Happiness (2021)

Dobre kino akcji!

Co jak co, ale ta drama jest mega ciekawa. Wiadomo po zwiastunie każy sobie myśli, o nie kolejne zombi...czy można wymyślić coś ciekawego? I oto jest ta drama. Mega ciekawa jak dla mnie nie podążą za schematami (może tak troszku, ale nie jest to rażące). Główna para idealnie do siebie pasuje, taka zgrana drużyna, która dociera się i odkrywa w sobie uczucia do siebie. Jak dla mnie idealnie zostało przedstawine w dramie zachowanie ludzi, jak reagują w takich trudnych sytuacjach. Na początku gdy maja odany termin wszystko jest ok, ale jak wychodzi, ze systuacja może być dłużej trudna wtedy pokazują swoje prawdziwe ja. Czyli chciwość, zaborczość i chęć przeżycia. To jest takie prawdziwe, że każdy patrzy tylko na swoje dobro. Ja nie wiem jak bym się zachowała w ich sytuacji, dlatgeo nie oceniam z drugiej storny czy pragnęła bym kasy jesli zbliża się koniec świata? co by mi to dało, więc raczej nie zastanawiała bym sie jak oszukać kogoś czy wyciągnąć od niego kase. Co do żywności, zapasów tutaj nie mogę powiedzieć, czy bym nie była chciwa, skoro chodzi o przeżycie, myślę ze raczej nie zabiła bym dla jedzenia... z drugiej strony czy jak by ktoś prosił podzieliła bym się swoimi zapasami?? To jest ciężkie pytanie, możliwe ze była bym samolubna :P
Więc podumowując jak dla mnie akcja jest idealnie rozmieszczona, kreacja głównych bohaterów nie jest przerysowana co jest interesujące (patrząc na to, że Hyun został zarażony)
Gorąco polecam jesli nie przeważa Was widok krwi, buziaki :)

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Slice of life drama disguised in a zombie pandemic setting.

The show features memorable characters and performances across the board. The heroes are easily likeable as much as the antagonists are detestable. The show manages to find funny, charming moments despite the melting pot situation and knows how to pace itself. The characters are reliable to their archetypes though some still manage to surprise or disgust at how far they'll take a situation.

Regarding the soundtrack, not many crooners in this as is appropriate to the story beats, though thematic music does play to help heighten or ease tension when appropriate.

While it clocks in efficiently at 12 eps. Lots of storytelling is done without wasting any minutes. Feels very complete. Neither rushed nor bloated.

Overall it's easily rewatchable.

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There is Human in Humanity

They say the function of wisdom is to differentiate between good and evil. But the residents of happiness do not make it easy to do that. It's crazy how some infected seem to have more humanity than the so-called humans. Whoever said I see humans, but no humanity must've been talking about the true nature of humans in a crisis, just like the one Happiness depicts. I must commend the writer, I didn't expect the twist about Andrew and Kim Se Hoon (Han Joon Woo). And I hate that it had to turn bad, just as I started to appreciate them. But looks can be deceiving, and there is no better camouflage than a crisis situation to serve as a cover for evil. And as strange as Kim Se Hoon was, I knew he wasn't necessarily a bad guy and thought the same of Andrew, but I couldn't have been the furthest from the truth with my assumptions.

Everything about how the story unfolded, from the time Yi Hyun is infected to the time Sae Bom returned to the resident building, spoke directly to how infinite the greed of man can be even in an emergency situation. Despite being infected, Yi Hyun proved to be a better human than all the non-infected combined. The hardest thing to comprehend was that even as people were fighting to stay alive, all Representative Yeon Ok, Joo Hyung, his shady girlfriend Woo Sang Hee (Moon Ye Won), creepy lawyer Hae Sung, and SY cleaning crew Gi Se Gyu (Kim Young Woong) and his wife Ji Moon Hee (Lee Ji Ha) could think of was how to personally benefit from the situation regardless of the danger the posed to others. So it was only fitting to finally see them get what they deserved. Their greed in a way was their own self-punishment. This was an exciting drama, I enjoyed every minute of it. A thousand kudos to the writer, director, all the actors, but especially Han Hyo Joo, Park Hyung Sik, and Jo Woo Jin for keeping invested to the end.

Happiness as a drama made me realize that the events that seemingly brought out the dehumanization of humanity and fundamental ills of society weren't in Next as a drug, but in mankind's selfishness, hatred, anger, jealousy, fear, stupidity, distrust, greed and love of power. I like the message Happiness advocates. It's true that crisis situations expose mankind's struggle to deal with sudden changes and unexpected events, and there will always be those who try and benefit, be it the elites of society or even the government. But just as there are people and institutions driven by their fear, greed, hatred and selfishness, there are those driven by their desire to help others in a time of need. Most human beings are like that. They want to live by each other’s happiness - not by each other’s misery. They don’t want to hate and despise one another, because even in a residential apartment building, let alone the world, there is room for everyone. The ending of this drama is what happiness is about, because in life it's not where you live, but who you live it that matters.

