O Odisee Coreeană (2017)

Fun and creative

I'm so glad I finished this after putting it on hold for years! This has to be one of the most creative Hong sisters drama in years. I want to pick up cdramas for some time now because they always have dramas about deities, monsters, and immortal love, while you find this rare in kdramas where it's usually supernatural- lite.

There's even a scene where it looks like it came from a xianxia (cdrama) and I wanted to watch that show! I've heard of the tale of Chinese odyssey for a long time, and I'm amazed by how the Hong sisters made that story into a modern Korean twist complete with a memorable love story.

They made me like and appreciate each of the characters. I'm first also iffy about the love potion aspect of the geumganggo, but in the end it was executed in a satisfying manner. (Slight spoilers:) What is not satisfying is that ending , but oh well kdrama writers do not want us to have nice things. I'm not as mad as others, maybe because I'm already spoiled by it, I hated how they executed the death, but I'm ok with the ending overall.

I wished Lee Seung Gi and Oh Yeon Seo have more of a sizzling chemistry, but they portrayed their characters well, esp. LSG he embodied Son Oh Gong's cranky, playful monkey really well, a twist on the bad boy falling for the good girl trope.

LSG and Cha Seung Won as Ma Wang have great chemistry tho, no wonder this is their 2nd drama. Their love hate bromance is so comical and cannot be missed. Lee Se Yeong playing as dual character really shone here.

The drama does go on a bit too long, but I don't mind hanging out with this special ragtag group of monsters. It was so much fun. When you leave the drama missing all the characters from adorable Oh Jeong to capricious Pal Gye, you know the drama has done its job well.

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I personally love the plot, but at some point the storyline gets unnecessarily dragged, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Besides the main characters, I really love the story of other side characters, like general winter and his sister summer fairy, the friendship between PK, octopus and zombie.

The casts are awesome and amazing, this is my first time watching Oh Yeon Seo but I love her in this drama. Lee Se Young also did a great job in portraying two different characters.

Although some might be disappointed with the ending, I personally think the ending is so realistic hence I'm okay with it although I did cry a river.

I would totally recommend this drama, but not if you're not into fantasy genre.

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I didn't know how to feel about this drama until the very end!

Let me just start of with saying that this is my favorite drama.

The story is so good. But seriously I enjoyed every single bit of the story. The thing that bothered me is that the special effects were so damn bad that they ruined it for me a bit. Also the 19th episode was so much more less than I was expecting it to be.(Maybe because of special effects as well) Every character in this drama is so well made and I fell in love with all of the characters (the human villain is made too dumb and predicting). I can't believe I won't be seing Son O Gong anymore TT

Lee Seung Gi made such a good job and I enjoyed his acting so much. This is the first drama I'm watching of his and I feel like I will watch all of his dramas and he could easily become my favourite actor. The rest of the cast is amazing as well.

I don't evenn have to talk about the music. It's so good, so emotional and everytime I heard speciffic songs my eyes teared up.(but that's just me)

Just as I finished this drama I wanted to start watching it from beginning. I can't wait to rewatch it in future. (and complain about the special effects)

Overall this is my new favourite drama. I saw a lot of bad reviews and people not being happy with this drama and I get it, I really don't like fantasy dramas and this was a suprise for me to watch. But I'm so happy I watched it because I laughed so much and overall trully enjoyed the whole vibe of this drama.

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I will say that I absolutely fell in love with this drama. The story overall was excellent, the actors were top notch and you really felt connected to them. They made you laugh, cry, get angry, and sometimes just sad.

I will talk about my favorite part of the drama and that is character relationships:

First there is Son Oh Gong and Jin Seon Mi,

What a wonderful relationship that really grows throughout the show, in the end you really feel the love they feel for each other. Watching them grow as a couple was really fun and sometimes very frustrating to watch, it's like just tell each other how you feel damnit lol. Lee Seung Gi is an exceptional actor and was as arrogant and full of himself as the great Monkey king should be and Oh Yeon Seo was so warmhearted and loving through her performance that only she could have tamed O gong's heart. Just beautiful.

