While You Were Sleeping (2017)

Overall- 10/10

Wow, what a drama. I enjoyed watching it so much that I finished the series within a day and a half. Everything about it was perfect. It's only the third drama I've watched and it's my favorite at the moment. Now what made this drama so good was the combination of an intriguing story, great cast, and thrilling music. Literally a masterpiece.

Story- 10/10

The supernatural theme of the realistic dreams the three main characters share adds interest to the overall- frankly, this is the most important aspect of the story that ties everything in. As for the genres, I think the "law" part is the most evident as that is what the story is about. One little thing I was wondering was of the romance being almost a separate plot point.

Characters- 10/10

Now the characters were very good. At first, I thought of Hong Joo to be meh, but I got used to her. As for Jae Chan, he was charming. The incompetent prosecutor on the outside but hard-working when you dig deeper. As for the side characters, they served their job well.

Acting/Cast- 10/10

There isn't too much to say about this, you have Lee Jong Suk as your male lead, and I thought Suzy was really good at portraying Hong Ju as a character who is depressed at times and cheerful at another. As for the other characters, Lee Sang Yeob did excellently at being the antagonist of the series. Wow, I hated this character so much, he was such a wicked guy.

Music- 10/10

Soundtracks were really good. The one I liked the most was of the violins going to high notes and back down during the most suspenseful moments. It really added to the thrill of the moment, which always gave me chills down my spine. Suzy's track, "I Love You Boy". was very lovable and soothing to hear.

Enjoyment- 10/10

Every second of this drama was amazing. There was a great balance of thrill and comedy in the plot. I finished this drama too fast.

Rewatch value- 10/10

I would rewatch this series anytime. It was that good. I first need to watch other dramas.

Leggi di Più

luv it.

This is definitely one of the best well-written kdramas I’ve ever watched.
If you like watching kdramas about laws etc I would recommend this for you
It’s a type of drama that you wouldn’t get bored of, every episode gets even more interesting
and more cases to do.
The fact that my faves are the main cast here makes it even more better heh..

I also cried watching this drama so be ready for it.

Story: 9.5/10
My first question about this drama why is it called “While You Were Sleeping” and I finally got my answer watching it, it’s about the main cast dreaming about what will happen to their life and other people lives in the passing time which what i totally love about this show the storyline is
very interesting.

Acting/Cast: 10/10
The cast were good choice they all pulled their characters well.
The chemistry between Lee Jong Suk & Bae Suzy is powerful
they totally stand out as a couple in the drama.

Lee Jong Suk- He fitted the role, his acting is always cool & simple
but the best.

Bae Suzy- She always has role were she embarrassed herself in public lmao.
But her role is always savage & has big confidence, actually out of the drama
she’s been in this role fitted her the most.

Jung Hae In- He was my favorite here, but he was pathetic,
they did him poor, second lead syndrome can’t be missing in
kdramas. I cried for him but since I don’t wanna give spoilers
or it will ruined the show I ain’t gonna give anything.

Lee Sang Yeob- Even though how many times I hate him in the drama, you can’t ignore his amazing acting skills.
His facial expressions & his handsomely face is attractive so dislike
him or not you will fall for him just like jessi hah..

Music: 9/10
The soundtrack is amazing definitely my fave.

“I love you boy” is a masterpiece + it was by Bae Suzy.

“When Night Falls” by Eddy Kim ughh when i hear it, makes my
heart flutters also one of my favorite the song was really good
& the singer of it just fitted the song so much his voice was
amazing.

Out of all the songs this two were my favorite.

Leggi di Più

just superb

worth watching .......this drama can make one think of different beliefs even they are not true ...like literally forecasting something that has not happened but will happen in the future and you dream about that ..and I even dreamed about being like that..superb it can bring good and bad also and the ML and FL acting was just so perfect and also having a second ML to just make it more perfect 😊😍😍....and the way how the story goes ..like most of the times it's the same, the story goes like happiness to being sad and in this also its the same, first they showed all the comedy from the Male and Female leads meeting to the twist in between by taking in the picture the second male lead and how they came together to solve all the cases and also the past relationship and along the way how they tackled with everything and in the last it was really a happy ending after all the problems. The main thing, the OST of this drama is just superb ..atleast for me it really calmed my mind and I felt so peaceful .....just superb.🥰🥰

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Story:
The plot never gets boring after a while you don't even realized you've watch the whole series

Acting/Cast:
What do you expect from Suzy, Lee Jongsuk and Jung Haein? Only the best acting of course!!! Their characters were amazing especially Suzy, I haven't seen her in a drama in a while so I was excited and as expected Suzy delievers. Honestly this isn't my favorite Haein role, but I still enjoyed it.

