Compelling, But Ultimately Disjointed...

’Million Yen Women” was undeniably a captivating show with an intriguing premise, characters and pacing, however, a noticeable problem with the show came within trying to piece together parts of storyline which often felt confusing and disjointed.

This drama starts off with an intriguing concept from its eponymous manga : five women are clandestinely given invitations to live at the house of Shin Michima ( Yojiro Noda) a thirty-something struggling novelist. In exchange, they are required to pay one million yen each month to cover living expenses, though this should be far more than is actually required for his apartment. The women have been instructed that they must not answer any questions about themselves, keeping Shin just as much in the dark as viewers about what is going on .

At the heart of this uncertainty lingers the ultimate questions behind the identity of its mysterious tenants - a high-school girl (Rena Takeda) with a mysterious past, a charmer who turns out to be a famous recluse (Yuko Araki) , a polite yet socially awkward young woman ( Miwako Wagatsuma), an amiable bookworm ( Rena Matsui) and a confidant exhibitionist (Rila Fukushima) as well as our main protagonist Shin; the most mysterious of them all.

When Shin is introduced, there is the typical cliche setup inferred towards the protagonist as the ‘’ mundane, yet suffering’’ writer. It would seem apparent in this stereotypical cliche of Shin and his setup of living with his fellow female tenants, to be the ‘ awkward antisocial NEET’ trope- struggling to interact with the opposite sex either due to an ‘excessive trauma’, or a ‘ bad relationship’ which is ‘’suddenly resolved’’ in the following episode.

However, Shin’s backstory provided both to defy this cliche honey trap for writers by inducing a surprisingly well-written and profound backstory .Yet whilst Shin undeniably had the most intriguing backstory of the series, his development as a character was arguably a lot less impactful. There is of course the reasonable argument appointed towards the male’s lead often dull personality being a result of severe depression from his traumatic experiences.

On the other hand, it also seems apparent that depression or trauma can often be provide an asset within characterisation or seeing a character develop over the course of a show- notably, something which Shin was never truly given the chance towards being more ‘’fleshed-out’’ as an individual, rather than just a plot device.

It is wrong, however, not to bring into the discussion the argument upon the importance of our female tenants in ‘ Million Yen Women’. Against all odds, ‘ Million Yen Women’ subverted the cliche expectations of the female characters . Each of the five female tenants in the series represents a stereotype associated with the “ modern Japanese woman”: the insecure student, the demure housewife, the bookworm, the glamorous beauty and the promiscuous young woman, however, as the mystery within the show heighten , the women begin to reveal that their true natures are nothing like their labels.

Yet whilst it is hard to truly fault the talents of our female tenants in the shoe with fairly well-scripted, nuanced and original performances, the backstories behind the characters were arguably less impactful. This is not to say that the backstories for the female characters weren’t interesting, per say, but there was little time to actual contemplate upon each character as an individual through her experiences. As a consequence, the sudden transition of backstories felt half-baked and oddly mismatched in the overarching storyline.


The additional introduction of notable characters and minor antagonists such as the Chairman of the Literary Committee and the literary critic who hated Shin’s guts, served the only purpose of being red herrings. Although they were still interesting characters in their own right , they felt a little useless in the grand scheme of the storyline with posing little actual threat or a cause of concern for the male lead. Other antagonists such as Shin’s, rival author Yuzu and his manager Ryuichi Moriguchi, were ultimately cliche and lacked great depth as worthy or intriguing villains.

Although ‘’Million Yen Women’’ undeniably has some captivating, aesthetic cinematography(like one beautiful scene where light is shown projecting beautifully through a window) and a fairly decent OST, the
was often flouted by quality and precision. This undeniably did offer the drama ‘’ grittier realism’’ ,however, ultimately in more dramatic and emphatic scenes, the tension was often taken away by the low-budget and nuanced filming techniques, making the show feel often disconnected for viewers.

So, was ‘’ Million Yen Women’’ a subtle masterpiece or a waste of time for viewers? It’s fair to say that ‘’ Million Yen Women’’ had an undeniably good cast and an intriguing concept for mystery lovers, however, the show’s ending felt both disjointed and incomplete. Although it did heighten the uncertainty and vagueness of the overarching storyline by leaving it upon a high cliffhanger, it is hard for those familiar with the genre to keep up with pacing and storyline. The show attempts to cram in a lot of storyline in a short period of time, resulting in various parts of the story feeling often lacklustre and confusing for viewers to comprehend. Ultimately, it depends what you’re looking for in this show - a quick, binge-watch to pass the time? Definitely. A memorable storyline which feels well-written and coherent ? Then, probably not.

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A Time Travelling Pop Idol , That’s A New One, Korea...

Hit the Top was a strange mix of cliche and heartwarming plot to say the least. The beginning of the show was undeniably dragged out. Rather than simply introducing us to our main protagonists in addition to our main protagonist , Hyun Jae,time travelling escapade to 2017 and meeting the gang in maybe two episodes max, the show drags this on for more than three episodes. Like most drama scriptwriting, this does give viewers to see a little more upon the individual circumstances of both past and present versions before and after Hyun Jae’s mysterious death in 1994. The “younger” range of characters who Hyun Jae begins to live with , are Ji Hoon, the studious adopted son of Gwang Tae and the polar opposite of Hyun Jae, (however, he also aspires to be a popular idol, )Woo Seung, a young student desperate to pass her university exam and of course MC Drill, one of Hyun Jae’s best friends and trainees at the same entertainment company. The characters which have connections to Hyun Jae’s past, are probably the characters who go through the most development in the show. Hyun Jae’s former manager and friend, Gwang Tae, juggles between his feelings for Bo Hee , managing the dying company and of course trying to be a paternal figure to Ji Hoon. Bo Hee longs for her glory days but is a washed up star, seemingly narcissistic and less than a maternal figure to her son Ji Hoon, however, her character certainly goes through a lot of development in the course of the plot, most certainly finally letting go of her weighed up guilt to Hyun Jae’s death. Then of course, there’s Sundae. The chairman of one of Korea’s most successful groups, now similarly disregarded by his former contractee, Soon Tae’s growing idol business and battling old age. In terms of development, whilst the show did focus upon the main mystery upon Hyun Jae’s disappearance and to a lesser extent Ji Hoon’s twist parentage, a lot of the cushioned storyline such as the relationship between Woo Seung with Hyun Jae , diminished the focus upon familial relationships within the show. Whilst a lot of critics jump to point out the age difference officially between Woo Seung and Hyun Jae in 2017( I.e Hyun Jae is officially in his 40s and Woo Seung is still only in her 20s), my biggest problem did not come through this. ( Although a lot of critics also forget that Hyun Jae is from 1993, and consequently is still in his 20s.) It was not to do with the lack of chemistry between the leads, but, rather it diminished the main focus upon Hyun Jae’s familial relationships, as well of course trying to overcome the plot hole of the butterfly effect which just drags deeper downwards, near the ending of the show due to of course the error of one of the main plot reveals. Naturally, the ending did offer a happy release for viewers and tied down the fates of the characters , however, it didn’t truly feel connected together as a final and complete ending, considering that one of the main plot’s storylines was nearly erased entirely from its appeal.

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Unknown; A Drama with Wasted Potential...

Unknown is arguably one of the weirdest dramas from 2023 so far. This statement does not come from the plot itself. In fact, on paper, the drama was engrossing; a vampire called Yamihara Kokoro ( Takahata Mitsuki), pretending to be human, falls in love with a human policeman Asada Toramatsu (Tanaka Kei). Toramatsu's skeletons in the closet come to light as the drama precedes. As Kokoro and Toramatsu attempt to navigate their new sense of the everyday, their lives are interrupted by a series of brutal murders.


Where the problem became apparent with Unknown came through the writing and execution itself. Initially, the story began on a solid foot. Viewers learn early on that Kokoro's family are vampires. She is dating a human and struggles between her identity and shielding elements of her life from Asada. The early teasing by the screenwriter Tokuo Koji ( Ossan's Love and Eiga Engeki Success So) for the series is a mystery thriller with elements of slice of life was soon interrupted by the attempts to bring about '' shocking twists''.



Of course, a dramatic twist or moment of sudden reversal for the characters can work well in a drama, given that it is well incorporated into the plot. The problem with Koji's writing came from trying to outdo the last twist in a series of events, which becomes increasingly ridiculous in later episodes. By the end of the series, the more relevant plot twists were so lost in the multitude of loose plot threads that they lost their true significance in the series.


The acting of the series was okay. It was nothing particularly award-winning ( especially considering the more over-the-top performances), but it was watchable for the most part.



Takahata Mitsuki offered arguably one of the best performances in the series as the vampire and journalist Yamihara Kokoro. For the most part, Kokoro is a fairly kindhearted character who attempts to live a simple life by adapting to the modern world. She has a close relationship with her parents ( though her relationship with her brother is rarely explored, even in minor scenes to their full potential). She cares deeply for her boyfriend and fiancé Yamihara. One element which became apparent in Kokoro's character was that she rarely seemed to have a more profound sense of authority or putting her foot down. It is understandable not to want to upset others ( in fact, this would have been an exciting flaw for Kokoro to have possessed). Still, her questionable relationship with Kagami Keisuke ( Machida Keita) was bizarre. For a character like Kokoro, it seemed odd for her not to question or worry about how she practically had a flirtatious relationship with Keisuke, even in front of Yamihara. The series attempted to add a shocking twist on this front, but how this was left lacked a lot.



Tanaka Kei starred as policeman Asada Toramatsu and Kokoro's fiancé. Toramatsu had a lot of potentials to be morally ambiguous and complex. His backstory and relationship with his father were hinted to have been a major driving force of the series, and while it did possess some intriguing aspects, its blunt deliverance and rushed conclusion lacked a lot of dramatic impact and buildup. This resulted in Toramatsu's character being a bit weak in his writing. He certainly had kindhearted elements to his character and a good heart. Still, considering the number of deaths and conflict around Toramatsu, it seemed odd that this character was not given full justice through his development.