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Nothing happy about this ;)

Don’t get me wrong, this is actually a very good watch. Just didn’t understand why the title was “Happiness” when the drama is about an infectious disease?!

I don’t usually watch or like zombie/ mad person/ infectious disease kind of shows, but this one was a refreshing break from the too many rom-coms I’ve been watching. The storyline itself is nothing new. An infectious disease is spreading, government is trying to cover up, people are turning against each other in order to survive etc.. there are characters whom you will love, and some annoying pricks whom you just want to gorge their eyeballs out LOL.

Both leads have very good screen presence. There is some action and a little chemistry and romance... but they focused mainly on their character development and smart survival skills. The music also very good, gets your heart racing and pumping. A few good scares, jump at the screen kinda scares.. some are predictable.

Definitely a good watch. :)

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A fantastic commentary on human behaviour, but the series is not for everyone

The drama has rave reviews and high ratings and that is for a good reason. It's a well-made drama based on a solid plot line. It will resonate with a post-covid audience on random governmental controls and lockdowns as well as human greed and power plays. Every episode keeps you on the edge, and not a single scene is predictable or boring.

But everyone probably knows this all by now from reviews and word of mouth. On the negative side, honestly, I struggled to finish the series - I had to take long breaks in between episodes and had to watch happy/feel-good series before being ready to come back to Happiness. The title conveys how difficult it is to find happiness in our day-to-day lives, and the series' plot line is also like that. Happy moments are rare; when they do come, it is refreshing. But it's so, so rare amidst all the conflict and chaos.

When you do manage to finish the series, it's all worthwhile as it is a happy ending. But the journey to get there is filled with fear, anxiety, worry and disgust, probably quite an accurate reflection on human behaviour around the pandemic.

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More sadness than happiness but only until episode 11

I was terrified that the story didn't have a happy ending and an endgame, as it didn't have romance as one of the genres, and all dramas I know don't have romance as one of the themes but have a man and a woman as protagonists. , none had an endgame. But luckily everything went more than right.

I only have two things to complain about: as much as you can understand that the other characters who were good also had a happy ending, I missed actually showing where their lives took. And another detail that I missed was showing how their process was able to cure the disease.

Other than that, I loved that Saebom and Yihyun were saved together and happy because that's really what they deserved for having such a beautiful heart.

I'm grateful to everyone involved for giving us an amazing story, but especially to Park Hyung Sik and Han Hyo Joo for playing the role of Yihyun and the role of Saebom - two iconic and landmark characters.

It was more sadness and anger than happiness in 11 episodes. But in the last episode, happiness came as abundant as we've always wanted.

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S-TIER DRAMA TO WRAP UP THIS YEAR

Dec. 14, 2021

Oh my gawd, this drama is the perfect cherry on top to end this goddamn year. Every single episode was packed and full of interesting stories that is clearly laid out. Definitely, the superior drama for the latter half of 2021. Park Hyungsik and Han Hyo Joo really snapped with their comeback. I couldn’t care less for what others might say but let me tell you I love this drama. From all the overhyped drama released this year, Happiness deserves better ratings and popularity.

The off the chart chemistry of Yi Hun and Sae Bom. OH MY GAWDDDDDDDD. I lowkey wished they gave us an episode just full of cliché of them being romantic cause I will literally live for that. Anyhow, the plot is perfect, the music is perfect, the cast is magnificent. One of the few dramas this year where I don't have any complaint at all. I really just wish for a special episode like is that too much to ask for? I really love our trio, Yi Hun and Sae Bom and their 'child' ahahaha. For all the other characters like the ones in the apartment can die like literally. They are down horrendous and the worst people I have ever seen. I really wish they got death instead of jail. I really don't believe that jail is the necessary punishment for them. I never felt this type of anger, I feel like Penthouse was the last drama I really felt this way.

Anyway, make sure to watch happiness, it will give you a rollercoaster of a ride. Also, prepare some tissues cause you will fking need it 😭

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So worth it!

Happiness is a banger from the very first episode, in fact the intro is so catchy that it reels you in and you’re hit with these character’s well written personalities. The relationship between the leads is chef’s kiss. With so little they give us a lot, definitely slow burn but without the angst. Each episode is so action packed and doesn’t feel like a filler, beauty of 12 episodes I guess! The side characters are super interesting and apartment people are so frustrating that you can’t stand them. They show us how some situations bring out the worst in people. Comeback dramas are so hyped that they can be a fail, but I’m so glad for PHS! Another thing I loved about the drama was how everything was well laid out from the beginning. Certain reveals in the very end shock you but you accept them because the tiny hints exist in the earlier episodes.

The drama can be a little triggering though, whole with the ongoing pandemic still in place. If you can get past that, it’s so worth a watch!

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Easily the one of the best K-Dramas I have ever watched.

