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racewingz · 2 years

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In Depth Kdrama Review: W (Spoilers)

Rating: 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Genre: Fantasy, Romance

Starring: Lee Jong-Suk (Kang Cheol), Han Hyo-Joo (Oh Yeon Joo), Kim Eui-Sung (Han Sang Hoon), Lee Si-Eon (Park Soo Bong)

Lee Jong-Suk as Kang Cheol

Lee Jong-Suk did a great job as expected!! My opinion of the character is incredibly hit and miss. I definitely went through many phases of hating him, and the decisions he made, as well as plenty of phases of liking him, and those of thinking he is just as crazy as Yeon Joo at times.

One thing I thought was really good about the acting is that Jong-Suk really showed the development of Cheol through the series. For example, you can clearly see that Cheol before and after the dream scenario are like 2 completely different characters in some ways. Then again, the Cheols before and after the dream scenario are in very different circumstances. For example, the ‘manhwa Kang Cheol’ (as he refers to it later) seems very relaxed to the point where Yeon Joo has to really try hard (and do some very bizarre things) to get back to her own world. He was caring for Yeon Joo, but as soon as things started going wrong, he instantly decided to give up on it all. He seemed very quick to act, maybe too quick at times and didn’t always think about it.

The Kang Cheol after the dream scenario seemed different in his own ways. When he got to know her after the shooting incident he never forgot her and worried about trying to find her for two months (manhwa time). When he did eventually find her, he made sure she was comfortable, even if he wasn’t in the best position to be able to do so. He also made lots of better decisions, being all-around considerate. For example, he made sure that they didn’t bring back the dream scenario, that could leave Yeon Joo hurt again, and his decision to take a dying Yeon Joo to the Manhwa world where she could eventually be saved after near death to the torture Han Cheol Ho had inflicted upon him.

He definitely showed both sides of Kang Cheol really well and showed him off to be a very strong, independent character who managed to bump into his fate.

Han Hyo-Joo as Oh Yeon Joo

I think Han Hyo-Joo did a great job portraying Yeon Joo. She is definitely portrayed as a very chaotic character, who at the same time always wants the best for the people around her. In the beginning, it is extremely confusing though her logic is sound. Going from a slap to a kiss to get her out of the Manhwa was absolutely psychotic and still difficult to watch, but considering the situation, it makes plenty of sense. All the way through she seems very naive and definitely out of the ordinary.

There are some moments that make me lose full hope in Yeon Joo. For example, when she was talking about making a happy sequel with Cheol, even though his feeling weren’t taken into any kind of consideration, and then was disappointed when it didn’t go to plan. Also all the embarrassing things at the start, telling Kang Cheol about her knowing everything, although to be fair she was highly drugged up at that point, so probably couldn’t really help it. The fact that she couldn’t recall it also suggests it was more the drug than anything else.

The Manhwa World

I find the whole two-world thing very interesting too. I find it interesting that there are two completely separate but near identical worlds that each has its own rules of existence and complications. The only main difference really is that the Manhwa world can be manipulated with Seong Moo’s tablet. It’s interesting how there can be a bridge between the worlds in the form of the tablet and what implications it brought for the general plot.

Kang Cheol’s Tragic Past

I love a good tragic backstory and this drama brings no exception. Cheol grew up happily with his parents and 2 siblings. He won the gold in shooting at the Olympics with his father by his side. Shortly after, Cheol came home to find that every member of his family had been slain with bullets through the head. He spent the next 10 years attempting to find the killer, during which time he was convicted of the crime and spent time in prison because of it. Han Cheol Ho was the prosecutor on his case, who originally tried to sentence him to death before he managed to appeal it, arguing that Cheol’s social influence meant that they should give him a stricter sentence for what was a horrific crime.

Han Sang Hoon and The True Culprit

The true culprit had been created by Sang Hoon to stalk Cheol for years, with his soul purpose being killing off Cheol’s family. He was initially a faceless being with no true identity and only a set job however, it was eventually decided that in order to give Kang Cheol a happy ending, the true culprit needed a face, one that he could easily identify as a possible mastermind behind the killing. Sang Hoon decided to give the true culprit his own face, as he had been on the roof with Cheol and even stabbed him after the true culprit had knocked him down. That was a plot twist I definitely didn’t see coming but in the end it all made so much sense given the situation.

After giving his face to the true culprit, the true culprit got his own back on Sang Hoon and took away his face, placing him under his complete control like a minion that he used to manipulate the Manhwa, allowing him to continue his crimes and create fabricated evidence to create evidence to convict Cheol with multiple charges, and even get him condemned to death. At first I hated this twist, partially because it turned to horror late at night 😂. After watching it fully, I do think it was very interesting, especially leading to the point where Yeon Joo was kidnapped and eventually killed by essentially her own father. It was one plot twist I definitely did not expect but made the story so much more interesting.