Other vital characters included Kokoro's theatrical father, Yamihara Kaizo ( Yoshida Kaizo), an attempted piece of comic relief for the series, which, while funny in scenes, became a bit exhausting at times. Kokoro's mother and Kaizo's wife, Yamihara Iori (Aso Kumiko), is a reasonably fun character in her own right. The series was going for a Morticia and Gomez dynamic, with the couple seemingly being head over heels for one another in a more morbid manner. However, a lack of romantic chemistry between the characters and a lack of dynamic between the actors often meant this relationship fell slightly flat.



Kagami Keisuke enacts as Kokoro's co-worker and potential love interest. Keisuke and Kokoro's relationship dynamic was arguably one of the most bizarre in the series ( including an attempted threesome date with Toramatsu, despite the male lead disliking him). The drama tried to pull a sudden, surprising twist in the final part of the series, but a lack of proper build-up and writing made this feel rushed and poorly developed.



Other supporting characters included Yoyozuka Yukio (Kote Shinya), Igarashi Matsuri (First Summer Uika), Yamihara Ren (Inoue Yuki), Igarashi Daigoro (Sota Ryosuke), Niwatsuki Genji ( Sakou Yoshi), Minamijuji Hajime (Niiro Shinya), Soga Shinichi (Ishikawa Zen) and Imafuku Ume (Kino Hana). Although these characters were fascinating in their own right, they were rarely given enough screen time or development to be explored to their full potential.



The OST was decent. Kono Shin composed some decent tracks, such as ''UNKNOWN MAIN THEME'', which were haunting. The cinematography was strange in that the opening had the highest production budget of the whole series. Directors Kanai Ko and Ruto Toichiro attempted to add to the mystery element by revealing minor parts of the ending in the opening credits per episode. This was quite a creative take with all things considered but a mixture of rushed execution and convoluted plot twists often resulted in the impact of the opening losing its meaning over time. The actual quality of the series was average.



Unknown was a drama which was filled with wasted potential. Poor writing decisions and a lack of character development meant they needed further development. The acting was not bad, but they were not performed in a way viewers could take entirely seriously. Overall while short in length, Unknown was a waste of time and potential despite its exciting premise.

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Will This Movie Serve As Your ‘ Hero’?

Kim Hong Ik attempted to ride off the coattails of the crazed vampire genre phenomenon during the early 2010s with ‘ Hero’; an intriguing but sporadic and low-budget vampire flick which will likely intrigue and unintentionally amuse viewers of equal measure.

The plot revolved mainly around underdog high school student Shim-dan (Kim Hyung-Gyu). Together with his best friend Eun-seok (Han Jeong-woo) , the duo are often tormented by relentless bully Cheol-seung (Kwak Min-ho). Nevertheless Shim- Dan has found salvation from his daily torture by trying to avoid Cheol-Seong wherever possible. Instead the main lead spends time watching his secret crush Mi-ah (Lee Da-in) ; too scared to approach her directly and often watching her from afar out of intrigue .

However Shim-Dan’s ordinary school life soon takes a different turn. One evening he ends up attempting to rescue a drunk girl Yoo-ri (Han Ye-won) from being assaulted only to discover she is a vampire. Rather than killing him Yoo-Ri decided to spare his life by turning him into a vampire also. Desperately trying to hide his newfound physical changes and abilities from his classmates , Shim-Dan’s secret becomes harder to keep after the transfer of Yoo-ri as a teacher at the school.

The acting in the series could admittedly be a mixed-bag. The main cast undeniably had natural onscreen chemistry together. However line deliverances could admittedly differ between scenes also.

Kim Hong Ik’s ‘ Hero’ is a vampire movie evidently aimed at a younger audience. Graphic violence and blood is rarely exposed in the series and thematic themes surrounding everyday high school life certainly indicated towards the audience’s aimed age demographic. Nevertheless it is important to establish that ‘Hero’ was surprisingly not based upon lighthearted and soapy teen-angst either. The greatest drive of the movie was arguably served through the comedy; alternating at times between professional satire and amateurish jokes. However sadly the alternation between professionalism and amateurism could often be seen in the screenwriting also.

One of the greatest problems which arose in Kim Hong Ik’s movie could often be found through struggling to establish a concise plot goal from the outset. Perhaps if the movie had tempted to place an obtrusive focus on simply Shim- Dan’s new life as a vampire and his gradual romantic relationship with Mi-ah, ‘ Hero’ could’ve felt as though it had a direct and clear plot beginning, climactic build and resolution throughout the movie. However sadly this was not the case with the outcome for ‘ Hero’ ‘s depicted plot line.

Intriguing relationship builds initially introduced such as between Yoo-ri and Shim-Dan were often abandoned by the halfway point whilst potentially quintessential characters were often left hung up by abandoned subplots before the halfway point. As a consequence entire sequences and seemingly built up scenes were often awkwardly cut through or flitted to another scenario in an attempt to draw viewers’ attention to another storyline; often feeling like a diversion tactic to reduce focus upon loose plot ends.

By the ending of the movie it was evident that even the screenwriters were aware that the plot had been exhausted due to lacking foundations setup from the start towards plot drive. The “solution” was given by the screenwriter by the finale of the film: enter the generic vampire final boss. Whilst arguably this scenario was a desperate attempt to clutch at wrapping some loose plot ties up, the ending felt sporadic and rashly thrown together to raise tension. However rather than acting upon coherent logic, it was odd that somehow all of the quintessential characters of the film were put under one roof without h rhyme or reason towards truly coming together.

A consistent problem which became apparent in these final conflict scenes became apparent through poor fighting sequences; looking neither consistent or slick onscreen.

Of course it is wrong to entirely condemn ‘ Hero’ also. One of the greatest writing dynamics of the film came through the friendship between Shim-Dan and Eun-Seok. As the movie progressed and events shifted it became apparent towards the natural causes of division which would occur between the two friends.

In addition to this there’s also the relationship between Mi-ah and Shim-Dan. The chemistry between both of the main leads was dynamic and gradual. It could’ve admittedly have been built up more but it did add a touch of surprising authenticity towards a main lead who struggled with his bloodlust towards his crush. Even Mi-ah had her moments of added complexity at times in the movie with her home life revealing that she struggled with her own problems also.

Several plot holes aside there is the OST also. The chosen soundtrack isn’t inherently dire per say but considering the mood and tone set during scenes it could often feel mismatched against storyline and taking away the deliverance of emotion, when silence could’ve delivered a greater result at times also. In addition to this there’s the amalgamation of the quality of filming in the series; low-budget but sometimes cinematic and at other parts in the film, arbitrary and rushed scenes added before the final-cut gave an amateurish feel towards the delivered result.

Overall ‘ Hero’ proved to be an intriguing premise with a decent cast and ensemble of characters. Nevertheless whilst the film delivered a compact conclusion, the added touch of lacking to wrap up loose plot ends didn’t deliver a truly emotional finale to the film. Amateurish screenwriting combined with filmmaking created a haphazard film filled with unexplored potential; entertaining in a way but never truly possessing concise build or plot either.

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Let’s See How Many More Cliches We Can Cram In There..

Nice Guy (or “Innocent Man “depending on the translation ) is a revenge tale revolving around an innocent young man called Kang Ma-Roo ( Song Joong Ki) . After an unforgivable incident with his unrequited love interest Han Jae Hee ( Park Si Young), Kang Ma Roo’s life descends into bitterness and cynicism as
a Casanova to pay for his sister-figure, Choco (Lee Yu Bi) ‘s medical bills and for a roof over their heads . A fated meeting with Jae Hee once again , leads him into hatching a revenge scheme by seducing Jae Hee’s cold-hearted stepdaughter and chaebol heiress ,Seo Eun Gi ( Moon Chae Won), however, revenge and love soon become intertwined as Ma-Roo finds himself falling deeper into an emotional whirlpool of the past and the present. Before I begin to analyse the reason behind my rating, I’ll start off by saying that this show could be surprisingly profound in parts . The drama exposed deeper levels of the characters’ consciences rather than a mere “ she’s the antagonist, so she is evil” and “ he’s the hero, so he’s always going to do the right thing”. In that respect, Kang Ma Roo is easily one of the most complex characters within the series; neither truly “ pure” and a knight in shining armour, nor beyond repair and a moustache twirling villain. Instead, he is simply human and is only trying to survive and receive justice for the wrongdoings of Han Jae Hee even if he has to harm others in the process. Similarly, it’s easy to write off Jae Hee as a “ femme fatale antagonist “ who is out to get Ma Roo , however, she does provide a similar reason behind her actions; survival. It doesn’t make her excuses forgivable, however, more profound moments in the series do reveal that Jae Hee has a family to look after, a status to maintain and feelings for Ma Roo which begin to bubble at the surface and drive her motivation out of revenge and jealousy. In a similar manner, Eun Gi is a spoilt and callous girl with few redeeming features, apart from a greater exposure beneath her facades towards having a good heart and her dedication to Ma Roo. Whilst the characterisation within the show is undeniably well-written, it’s hard to say the same about the general plot and the mixed bag of acting within the show as well. The early episodes within the show were simply nothing more than slow within the general pacing of the series. Whilst these episodes do set out the groundwork for the reason behind Ma Roo’s revenge and how he comes to meet Jae Hee again and Eun Gi, there’s little direction or premise towards exactly how the series will go. Once the pace does pick up after a couple of episodes into the drawn main premise of Eun Gi being in a manipulative relationship with Ma Roo, the scriptwriters go wild with cramming in as many cliches as they can into the storyline at once, rather than simply either only choosing a couple sensical cliches and developing the show with original takes, or not including them at all. Instead, we are left with the notable cliches which have been laughably performed in every known Korean drama before and afterwards, from suffering Male lead, rich female lead, Male lead will do anything to survive, illness, amnesia, heirs and fiancés just for good measure. Whilst the cliches in themselves can be done incredibly well, the show simply overdramatised many of these cliches into beyond ridiculous plot ventures later into the series especially regarding the clearly manipulative relationship which the writers try to pick up again through romanticism. Whilst this did expose a more emotionally vulnerable sides to Ma Roo and Eun Gi, it left out many inclusive details towards Ma Roo’s reasons for approaching Eun Gi in the first place. The ending of the show is more than a quick fix solution, than a cathartic completion for our protagonists and felt a slight let down in regards to the great potential which the scriptwriters could have played with after the final climax of the series. In terms of acting, the cast had certain moments of brilliance and laughable deliverance of lines as well. Song Joong Ki portrayed his role not so much through some of his mediocre deliverance of lines and angst brooding, but, through his usage of facial expressions in particular to express to the audience the emotional state of Kang Ma Roo was well -performed . In comparison to Chae Won, Si Young’s performance as Jae Hee , wasn’t enough for a standing ovation from her portrayal easily fading into the background, however, she did play the role with a level of some emotional complexity as a woman torn between survival and love in some of the more profound and touching rare moments especially between her son and surprisingly Eun Gi . Undeniably, Chae Won was one of the strongest actors within the show. Whilst like Joong Ki she had her wobbly moments, it was fair to say that her portrayal was played with a level of more than emotional complexity and humanity and quickly had audiences rooting for her by her expression of emotions.

