Hwayugi

The romance between Lee Seung-gi and Oh Yeon-Seo felt like a tug of war of give and take. It was some times funny, sometimes sad and sometimes warm. Their chemistry on screen was perfection. Cha Seung-won's performance was the best I have ever seen in my whole life when it comes to comedy. Comedy comes to him so easy and the range of what he can do feels limitless. His relationship with Lee Seung-gi's characters was the icing on the cake, always fighting and always funny.

Pleasant to watch and a fairly decent storyline but by no means the best of K-Drama. There wasn't really a whole bunch of chemistry; even as the series went on, it felt more like people playing a role than a story coming to life. The first - oh, maybe 9 episodes were rather more entertaining because they involved ghost chasing and had some pretty funny scenes. After that, there was a pivot away from the show's early premise, toward much deeper, philosophical themes that, sadly, were only shallowly explored. It could have been better - there was a lot to work with but, like trinkets haphazardly laid out on a bazaar table, there wasn't much to invest in.

The TV show is quite unique and the concept is pretty interesting. It has a lot of funny moments and it is really an amazing experience to watch it. The acting is quite good and so is the story. It combines romance, drama, comedy and also horror in the most unexpected way which makes you feel like you are on an emotional roller coaster. It is a very balanced mix and you end up wanting to watch more and more. The characters are very interesting and have the potential to grow. If you want a lot of CGI and a lot of special effects - this is not the show for you. There are some special effects and they are not that awesome, but they are not that important to the story line. I hope this show gets as many seasons as possible because it certainly has the potential to last long.

I think there are certain problems tied to the contemporary social reality that the series inform about implicitly. Such as how it is a mass consumption society and these values (about opulence, vanity, ostentation, disposibility, materialism, etc.) are now predominating and renegotiating more traditional values. I think it is sad that in K-drama the lead male characters are usually pumped with opulence, as if it is an element that adds to their real value. This series both deconstructs and at the same time reproduces it. Anyway, it could have been done more elegantly, for instance by being more careful about the costumes of the lead male character. At the beginning he had a style, which was cool, to be completely destroyed later on. White turtleneck sweaters, florescent red jackets or kitsch suits that make him look silly. Also his character should have been developed further. Obsessing him with alcohol is evidently not enough, he should have other interests/preoccupations. Fortunately, the actor brightly builds a persona in spite of these flaws. The other issue is the special effects. They could have been more creative and come up with metaphorical representations rather than trying to show off with really badly done ridiculous digital effects. It is not a problem of budget or technique, but of laziness and pretension. Seriously, there are million ways to represent a dragon. The action/fight scenes should have been better worked as well, they could have add more value to the series. Another problem is the soundtrack. I understand they wanted to use popular Korean music, but it could be so much better with a little bit more attention. There were some good ones, such as the song of the punished goddess. But overall it makes me think they just didn't want to pay a professional for a more intentional and fitting soundtrack. Also it could have focus more on the main characters and their story. Sometimes side stories were boring and characters were annoying instead of being "funny". While with a little bit more reflexivity it was possible to improve it to a great extent, overall, it was good enough to leavs you with emotions, difficult to forget.

How to rate this series?! The plot is weird, the story so full of inconsistencies and the special affects are poor.

But the chutzpah is immense! The central relationships are entertaining. I was particularly taken by the character of The Monkey King, played to perfection by Lee Seung-gi. And I enjoyed it immensely.