While You Were Sleeping (2017)

Perfect balance of romance, fantasy, legal and comedy

I'm trash at writing reviews so I'm just gonna mainly fangirl instead lol, but I'll try my best.

Story: 9/10
I really loved the blend of romance and slight fantasy with the legal side of this drama, I thought it was weighted really well and didn't mind when scenes would cut to different storylines, I was invested in them all. Each new legal case was intriguing and tense and had me shouting at *certain people* through the screen. Super gripping and they didn't get annoying or drag on forever for no reason. It was funny and light-hearted but also tense and thrilling, wonderful I loved it

Acting/ Cast: 10/0
Okay screw it I gotta go full fangirl mode for this: EEEEEE I loved the castttttttttt! I literally *live* for well written characters and consistency and YESSS this drama hAS IT the personalities were so clear and so loveable okay I just wanna fangirl about Woo Tak for a bit don't mind me:
Every good person on Earth deserves a Woo Tak. That is all. Well that's not all but I can't put my feelings into words rn okay-
I literally loved the characters so much I would regularly text my friends mid episode to fangirl about them (mainly Woo Tak I mean look at his lil faceeee). They were funny and charming and the antagonists were BRILLIANT wow I hated them so much it was GREAT. Consistent hatred for the antagonists, consistent love for the leads, yes. Incredible acting wow there were some scenes that thinking back now damnnnnn that was outstanding omg, you bet I'll be adding loads of their other dramas to my watchlist

Music: 7/10
Don't mind me just gonna daydream to "It's You" by Henry for the rest of time eeeeeeee. Wow that song HITS. I must admit a couple of the songs I wasn't so keen on but I remember there were a few that I liked quite a lot so I will be listening to the OST again to find them. Other than that, I believe the songs were mainly pretty fitting for the scenes, especially the 'tense' one idk how to describe it you'll see what I mean

Rewatch Value: 6/10
As much as I loved watching this drama, I don't think it would be one I would watch again in it's entirety. Thinking back to everything that happened, I feel I would get exhausted maybe? There's a lot to cope with and think about and I wouldn't be able to handle all that again lol. I would more likely watch odd episodes here and there or maybe specific scenes, but I feel like watching it again in full wouldn't hit quite the same.

Overall: 8.5/10
EDGE. OF. MY. SEAT. I was hooked, constantly watching episodes when I should've been doing homework instead, that's when you know I was invested. Wonderful characters I love 'em so much their INTERACTIONS EEEE even just smiles that were exchanged, the mutual crying, the fRICKIN KISS-
I feel like some people could probably power through this drama in like a week max, I know I definitely would've if I didn't have exams lol so I say: if you have the chance to, DO IT! I really enjoyed it and doubt I'll come across another drama that blends genres quite like it :))

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Legal Thriller with a Touch of Romance

I watched this at the wrong time. I wanted something sweeping and deeply romantic, but what I got was a psychological legal thriller with moments of romance.

❤ The best part of the show are the various cases. While the structure was similar to the "case of the week" style popular in Western shows, they did tend to be extended over multiple episodes. I found them all to be fascinating with multiple layers and details. I also really enjoyed the detective work that went into discovering solutions to the cases.

❤ The dreaming sequences were well executed, if a bit repetitive. There were several times when I would get confused between the dream and reality, although I think it was supposed to be part of the equation.

❤ The OST for this series is absolutely outstanding - it truly set the tone between the romantic, emotional, and tense beats. The instrumental music is probably one of my favorite scores ever. If I had one big complaint, it would be that the opening sequence did not match AT ALL the actual show. It always threw me off how whimsical and dreamy the opener was compared to the darker moments of the show.

❤ The poster for the series makes it look like the romance dominates the story, but it truly doesn't. The romance between Nam Hoong-Jo and Jung Jae Chan is super slow burn. It was like watching grass grow in the dessert. Once they finally accepted their feelings for one another, they became a smidge more romantic.

❤ I loved Jung Hae-in as Han Woo-tak. He had such a calm and stoic presence to his scenes. I also loved how nerdy he is, and how it shows in his room.

❤ This is another story focused on "found families" - one of my favorite tropes ever. I love how the three main leads, as well as Jun-Jae's little brother, end up being adopted by Nam Hong-Joo's mom, Yoon Soon-Sun. All of their scenes were such a delight.

