Mr. Plankton (2024)

I guess it's a comedy because life can be funny even when it's not.

"Mr. Plankton" is a drama that makes it clear from the opening scene what exactly you are in for. Yes, a lot of the characters are comedic even though their situations are dark, but if you're a person who appreciates a good trigger alert know that abandonment issues, terminal illness, fertility issues, and hospice are major themes in this story. This story is also full of horrible circumstances, bad luck, and lingering hurt, so this isn't the kind of drama you watch for fun escapism. A lot of the dark comedy in this story is about how these characters interact with each other when their lives are at their lowest. The comedy is never so silly that it takes away from the impact of the drama. I was very invested in Hae Jo's journey with Jae Mi, no matter what odd turns the plot would take.

Woo Do Hwan is amazing to watch, and his charm shines through even when his character is super toxic. Hae Jo as a character managed to make me laugh at his worst behavior, and empathize with him when he was at his most vulnerable. Hae Jo's impulsive behavior made the story feel a little more unpredictable even with so many standard tropes. He is matched with Lee You Mi, whose epic role in Squid Game reminded me more of Hae Jo, but as Jae Mi she leans more into a more optimistic and upbeat character which was nice to see. They had great chemistry even when my rational brain couldn't root for their codependency, the natural fun they exuded together was palpable.

I liked the rest of the cast but Oh Jung Se as Eo Heung was the stand-out among them. I loved him so much as Sang Tae in "It's Okay to Not Be Okay", and he brought a lot of those same elements to this role even though he is an entirely different character. Kim Hae Sook playing his mom was also great to see since she is one of my all-time favorite KDrama actresses. I also really enjoyed Jo Han Chul's guest role.

For people who hate love triangles, yes this one is a big part of the plot, but because the story is more about character development than just romance it may not be as upsetting to watch, and is often played up for laughs much more than for drama.

Would I watch this again? Maybe. It is a short drama, and I did enjoy the characters, but for me, a lot of the themes were a little too intense to want to rewatch. There were also points in the story that felt like filler and a few characters that got a lot of screen time that I thought could have been better with less like Oh Dae Hwan as the gangsta set on revenge and the odd mysterious bodyguard John (?). I wish instead more time was spent on the stories and perspectives of the main characters, and less on cheesy fights and slapstick humor, but I guess that would make the whole drama more dark than they wanted it to be.

Plus, some of the repeated songs did start to drive me a little crazy, and not in a good way.

As a new Woo Do Hwan fan, maybe just watching him is enough to justify a rewatch. Yes, He's THAT good.

I was unsure about how I felt about this drama once it was over, but I found it tragically sad but also inspiring. I loved the theme of following your path as you go and appreciating what you have instead of harping on what you don't have or can't do. Yes, I expected to be heartbroken at the end but instead, I felt unsettled which I think is better and a more realistic ending feeling. We don't necessarily know the fate of all of the characters but we know how they faced their issues about family, discovering where they belong, and how this odd character of Hae Jo impacted their lives.

Overall, I feel like this is a good drama to watch if you are ok with inevitable tears. This is not a drama that attempts to solve the meaning of life but honors the journey for all its happiness and misery and unmet expectations and imperfections. It's also beautifully directed, and the episodes flow seamlessly into each other for great binging.

I got to visit a Bioluminescent Bay in Puerto Rico so the imagery of plankton shining was a vivid one for me. I love the idea of glowing plankton as witnessing unexpected beauty and purpose in small seemingly insignificant things and stars as the glow of what has long been gone. Hae Jo's perspective is an interesting one to follow as it changes and evolves, but his Plankton perspective was especially touching, and his observations never felt heavy-handed or sappy which made its emotional impact stronger on me.

It's not a perfect drama, and there are plenty of clichés throughout, but the main characters in "Mr. Plakton" are what made me a fan. I also appreciated a sobering look at how life may not always be fair but there's still space for laughter, love, joy, hope, and redemption until your very last moment.

Leggi di Più

Bare to handle the sad ending,then go for it.

There is little impact in the story. The male protagonist discovers that he is going to die due to a genetic disease, so he embarks on a journey to find his biological father. He takes the female protagonist, who is also his ex, along with him, but the reason for this is unclear, even to him. Despite a long search, he fails to find his father. However, during this journey, they both fall in love with each other once again. The story also explores how the female protagonist copes with the truth of his impending death and how he eventually learns about his father. Despite the lack of a powerful script, the actors and direction make the drama impactful. The show captivates the audience with its gripping openings and endings in each episode. Out of curiosity, I watched it all in one go.

I will praise all the songs. they were all too good .

