A Korean Odyssey (2017)

Mi è piaciuta l’interpretazione dell’attore protagonista, un po’ meno quello dell’attrice protagonista, totalmente oscurata dal protagonista. La storia di Woo Ma Wang è davvero molto romantica e molto bella, tanto quanto quella dei protagonisti. Anche il personaggio dello zombie è molto carino. Gli effetti speciali lasciano un po’ a desiderare, mentre i luoghi scelti per girare, tipo la libreria e la grotta sono belli e romantici. Si perde un po’ nel finale ma quando, negli ultimi 5 minuti, Son Oh Gong gli regala il suo occhio rosso per ritrovarla, ovunque sia, scusatemi ma è stato top!!!!

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Ha assolutamente dei difetti questo drama, ma non riesco a non dargli un punteggio alto. Sinceramente al momento è la mia serie coreana più bella vista in assoluto, e nonostante il finale mi preoccupasse (mentre lo guardavo girando vari forum mi sono "spoilerata" il fatto che il finale non fosse proprio il classico happy ending) quando l'ho visto in realtà mi ha soddisfatta, in quanto rispecchia perfettamente il "mood" (passatemi il termine) del drama. È un finale si aperto, ma sappiamo tutti che il Grande Saggio pari del cielo la ritroverà sicuramente, è impossibile pensare il contrario. In più, se Sam-Jang fosse effettivamente sopravvissuta sarebbe comunque rimasta un'umana che avrebbe continuato il corso della sua vita si assieme a Son Oh Gong, ma prima o poi sarebbe morta, e sarebbe comunque stato un finale dolce-amaro. Invece donandole un suo occhio e promettendo di andarla a riprenderla nell'oltretomba da al finale qualcosa di epico in linea perfettamente con la storyline che ci è stata proposta, per cui si, posso ritenermi soddisfatta.
Che cosa invece non mi è piaciuto?
In primis alcune animazioni erano veramente inguardabili. Anzi, quasi tutte. Quel drago era veramente agghiacciante.
La scena in cui Son oh Gong si toglie il bracciale è animata veramente male, ma vabbè lasciamo stare altrimenti inizio ad elencare ogni minima scena animata.
Parliamo di Sam-jang. All'inizio ci viene mostrata una donna che si ha sofferto molto per colpa del suo destino di salvatrice, ma cavoli, ci viene anche presentata come una donna forte! Perché nel corso degli episodi si rimbambisce sempre di più? Meritava sicuramente una caratterizzazione migliore, cosa che la maggior parte dei personaggi hanno avuto, addirittura alcuni personaggi secondari risultano più interessanti di lei.
Per quanto riguarda l'interpretazione di Lee seung gi nulla da dire se non che lui è stato il motivo principale per cui ho iniziato questo drama, il suo personaggio mi ha conquistata sin dal trailer e la sua recitazione è stata veramente ottima, in più in coppia con cha Seung Won forma una delle più belle bromance da me viste

Se le ost di questo drama vi portano dipendenza non preoccupatevi, è tutto normale

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Drama fantasy davvero bello.

L'ho rimandato visto che sapevo un po' che non sarebbe stato un drama leggero ma ho fatto male perché è il tipico drama che adoro.
Fantasy che più fantasy non si può,demoni, esseri superiori, spiriti malvagi, dei ,zombie etc in un intreccio con il mondo umano.Poi ovviamente non può mancare l'amore quello impossibile ma grande e qui supera l'inimmaginabile.Ci sono anche le risate quelle di gusto, un poco di bromance alla "goblin" che fa molto ridere.
I protagonisti bravissimi,pure quelli in secondo piano hanno il loro spazio nella storia.Ci sono baci quelli veri che tolgono il fiato.
Già dal inizio fa presagire un finale non roseo e così é ma non l'ho visto come una mancanza ma una conclusione giusta per tutta la storia.
Sarà anche vecchiotto come drama ma è davvero bello e merita di essere visto.

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I think it's fair to say that this drama was good overall: the story is intriguing, well written for the first 10 episodes and it made me curious.
If I can say something bad about it, I'd have gone for a shorter version. 20 episodes are too many, since part of the story (expecially from episode 14) was just fillers.
I'd rather watch 10 very good episodes than 20 just for the sake of carrying it on.
The ending it's not that bad, but it's way too predictable: if you're not into open endings, just forget about this drama.
Onto the good stuff:
- Lee Seung Gi is just gold in this series, I cannot think of anybody else for the role of Son Oh Gong. Same goes for Cha Seung Won (Ma Wang) and Sung Hyuk (General Frost).
- Soundtrack is Bomb: "Let me out" is a hit, was stucked in my head for weeks, as well as "If You Were Me" and "When I Saw You".
- I loved the fact that supernatural elements, history and human nature are intertwined in the love story: it makes it really special.
- I don't particularly like Oh Yeon Seo, but i loved the first 5 episodes because of the tension between the two leads.
- Lee El (Secretary Ma) is one of the most underrated character, imho, but I loved her a lot.


