W (2016)

I like how this drama explores all the areas of a comic series and a fanbase. Things like spoilers, waiting for the next episode, coming into a series halfway, the to-be-continueds, etc. It’s similar to time travel when one cannot share one’s paranormal experiences because it’s too weird. Towards the end of the drama it gets seriously nail biting. I don’t really like horror and jump scares, but this drama takes a dip in that direction.

One of the most awesome things about this show is how the main leads work together. Kang Chul might be the brains but Yeon Joo is the one that does the work and she’s got a few ideas of her own.

Kang Chul
I’ve never seen Lee Jong Suk play a powerful character. He’s usually a down trodden orphan with a lot of insecurities so it’s hard for me to wrap my head around his new confident persona. I can’t help but be charmed by Lee Jong Suk. His character is reasonable and kind. He’s not too pushy or conceited. He’s very smiley. I like that Yeon Joo’s presence depended on his consistent emotions – such an interesting factor. I love a man who can apologise before he has even developed romantic feelings for his girl. There’s something very flirty about Lee Jong Suk. I kind of love that about him. The winking! Oh my gosh. He’s so cute.
I’ve also noticed that LJS’ characters always have a rather sassy relationship with his elders.
Because surprise is a big factor of this show, it’s such a delight to see LJS’ perplexed face. I really liked how quick he was to catch on to the mystery of Yeon Joo.
Kang Chul is pretty intuitive and smart. He figures out the “logic” of things and how the rules work. I like how he was so professional with his agenda.

Yeon Joo
Yeon Joo is pretty badass when it comes to controlling the webtoon. It’s so great that she also does her own reasoning as to how the webtoon magic worked.

I like that Yeon Joo does her research and doesn’t need to be told the answers. She can find them herself. She might show some similar traits to idiotic fluttery Kdrama heroines but she’s not bad at piecing things together and accepting things calmly without throwing a hissy fit. To even the power play, Chul has to consult with Yeon Joo about things he doesn’t know. He can’t afford to hide things from her when it comes to danger because she could really help him. I really love how useful she is and how important she is to the plot. Just when you think we’re going down the typical route of keeping the girlfriend in the dark, either Kang Chul is just plain honest with her or she figures it out herself.

Romance
I like that the main couple isn’t enemies to start with. I know people complain about epic love stories, but it’s a feel-good romance. The couple isn’t unnecessarily mean or unnecessarily stupid when it comes to their love. They’re honest and secure. The power play is solid too. Yeon Joo gets to save Chul and pretend to manipulate him with her rescuer role. She gives him emotional support, helps him get back on his feet again.
I like that she’s forward in her pursuit of Chul but she’s not desperate. She’s dignified.
I like that she doesn’t let Chul push her away because of his issues and that because of the design of the system, she knows how he feels about her. In a way, Chul can’t have his dignity.
I enjoyed the premise of the separated love. Of the limited time frame of their relationship.

We always see fated lovers. But I like that Kang Chul feels connected to Yeon Joo because she knows him so well. It’s fun to see her call him on his crap because she knows his story. I found it meaningful that she knew every significant moment in Kang Chul’s life. That she knew his motivations and his reasoning. It was kind of an incredible dynamic.

I was impressed by Kang Chul entertaining the possibility that he and Yeon Joo might not make it and really leaving the power to her.

Random Notes
I love Yoon Do’s role in the romance as the message man.
I like that at the end Kang Chul goes back to his old hairstyle. I know it must be difficult to gel when you’re on the run.

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The actors, the storyline, the whole concept of this drama. Everything amazed me. Even though its theme is a complicated one (it is a fantasy show after all) I think the writers did a good job at making it cohesive enough without as many loose ends as I was expecting.
The two main characters did an amazing job ever since the first scene. Their interactions felt real and were heart-warming. And her father's job was so interesting (I'm very interested in art and stuff so I really liked that part of the plot).
I watched it a while ago (right when it came out) so I can't write a proper review but what I can say is that it's definitely worth watching.

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This was an amazing series that I decided to binge watch for 2 days. With every episode ending the preview sucked me in to watch the next one.
But wow, the plot of this drama is like nothing I've seen before. It really reminds me of Batman for some reason. I've always wanted to live in a comic book world so it kind of made me experience that.

The main lead chemistry is unbelievable so if you love romantic dramas this one doesn't delay the kiss scenes at all and cuts right to what the fans want :D The animation + the side characters were like a treat. Definitely re-watching this for the cute and romantic atmosphere!

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As a SciFi/Fantasy this is an extraordinary production. All the usual annoying tropes are present but in this story they all make sense in the comic setting and they are what drives the story forward. Anything can happen and I was on the edge of my seat through the whole series. Constantly with the question WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

The production value is really good in this drama with excellent special effects and settings. The ensemble of actors are great, with really good directing and amazing chemistry between the leads. The action scenes are well made and exciting. The protagonist and antagonists are believable because they are suppose to be over the top black and white from a webtoon. The story takes so many hard turns it's at times like a crazy joyride with death around the corner. You know what is going on, but then again it can all be flipped over by a stroke of the pen. As a romance it's pretty satisfying with the cheesy, sweet moments.

The existential crisis and growth could have been a tad bit more clear, however spelling it out to people would probably dumb down the whole feeling and clever people can read between the lines.

Even though I felt the story was wrapped up nicely, I still have loads of questions that were never explained. This is a MUST if you like SciFi/Fantasy/Supernatural dramas!

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Wow, so I just finished watching W. I can't believe it. What a rollercoaster!

