Worth watching for the acting and the bromance

I avoided this drama for 5 years. What I usually do, when deciding if I should watch a drama, is open a random episode at a random scene and see if it pulls me in. With this drama, I first saw the rescue from the 'wolves' with a whip, a slingshot, a whole lot of clumsy directing and 2 girls trying so hard to look cool and tough that I laughed out loud. That was my first 'OMG! no thank you' to this drama. A couple of years later, I tried again. The random scene was another rescue, on a bike this time. And I went: hmmm, I guess this is supposed to be thrilling or something. Looks dumb though. That was my second 'no thank you' to this series. A couple of days ago, I clicked on the first episode and here I am, writing my very first review ever.

Did I change my mind about the directing of this drama?
Not at all. It looks amateurish. It's clumsy. The action is not the strong point of this series. Also, at some point in the later episodes, I wondered if the cameraman was drunk - the camera kept swaying from side to side so much.

The writing was also not the strong point. In my opinion, the whole fantasy element needed to be fleshed out a lot more. Or dropped altogether. As it is, it's just a cliche. As is the magic in this drama. A pity! The writing lacks subtility at times (like when a villain starts to laugh evilly just to show how very evil he is, because maybe we weren't paying attention for the past 13 hours or so). But still, there were some dialogue lines that made me sit back and pay attention.

The flashbacks! So many many many of them in so many episodes. Why? Lack of confidence in the clarity of the script? Or in the delivery of the actors? But they just bogged the rhythm down.
And were unnecessary.
Because, and this is why I'm here at 2 am writing my first review ever, the actors actually rose above all these shortcomings and brought their characters to life and made me care for them. In this, the show succeeded completely. And considering the amount and the nature of the shortcomings, it's no small feat.

Wang Chi Ang: got to give credit where it's due - the screenwriter gave him a great storyline, a great character growth. He had the capacity for the best and for the worst, and had to choose sides. And he did. Hong Bin really impressed me. All the emotions were there, and all the nuances, and much more. Wow!

Yoon Shi Woo: not an easy character to interpret as he was so withdrawn and quiet. Lee Hyun Woo was great, giving us a Shi Woo both endearing and strong. A true and caring leader. His character arc was done almost as well as Chi Ang's. There are just some things that we should have seen, in my opinion (what kind of a leader he was with his band members, the internal change that motivated the hair color change, etc.). Oh, and how nice was it, that his love story developed out of friendship. Just slowly and naturally. Kudos to the writer.

Shin Hyun Joon (Hwang Moo Song): mmmm, he just needed to stand there, looking over his domain, and I cared for his plight and trusted him.

Jang Gwang (Bup Gong): screenwriter, he did not need the evil laugh.

The two female leads were nice, but their martial arts were so so. When they were teaching their mentees, I had a good laugh. Most of the scenes involving girls and martial arts in this series made me laugh. Oh well, it's okay, show, most of the guys weren't much better. Oh, and Shim Soon Duk's dad was annoying as hell. Also, why was he even alive? Ah, yes, I didn't mention it before, but there are plot holes in this show. Lots of them. But what can I say? The actors, for me, did somehow rise above all the shitty stuff and made their characters real. And the bromance made my day.

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