Hotel del Luna (2019)

Un dramma sorprendente, un fantasy intenso ed emozionante.

Da amante dei fantasy ho apprezzato questo dramma e mi è piaciuto quasi tutto un po' meno il finale che però era comprensibile che non poteva essere tanto diverso.
Molto apprezzato il racconto delle vite passate dei personaggi principali e i vari racconti tra passato e presente. Molto emozionante il racconto del passato della protagonista.
I protagonisti sono favolosi insieme anche se non c'è molto trasporto emotivo con baci etc non se ne sente la mancanza. Gli attori sono stati bravissimi.
Da apprezzare l'ost che è meravigliosa e una nota di merito anche per gli abiti usati dalla protagonista.
Molto apprezzato l'aceno ad una eventuale seconda stagione con un protagonista davvero speciale.
Concludendo questo dramma anche se abbastanza tragico vale la visione di sicuro.

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Hotel del Luna è un drama coreano del 2019, composto da 16 episodi di lunghezza variabile tra un’ora e un quarto e un’ora e mezza. Non bisogna però lasciarsi spaventare: in tutta l’opera i momenti di vera e propria noia sono veramente pochi, mentre assistiamo spesso a scene molto pregnanti, con situazioni e frasi di grande profondità, che colpiscono il segno, anche sotto la cintura.

Molta gente getta via i suoi tesori e rischia la vita per proteggere ciò che vuole nascondere…

Per la sceneggiatura delle Hong Sisters (Hong Jung Eun e Hong Mi Ran), autrici tra l’altro di Alchemy of Souls, e per la regia di Oh Choong Hwan, che ha diretto While You Were Sleeping e Big Mouth, solo per citarne un paio, questa serie si apre con una scelta musicale piuttosto particolare, per un drama coreano: Sonata al chiaro di luna, di Ludwig Van Beethoven. Capiremo presto che, nell’economia della storia, la luna ha un posto rilevante.

Protagonista indiscussa di Hotel del Luna è Jang Man Wol, la proprietaria dell’albergo, interpretata da una splendida IU. Ma non dobbiamo pensare a questo hotel come ad un normale esercizio commerciale: normalmente è nascosto ai vivi e i suoi clienti, tutti fantasmi, vengono da lei per abbandonare le preoccupazioni terrene, risolvere situazioni lasciate in sospeso, liberarsi di vecchi rancori e così via, allo scopo di poter serenamente lasciare questo mondo e passare nell’aldilà. Anche tutti i dipendenti dell’hotel sono fantasmi, ognuno con la propria storia, la propria motivazione a rimanere lì, a volte per centinaia di anni. Tutti fantasmi, dicevamo, tranne uno: il manager, che si occupa delle questioni finanziarie, è sempre una persona viva.

A ricoprire questa carica, che trova ben poco attraente, viene chiamato Goo Chan Sung (Yeo Jin Goo), un giovane e brillantissimo vicedirettore in una catena multinazionale di hotel, che viene costretto ad abbandonare una promettente carriera e obbligato ad occuparsi del Del Luna, perché suo padre fece un patto con Man Wol quando lui era bambino: avrebbe salvato il padre, a condizione che le cedesse il figlio dopo 20 anni. Da qui si comprende come, almeno all’apparenza, la proprietaria dell’albergo non sia una persona pietosa e gentile. Con questi echi alla ‘Il Bello e la Bestia’, le prime interazioni fra i due non saranno molto pacifiche.

Le vicende dell’hotel si svolgono sostanzialmente in due direzioni: da una parte, abbiamo il millennio e fischia della storia di Man Wol, che veniamo scoprendo a poco a poco mentre, inevitabilmente, finisce per innamorarsi, ricambiata, del suo manager. Dall’altra parte, abbiamo tutta una serie di accadimenti che riguardano un nutrito numero di personaggi, più o meno secondari, che formano sostanzialmente l’ossatura del drama, perché in realtà ‘rubano’ la maggior parte della scena. Tutto non è sempre come sembra: rapinando il motto a Labyrinth, molte delle storie delle anime in transito si riveleranno essere diverse da come apparisse in principio. E sono storie spesso molto commoventi, che mettono a dura prova la nostra riserva di empatia, aiutate da un commento musicale azzeccato e da una cinematografia spesso geniale, anche se, per contro, a volte ci sono scene in cui la telecamera balla. Il tutto è sempre così curato che sarei portata a credere che questo effetto, a volte anche un po’ fastidioso, possa essere voluto.

