Although I Am Not a Hero (2024)

Lost powers & con artist

Well, this was interesting to begin with, then annoying only to end exasperating stupid.

This year, I have been dropping k dramas as if they were hot potatoes. Moreover, about a month ago, I went into a serious drama slump, going from watching at least three episodes a day in the week and triple that on the weekends to barely half an episode a day. Actually, nothing grabs my fancy any more and I am finally rediscovering the joys of reading.

What do you get when you mix Marvel superhero films with a con artist series like Leverage? You get this minus fun which equals a waste of time!

The premise is interesting: superpowers lost due to modern time diseases like depression, greed, food. In comes a con artist who wants to con them out of their fortune but she falls for the depressed son. The plot unfortunately takes itself too serious and starts veering into serious territory, which is a wrong way to go. They should have kept it light instead of going for healing and turning the new leaf. Most of the characters are annoying, starting with the main couple. He is depressed and therefore unkempt with a very bad haircut. But even when he is happy again, the very bad haircut remains a very bad haircut. He has absolutely no chemistry with the FL. The actress manages to pull of a rather credible teen in spite of being over 30! Kudos for that! The rest of her character is steeped in contradictions: is she sincere or is she lying? She's been working off the debt her dead father contracted with a loan shark for the past 13 years. The loan shark is a horrible cruel person who deserves a serious punishment but all she gets is a redemptive sob story arc and now she is the kindest soul alive. As usual, korean parents are not painted in favourable light.

What made this drama watchable are the support characters: the kid (amazing actress!), the sister (deliciously bitchy) and the taciturn uncle (kinder than he looks).

The story managed to draw a few laughs especially the main couple's date under the surveillance of the uncle: "Do you feel happy now?"

The last ten minutes of the drama are rage inducing: he can finally be seen by everyone (why?) when he goes to the past so what does he do? Does he save the person eh couldn't before? Of course not: he just stares at him with teary eyes while saying nothing for a very long time! Does he save the girl? Yes but before saving her, he spends a long time talking to he in the fire instead of jumping to safety and then talking. How stupid can you be?!?!? I guess they needed that to introduce their son. But again, is she an idiot to send her 5 year old son look for his father in the fire? They came out unscathed but still....

There was another thing I liked about this drama: the unusual end credits song, it was really original! And last but not least, I was blow away by the way they filmed the obese version of the sister: it was the most believable foam suit I have ever seen and the actress managed to portray an overweight person credibly. Well done!

Citeste mai mult

In general I liked it a lot.

At first I thought it was just going to be a fantasy drama but it's more than that.

I liked that it was short and that it told you a very concise story. It is well written in such a way that time travel does not become a difficult knot to understand, the other powers are well explained so that you do not get lost with them.

I liked everyone's acting, the side stories were developed well and also had a purpose and a happy ending.

I liked that the characters grew a lot and you identify with them a little, they warm your heart.
What I didn't like so much was the "mom" who owned the sauna, I feel that she left her role as antagonist very quickly, she changed her mind and sides very quickly, I felt that the efforts of the other characters were in vain

The ending was a bit bold but they pulled it off well, it's a good ending.

Citeste mai mult

Atypical Storytelling in a Typical K-Drama Setting

Unlike typical K-dramas, this story takes a unique approach by focusing on a superpowered family dealing with everyday issues that impact their abilities. With the addition of a found family of swindlers, they navigate challenges and save each other.

Initially, it took me a while to fully engage with this drama due to its slow pacing. The setup for each character was unusually lengthy, with excessive flashbacks. What kept me invested was the exceptional cast, as everyone acted well and none of the characters were annoying. I especially liked Park So Yi, who played Bok I-na. This young actress is full of potential and truly shined in this role.

The last three episodes were incredibly satisfying, tying everything together with an expected yet fitting ending. My only wish is that they had spent a bit more time on the finale. All characters had strong development and conveyed meaningful morals. Overall, this was a good and decent watch for me.

Citeste mai mult

Not your typical time travel story

The Atypical Family is incredibly well written with complex characters who change and grow in surprising ways. Though many of the characters are morally gray the show's lens is deeply humanistic and you'll grow to care for these very flawed human beings. The show's central message is don't regret the past or worry about the future, live in the present and love the people close to you.

Time travel is handled very differently in this show than in dramas like Lovely Runner and Twinkling Watermelon. In those shows, time travel creates different timelines and it is possible to change the past and the future. But The Atypical Family is more like the film 12 Monkeys, which has a single closed time loop. It's not possible for the time traveler to change the past or the future because their actions simply cause events that were going to happen anyway.

The closed time loop turns this into a very Buddhist story. Buddhism puts a huge emphasis on the idea of non-attachment, which means letting go of what you can't control and focusing on the present moment. There is also the central idea of loving-kindness, viewing yourself and those around you with compassion, generosity and empathy.

Gwiju starts out from a place of: I need more control, I need to control my own destiny. He wants to change his past and future and it's his repeated failures to do so that turn him into a depressed alcoholic. But after Dahae enters his life, he gradually realizes that he can't change his fate but he can change how he reacts to that fate. He can become a more loving and responsible person no matter what has happened in the past or what will happen in the future.