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‘Whispering Corridors’? More Like Talking Corridors…

In retrospect ‘ Whispering Corridors’ is an oddly anomaly of a film. Released the same year as its more critically-successful and spine-tingling Japanese counterpart ‘Ringu’( 1998) , Screenwriter and director Park Ki-Hyung had been pushing the idea of the movie for numerous years beforehand in order to compete with the rising success of Japanese horror “Yurei “ ( ghost) movies in the Asian-film industry. However ironically whilst ‘ Whispering Corridors’ was a domestic box-office hit the film was neither truly a “terrifying” or well-executed due to a consequence of its patchwork and baffling narrative.

The premise of the film revolves around a teacher at an all-girls school who after stumbling upon the bizarre death of a pupil at the school several years ago is mysteriously found dead the next morning in a seeming act of suicide. Gossip soon begins to spread around the school towards the building being haunted by a vengeful spirit which new intern Eun-young (Lee Mi-yeon) who is, in fact, an ex-pupil and friend of Jin-ju, takes it upon herself to investigate, and comes up not only against a murderous spirit, but more importantly against the corrupt practices of the school authorities.

The acting front of the film is admittedly satisfactory to say the least- its not bad per say and certainly decent enough to watch through scenes, but poorly-paced dialogue deliverances and delayed expression reaction rarely added vivid realism to these moments either.

The horror elements of ‘ Whispering Corridors’ often felt as though there were reluctantly added by Park Ki-Hyung. Of course they exist in theory throughout the film from the presence of the ghost and the urban legends but rarely did they lack two quintessential elements for a horror film; fear and suspense due to lacking build-up or connected points in the storyline . Consequently the overture of ‘ Whispering Corridors’ felt as though it was a parody of the horror genre; over-the-top screams, dark camera angles and the classic “ blood on the wall” lacking anything but dread as further “horror” scenes also seemed to suffer from a farcical existence in the movie also.

Instead ‘ Whispering Corridors’ often felt as though it was supposed to be a social critique - a message which was surprisingly highlighted substantially in the movie. Park Ki-Hung seemed to provide an inherently strong anti-authoritarian streak; openly speaking out against corporal punishment, the impossible strive for perfection and exam results as well as notable taboos in South-Korean popular culture such as lesbianism, assault and corruption.

However sadly rather than these more profound themes helping to tie down the loose ends of ‘ Whispering Corridors’ this instead spiralled a patchwork narrative to take root frontal stage of the film with sporadic-jumps between subplots, heavy dialogues and poor-editing resulting in the film’s pacing feeling tedious. The ending did little to serve a sense of completion or spine-tingling chills for viewers with the outcome feeling more anti-climatic than satiable.

Ki-Hyung’s hand at cinematography was admittedly dated in places through low-budget camera shots and egregious editing at times, but it is praiseworthy to note that Hyung did experiment a lot with early day filming - techniques into Korean cinema such as long shots, pan shots as well as fade sequences throughout the duration of the film ( which are all still widely used today in the South-Korean film industry.)

Overall Park Ki Hyung’s ‘ Whispering Corridors’ is the movie which would’ve arguably done better as a standalone social-commentary movie, than a marketed “horror-flick”. Whilst the movie did admittedly inspire future filmmakers through its box-office success and experiment with the early days of Korean horror in the film industry, the evident comparison between the poorly-paced and mind-numbing narrative with an absent scare factor against its more spine-tingling and suspenseful Japanese counterpart cannot help but come into effect afterwards

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It's fair to say that from probably reading the synopsis alone, you can guess that the show is another attempt to attract young viewers with the cliche setup of the bullied ''loser'' Oh (Korapat Kirdpan) trying to win the affections of the school-beauty Peach (Ramida Jiranorraphat). Whilst this premise can give to rise even with unoriginal story premises to intriguing character depth , development or twists upon the cliches, the most prominent issue of My Dear Loser; Edge of 17 arises through neither Peach nor even more hero Oh, being likeable or decent characters.

For a character bullied, humiliated and who has been manipulated numerous times by his supposed ''angelic'' Peach, Oh should have been a character who went through great development or was at least relatable through his more traumatic experiences. Despite this, Oh seemed the epitome of a ''stock'' male lead; played for some comical relief at times, and too obsessed with chasing his crush Peach with little explanation or reasons behind his affections or feelings as an individual apart from her psychical appearance making her seem ''nice''.

This naturally moves us onto our supposed heroine Peach. By default, Peach should have equally been an intriguing character; forced into a particular stereotype as the ''pretty and nice'' girl by her peers, in a clearly uncomfortable relationship with the school bully Copper ( Purim Rattanaruangwattana) and having the potential to find and escape through a gradual friendship to possibly something more with Oh. However, Peach was a fairly plain and quite shallow character, nearly constantly misleading or ''unintentionally'' manipulating Oh's feelings without a second thought. By the ending of the series, there is little actual relief or intrigue with the delivered fate of both these characters due to neither being portrayed as intriguing individuals, nor having a deep relationship with one another either.
Perhaps the one saving grace of My Dear Loser; Edge of 17 was screenwriter Backaof Noppharnach Chaiwimol ( director of Dark Blue Kiss and Our Skyy)'s classic mark of a fairly realistic( and ironically more intriguing than our main couple,) same-sex relationship between Oh's targeted friend Sun ( Wachirawit Ruangwiwat) and bully In ( Purim Rattanaruangwattana). Whilst beyond cliche and certainly not overly original, a note of appraisal must be given within portraying the difficulties and hardships of this relationship for both Sun and In. Sadly, however, this one decent relationship was undermarked by the main and lacklustre focus on our main pairing, making the delivered story of their relationship fairly underdeveloped.

Overall, My Dear Loser;Edge of 17 undeniably had a fairly accurate portrayal of homosexuality as a youth drama, however, the storyline, characters and certainly some of the acting was lacklustre and incredibly underperformed to say the least. If you're looking for a good teen drama, then look elsewhere as there are better dramas than this to watch.

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A Typical Historical Drama , With A Not So Typical Twist...

The beginning of the show sets the drama in 1930s Korea during the Japanese occupation . The Male lead, Lee Kang To, is one of the few Korean police officers in the Japanese force, a factor which shuns for not being Korean by his own people, and being an outsider by the Japanese. Kang To becomes determined to capture the Robin-Hood-style vigilante, Bridal Mask, and prove hinself to the police force. When Kang To discovers an ugly truth about the original person behind the mask, he begins to wear the identity of Bridal Mask in an attempt for vengeance against those who wronged him, a fate which drags in his old friend and former high school teacher, Kimura Shinji, and a mysterious Korean woman, Mok Dan, into the mix as well. Undeniably, after a slow start, the show after episode 3, kicked off to an intriguing plot regarding some in predictable moments for Kang To’s redemption.Even in the earlier episodes, the script writers were quick to draw the line that there was a more of a morally “ grey area” to Kang To’s character than everyone presumes as the “ enemy of the people”, none more shown in the relationship between himself and his brother.However, my one fault was that whilst Kang To began to fight for the “ good side”, there was little drawn by the resistance fighters towards some of Kang To’s more violent ideas and actions such as the suicide bomber at the police ceremony event . Undeniably this wasn’t viewed as a “ bad action” in the show by resistance fighters, however, there were some moves even when he became caught up in the cat and mouse game with Shinji, that seemed a little questioning towards the line between injuring and killing even some of his old friends in the academy, something which felt a little out of place considering Kang To’s emotions . Perhaps topping Kang To in characterisation, was Kimura Shinji’s transgression from an amiable schoolteacher to a near sociopath. Whilst there was an obvious drawn line between the “ good” hero of justice, Lee Kang To, and the “ villainous” Japanese officer, Kimura Shinji, there were moments within Shinii’s character,that spoke exposed a more “ human” side to an antagonist. In regards to our female character of the show, Mok Dan had realistic conflicted feelings to Kang To, a Japanese police officer, as well as her duty towards her father’s cause in the Japanese resistance movement. On the other hand, Mok Dan felt a little underdeveloped in terms of her general personality and persona than Kang To and Shinji. Whilst she did seem to have a moral compass, it was difficult to see exactly what made her relatable as an individual. Perhaps the one female character which the scriptwriters did seem to stick out more in terms of personality, was Ueno Rie’s desire for climb up to the top, as well her feelings for Kang To, yet, even then Ueno Rie felt a little more like a dead weight within moments in the drama . By the ending of the show, the script offers a strong hold upon the general objective towards Bridal Mask,however, there were a few technical trip-ups especially in regards to several of the resistance fighters being able to “ shake off” Japanese spies on more than one occasion. The final ending of the drama tied off some very loose ends in regards to the final chase with Bridal Mask and took some shocking decisions as well regarding some main character. Whilst I am conflicted towards the scriptwriters decision , it did deliver a more appropriate ending for an action drama than a lot of other Korean action dramas out there which would end the show upon an entirely idealistic ending than one appropriate for its genre.