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A romance drama with a touch of supernatural. Weaved between a lawyer, a reporter and a policeman. It had the makings of something intriguing. The first few episodes i enjoyed and liked it. Hong Ju and her mum's relationship was a gem. The bromance between siblings Jae Chan and Seung woo was awesome as with additional bromance (some love rivalry too) between Jae Chan and Woo Tak. Then theres also my favorite ahjussi Kim Won Hae as another lovalble character Choi Dam Dong. There were however jarring things with the plot that was a problem of writing or execution with regards to Hong Ju's dreaming and reenacting of events. And how things just conveniently fall into place for the hero or the heroine to figure things out. As the drama proceeds the intrigued i had at the start waned. Suzy's potrayal of Hong ju was a hit and miss at times. Her tears of anguish when she supoosedly lost her mum- i felt nothing. Then as a romance plot i found the main otp cute but not convincing enough. And of Lee Jong Suk's calibre in bringing in chemistry with his costars.. it was lacking in this drama. I found his chemistry better with his other female stars: Lee Bo Young, Han Hyo Joo and Park Shin Hye. This drama isnt a flop but i was disppointed considering the writer and considering a fan of LJS.

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Abandoning logic to keep the plane from crashing when it's your only parachute

A fantasy, romance drama with a slight crime twist to it and some comedic elements.

This contains
- An awkward female lead with the ability to foresee the future in her dreams
- Your typical arrogant, handsome male lead who will be the boyfriend against all odds.
- A handsome, second male lead
- Your typical love triangle
- Potential murders, crimes and accidents
- Some blood, and graphic scenes. (On a light level)
- The unraveling of a past secret
- Interesting and creative plot twist.
- Refreshing comedy
- Hand holding investigations

Personally, I think the writers got a bit too excited in creating the origin of her powers. The story didn't really make sense to me and it was almost falling apart with plot holes.

I also think that the pace was awkward at times. Characters would have their personality or relationship change in a very sudden and uncomfortable way, which made everything feel a bit out of the blue and unrealistic. On top of that I found them a bit dull and hard to love. This could be a side affect from some of the actors not performing very well.

The pace was a bit too slow for my personal taste.

There were some major medical misses that should have gotten more attention.

RECOMMEND

If you tend to analyze dramas and movies, are easily bothered by production or writing mistakes, recognize good and bad acting, like to play sherlock while watching crime and have strong preferences, this is probably not for you.

instead I'd recommend this drama to those who want to spice up their every day comedy romance dramas or too those who started watching Korean dramas recently. This is because the drama introduces many tags without going in too deep on any of them. The romance, comedy, crime, law and graphics are all light and the plot is not too deep or difficult to like while it stays interesting and fresh to new viewers.

ENJOY!!

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Superestimado

Lento atuações que deixam a desejar e com um romance morno e arrastado é assim que eu classifico este drama, a história com o passar dos episódios vai ficando bem cansativa e não te surprende em nada mais, tudo é mais do do mesmo.

Não consigo me manter interessada e olha que os episódios são curtos , mais ainda sim eu pauso umas 3 vezes para tomar um ar e ainda continua bem desinteressante , to agarrada neste drama a dias e minha vontade de assistir está cada vez menor; Confesso que estou assistindo por assistir, não é de todo ruim este drama , para mim é mediano mais está longe de ser isso tudo que muitos falam por ai.

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STORY : Well, I want to say I loved this. I want to. But, I didn't love it. For me this show was "more than okay" but not "great." There was something inconsistent about it that I could never quite put my finger on. But ultimately I figured out it lacked balance. There would be periods of tension and mystery from the law and crime aspect (an aspect I absolutely LOVED) and the supernatural was good, there was an unpredictability to its use in the show that actually added to the watching experience. Law/crime, drama, suspense, supernatural: check, check, check, and check. Final category: Romance. Romance! NO CHECK. Oh how I wish it had been consistent. I found the relationship between Suzy and Lee Jong Suk was okay, but sometimes seemed forced and honestly I enjoyed the moments where they appeared just friends more. There was just a lack of chemistry at times, that majorly impacted my watching. I found I couldn't care less at times; I'm not sure if it because their interactions seemed forced at times or the idea that (for lack of better phrasing) fate is playing such a big part in the show that the romance didn't have the chemistry, challenge and tension that I was hoping for. I also would have liked to have seen a more natural gradual development that allowed for all aspects of the show to coexist rather than going through phases on a cycle that replaced one another. Overall, I enjoyed the story but it had its weak spots and left loose ends.