The story is just mind blowing. Everything is set out nicely and I can identify the creativity of this kdrama as it is very unique and original. Some scenes were really confusing but I think I got the gist of it. I still love the story though. Literally nothing ruined the story. If I had one word to describe the feeling I had while watching this kdrama, it'd be exhilarating. In my opinion, I prefer the first half of the kdrama but the second half was just as good. I just enjoyed the first half a tiny bit more XD The end felt a tiny bit iffy for me but nevertheless, I overall enjoyed the build up to the last moment.

Lee Jong Suk really outdid himself in this drama. I think this is the best I've seen of his work. He looks stunning in this drama as well. Han Hyo Joo's acting was really good, and she is so naturally beautiful too. The character, Soo Bong, was entertaining to watch. Many scenes that I had a chuckle that he was in. Kim Eui Seong played his role very well too. *OTL* to the whole cast :)

I've heard the OST soundtrack and I really like it. Heartwarming is the word I'd use to describe most of the songs.

Oh and I'd definitely rewatch this kdrama. It's worth it because there's just so many little details that are incorporated into the story.

I'm so sad that it's over ;_; please watch it, but warning: watch it when you have a lot of time ahead of you because I bet 99% of you who start this now will binge watch it and finish it within 2 days. Fighting!!! <3

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Story: The idea of this story is refreshing but the execution of it faltered half-way through the drama. In a nutshell, a woman was unexpectedly pulled into an alternate world of a comic drawn by her father to save a dying man. From there on, she gets pulled in into the world of W whenever the hero of the comic thought or required her to be around; hence becoming one of the characters of the comic world. Like all comics, there's a baddie (or two) who's after our hero and all through the drama, the hero and our initially-reluctant-heroine tackle the threats posed by the baddie(s) while trying to find a way to end up happily with each other, despite belonging to two different worlds. The first half of the drama created a huge impact and garnered interests from viewers because of its fresh concept of an alternate dimension/world in a comic book and the fast pace of the development of the romantic relationship between the hero and the heroine but the second half of the drama started to fall flat on its earlier premise as the writer struggled to find a way to sensationalize the struggles between a comic hero and its villian(s) while also trying to 'force' a happy ending for the hero and the heroine. It's a bit like trying to give a ghost and a live human a happy ending - to put together a fictional person and a real person together requires a lot of bending of logic. Personally, I think that this drama would have been so much better if the writer wrote from the perspective of a sad or open ending, instead of insisting that our two main characters end up together as per standard KDrama endings. Since the writer had started with an unorthodox beginning for our couple, why not follow on with an unorthodox ending? That would have made W a one-of-its-kind in the KDrama world.

Acting/Cast: Beautiful casts and good acting but why do I get the feeling that the cast themselves felt bored and flat-out half-way through the drama? It's as if they are just acting for the sake of acting to complete the drama...which was a great waste of the talents in this drama!

Music: Not the main attraction of this drama.

Rewatch value: Not in a hurry to re-watch.

Overall: It was good enough to keep you watching just to see how the writer's going to end the whole mess but not good enough to create a huge Wow! factor till the end; hence I rate this drama 8/10.

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Don't watch this if you have trouble with complex plots

I've read a lot of negative reviews about this drama, which I think is completely absurd because this drama was masterfully done. The plot is intensely complex, however, so it's possible some people just aren't following the entire thing well enough to understand why certain plot choices are made. This seems to happen frequently with transferring webtoons to tv dramas. There's a LOT of content, and it can be difficult to give the drama the same impact as you can with the much more freeform webtoon medium.

I should preface this by saying (none of you many mega fans kill me please) I don't appreciate Lee Jong Suk as an actor very much. I don't think he has a lot of depth or variety and I haven't been a fan of many of his performances. W is an exception, however. He was really solid in W, thanks largely to the female lead who is very intelligent in her performances. The two leads have a good amount of chemistry in W, but the passion and drive comes largely from Han Hoy Joo's performance. She doesn't overact and she knows masterfully when and how to apply emotion and energy to a scene. The supporting cast also had some really solid character development and charismatic interactions.

W itself is one of those alternate dimension sort of shows, with a lot of dimension swapping going on at various points. The handling of interactions between the dimensions and their affects on each other was really well developed. It was interesting to watch the story develop and become more intense as you got closer and closer to the central piece linking both worlds. The romance plays really well into the overarching story without becoming too overbearing. The ending was well conceived and well delivered and fit the story perfectly without being too predictable or trite.

Overall this is a really really solid drama with a lot to offer. It's absolutely one of my favorite Kdramas...but then I tend to like dramas with complex storylines and intelligently interwoven themes.

Edit: some nice person caught me...I actually have literally no idea what a Webtoon even is and was 100% wrong that the script for this show comes from a webtoon. IVE BEEN OUTTED AS A POP-CULTURE NESCIENT.

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This drama was mind-bending and imaginative and a lot of fun. I liked the fact that I never knew what was going to happen next. The writer was very very clever and managed to pull it off, for the most part. Lee Jong Suk was perfect for the role. After all, he looks like a manga character come to life. I always underestimate his acting ability due to his looks but he routinely exceeds my expectations. No exception here. And I always love Han Hyo Joo, who seems to pick good projects. There were a few particularly inventive things that stood out from the usual drama. The fading in and out from manga drawings was magical, especially due to the fact that they kept the manga aesthetic rather than trying to make the portraits exact copies of the subjects. And I could tell that the writer tried really hard to make everything tie together, while throwing in unexpected delights such as the water in the bathroom, probably my favorite scene. Well done, everyone.

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