Ma vogliamo parlare della CGI? Per una volta, non la nominiamo per riderne o lamentarcene: nei primi episodi ci sono delle scene in cui si vede un credibilissimo serpente e, addirittura, una splendida tigre. Ma splendida davvero, altro che il gatto di ‘I m a Pet At Dali Temple’, che mi ha segnato a vita…

Hotel del Luna è un drama in cui non si è badato a spese. Ambientazioni, effetti speciali, trucco, parrucco e costumi sono di prima qualità. Anzi, incredibilmente IU cambia più abiti di Zhang Zi Yi in ‘The Rebel Princess’ e forse non saranno altrettanto sontuosi, ma sono comunque bellissimi, e le stanno da dio. Credo sia la prima volta in cui sono rimasta affascinata dalla protagonista invece che dalla controparte maschile. IU è un’attrice che sa costringerti a guardarla e, una volta ottenuta la tua attenzione, sa comunicarti il messaggio. Una grande, anche considerato che il suo personaggio non è, per molto tempo, dei più simpatici. Per contro, il protagonista maschile non è altrettanto affascinante. Complici una caratterizzazione meno interessante e forse anche un’interpretazione un pelino meno magistrale, il manager di Yeo Jin Goo non appare così avvincente. In aggiunta, non incontra del tutto nemmeno i miei canoni estetici, ma siamo proprio nel reame delle preferenze personali.

In realtà, in linea generale, il cast ha fatto un lavoro egregio. Praticamente tutti e sì, anche Yeo Jin Goo, hanno interpretato alla grande i vari personaggi, spesso dolenti, che popolano la serie: è solo che IU, qui, sta un palmo sopra. La sua Man Wol, bloccata da molti secoli nell’hotel perché non sa liberarsi del rancore per un tradimento subito, riesce nel tempo a conquistare la nostra simpatia. Le sue abitudini spendaccione, che Chan Sung è costretto ad arginare per rimediare alle catastrofiche finanze dell’hotel, hanno delle motivazioni e contribuiscono a renderla più umana, nonostante la sua lunghissima esistenza e i suoi poteri soprannaturali.

Devo confessare che inizialmente ero piuttosto risentita di come fossero presentate le vicende: che diamine, in un periodo in cui pullulavano soldati sanguinari e banditi assassini, perché la sola punita con l’essere incatenata all’Hotel del Luna per espiare doveva essere l’unica donna così abile da battere gli uomini? Ma tale destino non è solo una punizione: anche Man Wol ha molto risentimento da abbandonare prima di poter passare all’aldilà e, se alcuni fantasmi ci mettono poco, altri impiegano anche secoli. Solo che lei li batte tutti! La sua esistenza terrena è legata ad un albero spoglio che la trattiene all’hotel e, quando sarà fiorito e i fiori saranno appassiti, la libererà e le permetterà di trapassare. Inutile specificare chi sarà a far fiorire quell’albero, mettendo in fibrillazione lo staff dell’albergo.

A mente un po’ più fredda, si potrebbe argomentare che fin troppo tempo, nell’economia del drama, sia dedicato alle vicende dei personaggi secondari, alle anime dolenti che devono riuscire a liberarsi di ciò che le trattiene in terra per poter serenamente trapassare e, chissà, magari reincarnarsi. A volte ci si scopre ad aspettare con impazienza il ritorno in scena della coppia principale o, almeno, di uno dei due. Però, in compenso, la narrazione di queste storie è molto avvincente e commovente, regalando spesso perle di saggezza e momenti di lirismo. Non secondariamente, molti personaggi vengono caratterialmente approfonditi. La serie è strutturata in modo da non offrire molte occasioni di allegria: quando finalmente un’anima risolve i suoi problemi e si avvia in auto lungo il tunnel che porta all’aldilà, salutata dallo staff dell’albergo, quello che prova lo spettatore non è gioia per il successo del fantasma, ma dolore per la separazione e la perdita definitiva del personaggio ai fini del racconto, sentimenti tanto più accentuati quanto più è stata importante la sua presenza all’interno del drama.

Nonostante ci siano comunque molte situazioni divertenti, l’aria che si respira è cupa, drammatica: le storie dei defunti sono spesso tragiche, e lo stesso destino di Man Wol è dolceamaro: il suo scopo è lasciare l’albergo, trapassare, ma ora è innamorata di Chan Sung, come andrà a finire? E lo stesso Chan Sung, che fine farà?