ACTING : I overall really enjoyed the cast. Lee Jong Suk was very well suited for his role, although it is not too much of a stretch from what he has done in the past. That didn't make me enjoy his performance any less! It just made me think of how I would enjoy seeing him utilized in a more diverse way because the man has skill for sure. As for Suzy, she has come far from Dream High but she still has moments that show she has not acted as much as others and she still has more to learn. Some actions seemed over the top for the scenes at times and other scenes were underdone and had a dead feeling. Acting is hard;  reading a scene and knowing your character well enough to do them and the show justice is hard. I understand that, but with that said her acting does need more work. I think given some more time, roles, or even classes (I don't know how she prepares) she will get better. On another note, Jung Hae In and Lee Sang Yeob stole the show. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed their performances. Both are so capable of reading every scene well, getting into character and staying that way even when he is not the focus of the scene (that was my main issue with Suzy). I will definitely be watching everything I can find with each of them in because I have a feeling Jung Hae In will only get better and Lee Sang Yeob has already proven his solid skill with his long list of roles but also with his ability to give a character such as Lee Yu Beom depth and dimension when he could easily turn into the usual drama trope character. As for the supporting cast, I think everyone was well cast. Every person showed skill and did well in their roles, even the children which surprised me. I expected the kids to maybe not be on par with the adults but I was very wrong and I have a couple kids I hope to see in more things.

MUSIC : The music fit the show but none of it was noteworthy enough for me to download. Pre-production allowed for the use of sound effects which aided some scenes, and BEAUTIFULLY done transitions for credits and scenes. I was caught off guard by that but they were done well enough to catch my attention.

REWATCH : This show benefits from the 30 minute or so episodes. That makes it binge-worthy (if you can stick with it) and it almost feels like it moves faster. However, shorter episodes leaves room for plot holes and loose ends. I think I would have to be bored or craving a certain aspect of the show to rewatch it, but it is rewatchable.

Like always, this is just my opinion and I would love to hear yours. Happy watching! :)

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I have such mixed feelings about this drama. ????????
When I heard all the hype surrounding this drama, at first, I kinda dismissed it since a lot of hyped up dramas never impressed me, but "While You Were Sleeping" did have my attention just after the first episode, which is a great plus.

STORY: Okay, here's the hard part. I LOVED how the plot began and all, but somewhere down a few 10-12 episodes, I started losing my interest and began looking forward to other dramas. Don't get me wrong, the plot was still good enough to make me keep watching, but it felt a bit predictable and stagnant at times. After a long time I decided to catch up, and yeah, although it wasn't as great as it started out to be, it still didn't disappoint me either, and I actually kind felt bad about dropping it earlier. 

ACTING:  I was already a fan of both the Lee Jong Suk and Suzy but I kinda love them a lot more after watching the drama. For me, a major factor in watching a drama is chemistry, and THEY HAD UNBELIEVABLE CHEMISTRY. They were so cute together that I just had to keep watching the drama for them.
JUNG HAE IN WAS BAE. I love him, I don't know why I've never noticed him before, cause he is HOT. And yes, his acting was on point.
Kim Won Hae's role was a plus, as I always like his acting. Overall I felt all the actors played their parts very well, and the acting in the drama is definitely a plus point

OST: I AM IN LOVE WITH THE OST FROM THIS DRAMA. There isn't a single song I don't like hearing, and Suzy's "I Love You Boy", Roy Kim's "It'd be good" and Lee Jong Suk's "Come To Me" are definitely my favourites. Boy, who knew Lee Jong Suk could sing so well!

OVERALL: I do like this drama but I feel like could have been SO much more better of they had added a little more suspense, and a little more flow to it.

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I'll begin by saying that this is my first time seeing most of the main actors in anything (I've only previously seen Lee Jong Suk in No Breathing and Seven First Kisses, which weren't really enough for me to form much of an opinion on his acting), so I'm writing this with a relatively neutral standpoint without notable bias or existing strong opinions towards any of the actors. Also, this is my first time writing a review and I'll likely ramble a lot, so please bear with me!

