Black (2017)

Starts slow only gets better.

My impressions by Act.
1st Act: I don't know about this. I see where they're going though...ill hang tight. Hmmm I can't decide if i love her or she's the most annoying character ever. Is he supposed to be acting like the guy from the Matrix?
2nd Act: What. Is. Going. On?!?! OMG it's 4am. Did i stay up all night again? Yeah, i definitely love her and he's got some serious game.
3rd Act: Well now they wrapped that up tight with a very nice bow. Hat's off to everyone involved. Well done.

I gave the 9.5 simply because at any point this whole thing could've gone off the rails and sure, it did come close at points but they held it together and they deserve bonus points for that.

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This is my first time writing a review and i felt an urge to write one for this amazing drama. I have just finished it and words can't describe how Black is an amazing and breath-taking drama... Everything is so fantastic about it. Everything, from acting to the story. The story in itself is so good and how the director made this work is genious, with every conflict connected to everyone in some way.  You can't even realize that one problem has been connected to another, and how the plot is just flowing with perfection.  If you like suspense and thriller movies/series with a supernatural aspect, then this drama is perfect for you! It is very unpredictable and serious, but when you least expect it, there comes up hilarious and adorable moments.

As for actors - Black, aka Song Seung Heon,  is such a handsome and gergeous man who can play perfectly both goofy and arrogant, but kind roles. His acting left me with broken heart. That's how much i loved him.  I liked Go Ah Ra as well and i thought that her acting was great.  I also loved support roles, the Cop Squad, that are willing to do everything for their beloved partner.  

This is my first time finishing a drama and thinking straight away when i'm going to watch it again! Even those dramas that i loved the most, i couldn't watch them all over again but i could do that for Black. I know that i used all the best adjectives, but i also know that i'm not exaggerating!

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"Spoiler alert is at the 2nd last paragraph."
I have ignored this drama for a long time because i was not interested in the cast. But one day somehow I have decided to watch BLACK. After watching only one episode I fell for the plot and the story line of this drama. Every episode has it's own charm for amazing twists and grabbing the interest of the watcher. The story and twists n turns of this drama are SSSSOOOO COOLl!!! <3 <3 <3
But i don't know why it has got only 8.2/10 rating!?! The acting was good by all the cast except for Go Ah Ra. She mostly has her facial expressions half frozen and half relaxed. Sorry If I did offend any of her fans by saying that... :)
The story has minimal and a slow burn romance. So people who are into romance as a main genre please don't get disappointed. But regardless of minimal romance, try watching this drama. You'll definitely like this drama.

"The ending might not be likable but it is reasonable." You can watch this drama for sure regardless of worrying about the climax... ;)
Thank you for sparing your valuable time to read my review. I hope my review is helpful to you... :)

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First thing first, this is the first ever drama that I "chased" after it's being aired and waited patiently for the subtitles. Wasn't able to find time to write the review as I really really love this drama. Besides our Handsome Oppa with his glares here and there, all the supporting roles did an amazing job for the story. Really glad that they extended from episode 12 to 18 because episode 12 would be too short and probably have a different plot twist that won't be as interesting/confusing as this?

Acting wise, Song Seung Heon's acting were really better compared to the one that I watched that he acted in My Princess and that was the only show that I've completed. He kind of look like JI SUNG to me last time, hehehe. Go Ah Ra's acting were not too bad in this drama as you can really feel her when she's always so depressed with her gift, was never affected by her acting like so many other people though.

OST wise I don't recall much except the song Like a Film because it always appear at happier moments.

I will probably only rewatch this show when I kind of forgotten what happened or maybe certain cut scenes because I think the main point for this show and what made it really good was the storyline.

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Okay I'm about to RANT.

In the first few episodes, it had me completely HOOKED. It was so strange because as soon as it starts you jump straight into the story, and everything that's shown is explained as you continue watching. It was a bit overwhelming trying to understand everything that was happening, but you would want to continue watching because it's hilarious. I liked most things about it but there were a LOT of small problems that have become a bigger issue for me. The problems really only lie in the middle to last few episodes.

Okay here are the spoilers, in I think the middle episodes the second lead is accused of something extremely atrocious and it really had me questioning life. I hate those sayings "They're not that type of person, they would never do something so horrible!" because anyone could do anything. And sayings like those are heard often in this show, which is just a huge issue on its own because it's always the one you don't expect. But that's not my problem with the show, that's just something that was bothering me and I needed to rant about it.