You can really see that both the actors and staff behind the cameras worked incredibly hard. I loved the chemistry between Han Hyo-Joo and Park Hyun-Sik, their acting was very impressive. Han Hyo-Joo portrayed Yoon Sae-Bom really well, her badass but caring character made me want to continue watching. Park Hyun-Sik also did incredibly well portraying Jung Yi-Hyun, the hopelessly in love detective that does anything to protect Yoon Sae-Bom. It felt like both characters completed each other and leaned on each other while simultaneously protecting the people they are quarantined with, even if there are some tenants that don’t recognize and appreciate it. The male and female lead both wanting to protect each other was very refreshing to watch. I also would like to point out that the actors playing tenants and people stuck in the building did incredibly well, their acting was so good that they had me sitting on the edge of my chair. They really knew how to get a rise out the audience. This drama is definitely on my favorite K-Dramas list of 2021.

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Waiting for ep was the actual horror part

Covid has eventually hit the entertainment scene and this is a fresh and original take on the aftermath and how us humans deal with global crisis. Have to say my biggest comment is that I wish I could've binged this. This show was made for watching all 12 episodes in one sitting and waiting every week was what actually tortured me.

Story and characters were truly original. I was hesitant when they started addressing the pandemic because its still a sensitive topic for me and many people and dramas are usually my escape. However as the show progressed it became clear that this is a real take on the political and humanity side of the pandemic. I didn't realize SK also had their problems with fanatics and crazies who deny the virus even when it's right in front of them (call me an ignorant American but yeah).
Acting was top notch for every single character. I was frustrated and seething with these people's greed and choices. The resort to murder stealing and insanity in it was extremely terrifying and had me terrified of these people. I was so pissed at MANY of the character choices even the main characters and I was this close to dropping because of the stupidity. However I persevered and really enjoyed the end result. This is an 8.5 because of the actual frustration I had with these people and some logical plot holes/gray unexplained areas.

My ending complaint is that I wish we got more story for the end and how the other characters ended up, it was very open and almost rushed but I'm satisfied. If I could erase my memory and binge this show all at once I definitely would have given it a better rating.

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The beginning of the show is well structured, and the tension is built. We have a taste of psychology between humans in the case of disaster, selfishness, their greed. Happiness shows how far people can go for their own happiness but at the same time, its value. All the characters have different visions of happiness and the way to reach it, for the main characters a simple life where the most important part is the people surrounding them. some ways are worst than others but all had the same goal of happiness.
The thing I like :
-Zombies, I enjoy zombies movie a lot and mostly because it exploited the subject of end of the word, where we can see the weakness of humans. Easly by fear, they do horrible choices and all the evolution in their mind that make them act horribly.
-the cast, they play perfectly and immerse us in the series.
- Characters, diverse roles, and archetypes are shown and exploited.
-The build-up, each element add until the middle of the show fit perfectly

The thing I didn't like
-The ending, how quickly done he looks. If the point of the drama was the race of happiness, the ending is neither moral nor complete. We don't see what happen to other character or how ex-zombies manage to enter society or the trauma of the victims.

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2021 Best Survival K-Drama!

There are many survival K-Dramas in 2021. But, trust me. This one is the best in every aspect while the others are overhyped ones. If you are looking for the best survival drama, watch this! Never watch overhyped drama! Trust MDL's ratings more than Koran television's ratings.

I've always been a fan of survival K-dramas. I want to see how the plot goes and how the writers give problem solutions to the conflicts in the plot.

So, as always, I'll just give you the summary.

Pros:
- It gives you an eerie atmosphere in every episode. Less talk, more atmosphere!
- No cringey lovey-dovey romance! Both (male lead & female lead) are focusing more on surviving and helping others than having a blooming love relationship.
- The plot is easy to understand, but it still gives you puzzles. Who is who, who did this and that, who will die, etc.
- This drama has plenty of characters/villains but they are really easy to be remembered.
- No sex scenes. Safe to be watched together with family (not for kids)!
- THE FEMALE MAIN LEAD IS STRONG, COOL, HEROIC, BADASS, NO CRY BABY, AIN'T SCAREDY-CAT. The writer(s) did justice to the female main lead in this drama, unlike in other action K-dramas where females always are the ones who have to be protected by males. This is what makes me score 10/10 ratings on MDL. I'm a male btw. I'm starting being a fan of Han Hyojoo <3
- No jumpscares and not that scary. Heart-friendly.
- Top-tier character developments: A kind-hearted person can be evil and vice-versa because of life-hanging conditions.
- The plot hole is there but it's almost invisible. Thanks to the scary atmosphere and the character's actions. You won't have enough time to think about the hole. You will spend your time reading the plot flow and thinking which character is likely to be alive, where is the antagonist.
- The plot twist is not that big, but it's there to surprise you.
- It portrays the daily life of metropolitan Korean families (kinda).
- This drama won't waste your precious seconds. The plot is solid and won't make you bored. Unlike other dramas where the talking scenes take longer than they should be, Happiness put the talking scenes to the nice timing with a good proportion.
- and many more I forgot what to write. I'll add them once I remember.

Cons:
- Only 12 episodes and this is a big deal.
- Needs more OSTs.
I think these cons have something to do with sponsorship. If I don't see Samsung in a drama, I assume the drama doesn't get enough $$.

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