Mystic Pop-Up Bar (2020)

Originally, I had no intention of watching Mystic Pop Up Bar. I happened to watch a trailer and saw Choi Won Young was in it. He rarely disappoints me so I figured I'd try it. So happy that I dd. This quirky supernatural rom com is truly endearing. Five hundred years ago circumstances happen that causes a young girl, Weol Ju, with mystical powers to kill herself and do damage to a sacred tree. As penance she must solve the grudges of 100,000 humans. With the help of her assistant (minder/supervisor really) and a young man with an odd power, she tries to solve her last 10 grudges. The story seems straight forward, but through flashbacks we see Weol Ju has some serious grudges on her own and not everything is what you see.

The story is a good one. For those that need romance there's not only a 500 year old longing, but a new budding romance with 2 very odd characters. For those that like supernatural, there's plenty. The ghost and demon effects were nicely done. There's even action and fight scenes for action addicts like myself.

Although the story is good, it wouldn't have been anything if it weren't for the outstanding cast. Choi Won Young never disappoints me. Sometimes what he's in does, but he never has. He was wonderful as Guibangjang. Hwang Jung Eum was very good, but I couldn't help staring at her lips. It appears she had injections. They were very unnatural. But she was playing a spirit so I guess whatever works. Yook Sung-jae rounds out our leads. I loved his scenes with Choi Won Young. I think he's a natural at bromances. He played Kang Bae with the right amount of charm, naivete, and hope. It made you root for KB from the very beginning.

The music was good I guess. I'm happy they didn't play the same sappy song in every episode like a music video. There were no flashbacks of scenes that were shown, thankfully! I really would love to see another season, but I don't think I'll re-watch MPUB again, at least not in the foreseeable future.

Overall, it was a really enjoyable show. Nothing truly deep and heavy. There are a lot of smiles to be had and perhaps some tears for some. I truly recommend it.

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" Mystic Pop-Up Bar " gave a wholesome story and managed the pace masterfully.

The drama had the main plotline, with the mysterious pop up bar owner, whose story gradually is being revealed as the drama proceeds. Apart from that, the drama added some small cases that the crew of the bar had to solve, all of them quite emotional and touching. Those cases were just enough in number to keep things interesting and not to give a tiring background story that will be repeated over and over again, as many dramas do. They also blended comedy and drama pretty well, so that the tragic stories didn't become overbearing. The big twist in the end, about who's who, was brilliant and kept the anticipations high in those last episodes. The action scenes, moreover, were well choreographed and the CGIs were excellent. Finally, the performances were top-notch, as it was expected.

So, overall, nine out of ten.

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A light hearted series that will take you on a roller coaster of emotions. Honestly, the story is predictable but they laid it out in a way that will make you still watch the series with much anticipation. The chemistry between the actors made it so fun to watch. They will make you laugh and root for whatever emotions they show. They can get from extremely funny to extremely emotional that you will find yourself wanting to hug each of the characters. The music they used for each episode also played a big part for me while watching this and I've noticed how they used popular korean songs (considered classics) during fun moments which made it more relatable somehow. Overall, it's a good watch if you want to have a good laugh while wanting a heart-warming story.

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A star-studded cast present an exceedingly average drama...

I wasn't particularly interested in watching this drama because the trailer didn't seem as interesting for a Fantasy drama as it should but since there wasn't really anything to watch and I couldn't go anywhere (lockdown due to covid-19), I decided to give this a chance. And you know what, this drama did disappoint me as much as I had thought it would.
I'll be honest here, I might have gotten more emotionally invested in this drama than I should have, but in my defense this drama had a great cast. I had really liked Hwang Jung-eum in Kill me Heal me, Yook Sung-jae in Goblin and Choi Won Young in almost every drama he's been in.
Despite having the three of them at the center of the story, I felt like the side characters were the ones to actually watch.
Jung Da-eun as Kang Yeo-rin was pretty good. I loved every one of her fight sequences and the fact that she could rock a pant suit just as well as a dress.
Yook Sung-jae's Han Kang-bae was a depressing character. He had a tragic backstory and just as miserable daily life. His character was sad, bumbly and pretty unimpressive.
Hwang Jung-eum's character Wool-joo was loud. She seemed to only have 2 expressions- prickly sad (when she was reminiscing about old times) and prickly irritated (all the rest of the time).
Choi Won-young's character Gwibanjang was alright. He had his moments, like when he was fighting evil spirits or trying to give advice but his character was not used to it's full potential.
Park Si-eun and Song Geon-hee were the two actors to really watch. They played the younger versions of Wool joo and Gwibanjang respectively and were shown in the flashback clips. Their characters were good and so was their story. I would have loved it if instead of doing the whole pop-up bar thing in modern day the producers would have simply made a historical drama. Everytime a flashback was shown I was riveted and when it ended I was left wanting more.
The drama was alright and would have actually been good if the writers hadn't screwed up the finale. I don't know what's with this year but everywhere you look there are great dramas with disappointing final episodes (like extraordinary you, 2gether, my engineer, girlfriend etc). This drama's finale was so cringey with all the unconvincing affection towards each other, obvious set ups and the stretched out pointless goodbyes. Watching it made me disappointed and frustrated and wanting to break the screen (I'm over it now).
Anyway I would only recommend this drama if you are in desperate need to watch some ligh hearted asian drama and couldn't find a better one than this.