Second is the relationship between PK and Richie,

Now this relationship really broke my heart. I won't give anything away but the last time you really see Richie and how PK acts afterwards is just heartbreaking to me. Needless to say Lee Se Young did an excellent job as Richie and even her character afterward. I mean I just fell in love with her, what a wonderful soul she played, you can bet she made a forever fan with this role. Lee Hong Ki did an excellent job as well, you could really feel how much he cared for her and how gentle he was when it came to her. This relationship really made an impact on me.

And last is the Devil King and Ms. Ma,

I really loved this relationship. It was super fun and great to see the loyalty Ms. Ma showed the Devil King. Cha Seung Won was actually quite hilarious but really cool when he wanted to be. He was actually a big softy but it was funny watching him try to hide it. I liked Lee El's character here, it was a refreshing change seeing her as a fun character rather than a dramatic one like in the drama Black. I really enjoyed their interactions.


When all was said and done I will have to say I am sad to see it end. I will definitely miss the characters a lot. I would recommend this for sure. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

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The storyline:
He’s a powerful god that was released from his imprisonment by a sweet girl that’s plagued by demons that keep attacking her but only she can see. In return for her help he promises to come to her aid whenever she calls his name. But there’s a hidden reason why only she sees these demons and why they are attracted to her. And there’s a deeper reason as to why he’s the one that has to guard her. That’s the basic storyline so you don’t get too confused as the story progresses. It has a lot of twists and turns. And it does get a bit complicated and confusing at times. But the romance is epic with great chemistry between the main leads. There’s real kisses and lots of sweet moments. The male lead was always swooping out of the sky to save the female lead which was pretty touching. There’s lots of interesting side characters that adds to the richness of the story.

Cinematography & Set Design:
There was no choppy or confusing editing. Everything flowed smoothly and seamlessly. When the hero comes swooping out of the sky it’s pretty realistic. And the fight scenes are really good. I loved the elaborate costumes and set design.

Acting:
I enjoyed everyone’s acting here. Some actors made me hate them and others frightened me while some made me pity them. When actors make you feel such a wide range of emotions you know they’re doing their job well. The acting was above average.

My main complaint and what kept this drama from getting a higher rating was the last few episodes and the ending. The last few episodes get very angsty and melodramatic. Then the ending is a bit ambiguous and I’m not a fan of that type of ending. It wasn’t a sad or tragic ending and the romance was great so I’d still recommend it. And I like how they combined comedy, romance, horror, and mystery all into one drama. It made it fast paced and interesting. But the ending isn’t something I’d revisit. So I deducted points for the ambiguous ending and for it having a low rewatch value for me. But overall I’d say it was a good drama that I enjoyed watching.

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Packed with comedy and mystical fantasy!

This is one of my favorite dramas and one of the first K-Dramas I ever watched. The lead actor is def in my top 10 favorite K-drama actors. He does the whole arrogant obnoxious brat thing suuuuper well but delivers his lines with such good humor and intelligent understated comedy. He especially seems to play well off the supporting characters in the show, which creates a real feeling of synergy and chemistry. A lot of Kdramas that are good seem to also have sort of stale interactions with supporting characters, but this drama really does an awesome job of individually scripting each supporting character to create a fleshed out world full of detail. It's a lot of fun to watch in every scene.

My only real dislike with this drama was a minor one...I really hate it when they take a strong independent female lead and turn her into a simpering lovesick weakling by the end. But it wasn't too bad in this particular drama, she still kicked major butt and the actress did a really nice job portraying an aloof but deep character.

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Before i write my review, pls forgive me if i write anything wrong or not match with the drama or whatever if u dont like me, let me say I'm sorry.
ive been reading all the reviews here and all of the reviews actually made me dont really wants to watch this drama. but i watched it anyway because my beloved lee hong ki. yes. and the first episode catch my breath and heart, plus the comedy cracked me up. THE COMEDY IS ABOLUTELY THE BEST. THEIR TONE AND JOKES. i love the casts very much! hmm.. this drama made me want to rewatch but not until the end of the drama, like in the 20th episode. the saddest episode TT. Btw, before i watch the drama, i got myself interested by the trailer. yep. and i found really nice ost from this drama. even the saddest song made me cry bc reminded of the scene within the song flowing :( cant even move on for abt a week after done watched the drama. and for now, im in love with LEE SEUNG GI. he is the best and hottest guy ive ever seen so far and he is very cute. and how he talk to the female lead made me more more in love with him. well, you guys should watch this drama and i reccommend this drama very much. you'll got their modern,historical,romance, broken hearts and sadness in one pack. sorry for my bad english too, and thank you!