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All Aboard the ‘ Crazy’ Train Of ‘ Love’…

There’s a lot to discuss when it comes to KBS2 and Disney +’s trope-induced series ‘ Crazy Love’. It is intrepidly bold, brash and off-the-wall with its setup and premise and will likely appeal and displease viewers of equal measure. ( Especially dependent on expectations.)

The plot initially introduces viewers to Noh Go-jin (Kim Jae-wook); an elitist mathematics tutor, spearheading one of the most prestigious and private education hubs in the country. However despite his prodigal skills, Go-Jin has a foul temper and personality.

He absolutely terrifies his staff with his short fuse , yet he is still able to somehow earn their respect and admiration through his sheer talent in solving and teaching equations and mathematics problems.

Nobody knows this love-hate relationship with Go-Jin better than his unassuming personal assistant, Lee Shin-a (Krystal Jung). Often being the target of his ire, Shina-a’s reasons for not throwing in the towel are sourced from her own desires to become a personal tutor and help teach and educate others.

However, Shin-a finds her life going on a downwards spiral. Her constant migraines seemingly from stress and fatigue are diagnosed as acute symptoms of glioblastoma, a malignant brain tumour brought on by bouts of long-term stress from Go-Jin.

Enraged, Shin-a’s plans for revenge against Go-Jin are soon backfired as she finds herself in a sticky situation with her boss.

‘ Crazy Love’ was the brainchild of screenwriter Kim Bo-gyeom ( ‘Drama Stage Season 2: All About My Rival in Love’). Although the comic relief is variable at times, the series is surprisingly satirical in parts and self-aware of its own over-the-top setup. In particular, this was shown through the screenplay reimbursing old cliches and tropes ( including amnesia, misunderstandings and fake identities).

In addition to this approach, it was noticeable ‘ Crazy Love’ often approach its satire with a darker edge, often shown through sardonic irony or circumstances. ( This was particularly shown in the series through the gradual snowballing case of crimes that were shown throughout the narrative such as impersonation and attempted murder, often landing female lead Lee Shin-a- directly or indirectly- into hot water or complicated situations .)

However despite its satirical take upon old cliches and tropes, ‘ Crazy Love’ was often subject to the faults of its own shortcomings also. ( Sadly this was evident through the cataclysmic approach taken by the writing and direction of plot within early episodes. )

Before exposing the issue of these problems in the narrative, it is important to acknowledge that the main cast of ‘ Crazy Love’ delivered fairly solid performances as the main leads. Actor Kim Jae-Wook( ‘ Coffee Prince’, ‘ The Guest’ and ‘ Her Private Life’) has often been associated with taking on unconventional or unusual roles throughout his career, and his performance as Noh Go-Jin n certainly was no different. Admittedly, Jae-Wook’s performance could sometimes come across as somewhat overblown at times but this was not necessarily the fault of the actor per say.

As a character, Noh Go-Jin was purposefully presented as “unlikeable and grating” during his introduction. It was evident from his initial portrayal by Bo-gyeom that his ultimate drive as a character would be for viewers to see the undertaking of his “ redemption arc”; a process which can be overly convoluted dependent on the approaches taken by screenwriters.

Go-Jin’s character development was admittedly a mixed-bag to say the least. It was refreshing to see that the male lead was not given an excuse to become overly redeemed by his faults and flaws per say . ( In fact even into later episodes and during particular events of the series , it was shown that some of Go-Jin’s initial personality traits are still displayed.)

On the other hand, it still remains a divisive issue towards the approach taken for Go-Jin’s character arc and development. (This is mainly due to the fact that while there are elements of the main lead developing and becoming aware of his past mistakes, his main source of development and growth comes through his potential feelings and romance with main female lead Lee Shin-a. )

This is certainly not an unusual approach per say in dramas and the “ enemy to lovers” trope has remained a classic staple in storylines over the years. On the other hand, it can often remain a controversial and complex issue to approach a potentially romantic relationship, especially if the individuals in question have displayed abusive or threatening personality traits towards their significant other.

Of course, ‘ Crazy Love’ does attempt to subvert the issues of this setup through Go-Jin’s “softer side” coming to light as well as intensifying the potential romantic chemistry between the leads. However it is fair to say that while Jae-Wook and Krystal’s onscreen chemistry was fairly decent, it certainly raised a lot more issues and questions with regards to Jae-Wook rarely being held accountable for his actions or coming to terms at times with his own mistakes. ( In addition to this, the final part of ‘ Crazy Love’ showed Jae-Wook’s decisions and choices feeling fairly out of character at times without a lot of explanation aside from “ becoming a better person because of Lee Shin-a”.)

This isn’t to say that heroine and main female lead Lee- Shin-a didn’t suffer from writing issues either. Although the actress has respectfully received mixed-reception for her onscreen roles, Krystal’s (‘ My Lovely Girl’, ‘ The Heirs’ and ‘ Prison Playbook’) performance as the main female lead is certainly decent enough.

Lee Shin-a is purposefully presented to viewers as the “ likeable heroine”. Indeed despite some later writing issues, for the most part, Gyeom’s intentions were successful. ( Especially with consideration to her trials and tests over the course of the series with snowballing situations and Go-Jin.) On the other hand, this is naturally where we hit a rut with Shin-a as a written character; her personality and character-arc were often flatlined in order to make way for her romance with Jae-Wook.

Perhaps it is arguable that screenwriter Bo-gyeom wanted to explore Shin-a’s natural passion and empathy through her potential chemistry with the main male lead . However even in the series filled to the brim with sheer absurdity and comic relief , it still seemed an ineffably odd writing decision to allow Shin-a, a fairly level-headed individual despite her conflicted situation, to break into her boss’ home with dark eyeshadow and hand in her resignation aside from attempting to generate a few laughs.

In addition to this, it seemed even stranger that screenwriter dd that Bo-gyeom did not attempt to at least highlight a moment of vulnerability for Shin-a during her initial news in the first episode, or at least help to portray her own internal conflict between attempting to act on reason and emotion beforehand. ( As mentioned previously, specifically with consideration to her character.) Instead although the series sometimes discussed her family relations, the issues surrounding her cancer and personal conflict with her illness and work life, were nearly entirely brushed aside in order to make way for her romance with the main lead.

Again, this isn’t always necessarily a bad writing decision per say in dramas and it did arguably allow some opportunities for Shin-a to come to terms with her own situation as well as personal stigmas. On the other hand despite the drama’s attempts to “cushion ” the relationship between the main leads( especially with regards to their initially problematic setup ) , is still offered a less than resolute reason at times for Shin-a to become attracted to Go-Jin. ( Especially with regards to early episodes having placed heavy emphasis on the characters being complete opposites that completely despise one another with a burning passion. )

Of course, while it isn’t an unusual approach to see “ opposites attract” in dramas, ‘ Crazy Love’ rarely allowed this development to feel completely symbiotic or enthralling, instead often glossing over some more problematic issues of the series ( such as abuse, lies and crimes) without allowing either character truly being held equally accountable for their actions .

Then of course there’s the discussion surrounding the side characters. Actor Ha Jun ( ‘ Black Dog: Being A Teacher’) took on the role as supporting character Oh Se Gi, Go Jin's copartner & friend, as well as one of the few staff members shown in the series to be initially kind to female lead Shin-a. Se Gi had a lot of potential to be an intriguing character with regards to his character- growth but due to the result of attempting to enforce several predictable “ plot twists”, it often left his character arc feeling poorly developed by the latter-half .

In addition to Se Gi, there is also Go-Jin’s first love Baek Soo-young ( Yoo In- Young- ‘ A Man Called God’, ‘ Oh My Venus’ and ‘ Good Casting’) as well as other supporting characters such as Shin-a’s best friend Chu Ok-hee ( Park Han Sol- ‘ A Poem a Day’, ‘ Sell Your Haunted House’ and ‘ Hospital Playlist 2’), the main female lead’s brother Lee Su-ho ( Astro’s Yoon San-ha-‘ To Be Continued’) and the nosy cleaning lady ( Lee Mi-young- ‘ Time Between Dog and Wolf’, ‘ Mr.Back’ and ‘ Our Gap Soon’); all of whom played their necessary roles in the storyline and helping to pad out the narrative, but rarely being given further development as a consequence.

Naturally this brings up the issue of pacing and execution in the series. The first-half of ‘ Crazy Love’ was grating at times due to its overabundance of running gags and tropes and incoherent plot logic . ( As exemplified with the police during the initial few episodes.) Arguably the final-part of ‘ Crazy Love’ did give opportunities to finally get the ball rolling with the main plot but due to poor pacing issues, it often left to certain counterplots and character-arcs feeling somewhat neglected by the finale.

Director Kim Jung Hyun ( ‘ Sassy Go Go’, ‘ After the Rain’ and ‘ My Fellow Citizens!’) certainly took a fairly avant-garde approach during initial scenes of the series. ( Often leading to dream-like and surrealist sequences and moments such as when viewers were transported into the imagination of Shin-a, with the tutors of her workplace being imagined as towering and deity-like figures) . Although later episodes of the series were not as ambitious and could sometimes feel stark in parts, the cinematography was still fairly glossy and professional .