Leggi di Più

"now that i'm facing it, it's nothing like that at all."

when a new drama with woo do hwan popped up on my netflix homepage i cheered for joy and yes he did have me giggling and twirling my hair throughout every episode so maybe this review will be a little biased.

the unpredictability of life and death is brought out in its most vibrant colours in this story. i consumed this drama within 2 days on a weekend back home from university and it was just the little adventure i needed. i loved the chaotic tangled storyline, the chemistry between the characters and the vibrancy of their world.

hae jo, born mistakenly from the wrong frozen sperm; jae mi, an orphan who's greatest wish of motherhood is crushed by premature menopause; and eo heung, a man under the heel of a 500-year-old lineage. all three characters bear a curse given to them at birth. throughout the series, we see them fight against these curses, and through this they form a tangled web of misfortune, misdemeanour and misunderstandings. this ultimately culminates in hae jo's death.

hae jo was given 3 months to live, and he sets out to find his biological father - the man who gave him his disease, his death. maybe an attempt to reckon with fate itself. in his meetings with his potential fathers, you see him question - do i look like him? do i act like him? is this the missing puzzle piece? is this the life i could have led? can i still reclaim this?

and the journey is terrible. he was given 3 months to live, and he repeatedly pushed away and abandoned the people who loved him most before welcoming them back with open arms. he raised hell to find his biological father before deciding to just forgive the father figure he had all along.

i, for one, am terrified of death. it's something which many shows and movies try to resolve or downplay: characters always tend to 'find their peace' before death and die untroubled. hae jo's death threw all of that sentiment out the window. his fear and yearning for life and for love in his final moments was heart wrenching, and refreshingly raw and honest. even hae jo, with his self-assured, aloof, detached exterior, never found peace with the idea of death. he never found a way, an answer.

an oddly comforting conclusion. there's no redemption for the fate we're handed and there's no right way to handle death. we must simply live through it!

Leggi di Più

Deveria ser proibido comédia com doença terminal

Não ia falar nada, pois eu só escrevo alguma coisa por aqui quando eu gosto bastante e fico inspirada pra resenhar sobre. Mas acho que tá na hora de falar também sobre pontos de uma coisa que não me satisfez.

Mr. Plankton tem um bom elenco, posso dizer inclusive que o dohwan com esse protagonista conseguiu um dos papéis mais complexos e melhores de sua vida, porque ele realmente entregou todo o seu talento incrível na atuação. O casal tinha uma química ótima.

Mas a minha crítica vai ser totalmente pra esse roteiro. Acredito que desde o início a gente já sabe do que a trama vai tratar e como ela vai acabar. Eu só queria entender porque seria de comédia. E mais uma vez, pegam uma doença terminal e não a exploram e nem aprofundam de maneira correta porque tentam transformar tudo em uma tragédia cômica. Não sei se estavam querendo dar sentido as atitudes insensatas do protagonista só porque ele ia morrer.

Achei os acontecimentos engraçados e tudo mais, mas acho que a doença terminal foi muito jogada, assim como a complexidade do passado do protagonista, para mim o final foi aberto e é como as coisas não tivessem resolução.

Sei que tratava-se de uma história sobre jornada final, no entanto a forma como isso foi abordado é bem questionável. Algumas partes foram completamente desnecessárias e fugiam demais da realidade, então como aborda sobre um personagem que vai morrer no final (algo de cunho realista), mas aborda a doença dele com umas cenas tão irreais só pra trazer algo cômico pra história? Acho que pesaram a mão em algumas partes e as coisas acabaram ficando confusas.

Sem contar que mesmo os protagonistas possuindo uma química inegável, a pegada que ficou foi de dark romance. A forma como ele a tratava era muito tóxica e ela também o agrediu diversas vezes, mas, claro, isso era só pra deixar as coisas mais engraçadas entre eles. Mas acho que não precisava ser assim.

O roteiro tinha um potencial enorme mas não soube tratar algumas camadas delicadas do jeito certo e se perdeu na sua real proposta, que pra mim não ficou clara de qual seria.

Leggi di Più

2024 unexpected gem

saw snippets on tiktok and decided to give a try. only to finish it within 2 days, enjoyed every single episode.

a solid story accompanied by stunning visual cinematography. some might think it’s choppy because some scenes doesn’t seem to add up but I didnt feel anything out of place, in fact, the consistency the drama delivered from ep1-10.

do Hwan mentioned that this drama is like a road trip. in fact from the start, the drama brought us along on their journey, wandering without destination (sailing without a map <- rmbr Start Up, anyone?). this is more about their journey rather than focus on each character and their backstory, which is why throughout the whole drama, I didn’t mind when they didn’t focus too much on their past and history because it’s all about living in the present.

some mentioned that this drama is like uncontrollably fond v2.0. that drama was pure depression. lol.

