The Bride of Habaek (2017)

 “Believing what you want to believe is your truth. Because that’s easier and less tiring.”

It is my first time writing here so I am not sure if I'm doing it right. Apologies! Since we're on the subject, let me also apologize for my english in advance 😆.
So here are my thoughts on "The bride of Habaek" ✨🦋
(No spoilers)
As someone who does not like the fantasy genre I've really loved this drama! It made me think, laugh and cry. The romance and the chemistry of the two leads was perfect and very sweet. The idea of a love that goes beyond time and space is showed very well and it is not cheesy at all. However, what I liked the most in this drama is that each one of the characters are interesting and growing throught the drama, sharing with us their lessons and their stories. Not to mention the osts of this drama! Wow! There is one entirely in english too: glass bridge. ❤

“Isn’t it merely that you are the only one who is unaware of which direction your heart is trying to fall in?
If you keep trying to force yourself to steer in the other direction you’ll fall over and fall ill.” - Habaek.

The actress Shin Se Kyung (Yoon So Ah) portrayed a very interesting and human character and I personally could see myself in her actions and thoughts many times.
Not to mention her beauty and her talent. I've seen her only in "the girl who sees scents" before and back then she didn't leave a strong impression on me as much as she did in this drama.
The role of a psychiatrist who struggles every day both in her work and in her private life without apparently giving show of her true personality, emotions and weaknesses is somehow relatable and impressive. When someone call her a kind person she denies it, and yet when she is called mean she says she was justified to act in that way. Her weaknesses make her beautiful while she is strong to endure it all, she still wants to escape the "reality" she believes to live in.
Until she meets someone who catches her attention in many ways. He devotes tender attention to her, he "keeps her busy" and he makes her think. He tells her he is a god and she considers him to be another one of his patients.

“I learned that the one who has more should naturally help the one who has less from my father. It’s also natural for the strong to protect the weak. That’s how the world should be. Just because someone has more than you, doesn’t mean that person is stronger than you.” – Yoon So Ah

It was my first time seeing actor Nam joo Hyuk (Habaek) after "Who are you: school 2015" and I couldn't recognize him until I saw his name and clicked on it to see his past roles 😆. Stupid me!
Anyway his looks are really the ones of a deity! 🤩
Habaek is himself growing as a character: he is convinced to be superior and yet find himself confused in a new world where nobody respects him as a god.
He is a god but does not know the meaning to protect someone and forgive, having failed to do so in the past. He himself has yet to understand his true self just like Yoon So Ah.
His character too is relatable and fascinating. Besides his looks, it is really difficult not to love his personality more and more as the drama goes on. The emotions he starts to express in his face as the drama goes on are strong and genuine and something we could not really expect from his character in the first episodes. The fact that he start to express emotions is sweet and moving itself.

In this drama it is really difficult to hate someone from the 1st episode to the last one non-stop. CEO Shin, Moo Ra and Bi-Ryeom and even the side characters (secretary Min, the chairman Shin and his nephew, Yoon so Ah's colleague etc.) are all worth our attention and their stories are again relatable and interesting.

I will definitely miss Yoon So Ah and Habaek. but I will also miss all the characters in the show (not even one excluded) since they've made me think and reflect on various experiences life gives us.
I really needed this drama and if I had watched it last year it could have benefited me even more than it has now.
Let me conclude saying that I really hope to see the two leads together again in the future 🥰.

Lots of love from Italy, stay strong and healthy! 😊🌻🌈

PS: I just want to share a review on the drama which is really good and emotional. Since it is a nice article and since the author has bravely shared with everyone her story, I think the least I can do is to share it with you all too. Here is the link:
https://www.mashitafandia.com/2018/10/the-bride-of-water-god.html?m=1

Lire davantage

If something gets bathed in the moonlight, it becomes a myth. I guess our story will become a myth.

The Bride of Habaek lives from interpersonal relationship dynamics and its dialogue/narration/symbolism - an outstanding work in the genre, and not only because the drama lacked budget. It was said in an interview that the scenes from the other world were kept as cinematic parts like in a movie purposefully to difference it from the scenes in the modern world (the movie scenes being very few and short in comparison). (When asked about differences between the drama and the source material, which is a popular Korean manhwa of the same title, the director responded, “It was hard to portray the water world. We took only the essentials from the narrative of the source material to create a spin-off. The water world is a significant part of the source material’s story so it does appear in the drama a little bit; however, we ask for your understanding. We will leave the portrayal of the water world to methods like film or animation, which are better suited for that.”)