The OST of ‘ Crazy Love’ was mainly composed of upbeat and fast-paced pop tracks . While admittedly some of these songs blended into one another and were certainly dependent on personal tastes , there were still a couple of compositions such as “ Bite!” ( “ 물어 !”) by Baekho, “ Wide Open” by JUNIEL and “Maybe” by DAVII which did surprisingly stand out.

‘ Crazy Love’ is a series which can offer viewers with an off-the-wall setup and a star-studded cast. However despite the potential for ‘ Crazy Love’ to carry forwards a well-executed storyline and narrative, the series was often shaken in parts by inconsistent pacing issues, character-writing and execution. Overall ‘ Crazy Love’ will likely vary for viewers dependent on expectations. For those looking for a quick and disengaging binge-watch then ‘ Crazy Love’ is certainly worth watching. On the other hand for those looking to invest time within a well-executed series throughout, then ‘ Crazy Love’ may not appeal to all.

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Doctor Cha; How to Ruin A Good Show...

Watching Doctor Cha was similar to Marmite; people either loved or hated the drama's ending, and there was not much in between. However, looking at the series throughout, it was hard not to notice some of the drama's more apparent flaws.


Jung Yeo Rang wrote the series, while Kim Dae Jin and Kim Jung Wook directed it. The plot focuses on Cha Jung Sook (Uhm Jung Hwa), a housewife for more than two decades and the wife of surgeon Seo In Ho (Kim Byung Chul). After a health shock, Jung Sook questions whether she wants to complete her residency as a doctor. Jung Sook can fulfil her dream with the help of the kind-hearted surgeon Roy Kim (Min Woo Hyuk). However, as melodrama brewing elsewhere, Seo In Ho's involvement with an old flame from the past and work colleague Choi Sung Hee ( Myung Se Bin) threatens to create other melodrama.



The series was a mixture of genres. It leaned into medical, romance and melodrama for the most part. The balance between these three genres could sometimes be difficult to mediate, significantly as the series progressed. This often made the show feel like a different watching experience in these various genre shifts, mainly when early profound topics and themes addressed ( such as murder, medical malpractice and treating criminals) were rarely tackled in later episodes.




The drama's acting is admittedly very mixed. Uhm Jung Hwa starred as the main female lead, Cha Jung Sook. Jung Hwa will likely be unfamiliar to newer drama fans, though some drama watchers may recognise her from the movie Dancing Queen and the show Get Karl! Oh, Soo Jung, Witch's Romance and Our Blues. Jung Hwa arguably offers one of the best performances in the series as the main female lead.


As a character, Cha Jung Sook is undoubtedly a mixed bag. She is kind-hearted and sincerely desires to care for patients and those close to her. Nevertheless, Jung Sook's character arc, particularly her relationship with Seo In Ho, remained one of the most problematic areas of the show. The series attempted to delve further into this relationship's complications and difficulties. Still, for the most part, it was an incredibly controlling relationship With In- Ho. Rather than delving into these complications further and allowing Jung Sook an opportunity to get away from him early on in the series, the narrative dragged out this arc beyond its limit, particularly for comical relief and further dramatic tension. Jung Sook's potential relationship with Roy Kim remained one of the most grating elements of the series. The conclusion to this relationship remained a subject of significant criticism by watchers and fans alike, mainly due to Jung Sook's character arc on this front feeling rushed. One of the few strengths of Jung Sook's character development came from her concluding circumstance. Although anti-climactic, it was reasonably befitting for her as a character to follow that particular path.



The series attempted to make In-Ho’s character more ‘’empathic’’ in parts of the drama. This would have been an understandable move if it was not more to do with the fact that In-Ho had little guilt or redemption throughout the series. Even if it had been a case of In-Ho coming to acknowledge or reason with his actions, this would have allowed him to grow as a character. Instead, In-Ho spends most of his time whining about Jung Sook, unable to make his mind over her and Choi Sung Hee, sidling up to his mother, Kwak Ae-sim (Park Joon-geum ) and then letting his anger out by attempting to destroy his daughter's dreams (Lee Seo-yeon). There are a few moments where we see a softer side to In Ho, but considering his attitude throughout the drama, these moments lack impact when faced with his treatment of others.



Roy Kim is another central character in the series. His character's personality acts as a perfect foil to In-Ho. While In-Ho is arrogant, jealous and egocentric, Roy Kim is sincere, kindhearted and cares deeply for his patients. His relationship with Jung Sook, from patient to crush, remains one of the major driving forces of the series. Sadly, Roy's character arc was not given a lot of justice, with a rushed storyline and a potentially intriguing backstory wasted.





Choi Sung Hee enacts as an antagonistic force in the series but is arguably one of the most morally ambiguous. Myung Se Bin offered a surprisingly bittersweet performance as the second female lead. Sung Hee and In Ho's relationship, alongside her rivalry with Jung Sook, remained one of the major driving points of the series. It was surprisingly refreshing to see the connection between Sung Hee and her daughter Choi Eun-seo (So A-rin ) progressing in parts of the series and the unforeseen bond between Sung Hee and Jung Sook's mother, Oh Deok-rye ( Kim Mi-Kyung ). Nevertheless, Sung Hee and Jung Sook's rivalry seemed oddly contrived. It is not out of the question both women would be at odds, but Sung Hee's odd attraction to In Ho, despite throwing her under the bus and her odd resolution with Jung Sook, did not seem to justify her character arc truly.



Seo Jung-min (Song Ji-ho), In-Ho and Jung Sook's eldest child and a first-year medical student, had a minor role in the storyline with his relationship with Jeon So-ra. So-ra and Jung-Min were among the few couples in the series who were worth watching. However, melodrama and limited screentime offscreen time interactions are less significant in later episodes. Later in the series, Jung Min attempts to be given a more complex character arc through a particular circumstance, but a rushed conclusion rarely makes this feel well-developed. To make matters worse, viewers learn from Seo Yi-Rang that Jung-Min did not want to become a medical student and only did so to keep his father happy. This could have been a perfect ground for exploring Jung-min's character and relationship with his parents ( particularly his father) more, though sadly, the series did not take full advantage of this.



Seo Yi-rang had her character arc too. Many more events were shaping Seo Yi-Rang's initial development than some notable characters in the series. Her relationship with her mother had some reconciliation. Still, the series rarely builds on this parallelism between mother and daughter trying to chase their dreams, often leading their interactions to fall somewhat flat. ( Especially as Yi-Rang wants to break the family tradition of attending medical school by becoming an artist.) Another major arc revolves around Yi-Rang and her friendship turned rivalry with Sung Hee's daughter, Choi Eun-Seo. Without major spoilers, it is fair to say a significant revelation divides the characters. Each character acts out independently, but considering how Yi-Rang learns more about her father, it seemed odd that the show did not try to resolve this conflict earlier rather than simply trying to drag it out for filler time until the ending.




Oh, Deok-rye has a minor role in the series alongside Kwak Ae-sim. Both characters have surprisingly sweet moments and squabbles. Another surprising performance was by Jo Ah-ram as Jeon So-ra, Jung-Min's girlfriend and Jung Sook's superior. It could have been easy for the drama to have dragged out the tension between Jung Sook and So-ra, but their bond in later parts of the theatre was oddly sweet. Her performance was remarkably likeable, adding to her onscreen persona's charm. Baek Mi-hee (Baek Joo-hee ) was another minor character as Jung Sook's best friend, though aside from trying to play a matchmaker and listen to some advice, she did not play a significant role as she should have done so.


The execution of the series was mixed. The first half was a little slow to get off the ground, but the narrative could progress further after a few episodes. However, significant proportions of the series relied heavily on dragging out conflict and melodrama rather than exploring or resolving previous character arcs or plots. This was a shame because the series had much time to cover these elements.



The cinematography was decent enough. There was nothing particularly striking, though the scene with Jung Sook joining Roy Kim to go running remains pretty sleek. The OST was okay, with a few decent tracks such as "Shine Like a Star" by Sondia and "A Day For Me" (나를 위한 하루) by Shinae An remaining particularly memorable.



Overall, Doctor Cha was a drama with much potential to be lighthearted and well-developed, but it lacked the correct execution and development. Poor character arcs rushed plot events, and an anti-climatic ending made the drama feel pieced together than a concise watch and an engaging experience. The series certainly had its sweeter moments, though sadly, this was often ignored due to these issues. Overall, a disappointing watch.

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Surprisingly Divine...

The Heavenly Idol ( alternatively known as The High Priest Rembrary, Holy Idol) has gained a lot of mixed reception from watchers due to its over-the-top plot and narrative. A mixture of personal responsibilities over the past year and drama titles which have yet to appeal has made me slightly disengaged from watching Korean dramas. However, though certainly not without considerable flaws, My Heavenly Idol was a surprisingly engaging and sweet drama at its heart.


The tvN drama was written by Lee Chun Geum and directed by Lee So Yoon ( otherwise known for his involvement with the drama special tvN O'PENing: XX+XY). My Heavenly Idol focuses on Pontifex Rembrary ( Kim Min Gue), a divine worshipper in another land. To protect his people, Pontifex has been caught up in fighting The Evil One, who is determined to create havoc and unrest. However, when Pontifex is caught up in conflict, he is transmigrated into the body of an idol singer Woo Yeon Woo. Yeon Woo is a member of an unpopular idol group called Wild Animal. As Pontifex attempts to navigate his newfound situation, he soon finds himself coming face to face with his archenemy ( Lee Jang Woo). With the help of his bandmates and Yeon Woo's long-term fan Kim Dal ( Go Bo Gyeol ), Pontifex is determined to finally bring down The Evil One, once and for all.


