The High Priest Rembrary (2023)

Could have been better

For one thing, it was entertaining but just failed to hit the mark with so much missed opportunities.

1. ML and FL lack of chemistry. they felt more like brother sister vibes plus they keep saying he's 120 yrs old so its a lil gross.
2. Lack of character development for Wild Animals, the Evil One and Redrin.
3. Redrin should have an earlier appearance.
4. Gosh, how he defeats Redrin is so cliche. Just belief, that's it? A team up would have been better, bring the boy band, evil boys, the Evil One, some bad ass reapers vs Redrin & her minions and battle it out. What happened was super anti climactic. Even the Evil one ending was meh.
6. The romance was very much misplaced and not believable at all.

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The Stupid Holy Priest's Story!

That's ridiculous. Instead of being scary at the devil, I even laughed! In fact, a mydramalist reviewer commented: "The stupidest Kdrama I've ever watched".

Wow!
Because the concept is not clear. The analogy is, the God we have been worshiping is actually the Devil, maybe not? It's not possible right? God is the embodiment of the holy thing, while the devil is the evil thing. White vs black.

So that there is no confusion. If you want to change it, there must be a mutual agreement.
If not, there will be confusion like when watching the drama "The Heavenly Idol", how is it possible that the holy path which requires the law of celibacy, so that the perpetrators have divine powers (able to heal people), are actually led by a devil?

Instead of messing up the concept and imposition of an artist manager as a hero, why not focus on the story of the journey of a boy band that was finally successful? The story of the devil and others as background aja.

There's a Korean drama that tells the story of a boyband as a hero who manages to fight demons.

Even though it was pretty fun at first, you know. About a pontifex (priest) who used to live a holy life, now he has to unbutton his shirt to look sexy. Also the daily life of the boyband is really sad, sleeping in a cramped house and having to maintain a diet by avoiding carbohydrates.

A funny incident occurred when the priest Rembary and the grim reaper Sa Gam-Jae had to create a profile using a computer. Turns out they can't! Yes, yes, a creature in the middle of nowhere understands computers?

Unfortunately that's the only decent point. The rest is annoying. We put aside the factor of actors/actresses who have just taken on the main role, after all, Kim Min-Kyu has played the second lead quite often. One of them as Cha Sung-Hoon in the Korean drama "Business Proposal".

The scenario writer failed to compose the character of each character as a whole. The music is okay. However, what is most upsetting is the afterlife cinematography and the sober world of Dewi Redlin.

Now is the CGI era, you know, when the throne for the leader of the afterlife uses a sageuk drama setting? It's been looking really lazy since the Korean drama "The Uncanny Counter" which also tells about the heavenly kingdom. Compared to the CGI Chinese drama "Immortal Samsara", the difference is like the earth and the sky.

No wonder the South Korean audience "punished" the Korean drama "The Heavenly Idol" with a low rating. After successfully seizing the audience's interest with 3,407% in the initial episode for the Seoul area, the final episode was only 1,546%.

Nationwide ratings also showed the frustration of the Korean population, in the initial episode it managed to get a rating of 3,098%, the Korean drama "The Heavenly Idol" was only able to reach a rating of 1,369% in the final episode.

If you have this, who is "bad"?
Further reviews can be read here: https://www.maria-g-soemitro.com/2023/03/the-heavenly-idol-review-drama-korea.html

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내가 120살 넘었고 이런 아이 같은 짓이 해야 겠느냐!

A drama about a divine creature nurtured on chocolate bars? The drama about a priest becoming an idol? The drama about the price you pay to become popular? It could be one of the best shows about idols if the screenwriter held onto those concepts and developed a strong story.

🔸️When I watched The Heavenly Idol I saw nothing but the land of missed opportunities. It looks like the creators don't have the concept of the world they're making, no wonder the worldbuilding contradicts itself all the time. Take the first scene at the concert: you could've film it like it's an evil coven for Lembrary, and people jump around like demons in hell.

- 좀 더 애틋하고 섹시한 느낌으로 한 가요?

- 언젠가 이 세상 '섹시란 섹시한' 다 부태워버린다!

🔸️Kim Min Gyu saves the remains of the drama with his charisma. He balances playfulness, quirky habits and serious feelings in his character. Especially compared to the villain played by Lee Jang Woo. The casting has made a terrible mistake on him, not to mention the vaguest motives of the Devil and his vulnerability to domestic abuse.

'절 보고 살아길 힘을 얻는 사람들 위해 아이돌을 하고 있습니다.'

🔸️Despite its childish and irresponsible approach, the drama is still loveable for me. There are genuinely warm and funny moments that don't try to preach the audience, just being in the moment. All the shows Wild Animals visits look and feel fake, but I personally like it because it shows how cruel the industry and fans can be towards idols for a smallest mistake.

'좋아하는 아이돌 사진이랑 영상 보고 힘을 얻는 사람들이 많거든요.'

🔸️I started thinking: who is an idol, really, and why do people like them? They're not actors, not simply singers and dancers but breathing creatures that we want to see as innocent angels. They are meant to be role models for some, entertainers for others, and in my case they're inspiration. I'm glad I can find support in someone's art while going through tough times. I find portraying idols as usual puzzled clumsy people refreshing. Even though we didn't get a chance to get to know all the members, there was a couple of funny moments to substitute the utter lack of chemistry.