Gwiju isn't the only person who has to learn this lesson. Dahae needs to detach from the idea that she can avoid the pain of her traumatic past by manipulating and controlling the men she scams and instead embrace her found families. Dong Hee needs to detach from the idea that her weight has anything to do with whether or not she can fly and instead allow herself to eat joyfully and be happy. Bok Eomma needs to detach from the idea that her prescient dreams will keep her and her family safe and stop using them to control people. And even Ina needs to detach from both her fear of her mind reading powers and her belief that those powers can be used to manipulate people into giving her friendship and understand that she is a loveable and worthwhile person.

I think it's this emphasis on detachment and acceptance that truly sets Atypical Family apart from other time travel stories. What's amazing is that despite a philosophy that sounds like it would lead to stagnant, boring storytelling, the drama is absolutely gripping and the last half hour is hugely cathartic. I cried buckets at the end.

In addition to the amazing writing and the interesting philosophy of the drama, I have to shout out the acting performances which are uniformly great. Special mentions for Jang Ki Yong in his first post-military drama; Chun Woo Hee for portraying a morally ambiguous female lead and making us care about her; Park So Yi for more than holding her own with the adult actors; and Claudia Kim for humanizing a character who could've been an offensive caricature.

I also have to mention the amazing cinematography and the OST which is phenomenal, probably the most sophisticated OST I've ever heard in a drama.

There are very few things I disliked about this drama but many people struggle with the FL's behavior in the early episodes, as well as the ML's neglect of his daughter due to alcoholism and trauma. There are also a lot of people who don't understand the time travel rules in this universe and had trouble understanding the ending. I even made graphics to explain it: https://x.com/daebakpodcast1/status/1800000910699147378

Verdict: So far this is my favorite drama of the year and one of my favorite dramas ever.

Citeste mai mult

Great Concept. Great Storyline. But Lame and Convenient Ending.

Great concept. Great storyline. Some reckless details but very few. However, the ending is very lame and feels like cheating.

Just before the ending, the ML can suddenly touch anything in the past just to clear the game—this is cheating #1. Then, his son can bring anything from the past at the age of 5, when he doesn't even understand the concept of the past. He doesn't know what a 'year' is, so we can't even talk about how he understands '18 years ago', but the FL can persuade him to bring the ML back from 18 years ago...? And they don't make it realized about his method for bringing things back from the past either, so it feels more like magic than a superpower. They make it too convenient without rationality. So that's cheating #2.

P.S. I usually give music scores an average of 5 because I don't consider myself an expert in that field. If the music isn’t exceptionally good or bad, I might not notice it, so I try to be fair. But this series has put the wrong music in the wrong places and at the wrong times quite often. For example, when the ML goes back to meet the FL in the past for the first time. It happens under a serious atmosphere, but a light, funny music suddenly starts at that point -_- The music sounds out of place and doesn’t match the mood of the scenes. It's noticeably off.

Citeste mai mult

Atypical Kdrama

Right off the bat I enjoy the casting of the main leads for Gwi Ju and Da Hae. I like how Jang Ki Yong is playing against his usual cool guy role, being a dorky regular Joe Gwi Ju who has the mushroom/coconut hair. Chun Woo Hee is effervescent as Da Hae who gives off this endearing charm where it's understandable how people are drawn to and trust her. I love how both of the actors ground even a silly funny reactions so that they aren't cringey, which includes the bickering which is usually a fast forward moment in other dramas. I love the scene where Da Hae goes off to con a fourth husband in order to shake of Gwi Ju. She shows off her full con mode, she's very effective but Gwi Ju doesn't have any jealousy or anger or is even phased. Which was a preview version of later when he finds out she faked her death in an attempt to save him. He was angry and confused, but he just embraces her as soon as he realizes why she did what she did. Their chemistry is so good! Of the extended cast, Kim Geum Soon is really impressive as Baek Il Hong, Da Hae's loan shark turned adopted mom. She's fantastic at keeping her motives ambiguous as to whether she's sincere or a plot, whether she loves Da Hae or she's a cold hearted crime boss who will collect on Da Hae's due.

The writing for the most part is really good. The writing for this show actually understands how to withhold and reveal information with impact. They play with the expectations of the powers really well from the evolution of Gwi Ju being able interact with past Da Hae, to her revealing to him things his future self did but the audience aren't sure if she's lying or not and she's able to use this in a actual lie as well, to her simultaneously interacting with both past and future him, and how he's saved. The flower scene is probably the most trippy time travel event of the whole series, because she didn't lie but he also didn't buy the flowers until his future self gave them to her. Ina's friend/bully doesn't even know that Ina has the power to read minds when she looks into people's eyes but was unknowingly able to use it to mentally bully Ina. Da Hae is able able to flip Man Huem's fatalist viewing of her negative dreams into a reinterpretation of the events into a positive outcome, building on what her fellow regular human father in law Man Seok has been doing to make the positive dreams come true. Man Seok seeming like she was tricking Il Hong about a vision about seeing the daughter she lost (the one that died while she was in prison) grown and alive but actually was about embracing Da Hae who faked her death hit me so hard in the heart.

