we were robbed.

we were robbed. absolutely fucking robbed. ep 2-15 were absolutely golden, and then ep 16 goes and ruins it. everything was so tight-knit and flowed well, and then not only does the screenwriter go and rush ep 16, but she completely changes the originally ending, which would have been more satisfying and publicly loved. the screenwriter gave us a twist for the sake of having a different ending, not because it made sense. OBVIOUSLY, THE REASON WHY THE OG ENDING WORKS IS WHY THE WEB NOVEL IS POPULAR. if you go and change that, THERE'S NO POINT.

the actors were absolutely amazing throughout, but oh my gods. lee sung min and song joong ki. the absolute and undeniable best parts of this show.

song joong-ki, how are you the man that you are. i literally can't imagine anyone else doing this type of role; he absolutely kills it. it's always with the slight smirk, after giving the soonyang family a blank stare/death glare/all-knowing look, and then he absolutely demolishes them with a paper to buy their company. he absolutely kills it and i need more of this. song joong ki, please step on me. ily. please.

unpopular opinion: SHB and SJK's chemistry wasn't horrible as everyone says it was. here me out:
1. yes, it was severely underdeveloped, because they hardly had any scenes together, which made them getting together unbelieveable.
2. yes, SHB's role in the entire show was to purely serve JDJ's needs and story development, making her very flat, and to some (not me) annoying.
3. and yes, in comparison to the thriller and succession war and other elements going on, the romance was hardly on anyone's radar, and just took attention away from the main plot.

but was the chemistry bad? no. it was as good as it could have been with all the other shit going on, especially when it's not a romance drama, it's a thriller. there's no need to hate on SHB when those two did the best they could and worked with what they had. if anything, it's the screenwriter's fault for not developing it properly.

lee sung-min was a fricking maniac; no wonder he's a veteran in the kdrama industry. that man can ACT. his scenes with sjk were so charged with chemistry i was on the edge of my seat the entire time. and song joong ki. oh my darling, lovely, beloved song joong ki. the microexpressions he has when he acts; the various combinations of smirks and stares he has, being able to scare you one second and charm you the next; the way he can act old-young (and JDJ) and truly young (his old life) within scenes: absolutely fucking insane. that man is fucking acting machine. there's no going around it. THREE TIMES this year i've been demolished by his acting. DOTS was sweet, caramel oozing from his eyes. Vincenzo was absolutely terrifying mafia boss. this was a mixture of the two, and then some more: childish innocence + betrayal + determination. no matter who he has opposite him, he manages to drag chemistry out from them (him and JYB tho >>>).

(spoilers)the web novel ends with seo min young and jin do joon being married and JDJ grieves his past self dying off the cliff, all the while succeeding at being chairman of SY. i'm going to gaslight myself and try to remember that as the ending, instead of the shit-show we got in ep 16. i mean, we don't even see YHW try to get into a relationship with SMY again, when he obviously could, and he could obviously tell her of him being JDJ and have it make sense. and don't even get me started on the amount of plot holes that arose in the last episode, all because the screenwriter messed with what was a tight-knit story. first, we see in ep 1 that he has no recollection of JDJ at all, as does anyone else; so did he just HAPPEN to forget that he killed him? the OG author created a tight-knit well-developed story, and the screenwriter adapted that scene by scene, without a single change, up till ep 15, and that's where she went wrong—if she had just stuck to the source material, we wouldn't be in this situation right now, left completely unsatisfied and angry. if we accept ep 16, that means ep 2-15 meant nothing. he did all that work as JDJ only to die and then become chairman without getting any shares? without any of the work that JDJ put in? not only would JDJ feel wronged, but us, as viewers, feel wronged. we spent so much time with JDJ that we want him to succeed, not YHW. it makes no sense, first, and second, i feel cheated. as much as i loved ep 2-15 and i loved watching the actors, i can never rewatch this, now that i now that they mean nothing to the ending. the actors demolished the show and i have no comments against them, but the screenwriter needs to find a new job. don't just add in a twist ending just for the sake of "changing things up". obviously the source material is popular for a reason, and the author for it made it so that everything ends up perfectly. the worst part is: the screenwriter made so many changes to the ending, but not a single (coherent) comment from a character about how JDJ and a YHW lookalike. not a single one. what kind of "happy ending" is that? to go on living after everyone you love thinks you're dead. the only, and i repeat, ONLY reason this is a 9.0/10 is because ep 2-14 were absolutely perfect, and the actors deserve a perfect score. the screenwriter is the reason why i had to rate it lower.

overall: a fine, fine drama to end 2022, but left with good memories and a bitter taste in my mouth.

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<3 go yoonjung & lee jaewook <3

the best decision i ever made was not watching AOS part 1 while it was airing, bc there was no way i would have survived waiting months for part 2 after that cliffhanger in part 1.

i deeply admire and respect the people that stayed sane waiting for part 2 to come out. you guys are strong soldiers.

in my opinion, after binging s1 right before s2, i'm in the unpopular minority that slightly likes s2 more than s1, romance-wise. comedy-wise, s1 is definitely better. plot-wise...neither. they're both rushed and have their own issues.

the characters:

jang uk saying "i do not care for this world" had such a great effect on me that he instantly moved up my favorite characters of all time list. my favorance of morally grey characters shined in this, and while i did miss his sunshine character in s1, him in s2 gave me butterflies. (as per my notes while watching s2: HOW DOES JANG UK LOOK THIS GOOD IN SEASON 2. HE LOOKS FUCKING GORGEOUS. THE HAIR, THE STYLING, THE CONFIDENCE, (i mean yes he's sad, but OH MY GODS HE'S SO GOOD AT FIGHTING AND USING HIS SWORD).

thinking about buyeon in s2 makes me a little sad, because she was such a likeable character in this. she was a happy-go-lucky girl who was like rapunzel in the sense that she just wanted to explore the world and remember who she was. the fact that uk's and naksu's roles switch (midnight rain and sunshine) in s2 makes me sad but also ??? so smart of them to do that.