L’ultimo episodio è una lunga agonia. Preparate i fazzoletti e non siate avari. Ci sono, come già visto in altri drama (uno fra tutti: Legend of Yun Xi) delle scene post crediti che lascerebbero intendere in qualche modo un epilogo diverso da quello appena presentato, ma sono posticce, oscure e, a mio personalissimo parere, non spiegano nulla. Per me il drama termina senza incomprensibili contentini. Se poi dovessero mai fare una seconda serie, con un altro padrone di casa, gli darò certamente una possibilità.

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Questo drama merita 100 non 10!

Questa è stata la quarta volta che ho provato a vedere un drama coreano. Le prime tre non sono andate bene, a parte una drama "my roomate is a goomiko" , che è stato appena accettabile, gli altri due non li ho neanche finiti, tanto mi hanno annoiato. Ci ho riprovato con questo drama, mi ha attirato il titolo e poi ho letto la storia. Non ho voluto leggere le recensioni, volevo che mi stupisse, e lo ha fatto alla grande! Non mi aspettavo un drama superlativo. Sono senza parole. Una storia inusuale, affascinante, che fa riflettere. Mi piace molto l'ambientazione che sfiora il fantasy ed il dark, ma c'è molto di più. Contiene concetti importanti, affronta temi difficili come l'attaccamento al mondo materiale. Il tutto raccontato con momenti seri e altri allegri, ma sempre con gentilezza. Spazia dalla reincarnazione, al Dio sotto i suoi vari aspetti (Ma Go Shin), ai sogni, al rapporto difficile che si ha con il distacco. I due attori sono stati bravissimi, tanto lei quanto lui. Si sono calati molto bene nei loro ruoli, hanno lavorato con empatia fra di loro e con tutti gli altri attori del cast, tutti all'altezza di coloro che dovevano interpretare, Le caratterizzazioni sono state credibilissime.
Potrei scrivere una recensione lunghissima, ma ce ne sono altre che lo descrivono perfettamente.
So solo che lo rivedrò, me lo gusterò in ogni suo fotogramma.
L'ho collocato di diritto fra i miei drama preferiti, i quali sono soprattutto cinesi storici .
Non mi è stato facile abituarmi alla lingua coreana decisamente più aspra rispetto a quella cinese e meno melodiosa. Ma dopo un pò il racconto è talmente intrigante che non ci ho più fatto caso.
Complimenti a chi ha ideato questa storia, a chi l'ha realizzata, ai registi e scenografi e ai fotografi.
Complimenti ancora al cast, ai due protagonisti speciali, ma anche a tutti gli attori secondari.
Grazie come sempre al team dei traduttori italiani, sarò sempre infinitamente grata a loro e ai traduttori di tutte le altre lingue.

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Mi è piaciuto? assolutamente SI!

Non amo il genere fantasy, trovo che certe volte sia troppo forzato o che spesso risulti finto al limite del ridicolo.
Questo è stato un'eccezione, la storia regge bene, il personaggio femminile finalmente ha forza, grinta e carattere (cosa che spesso manca nei drama romantici).
I costumi di scena sono meravigliosi, ho amato ogni singolo cambio di IU. Trovo che sia stata impeccabile nel suo ruolo, non mi è sembrata mai finta, mai scontata. Lui nonostante per i miei gusti non sia una bellezza, mi è piaciuto moltissimo.
Ho adorato la sua tenerezza, la sua sincerità, tutto era al posto giusto al momento giusto, in effetti anche loro se ci pensiamo.
Le storie dei fantasmi a differenza di come mi era parso in A Korean Odyssey mi hanno emozionato e non mi sono sembrate mai slegate dalla storia, cosa che in AKO mi aveva lasciata un po' insoddisfatta.
Le ost poi fanno venire giù lacrimoni anche senza capire una parola di quello di cui parlano.
Una sola cosa, la vogliamo fare questa seconda stagione o no? SUSU!

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An aesthetically pleasing, original fantasy drama

When I saw that IU would be cast in this drama, I felt that I had to give it a shot, and I'm glad to say that for the most part, it did not disappoint. Without a doubt, Hotel Del Luna is my favourite kdrama of 2019. There is plenty to love about this drama, ranging from its stunning cinematography, decent storyline, excellent cast, oh and how could I forget: the most beautiful OST in kdramaland.