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Good premise, execution needs work

It has good premise but lacked what it needed to grab my attention. I didn't watch the drama with dying anticipation for the next episode. Maybe because it only has 12 episode, there too much information to cram in (500 years is a lot to cram into 12 episode) so the writer has to pick and choose what makes it. In the end, i didn't care much about their backstory, it wasn't developed enough for me to buy into it. This drama would have been much better as a seguek instead of flashback.
All in all, this was a drama I watched to kill time and not one i will remember in 2 weeks.

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Fantasy no more

I was really looking forward to this drama, the premise was interesting, however, the cold, sad truth will hit you since the beginning.
I chose it because I was curious how the rendition of the dream world would be, what types of stories would the scorn people have to settle and how will this be done.
I was sorely disappointed by the lack of fantasy in this drama.
The dream world was pedestrian, at best, the concerns and troubles to be settled were very weak, sometimes quite moronic, the comedy was trying too hard at inopportune times and the plot was quite thin.
It seemed to me like the script was very weak, almost like it was a trial for the real thing, with just bare bones represented.
At times, it seems like this was trying to replicate the beautiful world rendered in Hotel del Luna, but it was a cheap attempt, with no real story to support it.
The actors tried their best, but character development was absent, their stories were not properly explored and we were left with random actions that had no substance.
The ending, on top of being hasty, was contradictory to the dream world explored earlier in the show- the depths of the unconscious mind, that was supposed to be locked and not accessible, was wide open for the spirit, they just skipped through everything to get a dramatic moment that never delivered.

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Oh my God!!! This drama exceeded my expectations. I started watching it because of Hwang Jung-Eum since i haven't seen her on my screen for a while now but i ended up falling in love with all the characters in the drama, especially Yook Sung-jae.
The interaction between our three leads, the relationship between Kang Bae and Yeo Rin.
I love that the drama had suspense but they weren't heavy on it and each episode had a different case except for the last two episodes.
Everyone played their part well and the humour in the drama is A1. I laughed a lot while watching this and i felt sad for them too. This is definitley one of my favourite dramas of 2020.
I just hate the fact that it is 12 episodes long. They could have made the last episode longer but i still got a satisfying ending. Kudos to the team that worked on this drama.

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Here, have this drink and let's listen to your worry!

To be honest i didn't even want to continue this after 2nd episode but Seong Jae was here so i forced myself and I don't regret even one bit! :D
This seemed like a hotel del luna look-a-like at first. But it turned out to be different. Plus in hotel del lune Jang Man Wol was taking all the spotlight while here the two men beside Weol Joo were shining for me :)
I liked how they were listening to problems and helping people solve them. Plus the comedy was nice :)
Choi Won Young stole the show for me! he was sooo incredibly cool here xD I mean i love the man almost everywhere he plays unless he plays a villain xD but he was extremely cool here! <3
And the most important thing is that I am super satisfied with the ending :) I wasn't expecting a so-called "happy ending" for this one and for the last ep i was prepared to cry. You know, the Hotel Del Luna type of ending. But thank you thank you for a Perfect great happy happy happy ending! :D <3 I am very ecstatic for it, I was going to give this drama around 6 but it slowly was going up and finally reached 9 by the end. lol It's not perfect but it was funny, cute, lovely and bubbly.
From all the jokes i can't forget the Apple one xD it was hilarious xD
Plus it was perfect as a 12 ep drama! they started it off well and wrapped it up well. Maybe if it was a 16 or 20 ep drama at this point it would have gotten draggy, as i admit i was fast forwarding a lot. But as a 12 ep drama it was good :)

I would recommend this drama to people who like comedic fantasy with many life lessons. This drama definitely goes to my "Dramas with good messages" list. Also Choi Won Young's role goes to my "best support/second roles" list. :)
Seong Jae's love interest girl was also a nice find for me :)

I never rewatch dramas so i put a random number there.

