W (2016)

Having watched Memories of Alhambra first, I did not expect much from this. Here the writer does a much better job in every way, but ultimately at its core this drama suffers from similar problems. The setting is obviously much better, instead of a super boring MMO world we have a manhwa world, with some interesting spaghetti western elements, a subtle noir vibe is also present. With the premise that magic is real, sometimes nonsense stuff kind of makes sense in W, it's not like Alhambra where everything is a jumbled mess. With that said W is a mediocre drama at best, yes the cast had some amazing actors, the OST was mostly great at setting the right atmosphere and the cinematography was very pretty & the darker lighting was also very fitting most of the time, but all these don't make up for the fact that I just wasn't that interested in the villains & their deeds. The romance was fine, but this is probably the worst chemistry that I've seen Lee Jong-suk have with anyone, it's by no means below average in kdramaland, but I've expected more. A nicely wrapped up happy ending would have improved my opinion of the drama a lot, it's a shame that it did not happen, it's nice that they got together for the last 5? minutes of the drama, but for all we know Kang Chol would just end up in prison again for not having a legitimate identity... (in the fantasy genre normally I wouldn't care much about this, but in W the plot device of not having a proper identity is brought up again & again...)

This writer really shouldn't work alone, if she could just be responsible for the world building & maybe the characters, while pairing up with someone that knows how to keep the audience interested.
I think she also wrote Queen InHyon's Man, I like that drama quite a bit, but the writing is not very good there either.

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Before the drama came out I watched the trailer and it gave me the vibe of the music video of the song Take on Me by A-ha which I love that song. I am a huge fan of Lee Jon Suk and have seen almost all his dramas so I decided to watch it. I wasn't familiar with the main actress but when I saw her I liked her acting. I especially love the the song Where Are U by Jung Joon Young every time that song came on I knew something good was going to happen. The effects were very good especially when they transition to the real world they were nice and clean. They looked natural which is something hard to find in dramas sometimes because they look fake. The first time Lee Jon Suk's character stepped out into the main actress world was just so beautifully portrayed. I definitely enjoyed the scenes where Lee Jon Suk's character started to realize in the world he lived was not real the emotions he expressed were very believable. It certainly was very entertaining and had some funny elements especially in the first episodes the restroom scene. I won't spoil it for you guys but the people who have seen it will understand what I'm saying. Although Lee Jon Suk is a very good actor in my opinion and he has shown various expressions throughout his works. There is a specific scene more towards the end where I feel like he could have expressed his sadness more. If you have seen his earlier work I Hear Your Voice in the last two or three episodes where the main lead actress gets in trouble. He talks to the antagonist on the phone and Lee Jon Suk goes ballistic he starts screaming like mad because he is afraid and he is frustrated. He perfectly portrays someone who is caught up in a situation like  that when it involves a loved one. But here in W when that moment happens something sad happens and he talking to the main girl's father he didn't show much emotion. Especially after a moment like that when it happens to someone they show a lot of emotions. I didn't see that he fell flat for me in that scene. Other then that scene I enjoyed him greatly in the rest of the drama. I also enjoyed how people in the main girls  world people kept on commenting how he looked like a manhua character which I found rather ironic it was like fourth wall broken kind of stuff. Although the song I mentioned earlier is the only song I listen to on repeat all the time it doesn't mean I don't like the other songs. I am very obsessed with the instrumental songs. The soundtrack is very good they played the songs depending on the mood of the scene spot on. I will admit I did not care for the girl from Lee Jon Suk's world. I felt like her character was bland and I wasn't impressed they could have developed her more and given her a back bone. The  bad guy does something later that really creeps me out to the main protagonist dad that was scary to look at. When I would see it I always covered my eyes it wasn't scary per say but it was not a pretty sight and it was not a resemblance of a human. Another thing that I felt was kind of flat was the romance between the main characters. I don't really see how it happened with her yes but she technically had a part in creating Lee Jon Suk's character development and his world. But for Lee Jon Suk I don't really see it. Another thing is when he falls in love with her again I didn't enjoy how he found out again it kind of reminded me of the amnesia troupe and I have always hated that plot. Although there were a lot more reasons why I liked the drama compared to the few reasons why I didn't like it. I would not rewatch it not because I didn't enjoy rather I'm the type of person who watches dramas one time and I move. I can listen to soundtracks on repeat for days however it's rare if I rewatch a drama. Other then those factors the storyline and plot was good I enjoyed how there was some twists and turns throughout the episodes. I remember  in the last maybe one of two episodes of the final they definitely got us with a twist I was full of emotions I was scared of the ending and my heart stopped but then ewe ending up having a happy ending-ish.