The Good:

The originality of the plot was what drew me in initially and convinced me to give this drama a chance, and I still stand by the fact that it holds its own uniqueness and merit in how ambitious the premise was from the beginning. It's been a while since the initial episodes of a drama have captured my interest so quickly; the only issue was how it progressed as the episodes went on. I'll elaborate more on this later on in this review.

The soundtrack is among one of the best ones I've heard in a long time (in fact, I'm listening to the OST as I write this), and I particularly like the tracks by Eddy Kim, Henry and Monogram. I find the songs to be very well-suited to the overall mood of the drama, and excel at providing a soothing, dream-like atmosphere. The cinematography does a great job at this too, and WYWS is a very visually appealing drama as a whole. I liked how a lot of the dream sequences were executed, the use of colour and the use of changes in how the screen appears to viewers as the drama switches from a dream to reality and vice versa. There were few instances where they felt a little out of place (some of which I feel they may have revealed a little too much information, which detracted slightly from the suspense factor of some events), and it was a tad confusing to wrap my head around to begin with, but I'd still agree that the flow of these scenes were generally good.

I admit that I wasn't really sold on a lot of the workplace bickering and humour towards the start of the drama, but I really found myself warming to the side characters and secondary leads as the drama progressed, particularly Woo Tak, Seung Won, Prosecutor Lee, Chief Choi and Prosecutor Sohn. Personally, I would've liked to have seen more done with Woo Tak's character, and I have to admit that I felt as though he and Hong Joo had more chemistry in some of their shared scenes (I'm really feeling the second lead syndrome here, guys). It'd be lovely to have seen him end up happy with someone too, though I did enjoy his friendship with Kyung Han, his sunbae. It was also a delight to watch the brotherly relationship and believable bickering between Jae Chan and Seung Won. Additional props go to Lee Sang Yeob, who really impressed me with his portrayal of the drama's main antagonist, Yoo Beom - you know that the actor's doing a great job when it aggravates you every time you see them on screen. I'd like to see more from both him and Jung Hae In, as this is the first time seeing their works.

The Okay:

The main couple were lacking... something. I don't know if it was lack of chemistry, the execution of some of the scenes or the way the actors portrayed the romance, but I'd gone through the episodes feeling as though something was missing. I wasn't entirely convinced by it, since the basis of the romance relied a fair amount on random insertions of cute and comical scenes, which whilst endearing and adorable at times, felt a little too oddly-timed and a tad cringey or overdone on some occasions. Whilst I think it was a little too oversaturated in parts in terms of romance, I wouldn't say it was flat out unconvincing or difficult to watch (I appreciated the more sentimental/deep scenes in parts) but I wouldn't say it was particularly great either. Just okay.

The Not-So-Good:

My main gripe with WYWS is that the direction and pacing were pretty much all over the place; the initial episodes were strong, well-paced and left me with high hopes (perhaps too high, in hindsight). I was intrigued as to how it would all unfold as more events took place and how changes being made to one event would lead to another happening in its place. I enjoyed that unpredictability in the first few weeks and anticipated explanation behind how the dreams occurred in the first place, but in the middle episodes, it really started to grow predictable and repetitive.

I appreciate that some of the ways the cases were wrapped up were well done (and some of them were emotionally impactful, such as the case where Prosecutor Sohn's chronically ill son was directly affected by the outcome), but the fact that you're aware that somehow, our main leads will find a solution, often seemingly out of nowhere, takes away a little of the anticipation. In some cases, the way they wrapped up seemed too neat, too good to be true for my liking.

Towards the latter episodes, I really felt as though the plot lagged for so long that they left themselves with too much to cram in at the end. The ending itself was satisfying enough, but only just about. It could've really done with being more well-timed, with sufficient suspense to hold the viewer's attention, but as previously mentioned, the fact that some dreams gave a little too much about some situations away detracted from this. A lot of the past/present connections between characters should've been tied up and resolved earlier on to allow for more time to build up to the final case, and then wrap up neatly for the finale. Personally, I found this to be the most disappointing part, especially considering that the drama was entirely pre-produced.

Overall verdict:

I won't dissuade anyone from watching, and would still recommend that you try it out if the genres, actors, tropes or premise appeal to you in any way. If you're undecided, I still think you should give this drama a chance, as despite its flaws, I did complete it having enjoyed it as a whole. If you're here for a fast-paced, unpredictable plot and strong chemistry between the main leads... I don't think this is the drama for you.