Plot/Storyline:
I thought that the writing was pretty solid throughout the drama. It is refreshing to watch a drama that ventures into foreign territory and breaks free of the traditional kdrama tropes and cliches to explore the less commonly visited genres of horror (though I wouldn't really consider this drama to be scary at all) and fantasy + romance. The plot is layered and has some depth, with plenty of twists and turns to keep you on the edge. The main character Man Weol's story captivates you right from the get-go, as the show uses flashbacks very well to reveal small snippets of her past at a time, causing you to be curious about her past, and eager to find out more. The generous use of humour also helps to balance out some of the heavier, more emotional scenes, while also allowing the drama to be easy and fun to watch throughout its lengthy episodes. Personally, the ending did not play out exactly how I had hoped it would, but it was fitting to the themes of this drama and very beautiful to watch, as well as very emotional. The drama explores the themes/ideas of 'letting go', 'resentment', 'unselfish love' and 'forgiveness', which are all very meaningful, thought-provoking ideas, not just in the context of this drama, but these themes also have a place in our lives as well.

Elaboration on themes for those that are curious:
For example, the drama shows that it takes a greater act of love to let go than to hang on, which the same can be said about many situations in life. Suppose this: a severely ill person is given a few months to live. His family can choose to convince him to receive the surgery that would extend his lifespan by a significant amount, but which would also drastically reduce his quality of life (place him in a vegetative state), or let him die naturally of his illness. One may argue here that the greater act of love is to let go and allow the man to live out the rest of his days to the fullest, eventually dying a dignified death, rather than trying to desperately hang on and cause the dying man even more pain. Don't quote me on this sketchy analogy, but this is my best effort at trying to explain the themes that the writers explore in this drama.

Cinematography:
the cinematography of this drama is frankly top-notch, and can be compared to the likes of dramas such as Goblin. It is that good. The elements of fantasy were conveyed by great camerawork, skillful use of special effects, and excellent editing. The drama truly bought the supernatural fantasy world of ghosts to life, creating a vivid and charismatic viewing experience. It is difficult to describe in words, but once you see it for yourself I'm sure you'd agree that it is spectacular. The production team also did a phenomenal job of picking out Man Weol's outfits. IU looked absolutely incredible in pretty much all of her scenes, and I've lost count of the number of unique, beautiful outfits that she wore throughout the drama.

Acting:
the cast for this drama is a highlight for me. After watching IU's brilliant performance in 'My Mister', she was one of the main reasons I came across this drama in the first place. The drama is largely centred around her character Man Weol, and she absolutely nails her performance. She plays her character like it is second nature to her, effortlessly conveying emotions through her facial expressions, while also managing to bring out the complexity of her character. Her character is the focus of the drama, and IU does an excellent job in portraying her character's growth arc in the drama, all while making it seem very believable and authentic. And as a bonus, she looks absolutely gorgeous flaunting her giant wardrobe of high-end clothing. Furthermore, this drama exposed me to Yeo Jin Goo, who also delivers a very commendable effort and holds his own against IU. He appears to be much more mature than his age (considering he is only 22 years old), and the scenes of him breaking down emotionally feel raw and sincere. The chemistry between IU and Jin Goo both on and off the screen is also evident, and the relationship they develop seems to be very natural and genuine. The supporting cast also complements our two leads well, providing some comedic relief and some interesting side-story.

Soundtrack:
Although the soundtrack is supposed to complement a drama, Hotel Del Luna's soundtrack is far from ordinary and deserves a shoutout. Not only does the OST include big-name artists including the likes of Taeyeon, Punch and Heize, the tracks also have excellent synergy with the drama. The OST helps to effortlessly set the mood of multiple scenes and makes the emotional scenes even more powerful. There are many excellent tracks in the OST, but the standout for me is the special, unreleased OST by IU that is used at the end of one of the episodes. This track only plays once throughout the drama, but it merges into the emotional scene perfectly and elevates it to another level. (end of ep 12, )

Overall, this drama performs strongly across the board and ticks many of the right boxes for me, other than a few imperfections here and there. Although I wouldn't call this drama perfect, it comes pretty damn close in my books. I think I'm already experiencing withdrawal symptoms having finished the final episode an hour ago. It has been one heck of a ride, and now that it's over I feel like there is an empty void within me that's not going to be easy to fill. But giving credit where credit is due, hats off to the Hotel Del Luna team, as they have created something quite special and unique. Worth a watch, especially if you're an IU fan, as this drama is all about her.

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The director of My Love from the Star and While You Were Sleeping, Oh Choong-hwan and the dynamic sister writing duo, Hong: Jung-eun and Mi-ran of The Greatest Love and Master's Sun repute collaborated for the first time and masterfully cast a very potent spell by transporting us to the spooktacular world of Hotel del Luna, a place of healing and rejuvenation for ghosts as they teeter on the precipice between the mortal world and the great beyond.

