Time (2018)

How would you change if you found out you were going to die soon?

Cheon Soo-Ho (Kim Jung-Hyun) is the son of a chaebol; entitled, arrogant and bored. Raised by a psychopathic father and an abusive stepmother he is, despite his wealth, someone who has no purpose in life. Diagnosed with a terminal illness and given only six months to live, he dedicates his remaining time to helping Seol Ji-Hyun (Seohyun), a woman he wronged.

The first half of this drama is dark and bleak but somehow compelling despite the numbingly-depressing tone. KJH shed his school uniform with ease and his acting improved in leaps and bounds to the end of the first half. Seohyun also put in a strong performance, especially when she had scenes with KJH, whose presence elevated her acting considerably.

The controversy behind the scenes of this show is well documented. Kim Jung-Hyun's health problems may have forced him to leave the show early but if there was any vehicle where the writers could have worked without a male lead, this was it. Cheon Soo-Ho's death was inevitable and the show had two strong, complex female leads to work with - even if they didn't have the same level of acting experience.

Unfortunately, the writers seemed to falter at KJH's exit. Maybe the writing fell away, maybe the writing was always this poor. We'll never know what the show should have been, but we do know what it could have been if they'd successfully shifted the narrative to the female lead.

The episodes after his departure highlighted how much of this was held together by KJH's gravitas. Without that, the show digressed into standard - substandard - melo: meaningful looks, shallow. smirking antagonists and people running around without purpose.

In the end, Time became a melo mess: thematically weak and even boring. Without KJH's performance, one is left wondering if the show was always that bad and we just didn't notice. Despite that, the first 12 episodes were relatively strong and so it deserves the higher rating,

And KJH deserves to be flooded with offers once his health improves. Because he quite literally stole this show.

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It has been a while since I watched a drama, especially a melodrama, that has took my emotions and break my heart over and over again. I was truly invested in the drama's world and characters. You will need to tissues, a pillow near by and a certain mind-set since this is a true melodrama (and it can be depressing at times). Definitely my top 3 dramas of 2018!

Story: This story was very interesting about two people from different backgrounds connecting to each other mentally and emotionally after a few events and spending a lot of time together. The story was written in a way that was true to real life and can relate to either one or both of the leads in someway. One of the most realistic melodramas I have seen in a long while.

Acting: The acting was top-notch! I was speechless throughout this drama. I could not imagine any other people playing the leads. Kim Jung Hyun as Soo Ho was raw, real and intense with so much impact. This was the first time that I was truly invested in a male lead character in a melodrama (it usually takes time for me to get invested in them). I cried so many times because of his character. Seo Hyun as Ji Hyun was just as real, raw and intense as Soo Ho. She made me cry just as much too. . . Seo Hyun portrayed a woman who was going on with her life, but then, it just stops after a few events till Soo Ho show up in her life. The chemistry between them was so intense, electric, sad and sometimes sweet even. The other leads were people who you would love to hate so much with passion!

Music: Really hit the right spots for me. The background music was fantastic, and fitting for the tone of the drama. The best song in this drama is "Time" by Gaho. It is sad song that really brings the mood to the drama and fits the scenes that it was in.

Re-watch or Nah?: Would not watch this again because It was hard to watch. I scored a 8/10 because I did watch this twice. . . . I was hard both times. Maybe I would recommend a one-watch for people who are starting this drama.

Overall,
Do not let Kim Jung Hyun press conference controversy stop you from watching this drama! You would understand why he did what he did once you see this drama. You will not regret this. . . . The story is interesting, the acting is beyond expectation and the characters will hit you with so many feels that it is insane.

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Do you enjoy being depressed? Then watch this drama. Do you feel like there's no hope for humanity? Then watch this drama. Maybe that's a bit harsh, but that's how I felt watching "Time", a drama that pretends to be a romance but is actually a series of non-stop frustrating sads. If you are looking for something extremely "Emo" to add to your watchlist, you've found it! Normally I am a fan of melodrama, but the unrelenting bad mood feeling this drama gave me seemed unnecessarily bleak. I only kept watching because the beginning seemed kinda promising. Initially, I expected a beautifully tragic romance, but I got a disheartening revenge plot instead.