The weakest part of the writing is Dong Hee's storyline and struggle with eating and body image. Dong Hee was used a comic relief character when she was heavyset and then suddenly she's just all serious when she's lost the weight again. The optics of that is really suspect to say the least. I could see there was the intention of wanting to convey the reasoning behind Dong Hee not being able to fly was not actually her physical weight, but the crushing mental insecurity and regret, but I don't think the story conveyed that as well as it can be. Then the other weak parts was the unnecessary teasing of the scumbag doctor by Da Hae and Grace that causes him to push her out the window and then him being the one to cause the foreseen school ire that forces Gwi Ju to time travel to the past feels forced. It's like they just transferred all of Dong Hee's cartoony nature into him just to move certain plots along.

The conclusion is lovely though. It turns out Da Hae and Gwi Ju definitely got frisky at least once at some point because they have a son at the end and it's so beautiful that her child is who brought Gwi Ju back to the safety of the future. I thought it was funny that they didn't show Ina's face in the future, only that she has long hair. Her actress was probably actually around 11 at the time playing a 13 year old while all the class mates were played by 14 or 15 year olds which makes her look as small as possible, so I understand how it would be hard to age her up. They should have cast an older kid so she could reunite with her dad too. Overall the drama was very enjoyable to watch and it's always great to see kdrama try to do something different and mostly succeeding.

Citeste mai mult

Just....

I want a season 2 just to see how rge kids have grown up ik not everything about the serie was good but still you should watch it. the cast wad good also and I want to see the relationship with Ina and the dancing dude don't mind me I always forget the names oops like their life is so interesting also the couple and their 5y old I wanna see them get married after he came back after literally 5 years the end was hard breaking but also filled with love I also wanna see if ook don't eat will marry the sauna dude I just need to know ok GIVE ME A SEAZON 2!!!

Citeste mai mult

Time and superpowers can be confusing

This is an easy watch, I do not know how much a typical it is and I do have some issues with some parts of it and they do start of with a lot of fatshaming... But I do kind of appreciate the dark and depressing.

As the episodes flew by the fatshaming subsided and I do believe they may even have made up for it... but my beautiful depressing darkness also got all bright witch was kind of meeh... The twists felt pretty predictable and there where some moments of cringe that just made me go... oh come on...

With all that said I did enjoy it, so I figured it gets an 8 for the characters, the found family, the friendship and the at times okay message. But what really kept me from lowering the score was this one scene where the female lead pretty much saied flat out (not exact quote) .

Yes I was saved, but I am not (or was not) grateful, I just learned I had to use my misfortune for my benefit and in a way I was pissed of at the guy who saved me so using him and that story was my revenge...

And with that I will say, yes there are plot holes and yes there is cringe, and problematic stuff but between it all there are som rare gems and a high entertainment value making it worth a watch.

P.S. I may have seen to many dramas to not be able to predict stuff but if you are new to dramaland, I am sure you will love some of the twists.

Citeste mai mult

Different and intriguing Series.

The series revolves around the Bok family, each member possessing unique abilities. Bong Dong-hee (Kim Su hyun) can fly, Bok Gwi-ju (Jang Ki Yong) can travel back in time, and their grandmother (Go Doo Shim) can see the future. However, they lose their powers due to modern-day problems like obesity, depression, and insomnia.

The plot thickens when Do Da Hee gets involved with the Bok family. She saves Gwi-Ju from drowning and later becomes the professional masseuse for the grandmother. Her presence brings about a transformative adventure that crosses time, heals emotional wounds, and tests the limits of reality.

The series is not your typical fantasy drama; it’s a sincere exploration of human emotions packaged in a magical wrapper. The series explores the intricacies of human emotions and relationships, making it a pleasant change from the typical K-drama fare.

The performances by the cast, especially Jang Ki Yong and Chun Woo Hee, are commendable. They have successfully portrayed their characters, bringing depth and authenticity to their roles.

I do know, some viewers find the story and pace a bit slow. But given its complex storyline and the depth of the characters, it’s understandable that the series takes its time to unfold.

In conclusion, “The Atypical Family” is a mix of intrigue, romance, and healing moments. It’s a series that’s well worth seeing, especially if you’re looking for something different and thought-provoking

Citeste mai mult

Wasted potential

I don't know how people are saying that they've completed all 12 episodes when there are only 10 episodes broadcasted till today.

Anyhow, I don't understand the high rating. This show has so much wasted potential. It could have been a mindf**k show with the time travel theme, it could have been the exploration of parent-child relationships, it could have been a show about an elaborate fraud scheme, it could have been a super-hero show, or it could been about mental health and healing. Or it could have been about an epic love story. Even Jang Ki Young was a disappointment if I was wanting to watch an 'idol' drama.

It has been NONE of these. At most I would class it as a somewhat interesting love story, sans romance. I keep watching and waiting for any one of these to emerge, but none has. The only reason I'm continuing is because I just want to see how bad it is at the end.

Citeste mai mult