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Manga meets the Real World

I may need to start reading Manga! Full disclaimer this was the first Lee Jong Suk drama I watched and then I spiraled down a Le Jong Suk rabbit hole. But here's my review.

The only reason the show did not get 10 stars from me is that the OTS wasn't as great as I thought it could have been. I've watched enough dramas and I know the OTS could have been much better, but all around this show is GREAT.

It pulls together the many aspects of love conquers all. There is action (subtle), drama, a fake love triangle. The storyline is well put together, it was quite easy to follow and the chemistry between the two main characters had genuine growth and development. All though this was a fictitious scenario, the female and male leads understood their situation and so the authenticity of their emotions came out FULL THROTTLE & boy was I NOT PREPARED FOR THE PASSION<3.

If you are looking for something fun to watch with a steamy, amazing, rich, and superior male lead then watch this.
If you are looking to tap into your star- crossed lovers fetish, watch this!
If you are looking to binge-watch a show and lose out on some sleep, HERE YOU GO!

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Something different

Finally finished watching the best pie i was saving for a long time. It didn't let me down. It's a good combination of thriller, romance and suspense. Lee Jong Suk, well what can i say, he is doing his mandatory military training and i was hoping to lasts long till he gets back and not watch this one but then i finally gave up.
Its a good story line, keeps you on your seat all the time and you don't know what to expect next. As much as loved the series i was little disappointed with FL role.... man what agony she was in all time. She had most to loose and i felt sorry for her through out the series, usually i get really annoyed with FL crying throughout the series but this one seemed like she didn't have the choice , she was not the cry baby but her circumstances were so tough. I would really like to watch more of the series where they don't make FL cry so much. Park Soo Bong this is one character that annoyed the hack out of me, i felt his role was to annoy. :) Another character i found charming is Seo Do Yoon. He payed his role well except towards the end i was not satisfied when he gets kidnapped and he is suppose to protect the CEO and he spills the beans. For the main lead I liked the chemistry between the two and has some sweet moments, like how our ML wanted to be a real human and understood all emotions and respected them with that he protected FL and was very loyal to her, also FL strength shows when she wants to do good for everyone, makes so many scarifies, that part kind of gets annoying from time to time...... if i write more i will give away...so i will just stop and ask whoever is reading this just go and watch.

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Messy but addictive

Well... where to even start. First of all the writing... its messy like really messy. What even is going on. Where suddenly here and then suddenly there and then they have to forget each other and then someone dies... JUST KIDDING they are alive and now they are dead again. Like whaaaaaaaat???

I have to say that the casting is absolutely amazing. They all suit their roles perfectly and the main leads chemistry is very good. This series constantly had me wandering what is going on but that just made me more and more hooked to the story. In the end I watched this in one night on a school day and got 0 hours of sleep :/ So if you are okay with confusing and messy plot and are more into something else I recommend!

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This drama had me in tears and laughing and happy then crying again but in the end I thought this drama was really good. One of the first fantasy genre dramas I'd ever watched but this one had me at the edge of my seat.. I guess that's good cause I literally had no idea what was coming next. This is definitely a drama that you have to follow closely. Every episode ends on a cliffhanger so be prepared to binge watch because you'll want to know what's coming. I thought the leads played their parts very well and I thought the storyline was a little hard to follow but the fact that it kept me guessing made it very interesting.

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I was honestly so excited to watch this even though this came out some time ago. The beginning of this show..it is soo good. Tbh I think this show was created with a brilliant idea and when I saw the actors I became even more excited. However, I found some problems in this drama. Yes, the couple had chemistry but the love story was not well written. It was too sudden and I did not feel real and honest love between them. I do not know if it makes sense but they did not feel like a couple to me. They are good actors though.

For me, the star of this drama was Kim Eui Sung. I loved his performance. However, I do not like what they did to his character by the end. It really hit me in the final episode. His relationship with his daughter was kinda messy if that makes sense. I liked Lee Shi Eon's performance as I got to see a variety of reactions from his character that I found really interesting.

This show had too many twists. It made me tired and even bored sometimes. This show leaves you with more questions than answers tbh. Another thing (I am not going to do paragraph because it leaves this text weird looking), is that I think that the majority of the characters, except the ones I mentioned, were doing nothing for the show. They did not have a really important role and in my opinion, just filled some minutes.

Soooo many flashbacks. Why? Hm?

