The Legend of the Blue Sea (2016)

Second Time's the Charm

I started watching this drama when it aired and ended up dropping it after 6 episodes. Not that the acting or the story wasn't good, but this story starts off slow and I couldn't get into it at the time. I just started watching The King: Eternal Monarch while it's airing, and I forgot how much I enjoyed Lee Min Ho's acting style since he'd been on break for a while due to military service. I decided to give LOTBS a go again, since you know, quarantine and all. And I really enjoyed it the second time around. Great drama, well cast, interesting plot. Some bits of everything: humor, romance, melodrama, suspense, etc. I enjoyed binging it and definitely recommend adding it to your plan to watch. Not what I would consider a classic, but still an all around solid drama.

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Giving this show 7/10 stars kind of hurt because of how much I like Jun Ji Jyun. And I don't mean I have only like her in other shows, I liked her just as much in this drama as in anything else I've watched her in. No matter the movie or show, she is always funny, pretty, and likeable. And even though I've never been the biggest Lee Min Ho fan, I can admit his acting in this drama was darn good. But I liked it more when he was acting alone than when he was playing opposite his romantic lead, and that was disappointing.

The plot was also a little muddled and included too many frustrating cliches that K-Dramas seem to be moving away from in recent years.

This was not a bad show, and I actually plan to rewatch it soon so I can enjoy Jun Li Hyun and Lee Min Ho again. I always enjoy stories about mermaids because they can be everything from scary to beautiful, and both actors did a great job with the content they were given.

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If you don’t like shows that delve into fantasy (and I do) and obscenely beautiful broody males aren’t your cup of tea (as they are mine) and you don’t like k-dramas in general (I adore them), watch Legend of the Blue Sea anyway because Jun Ji Hyun is just such a talented comedic actress that I would watch anything she’s in….giggling endlessly watching her shenanigans.

STORY: This story is about a mermaid and a man (yep….story that has been around for hundreds…if not thousands of years in many cultures). There is an intriguing back story that goes right along with the current modern-day story that makes it all just a little more suspenseful and a little more fun to watch. And yes, the mermaid and the man meet and fall in love and do they have the happy Disney ending or the tragic fairy tale ending? Well I won’t give you a spoiler except to say, probably (yes, I’m being ambiguous)……just watch it…..okay?

CHARACTERS: The best character of all is the mermaid (Sim Chung) played by Jun Ji Hyun. She meets Heo Joon Jae in Spain and hilariously learns about being human and of course, he doesn’t know she’s a mermaid. I laughed out loud for the first ten episodes as she stays true to her mermaid self-dealing with the human world. From the moment Heo Joon Jae finds her in his closet wearing his hoodie eating his food, its just more fun than a barrel of monkeys. I can’t say enough good things about her performance. Just know that it isn’t all fun and games and when she gets serious or sad………wow, the audience follows her right down the emotional drain.

Heo Joon Jae is played by Lee Min Ho and he does a great job of creating an interesting character that is fun, serious, broody, and intelligent all at the same time. From the first moment he graces the screen as the town agent, we know there is more to Lee Min Ho than broody good looks. While he wasn’t as funny as Jun Ji Hyun, Lee Min Ho gave us two distinct characters that worked towards the same goal quite nicely.

The side characters were very very very well done. From Lee Hee Joon’s (is he a bad guy or good guy?) portrayal of Jo Nam Doo to Tae Ho’s (Shin Won Ho) and Cha Shi Ah’s (Shin Hye Sun) very strange relationship to the money grabbing Ahn Jin Joo (Moon So Ri)…..they are all very interesting, including the serial killer, and Heo Joon Jae’s very sad family situation. Not one character bored me. I would have loved to have seen more of little Yoon Ah and the very funny homeless woman (who actually does not have a name), but they wisely stopped at 20 episodes.

MUSIC: The music was enjoyable, but not killer…..whether or not the soundtrack is fabulous depends on if I buy one of the songs. None of the songs really stood out but were nicely used and not overly annoying.