The Heavenly Idol has a surprisingly exciting setup for a twelve-episode drama; a fantasy world and lore of magical powers, demonic entities and effectively multiverses where viewers learn different deities exist. One of the biggest problems with the series was how myth and worldbuilding were explored. While there were some fascinating ideas, there were a lot of moments and concepts which could have been more fleshed out further or investigated further. ( Without significant spoilers, two central characters are introduced halfway through the show. While interesting, their existence raises many questions about their relevance in the storyline and what that truly means for other multiverses. In addition, the show takes a lazy approach, with the main lead being able to understand and speak Korean already. Although not out of the question, this would have been interesting to have explored a little more.) Additionally, it became apparent in later episodes that the show was influenced heavily by some well-known fantasy dramas. While not out of the question nor particularly odd considering the show's genre, it did seem a little disappointing because some of the plot's more exciting and original fantasy elements were left unexplored.



The drama series mediates between fantasy, comedy and melodrama. For the most part, the series could interweave these genres reasonably well in the first- half of the series. The final part struggled a little to maintain this balance and often shifted heavily between melodrama and fantasy with little respite or middle ground in later episodes. Surprisingly, the comic relief worked quite well in this series. It was slapstick and reasonably mundane for the most part, but it will likely generate a few genuine chuckles here and there. ( These moments would often consist of the male lead struggling to understand social etiquette or being honest and direct to the point of being perceived as false by others.)


The acting was decent, if not a little wooden in parts. Kim Min Gue is known for his roles in Perfume, Backstreet Rookie and A Business Proposal and for offering one of the series's best performances. He played the role of Pontifex with a reasonably innocent edge, adding to some golden opportunities for comic relief. Another surprisingly fun performance came through Ye Ji Won's ( Thirty But Seventeen, Never Twice and Brain Works)'s performance as Im Sun-ja. It could have been easy for Ye Ji Won's performance to have become grating as the CEO of LLL Entertainment, but her humorous edge and her character's romance added to her charm.


As a character, Pontifex is odd to describe. He is sincere, honest and kindhearted, though his stubbornness and obtuseness can often lead him into trouble. One major weakness of Pontifex's character came from his backstory and beliefs. We learn a few elements of this backstory through passing references. Still, considering one of the significant and most earth-shattering revelations for his character, it seemed odd we ( as viewers) did not get to see this being explored further.



Another major part of Pontifex's character is his relationships with his newfound bandmates and his potential love interest, Kim Dal. For the most part, both connections are lighthearted and sweet. There are moments of tribulation and trouble in both, though where weaknesses lie occurs mainly as a result of writing decisions.



Adding to this, several characters in the show could have been explored a lot more onscreen, Kim Dal being one of the most apparent. Kim Dal has a fascinating backstory, teased in early episodes, though rarely questioned or extended further. It would have been interesting for Kim Dal's past to have been used more to indicate her parallel relationship with Pontifex, which was rarely explored in the series beyond its initial usage. Many of Wild Animal's bandmates were left as background characters rather than building further on the relationship between the main lead and his fellow members. Youngest member Cha Hae-Gyeol ( Shin Kyu Hyun-Cramped Love) and lead vocalist Kasy ( Choi Jae Hyun- Love with Flaws, Dalgona and Peach of Time) had lots of potential to be explored further in parts of the series. The show hinted at both characters having their fair share of character depth and backstory, but this was rarely carried out or delved into further. Fellow bandmates Choi Jeong-seo (Hong Seung-Bum- Show Me the Ghost, Judge vs Judge and My Strange Hero) and Hwang Tae-In (Shin Myung Sung- Extracurricular and Duty After School) as well as antagonist Shin Jo Woon had a lot of potential but were rarely well developed.



The execution of the series varied greatly. The first part of the series introduced an intriguing premise and an array of characters. The plot premise was established early on in the series, and it was apparent from the outset when the plot narrative would be. The second half of the series admittedly struggled to carry the storyline further. Although the series had a reasonably sweet conclusion, it was apparent the drama was rushed in this final part. Significant parts of this storyline in these last episodes were left rushed and somewhat anti-climatic, including how some of the relationships between characters and their fates played out further.




The cinematography of The Heavenly Idol was pretty decent. It was glossy and well-defined for the most part, and the CGI was decent, though the palettes and styling were lacking. The OST of the drama was pretty decent. Some of the songs were admittedly a little forgettable, but there were a few catchy songs, such as "Suddenly (문득 내게 와)" and "Suddenly You Come to Me (문득 넌 내게와)" to name just a few.




The Heavenly Idol was a reasonably engaging show. The writing could have been handled better, especially regarding characters and direction, but the comic relief and fantasy elements were pretty fun. Overall, the series was worth it during a binge-watching session.

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The Heirs ( i.e. How To Write One Of The Most Overrated Korean Dramas Of All Time)...

Nearly every drama watcher out there will at least once probably ask or seek out advice from more experienced drama watchers for their advice or recommendations on dramas. Whilst this may differ from watcher to watcher ( depending on some of their respected tastes), the common pattern for K-Drama watchers will most likely be one or more the following; Goblin, Strong Woman Do Bong, SKY Castle, Descendants Of The Sun ( and/or) The Heirs.

The Heirs. Oh, where do you even begin with this one? The warning flags that SBS had to cast several top-notch romance drama actors Lee Min Ho, Park Shin Hye and Kim Woo Bin to attract viewer ratings, or the fact that Kim Eun Sook was involved in the scriptwriting for this show, it is hard to tell.

All joking aside The Heirs is probably what most can classify as a '' hot mess'' ; the show has a brilliant cast of very successful actors and ( whilst Eun Sook's writing can be hit or miss) it did have the potential to actually be a well-written satire upon the wealthy debutants of Korean society. Instead the show rode too heavily upon many cliches and thus lead to too many gender, racial and unrealistic stereotypes within the drama.

In the beginning of the show, the usage of LA as a setting is used as '' exotic'' eye candy for Korean viewers, however, there are two notable things here for international watchers; the first being out of all the beautiful and intriguing cities in the world, they had to chose LA in hope of appeasing the satisfaction and interest of ''young'' audiences. The second most notable trait ( even for non-Americans) is that there are some notable racial stereotypes towards foreigners being a little too ''assertive'' and ''laidback'' as well. Whilst it should be noted that a lot of this setting is used to glorify our hero Kim Tan rather than focus on details of racism, ( as an older comment has mentioned) there is also the notable problem of "sweetening" the reality of youth culture as well.

This is particularly seen of course with Kim Tan. Considering that he spent a lot of time in the U.S. and his backstory is far from being a fairytale, you would still perhaps consider that he would have turned to '' other'' methods ( i.e. drugs or alcohol ) or at least had some signs of realistic emotional trauma considering his upbringing. This isn't to glorify or disrespect elements of modesty in Korean culture, however, Kim Tan is most prominently a character in the story who is an '' outcast'' amongst his family. With years of emotional gaslighting and manipulation (particularly by his brother and father), it was hard to actually see Kim-Tan as being a genuinely developed or well-written male lead, especially towards actually developing a bond with someone as cluelessly naive as Eun Sang.

Our female lead Cha Eun Sang ( Park Shin Hye) was sadly just as badly-written as a character. Female leads don't need to be '' sassy'' or '' fighters'' to be well-written and rounded characters. Instead Eun- Sang was more of a ''ragdoll'' between the two bratty male leads Kim Tan and seeming '' dangerous bad boy'' Choi Yeong Do ( Kim Woo Bin- perhaps one of the few likeable actors and characters in the show, until they did viewers over with that usage of terrible story progression) who just happily let her seams be ripped apart by emotional manipulation rather than actually being something called an '' individual'' and putting her foot down when both characters crossed the line. In fact to make this matter worse, it wasn't just the male leads who stepped over her as Rachel ( Kim Ji Won) slowly allowed Eun- Sang to become her own sandbag of bullying and the dreaded and stereotyped female animosity as well. Perhaps my one note of praise does go to the portrayal of the unusual friendship between Eun- Sung's mute mother Park Hee-nam (Kim Mi Kyung) and Kim Tan's mother Han Ki-ae (Kim Sung-ryung) over the course of the show, which was endearingly more intriguing and heart-rendering than any of our main couples.

As countless reviews have stressed this fact before, however, The Heirs is incredibly overrated for what it is actually worth; a good cast goes to waste with poor story writing, characterisation, inconsistencies , cliches and tropes. The Heirs is no more than Boys Over Flowers repackaged with a couple of tweaks here and there by Eun Sook ( well, about from Lee Min Ho) and more headaches for sensible drama watchers as we try to guide ourselves of sixteen episodes through something which is just a hot mess even in the beginning episode. Certainly a waste of time.

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Strong Girl Nam Soon; One of The Worst Dramas of 2023?

While it is wrong to entirely compare the prequel and sequel as they do focus on respectfully different characters, due to the heavy similarities and world building between them, I will be using the original to compare the quality in writing and decisions taken by the screenwriter. ( Be warned this is going to be a long review.)

Strong Girl Nam focuses on a pretty much carbon copy setup to its predecessor, give or take with some new storyline and characters to make it “ different”. The main heroine is Kang Nam Soon ( Lee You Mi), a girl with super strength who grew up in Mongolia. Desperate to find her birth parents, she journeys to South Korea where she encounters billionaire and her biological mother Hwang Geum Joo ( Kim Jung Eun) and grandmother Gil Joong Gan ( Kim Hae Sook). Both women possesses superstrength as traditional with the matriarchal line of the family.

Despite a complicated reunion, Nam Soon’s happy ending is far from complete when she becomes involved in a drugs case and helps out Detective Kang Hee Sik ( Ong Seong Wu) who is gradually developing feelings for Nam Soon after his encounter with her early on. As Nam Soon becomes more involved in this mysterious case, she also encounters the elusively mysterious entrepreneur Ryu Shi Oh ( Byeon Woo Seok). Will Nam Soon be able to live happily with her family or she is in too deep with the investigation?

To give the shown one thing it could have been a pretty interesting premise.The first few episodes were interesting in setting up the rough concept of the series and did introduce our characters as potentially intriguing . In particular; the notion that there could be more representation of women across different generations was really fun also. The series’ major problem early on though came from not really knowing what it wanted to be. Strong Woman Do Bong Soon had fun balancing out mystery whodunnit, comic relief and romance in a way which worked well and gave the characters some room for development. Strong Girl Nam Soon tries doing the same but,unlike its predecessor, really struggles in balancing it out.