I don't think I will rewatch this drama any time soon because I do not think that I will remember him a lot. What I will remember is the drawing. Really amazing tbh.

I watched this drama in 2 days and it left me a little bit disappointed because when I saw 8.7/10, I honestly thought it would be an amazing show. It was okay but nothing beyond amazing. So yes..if you are a fan of a show with many twists and are not bothered with romance (like it does not bother you that their love is badly written), this show is for you I think. Thank you for reading my review :) Have a nice day.

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Confusing but interesting

HI firstly, I would like to confirm that I do not listen to the music. Because I tend to not remember the song unless it is the most memorable thing on earth. (I still gave 9.0…because I just decided that whether the music was nice had nothing to do with what I felt about it and didn’t give a overall impact to the show in any way. )

Next, I finished watching this show and I only had two feelings and a very rather weird opinion. However, you can basically know what I feel based on my review headline.
First, confusing. I think that was really my 100% reaction to it throughout the show. It was just so confusing. At first, it was still ok. There was an obvious difference between where she was, like whether she was in the comic or in the real world. Then, it started going crazy. They started switching between those two worlds so unnoticeably that I had to pause several times throughout the episodes to understand what was going on and why it was going on. Now, sometimes, certain shows show that no understanding where they are (in terms of whether they are in another world), can still make you magically understand what’s going on. However, this show is not like that. It is so hard to understand what is going on in future episodes if you do not pause and fully process what is going on. It makes this drama test your ability on how to map out on a timeline. This show kinda connects a lot of past references so if you watch this, you gotta be on your toes. If not, its game over and back to episode one. I do recommend you check out recaps of episodes that were just so confusing by authors on the internet. They do help sometimes in clearing up doubts. Still, this process of having to not be able to fully enjoy the drama really took some points away from it, As you can see, I took out nearly half of the story points in my rating purely because confusing ruins it. (PS: I would like to mention that if you would like to challenge your capabilities in mapping out timelines and outline in events by replaying events over and over again, this drama is for you.

Last point, W was actually very interesting. VERY INTERESTING. It was a great mystery. So it was fun to know that the scriptwriters were not underestimating human’s ability to think. I like that they used a comic tablet as a link which is comforting to know that they decided to use a different way to say “travel between two worlds” so props to the writers for that. Can’t say much anymore but overall interesting and does not have a too cliche plot.

Just to sum it up, watch it if you are free but if you are not. Don’t bother. There are better shows out there. Still, if you feel that one day, you want to test your mental capabilities and decide to not enjoy a show by contemplating on its plot, feel free to do so! And likewise as I always say, It is purely my review on it and I accept that everyone has their own reviews and feelings about this drama so do go ahead and watch this drama if you are truly interested in doing so. Don’t let my review deter you if you really want to watch it! Likewise if you are sitting on the fence and cannot decide whether to watch it or not, I do hope my review can help you find some little answer? Happy watching!

~Nerium Oleander

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WOW

First of all, I was quite hesitant to watch this, because I was quite disappointed with Memories of the Alhambra, which was also written by the same writer. But I am so glad that I did. The story itself is told with great layers, and it is quite obvious that they did manage it well enough that it does not feel dragging like many series. So I can say it outright, the story itself hold the series high above.

Now to the nitty gritty. I find it in the first few episodes they 'recap' a lot of time. As someone who is binge watching this show, I kinda get annoyed because I was like - I just saw that in previous episode, no need to reiterate it. As the episodes go on, they do it less and less, and in fact when they have some kind of 'recap', it was because they are adding layers to the story - which is great.

The rules of travelling. They established at first how Yeon Joo travel into webtoon and how she exits. Ok, good. But then after awhile, this has been confusing as she was able to easily go back and forth. And then you also have Kang Chul, who can easily interdimensional travel too by will. I'm just annoyed, since they should have clearly make a rule on how these characters able to travel. But I guess they have to take leeway on those things to tell story.

It's funny how the series always draw car and syringe. Clearly the car is a product placement, I would have get a plane or helicopter - or why can't they just teleport people using the tablet? The evil doppelganger of the dad was able to get in and out of the studio with a screen, why did the main characters decide to use cars to travel? And seriously, you have so many cars passing by, none of them stops to help a bleeding man on a bus stop? Is that for real?

The ending was great and satisfying. Actually the show gave great setup and conclusions half way through at episode 13 where they can easily finish the series. So for those who are fans of the romance side of the series, I think it's very satisfying ending.

Music is great, I have no problem with it.

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