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Just a good premise is not enough

The Heavenly Idol unfortunately suffers from a major case of good premise and weak execution. The idea of the high priest that has to pretend to be a kpop idol was fun and interesting, and Kim Min Gue really delivered on his performance of Yeon Woo/Rembrary. But the plot became stale quickly. To make matters worse, two of the central characters were terribly executed. The Evil One was a kind of villain that lacks everything imaginable. He’s not scary, nor charismatic or even has much to do for most of the time. His only quality is not being called Kim Dal... It’s been awhile since I’ve disliked a character so strongly as Dal. She’s extremely annoying and, I don’t know if thats on the actress, but... she’s got the same facial expression for every emotion. She’s extremely bland and had a serious case of bad writing. Sometimes she acts like she’s 12, other times she’s the best professional in the kpop industry. I almost stopped watching the series because she annoyed me so much.
On the other hand, most of the other characters and actors are great. All the Wild Animals members are amazing, as is the CEO. Although I expected him to do more, Gam Jae was great too.

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Funny, cute and entertaining…

Min Gue is hilarious and funny …. All serious as the Pontifix… but slowly changing the world around him, one kind act at the time.
The premise is…. the divine Pontifix gets body swapped with a wannabe idol… and has to learn to live like one to be able to go back to his home.
The story is intended to be light and comedy… which was very well done.
I believe there is a hint of truth behind it… once ghe spotlight is gone, what is left?
As audience, we see many entertainers doing crazy things trying to keep themselves famous…

Every member of the wild animals boyband has a story behind… it was nice they got air time as well…

The grim reaper bromance with Woe Yong was funny.

I liked it… except the end…. Was rushed and weird…

Overall I would watch it again.

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Not Good Enough

Korean Drama " Heavenly Idol " is a fantasy drama about a heavenly priest who suddenly becomes an idol.

Right from the beginning, the drama doesn't take itself seriously and it continues with the light, silly mood till the very ending. Thus, the whole heavenly politics/battle of good and evil was set aside and was underdeveloped, especially since it wasn't easy to make the viewer care for them when the rest of the story is a comedy.

The romance was another part of the drama that was awkward. It could easily be omitted actually without any effect on the main plot, as the couple didn't have chemistry as lovers and were better off as friends. Not to mention that their romantic encounters were few.

Finally, the performances were enjoyable by everyone in the cast and the CGI good enough.

So, overall, four out of ten.

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Actually quite good

story wise:
1-3 episode it was really good like I was dying to see what gonna happen next, although I didn't understand the devil unfortunately
3-12 episode it gradually started to fall down as the episode passed, devil made moves that didn't made sense.
but I'm really happy that Rembrary get to be together in his own body in Dal's world.
Acting/Casting wise:
acting was pretty ok, our Rembrary did a really good job in acting and the reaper guy was a really good choice also loved to see how they interact(with Rembrary)
Dal seemed to be a fan/manager not a love interest so it made all romantic scenes cringe to me.
Music wise:
I personally think that music was really good, calming, romantic like really holy.
Rewatching value wise:
I don't think that I'm gonna rewatch all the episodes, but if it's the funny scenes on YouTube then I'll gladly watch it.

What I want to improve:
the evil power did kind of make sense but if they had reveald the power of Rembrary more sooner I think I will be able to cooperate with him through the screen like thinking what his next moves will be, I really like doing that.

Overall: it was pretty good, not not masterpiece, Male lead actor helped me to went through this series

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Boy! Why!!

I was hyped for this movie only coz of the ML. And I enjoyed the first episode but it quickly went downhill from there.

Nothing got better. No character development for anyone really. There was just a lot happening at once and yet nothing, all at the same time. No closure on a plot whatsoever.

I expected a lot of great things to happen to the group in part coz of Rembrary coz I believed they deserved it but no! No development whatsoever, just an award they got for something that I as the viewer wasn't even aware off until they showed it.

The FL seemed to just be getting in the way with her personal feelings all the time, doing so much yet doing little at the same time.
The romance between the leads was something I believe shouldn't have happened. A friendship? Yes. Relationship? No.
She was to manage the Wild animal boy band but only seemed to be managing the ML which was unfair. The other members all seemed to fade into the background until whenever.


It took me 2 weeks to watch it completely coz I just wasn't liking the story anymore.
Also Rembrary is meant to be a really powerful god but all I see asides from his healing powers, is the forcefield which wasn't all impressive. Violet in The Incredibles coulda done better..

Don't get me started on the Evil one, bro... why??
the character was as shallow as they come. All I know about him is the office he stays in, all the damn time. if he ain't in the office, he's in a car, why! Also that he kept playing a game of hide and seek with the ML while bidding his time to kill him... Nothing else.
.
The film offered a few giggles here and there but I wouldn't watch it again.

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Hilarious , Light and Ridiculously funny fantasy drama that makes it interesting to watch

This drama started the first episode a very funny and hilarious start,, even the fantasy part was like a part of a fantasy game
I loved How handsome and quirky the main lead was,, I found it very funny every episode put a smile and laugh on my face
didn't take seriously at all and who would,, it's not serious in any way, It can be described as a parody of Idol's life
I enjoyed watching every episode,, didn't feel bored and didn't think too much about it, they tried to make it serious sometimes but didn't work because the main theme was fantasy so How could it be
I loved the main lead's character,, the actor made it so easy to love him and have fun watching what he does
I loved the friendship plot with the members of his band and how he bonded with every single one
how they became family and co-depended on each other
I loved the Bromance between him and that overly handsome Grim reaper LOL ,,, he's very adorable
The Romantice part of the drama wasn't that appealing to be honest,, it seemed forced sometimes and I couldn't feel
the chemistry between them but it was okay and they didn't have many romantic scenes,, one kiss in all the dramas' episodes
The happy ending was cheerful and very very happy
Loved the funny twist at the finale , it was satisfying
Overall, this drama is fun to watch
If you want to decompress and watch funny ,light not very serious drama,, this is it for you
you will have good laughs from it and watch few handsome young men as a bonus

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