I don't think I'd rewatch this, cause it's too painful now (i didn't enjoy the ending) and also because of the dragged out part (13-17), but It was definitely worth my time.

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To start off, this is one of the few dramas that I truly believe deserves 10/10. A Korean Odyssey was a drama that I just planned on waiting to end to wait - until I got sucked in on the very first episode. The story is well written, compelling, emotional, and exceptional. I can't say more aside from how good it was. It's been a while since a drama has gotten me emotional (the last being Scarlet Heart Ryeo) and I thoroughly enjoyed the dynamics of the relationship between Son Oh Gong and Jin Seon Mi. It's always keeping you guessing as a viewer as what's going to happen next, and it's a ride that you don't want to miss a second of. The build up of the conclusion to the drama was must more squished but it didn't stop me one bit from enjoying the drama. If you want a real review, I suggest you write your own after watching this drama. A Korean Odyssey is a drama you have to watch in order to truly understand what makes it so amazing. I can truly say that this drama made a big splash on my list, and it's been a ride that I'll never forget.

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Hwayugi, a much-anticipated offering from The Hong Sisters, is an ambitious attempt at a prestige fantasy series with middling results. What begins as an intriguing—if fraught, production-wise—modern spin on the classic Journey to the West, ends as a jumbled mess with an identity crisis.

When a story lacks direction, it’s sure to suffer. What did this drama want to be? An idol drama with tons of romance? A monster-of-the-week romp, or an urban fantasy with cataclysmic consequences? The tone is erratic, especially in the beginning, whiplashing viewers between horror and comedy without prelude. In addition to the copious filler, the plot was pulled in so many directions that very little progress was actually made. Not even the romance between the leads received the attention it required to blossom satisfyingly—it just happens, for no rhyme or reason, and we’re expected to invest in it immediately. Overall, the story promises apocalyptic stakes yet delivers something haphazard and episodic, peppered with hollow romantic scenes (the exemplar of which is an early out-of-character, cat-themed aegyo from the female protagonist).

One of the main issues can be found in the massive cast, populated by multiple big names and actors of varying talent and skill. Despite a valiant effort by Lee Seung Gi as Son Oh Gong, the secondary cast steals the show. Lee Hong Ki (PK) and Lee Se Young (Bu Ja) are a delight in spite of frustrating plot developments, easily drawing focus away from the main storyline. The same goes for Lee El as the dog-demon assistant Ma Ji Yeong, Kim Sung Oh as hapless secretary Lee Han Joo, and Sang Hyuk as General Frost and his warm-hearted sister, with whom he shares a body. Cha Seung Won, however, is completely wasted in his role as Ma Wang, the demon king. The character gives him no room to stretch his dramatic legs, instead relying on the zany comedy he so excels at—but this gets old fast, and it’s frustrating to see him spin his wheels with such a flat character. This leads us to the weakest of the bunch—Oh Yeon Seo’s performance as Jin Sun Mi is uninspired, and I couldn’t tell you if her expression changed even once. Her scenes with Lee Seung Gi are sometimes almost uncomfortable to watch, given how dynamic he is in comparison.

That said, the OST is consistently good. Standouts include the absolute bop “Let Me Out” by NU’EST, the tender ballad “When I Saw You” by Bumkey, and the cheerful “I Will Be By Your Side” by MeloMance.

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Let me try to describe A Korean Odyssey in a few short words: It's like a fantasy movie in 20 episodes with a lot of cool and stunning scenes, some great and some crappy CGI and an awkward chemistry between the leads. But it's cool.

Story: The story is actually not as bad as some people say. I loved the story premise, it's different from what you usually get from Korean dramas. It has a lot of backstory but they managed to give it to you bit by bit and not make you bored or hate the overall story. Sure, sometimes the script wasn't the best but the story premise is great!

Acting/Cast/Characters: The acting was definitely great from all the actors and actresses. The chemistry between MaWang and Son Oh Gong, the "bromance", is really enjoyable and brings like 50% of the comedy in the show. Cha Seung Won shined in this drama with the many characteristics MaWang showed and I think it's a great comeback drama for Lee SeungGi. So big compliments to all the main and the supporting actors for showing us so many sides to their characters.

So now to the bad part: The chemistry between LSG and Oh Yeon Seo was well...not good...kinda cold and if this was a normal rom-com I would never have watched 20 episodes with them, definitely not. That's not the fault of OYS though, it was just that her character was really crappy...I mean there has to be a limit to how naive, self-centered and gullible a person can be?! Jin Seon Mi -the character- is the only reason I'm taking some points off here.

Music: The music fit the drama well and I looked up almost all of the songs.

