Najgwa Bam

Finished South Korean series "Awaken" yesterday. I've tried some other Korean series before, but those that went my way were "meh". This one started out with some silliness, but later it was amazing. Good cinematography, amazing soundtrack, intrigue and suspense kept through out the whole series, although the sources of both did change. I mean, there still were some silly and unrealistic moments (especially those related to technology and science), but I found them minor enough compared to the quality of everything else to not be bothered by them at all. If you have 16 hours to spare - highly recommended.

Like most Korean dramas, this was interesting all the way through. Also like many Korean dramas, it had an overly-large cast of characters and stretched on like taffy. And as some have mentioned, the ending was rather sub-par. That fortunately didn't detract from the rest of the show, but would have preferred a more ingenious twist to the ending, or at least satisfying resolution.

Everyone did a good job of acting, but with such a huge cast some of the characters were somewhat superfluous. One gets the feeling they could have done this on half the cast and still accomplished the same goals. The only reason I mention this is because with the American-unfamiliar names (which aren't changed for purpose of translations), one tends to forget who is who and what role they play. If their role in the series becomes inconsequential, perhaps they didn't need to be in it in the first place.

Still, some people enjoy a large cast of characters, so it's largely a matter of personal taste. I give it 7 stars because of the somewhat weak and predictable / cliche ending... and the typical Korean habit of putting an 8 episode story into 16 episodes. But also because it does maintain interest all the way through.

Then there was the "Superman" bit, with one character suddenly exhibiting super-strength and not really explained. That somewhat jumped the shark.

Calling it a "masterpiece" is a bit of a stretch. It's just basically a typical Korean series. I've seen better, and I've seen far worse. It's worth watching.

This is a great sci-fi thriller that is tightly written with an interesting plot and great characters. The ML is by far the most interesting of the bunch, but all the characters are interesting and three dimensional. I enjoyed every episode, and I liked how all questions were answered by the end of the show. The only negative I would say about the show is it takes a few episodes to feel like as a viewer you know what is going on and what the direction of the show is. Just know that the whole show revolves around the first few scene, and wait for the plot to speed up. Once it does the show is addicting. The ending was somewhat open ended, but also not really at the same time - it was vague but also confirming of the viewers suspicions. I personally thought it was perfect. I really enjoyed this and think it is well worth a watch.

White night village is a place where over 25 years ago many people including children lost their lives in strange circumstances. We fast forward to today where a police officer assembles a crime team consisting of people related to those events and over the series we learn what happened and why. It is a clever plot and I would have rated 8.5 if it was possible as you are never sure where the plot is going and who are the real baddies. The entire cast do a sterling job and the direction and pacing is excellent with the team investigating a present day serial killer with links to the tragic events of the past.

This is a good series, but it does sag occasionally because the sequencing can be too long and limp for the actual plot and character development. Not enough attention is given to developing the female leads or the relationships between characters-considering the outstanding cast, this is a serious drawback. It puts more emphasis on plot than on character development, but even then the writer leaves too many holes that she continues to spin, and not effectively. However, the series can definitely be recommended for its terrific cast and directors who keep the audience's attention throughout despite the writer's occasional oversights.