While I'm at it, the opening (the music too!!!) and the first minutes of the drama are absolutely stunning. I love the nature imagery. The celestial underworld (the water world) was insane. The drama, overall, is stunning - including the costumes and sets. The cinematography is very colorful and has a lot of charm. I also love the manhwa-style drawing they made at the beginning of the episodes. About the special effects, there weren't a lot but they were good. And like I said, some of it is crazy work. There is no way some people actually used this aspect for criticism... Haters are something lol. They clearly did their best with what they had.

As it is stated, the drama is a spin-off and was marketed as such. It is not a direct adaptation, and the title is also indirect, which is why they added "2017." The concept of a bride was changed into a servant-god dynamic but "bride" still works since this is a romance and she becomes his bride at the end. There were also many changes made in the script because of Goblin.

While the comedy in the first episodes is absolutely hilarious and silly at times, it's not a drama that stops there. It's a great mix of humor and depth, along with a traditional (yet new) Korean fantasy setting. One thing I really loved, I remember, is when So Ah mentioned her knowledge about Habaek (since he really exists in the Korean mythology, there are informations on the Internet), and he told her that these informations were all made-up. Talk about witty writing! :)

Admittedly, I wasn't a fan of Goblin, so I dropped it. Habaek, on the other hand, turned out to be not only a very refreshing watch, but an amazing one as well. I understand how it might not be a good drama to many, however, it is completely different as long as one becomes truly invested. I also tried to read the original but...I didn't like it at all. I wanted to try despite not liking the drawings and the historical setting, but I just couldn't, and the story was painful but not in a good way (I don't mean to disrespect the manhwa, it's just subjective). It's very different from the drama, anyway. The drama is like a completely different story with new narratives and characters since it has a different setting.

I almost forgot but the people who complained about logic, really now? This is a fantasy. Get over it. Habaek wasn't meant to be a conventional one at that. I prefer it like this because it really feels spiritual and it makes it more epic and beautiful. They are really forcing on the hate. But that's the thing, the drama is a hit or miss and yet, it was such a hit (not only in Korea but worldwide) that even got a dvd. (A dvd needs a lot of popularity and investment (in money by the fans) to come out.)

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Acting/Cast

Of course, with two of my favorite actors, Nam Joo Hyuk and Shin Se Kyung, plus Gong Myung and Krystal, I was sure to love it, especially since I am an easy viewer who can pretty much appreciate everything as long as I got enough hype for it. I'll add here that Shin Se Kyung fought her phobia of water and Nam Joo Hyuk also overcame his fear of heights. Although I love Habaek, So Ah was my favorite character and the real highlight of the drama. Of course, the two other gods were very entertaining and interesting. Hoo Ye was the darkest character of the drama, and while I have to admit that I quite didn't like him because he got on my nerves, he was pitiful. I also don't really like the actor. No hate though, just personal preferences.

It is sad to see the usual haters of Shin Se Kyung. It's really annoying to see so much hate just because they don't like her acting style or the character. Or even the drama because for some reason the haters will put all the blame on her. She's very appreciated in Korea for her acting, personality and intelligence. She's a very talented and kind person who loves acting and is herself a cinephile. She doesn't have to cater to everyone's taste, same for her choices. She's my favorite actress forever and I always love her dramas and characters. Her acting is appreciated for being natural, sensible and sophisticated in its own way. The haters know nothing about subtle expressions and gestures, they are too blind for that. Shin Se Kyung is also attracted to female characters who aren't typical. She doesn't have to take on a role that doesn't suit her or that she doesn't want to do. Since I've read many interviews, I know she's very realistic and serious about acting. Besides, her roles are always different. But the haters will say that she's always the same. I could say the same about their favorites, it really makes no sense. For them, it seems like you have to take on an action/revenge/thriller role to prove that you're a good actor (oh well but she did take an action/fantasy role and a revenge one recently LOL). Does she have some of the greatest acting? I wouldn't go this far. But there are so many different actors in the world and she is still a really good one that stands out. Koreans even call her the Sageuk queen because of how good her voice acting is and how well she speaks ancient Korean.

