Political Intrigue Galore

This drama was enjoyable. The story was more stressful at times than I anticipated, and it’s very heavy on intrigue and political maneuvering. My main disappointment was that, by contrast, it was VERY light on the romance imo. In the beginning, it was very easy to compare this to the Forbidden Marriage. A LOT of early themes were very similar. But where the Forbidden Marriage focused more on romance and humor, this was more intricate and plotty. Ultimately, I think the actors did a tremendous job. Park Hyung Sik was fantastic as always. Heo Won Seo was a surprise breakout performance, and I actually liked Pyo Ye Jin better in this than in Taxi Driver. I'm definitely now a strong fan of hers. Overall this drama is enjoyable and worth watching!

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Incredibly Well-Done Drama

One of the things that is so interesting about this show is the way they play with male/female dynamics, especially in Korean culture. Mun Young is a very dominant and aggressive (often abrasive) personality, while Gang Tae is very nurturing and supportive. Mun Young pursues Gang-tae very openly and directly. She has no problem talking about her sexual desire for him, or asking him questions about his sexual history. While all of this could be chalked up to her personality disorder, Gang Tae later willingly plays into light-hearted teasing about their dynamic. They make jokes about him being the “wife,” as in Mun Young needing to ask Gang Tae’s brother for his hand in marriage, or Gang Tae being teased for acting like a daughter stealing food from his mother-figure to feed his “husband.” Furthermore, Ju Ri as the love rival represents the more traditional sweet and kind feminine image who patiently waits for Gang Tae to notice her, but Gang Tae never shows even a bit of interest in her. I do like the symmetry of him having to do SOME pursuing of Mun Young towards the end, though.

The dynamics between Gang Tae, Sang Tae, and Mun Young are absolutely everything. Sang Tae is a gem and I adored him so, so much. The underlying mystery drama for the series was very compelling, and had some shocking twists and turns. The supporting cast of characters grew on me — I loathed Ju Ri for a while, but she improved greatly as the series went on. They were all positively heartwarming by the latter episodes. Oh, and the soundtrack was incredible! Janet Sunh’s In Silence was probably my favorite, but I also liked Cheeze’s Little by Little and Lee Suhyun’s In Your Time.

Everyone’s acting was so good, Moon Gang Tae, Moon Sang Tae, and Park Haeng Ja in particular. But I have a special spot in my heart for Seo Yea Ji as Ko Mun Young. Her performance was phenomenal and she is soooo pretty. She looks like a doll. Her outfits and makeup in the show were impeccable. I’m obsessed with her; she may be one of my favorite Korean actresses right now. Her chemistry with Kim Soo Hyun was fantastic (their kissing scenes were top tier). I also quite liked Kim Soo Hyun; he was very cute and sweet (most of the time) and did an incredible job.

Slight con: the representations of disorders were empathetic but not totally accurate or consistent, in some cases. I feel like this especially for ASPD, which started out accurate in the beginning, but later seemed to substantially waver in its depiction as the story developed. I almost wondered if she was really diagnosed with ASPD at one point, or whether they were trying to chalk it up to trauma or how she was raised. I also feel like the representation of autism, while also very empathetic in its portrayal, was a little two-dimensional. This is the third Netflix kdrama I’ve seen with an autistic character, and the representations are all so similar, it starting to feel like it’s now a typecast characterization instead of a true representation of the spectrum that autism can take. To be fair, this was the earliest of the three I’m thinking of (the other two being Extraordinary Attorney Woo and Crash Course in Romance). That being said, I think the fact that the conversation is started and the good intentions are there means that overall they did a pretty good attempt. Also, these are common issues in Western shows as well, even though they portray these issues more often. It may not be something that someone would notice unless they either had background in psychology or lived personally with these disorders.