My real problems with this show is the ending. It seems like the writers were reaching so hard for a "sad" ending. The ending made no sense at all to me. Okay so ML ends up doing something completely unnecessary and ends getting punished for it?!? It made no sense, they had everything they needed to punish the antagonist but he just went off the rail. They make it seem like a human's life span is forever. The antagonist and everyone else eventually dies so I just CANNOT wrap my head around why he did that. IT WAS JUST SO UNNECESSARY. LIKE WHAT?????

*Another huge but small problem I have with this show is that everyone who deserves to rot in prison, dies before receiving their punishment, like literally EVERYONE. *

In this show they view life like it's the most important thing ever, even though they know that there's an afterlife...? I have a different view on life's value than others, so I know others may disagree. I do believe that life is valuable, but I'm also extremely aware that no one can live forever, and everyone in this show is aware of that too, they even know that there is an afterlife. I just, I can't, I quit, the ending was just so dumb. I was going to continue ranting but I just can't. All I will say is that it's a good watch until the ending. That's it.

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Heart Wrenching Brilliance

When I first started watching "Black", I thought ut would just be an entertaining alternative for "Goblin". To be honest, I was a little confused at first because of the flashbacks. Then I realized they were feeding me crumbs that led to intriguing, horrible, heartbreaking mysteries that would ultimately all come together. Seriously, this drama did such a great job at addressing nearly every question it popped into my head (except for when No. 444 freaks out as Soo-wan tries to feed him red bean soup...I had to look up that apparently red bean soup is a food traditionally used to ward off bad spirits, it all makes sense now...). When I eventually rewatch it, I'm sure I'll catch things I missed the first time. The ending was a bit abrupt for me. I expected a bittersweet one, but I was definitely left wanting a little more time for Ha-Ram and Joon. Still, overall this will definitely go down as one of my top dramas. It covered such an impressive range of social/human issues, and more than anything, I just really fell in love with the police characters (the good guys, that is! Rip Crazy Dog, my heart is still aching :(. ) I didn't expect another drama to move me quite this way since "The Last Empress", but "Black" made me cheer, laugh and cry. I loved it.

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I like sci-fi dramas, I love thriller mysterious dramas and I'm a passionate of sci-fi/thriller/romance dramas (like Healer). But, even so, I haven't watched this drama earlier (although it was in Netflix) because of Go Ah Ra. Finally, I had some free time and I told myself I couldn't dislike her so much as in Hwarang, and I started Black.
Then, the pluses and minus of this:

Story:
+ Loved it... so many twisted sides of the story, so many discoveries... really good. Even if there were some things difficult to understand if you didn't concentrate on it, at the end it was as a puzzle where all the pieces fit in.
- Sometimes it get messy. Some things weren't enough explained (and there were two many long corean names to follow up...). Sometimes it seemed as police officers (and the main leads) were really stupid, and then - overall in the last two episodes - were super smart and they could figure out everything right away.
The romance was nonexistent and completely bland, and it would be better if there was no romance at all, because, except for the ending's purpose, I have the feeling it didn't add anything to the plot.
The ending: the best option is not to see the last 10 minutes of the 18th episode. You will be fine or better like this. This last 10 minutes are really silly and does not add anything useful to the drama.

Acting:
+ First time I see Song Seung Heon, and I loved his acting, being able to do so good in two completely different characters. I loved the two Grim Reapers who were with him all the time - they were funny - , and Crazy Dog and the police officers team. Lee Ei's acting as Kim Sun Young was fine too, and I liked the role of Oh Man So, although his development could have been better.
- Unfortunately, I didn't like at all Go Ah Ra character. She was a crying baby all along the drama (as she was in Hwarang). When the character wanted to seem brave, in fact she was stupid (facing serial killers alone without telling anybody? OMO!), and these moments were the only ones were she was not depressed, sad, crying or hesitating what to do with her ability. I really didn't see any development in her character, and I don't know if it's her bad acting or if the director asked her to act as in her previous roles... The only time I liked her was in the videoclip she did with Super Junio Kyuhyun in Switzerland (perhaps because she didn't need to talk?). Anyway, the love story seriously lacks chemistry or contact or everything else... although I have to admit I did prefer the time when she wasn't on screen, so I didn't miss so much the romance part.

Music: I like the 3!!! songs.

Rewatch value: noooo... I don't think I could stand to see the female lead pouting and crying again. Nevertheless, I'm going to see more Song Seung Heon and Choi Ran's (the screenwriter) dramas/films for sure.