Leggi di Più

Even though you know the ending it's worth the watch.

What can I say about this bitter sweet romcom. From the first episode it makes you more than aware of how this series will end, but the more you watch it the sadness you feel is not because of the ending but because of the life they ended up having and the mistakes they made along the way. The male and female leads act their heart out. Between the playful fighting, the constant chasing and running away from everyone and everything, we see a beautiful love story between two broken, and in their words, unlucky people.
We witness, through flashbacks, their first meeting. We see them fall in love and live a beautiful life together as a couple. We also see their breakup.
After they have a chance meeting at a hospital whereby they both get bad news. The male lead then kidnaps the female lead from her wedding (he wants to find his biological father, and wants to take her along for the ride), and their bitter sweet love story commences.
All I can say is, yes it is definitely a sad story (you see it from the beginning of episode one), but the traumady is not as harsh as I was expecting. It shows that as long as you are with someone you love in your final moments in this world your life would have had some meaning, and you are the luckiest person to have lived.
If you want a typical happy ending story (boy meets girl. Boy and girl fall in love. Boy and girl get married) then don't watch this drama.
If you want to watch a bitter sweet love story, that looks at all aspects of love (family, friends who are like family, partners who become your family) then this is the series to watch. Well worth the 10/10 stars 🌟 🤩

Leggi di Più

VINTAGE KDRAMA FEELS !!!

This show is has every element that all classic dramas has ,

First of all , the freaking chemistry between main leads , be it Hae jo and jo jae mi or jo jae mi and heung or heung and hae jo.
Also , the Bong suk and hae jo scenes were very well made and enjoyed each moment of them.

I really liked it , it's been a long time since i being watched a kdrama this real quick.

This show remained me why l like watching kdrama : ) . Thank you! Mr Plankton.

The male lead Hae Jo :

Bro has fun ( jae mi ) , brother ( heung) , luck ( bong) , friend (kkari) and in the end he, himself and his dream !!! So this has to be
a good ending drama for sure,..

Leggi di Più

Best drama, sad ending !

Really this drama is amazing. The story is a bit stupid to be honest, yet you cannot stop watching until the end. Why? well, maybe the mix of emotions you have while watching the story : You can go from laughing one minute, then cry the next.
The acting is also fantastic. Kim Min Seok is very cute as the unlucky bad boy and Woo Do Hwan is sexy as usual.
But the trio with Woo Do Hwan, Lee You Mi and Oh Jung Se was very satisfying. A love triangle that is not at each others throat is a change I liked. Usually the want revenge, but here is about love and understanding.
One of the best drama this year!

Leggi di Più

holy shit im gagged

GUYS WTF im actually like so in love with this drama its not even funny like its been 2 days since i finished it and im STILL thinking about it. everytime i close my eyes to sleep i see the last scene of hae jos smiling face looking up at jaemi and my heart breaks ugh

also. i want woo dohwan to be in more romance dramas PLEASE he is so fine im dead

so first of all: everything about this drama was perfection, the acting, the ost, the cinematography, the chemistry, the cast, the character development like holy moly i seriously think this deserves drama of the year like legit, i literaly searched up 'how do kdramas get nominated awards' to figure out if i could vote or some shit for this to win cos this DESERVES ALL THE AWARDS

if ur thinking about watching this, i do say, please avoid this drama if u get uncomfortable with the fact that haejo finds jaemi and kidnaps her to come with him in his journey, and also the fact that jaemi technically does cheat on her fiance because she kisses haejo back. i really think u need to watch this with an open mind cos this is supposed to protray real relationships with flaws and its not supposed to be some sort of unrealistic fantasy movie moment where the perfect prince charming finds his princess. it supposed to be a very complicated portrayal of a relationship with doubts and rollercoaster rides. obviously not justifying their actions!! but still we live in a world where this is a norm for some unfortunate people, so this was just showing those ups and downs of relationships and how they bounce back

later throughout the drama we see jaemi open back up and choose to stay w him, and it really helps that they were exes cos obviously if he js kidnapped a random girl i wouldnt have even started watching and definitely wouldve been stockholm syndrome but the fact they had such a strong bond during their 3 yrs together and SOO MUCHH chemistry i can slightly forgive the ml, because never during his 'kidnapping' does he make a move or even plan to harm or put jaemi in harm at all! he only js wanted her to come with him and spend his last days w her, as well as save her from here miserable situation with her soon to be inlaws. his execution was js a little toxic to say the least, but this adds to his character due to his upbringing. also people have been saying him tying her up to that table was not okay, yes it wasnt okay but he wouldnt just leave her like that forever right?, and again, he didnt intend to harm to do anything to her at all!

anyways yall tysm for reading if u made it all the way
live laugh love mr plankton

Leggi di Più