Anto
Argentina
I, for one, was captivated LOL
Writing-wise, this is one of the best sageuks I've ever seen (and at this point, I've watched a whole lot of them).I don't know how else to describe it beside it being smartly written. The characters were interesting and flawed, with multiple layers and complex emotions. Their actions were always motivated by solid reasons, and even the villains were clever in the way they plotted their evil deeds (which is not actually the norm in base of my observations so far). I was hooked throughout, and actually found myself being surprised by some of the twists and turns the story took.
The show was like a baduk game in and of itself, with the two opponents constantly trying to outsmart and outmaneuver each other, both when it was the King and his Gidaeryeong, and the King and those seeking to control him, which I really loved given how prominently the game was featured. There was a constant struggle for power going on, with the knowledge that any move had to be carefully considered because a wrong step could lead to catastrophic results (much as it was shown during the very first episode).
Also, there were a lot of different instances were it was mentioned how the characters were blinded because of how they were "captivated" by a certain emotion. Be it a thirst for revenge, or an overwhelming love, or anything in between. Which again, I liked the tie in to the show's name and theme.
Of course, it was visually stunning, like all sageuks usually are, and the OST matched the show well, even if it was not very memorable. The acting was top notch all across, with Cho Jung Seok shining especially bright in his range from tyrannical King to lovesick man, he really excelled in portraying a deeply complex character. Shin Se Kyung's character reminded me a lot of who she'd played in Rookie Historian Goo Hae-Ryung (also a marvelous sageuk fyi), a smart woman, confident in her abilities but somewhat limited by her circumstances.
The only reason I'm not giving Captivating the King the full 10/10 rating is because the romantic spark between the leads was sadly missing. I loved how mature, deep and settled their relationship felt, but the heat that comes with good chemistry was sadly missing. I bought they cared about each other, but didn't feel the attraction. When they kissed, nothing happened.
Either way, it was an amazing show and I had a great time watching it.
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Negative outweighed the positive
Well.The writing sucked. It was like this was penned by a teenager using chat GPT. Very debut author YA fantasy. The plot was lazy and repetitive, with characters being wishy-washy and similar events being recycled. Editing wasn't much better, with scenes just cutting out in the middle of them and the characters continuing their conversations somewhere else. The dialogue was also fairly cringe, with lots of yelling to assert dominance and show power, like any good makjang should have LOL. Perhaps the webtoon was better, I wouldn't know.
But the soundtrack was fantastic, and the filming and acting were quite good. I wish there would have been a more consistent difference between Hyeon and Ak Hee's personalities, since at times it got difficult to tell them apart, but I still think Park Ji Hoon is amazing given his young age and newness to the world of acting. And I'll always applaud a production that can flawlessly and convincingly turn a single person into two, fighting scenes included and all.
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This review may contain spoilers
Started out so great, then flopped HARD
Every single time I started a new episode, Avril Lavigne played in my head:All this time you were pretending, so much for my happy ending
LOL
The first few episodes had me on an absolute chokehold. The twists were twisting, the turns were turning and around every bend I kept wondering whether everyone was gaslighting the living heck out of Jae Won or if she was an unreliable narrator having a low key mental breakdown. The suspense and unpredictability had me holding my breath and looking forward to each new episode.
Then, the husband died and the drama died with him. Everything went to sh*t. The show nosedived into a death spiral of boringness and inconsequentiality. It was like the writers literally ran out of steam and cool ideas, and everything became a snoozefest. The last four episodes sucked especially bad and were so subpar compared to where we'd started off.
Still, Jang Na Ra killed it, and since this was my first time seeing her in a main role, I'd like to see more of her work.
My take? Along these same lines, Marry My Husband or Perfect Marriage Revenge are more enjoyable. Or just watch the first half of this, and then search for spoilers not to waste your time watching the rest of it.
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This review may contain spoilers
This made me wanna watch Soundtrack #1 again.The vibe and directing were super different, but this second iteration had the same simplicity and realness of the first one.
However, I do have a major gripe with it. Hyeon Seo's inferiority complex was such an important part of the story, I feel like more time should have been spent on her figuring it out—at least, the last two chapters. Su Ho totally captured their personalities in a nutshell when he told her he walked around with his head high, enjoying the stars and rainbows, while she was constantly looking at the ground.