This drama revolved around the quintessential jerk of a chaebol Cheon Soo Ho, played by Kim Jung Hyun, and the optimistic but always struggling Seol Ji Hyun played by Seo Hyun. I thought Kim Jung Hyun was great and initially liked Seo Hyun, but eventually, their chemistry got traded in for a convoluted revenge story that I just didn't like. I felt like the story wasted the development of a great character, Cheon Soo Ho, and instead focused on turning Seol Ji Hyun into an unconvincing mastermind who kept giving everyone the side eye so much that I forgot I initially liked her character. Maybe a better actress could have pulled off Seol Ji Hyun's transformation but as the star of this story she was pretty boring, and unimpressive.

The side characters were fine. Hwang Seung Eon and her super purse and Kim Joon Han as the worst ex ever were really good, with a relationship that became even more interesting than the main couple, but because of the overload of melodrama, many of the characters became too two dimensional. By the end, I had no real interest in any of them.

I suspect that the last few episodes were not what was originally intended because they seemed so thrown together and tried to overcompensate with the drama. Soo Ho made me sympathize and even boo hoo cry the more I learned about him, but once Soo Ho was no longer the focus I lost any lingering interest in this show. I just finished it to see how it would finally end, and to see if the ending would justify the depressing tone. Maybe some people found the end inspiring, but I did not. I felt like all the suspense lead to a pretty boring conclusion. There were a few themes about classism and trust that could have been interesting, but the story was just too cliché for me to invest any real feelings into it.

Overall if evil CEOs, terminal illness, rich people behaving badly, betrayal & revenge sound like the makings of a great drama, I'd say there are other dramas that do those things much better than this. But if you feel like brooding over how unfair the world is then maybe this is the perfect drama for you. As for me, I'd recommend just waiting for whatever drama Kim Jung Hyun has coming up next.

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OVERALL: 6.5/10
I have mixed feelings about this drama. It wasn't bad nor good, but sometimes I really hated it or loved it lol...
I was watching this just because of Kim Jung Hyun...and after his departure, it became a bit boring to watch....

STORY: 7/10
The story itself is boring, because we already know everything: the villains, the way the victim died and that stuff. It’s just watching the good guys catching the bad guys and finding out how she died. That makes the viewers and/or just me bored. But yet, it is interesting to watch from this perspective.
It was really frustrating to watch this drama because, the bad guys just become even worse and the good ones continue to be only good...and then Ji Hyun (Seo Hyun)... seems like she didn't do anything in most episodes...
When Kim Jung Hyun left the drama, I think the writer was really stressed out that the drama was falling down more and more...his character was carrying the show...at least for me.

CAST: 7/10
I like how complex the characters are.
Kim Jung Hyun//Cheon Soo Ho - He proved it here, that he is a brilliant actor and can play anything. His acting and character were just amazing. I don’t even have words to explain it lol

Seo Hyun//Seol Ji Hyun- Neh, is really a "Neh" for her acting and character. I felt like her character is a puzzle with missing pieces. It is missing something...and as I said before, she seemed to do nothing...what makes her even poorer. Then there was her acting, I do have to say, i'm not a fan of it. There are times when she's good and others she's bad. But she didn't convince me, sorry.

Hwang Seung Eon//Eun Chae A- I'm going to talk about her, since I really like her. This role fits her so well. I really enjoyed seeing her.

THE ROMANCE- It was actually working... dark and melo romances in this type of dramas work really well.

OST: 8/10

I liked the end. It wasn’t a surprise, but it was clean and complete, with nothing missing.

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'Time ' as the name goes by isn't a drama about time travel or something like that xD .
I don't know why they named it this . It's a total bluf , You know how catchy title's attract you xD
Like if I made a drama named gangster , you would watch it asap, right ?
That's how it works .
Anyways ,maybe it should have been better to name it this :
" Machiavellianism "
If you don't know the meaning it's :
Machiavellianism in psychology refers to a personality trait which sees a person so focused on their own interests they will manipulate, deceive, and exploit others to achieve their goals .

So this world defines this drama . This is what happens . Here they manipulate the truth .

This drama is a prime example of how things starts with a small butterfly affect and what can be it's consequence ?

It's perfect till episode 24 or 26 . But since the male lead leaves the show , it's ending is a bad presentation . It's absurd .