KIM DOJU AND PARK JIN OWN MY HEART. they have since s1 and i've just constantly been rooting for them. i need for them to act together or something bc i need to see them playful and cute and bickering again ajfenkljrafdf

the cast:

GYJ is SO SO SO SO SO CUTE. i cannot believe this is GYJ's first lead role??? she literally embodied what jung somin started in s1 and managed to seamlessly continue naksu right where she left in s1. that takes skill, on both GYJ and JSM's parts, to be able to make a character so distinct that you can easily tell who it is, especially in this confusing mess of soul-shifting. def looking into more of gyj's works after this.

literally almost all of the main casts' biggest role ever. even though LJW is the youngest, he's acted the most amongst the other actors who are also in their 20s in this show. this is the prince's first drama, minhyun's first drama, PIS's first lead, arin's first lead, GYJ's first lead. this is LJW's third lead (fourth if you count s2 as separate) and it SHOWS. i've seen LJW in extraordinary you and doldolsolsollalasol, and this is by far his best acting, obviously because he's grown so much as as an actor.

he definitely has the best chemistry with GYJ, out of all his roles. i mean, you can obviously look at the kiss scenes and tell, but even just looking at the behind the scenes and looking at his eyes and body language in the scenes of AOS makes it so obvious. they are the reason why s2 was so enjoyable for me.

the chemistry between not just LJW and GYJ, but between the entire cast is insane. it's so so so funny. but while the comedy in s1 felt more natural, in s2 it felt a little too inserted and forced—not bc of the actors, but because the comedy scenes were written in a tough spot. the entire premise of s2 is so so so sad, so adding in comedy is already so difficult. plus, season 2 is really built around jang uk's and naksu's tragic ending in season 1; there's this aura of sadness hanging over the entire season, and adding in comedy makes it feel fake, almost. (except for kim doju and park jin's scenes; those two have my entire heart and are absolutely hilarious no matter where they are).

the plot:

while s1 is and always will be iconic and hilarious and absolutely perfectly made, it was long and tedious. it had so much build-up to a rushed climax and conclusion. s2, on the other hand, is just as well-made, and is concise with great chemistry, but again, rushed. this is entirely the fault of the hong sisters, who's pacing in writing is absolutely horrible, while they do come up with the best ideas and comedy. they do so much front end work, and completely forget about the back end.

unpopular opinion (which i probably only have because i binged s1 right before s2 came out): i like buyeon a TINY bit more than mudeok. i love them both, don't get me wrong; mudeok's relationship with uk is hilarious and chaotic and is so funny, while buyeon's relationship is very cute and chemistry-filled and angst-ridden. both have their charms, and the only reason why i slightly prefer buyeon over mudeok is because LJW's and GYJ's chemstry is undeniably good.

i feel like they could have broken up the show better, and split the time between the two actresses equally. it being 20 v. 10 eps is one of the the reasons why some people dislike s2—they like mudeok more than bu-yeon. they've spent more time with one over the other. that, and the fact that bc s2 is so short, it feels rushed. they spent nearly 8 eps building up and talking about something happening, but the actual scene lasts only ten minutes. and then they conclude within ten minutes by giving a time-skip to a year later, with barely any interactions between the cast. (literally i would have given anything to see kim doju arranging an extravagant wedding ceremony for uk or taking care of him and naksu, or at least uk interacting w danggu and yul, rather than them just talking about each other).

the final battle and defeat of the villain felt underwhelming, and honestly he needed a crueler end. i really hoped naksu would come and kill him once and for all, bc this all started because he used her. and the most underwhelming thing of all: jang uk recognizing buyeon. while LJW acted amazing, i wish the director had told him to be more surprised, rather than just accept it quietly. if he saw the love of his life after believe she was dead for 3 years, the first thing he would do would at least be to hug her, right? is that not what jang uk would do for mudeok, his master? several underwhelming moments interspersed with overwhelmingly amazing ones (uk's fight scenes, kiss scenes, action sequences)

some of the lines in s2 though are absolutely breathtaking:

- "rather than use my coming death as a cowardly excuse to be together, it is much better for us to be tormented instead."
- "when it is on, i am sane. it is clear to me that i must send you back as i promised. but i go insane when it turns off. i just pine for you. that is why i came to see you."
- "evil always does what it wants without stopping. but why is it virtue always needs to prove itself over and over again?"
- "i do not care. i do not care for this world. the one person i wanted to protect is dead [1 ep. later] i do not care about what happens to this world. but if you touch her ever again, i will use my power as i please."
- (not a line perse but do not get me started on the end of ep 7/the beginning of ep 8 bc i might combust omg i cannot believe it goes from master yeom saying "they promised me they have a pure and innocent relationship" and then cuts to jang uk pushing buyeon against the wall, making out. hilarious.)

all in all: a great, great sequel to a great, great world. i just wish we would have paced it well, rather than use all of our energy in the beginning and leave nothing for the end.

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