Her inferiority complex was the defining factor in her breaking up with Su Ho after all, and something that was very intrinsic to her character and which she'd been dealing with for a very long time (tied to what the friend had pointed out about her being unable to accept help). I don't like how they rushed it and suddenly she was magically ok. I feel like those life changing realizations should take more time and introspection. It would have been much more poignant if it'd happened—even off-screen—while she was doing the Santiago thing alone, to kinda mirror what Su Ho had done.
A bit of a disappointing last episode, but I liked the series overall, and hope Disney will continue making more of them.
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This review may contain spoilers
Don't even waste your time with this.
I expected something scary and fun, but this turned out to be so much dumber and unnecessarily gory and grotesque than I could have ever guessed. Doing things only for shock value is the trademark of a crappy plot. You don't bash someone's skull in unless you're a psycho who enjoys killing. It literally makes no sense to have an average high school kid do those types of things when there are so many other much less violent and bloody ways to kill a person (particularly if they're ASLEEP!).So the parents of a girl bullied to death created a whole ass game, kidnapped a class full of kids, and have been keeping them hostage and unconscious (for goodness knows how long), so they can be killed again and again inside a simulation? The "they were trapped inside a game" trope has to be even worse than the "it was all just a dream" one. Oh, my god, I rolled my eyes so hard at that revelation, I may have permanent damage. Even the "ghost and other supernatural crap" would have been a much more preferable explanation.
Kudos for the actors for actually doing a super solid job, particularly the main girl. But someone come scrub my brain clean of this lame-ass show. I want my seven hours of watchtime back.
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One of the best coming-of-age stories I've ever watched.
This show was absolutely fabulous! It evoked emotions spanning the whole range from heartbreak to heartwarming, with plenty of laughs in the middle. All four main characters had compelling and intense emotional journeys, and it was so amazing to see four fantastic growth arcs in a single show.The acting was great, as was the plot and OST. Really, there was not a second wasted, and I thoroughly enjoyed the journey I was took on. I almost wish it would have kept on going.
Can't recommend enough!
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It made me feel all the feels
This drama is a wholeass experience.The non verbal storytelling was some of the best I've ever seen. There was so much that was said without uttering even a single word, case in point: the little, seemingly unconnected scenes at the beginning of each episode. Pay attention to them. They may seem inconsequential, but tell a whole story of their own when analyzed in the context of the ambiguous ending of the show.
So too was the case with how the passing of time was subtly but distinctly conveyed not only by the clothes the actors were wearing, but also by looking at their environment. I genuinely wonder over how long a period of time this was filmed, became the production crew can put actors in shorts and short sleeves in the middle of winter and pretend like they're enjoying a nice summer day, but how do you transition from bare branches, to trees in full bloom, to verdant and lush foliage to falling leaves? You can control wardrobes, but not mother nature.
I loved the OST, the plot of the drama, the cinematography and especially the main couple. They had such intense chemistry, and Se Jong in particular just blew me away with how much he could emote just by minutely changing his facial expressions. I liked him in Still 17, but he was amazing here.
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ML was a huge red flag
There was for sure some kind of black magic used in the making of this drama. I disliked most everything about it (from the acting, to the plot, characters and music), and still, I found myself binging the whole thing.Yoo Chan had the emotional intelligence of a rock and was pretty much a walking red flag. He always resorted to emotionally and verbally bullying those around him, and especially the FL. The fact that he pretty much only dated one girl during the whole drama, and she wasn't the FL has to be one of the oddest things I've seen in any romance, ever.
Bo Ra being nicknamed "idiot" by Yoo Chan was mean, but also highly accurate. She had a good heart, but often behaved in moronic ways.
The OST was a cheese fest and I'm happy I'll never have to listen to those songs again. Or the clicking of soles over those unusually loud floors! Never had I come across a show with floors as loud as the ones here.
The prosopagnosia played no role at all, aside from creating an insignificant amount of silly drama and was magically resolved, almost as an afterthought.
The drama was half the ML getting over his unresolved feelings over the disappearance of his first love (the mystery was what kept me hooked during those first few episodes), and half IT/business mumbo-jumbo with some out-of-nowhere, utterly out-of-character betrayal to spice things up.
Honestly, the only character whose story I enjoyed was Do Jin. He was the most fun and interesting.
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I think the best word to describe this drama would be lukewarm.