Now, about Nam Joo Hyuk, it too makes no sense to hate on this role. He was great as Habaek. In fact this role must have been challenging too in a way, aside from overcoming his fear of heights. If the fact that the character is "stoic" is all they can see and they think this is bad acting, then they are helpless because it is so obviously wrong while watching. He also became much more emotional as the narrative developped. I always love the trope of the male lead being lost in the human world and using an ancient language. Oh and... Nam Joo Hyuk as a water god is beyond perfection. I mean, all of the main cast is insane work, to be honest. They all had so much aura and vibe. Biryeom (wind god), Mura, Soah, Habaek, Hooye <3 (I wouldn't include Hoo Ye normally but I don't want to be mean so...)

https://x.com/namjoohyukpic/status/1877649727832871109 - 2025, Joo Hyuk still didn't move on from Habaek apparently 👀 (he's hotter than ever now that he finished his military service)

(The director also talked about the reasoning behind the casting of his actors for the drama. Director Kim explained, “When I was casting, I first went about looking for actors and actresses who had otherworldly beauty and who gave off a god-like vibe…I also wanted to work with actors who are still growing over actors who have a fixed image, as that could lead to prejudice and lack of believability.”)

I always respect such reasoning :)

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The character development is where The Bride of Habaek becomes even more amazing, which is why the plot is used as a device for that. "Yoon So Ah is a pragmatic neuropsychiatrist who carries a tremendous financial burden to run her own practice." - So Ah is a flawed character, but she is much better than some people who only care about money because she is sincere and actually wants to do well inside of her. She just appears to be somewhat... "dislikeable." Very lightly though. I didn't dislike her for a bit and people hating on her must be insane. It is beautiful to see her character development as a human being and as a neuropsychiatrist along with Habaek. It is a drama with so many beautiful quotes (a lot about mental health obviously) that make it memorable. I remember her speech to Hoo Ye near the end, and both me and my friend wanted to give her an award for basically being the best neuropsychiatrist ever. Learning about the backstory, understanding the character in depth... That is part of the experience, too. So Ah is the most complex here.

I just remembered now! When So Ah was hearing other people's thoughts. It was very short but it's another of my favorite tropes. Also loved that the drama was realistic in that she didn't believe him easily at all, especially given her job. Her job was such a genius move.

It was foreshadowed at the beginning that Habaek's journey was about learning to (truly) care in the human world. Remember his conversation with the old man. He only got his powers back to save So Ah for a reason. Some people didn't get the ending so let me tell you: he got his powers back completely. It is not hard for him to make himself age along with So Ah and actually live as a human until she dies. But, that's where the ending has a bittersweet meaning, too. Also, the paiting of Habaek that we see at the beginning is supposed to fill in with time as he changes for the better - until he truly deserves his future title. Isn't it the same for So Ah? After all, you need to get it together with yourself for such a job. Of course, you have to separate your private life to your professional life, however, actually healing yourself is one thing. But it's okay, because we're all human after all.

The scene with the red dress and the rose, foreshadowed at the beginning, always struck me as more of a metaphor than an actual suicide. It felt like it symbolized something deeper, perhaps a 'what if' scenario, exploring how close she was to that edge and what might have pushed her there if she ended up alone or things turned out differently (?). However, since I’m writing this review two years later, my memory is a bit hazy, and I don’t remember all the nuances I noticed back then. I absolutely plan to rewatch it to analyze the meanings of the metaphor more clearly, especially as it was tied to her father I think.

And the fact that So Ah has a phobia of water just like Se Kyung!!! I love this so much. Didn’t So Ah develop the phobia after trying to drown herself as a student? The imagined parallel makes even more sense when I think about it now. Anyway, stunning scene and beautifully layered storytelling.

I'm sure there are many details I didn't catch or forgotten about (but since the review is too long I'll refrain from writing further) and I was really surprised to see how much insightful discussion there was on Soompi forums, so many people seemed to have loved it to the point of so much in-depth analysis! Of course, I barely read anything because it's more fun to rewatch and do that by myself, and there was way too much to read lol. Anyway, shows how great of a drama it is.

Thanks for reading!