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"Ghost Whisperer" meets "Cheers" with a dash of "Dead Like Me" and "Fantasy Island"

Netflix has been hit or miss for me this year. But this drama was engaging and entrancing. I liked it so much that I slowed down my usual binge watching so I wouldn't finish it quickly. By my rating system, the overall drama was excellent. Last year I only rated 1 out of every 25 dramas at 9 or higher. This one was a 9 for me. ENJOY!

What made it so good?
1) PACING: the episodic nature gave each show its own twist and yet each episode built on the previous one to see the main characters' pasts more clearly.

2) PLOT: None of the plot lines dragged. I ended up on the edge of my seat every episode. I even cried some during the final episode. But best of all, I didn't immediately guess all of the back stories. I was actually surprised a couple times.

3) SETTING: we observe four universes: the historic real world, the present real world, dreamland and the afterlife which has many different types of hell. Each universe has its own set of rules. Every time I thought I had a handle on the system, some strange exception occurred.

Everyone forgets their past lives before reincarnation? oops, someone bypassed the shower of oblivion or fell into a coma and woke up remembering the past.

Your reincarnation is determined by what you do in the real world? oh, someone violates a rule in the afterlife, barters her good deeds or escapes from hell and then everything changes.

4) TONE: everything wasn't black and white, good vs. evil. We saw shades of gray: good intentions that deeply hurt others, betrayal that converts the naive into a misanthrope, malevolent actions (using someone like a tool) and then recognizing their humanity. Despite the misery of many characters, there was still hope. Even if a person made bad choices in real life, he might be able to repent and be redeemed in this strange (alternately mundane and ethereal) afterlife.

Got Alzheimers? Don't worry your family will remember.

Leave your family in generational poverty? Compete in an ancestral ghost pseudo olympics so your offspring can win the lottery.

Commit suicide by hanging yourself on a sacred tree? Spend 500 years to help humans settle 100,000 grudges.

I had to stretch to come up with some less desirable aspects. So what detracted?
1) the ending felt a bit too "cherry on top" with everything wrapped up sweetly

2) the first date movie was far too similar to the characters' challenges, even their reactions felt super obvious; it wasn't foreshadowing so much as beating me over the head with their struggles

So what's the take-away? These were minor issues in a gloriously crafted, mystical story.

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i will be short and fast.

firstly being 12 episodes should start to be trend in kdrama. when it's shorter all the drag parts go away maybe that big part of loving this drama. their aren't that awkward 2/4 episodes when you think "ah should i drop it/ should i fast forward"
This drama is light but so deep too, you can take it as a joke but it's so heart warming at same time.

To be honest i start this drama thinking i will drop it after 2 ep , i just give it a chance because of sungjae. as you may know i dislike Jung Eum acting and always talk about that but this drama kinda make me like her, the role suit her, i fell for the drama in the start for the young ver of the lead but then the 3 leads own my heart, their chemistry make me feel like they are family, usually you want drama to surprise you but in this i will just pray that they give me what i expect because that's the best thing..
the small stories inside the big one give a lot of lessons and the big story will own your heart too, the love of 500 year and how selfless it is, they don't work for their happiness but other happiness. will make you wish them happiness.

sungjae couple was so cute i wish they give them more time but again the team time was so fun to pass.

acting i love their chemistry they look like real family they did well, sungjae was so good and who own my heart was manager gwi man was cut, fun and everything my fav character.. And can someone cast the young ver in school drama they look so cute ^^..

ost wasn't that strong, good but not memorable for me.

i really enjoyed this drama, i will miss the team chemistry. give it a try i also start with just a try but end up enjoying. 2020 are giving us a lot of good drama..

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What A Rollercoaster

Lately I had found myself dissatisfied with dramas but this one revived my love for them! It was a rollercoaster of emotions where you can go from weeping into your blanket, to laughing out loud , to sitting at the edge of your seat cheering on the characters.
The parallel storylines where beautifully written and merged seamlessly, I was invested in every characters story arch and constantly asking myself who is who until it was all finally revealed. I especially loved how big moments where carefully spread throughout the entire drama instead of saving everything for the final episode.

After becoming used to predictable K-Drama story lines, this was something unexpected and completely welcomed, I highly recommend it!

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Beautifully written, with a lot of heart (and a side of gummy smiles by Yook Sung Jae)

This drama had everything I like in a drama plot : a portion of its story set in historical times, a tragic backstory, fantasy, reincarnation themes and star-crossed lovers. And it lived up to my expectations.
While this drama is far from perfect, it has a whole lot of heart and sincerity to it. The meaning of this story is so beautiful. The acting is really good, the leads were great and the side characters were also pretty good. I often found myself being touched by the stories of the side characters and their grudges were very relatable, for the most part.
Side note: Yook Sung Jae has the biggest gummy smile of any Korean actor change my mind. His smile light up my heart everytime, guaranteed.

I definetely recommend this drama.

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