RE-WATCH: I plan on re-watching but I wasn’t compelled to with episode 20…….lets face it….some shows you are just compelled to watch over and over and over. Legend of the Blue Sea is sweet and lovely, but once through might be enough.

OVERALL: If nothing else, watch this for Jun Ji Hyun. I thought she was funny in You Who Came from the Stars, but she was doubly hilarious in this show. This woman is not afraid to take on anything and sure has incredible timing, whether it be comedic or dramatic. I plan on watching everything she’s in because so far, she’s never disappointed me. Good News! Legend of the Blue Sea is entertaining. The characters are amusing and for twenty episodes, you keep biting your nails, asking the question…..Disney ending or Sad Fairy Tale ending?

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pearl tears

(i don't rate rewatch value, neutral stars)

4K

i was going to say something about how supernatural love stories are unfair because they can f#%! you in ways normal ones cant.. but i guess when talking kdramas it doesn't matter what it is, they'll find a way to strap your heart right on the exterior of that underwater space elevator rollercoaster either way.

legend of the blue sea is the fastest i've finished a drama thus far, running through 10 eps in a night and finishing the rest within the next 2 days (fit some films inbetween). i didn't even expect id finish it today starting from ep13 in the AM, but here we are, a couple hours and 7 eps later. the 20 ep lenght i was initially put off by turned out to make for perfect pacing. they resolve everything with an ep to spare, and somehow rebound from the shinkick that #19 was in #20 effortlessly.

this is plain magical. whoever had the idea to cast jun ji-hyun as mermaid love interest, i bow to. knowing her from her strong role as freedom fighter in Assassination going in, seeing her go full kookoo born-sexy-yesterday trope for the first 1-2 eps was as jarring as it was cute, but then the turnaround when she first starts speaking??????? her deep voice?????? literally stomping out any concept of a trope. theres no one who could have nailed this like she did. super strenght, all that.

lee min-ho is also amazing and handsome and endlessly charismatic, and so is the entirety of this freaking cast. his roommates, the other families, the friends ji-hyun randomly makes upon arrival.

you get a laugh out loud comedy, scifi escapades, a joseon era period piece, outrageous crime stuff, outrageously sweet love story, and even lowkey mystery elements, all jumbled in one. the fact that so much time was spent at or around their amazing house makes it so cozy you'll wish you could live there. i don't think theres many kdramas about young love where the couple just lives under the same roof from the very get.

i absolutely adored every second, rly talking to my tv like an atashi all immersed after work. my girl rly dropping lil vegan remarks left and right with the mermaid POV, and she's not the only one!

if you want to feel all the things, look no further.

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It was already entertaining in the trailer, and the whole drama is even more so. The story is great, and even the flashbacks weren't boring. The twists are unpredictable. I enjoyed watching even the minor characters. This is a hilariously funny and entertaining drama even though it's a fantasy. No boring episodes and the ending is really great.

Jun Ji Hyun really never failed to amaze me. She really made me laugh so hard. What I love the most is the fact that even some of her acts here are overly stupid (as expected from a mermaid who knows nothing about city life), she was able to play it well that it was still funny and not corny. I love her when she tried to imitate action scenes in the movie she has watched. I also enjoyed her fashion here.

Lee Min Ho is indeed handsome, but I found him more appealing and charming in this drama. I saw different styles of him here. He is really a great actor. He's so cute whenever he's hiding his reactions to some incidents. What I find most hilarious is when he set rules and curfew in his house. I can't forget the scene when he said to Shim Chung that some dress are bought just to be kept in the closet????? Every kind of role suited him. Whatever character it is, he was able to really play it well, and that's what made him so amazing.

All the actors and actresses here suited in the role they are playing. I love everyone. Oh, especially Jo Jung Suk, he really made this drama more hilarious. I love all the scenes he's in. My heart broke for what happened to him in the end??

This is really a must watch kdrama. It's also one of the best kdrama and a kdrama for beginners.