Music:
Honestly I can't remember the OST, but Korean soundtrack are always the best so....

Overall:
The show was great and I definitely recommend it to anyone who's thinking of watching

Leggi di Più

Amazing bromance and huge expectations

The plot of this drama is really good and the first episode made me drown on my own tears making me create huge expectations, but like basically every Lee Jongsuk drama ever made, was wasted potencial and eventually got tiring. But the acting is really good since they had a elite cast and Bae Suji is always a queen. Hae In never dissapoint and his bromance with Lee Jongsuk was worth the entire drama, making me give them my heart for free. Its a drama that you can bingle watch and even tho it could get better, its a must watch. Also, Lee Sung Kyung and Yun Kyun Sang's cameo is the cutest thing ever and i NEED theyre drama asap!!!

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This drama was REALLY good! It was SO engaging and the storyline was clever, it was very well made and it was funny, dramatic, tragic all at once!!
The main characters are just wow...talk about OT3!! I loved them all so much and I love the fact that there wasn't a malicious rivalry between Jae Chan and Woo Tak, they were all friends and treated each other with love and respect.

I love the amount of respect between colleagues. Woo Tak and his sunbae, and Jae Chan and Inspector Choi's relationship grew to this father-son relationship and it was so beautiful and heartbreaking!!

I LOVE the soundtrack for this drama, I just found myself thinking OMG this song, I need to find it, and it was a new one in every episode :D

10/10 would reccomend, this drama had me laughing and crying and sitting at the edge of my seat. Awesome work, everyone who worked on this drama, it was fantastic!

Leggi di Più

This was my first ever K-Drama that I´ve watched, and It was an amazing start. First of all, if the first episode didn´t grab you - than who are you, I was at the edge of my seat the whole time. The whole dream concept was very interesting and it wasn´t overly done or too unbelievable, I feel like it had a nice ballance of the romance side and the action packed side. Their relationship wasn´t too sappy, like in other dramas, so it was very refreshing I feel like. And this was the time where I fell in love with Lee Jong Suk - and his one eye tear drops - ahh I just love him.

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While You Were Sleeping was recommended to me from one of my book friends who also loves K-dramas, so I figured I'd give it a try. And come to find out, she and I also have the same taste in dramas because I really liked this one. I didn't full-out bawl for characters (which is a sure sign that I truly click with the characters), but I definitely felt for them. I'm so glad the bad guy got what was coming to him. I didn't think a certain character would die.. :{ which definitely left me feeling some sadness, especially after finding out who he was, truly.

I loved watching Bae Suzy, especially her shower singing scene (I've rewatched that scene at least 10 times since finishing the drama). The banter between Lee Jong Suk's character and Bae Suzy's character was so fun to watch and definitely kept the drama much lighter in tone, which I was thankful for. This was my first Lee Jong Suk drama and since then, I willingly and happily watch anything he's in because he's just that good of an actor (and I find him funny). He's also SUPER tall which I always forget until he's standing next to another character and they appear so much shorter. Haha! Anyways, I appreciated that the drama didn't get dark or serious, even though it definitely dealt with some serious topics. Humor was used in such a natural and perfect way throughout the drama, which really helped to keep me watching. The ending was very satisfying and complete.

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I watched this straight after Stranger, so I will try to incorporate some of the judgments I have about that one into this review since both predominantly carries similar underlying premise although the themes are different (I know).

First off, with every other markers that differentiate the two shows removed, I do find the pacing of Stranger a bit slow and draggy especially in the middle parts. Stranger is understandably a show written that is more focused around character development rather than the plot (it's quite a slow burner), so the writer of that show goes around many circling episodes trying to shade every character in the proximity of the main protagonist as the main culprit in order to confuse us. This kind of screenwriting works really well if you are not too much of a stickler for a show well-paced and one that centres itself largely on the actual development of the story. I wrote a full review on Stranger here.

https://mydramalist.com/profile/7596411/review/58045

While You Were Sleeping, on the other hand, I found to have successfully blended the complexity of being character-driven and plot-driven at the same time incredibly well. Trust me, the brilliance of the screenwriting and directing in this drama really blew me away! This is the reason I am utterly baffled at some other reviewers who thought this show was boring in any shape or form. I am not even sure if we watched the same show at this point.