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♡They Slap The Guemganggo On The Viewer! ⚙ A Total Guilty Pleasure♡

What to think of this?

In the first couple episodes I couldn't u/s this acid trip. I peeped Wiki & learned that it's based on the classic 13th century (some of the stories are older) Chinese fantasy-quest novel: Journey To The West. The most outlandish elements of KO are taken directly from this classic. Having ruled out KO being devised under pharmaceutical influence (in the 21st century, at least), I trekked on.

KO opens with an adorable little girl, actress So Won Kal. She's wonderful as young Jin Seon-mi, who is duped by Devil King/”DK”. He may look like a man, but he's really a /monster/. He asks her to collect something from inside a magical chalet. His warning: Never acknowledge the being living in there; she should act like she can't even see him.

Why send a little girl, you ask? DK /knows/ she can do this, b/c he noticed that she is able to see spirits.

Little Seon-mi has gotten herself into the middle of a cosmic, centuries long game being played by I'll-do-anything-that-makes-me-look-cool Son O-gong/”SOG” & DK. SOG is the being that's trapped & Seon-mi is no match for him - yet. He makes a protection deal w/ her: If she will set him free, he'll come help her whenever she calls for him: He'll always protect her. Once free, Mr. Slyboots removes his name from her memory. She won't be able to call his name now, & he'll never have to honor the deal. He didn't realize they were destined to work together to save the world, however.

Fast forward a couple decades. They meet again, & SOG is not indifferent this time. This time, he has the illest of intentions: He wants to eat her! She is, as it turns out, a Samjam - she's one-off-a-kind special. Consuming her will make any spirit or monster vastly stronger: Her very scent is intoxicating! He soon discovers their deal, actually does protect her. He can't proceed with their contract in effect. How about a new, #much-better-deal☺❔️? NOPE. She ain't trusting him again✋️. He tries to get her to willingly agree - she's going to get eaten… At least he'll be gentle... Not a working strategy either. Aigoo, until he can figure something out, he'll have to protect her so nobody else can get a bite in first.

I know, right? So WRONG.

Under his wing, the delightful world of monsters & spirits opens up to Seon-mi. They occupy the most coveted positions in the world: entertainment, business, politics, & so on. Though there are bulls, monkeys & pigs (O MY!), etc, they look just like us. That allows them to blend in while keeping the populace at large blind to their existence. Even Hyun Bin (from Crash Landing On You) is one! We mortals are powerless against them, indeed;)) When a CEO shows up to cook & clean at DK's house, we get a sense of the privileged life they lead.

KO is a visual extravaganza. The fashion is bold & exciting, yet Seon-mi is always understated. Much of the show takes place at DK's house. That's a good thing, because anyone would want to hang out in this glizy, uber opulent abode. From the marble floors to the intricately composed walls of beveled mirrors & 1930's streamline gleam, everything shines. Most of us have never seen the like. Yet it still seems comfortable - a design marvel.

They add numerous touches to fill out the space nicely, such as putting Mrs. Ma (a dog) in purple lipstick to make her mouth look more dog-like. Another example is when they are looking for a mermaid. The hallway they walk is lit to look like wavy water. It's such details that separate the mundane from the marvelous.

There's clever juxtaposition. The other kids know she can see ghosts, so Seon-mi is picked on horribly at school as a child. She's different. Taking note of the insulting hate inscriptions carved by her classmates, she sits down at her desk and slaps her ETHICS book down. This is the beauty of film. One could write volumes on the topic of bullying, and they were able to reduce it all to one slamming book. I always need a moment to geek out over morsels like that〰

Ok, I'm back. The acting is terrific. Lee Se-young has 3 parts total, including Richie, my favorite character in the series. Cha Seung-won, as Devil King, must go through Samjan fits & display all manifestations of rage. They both just knock it out of the volcano.