P.S: How I wish I had the dvd... Reading the screenwriter's thoughts would have been so interesting. The exclusive BTS, deleted scenes, cast/crew interviews... But anyway, it's never translated (people don't have the right to share the videos online too) and it's overpriced.

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Favorite OST : Glass Bridge - Such beautiful lyrics and melody. The intro song too, but it's too short. Thankfully it's on Spotify. There is at least one epic soundtrack that isn't though. What a shame.
Favorite scene : End of 13 and start of 14 - The epic soundtrack I was talking about :(
Favorite episode ending : 13 - It looked like a soap opera with all the characters showing up lol.
Favorite episode : 16 - I kept crying. Shin Se Kyung's voice acting whenever she called Habaek by his name was something. It was also very impactful each time because she didn't call him by his name before, and well, the context.
Favorite FMVs : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbESFYzGMZU / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXWbREg37xE / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM0aaCLm9r0 / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VduTGY5RoQ / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9QTNhcOsDI / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gnr6P1Q88lk / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE484jun3vM / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtZOkDg6Tec

Teasers that you need to see :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BanT5xQ_1gI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7X8ISXdeUE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9v-py75k5E

Wallpapers : https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/70452/images/backdrops

An even better version of the poster (thank me later) : https://ibb.co/M955Sx4

Sources that I used for the review :

https://www.soompi.com/article/1006357wpp/nam-joo-hyuk-wants-bride-habaek-writer-know-fear-heights
https://www.soompi.com/article/1034659wpp/shin-se-kyung-reveals-phobia-water-nam-joo-hyuk-surprised
https://www.soompi.com/article/1003919wpp/director-of-the-bride-of-habaek-goblin-reasoning-casting

Drama recommendation : Black Knight: The Man Who Guards Me - With Shin Se Kyung as well, different vibe, longer, not a comedy like Habaek, stronger emotional aspect. A masterpiece, never listen to the haters.

Most accurate review for Black Knight : https://mydramalist.com/profile/MattPeddlesden/review/55831

Lire davantage

being a huge fan of the manga, i was really excited to see a modern take on the show, but sadly it all went to shit.

story 4/10

i really disliked the plot of this new drama, and how they kept emphasizing on yoon so ah's lack of money, the first few episodes seemed like a pity party for her. the story was really interesting for about 7 episodes, but the writers screwed up the ending so bad, i couldn't even watch the last episode.

cast 6/10

honestly i think shin se kyung did an okay job at so ah, but there was literally no chemistry between her and habaek. nam joo hyuk was eh? i feel like his stiff acting was to portray the cold god that habaek is but he literally has 3 expressions in the entire show. i ended up watching the show solely for moora and biryeom, which both krystal and gong myung portrayed very well. as for the im joo hwan, i thought his acting was great, but he felt very out of place in the story. he seems to complicate the story and relationship more than necessary.

music 5.5/10

songs were okay but felt too repetitive after awhile.


just don't watch the drama, it's really not worth it at all.

Lire davantage

All the potential for a great drama is there, but it still fails

I started watching this series not having high expectations, since I'd already read a lot of bad reviews. Still I thought I could get through it to see for myself if it actually is that bad, very naively so. I have to say that it was one of the very few times that I struggled so hard to watch a drama 'till the end and many times I wanted to relieve myself and give up halfway.
I have so many critiques for this drama that I could probably stay up all night still ranting about it. My main problem, however, with it is that it started off with all the potential to be a great show: a very interesting plot, a grand budget, a great cast with amazing skills and visuals and the list goes on. So how did it manage to fail? The scenario was just plain bad.
The story doesn't flow naturally at all, from the very beginning until the very end. The main plot feels like it just kind of lands there, much like Ha Baek himself, and then wanders around with no true purpose. The main romance, which I thought could be one of the saving virtues of the drama, started off noone-actually-knows how, so of course if it doesn't have strong foundations it can never be believable. As the episodes pass, the story gets even more confusing and the subplots feel like they're patched together in a very obvious and rough manner. Also, I found it very hard to bring myself to like most of the characters. The gods and goddesses that are supposed to be virtuous beings of higher intellect seem completely immature and sometimes fail to understand the simplest of notions. The main female lead is always making wrong choices and also acts like she's a child sometimes. I couldn't help myself from thinking that her being a psychiatrist apparently is doing more harm than good to anyone, as well. So many characters felt completely unnecessary, especially secretary Min and Ja Ya and even the more "important" ones for the plot like Namsuri or Jin Geon. The only actually complex role with a tragic backstory that was facing real problems and even at some points had the potential of becoming a villain was CEO Shin and he is actually the only character I managed to like and also thought he deserved so much better.
All in all my experience with watching this drama was not enjoyable. I would have given an even smaller rating number, but didn't for the sake of the production, which is actually really good, the acting and the character of Shin Hoo Ye.