Rewatch: Some scenes definitely but probably not the whole drama...

Overall: Overall this drama had like one main character, Lee Seung Gi and all the others were supporting characters. The drama has a great premise but while it starts off kind of unusual for a Kdrama it turns around at like halftime and goes right into dramaland, which makes it a little bit more boring in the end but bearable. The acting was amazing, character design awesome (except for one) and another thing: it's oh so detailed. I loved it and I would warmly recommend it but let me tell you, if you don't like it after 5-6 episodes drop it. Before that you won't get the right feeling for it and after that you're either into it or you're not.

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I don't know why this show doesn't have higher rates. Seriously that goes easy to my top 10. It has everything I like in a show. I don't know if it's some personal preferences but I simply loved everything about it.
I even like it better than other famous top everyone likes dramas like Goblin, for instance.
I see here the right amount of comedy, romance, and a good plot to back it up.
Some shows I watch give relationships the main spot of the history, and something happening around, but with the main focus in the relations itself, usually romances. Those are romance focused, and others have a more twisted complicated histories, main focused, so the romances and relations get a little bit grayed out by it.
I can say, most of the dramas are that way. I'm not complaining, just stating a fact. But not this one. This drama had the right amount of everything entangled, a good twisting plot behind a beautiful romance, with the right amount of cliches(not too much, but enough to warm our hearts xD), in a so subtle way, we don't even notice it.
No, no second lead syndrome crap bad written romances have. (I'm second a lead syndrome hater hahaha )
Just pure love, with hints of fantasy, tragedy and comedy . An Odyssey after all.

Soundtrack(i'm getting ready to download it), the cast, the chemistry the leads had, the leads itself, I liked everything about it.
Some reviews I've read said that at some point the history got dragging, like they were filling it, like they were delaying it so they could make it longer. At some point, if I recall I can say that happened, but it wasn't like I wanted to skip it, so I could know what really happens (like I do in crappish dramas, I just go on skipping so I don't lose my time ove it hahaha). It was fun! That's why I can't complain about it. T
I really had fun watching this. I recommend it to everyone who enjoy fiction and fantasy like I do.

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Started with a boom but ended in a fizzle.

For me this drama started off amazing! It even turned me into a Lee Seung Gi fan, which I NEVER thought I would say. And I really enjoyed the exaggerated performance of Cha Seung Won which after barely making it through Greatest Love, because of his exaggerated performance, came as an extreme surprise. Here his performance and over the top reminded me of Choi Siwon in She Was Pretty. Ridiculous but utterly amazing and hilarious!!

However, around episode 12 this drama started to change. For some, they enjoyed this change of plot/storytelling. For me, I HATED it!!! The storyline for me, lost focus. Added in plot lines, that instead of contributing to the stories development left it scattered and felt as if the drama was taken over by an entirely different writer.

Overall, it had a lot of potential, a great cast, and original story. I loved the supernatural elements, chemistry between the leads, and the love story. However, because of too many hindrances in the final episodes it lost a lot of its potential for a re-watch value and from becoming one of my favorite supernatural dramas. I would recommend for someone to watch (especially if they want a new supernatural drama following Goblin and Master’s Sun), as long as they are prepared for a shift halfway through the series.

Happy drama watching!

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If you are familiar with the Hong sisters you pretty much expect a decent amount of crazy weirdness but this drama definitely went above and beyond with insanity! Loosely based on the story Journey To The West it felt less like an epic adventure and more like a disaster film. Now don't get me wrong there are some pretty great things about this show that make it interesting and somewhat addictive but not enough to redeem all it's unusual faults. Suffering from a slew of production and broadcasting issues this drama is the poster child for why some shows need pre-produced!

Story: The main story line is a complete convoluted disaster. If it hadn't been for the interesting characters and addictive sub plots this drama would have flopped hard! As with most Hong sisters dramas the main story line is almost completely overshadowed by the romantic sub plots. This usually isn't an issue for a fluffy rom-com lover like myself but considering this is an adaptation it was very poorly executed. There is an abundance of plot holes and over use of prop gimmick instead of actual story and character development. The saving grace are the interesting/entertaining characters and romantic/comedic sub stories, something the Hong sisters do very well. There are also some pretty great ideas and moments scattered through the crazy mess of a story but as a whole the story never delivers in a satisfying way beginning to end!

Acting/Cast: This has to be one of the best cast dramas i've seen in awhile, and that is a complete shame! Instead of making use of the great talent at hand production chose instead to rely heavily on props and an assortment of unnecessary sfx to sell the story. There are probably a lot of people who have negative things to say about the actors based on the poor development of story and character instead of actual ability of the actors. I honestly think they did the very best in a bad situation.

Music: The best thing about this drama is definitely the soundtrack, it's great! I have several songs downloaded to my playlist and listen to them daily now. I highly recommend checking them out even if you decide to skip the show.