We get a look at some fun relationships. SOG is a capricious, mean, surly, brat of a being. He & DK don't hate each other; they've just been playing tit-for-tat for centuries because they're bored. Neither one wants the other to perish, as that would make life even more boring. Hanging around the two of them when they're acting up is like a carnival ride. SOG & Seon-mi's dynamic goes from predator & mark to something quite different over the course of the series. It's truly special.

There's heavy foreshadowing. Familiarity with this director and writer prompts a caution: Believe their foreshadowing. These two value Duty Over Pleasure. Here may be sniffles. Tears, even. In the scene that shows the darkest augury, black is the theme. It's heavy & dark feeling w/ both characters in black. As we get closer, we can see that one's wearing a shirt with gold trim over black on one half, & gold trim over white on the other. There is still optimism.

Now for some Scooby Snacks〰

○We meet the cutest, hot zombie ever. Lil sumpum for the boys....
○There's a group chat that's a well done running gag.
○SOG moves into DK's place without even asking. What he likes, he says, is that "Parking's not an issue." He's using 3 spaces, it turns out, & DK is in trouble with the manager over it. Parking's an issue, just not for SOG.
○There's oodles of ice cream.
○We see a CEO cleaning & cooking at DK's. He makes snacks for the kids. The CEO even cleans Seon-mi's fridge! Her assistant would have fainted over that.
○Speaking of said assistant, Lee Han-joo, he's comical. He's always terrified, as he can sense the ghosts around them, but can't see them. Ms Jin has kept him in the dark about her capabilities, but he knows things aren't quite right. °He's always thinking about quitting, but then something amazing will happen. As Jin Seon-mi gets tangled up with dieties & their agendas, mega stars & other mysterious beings start showing up at the office. He's not leaving now!
○One day he due to an emergency he leaves his kids with Ms Jin. When he picks them up, they refuse to leave at first. They saw (real) dinosaurs & PK, (the pop idol) the CEO made them snacks... and they got to play with a girl that can pop her eyeballs out! Ha! That one made me suddenly laugh so loudly, I scared the cat.

Now for a couple examples of how they bollixed it up〰

●The undisciplined dialogue is the biggest flaw.
●There's too many contradictions.
●There's too much wavering back and forth, forth and back, and forth. And so on.
●Yet some things that weren't said were even more vexing.
●There's dead ends running amok. For instance, we're told that SOG has never felt real pain, but they also had informed us earlier that his heart was broken after being betrayed by a human. Later, that sunk to the bottom never to be heard from again. In the world of film craft, that's basically inexcusable. Quality productions don't do stuff like that.
●Finally, Lee Seung-gi looks Waaay better with the long hair. Why'd they cut it?

Here's the journal I kept while watching KO, until I gave it up, being at a loss〰

》It's so bad. Undisciplined, running amok all over the place. It's awful.
》Oh, look. Even Ritchie's in the group text. Look at SOG, trying to act like he doesn't care. It's too much for him. That's hilarious.
》This is so wrong. If he says he doesn't like to see her hurt, then why is he telling her he can't wait to get rid of her? He's the only one hurting her. This is frustrating.
》Ha! That one was outrageous. What fun.
》They all stab her in the back. They are all #monsters. She needs to run away. Go grab Jonathan, please! Save yourself!
》Hey, that kiss was something. They truly seem to care about each other. Sweet.
》PK, really? Feed (X) to (Y)? You're rotten!!
》》(W), how could you work with a goddess to steal (A's) soul!?!

》That's so cute.

》》No, it's awful.

》Just look at the way they look at eac..ch...othr.

》It's funny.

》》It's turrible

》Why du I like it

》》I don... No do. Nonn em Emmmm

》》》Augh!!!!! My head's exploding!

》》》Get out of my head‼️《《《

Conclusion: like deities, it's up & down, but it dons the guilty pleasure genre like sweet smelling, comfy slippers. This show slapped a Guemganggo on me, and I'm liking it against my will. I hate it too.. Maybe... It's doing to the audience what the characters do to each other. (Not for a second do I believe that's by design, but it would be awesome if it was).

Finally, there's an exploration of the idea of being forced to love someone. We aren't talking about a love potion where somebody's drugged into an obsession. In KO, a flawed and selfish character is either forced to (truly) love, or given the gift of love, depending on how we look at it.