Lire davantage

It was out of pure stubbornness (and stupidity) that I finished this drama and I highly recommend viewers spend their time more wisely on other dramas out there.
This was a very boring and hard to maintain interest in drama.
I usually love both Shin Se Kyung and Nam Joo Hyuk's acting, but their chemistry was missing throughout this drama, Ha Baek is very forced and awkward in character, and Soo Ah seems to have all the luck, even if she's deemed unlucky. Half the time you couldn't tell what would happen next with them because of the lack of continuity and growth. They jump a lot of steps in the relationship, and their god/servant status truly made it hard for me to accept Ha Baek's love for her. One minute he's happy to do anything for her, the next he's back to patriarchal ruling and "woman"/derogatory sentences that made me question how Soo Ah could be so mindless and love him.
I had more interest in the other main characters, though even they had very dry and unnecessary moments that made this drama hard to continue. Moo Ra's constant emotional mood swing changes were enough to give anyone a headache, you would want to like her, then not. Bi Ryum jumps around from playful, to scorned in 2.5 seconds, and whilst half the time it actually compliments his nature, the constant snippets to his past and how wicked he could be took away from building him more consistently. Some of the lesser deities were interesting, but fell through the cracks too easily to maintain their storyline. Other people were just so unneeded and wasted precious time that could have been given to progress the storyline with more interest and emotion.
The only character I found worthy was Shin Hoo Ye, and had hoped they would give him more than the drama managed to deliver on his part in the story. They left him very 2 dimensional at times, as a troubled soul, yet lost valuable time to build on his demeanour and just left him either angry or miserable.
Often the delivery of this drama felt rushed and out of sync, or slow and meaningless. Ha Baek's constant lack of powers grows tiresome, especially when they build it up that he can use them for Soo Ah at times... even this gets forgotten about and it becomes a battle over who should have the human, who should do as they are told, and who is acting blind to love.
I can't really say more than this without giving away major plot details that truly irritated me and bored me completely, but I advise to skip out on this one, even though Gong Myung was highly attractive throughout.
4.5/10.

Lire davantage

Watched it for Habaek and So Ah's Love Story and was satisfied with what I got

Even though it was released back in 2017, I somehow had managed to avoid it so didn't know how it was going to end. I'm not familiar with its source material either so I just enjoyed the drama on its own merit. And it was enjoyable! Saw a number of reviews that wasn't favorable to the plot or to the leads' relationship/chemistry, and I'm glad that I don't really agree with them and that the reviews didn't manage to decrease the enjoyment of the drama for me.

With the drama titled the way it is, for me going in, So Ah and Habaek's love story was the main point for me, and since I like both leads, that wasn't going to be a problem, and anything else would be secondary. And with the way it was set up, I was so scared that it was just going to end in heartbreak and pain and was bracing myself for it. I just saw the beginning of one review that said it was going to have a happy ending and trusted that even when there were moments in the end that created some doubts if that was true. So pleasantly surprise and content that it was a happy ending!

LollyPip's recap & review on dramabeans raised a good point that I really agree with, that Habaek and So Ah made each other better versions of themselves, but didn't fundamentally change who they were at the core. That's why I like their relationship and root for their love.

Habaek was still the haughty, arrogant Water God, destined King of all the Gods at the end of the drama, but whereas he was so apathetic when we first meet him in the Gods Realm at the beginning, he had softened during his time with So Ah. He was able to be vulnerable with her, showed how much he loved her, showed how much he appreciate everything that Nam Soo Ri, his servant, did for him, showed an understanding and care for humans that maybe he'd buried after the betrayal of his first human love interest.

