Mama Fairy and the Woodcutter (2018)

This is a nice, quirky fantasy/romantic comedy. It features an excellent cast, and a lot of charming and interesting characters. It has quite a few twists, and is really cute and interesting. The main character is a kind but naive fairy, who has lived on Earth for several hundred years. The main love interests are a professor and his young assistant (they also live together). The two characters are like night and day, the assistant being sweet and willing to believe the fairy, and the professor being cautious and skeptical. One of the two love interests is the fairy's reincarnated husband who died suddenly several hundred years ago.

What likely makes this show a hit or miss for several people: the show is a bit on the weird side and does not go as expected. A love triangle is also a big player for the plot here. Typically when you watch a drama, you can point out who the female lead will end up within the first couple of minutes of the first episode, even if there's a love triangle. This drama gives you a bit of a guessing game, and the answer...is not what a lot of people were expecting.

As someone that dabbles in story writing, when a storyline isn't super predictable, I like it a lot more. I also enjoy finding clues to upcoming plot twists within the dialogue and events of the show. This was the case for "Mama Fairy."

This is a drama where you have to pay close attention (especially in the flashbacks) in order for everything happening to make complete sense. It had me hooked from the start, so I was never confused. I was extremely happy with who the female lead ended up with, but this was not the case for quite a few people. But when watching, it was clear that the drama pointed in that character's direction, via other characters' opinions of the love interests, the flashbacks, and the female lead's feelings toward the guy she ended up with. It's subtle, but the hints were there.

Romance aside, the main characters are each interesting in their own individual ways. It was interesting how each of the reincarnated love interests shared traits with the people/creatures they were in their past lives. Learning more about them through the flashbacks was a highlight of each episode. One of the main characters had a very tragic back story, and his story developed into a great one of friendship and redemption in the end. It ended up being the highlight of the end of the series.

That said, this show isn't perfect. Even as someone who loved and enjoyed it, I disliked a trio of supporting cast members at first. I eventually grew to like them a little bit as they started playing a part in the main storyline, but that took a few episodes. The other issue I have is the CGI. At some points I can see where it was necessary, but practically every animal that appears (even if it's a random cat running by) is CG. It's very fake and cartoonish looking, so it took a bit to get used to.

I adored this show, it's a new favorite of mine honestly. However, if you're off-put by eccentricity, love-triangles, and/or quite a few plot twists you might not like it. Even though it's a romcom, there's a complex story behind it, and that's one of the main reasons I enjoyed it so much. This series is best approached with an open-mind, and a willingness to accept that not all is as it appears to be.

I gave it a 9.5/10 as I was interested throughout, and fell in love with the story and characters.

(I also rate heavily based on personal enjoyment)

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More than who-is-the-husband-game

A 699 year-old fairy waiting for her woodcutter husband to reincarnate—its synopsis says, but the story was far better than this synopsis. It was a light, quirky, fun and very heartwarming drama that you thought you won't expect too much, but as you head towards the end, you will realize that this drama is beautiful with so many LIFE messages of a friendship bonded by the realest meaning of love more than romance, brotherhood, family and—of redemption. So now, here is my *somewhat detailed* review:

Okay, first of all, I've thought that this drama is what you see is what you get—the typical one that has romance and so many laughs and THAT JUST IT. Because of that, I watched this drama without expectation to watch a good story that has a depth from this one. But hck this drama is more than your typical romcom. Apart from the criticisms it had received more particularly in the CGIs and because of its fantasy story line—and although I believed that the romance could have been much much better, I can say that this drama is MORE THAN the romance type. What started light, comedic, fun and you know a little bit weird, ended up giving me heartwarming messages—messages of the true meaning of love, the art of being selfless and the beauty of sharing with one's pain, the problem that lies upon having resentment, the power of friendship and family and most of all, the lesson of learning how to forgive others as well as yourself and in return be forgiven and—be free. I know this sounds LIFE dramatic, but that is what I really felt after watching the drama.

However there is no blinding that this drama contains flaws.