Every episode of Hotel del Luna is amusing, captivating, intriguing, stirring, and thrilling due to the perfect balancing of humour, fantasy, myth-making, drama, romance, and horror further enhanced by the gorgeous costumery of the female lead, visually-dazzling production, heartstrings-tugging soundtrack music, cameo roles, and socially-relevant sub-plots that tackled: molka epidemic; prevailing patriarchal assumptions; and toxic netizen culture.

Two of the most popular young actors today, Lee Ji-eun or better known as IU and Yeo Jin-goo exude palpable chemistry in their memorable lead performances as Jang Man-wol and Gu Chan-seong, respectively. The accursed millenium-old Man-wol is the alluring, chic, ethereal, luxurious, and petulant chatelaine of the mystical and marvellous Hotel of the Moon while the dashing, dutiful, empathetic, and courageous Harvard graduate Gu Chan-seung serves as the hotel's 99th or current human manager.

Veteran thespian Seo Yi-sook leads the trio of superb supporting cast as the mysterious deity with several identical manifestations. She is joined by Shin Jung-geun who plays the 500 y/o untimely-killed Joseon top scholar-turned-hotel bartender and by Bae Hae-sun, the 200 y/o grudgeful murdered daughter-in-law of a privileged clan who is the hotel's meticulously efficient room service supervisor. Also starring are promising actors Lee Do-hyun and Lee Tae-sun; idols P.O and Mina; and Cho Hyun-cheul and Park Yoo-na. Jung Dong-hwan as ex-Manager Noh and Kang Ho-seok as Grim Reaper are also endearing in the portrayal of their special characters.

Hotel del Luna, although a fantastical drama, is actually a foray into the reality of life. It teaches among other things: that like flowers from the moon tree, life is beautiful yet fleeting - and so, we must make the most out of it; that humans are endowed with the ability to make choices and are consequently tasked to bear responsibility for the choices they made; that life is not always easy or fair - as such, we must learn to play the hand we're dealt with much courage and grace; that if the past is a source of suffering or ill-feelings, we must learn to let go and make peace with it and with ourselves if there's nothing anymore that can be done about it; that our way of thinking and feeling can have a powerful outcome or influence; that revenge is sweet for it provides an outlet for pent-up aggression and wounded feelings, but, at the same time, it is also burdensome and masochistically painful for it recoils and does not diminish with time, thus inflicting endless pain on the person who exacted vengeance; that forgiveness has a rending and liberating power; that love has a transmogrifying power which can contour our character - either for the worse or for the better; and as Gu Chan-seung has perfectly shown us - that true love is self-abnegating or it makes you forget yourself and seek the welfare of your beloved.

Unfailingly riveting until the end, Hotel del Luna will for sure hold a place in the hearts of many of us. A big kudos to the writers, director, actors, and production crew for making this drama an enjoyable and worthwhile watch.

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This may be the only drama, after Goblin, that made me cry- and I'm not much of a weeper!

The story line was new and refreshing, and it was filled with moments that were relatable, hilarious and heart breaking. After watching the final episode,I came to the conclusion that this was, in my opinion, one of the many masterpieces of Korean television. The actors all had great chemistry together, especially the main leads. I really liked the way each relationship was explained and portrayed. Because if this, the last episode had me bawling my eyes out as we said goodbye to each of the staff members. Also, the ending to me was brilliant. The way that they all were connected in their next lives made me so happy as I felt like they all got the happy endings that they deserved, especially Man Wol and Chan Sung.
Don't even get me started on the OSTs for the drama. Although most of them were quite slow and emotional, each artist brought their own flavour. My personal favourite was Done For Me by Punch as I really enjoyed the music, and the lyrics had so much meaning behind them.
Overall, I can say without a doubt that this drama is an incredible story, and is now one of my all time favourite dramas ever!
P.S. I really wish that Kim Soo Hyun's cameo in episode 16 was a hint at a possible season 2?

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I like the concept of “playing devil’s advocate.” But when it comes to examining dramas, I don’t play around (usually. Get some sugar in my system and we’ll see otherwise). Thus, this review will consist of me gravely defending the “devil’s” opinion that Hotel Del Luna is an okay show...but also that it's not too much beyond that.