While You Were Sleeping started off strong, and needless to say they actually managed to keep the show on high for the rest of the episodes till its conclusion which is admittedly a very tough feat. In fact, I do not find a single moment in this show that was boring and skippable. I even dare to say that every single scene is important and adds a very important dynamic to the overall impression of the story. When I first began this show, I was afraid that the execution is going to be messy or confusing, since they are playing with dreams/future back and forth. Nevertheless to my surprise, the writers and directors are incredibly skilled in telling a very interesting story in a compelling way.

The main trio as the protagonist of this show works incredibly well together. I dearly appreciate how there's no love triangle in this, although there is a one-sided love. Jae Chan's character is incredibly sweet and funny and Hong Joo is just so fun to watch, being the quirky and intelligent reporter that she is. Woo Tak is literally a heart stealer in every scene, with his incredibly charming smile and warm personality. Even all the supporting characters are important from the assistant investigators at the prosecutor office, the other three prosecutors and the Chief, Woo Tak's sunbaenim police officer and Hong Joo's mother. Every character is so loveable and brings to your heart a lot of warmth. I am also amazingly in awe of Nam Da Reum who delivers brilliantly all the nuances of Jae Chan's younger self as the troublemaker kid but also one who went through really difficult times. I am usually not a fan of any villain character but seriously hats off to the writers for giving the antagonist in this show an incredibly well-written backstory, which is greatly complemented by the immaculate acting of Lee Sang Yeob. He's utterly detestable from beginning to end, and ironically it worked great!

The acting by all the casts are on point as well, in particular Lee Jong Suk and Bae Suzy did incredibly well in their crying scenes. I am sure you will agree when you arrive at those particular scenes. This show also has a really incredible plot twist at the later episode, thus I think you'll really find the whole experience very enthralling.

Many of the OST in this drama are truly exceptional and adds incredible feels to the viewing experience, especially during the sad and romantic scenes. My favourites are the songs by Suzy, Davichi, Eddy Kim, Roy Kim and Henry.

The rewatch value for this drama is exceptionally high. This is actually one of the shows I have watched in kdramaland that I hold very dearly in my heart, and found that the perfect score doesn't do the show justice since it's value to me can't be expressed in any numeric forms. It's really so special to me, and the reason it's so special is that it's been executed incredibly well in all aspects that I consider very important to make a kdrama successful and utterly memorable.

Enjoy the watch!

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Had Potential, But was Just Okay

The one standout for acting (he was awesome) and made me finish the series, was Kim Won Hae, as Mr. Choi. The music throughout was appropriate for the scenes and it was quieted when the actors/actresses spoke (as it should be).

The story concept isn't new, but it had potential to be a great drama based on first two episodes, but it failed as if the writer got bored and that can make the viewer bored too. They failed with the attempt at a love triangle between the 3 dreamers; ML, FL and Woo Tak (actor Jung Hae In). Maybe it was because there was a lack of chemistry between the ML & FL or because the writing of the romantic moments sucked. During action sequences the camera was super shaky and same on closeups. It's a huge peeve of mine, because all they have to do is use a film/video stabilizer. The worst was in the beginning of Episode 13! So Production for me was a fail. The character development was barely there for the ML and the rest it was non-existant.

Overall other dramas with similar story concept have done better, but the ending of While You Were Sleeping was satisfactory. I wont watch it again and forced myself to finish it. Barely got to 5/10 for me overall, and mostly that was because of Kim Won Hae's acting!

Leggi di Più

I, wow. What can I even say? It’s 1AM, I usually rush most shows I watch because I’m so anxious to get to the end because it’s so good and I couldn’t do that with this show. I couldn’t miss a second of it because I was hooked from the first episode until the last and this show was just wonderfully written. I’m not huge on the actors and actresses but they did amazing in this show. Every episode had a story, everything was amazing, all the emotion, the emotional connection, the love the two characters had and the past that connected them. The family love that was there and it was literally like watching a live action Detective Conan which is my absolutely favorite anime in the world. I absolutely adored this show. It made my heart swoon and jump and I needed more and more of it. I wish it would never end because it was that amazing. I don’t even like suspenseful things but dang dude. Watch this show. It literally will steal your heart. How will one compare? Geez.

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