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of the hate to love the kdrama

I found the dorama a little boring and a dull at first, but with a beautiful photograph, very good performance, good story, but with potential for more, so much so that I had even dropped it and thought I would never see the dorama again, when I told my friends what happened when I said I dropped it, started telling me to see again that it gets better after episode 5", so I said, "ok I'll watch but I don't promise I'll like it".

When I came home to see the dorama, I began to like it more than before, they were right got better from the 5 episode, the story of the dorama changed for the better.

I recommend super this dorama, and if you find it a little dull, watch more hold than promise that is better than it was, the story is more complete.

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A lot of action and twists. But also funny. The setting and Stories behind the deaths of the people is very intriguing. My favorite one would have to be the one in the mental hospital. the back story for that one was very detailed and interesting. it was also a bit creepy. some of the ghosts/demons can be good or bad. you just never know until you watch the entire episode. the actor and actress are like not considered a superhero in both worlds. only to the people who have seen them in action. you must be thinking why would a ghost be happy to be found and banished back to the underworld. but, again you never know until the episode ends.

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'Black' managed to pull me out a long and deep drama slump that I've been for a couple of months now. It is not a drama for everyone, though. The story is dark, violent and gloomy for the most part. As it unravels, it gets even more creepy. Be careful if you don't handle abuse, especially abuse towards women and children, well. The script doesn't have mercy on anyone. I personally hate watching violence on-screen, yet I couldn't stop watching. I really wanted to see what is going to happen next. I thought that the pace of the show was exceptional.

Story: the writing is tight. The first 2 episodes are super confusing, but then we slowly start getting an explanation of what is going on. Almost every episode gives us a bit more information about the cruel world of everyone involved. The vast majority of the events and details in the story are connected, though some of them might be a bit far-fetched. I have to say that I am impressed with how the story slowly comes together and even small details matter later on. I haven't seen many shows that did this well. Sometimes I would yell to myself: 'of course! That's why x happened!' However, it is a paranormal romance story, so of course some of the elements that move the story forward can be a bit ludicrous. Unless you are a fan of supernatural elements, you might not really like how the story unfolds. I thought it was done very well. I liked the nice mix of grotesque and somber scenes at the beginning of the show. I wish there was a bit more of that later on.

Acting: Omg, Song, Seung Heon... need I say more? If not for the story, the show is worth watching just for his acting. The two completely different personalities that he portrays plus the development of his character... his acting is perfect. He is a great mixture of cold, charming, funny, serious, narcissistic and deep. He completely and totally stole the show. SSH wasn't the only one who gave a phenomenal performance, though. Lee El (the doctor) was very believable in her role. I really felt for her throughout the show. Many people complained about Go Ara, and I agree with the criticism. I kind of wish Lee El was the the main actress instead. In general though, acting was pretty stellar in this show. The police officers, the hospital staff, the countless people the leads meet along the way... almost all of them felt very real.

Music: Nothing that special, to be honest.

Re-watch value: I think that watching it again would be equally enjoyable, especially since all the clues left by the writers in the opening scenes would start making sense from the very beginning.

I was really NOT A FAN of the ending. It seemed like written by a completely different writer and I doubt it satisfied anyone.

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Someone special told me to watch this kdrama, and I am glad I did! At first it was kind of slow, but then eventually BOOM it shoots up like a rocket. This kdrama has everything you would want in one, it's thrilling, suspenseful, supernatural, emotional, gripping, and even at times funny! Song Seung Heon and Go Ah Ra were phenomenal in their acting! They had good chemistry too. Plus they made the best team! Make sure to get some popcorn for this intense gripping drama! And yes you might want to grab a box of tissues cause...you know how kdramas can be. And this one is no exception.

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First, the GOOD STUFF: This Kdrama has about a zillion plot twists throughout the show and you have to really pay attention or you may miss something very important. The writer does a great job of giving you tiny bits of information until they are ready to lay everything out for you.

The actors and actresses do a great job in this series. Every character is unique and interesting and important in their own way. There are a lot of actors/actresses in the show who are only in the series for a short time, but are important characters, so that is an interesting part of the story as well.

The NOT SO GOOD STUFF: This show is super violent so if that is not something you can handle, I'd give this show a pass. It's not violent all the time, but when it is...it's brutal. Also, I was not a fan of the ending. I found it confusing and frustrating. Others may not feel that way and I sort of get when the writer was trying to do, but for me...it just didn't work.

If you like a slow burning mystery, you might enjoy this show, but just be forewarned about what I mentioned above.

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