If ghost stories lie within your watching preferences, perhaps you would have a better time with Hotel Del Luna. As for myself, I was not a fan of the overall plot. It came off as a tad too shallow. For one, there’s a severe imbalance between plot filler (which is how I classify every individual ghost’s story, each of which occupies 80% of each episode) and the truly interesting main plot, which falls off to the wayside. Unless you enjoy brief appearances of random guest ghosts, you’ll probably end up like me: sitting through over an hour’s worth of time per episode, helplessly asking when the Hong Sisters will address Man Wol’s story—which is rarely, until you cross the halfway point of the entire show. What the writers do with Man Wol’s history when it is addressed feels lackluster, if only due to all the unnecessary time buildup prior to it.

The real problem is that we are hardly given reasons to care about each visiting ghost in any major emotional capacity. Although they have interesting stories, it’s a bit like walking down a city sidewalk: you see someone with a pretty wardrobe, “ooh” at it for a second, and then forget your appreciative impressions of it an hour later. Maybe it seems as if I’m being coldhearted, but as much as the Hong Sisters try to emphasize that these ghosts were human with human sufferings, the way the show frequently relies on shock value and horror elements over the ghosts’ pain and healing resulted in me not being able to build true sympathy for these souls. Imagine repeating this apathy for every episode: it’s exhausting trying to force an emotional connection.

The only saving grace of Hotel Del Luna is Man Wol. The way IU presents her character’s conflicting ego and heart is as poignant as it is mysterious, and she executes the identity of a CEO with a low economic IQ with hilarity. Had it not been for this quirkiness of Man Wol’s character, I would not have stuck around until the end. And that’s despite my love for Yeo Jin Goo: though his acting is excellent as always, Chan Sung is a perfect example of a supporting character who hides behind the guise of being a “main character.” There’s only one protagonist in this story, her name being Man Wol. There’s nothing wrong with this, but it is a bit of a letdown that everyone else has the potential to be equally interesting, yet doesn’t get nearly enough development. Chan Sung, for example, is a nobody—beyond pushing Man Wol to address her emotional wounds, he doesn’t possess the individualism that a lead character should have. This means that while the interactions between him and Man Wol may be compelling to watch, the moment that you isolate Chan Sung away from her, he devolves into a character who’s mediocre at best and painfully boring at worst. Seeing as I view Chan Sung like this, that should give you a pretty good idea of what I think of the other supporting characters: meh.

That all being said, I can see the reasons behind the hype. I just wouldn’t say that they’re justified: gorgeous cinematography, a cast list riddled with famous names, and an amazing soundtrack are all great assets to have within a drama. If future shows could continue Hotel Del Luna’s ability to create an effective atmosphere, I would have zero complaints. But what use is all of that if the show at its core doesn’t match up to the level of its decorations? Hotel Del Luna is almost sadly entertaining in that it may be fun in the moment, but doesn’t leave a deep enough impression to be phenomenal.

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Hotel Del Luna is one of the most hyped drama of 2019, accomplices of this hype is the pairing of IU/Yeo Jin Goo with Hong sisters screenwriters. Unfortunately the drama failed on so many level that, despite this two great premise, I cannot consider it a good drama.

The plot is totally unbalanced when it came to quality of writing, one part of the story is about Jang Man Wol's past and her personal story, a wonderful story about a character who is serving an eternal punishment for a revenge happened in the past. The flashback moments are basically the best part of this show and the contrast between old/present Jang Man Wol is superb, IU did a great job in portraying different personalities.
Instead of making a drama entirely dedicated to this plot, the Hong Sisters decided to fill in the rest of the drama with boring sub-plot about hotel management and ghost hunting. Qualitatively speaking, the present story doesn't hold up to the past story.

In addition, the Hong sisters failed to develop interesting characters outside IU's role. None of the other characters can compete with IU's performance, the show was made for her, written for her and invested tons of "money" on her, with beautiful outfits, make-up and accessories. It almost seems that the Hong sister first wrote the role of IU and her personal story, then when they realized that they had to fill 16 episodes they added crap as much as they could.

Even the great Yeo Jin Go couldn't do much about it, his role was weak from the start, a scary kid that end up working in a hotel full of ghost, despite his good acting skills, the personality of his character wasn't strong enough to compete with IU's charater. Other characters were mere filler, they explained a bit about them but most of the sub-plots were closed only during the last 4 episodes, sign that the show didn't give them much space and importance.

The romance is another giant failure of this show, the initial chemistry felt between IU and Jin Goo during the first episode disappear complety when the role of Go Chung Myung came out. I was too curious about their story to care about a Jin Goo, in addition IU and Ji Goo moments together were very slow and the romance take a long time to sail.