Thanks for reading : )

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This drama deserves so many awards. Superb. I love the story line and the characters. So much feels, life lessons and realizations. Everything is almost perfect. The story,the scene and how each of them delivered their roles.

Story - I really love the plot. Mind-blowing. The story is so new in my eyes, original story.

Acting - Their acting is so natural. I love it.

Music - It's daebak! The Scarlet Heart OST & Goblin OST feels are in this drama OST's. One of the best!

Rewatch Value - I watch drama ovee 5 times and I will watch it again and again.

The one & only thing I hate in this drama is the episodes. It deserves more! Like 40 episodes or more.

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Amazing cinematic start that downgrades to fun then forgettable.

This is such a generically beige KDrama that's it's no surprise to me that it's so popular: there's absolutely nothing that stands out in the story or relationships for anyone to feel strongly about, so it's universally appealing as an easy watch. Add to that some very pretty faces with glossy blockbuster production to rival JJ "Lens Flare" Abrams (and some equally annoying quirks) and you've got yourself a milquetoast mass market hit.

Basically: Quirky journalist FL has a power she doesn't understand and can't control (despite dealing with it most of her life). Hapless prosecutor ML crashes in on the scene, gets powers of his own and then teaches FL how to use hers for good! They both go from zeros to heroes practically overnight without any meaningful stumbling blocks or character development! Together - with bland do-gooder police sidekick SML - they solve legal cases that all blend into each other because they're equally generic crime mysteries! The dreams (the most interesting part of the drama) end up ruining the thrill factor because there's a clear cheat sheet for the characters to follow to get the best solution. And that's what they do over and over again.

FL, ML and SML should have used their powers to find and save the main plot first because it's suspiciously missing for 3/4s of the drama. Which might have been okay if it were at least chugging along somewhere in the background, but nope. Maybe it finally picks up in the end, but after 12 episodes of formulaic nothingness I've completely lost interest. Main baddie TML is a corrupt defense lawyer who scuttles the heroes hard work on numerous occasions for... personal grudge? Ego? Boredom? Profit? Who knows, because he has no backstory! He's bad, he's there and he tries to ruin things for the heroes over and over because he clearly has nothing better to do, just like the villains of the week.

Rarely do I find a romance as dull as this one. The leads were cute, I guess? Which is all they had going for them because just like the motiveless villains there was no reason for them to get together or stay together. They do it because they're the leads in a romance drama and they need to earn that paycheck. Sure, there's a fated childhood connection or whatever but I need more than that to find a relationship believable and the story gave me nothing to work with beyond some cheesy romantic asides and cringe comedy.

There's nothing I really hate about this drama but there's nothing I love either. Decent entertainment but I can't imagine ever watching this again or even thinking about it beyond writing this review. Strong characters and inspiring stories are why I started watching Kdramas to begin with, but I didn't find either of those here.

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I liked this drama even though I never really got passionate about it. It had some gaping issues that prevented me from really being in love with it, but I did enjoy it.

Story:
The plot premise is very interesting and unique but was not very well executed. My biggest issue with the dreams is that how they work was never really fully explained. This is one of my biggest gripes with this and all Sci-fi/fantasy dramas- we need to know the rules so we can know the stakes. Without this, anything can happen for any reason and as a viewer you can't get as invested in the story. The dreams felt a bit contrived at times. There also wasn't really a solid plotline running throughout the entire show, and there was rarely any sense of urgency.

Acting:
I love them both to pieces but I feel like neither Lee Jong Suk or Suzy are strong enough actors to carry a drama on their own. Aside from their acting not being the strongest, they have very little romantic chemistry. Other than that, their characters are very well written and are fun and believable as friends. As well, the supporting cast have great chemistry with the leads and are very strong actors.

Music
The music was outstanding and very well utilized. This show, like the writers' other work, "I Hear Your Voice," also makes amazing use of an instrumental OST, which really adds to emotional moments.

Overall
Overall, I had my gripes with this drama but I enjoyed it. It had a stellar first few episodes, and kind of slowed down in the middle and sort of sputtered out at the end, but as a whole it was pretty good. As a viewer I feel like I put more effort into thinking about directions that both the plot and characters could have gone in than the writer did at times. Even though there were things I thought could have been done better, there was nothing I hated, and I don't regret watching it.

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