Mystic Pop-up Bar (2020)

Truly a gem

I had not intended to watch this drama until I saw the ratings and read the pleasant comments about the show and I'm so glad I went for it. This drama is so beautiful. The cast is great, the pace is apt, the storyline well executed and the emotional moments well-placed , even though the story itself was nothing new. Some parts of the plot were predictable, but nonetheless this was an enjoyable ride. All thanks to the cast.

Hwang Jung Eum portraying a mature, feisty fantasy figure was different from her roles in previous dramas and definitely an interesting choice for a come back. Yoo Sung Jae was a perfect choice for the sweet innocent dorky Kang-Bae and it was also nice to see Choi won young in a charismatic, easy-going lead. Also, the whole fantasy, afterlife and dreamworld set up was authentic and genuine to that extent that believing in those things seems natural. If your up and looking for a simple, short, heart-warming show, this is it.

Lire davantage

one of the most underrated kdramas of the year

damn, I watched this show start to finish and ep. 1-11 were honestly the best thing ever, the plot was different, the characters had background, grudges, and DEVELOPMENT, the actors and actresses were awesome, every character had some part to play, I’m surprised how heavily underrated this series is tbh, AND THE TWISTS, UUUUUU BOI, like you will see them coming, but you’ll second guess yourself and say “no way, can’t be him, wait what, but it makes sense though if it is him ... arghhh ASKHAHNAHSNNS” just the twists this show had were so good and top notch and they didn’t screw over the plot, so I loved them. All in all, it was very refreshing to get 12 episodes that had promise and for most of the part executed the main plot well, that is ...

UNTIL THE END.

not gonna lie, ep. 12 felt like a bunch of scenes cut together to try to fit the 60 min. time limit, someone I saw in the discussion feed put “it felt like someone else wrote the last episode,” which I agree with, it didn’t even feel nearly close to the flow ep. 1-11 had, but there was some development and it was a happy ending, I won’t say the end was anti-climatic because we got some fight scenes, we got info, some burning questions we had were answered (aka those “twists”), but the end could’ve been better imo, especially with the huge plot hole at the end, overall though this series deserves an 8+ rating for the storylines in each episode alone, very heartfelt and a couple tearjerkers, I definitely do not regret watching this one, and even though the end kind of nodded off, it’s worth the watch for 12 ep.
:)

Lire davantage

I will admit, the first episode I had trouble focusing even though it gives you insight on why Wol Joo is currently in her situation. It does get better the 2nd half of the 1st episode. The ending, though happy, I kinda wished it would've been handled better. It is predictable on who is who but that didn't stop me from enjoying this drama.

Character/Actor/Actress wise: Some may hesitate on watching this because of actress HJE being in another comedy. I've seen her other romantic comedy dramas and yes, I was annoyed by how she was portraying her characters in those other dramas but in this one, she hit this role perfectly. It felt natural to me her comedy side and her vulnerable side. I love every moment and scene of her character.
Choi Won Young, wow. I've seen him as a villain in Doctor Prisoner but this role, he's just adorable and funny. That's what makes him a great actor but please don't do anymore villain roles. I like this nice side of him. lol.
Sung Jae, great acting being the passive & vulnerable character but I kinda wanted more from him. It's not the actor's fault. His character lines just didn't give this actor his full acting capabilities. I mean I got to see another side of his acting when his sacred tree spirit came out. That was awesome but short. I wanted to see more of that. But overall, great actor. I expect more roles for this guy when he comes back from military duties.
The younger cast of Crown Prince and Wol Joo, they were spot on as well. I saw more of them in this drama than I expected for being a young cast. I love how they got to be reunited in the proposal of Ep 11. That just melted my heart. I hope to see them more in other dramas.

Story: I love the plot from beginning to the end. Because of Wol Joo's goal was to handle 100,000 grudges, we got to see a different story in each episode that pertain to the hardships of one's life. There's always a special meaning in each episode. I kinda wished the main plot was handled a bit better though. What I mean is that instead of revealing everything in the last 2 episodes, it would've felt less rushed if pieces of the truth were revealed in each episode say after episode 6.

A few things that bother me about this drama. There is a plot hole that was never mention in this drama: why Wol Joo and Crown Prince looks older as a spirit but everybody else looks like how they were as a spirit when they were human. When they enter the after life as spirits, they were their younger selves. There's no mention why they age but everybody remain the same, like the spirits of the crown prince mom, the evil friend, the advisor of the crown prince (aka death), the cinnabar. Also, how did nobody know what the evil friend spirit was doing? You know, he was killing and absorbing other spirits, possessed his dad, the grim reaper. I mean there subtle hints that the grim reaper wasn't the same usual guy and yet nobody took those hints, not even the higher ups. It would've been nice to have at least 1 main character being suspicious about this. Last episode felt very rushed. Given that there were only 12 episodes total from the beginning, the progression of the plot stalled for too long. Too many things still happening for the last episode.

But overall, despite those small plot holes and issues and a rushed last episode, I stilled enjoy this drama. I think this is a first for me where I see a main lead character ends up with a support character. Interesting and yet their chemistry was on point. So many cute moments of them. Even Wol Joo and Chief. While they may not have spent the time together as Wol Joo knowing Chief was the Crown Prince, her lover, they still had many adorable & funny moments together. So I say romance definitely occurs in this drama even though it's not the main focus. You won't waste your time watching this one.

Lire davantage

" 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.

Lire davantage

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.

Lire davantage

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.

Lire davantage

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.

Lire davantage

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.

Lire davantage

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.

Lire davantage

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.

Lire davantage

"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.

Lire davantage

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..

Lire davantage