Similarly, So Ah, with Habaek's influence in her life, also became more vulnerable or more willing to show her vulnerability. She had been so prickly and tried to be mean-spirited so she wouldn't get hurt at the start, so unwilling to show that she cared for people because of how tied her association of compassion was with her resentment for father, who to everyone else had seemed so compassionate but to her had seemed so uncaring. So Ah had been very much "I can do everything myself and I don't need anyone," but then Habaek showed up and forced himself into her life. Suddenly, there was someone there who saw when she was scared and tired, even when she was so very good at hiding herself behind a mask of indifference. Someone who promised to protect her and make sure she's not harmed, and then fulfilled that promise over and over. Someone who offered out a hand for her to take and lean on, who cooked for her, who spent a Saturday deep cleaning her house with her, who waited for her and walked with her home after work, who worked his first lowly human job for money to buy her a gift (and be so adorably proud of it after), who made sure he came back with a driver license not because he felt like he needed one to drive but because it would make her feel more comfortable to know that he was driving with a license, who reminded her that she can be vulnerable and show her emotions.

Habaek and So Ah both learned to be more human because they were in each other lives, and I'm all for it. Sure, there were elements that I wished were explored more, but overall, it was a satisfying drama that I'm glad I found.

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Uh... why is everyone giving this drama less than 6 stars?? The most helpful comment gave it 4 stars!! I’m truly shocked. Why did I like it this much when so many people hated it??

Well, I’ll try to write a coherent review that will explain why I really liked this drama despise its evident flaws (I am confused myself hahaha).

So, let’s start with the plot. Hm... how can I put this... there was SO MUCH MORE they could have done with it. A whole world was created and it felt like it was completely wasted. There were some plot holes that I noticed -and I usually don’t mind these things A LOT because I don’t really analyze every single plot line but I noticed them this time and it kind of bothered me. I wish we had more explanations like why did Habaek have access to his powers when Soah was in danger??
Although most people say the show was boring but I can’t completely agree. It was tremendously wasted, that’s for sure. But the occasional humor really made me laugh out loud. Being chased by a wild pig (ok I don’t now what it’s called), the drivers license scene, Habaek asking for money....... there were a lot of funny scenes, which I think not a lot of people have mentioned.
The ending was bittersweet because SooAh is going to die anyways and he will live forever as the king of the gods... I think the ending could have been a thousand times more interesting than that. The final scene didn’t even feel like the last scene because of how underwhelming it was. She could have ended up with the CEO for example! Or no one at all! Or Habaek could have really disappeared (even if I would have cried my eyes out for three hours and I would have never forgiven the writer).

Now it’s time for the characters! Let me get this out of my chest: my favorite character was the CEO. There, I said it. I always like the “good” characters and the fact that he went through all of that and still tried his best at being a human... The only times I cried were whenever his past was mentioned.
I didn’t like Moora’s character. Nor Bi Ryeom’s most of the time. Nor Ja Ya’s.
The acting was overall satisfactory but the main leads were somewhat disappointing. I do think they acted according to their characters but sometimes it really felt like they were acting. The smiling and the kissing were really good though!
I also think some of the secondary characters weren’t needed but oh well.

The music was great. It really fit the whole vibe of the show. Glass Bridge is a work of art. The whole OST is a masterpiece, to be honest.

Would I make myself go through the pain of rewatching a show whose plot is severely lacking? Yes, yes I would.

I decided to add this drama to my to watch list because of Nam JooHyuk but the rating and all the negative reviews made me not want to watch it without some mental preparation. One year later I finally picked it up and I was once again surprised by how much I enjoy unpopular dramas. I know I mentioned a lot of flaws and you may be wondering why the hell I gave this show 9 stars. Well, because I wanted to. I just feel like giving it 9 stars. I really like shows that are full of fantasy, I’ve noticed. I loved Goblin, and every show with similar traits pleases me (although this one is way inferior to Goblin, in my opinion). I really like the feeling it leaves me with when I finish it. It’s hard to describe but the feeling that there’s something more than what we see and know, that there is an ending to the suffering. So yeah, 9 stars it is!!

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I've always known about this drama because of my love for Nam Joo Hyuk, but I finally decided to finally give it a go because Netflix decided it wanted to add it and recommend it to me. I've always been curious to see him in another drama and I don't think my heart could take watching him in "The Light in Your Eyes" yet.

