The hype is killing the enjoyment.

When one's expectations are set to perfection, the show fails to deliver. The show has a high rating, but it felt underwhelming to me. The story is mellow-stress-free, and I failed to feel the astonishment it promised.

I would first like to discuss what I enjoyed. Visually, the drama is enticing, and the cast is beautiful (and I emphasize BEAUTIFUL). The show has no actual conflict, and whatever minute disputes we see are either superficial or short-lived. I also liked that initially, it was strongly communicated that the feelings were one-sided (younger FL to older ML) and were not reciprocated until they were seemingly mature enough (they tend to focus on the age difference a lot, personally, I don't care much; I understand since maturity level changes drastically at this age it can be uncomfortable for many). Also, I would especially like to applaud the actress portraying young SJ's, Zhang Xi Wei; her performance stole my heart! The banter she had with her brother is among my favourite scenes.

Adding to that, I would have appreciated, it if there were more scenes with the brother and slightly more focus on other relationships. If such scenes would have replaced the everyday interactions, which were monotonous at times, between the ML and FL it would have added a bit more to the comedic parts. All the characters are well rounded, but not all characters go through a proper development arc or are even given the screentime for us to discover a bit about them. ML and FL, are both shown to have friends and coworkers. Still, we never learn anything more about these side characters apart from the caricature they are supposed to portray. Generally, I do not mind seeing characters as just 'the smart one, 'the hopeless romantic one', but when all the characters are just that, the scenes without the ML and the FL feel too bland and tedious. I did end up skipping a lot of these scenes.

Now, speaking a bit about the story and direction. As I said before, it is a stress-free drama. I generally watch such dramas to escape my stressful real life, and on this account, the show delivers. It is enjoyable for viewers, especially the younger audience. My 19yo niece is in absolute awe of this show. I would think it is a mature story for people below 25 and a cute fluff for people above 25 (although I could be wrong, it is just my opinion). Either way, one cannot go wrong. For me, though, the alacrity was disjointed, and the main reason for this was the way the FL in her high school years kept talking and acting like a baby. This infantilizing of the character is especially unconvincing after seeing her as a child. She is a witty and funny character, but all of it is lost too suddenly; I would have loved it if some of these personality traits were carried into her adulthood. Her university personality is still better and she does start acting like an actual human adult eventually, but one has to go on till ep7 with an unpleasant babyish acting. But the actor is not to blame here; it is solely the fault of the direction and the production.

If I had seen the show before reading the reviews and comments, I would have given it an 8/10. But the way the reviews make it sound brought my anticipations way too high, and then the drama failed. The storyline is not new but rather an updated version of what most fluffy romances are, albeit with better visuals. The acting is above average, and the worry-free storyline does leave much to desire. So, is it a trailblazing perfection? No. But is it worth watching? Yes, and it is enjoyable for what it is, a simplistic warmhearted easy-going-romantic drama!

PS: I had been watching this drama for a while now, so please excuse my grammar. :)

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'Fast, witty and emotional', with VFX analogues to western movies!

Review frequently updated: EP1-7
The first few episodes guide us through the fictional world where the government has been involved in recruiting (might even creating, not revealed yet) superhumans as agents. From what we know the agents are retired and the story is now revolving around their kids. We see how their abilities have affected their lives and how their parents (former agents) are trying to protect them. The family and friends relationships are laid out pretty well initially. We are also introduced to what I can assume will be the main plot line, that the governments of different nations are trying to kill the former agents of South Korea. Why and how is not something we discover yet. From my understanding, the powers seem to be inherited genetically and the kids can have abilities of both parents, like our main lead Kim Bong Seok and the killer, a CIA operative (a native Korean who was sold as a child) has been tasked to take out all the former agents and their kids. The story is interesting and I cannot wait to see where it is taken from here.

Till now the storyline is fascinating and I enjoyed how the first few episodes were used to introduce us to the world and the characters. The series involves a lot of characters and their background stories which could have become messy and tedious if I had not binged watched it.

PS: If you are wondering, the VFx are amazing! Top quality! Very comparable to American shows!

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The ending we needed to watch.