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Hampered By Censorship -- And I Don't Mean The BL Romance

**WARNING FOR SPOILERS**

I have several problems with this drama, and they all stem from how poorly it treats the source material. I really don't agree with many of the changes made to it, and I don't just mean the obvious stripping away of the gay relationship between WWX and LWJ -- that was flat-out inevitable given China's policies, there was no way around that, so there's no use complaining about it. The bromance was just as touching and intimate, regardless. But the plot changes in regard to demonic cultivation really annoyed me, especially when I discovered they were made to satisfy further censorship requirements regarding morality. WWX not CREATING demonic cultivation the way he did in the novel really bothered me because that was a central plot point, hence the novel's title translation Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation. Wen Ruohan being a demonic cultivator in the drama was a cheap plot device for a villain, in my opinion. In fact, the entire invention of the Yin Iron was a cheap plot device. I liked that they increased the role of the female characters such as Wen Qing, but I didn't like that they increased the role of Xue Yang, that was really bizarre and unnecessary. Honestly just listing out the little changes doesn't really illustrate my point, but I feel like these changes add up overall to make the story cornier and campier than the original, reducing the story from a more three-dimensional feel in the novel to a more flattened two-dimensional feel in the drama.

The acting however is really well done, the music is gorgeous, and the casting is very good. It was lovely to see the characters and settings and worlds come to life. These actors definitely ARE these characters now, and they did a phenomenal job. The dynamics between the characters are top-tier and really well depicted. I'm just tired of seeing amazing web novels made with no creative censorship and then adapted by a government with intense censorship in place. I don't know that really doing the best job is possible with those restrictions.

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If You Like Tsundere Male Leads, This Is For You

Honestly, I loved every minute of this drama and it has become one of my favorites. I'm currently in the middle of rewatching it (and I almost never rewatch dramas). What I actually find so appealing is Kim Young-Dae's performance as Gong Tae-Sung. He was the perfect embodiment of a tsundere as well as the idea of "pulling pigtails." While his character was super childish, he made it seem endearing and cute, especially with how obviously infatuated he was with Oh Han-Byeol. His childish infatuation with her is definitely one of my favorite aspects of this show. I also enjoyed the slight uptick in sensuality that the couple had as well.

I found the cast of supporting characters to be very compelling, and I was relatively invested in everyone's stories, with one or two exceptions. It was cute to see Shin Hyun-Seung and Lee Si-Woo from Be My Boyfriend co-star together again; they were probably my second favorite. I also enjoyed the meta nature of this drama being about an entertainment company making a drama about actors. I found the more serious elements of the plot that come up to be gripping as well.

My one major complaint about this drama was the Africa plot element. Going to Africa (no specific country, just Africa lol) to build wells for village children is poverty porn at its finest. It was super cringey and out of touch. I really resent how they are picking up this post-colonial Western narrative of Africa being a land for missionaries to go and save people from poverty. Africa is a continent with countries of varying wealth levels, some of which are fairly wealthy, and to reduce the continent to this land in need of handouts is pretty bigoted. I understand that South Korea has likely inherited this view from the West, but in 2022 it's still embarassing and unnecessary.

Despite this major flaw, I adored the rest of this drama. I'm always a little surprised to see any negative reviews about it (other than what I mentioned as being problematic, that I understand). It has a special place in my heart!

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Enjoyable Overall, but Carried by Cha Eun Woo

Overall, I enjoyed it. I binged it pretty quickly. I think the story was refreshing in its theme; it’s cool to see a sort of Catholic horror theme/demonology in a Korean drama. I will say that for me personally, Cha Eun Woo as a priest carried the show for me. Everyone did an excellent acting job, but I don’t think I would’ve stuck with this without him. Other than Father Johan, the villain Goong Tan was a surprising favorite of mine. He is indisputably cruel but also magnetically attractive lol. The effects were a little corny in parts (mostly the demon’s makeup in my opinion), and the story’s pacing was slow in parts as well. The story’s mysteries were enough to carry me through though, and there was certainly enough action and drama that I was never bored for too long. The variety of the drama too gave the pacing a good feel as well, even when it lagged a bit. I like how there are only the merest whiffs of romance, at best, so far. It is a little frustrating that they split this season into two parts (and then are calling it seasons 1 and 2), but fortunately I discovered the show two days before the airing of Season 2. I look forward to it!

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