What did I think? That's hard to answer. I knew what I was getting myself into when little clips popped up on my instagram of Habaek saving Yoon So Ah from being pushed off a building. I knew that the CGI would be very rough, but sometimes you just need to accept this is what you are going to get if you want to watch a drama about nature Gods using their powers. I also read the comments and other reviews before writing this, and saw many negative reviews. But honestly, it was very meh to me. I didn't hate it, but I also wasn't in love with it.

One thing I loved about it was the costumes whenever we got to see "flashbacks" of Habaek's world. It did seem a little "low budget" but taking it for what it was, I loved the make up. Plus Habaek had some hair goals with this perfect blue ash ombre that I only wish my hairdresser could give me that wouldn't last only the first couple of days of getting it done. I loved the relationships that Yoon So Ah built with other people such as her relationship with CEO Shin Hoo Ye. Even though there was this weird plot with them, I felt like they had the most emotional relationship out of anyone in this drama. Given, I wasn't a fan of Yoon So Ah and it made it hard for me to root for her in any kind of way, she was always there for Hoo Ye and never believed in other people's prejudices of him . That being said, I think Hoo Ye was my favorite character in this drama. I liked how his fate was that he had good and evil in him and how based on his actions, he could choose which direction he wanted to go. He had to go through a lot of hardships because of who he was and was never accepted anywhere. He was always trying to make himself the perfect person, thinking that people would love him based on his actions and not what he wasn't able to control from his past. From the moment we met him, I knew that he would be the "antagonist" because we were told that all Gods were good and their enemies were our enemies, but I liked how the more Hahaek was with So Ah, the more he stopped acting on impulse like the other Gods, and actually took a step back to think about what he truly thought. I liked how he only really didn't like Hoo Ye because he was trying to win So Ah's love, and not because of the prejudices that other people had labeled him as.

Now going off all of that, I mainly did not like his drama because of the characters. Yes, we get the whole drama troupe with the main characters being these unlikable characters, but when they meet and start to realize how their actions effect other people, they start to change. But in this case, I feel like not a lot of characters went through that change. We have So Ah who's job it is the help people with their struggles, but we find out that because of So Ah's past that she hides her compassion for other people with anger because she basically has daddy issues. She believes in hard work will pay the bills, but she also thinks her misfortune isn't her fault. She is a good psychiatrist, which we see in her scenes with Hoo Ye, but for some reason she decides on performing just ok with her patients because she doesn't want to come off compassionate. It's weird. I don't understand it. She was a VERY wish washy person and had no idea why everyone was so in love with her. Yes, she was sassy which made her funny, but homegirl could not make up her mind to save her life. Or when she finally was able to make up her mind, she would do the opposite and then we would go through another, "what should I do?" moment. It was very repetitive and got boring real quick.
Habaek was alright - he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and didn't know anything outside his world and powers so it was a given he would be entitled and sassy and bossy. And he was a little irritating in the beginning, but he always wore his heart on his sleeve, even though he always had a bored look on his face, just staring into your soul. I felt bad for him, and he is probs my second favorite character in this whole drama. I didn't agree with most of his actions and his jealousy was NOT NEEDED because he took it to another level, but he was always honest and always fought for what he wanted. Plus, I liked how he didn't have prejudices against anyone and based his feelings toward someone based on their actions.
I think the REAL antagonists in this drama were the God of Sky and the Goddess of Water; Ahn Bin and Mura. Given that Ahn Bin was the god of mischief, we knew he was going to create some chaos, but it was still weird seeing how these two and Habaek grew up together, yet, they all turned out to be completely different people how they handled situations. Ahn Bin loved to create chaos and had zero limit to what he would do to get revenge. Mura is the same way, but she is very by the book and would take her revenge by finding loopholes. Both would act solely on emotions and created unneeded chaos for other people. Given, when we find out why Ahn Bin is terrorizing Hoo Ye, it starts to make sense, but he refuses to tell no one why he was doing what he was doing, and it honestly made himself look like the villain. I liked Ahn Bin in the beginning because he was fun and playful and added a element of excitement in the boring lifes of So Ah and Habaek, but he honestly was kind of this terrible person (both him and Mura) who got away with everything and I cared zero about their love story. He would have been the sole reason why Hoo Ye would have chosen the path of evil. Then there were a lot of oddly unnecessary side characters such as Shin Ja Ya who should have just gotten a few scenes in the beginning of the drama to introduce the audience to So Ah's past and insecurities, and then should have been cut.