It would be understandable if the show was leaning more towards lighthearted fun, but the irony of the matter was that for the most part, the mystery element of the series was arguably just as dark in concept as the original. The series did attempt to offer some more “ dramatic tension” in scenes relating to the drug case setup, but a mixture of overreacting and being overshadowed by the comic relief sadly didn’t give the storyline that much of a punch.

Speaking of comic relief, the series is definitely indecisive . There are certainly a few jokes which occasionally land quite well ( one of my favourites being when Gil Joong Gan schools the cops and encounters Park Bo Young’s cameo), but for the most part, the series seemed to struggle with a mixture of gradually tiresome gags ( particularly directed towards male characters for no other reason other than trying to poorly imitate the situational irony from the original.)


Acting-wise was a pretty mixed bag with a mixture of overreacting and pretty wooden dialogue and characterisation . Byeon Woo Seok probably shone through the most in the series with his performance ( without spoilers) as a more ambiguous character, though was not given full justice either by reduced screen time either . Lee You Mi and Ong Seong Wu are both good actors, but the writing really didn’t give them a lot of justice.

Characters are another major post which has to be discussed. Kang Nam Soon was arguably one of the most underdeveloped character in the series and that is saying something for someone whose name is involved in the titles. Fundamentally, Nam Soon embodies the “ girl with a kind heart” trope. She is somewhat naive to the world but is ultimately out to do the right thing.

The problem is that Nam Soon doesn’t have a lot of focus or personality as a character. This is really ironic considering how much potential surrounds her. After all, there was so much possibility to talk about her experiences growing up in Mongolia more and her adopted family ( a notion Nam Soon quite happily seemed to forget in favour of the plot setup), possible complicated feelings surrounding her family abandoning her ( as well as evident insecurities surrounding her mother in particular) and of course trying to control her strength or experiences in the past. For the most part, Nam Soon pretty much breezes past with the idea of super strength or just happily moving on from a separate life and another culture (which hardly seems bothered by ) into another.

She always seems to win fights and rarely struggles with any major difficulties aside from a few “ tense” moments ( especially later in the series) which are rarely delivered afterwards. To give its prequel it’s due, one major development for the heroine was learning to control her strength and insecurities around it . While both characters have grown up in different circumstances, the lack of flaws or awareness Nam Soon actually possesses of her own situation or character , made her pretty one-dimensional in a way which shouldn’t have been the case. ( Her ending was particularly a bit of a last minute conclusion which just didn’t make sense considering her personal experiences and background.)

The next major character to talk about is Nam Soon’s mother, Hwang Geum Joo, who arguably had the most screen time for some inexplicable reason. ( More than the actual heroine.)There are some mixed feelings with this character. On one hand, her storyline was so heavily drawn upon it was had not to focus on her in the show. However, Geum Joo rarely struggles to be as likeable as the show wants her to be.

This seems to a major problem with some characters. The show wants us to like them, but in reality, it’s hard to really digress what it is about them which meant to be so intriguing when it was forced on viewers.It is a shame as Geum Joo had a potentially very interesting story; a woman who has made it in the world, living a separate life from her husband and son , struggling with the loss of a daughter and running a business could have all been excellent writing points to give her flaws.


It seems as though the series was heading in the direction at one point, but the writing had other ideas, by presenting Geum Joo somehow prevailing through it all as a “ cool vigilante” or rarely being questioned for her actions. For example, Geum Joo is meant to be a “ motherly” figure but is rarely involved in the lives of her children . It’s never really explained exactly why Geum Joo has a somewhat estranged relationship with her son, something which could have been developed a lot more, especially when Kang Nam In ( Han Sang Jo) pretty much hit the nail on the head in saying Geum Joo spends a lot more time with Nam Soon than him. While the show wanted us to feel pity for her, I couldn’t help but agree with Nam In’s point more . (Although not when we rarely see Geum Joo interact with the daughter she’s seemingly been searching for desperately beyond the first few episodes really.) More importantly, what was going on between mother and son to hardly be involved with one another to that extent ? Is this a bond which has just fallen apart naturally or has something caused it? Simple coverage on these matters could have been used well for her development, but were instead neglected and gave her little development onscreen.


Gil Joong Gan is more of a minor character in the plot but as the matriarch of the family, she does have a sideline plot involving a potential love interest. She has a good heart fundamentally; but her constant role in interfering and interesting or being used in the romantic setup does begin growing a bit grating. Her romantic setup did seem quite sweet initially especially as we seen an “ opposites attract” scenario, but Joong Gan’s lack of empathy at times, non consensual decisions and near-obsession over him did start becoming a little tiresome.


Kang Hee Sik has risen a lot of debate by watchers in being more of a background character than a male lead as he’s pretty forgettable. Hee Sik is made to embody the “ good detective” trope. He is kind-hearted and brave and committed to his job. Evidently his encounter with Nam Soon makes him develop feelings and that’s all there is really is to say about him. Hee Sik could have been a really interesting character considering his involvement in the case and going into more depth about his personal drive for becoming a detective. Instead, he’s pretty much really there for a potential romance with Nam Soon and a bit of dramatic incitement .

Romance in the show js a bit of a hard one to go over. The main leads do have some chemistry in more comical moments , but there wasn’t really enough buildup due to lacking character development overall. The ending conclusion was expected though felt a little old-fashioned in deliverance.

Speaking of main characters, there’s of course Ryu Si-O, an antagonist in the series and a major mystery. Ryu Si-O was arguably one character the series did get right in maintaining mystery and ironically had better chemistry than the male lead with Nam Soon. Sadly the writing didn’t give him full justice.

The series struggled a lot with having too many side characters and not enough time. For example we have Secretary Jung Na-Young’s ( Oh Jung Yeon) potential romance going on, Ri Hwa-Ja / Lee Myung-Hee ( Choi Hee -Jin) criminal backstory, vagrants Ji Hyun-Soo ( Joo Woo-Jae) and No ( Kyungri), and then HSC Finance Triple’s storyline and then the Drug Gang on top. There was too much going on in the background.Rather than trying to focus on just a few, the plot attempted to cram in multiple subplots without a lot of development or further conclusions.


Pacing wise the series takes a bit of an odd turn. The first few episodes were fairly brisk, but the halfway point really tried rushing through the rest of the series without a lot of thought over execution. The plot reveal on the “ big bad” was meant to be a big surprise but felt more like a last minute throw in due to feeling rushed and somewhat out of place .

Cinematography and settings were a strong point for the series though. Music was a little out of place, particularly the ending credits.

Overall, Strong Girl Nam Soon really struggles with coming of its predecessor’s shadow. It had so much potential to be a well-written series about lost family and coming together to uncover a case, but a mixture of poor writing decisions, characterisation and plain characters and poor pacing made the series feel like it could be arguably be one of the worst shows of 2023. While the series may appeal to some in its own way, it’s fair to say most kdrama fans are going to probably stick with its original over this. Overall, a poorly-written drama with few redeeming features.

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Beautiful Costumes And A Wonderful Cast, But Overrated For What Its Worth...

Since its original airing in 2016, ” Love In the Moonlight ” ( based upon the successful books Moonlight Drawn by Clouds, which was serialized online in 2013 and then published as five separate books in 2015), was a phenomenal success in both South-Korea and amongst the international drama watcher community, drawing particular focus upon the talents of its cast ( particularly Park Bo Gum being critically-acclaimed by netizens for his acting quality) and South-Korean culture. Yet whilst the series is undeniably still popular, there’s something which honestly must be addressed forthright about screenwriters Im Ye Jin and Kim Min Jung’s adapted premise; it is a fairly predictable storyline, anticlimactic in parts and certainly cliche-ridden.

The premise of the drama is set during the 19th century, Joseon era, where female lead Hong Ra-on (played by Kim Yoo-jung), crossdresses as a man in order to support herself. She has multiple jobs but is still struggling with debt. Due to both romantic and comical circumstances, Ra-on comes to meet kind-hearted nobleman Kim Yoon-sung (played by Jung Jin-young) and the seemingly childish and spoilt Crown Prince (played by Park Go-bum).

Due to being sharp-witted, Yoon -sung immediately figures out that she is a woman. The prince is fairly oblivious to Ra-on being a woman , however, after Ra-on is sold to the eunuch’s training academy, she befriends the Prince and his close confidant and personal bodyguard Kim Byung-yeon (Kwak Dong-yeon). As events begin to lead to another, Ra-on finds herself conflicted between Ra-On and the Prince, whilst the Prince begins to feel uncertainty for his growing feelings for the seeming eunuch.

Against all odds of its surreal premise, ” Love In The Moonlight” did follow the typical cliches that you can expect with a cross-dressing scenario, however, it did not prevent the series from being oddly entertaining with a setup mirroring ”Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night ” in a fairly lighthearted way. Ra-on is brazen in her attempts to escape the palace and get back to the city outside by imitating and joking like her male associates in an often over-the-top manner.

Whilst it easy to dismiss the acting of Kim Yoo-Jung, Park Bo-Gum , Jung Jin-Young and Kwak Dong-yeon as an ” ensemble of good-looking people” rather than by their acting alone, the quartet certainly did give an all-around good performance , alongside main stylist and designer Lee Jin-hee’s exquisite artisanship ( especially within the styling of hanboks) perfectly reflecting the time setting, characters and moods of certain scenes.

The second-half of the drama notably shifts towards the political setup behind closed doors. Whilst undeniably intriguing, the biggest problem of this shifted focal point in the series boiled down to pacing and a shift away from developing the characters and their relationships (by regressing in some cases).The heroine Ra-on quickly goes from an intrepid, outgoing heroine to being a demure, angst-ridden soul who is nearly always subject to needing a saviour from a situation.