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I watch this drama aftee I show the teaser; it seems entertaining but I ended up thinking  this is OK drama not as great as advertised
What I like :
1. The Story line was enjoyable about the love between the mermaid and human
2. I love the setting, location, and the cinematography
3. Its a happy endung story.. my favorite kind of dama :)
4. Gorgeous main leads (handsome and pretty)

What I don't like :
1. I feel lack of chemistry between two main leads; it's sad becauss those pair are most anticipated pair to compete with dots
2. Dissapointed with Jun-Ji Hyun acting in here. I want to cry watching it. For one of the most high paid actrees, I just feel like her acting is so so..  I watched my love from the star and I thing her acting was so much better in those drama
Overall this is still an enjoyable drama . But I don't think it's worth to rewatch

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I loved how they played with the past life and the present life in a way that every character fit like a glove. That mixed with a heartwarming love story and fantasy makes the perfect drama that doesn't make you bored not even once. Also the whole cast was magnificent. So many great actors that made their characters come to life in such a natural way.
Nevertheless,i give it 9.5 and not a 10 because i was annoyed towards the ending...i felt like the last episode was just a way to add more to the drama so i was pretty annoyed with the fact that they had to do that just to make it a little longer.(if you've seen it you know what i talk about) But i got over it and i can finally say that this is a must watch!

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The female lead is so stupid! yeah, I know she didn’t know anything about humans, but she still lived in the ocean. Where is her backstory? She was alive and experienced stuff. But in the first episodes she acted like a dead fish and the worst part, she continues to make stupid mistakes. (eating with her hands, showing the pearls to Nam Doo, saying she doesn’t have a birthday) She could have at least tried to act normal, and learned some common sense. lack of communication between the characters. Their fights were annoying and unnecessary. Just say what’s bothering you! We have been through this a million times. Do you have to drag it out, just for the sake of it. I also found myself wondering why they started to like each other. They barely talked about "real stuff" And she was so dumb, so it felt like he was treating someone with brain damage. The romance was a little dry, and I didn’t like that she completely innocent. And why he didn’t take her to a doctor when he found out she wasn’t sane? it was also very predictable. (the reincarnation story was boring and cliché so I skipped most of it) He was a bit controlling (when he told her to stop dancing and wear longer clothes) She also did everything he said. And the "I will die, if you die" thing was stupid. The right thing to do is keep living, move on and try to find happiness. In the end, why did she go to his house and embarrass herself like that? None of them are supposed to remember you stupid! I hated the erase your memories stuff. He didn’t want to have his memories taken, yet she still did it and cause more suffering in the end. It was also sad that none of the other characters remembered her and the stuff they went through. The villains were stupid and boring.
Overall, I did like it, and enjoyed watching it (if I look past some plot holes) I was excited for the next episode and wanted to know more. I also finished it, something I don’t do with a lot of dramas. It was different in some ways. They dragged the episodes, but stuff still happened. I did predict some of the stuff that what was going to happened, but it was still fun.

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Entertaining at times but disjointed

Overall this drama was enjoyable to watch and there were moments that kept me on the edge if my seat but I felt that the last couple episodes ended flat and it didn't tie up lose ends that I was hoping would be revealed. Some of the back story for the characters was disjointed and I felt could be explained better. But overall it was pretty fun and the acting was phenomenal, the acting was my favorite part of the drama and Heo Joon Jae con artist shenanigans made for entertaining scenes. I would definitely watch this drama at least once since its unique and a fun story involving past love and modern love.

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Whoever said this show was good; lied to me. I mean everyone has their own opinions and it's not a terrible show. This show had it's entertaining parts and I laughed here and there and I also liked the fact that the main girl had people that could relate to her. I like the girl from my sassy girl, I've never seen a Lee Min Ho drama but nothing about this drama was special or popped out to me. I'm literally skipping through because nothing about this drama is popping, I don't necessarily care for their chemistry but I don't mind it either. Literally my favorite character is the side one that makes fake ID's and doesn't talk but has a crush on the little mermaid over here. The story is pretty meh. Everything is a little back and fourth and of course main lead has daddy issues because why else would he act this way? This show is okay. Other's would probably like it but this isn't my type of fantasy romance drama. More like meh drama, but it killed time.

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