If we consider that most of the drama was shot inside the hotel, the director had to exploit a lot of other elements to entertain the viewer, as already said, they have invested a lot in the appearance of IU, with beautiful outfits. They also used a lot of scenes that provided color games (the tree in the hotel) and the beautiful soundtrack. But as I always say, making the most of some good element of the drama doesn't hide a weak and poorly written script.

They say that Hong sister are a hit or a miss, HDL was a miss and it survived only thanks to the hype.

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I am not going to lie, I felt extremely frustrated while watching this drama. It had amazing potential, but close to nothing worked out. The beauty - amazing cinematography and styling of our main character, and the beast - the writing.

There honestly is not much to say about the characters, since the only one that had true depth was Man Wol. She was the centre of the drama and IU did an amazing job representing her development and gradual change. Chang Sung could have worked way better if it wasn't for Chung Myung. All the rest of the characters we simply did not spend enough time with, to truly care about. I must say, Sanchez was my favorite and he was the breath of fresh air.

Kim Seon Bi/Choi Seo Hee/Ji Hyun Joong aka when writers do not care.
Out of all their stories, only Seo Hee's had some depth to it. Kim Seon Bin's story was extremely random, there were close to no hints about his previous life so I did not even care to speculate what happened to him. Hyun Joong's past life story had the least sense. How did his sister not recognize that the guy taking care of her was not her brother. How did his family not ask any questions, why did they recognize her and not him? You could say it was a war so they did not see him for a long time, but the same would apply to the sister. Hong sisters did not care enough about those characters to spend time to truly explain and develop their stories. They had the material for a good 8 episodes of Man Wol's side and had to fill the rest with random storylines. I could not feel emotional about them all leaving at the end, because all I could think about was: None of it makes any sense.

I also believe it would be better to start sending away the characters around episode 10-12, and not just have them all gone in the last 2 episodes. We could slowly see how Man Wol is realizing all the people she loves and cares about are gone and moving on to the afterlife. How the ones that stay behind struggle with the loss. We would see her being more concerned about how will Chan Sung deal in the future when she is gone. Them gradually leaving would have more impact on both the characters and the storyline.

Chan Sung/Chung Myung aka the failed romance
While I enjoyed Chan Sung at the beginning, the moment we got more scenes with Chung Myung and the past story developed into something interesting, I could not focus on the present. Chan Sung was simply a boring character that was there only for Man Wol's story to develop and he had nothing going on for himself. When we met another male character that had a past romantic relationship with Man Wol, but also was its own character, it was easy to forget our male lead. At the end of the day I wished for more flashbacks and less present plot. And I would rather have them as friends than as romantic partners.

Kim Yoo Na aka no one truly cares about anything
While I enjoyed Yoo Na, I do believe they should have made her a more tragic character. Yet again, there was no depth to the story. Show me how much she struggles to fit in that new house, how she misses her old friends and family and how she is tired of pretending to be someone else.

All the hotel cases aka when you try too hard to please the viewers
I did not truly like any of the random hotel cases, but I hated some more than others. The most random one with the humans having sex in the hotel room to have some superior child in the future. I was truly confused why this plotline was in the drama.
There were too many cases, so at the end, none of them was developed or complex. They tried to fit any genre (horror, crime, romance, melo, etc.) into the drama, just to make sure all viewers can find something they may like.

Disney ending aka when you are afraid to commit to the tragedy
None of the characters involved in the drama had a truly tragic ending. Which was extremely unrealistic. It could be easily fixed. Make Yoona too late to say goodbye to Hyun Joong. After Seo Hee goes to the bridge, cut to the mother registering the baby with the father's surname because of the grandparents. Make the book about Seon Bi flop. I would even like for Chung Myung to vanish because he used all his energy looking after Man Wol. The Song sisters wanted to show us how sad, tragic, and emotional the feeling of loss is, but they did not want to show the truly ugly side of it. Because of that, the ending felt bland.

Overall, during the whole watch, there was literally (and I truly mean it) only one time when I thought "wow, this is a good writing, I finally feel the playoff" and it was with how they used the Coffee Writer Dude. They spent just enough time for us to be curious about him and wonder what will happen to him, when he will go to the afterlife.

At the end, Hong Sisters had an amazing idea, about an amazing character, and no idea what to do with the rest. Trying to fit too many stories of too many characters made this drama a... mess.

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The Hong Sisters Have Finally Returned To Wonderland..

