak ga ada gunanya.

walaupun ini drama dua dunia gitu, ga bakal bikin pusing kok. alurnya masih bisa diikuti. castnya juga star banget anjir, cocokk.
gabanyak si yang bisa ditulis, intinya drama ini sudah lumayan bagus menurutku tapi aku enggan nonton ulang (aku rewatch person).

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A well deserved happy ending

Absolutely loved the premise! The fact the Cheol was, initially, a fictional character inside a webtoon, then, one day, he becomes aware and free will starts coming into play against the webtoon's creator wishes.

Honestly, it was amazing and flawlessly executed. The "cartoonization" was so incredible! I loved all the special effects and transitions that were added.

Both leads were great in their roles. I especially loved Kang Cheol's character. It's not everyday one comes across a k-drama lead who's comfortable in his sexuality and an outrageously charismatic, arrogant flirt. The main couple had great chemistry and were so earnest and emotional in their performances. I couldn't help but root for them and shed a few tear during the heartbreaking moments.

The drama was insane and never ending. And it'll all get worse before it gets better. Like, way worse than you'll imagine. But if nothing else, this show guarantees you a crazy, entertaining ride.

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