For the character, this is a wonderful feeling without losing the sense of self. Said character becomes a better, deeper person. If God gives us love, are we to enjoy it? Are we to be angry that it didn't originate from ourselves, or that we don't have a choice? No.

Love is a gift 〰♥️〰 It's always a gift.

QUOTES〰
It's dangerous to assume others think the same way you do. Thinking you're Ultimately different from others is also dangerous.

The reduction of the universe to the compass of a single being and the extension of a single being until it reaches God. This is love. ~Victor Hugo~

IMHO〰

RATINGS
Directing 7
Acting 8
Romance 8
Flutters 7
Art 9
Ending 8

LEVELS
Action/ Excitement 6
Thought provocation 5
Snores 0

Suggested Age 15+

Don't miss:
K: My Only Love Song 8.7;
The Legend of the Blue Sea-7.2;
Mr. Queen 8.5;
Oh My Ghost 10;
It's Okay Not to Be Okay 9;
Hotel del Luna-8.4,
Alchemy of Souls-8.3
Black-9
C: The Sleepless Princess 9.1;
The Romance of Tiger and Rose 9.8

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A Korean Odyssey is a great retelling of Journey to the West franchise. I loved how they tried to set it in the contemporary world and put romance between the monkey king and SamJang. I loved how the other characters look so fancy supporting each other and playing with their scripts. It felt very homey and friendly. The OST is amazing, very catchy.

What I didn’t like tho is the animation editing and the numerous failed edits in some scenes which is noticeable. There’s been some scenes cut hastily or not shown which makes the whole flow a bit rush and lacking. There’s a lot of fillers that should have been compressed in few episodes, too. 1 evil spirit for 1 episode is a bit much.

It is also predictable and closes in an open ending. Some might find it uncool.

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To tell the truth I have a really ambiguous opinion about this drama. If I didn't know that it's based on a novel, I would say that it's a clear copy of Goblin: a similar supernatural love story of a woman and a supernatural being united by the fate, a bromance between two supernatural beings living in the same house but actually being enemies (incomparably more charming and subtle in the case of Goblin), the atmosphere, etc. In such a situation I must say that Goblin has a much higher quality in all aspects (including the acting, undoubtedly). But... I've give ten for the acting in this drama. Why? Well, I've never been a fan of Lee Seung Gi, he always seemed to me a bit too much immature but here his character is almost impeccable. Also I must say that there are quite a lot charming, impressive, unexpected moments in this drama which don't let you simply drop the drama. Somehow you keep remembering its atmosphere, some moments, the acting... So I resign and admit that I really enjoyed it ;) (although if there are quite a lot of scenes with an akward humour... :/ )

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I've just finish this drama that I though it would be my first "drop off" drama. I started to watch it when I was on holidays in Korea two weeks ago, it was on Netflix and it seemed different. Although the first episode was really interesting (and "different" from other dramas), when I was on episode 3 I stopped... the pace was slow, and overall, I didn't get what the story was about.
Then, some days later, I found out the article The Myths behind "A Korean Odyssey" in MDL and after reading it I was curious to watch something more. So I tried again. And I finished today.
Story: I really can't say what it is that I liked about this drama. I think it's the strangest drama I've seen so far. And sorry, it's not Goblin. It's stranger than that one.
The story, as I said, is slow and sometimes incoherent. I didn't like the main couple very much and the seconds leads also were sometimes two much. But I don't know why, I continued watching it. There were some moments in every episode that I loved, funny or nice moments, not as much with the main couple as with the actions of the rest of the characters. Overall, I liked very much PK/Piggy and Zombie Richie. They were cute together.
As for the ending... I had already imagined that it would be something like this, so, no surprise there.
Acting: I haven't seen Lee Seung Gi before, and after this, I'm sure I'll see at least three or four more of his dramas. He's too good. I didn't like the female lead, not the actress, rather the character... even if I understand she would be kind of "special" with a childhood as hers. But her character was tremendously bland...
Music: I like it very much! I knew and liked the songs even before episode 3 and before having dropped the drama.
Rewatch: Emmmm, I don't think so. I know already everything I should know.
I liked this drama, in its own way, but I can't recommend it to everybody. You should watch it if you are looking for something different, you don't expect two much and you see it after having read about the myths I told earlier.

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