Then of course there’s the biggest issue with the drama’s long-held and complicated friendship between of the crown prince, his bodyguard, and the prime minister’s grandson ( to clarify Yoo Jung). It is important to add this is a fictionalised romance drama where enmity between male leads is not uncommon and is used to add fuel to the fire of drama and tension. However ( without spoilers), considering the intimacy of the trio during childhood as well as the potential at times towards the characters being able to set aside their differences or at least develop respectful mutuality , was often upturned in favour of enmity at times between both male leads over Ra-on as well as widely forgotten about in the second-half.

The romantic setup becomes overly predictable with forced marriage for the would-be crown princess Ha Yeon (Chae Soo Bin), tormented puppy dog glances and chaste kisses or pecks on lips out of seeming modesty( despite the characters often not batting an eyelid towards the entering private and more intimate spheres of their chambers as well as the more sexualised jokes in the beginning ) which does slowly begin to grow irksome in parts. In addition to this, flashbacks become an incessant feature in later episodes, leading to a formulaic and repetitive structure ( which soon grows a little tiresome). Sadly, not even the soundtrack is entirely spared as the eclectic OST from earlier episodes, begins to shift to pretty the same couple of K-Pop ballads during every pivotal moment or heartbreaking scene.

The ending undeniably will always have mixed reactions among watchers. Some will appreciate the sweet ending as well as denying the cliches of Ha Yeon being unlikeable or vilified as the second female lead whilst others may rise eyebrows at the anticlimactic finale ( and to some extent logical incoherency).

Ultimately it is wrong to suggest that " Love In The Moonlight” is by any means a dire or unwatchable drama, however, inherently it was not entirely common in K-drama’s either; a sweet and intriguing story, but peppered with cliches, and slow-pacing near the final part of the second hand which sometimes felt a little out of place. Nevertheless, it was a fairly enjoyable drama with interesting characters, a phenomenal cast and an oddly heartfelt romance. Entertaining for the most part," Love In The Moonlight" is worth watching if you’re fan of romantic dramas, or simply looking for something to binge-watch and pass the time.

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A Scam Artist, A Detective and An Ever-growing Train Wreck Walk Into ‘Café Minamdang’…

On reflection, ‘Café Minamdang’ had a lot of potential to be a good series . Its plot, setup and casting choices seemed to suggest that it was going to be somewhat avant-garde but enjoyable as well as creating potential for some likeable characters along the way for audiences also. However, there are times where reality can be very disappointing. Sadly the eighteen -episode KBS2- Netflix series rarely hit the mark and instead created a show with some very mixed results for the audience.

As suggested previously, this isn’t to say that the concept of the show was bad from the outset. It is important to acknowledge that the screenplay was adapted from “ Minamdang: Case Note”; a fairly successful novel by writer Jung Jae-ha. In charge of adapting Jung’s novel to the small screen were Screenwriter Park Hye Jin and Director Go Jae Hyun. ( Viewers will likely know these familiar names from productions such as ‘ The Emperor: Owner Of The Mask’ , ‘Smoking Gun’, as well as ‘ Black’ and ‘ Dinner Mate’ respectively.)

The narrative of the series predominantly focuses upon scam-artist and former-criminal profiler, Nam Han-joon (Seo In-Guk- ‘Reply 1997’, ‘ High School King Of Savvy’ and ‘ Doom At Your Service’). Pretending to be a shaman at his main base of operation, Café Minamdang, Han-Joon’s talents for decoding body language and micro -expressions has given him the ability to swindle people out of pocket easily and without causing suspicion. Especially thanks to the expertise of his little sister and hacker Nam Hye-joon (Kang Mi-Na- ‘ Dokgo Rewind’, ‘ Hotel del Luna’ and ‘ Moonshine’).

However after snooping around in a hit-and-run incident involving the husband of one of his clients, Han-Joon becomes acquainted with Detective Han Jae-Hee (Oh Yeon-Seo- ‘ My Husband Got A Family’, ‘ Love With Flaws’ and ‘ Mad For Each Other’). Developing a small crush on the investigator, Nam Han-Joon begins to play a cat-and-mouse game with Han-Jae-Hee, leading to many unforeseen consequences for both the detective and the scam -artist .

A lot of viewers have understandably remained divided with one major component of ‘ Café Minamdang’ among many others; its tone and mood. Of course, it isn’t unusual for a show to want to offer leverage between tense and melodramatic moments with more lighthearted or easygoing scenes. However what was noticeable for audiences with regards to Park Hye Jin’s writing, came through some of these underlying moods feelings overly inappropriate at times. To explain this in more depth, ‘ Café Minamdang’ did have its darker and tense moments which while exciting were often heavily overshadowed by strained attempts to offer " comic relief"; even when discussing serious or grave matters or when it didn’t always feel necessary to a moment of scene. However while while forms of comic relief can sometimes work well in this scenario, ‘ Café Minamdang’ often heavily relied on a physical and wacky form of comedy ; commonly found in Korean dramas and productions. Naturally, it isn’t necessarily that this comic relief was bad per say. However, it never seemed to truly flow well against some of the subject matters tackled.

As for the acting and casting choices of the series, Seo-In-Guk’s performance as the main lead is fairly solid here. Although it is fair to say that his onscreen character will either be loved or hated by viewers of equal measure .
Nam Han-Joon was an interesting male lead in his own right. scam artist with a particularly unconventional method of scamming people out of pocket, the male lead had a lot of intriguing elements to his character from the outset. However, where writing issues did become noticeable can often be said to be found through his overall character-arc.

Throughout the course of ‘ Café Minamdang’, there were few and far moments between where viewers truly got to see Nam Han Joon be held accountable for his self-absorbed personality or feel conflicted with his past and current actions. Later episodes admittedly did offer some justification for his current-self and vulnerabilities through his backstory but even then this often somewhat rough around the edges. Instead, a lot of the male lead’s personality traits were often played out for laughs and were rarely interspersed with opportunities for viewers to understand a lot more about Han-Joon.

Similarly, Oh Yeon Seo delivered a decent performance as Seo In Guk’s onscreen counterpart and female lead Han Jae-Hee. Oh Yeon Seo’s performance is admittedly a little wooden at times but this wasn’t entirely the fault of the actress per say. Instead a lot of the blame can probably be put on the writing decisions for the female lead.

Similar to male lead Nam Han-Joon, Han Jae-Hee had a lot of potential to be an intriguing character in her own right. ( Especially as someone involved in a particularly astute field of work such as crime investigation and the male lead’s initial advisory.) However, instead of the female lead having her own moments in the spotlight to be explored as a complex character with her own motivations and flaws, Jae-Hee was often subjugated to the role of being overly fractious, whiney and frivolous character; rarely changing, being explored beyond her surface level or being developed even into later episodes of the series.

In addition to the main characters of ‘ Café Minamdang’, it’s hard not to acknowledge some of the reoccurring side character also. In particular, there should be a special shout-out given to actress Kang Mi-Na. Although her onscreen persona was rarely given her moments to shine in later episodes, the actress delivered a surprisingly charming and lively edge to Nam Hye-Joon.

Acting aside, it is hard to forget one of the show’s most bizarre elements; the superhuman-like abilities of some of the main characters, especially in early episodes of the series. Admittedly, ‘ Café Minamdang’ was never truly aiming for hyper-realism with its setup and premise. However it still seemed inexplicable in a mystery-comedy series to see some of its main characters being able to suddenly run at breakneck speeds and scale buildings without any hassle. Perhaps the show was aiming to play this off for some parodical moments but instead, this often led to some slightly head scratching moments without enough context being given.

One of the major points of intrigue for ‘ Café Minamdang’ came through its crucial plot point of the “cat-and-mouse game” between detective and scam artist. Although there were moments which could be fairly entertaining, it still often seemed that the screenplay’s attempts to build up this “ hype” took a lot longer than expected. While the first few episodes of ‘ Café Minamdang’ did require for some necessary spoon-feeding for viewers towards establishing the identity of main characters as well as the main plot-arc, the tedious duration of episodes at times in addition to some unnecessary plot points could’ve been avoided with harsher writing decisions and editing. ( For example rather than attempting to pad out episodes with a surplus amount of comic relief or unnecessary subplots, the series could’ve used the time in-between to develop characters, intensify the mystery element of the storyline and heighten relationships between characters as well as using these writing points, as a tool for improving the continuity of the narrative in later episodes.) As a result, the final part of the series felt somewhat underdeveloped and lacked a satisfactory feeling of completion for many viewers.

Stylistically and under the directing leadership of Go Jae Hyun, ‘ Café Minamdang’ was fairly conventional for a Korean drama. The quality of filming was decent enough and while there were certainly a few nice moments of cinematography ( especially with contrasting palette schemes such as with natural and vivid hues ) , perhaps it is fair to say that there were was nothing particularly standout with regards to the stylistic approach either. (Perhaps it didn’t help that even for the slightly theatrical and fabricated worlds of K-dramas, the settings and set designs for ‘ Café Minamdang’ felt a bit counterfeit as they rarely felt "lived-in" by the characters.)

Certainly one of the few major and surprising highlights of the series came through its OST. ‘ Café Minamdang’ offered viewers with a surprising array of genres from the surprisingly catchy rap track “ Ghost Buster” by Jo Gwang-il and the beguiling alternative pop song “ Stay Awake” by Nam Young-joo though there were some tracks on the OST which were a little unremarkable also.

‘ Café Minamdang’ started off on a potential high note with an intriguing setup, an impressive cast and characters. Seo In Guk and Kang Mi Na delivered fairly consistent performances but even they couldn’t save the series from crashing and burning as it ran its course. Despite a talented cast and some entertaining moments here and there, ‘ Cafe Minamdang’ felt greatly overshadowed by its flaws ( especially narrative execution and character writing) rather than its strengths.

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