This drama seemed to never really be building up to the huge climax - there were many mini climaxes in which we thought were going to be the big turning points, but weren't. For example, Hoo Yee's fate of becoming good or evil and coming off as the drama's antagonist, seemed like it was going to be this huge thing, with possibly this huge final battle where So Ahn would swoop in and tell him to take the path of good and not evil and then it would be the end of the drama and everyone lives happily ever after. That was not the case. That whole thing got resolved somewhere in the middle. The big climax, that wasn't really big at all, seemed to happen all at once in the final episode, which I will give props for being extremely emotional. Way more emotional that the rest of the drama. The ending was good though, very generic happily ever after that made me happy for So Ahn and Habaek, but also a little sad for Habaek as well. I just don't understand why they couldn't just give everyone immortality, but I guess it is a lot to ask for.

Final thoughts, I think this drama is worth the watch if you have some time to kill and want to watch something different and you love Nam Joo Hyuk. If you can get past the CGI, the drama is totally fine. The ONE thing I will say though is the writing or maybe it was the Netflix translation, was so odd. Whenever the main characters had heart to heart arguments, which was often, I never really understood what they were talking about or trying to say. They would jump to 50 different points and talk about 50 reasons why something wasn't possible with situations that never applied...but you just assume they were breaking up because she had daddy issues? There were so many times I had to backtrack and rewatch scenes to figure out if I am just a slow reader and missed something, or if the translation just didn't make sense.

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I went into this drama reading all the negative reviews and was expecting to like the 2nd couple better. I found myself enjoying the Main leads, they made my heart swoon and there is some funny moments. Habaek and his servant navigation in the world was lol.  I've have re-watched their scenes.  Yong Yong....he named her. He bought her a new cup from his PT -Job awww...He rem. her saying that a broken cup is bad luck and he got her new ones. Sooo SWEET!!! He tried to order the water back in the toilet for the bidet hahaha...One of my fav. scenes of is when he came back from the god world with his servants w/the ID's OMG I was on the flr dead.

You can't judge how you'll enjoy a drama base on reviews, take it all with a grain of salt. I would say , Always try it out. It will either click or not. I watch a drama for the "feels" and don't go deep into it. It's my escape (fantasy).

Reply 1997 was highly recommended and I absolutely HATED it! It was soo annoying and the Noble sacrifices. The brother thinking because he likes her and do things for her in a sense she belongs to him.....blaaah...stupid love triangle. I FFW soo much and thinking I would like it because of the high rating it has to be good...nope...

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Despite everything, Bride of the Water God was a cute drama with an adorable couple. I am disappointed that it wasn't able to live up to expectations, but the drama has a bit of its own charm.

The story itself is a bit scattered. It may be that it was trying to accomplish too much at once and wasn't able to execute on anything very well. I had a very hard time keeping engaged with the story and the lore of the Immortal Realm in particular. The original work would certainly fall into the mellow drama category. This drama is more of a romantic comedy. The constant pull between mellow drama and comedy is very distracting to the overall telling of the story.

Unfortunately, casting Nam Joo Hyuk as the lead character Habaek turned out to be a poor decision. Nam Joo Hyuk proved to be much too green to pull off the 3000 year old Habaek. Though he is cute and charming in parts ... other moments seem down right cringeworthy. Even though Habaek is supposed to be a bit of a man child, the childish demeanor washes away most of the sex appeal of the original Water God. Out of all the things I've seen Nam Joo Hyuk in, this is probably easily his weakest performance. I feel like he never really gets used to acting the part of Habaek.

Actually the character story that I was most intrigued with was Shin Hoo Ye played by Im Joo Hwan. I feel like Im always is cast as deep, complex characters. I loved CEO Shin story arc. His backstory and character development was so compelling, it ultimately distracted from the lead couple. Still rooting for a Happy Ending for Hoo Ye!

Though this drama was far from perfect, there were some charmingly touching parts. I did enjoy watching it. I just probably won't be revisiting it anytime soon.

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