Woonmyunggwa Boonno

I tried to like this Korean drama and consistently watched it for a while. Generally when I watch Korean dramas over few episodes the main characters are able to establish a good rapport and engage the audiences more and more but in this I started to dislike the bland and cold acting of the main actress. She failed to establish any chemistry with her costar and got worse and worse. The drama could have been very exciting as the story line was reasonably good and the direction was good as well but without good acting no drama can be successful. By episode 32 I couldn't stand the monotonous and prosy display of emotions and had to abandon it altogether. What a shame and waste of time.

Unlike the soapy over the top makjang shows this highly entertaining yet plausible series has believable characters and a logical passionate storyline. The characters aren't too one dimensional for makjang type series. The hero and heroine make mistakes. Everyone is flawed and no one is goody two shoes perfect. How realistic. Each character has a role to play in the tale of love passion betrayal revenge and more.

Lee Min Jung as the shoemaker is lovely and handles a sometimes unlikable character well. She even sings. Joo Sang Wook acts the passionate man in love well and in a dignified manner. They were a good match in Cunning Single Lady and are great together here as well. Secondary leads are great too with Lee Ki Woo playing against type as a bad guy trying to save his daughter. So E Hyun is quite convincing as the hard hearted announcer.

What is good is the excellent actors who don't overact. The director is clear and steadily paced so the series is not slow but understandable. The cinematography is quite beautiful and glossy. The lush score is quite sensuous and sometimes overwhelming but helps with the atmosphere.

The background sound makes the story slower than what it already is. Jo sang wook did not perform his charming acting side like the his first movie with this girl.

Fates and Furies is a terribly slow paced revenge drama. It's highly stylized. I never feel there is a real connection between the actors. Confusing sub plots and characters. I am on episode 11, with 29 more to go, I reached my limit I am afraid. There is not one character I can identify with. But I've seen people posting positive things about it on twitter. So watch it, make up your own mind.