CGIs?
The CGIs are not bad but still they are not good, but for a low-budget drama like this, it was doable. And believe it or not, as I watched the drama further, I complain lesser about the CGI and I think it is kind of charming and just suitable for the light vibes the drama is trying to execute. And besides, as you watch the drama, you are not going to watch it for the CGI as they don't take over the whole show. Yes, it could have been better with good CGIs, but you don't need high budget CGIs to have a good show.

Acting?
I believe the actors really hardwork for this drama. I noticed that there are scenes (that include rocks and mountains) which are really hard to execute but they still did it and have done their best, because of that I must congratulate them for doing really great and giving me (and other viewers) a good show. To be honest, I have never felt like they were inappropriate for the role they were given (as a little portion of people here suggest). No casts were young enough or old enough for the role, each of them has carried their character and their own charm. However, I must admit that on the first two episodes, I felt off with the acting of Yoon Hyun Min only in terms of the comedic aspect (maybe because of the script he was given?), however his acting and his character got better as episode 2 end and as his character gets further development and had reached its extent complexity. Due to that, it was safe to say that I can finally disapprove on the comments that suggest he can't act, 'cause absolutely I watched his character and not him. Lastly, I am moved by the story and I believe that you cannot love a story unless the emotions and actions are properly executed by good actors and actresses.

Cinematography?
The visuals of each character is really good especially for our fairy, Seon Ok Nam and the views are really good too. However, there are many complaints about some lightning, although I would not go further with that since I can spoil something on this review and it was not a main concern for me.

Music?
Yoon Hyun Min sang one of their OST and I must say that his voice is incredibly good. You must hear it for yourself, "The Taste of Tears". However, I feel like I have been needing much OST from this drama T.T And I would have liked it better if they had played the OSTs more and more and more. Who wouldn't love more OST?

Story?
Let's get this pretty quick. The story was from the very first start light and it still ended light, but the amazing part is, it gave your heart a warm squeeze of LIFE lessons. Does it have plot holes or flaws? The story if you are not keen on tiny details, it can be sort of confusing--but that is the fun part, it is unexpected and interesting. Every episode can give you a whole lot of theories between who is the husband? who is who? what will happen in the end? Surely, the story can be weird for some people and this story has also given me some weird vibes, but h ck, I've come to loved that weirdness as well, and I'm happy that I've finished this story. And actually, for a fairy tale drama, the story was PRETTY UNIQUE.

Story pacing?
The pacing was slow on the first four episodes as it still uncovers the plot, but as after episode 4, the pacing of the story was better, but I wished that the story behind its climax could have been stretched out a little bit more, since I would to see more drama—but I wouldn't complain that the drama was light and funny on the first half of the drama as it was a cute, fun and laughable enjoyment for me. Episode 10 towards the end was kind of intense because of the revelations, but of course, the quirkiness was still present even at the serious scenes. The drama was all throughout heartwarming but episode 10 to end will really got to your heart especially on episode 15 and its finale.

Ending of the drama?
I've thought the end would come a little bit rush but it was the opposite. It was perfect, they ended things pretty good by episode 15 that will make you cry a lot and they give you an epilogue on episode 16.


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Honestly, as you can see, this drama comes pretty underrated and had many flaws, but trust me, I did not watch the drama because of all those flaws because what I watched here are the brotherly relationship of the two male leads, the awesome chemistry of the lead partners, the quirkiness and funny conversations of the supporting characters, the cuteness and loveliness of the fairy's family, and above all...the very very very heartwarming message of sharing with one's pain, the realest meaning of true love (more than romance), friendship, brotherhood, and as I previously said, forgiving others and yourself and be forgiven.

After all the flaws it might have encountered, I came to loved this drama, and personally, it became one of my favorites. Before I end this review, this drama surely made me cry on episode 15 a lot and h ck made me laugh hard. This drama has given me a rollercoaster ride and I hope you will enjoy watching it as much as I do. Sometimes you might get confused, but please stay put and let its warmness embrace you.

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