Han Cheol Ho

I think Cheol Ho is a very intriguing character, who we only really get to know properly in the later half of the series. Park Won-Sang definitely portrays him very well as a kind of powerful (in terms of influence) and intelligent mastermind. He was the prosecutor who attempted to indict Cheol with murdering his parents, as he could find no one at fault. When it was decided that Cheol didn’t do it, he vowed to stop him and eventually decides to kill him. Han Cheol Ho was running in the presidential election at the time and saw his failure in handling Kang Cheol’s case as something that could negatively impact his election chances, along with all of the pieces of evidence Cheol was building up for him to be investigated. By this, I’m referencing what he wrote in his fake will for both Cheol Ho and the real culprit to be investigated.

I think the actor did a great job at making me hate his character. He is definitely that kind of hidden evil influence. His character is very interesting, willing to use his henchmen and even torture to get information out of others.

Near Deaths

A lot of characters seem to have either died or almost died in this series due to many reasons, both planned and not. I think each of these added an interesting spin, though others feel just completely tragic, even if it is resolved in the end.

~ Kang Cheol has nearly died countless times. Initially, there was the knife, which Yeon Joo saved him from, then the near poisoning. Then comes the times he tried to commit suicide but either stopped himself or was rescued. There was also the shooting as he ran away from the police, and that done by Han Cheol Ho, from which he was saved by Yeon Joo and Do Yoon respectively

~ Yeon Joo also had her fair share of near deaths. I’d count her initially getting shot as a near death, as she would have died if she wasn’t in that Manhwa world. I also count her possible being shot in the head as near death, as it would have been a true possibility if Cheol couldn’t keep the true culprit at bay. The ony real near death she experience properly wasn’t even near death really because she did die. The true culprit had shot her in the back, sending her back to the real world in a brain-dead state. Cheol found her in the hospital, was given the news and decided to take her back to the Manhwa world for further treatment (knowing that there she could be saved) where she stayed for a week before dying of her injury. Cheol managed to locate the tablet and get her father to save her

~Yeon Joo’s father had a very close call with death after being shot by Kang Cheol when he came back to the real world. He had wound Cheol up a lot, telling him that he was a completely predetermined being and wound him up to the point where he shot him, nearly killing him

Favourite Parts

~ The ending. I had spoiled it for myself so I knew what to prepare myself for. To be fair, I do this with all dramas, but the ending certainly didn’t disappoint, even if I knew what would happen!

~ Cheol pulling his car up to meet Yeon Joo when she had gone back, worrying about his condition after he was shot by the police officer

~ When Cheol tries to make Yeon Joo happy once their relationship started up again

~ Han Cheol Ho turning the gun on himself to give all of them the happy ending they deserved.

~ Every part with Soo Bong. His character is just absolutely the best of them all. He is just incredibly funny, and so down to earth with everything.

Slight Disappointments

~ The whole beginning of the drama was extremely heavy on extremely embarrassing events, so much so that I personally struggle to watch it. It gets much better after the initial 3 episodes in this regard. If you find second-hand embarrassment a problem, the beginning episodes aren’t much fun. I understand the extreme occurrences are done purposely so she has a way of ending the episodes but damn are they extreme

~ The amount of plot twists in itself is extreme in my opinion. I understand the importance of plot twists for the purposes of making the whole thing more interesting but I would argue there is a limit, and the amount of twists is extreme, from the kisses and confessions literally out of nowhere to the disappearing limbs to the decision to make it a dream out of nowhere to the random shooting to the set up to the no face cartoonist to Yeon Joo being vulnerable out of nowhere to her death to her being set up by secretary Yoon. Nearly every episode there’s a huge twist, which makes it so much more complicated every time. I think in the case of W, they also start making the series slow down considerably. The first time I tried to watch it I only got to episode 11 as the series was going so slow that I had no interest in finishing it.

~ I count this one as personal to my opinions of dramas generally. When character lose their memories, I feel like it makes at least part of the plot completely die. There aren’t many dramas that do it well either. It kind of feels like a huge waste of time, even if, like in this case, small sections also appear later on.

~ This is me being picked but I think it would have been nice at the end of the last episode to actually see Cheol and Yeon Joo get married properly. In the real world, they wouldn’t have been officially married (only in the Manhwa world) so it would have been nice to see them make it official as their relationship progresses more and they could date properly without the stresses the Manhwa brought along.

#kdrama #w #two worlds apart #kang cheol #oh yeon joo #soo bong #sang hoon #webtoon #manhwa #true culprit #lee jong suk #han hyo joo

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