Time is worth it to watch . The reason I loved it was the far more realistic approach of how things happen but with that ending they totally took a U turn and Middle fingered us with such an absurd superficial ending .
Also the best thing about this drama is the acting . It's one of the best with such a whole new cast fot the first time in recent years .
Otherwise whatever drama I see , there's always a a same cast person , it's like this industry has become a monopoly of some support characters who always play such role .

Final Call
6/10 ( coz I loved Kim jyung Hyun's acting . He's the sole star of this drama with such a perfect acting an also the plot )

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I hardly ever cry in dramas. Imma tough rock to move but well Time was worth every tear. You see Soo Ho was a arrogant person from the beginning and then he is given the huge news. From that point to his last moment you can see a change in him. You can see from being an heartless person to loving and cherishing, protecting Ji hyun.
I liked Ji Hyun's character the most. She was wronged in so so many ways it's impossible to fathom her pain.
This has to be Jung Hyun's most underrated work far.
The scene where he prepares meal for her, picks the plate up and tries to see in becuase he is loosing his vision made my cry so so so so bad ):
The reason for low rating is the second half of the drama which took away the charm. KJH had to leave the show for health issues and the story does sulken. Overall I will suggest it for some emotional heartbreaks.

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Pela primeira vez acho difícil classificar um dorama. Como devo dizer? Seria um mix de sensações e meu sentimento por ele não é claro como apenas um gostei ou não gostei, é estranho e difícil de explicar.

Time tem 32 episódios de aproximadamente 30 minutos e a divisão destes episódios dá uma sensação de que são 3 dramas diferentes ao mesmo tempo. Vou tentar explicar:

- Durante os primeiros 10 ou 12 episódios o desenrolar da história me fez pensar que seria um drama de romance bem clichêzinho.
- Nos próximos dez episódios a história tem uma reviravolta que me fez quase abandoná-lo, a cena muda o tom completamente.
- Nos últimos episódios temos uma nova reviravolta que despertou novamente meu interesse.

De concreto, o que posso dizer é que o enredo sempre trás uma nova armação para a trama que acaba se enrolando na trama anterior e vira uma bola de neve gigante. Pelo menos posso dizer que nenhum personagem foi abandonado ao léu no final, todos tiveram um desfecho bem explicado.

Quanto as atuações: ninguém foi tão bem como o Kim Jung Hyun, algumas cenas o permitiram mostrar um talento que eu ainda não tinha visto em nenhum dos dramas que assisti com ele e eu gostei muito disso, espero que no futuro ele consiga papéis fora da comédia romântica que o deixe mostrar mais este lado.

Resumindo: Eu não achei um drama ruim, mas também não achei um bom drama, é um drama "estranho" para mim e muito difícil de classificar kkk.

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A funny thing happened on the way to the last episode

Not that funny unfortunately!
The first 12 or so half hour episodes of this totally sucked me in, thanks in a large part to Kim Jung Hyun. Anyone that has had the misfortune to wade through a few of my reviews will know I'm not fond of Jerk Leads who don't grow up but I am fond of Romance. And the first third of this drama promised a Jerk Lead with character development and a sweet though perhaps doomed Romance. Whoot!

As we entered the teens though this promise started to fail, the plot became a lot less convincing, an obviously ailing KJH had to pass the baton to a far less accomplished Seo Hyun and Romance took second place to REVENGE!!

I was left feeling bathetic...so much promise unfulfilled and at 22 episodes in boredom set in - This is not the Drama you were looking for!

Story: Begins well but loses it's way far too early, possibly due to panic over the impending departure of KJH.
Acting;/Cast: KJH is the real stand out here even I appreciated his turn as a Jerk. Kim Joon Han was a convincing villain with scraps of soul and there was haphazard support from Hwang Seong Eon.
Music: Had a couple of classics mixed in and never made me hit mute.
Rewatch: I didn't manage first watch! but if I did revisit it would be for KJH.

Overall it could have been great but it lost it around the half way mark.

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I’m pretty torn on this drama honestly, part of me wants to love it because dark and depressing shows are normally my go to but this one seemed highly unfair. I’ve only hit episode 25 and I’m not sure if I’m going to continue or not. I really don’t like when shows go so far into a female revenge plot line. I’ve seen multiple shows do it where the female lead gets so set on revenge that she ends up treating the people who are good like garbage and that’s gotten very old at this point.