For most watchers first looking over the drama, Yeo Jin Goo ( Hwayi; A Monster Boy and Moon Embracing The Sun) would seem to be one to steal the show from his legendary roles in numerous dramas and movies , yet, instead, it is IU ( My Mister and The Producers) ‘s role as the angel-faced yet foul-mouthed owner of the hotel, Jang Man- Wol who instead quickly steals the show from Jin Goo in her glamorous frocks.

From inspired attires straight out of Daphne Du Maurier’s gothic modern romance tale , Rebecca ( 1938), to Katherine Hepburn’s little black dress in a favourite film of the Hong Sisters, Breakfast At Tiffany’s ( 1961), IU
truly embodies the mature and complex core of a cynical female lead who is shaped by her own experiences and choices rather than merely love itself.

Yet whilst the casting of the show is fairly diverse with fellow Kpop costar P.O being cast as the giddy hotel receptionist and Bae Hae- Sun as the strict housekeeper of the hotel, some of the roles within the show (especially the storywriting ) felt slightly lacklustre in comparison. ( Particularly P.O and Kang Mi- Na’s romance as their respected characters, which did have some bittersweet moments in particular to P.O’s character, but Mi Na’s character Soo- Jung had little relatability despite her tragic circumstances).

Admittedly this isn’t entirely the fault of the actors as one noticeable flaw which arose in the drama was how the Hong Sisters had added little complexity or emotional value in regards to the respected storylines of some of the other characters (excluding Man Wol of course). The biggest example of this arose with Jin Goo’s character, Gu Chan-Sung.

Man Wol was supposed to be the fiery ‘Yang’ to Chan Sung’s level- headed ‘ Ying’ personality within their relationship, there was little to actually express or delve into Gu Chan- Sung apart from the evident plot roles. His father dies several years presumably after his first scene in a flashback in the show , yet Chan- Sung neither really expresses anguish nor heartbreak at this fact. Whilst there is the arguable emphasis that Chan-Sung is too rational to break down over these matters, this is greatly contradicted within the scene when Chan- Sung simply loses his composure at a bus stop over thoughts of Man- Wol. Undeniably a heartbreaking scene and a moment of brilliant acting from Goo, this scene just doesn’t entirely add with the intended composure of Chan Sung who in several episodes prior, who didn’t bat an eyelid to the return of his mother as a ghost.

This also moves us onto the other problem of Hotel Del Luna; how the storyline played out. Ironically, Hotel Del Luna’s biggest problem wasn’t trying to adhere to the typical cliches, but instead trying to overcome them at the last minute. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with a drama doing this, however, where the evident flaw lies for Hotel Del Luna is that rather than only doing this a couple of times to mark a red herring by diverting the audience’s attention ( and then deliver an actual plot-twist by moving onto the expected becoming the unexpected), the Hong Sisters tried to do this at every given opportunity during the storyline. Without spoiling anything, I will say this. The novelty of the storytelling becomes less effective when you did this too often, and so whilst Hotel Del Luna was certainly interesting within certain character plot-lines ( particularly Jang Wol’s past), some of the show for a major part felt anticlimactic and disjointed in the long run.

On a more positive note, however, Hotel Del Luna’s magic is greatly brought to life through fairly good CGI and storytelling upon this element. Whilst not entirely touching new ground in the face of predecessor shows like Goblin , Hotel Del Luna still brings its own element of dark fantasy through traditional Korean mythology being brought into modern Seoul. From disturbing evil spirits, bartender ghosts like Kim Seon Bi ( Shin Jung- Geum) to deities such as the mysterious Mago ( Seo Yi- seok) with unpredictable plans of fate for our main characters.

Additionally, whilst the finale of Hotel Del Luna has caused a lot of debate amongst drama fans, the bittersweet ending was surprisingly appropriate for the drama . Overall Hotel Del Luna was an enjoyable watch (although perhaps flawed by some elements of the storyline and certain characters’ contributions to the show )-the elements of dark fantasy, traditional mythology and IU’s stellar performance as the twisted and cynical Man- Wol will keep you captivated. Although not flawless, definitely worth a watch.

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Spectacular dresses and world-building but falls short on screenwriting

Sadly, Hotel del Luna's fanciness couldn't make up for the story's lack of coherence and sincerity.

The extravagant hotel for the ghosts and the splendid clothes of its owner didn't quite impress me. Each episode has the same dreary pattern of spirits struggling and protagonists babbling at the end. After the first half of the show, I found myself neither interested nor thrilled.

The answers were already laid out so I didn't get the point of dragging out the story. The antagonists which I once thought of as formidable opponents were easily gulled and defeated. Indeed, there is a fine line between a show with a high-caliber script and one with a mere show-off wardrobe.

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