It was cute, it was entertaining. But it lacked spark for me. I don't think the chemistry between the leads was there. When they looked at each other I didn't see love. There was just fondness at best, like when you gaze at a loved pet or a young child. The OST had to work hard and pull a lot of weight to infuse some more feeling into a lot of the more emotional and pivotal scenes. Yay for ballads I guess.I also had some issues with the characters and plot, too. The ML was quite abusive in some of his behaviors and the FL was too meek and floormat-y for my liking. Plot wise, I found it really dumb how the story basically went from "forced/arranged marriage" to "we could never get married because one of us is rich, the other isn't, and our families and society would never approve". It was so dumb. Like the first episode never even happened. Not to mention the fact that in this universe, apparently, super rich people somehow don't interest the media at all (and receive absolutely no news coverage ever) and are un-google-able ?
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Loved the ML
It's kinda hard for me to rate this one. Up until around the halfway point, it was quite good and I enjoyed it (7/10). Then, things started going downhill FAST. It was like the story was already over, but since they still had 6 more episodes or so to do, they started creating dumb drama only for drama's sake. To the point I actually rage quit it, and it took me nearly a week to come back to it. All the characters became idiots (4/10).Also, this show has to have one of the most selfish FL I've ever seen in any romance drama ever. I found her character to be extremely unlikable. Especially when contrasted with the ML who was a selfless, vulnerable, considerate little fluff ball of chaotic sunshine.
The last episode partially made up for all of the bad writing decisions, since it was a festival of cuteness and had me smiling basically the whole time (8/10), but not enough for me to actually recommend anyone watches this.
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I liked the main couple. They're both great actors and had good chemistry. A lot of the supporting characters were quite fun, too. Huge cast in this one.
The OST, which tends to be a huge part of dramas, was completely unmemorable. So, if the same song playing each and every episode is something you find annoying, this is the drama for you! I don't even know if this show has a specific OST (though I assume it does).
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Also, I unexpectedly ended up liking the secondary couple more than the main one (they were so freaking adorable!)
This was my first time watching Seo Hyun-Jin, and I gotta say she's an amazing actress. I don't think I've ever seen anyone else cry so convincingly! The bad side to that was that by comparison Lee Min-Ki seemed really wooden and dry. And while I get his character was supposed to be stoic, I feel like Park Seo-Joon played that type of character much better in What's Wrong with Secretary Kim. He was a bit of a disappointment to me.
Another disappointment was how weakly the very last conflict was approached. It was basically thrown out there and then resolved with lightning speed. Made the last three episodes seem a bit pointless.
But the drama was interesting enough. I loved all the little side adventures Se-Gye did while her face was different. And the soundtrack was awesome, too!
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OST FTW
It's weird how overall empty this season felt given that it spanned eight hours. Like, nothing much happened. She met a guy, started dating him, they broke up, she kinda got together with the other guy.However, I was engrossed and thoroughly invested throughout. None of the episodes felt boring and long, which is often the case when stories don't have much going on. But I was hooked.
I especially loved all the autumnal colors. Gold and red leaves everywhere. Aesthetically gorgeous. And the music matched the tone of the show very well, too. Very mellow, chill songs.
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The plot was okay and the acting pretty good. Park Bo-Young did a wonderful job portraying two very different people.
The romance aspect of this drama fell short for me. The main couple was very cute and sweet, but there was no heat between them. There was no spark. They had great "friends" chemistry but no romantic chemistry. I didn't buy they were in love.
But I absolutely loved the other four kitchen guys acting like annoying older brothers to Bong-Sun. The kitchen antics were fun!
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Nothing ever happened?
Gave it a fair shake, but honestly, this drama is just too long. Every episode felt like it was a rehash of the previous one because of how glacially slow the plot moved along. Everyone was constantly scheming and it felt like all of them were playing double agents in one way or another. The issue was, with all of this going on behind the scenes, in reality, there was way more talking than there were actions taken. Everyone spent too much time planning, and too little time executing those plans.There was some solid acting (some were better, others worse), and as is to be expected with sageuks, the set design and costumes were beautiful.
I hung in there until the first kissing scene, hoping that maybe the romance aspect would save the show, but there was not even a hint of a spark to be found between the leads. And I just can't justify it anymore to keep wasting my time with a bland plot and chemistry-less couple.
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