Soo Ho may have not been the best guy but he sure as hell tried with what he was given after noticing his errors and near the end, she just tore him apart. Chae A was never my favorite character by any means but she slowly redeemed herself when she started acting more human and while she did do wrong regarding Ji Hyeon's sister I don’t think she or Soo Ho are to blame for the death. I didn’t mind Ji Hyeon at first but as time went on I started to like her less and less, the more revenge consumed her the worse her character got.

Either way, while I’m torn on how I feel about the show, I do want to say Kim Jung Hyun’s acting was absolutely outstanding. He by far saved the show for the time he was on it and it’s understandable why playing that character ended up taking a toll on his health. Hopefully, once he's recuperated he’ll get more chances for roles in other dramas.

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This one started put with such promise. I loved the shady protagonist, the male lead was just perfect, I was looking forward to the whole emotional viewing because that's why you come looking for a melodrama. And it was shot so well I was happy the script was great. And then I don't know what happened but I just realized it took me about three months to watch this drama. I wish I wasn't this stubborn lol because I feel like I would have been better off not wasting time. But the male lead was gorgeous so I pursued. Anyway, the thing with this drama is I felt some things and other times didn't feel anything when the creator and writers wanted me to feel. When you can't connect to the female lead I guess you start lookinThis one started put with such promise. I loved the shady protagonist, the male lead was just perfect, I was looking forward to the whole emotional viewing because that's why you come looking for a melodrama. And it was shot so well I was happy the script was great. And then I don't know what happened but I just realized it took me about three months to watch this drama. I wish I wasn't this stubborn lol because I feel like I would have been better off not wasting time. But the male lead was gorgeous so I pursued. Anyway, the thing with this drama is I felt some things and other times didn't feel anything when the creator and writers wanted me to feel. When you can't connect to the female lead I guess you start looking at the plot holes and everything that's wrong. And I don't know why I was connect with her. g at the plot holes and everything that's wrong. And I don't know why I was connect with her. I mean she was not annoying or anything and the actor was pretty, but maybe it was something about her character. She felt a little self righteous. Maybe it's just that. I don't know but it wasn't the actor but the character. And I've ended up connecting with characters that were seriously annoying like that female character in kill me heal me but I felt everything her character felt. Or maybe the female lead in this drama felt so generic- that might be it. Anyway I didn't feel anything and on top of that they kept the entire focus on her and the guy's story became a side story which ok fine I still would have enjoyed it but he was supposed to be in man with last stage cancer and ZERO symptoms except for the occasional pain and throwing up like once every five episodes. WTH? That whole angsty bit was the reason I started watching the drama!!! And then it got mildly interesting again when the female had "the change." But again it was just meh. And toward the end they throw the male lead angst but it was already something I was no longer invested in.

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This drama did not caught my attention from its pilot episode, I thought to myself "oh no, not another chaebol drama SMH!". However after the second episode something clicked! I don't know what it is but suddenly I found myself getting into it and skipped less and less each episode.

pros
1. KIM JUNG HYUN. (notice the caps) OMG! what a revelation! BRILLIANT BRILLIANT BRILLIANT. great actors are chameleons and from his role on WAIKIKI to this is a complete 180°. I have never been moved by an actors performance in a kdrama since Yeo Jin Goo in CIRCLE. Someone please give this guy an acting award

2. Kim Joon Han. wow! his character was a refreshing take on an antagonist. his low-key evilness would make you somehow still root for him

3. the love story. two broken souls found each other just when they're giving up on life. Really nice chemistry, nothing was forced and cheesy, it was just a realistic portrayal of how love develops

4. the ensemble. this just goes to show that with a perfect casting, it can turn any cliche writing into something else good

5. this drama is therapeutic (at least for me). for those who lost their will to live and survive then this series is for you. there's so much life lessons to take away from this

cons
1. seohyun. I wasn't really bothered by her acting, I just think that she could improve more on being convincing. A lot of times you can tell that she's "acting" instead of being really believable, well maybe because she's surrounded by actors who really lived and breathed their characters

2. towards the middle of the series it felt like the true meaning of the show got lost and veered into different direction. I wished the writers stayed committed to the title and that would've given us so much feels

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