Re-watch value: Very low for me. If I do it will be with the help of my trust fast forward button to get to the sweet and fluffy stuff.

Overall: This drama is mostly disappointing for me. It started out plagued by production and broadcasting mishaps and just kept on skirting by week to week from there. I fully believe it has some really great thought behind it which could have made for an epic drama but the execution was just so lackluster. A drama like this truthfully should have been pre-produced instead of filming to broadcast due to the abundant amount of story complexity and special effects needed. I believe that much of the cringe worthy mediocrity of this show can be attributed to a "just to get by" attitude adopted from unrealistic production constraints. It has great characters and very memorable moments I'll not soon forget but the lack of real substance to the sweetness leaves you feeling unsatisfied, what a shame!

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This is an example of a kdrama that starts out rather promisingly, but fails to uphold its quality throughout the end. Sometimes the special effects were a little cheesy (but that I can live with as long as the plot is good), but what really bothered me was the inability of the story to progress and develop. Post episode 10, it felt like each episode was simply an iteration of the same thing, with slight deviations, making the end tiring and repetitive to watch. I was excited to see the development of both the MC's here, but definitely fell a little flat on the heroine, and while the hero had some interesting development initially, that slowed down. Also, I didn't particularly care for the "does he love me does he want to kill me" trope that the heroine kept obsessing over in the same bland, one note. Some of the supporting characters' stories were also really weird and one-note.


Do not recommend. Not painful, just really boring.

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I'm probably in the minority with my rating since I saw a lot of people complain about the story. So, let me explain why I gave 8 points despite the drama's striking flaws.

First thing I imagine when I read the title, is something flashy, magical and colorful. "A Korean Odyssey" definitely scores a hit in that category. Bright colors and places that make the world our characters are living in seem a little extraordinary. On the other hand (and my personal complaints) is the way those elements were executed. You might disagree with me and say that if the story itself is good, one can overlook failed CGI effects. Well, for me it's a really important factor because well done special effects can lift the quality and increase the impact of a certain moment a lot. You can probably imagine how I had to cringe whenever such a scene occurred - most of all in the finale.

Despite that though! When it came down to the really important things which involved feelings, difficult decisions, realizations etc, you can say that the job was done neatly. They were even able to offer some killer minutes of emotional torture.

Looking at the story, yes, the first half didn't feel like having a clear structure or a straight path to follow. It seemed uneven and tortuous. The second half though was more focused on progressing the actual story and preparing for the finale. As you can see, I liked the plot. The cast was great and fun to watch. Lee Seung Gi had great chemistry with all his co-actors, esp with Chae Seung Won (it's a matter of fact that these two are a match made in heaven - literally) and Oh Yeon Seo. I was worried about some awkward kisses between them and they were indeed a little coy at first, but in the end they did really, REALLY well.

What else to like... I became a big fan of the supporting roles in this drama and the one who needs to be mentioned so much is Lee Se Young. In "The Best Hit" she didn't leave a lasting impression, rather the opposite. That's why I was even more surprised when I finally spotted her in this. Yes, it took me a while to even recognize her and if you haven't watched the drama yet, you will get what I'm talking about right then. Let me applaud to that girl, she was a real bombshell.

My second favorite was/were Fairy Ha and Winter General. Two characters, two genders but one actor. Sung Hyuk was incredible. He pulled off these two totally different and yet so similar personalities, made both appear with their own aura and was able to touch my heart with their story.

Lee Hong Ki aka PK. I enjoyed his character the more I saw of him. Just like all the other heavenly creatures he was flawed, self-centered and never left out an advantageous opportunity (even though he was interrupted most times). But he had his heart in the right place and defended that one friend he got impulsively - although not always with the most clever methods.

My happiest moments while watching "Hwayugi" were whenever I noticed certain elements of other mangas. Yes, you did read right. It doesn't sound nice, I know. But believe me, it's not meant in a bad way. It's exactly the opposite because there were so many different things packed in this one drama, that they became a sweet additional ingredient. Some examples are Inuyusha, Kamisama Hajimemashita, Sailor Moon and Naruto. Feel free to search for other ones. It's definitely a fun side game.

I mentioned "striking flaws" earlier and I already noted the most annoying things for me. If I were to add one more thing it would be the music. Don't get me wrong, the songs were a beautiful mood supporter. But whenever they changed scenes, they cut off the tune so brutally, that they ruined my special moments and gave me a hard time getting into the new scene.

This being said... I don't know about others (although I saw that not everyone was satisfied and expectations were shattered cruelly), I for myself had a great time watching "A Korean Odyssey". I was not able to overlook its blunders, but they were not overwhelming enough either and didn't diminish my enjoyment. Call it guilty pleasure or whatever. I had a great time.

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