The review comes from a horror-holic. I have always been enticed by shows and dramas that promise a thriller-horror premise. So be sure I was here to watch the whole series with all my might! I experienced a full range of emotions watching this series, it excited, amused, and sometimes terrified me. The show itself is not scary but some jump scares will get you!

The acting was the strongest part that carried the series and made me watch it till the end. I rarely see a series in which every actor performs so beautifully, regardless of the small role. The characters are also well-written. There is depth and thought put into most characters although we do not explore the intricacies of each character in this 12-episode drama. Just like many others, Kim Tae Ri stole my heart too. She plays the FL who is struggling to survive as she tries to live for the sake of her loved ones and later tries to protect them from her-possessed-self. The family dynamic is complicated and yet I could feel the love between her mother, a justifiably overbearing fearful person, and the FL.

Now, the storyline is where the series leaves a bit to desire. Some parts of the story were not explained well. I am unsure if I could not follow them as I am not a native speaker or if they were just poorly explained. First, the fact that the evil spirit had a brother who was rushed (ep11 49:50) while it was important because it determined that she was the second child. There were also a few more plotholes. But those aside, the storyline was fun and kept me on edge the whole time. Personally, there were not many instances where I was bored or found myself skipping scenes although the pacing is a bit slow. At times it felt like some plots were introduced sparsely but did not develop truly. But if I were to put it simply, I enjoyed the storyline and it was engaging. The continuous mystery of who the evil spirit was and what her past was well written in the script. Many times, I found myself going through comments after watching episodes just to discuss my theories and listen to others.

I will mention this here because I see many people were curious about any romantic sub-storyline. The ML is a professor and is not the FL's love interest. He is helping our female lead to catch the evil spirit who has killed his parents and run havoc on his life in the past. Throughout the series, the 2 ML, who is a detective has shown to have interest in FL. The FL, being busy making a living, never realized his feelings. Although they did not officially end up together, in a beautiful scene the FL looks at the ML like he did in the past.

Unlike what has been a trend in past dramas, this drama does not have a feel-good ending! Rather, the ending hit near home. Even though the FL does the right thing, her life is never going to be the same. She chooses to get rid of the evil spirit and in turn, loses her eyesight. But her journey leads her to want to survive and live for herself.

The direction and production are well done. The small moments sometimes say a lot and I needed to watch the show carefully to see these elegant scenes. All in all, I would recommend watching this series. The emotions are strong and the character has a good dynamic. My takeaway from the series was, to be careful opening and knocking on doors, we never know what's on the other side :p

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It is what you think, mostly!

So, I just finished watching this drama, and it was just what I expected. Before I start with my review, I would like to point out that this is a light-hearted drama, and any anxiety-filled plots are short-lived.

Most dramas about reincarnation build a bridge between the past life (historical drama) and the current life (modern dramas), and the same was true for this too. The storyline was nothing fresh, but the approach taken to tell the story was somewhat unexpected. I kept waiting for the arrival of a big bad wolf, but this drama has no true antagonist. Yes, the ML's aunt might have played dirty, but it has nothing to do with the main storyline. Every lousy deed done was instead shown to be influenced by the surrounding circumstances, and the people who did wrong were filled with regret and resentment. I hoped for something more exciting when I started watching the drama. In the beginning, I disliked many characters, but eventually (especially in the last episode), I came around to feeling empathy for them. The sadness, fear, anger, greed or pride that drove one to act wrong was not taken as an excuse by the characters; instead, their decisions ate at them. The story ends with forgiveness! Yes, nothing huge or climatic, but simple forgiveness and moving on to new beginnings. Honestly, nothing truly happens in the story. They introduce plots that don't affect the real storyline at all. I am glad they decided to have a 12-episode series because the series was getting boring and felt a bit dragged at times. Not only did the storyline have a lot of empty plots, but the ending was also bittersweet.

Now, The characters in the drama might not be too likeable, with everyone making mistakes apart from the ML. Still, the actors that portrayed these roles were likeable. I don't have any complaints about the acting. It was nice. The FL was represented as a wise person who, despite being lonely because of her past memories, tries to live all her lives to the fullest. She is mature but silly in love at the same time. All I can say is that she is a unique character. Though this is not true for the other side characters, they did not impress. Their storylines could have been stronger and mostly felt incomplete, dull or empty.

Overall, it is a standard average drama, suitable to pass your time.

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