A collection of my written reactions in the form of reflections to a range of stories; manga, anime, books, dramas, movies etc. But mainly manga/anime. It will obviously contain spoilers, so don't read them unless you've finished the story or don't...
W is a story about... I don't think one could ever quite summarise this story in any kind of simple, comprehensible way other than: a comic book story that comes to life, or more so, a comic book character that comes to life and everything escalates from that single point.
I felt that this korean drama was solely made to sport the majestic actor Lee Jong Suk - he has never appeared more stunning than in this magnificently perplexing drama that showcases him in every possible dimension and angle allowing us to confirm that, yes, Lee Jong Suk is attractive at every angle (lol), even when he is half dead, covered in - and spewing out - blood. Bloody hell.
As you can tell thus far, my experience with this drama has been quite the eccentric one. It's safe to say that I've never really watched anything like it.
<---| If you haven't watched this exceptional drama, please do not read further. I would love everyone to experience the thrills personally. |--->
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In W, just when you think things couldn't possibly get any worse, it does - worse, and worse and worse. I call it a constant escalation of intense feeling, complicated turns of events and mind strangling.
The funny thing about romance in W, is that I didn't know how to feel. Like, technically we're rooting for a couple to be together, yet it's physically impossible, the leading man is a cartoon character, and the woman is supposed to be real! It's insane, it's like me actually rooting for myself to be with Takumi Usui from Kaichou wa Maid Sama or Kyou from Fruits Basket - not happening! Yet somehow, in W, it's completely fine - well I wouldn't say fine, more like it is just happening in front of you and you kind of just have to accept it. Boy am I jealous of Yeon Joo.
Nonetheless, I would say that the Yeon Joo x Kang Chul pairing is probably my favourite Lee Jong Suk pairing so far of all the dramas I've seen him in (Pinocchio, Doctor Stranger). Mainly because Han Hyo-Joo seems to suit him the best. Park Shin Hye and Lee Jong Suk look good together, but their personalities are more friendly with each other... Yeon Joo and Chul were just genuinely gorgeous together. Especially in episode 7, when they were doing cutesy stuff for half the episode. I was like 'I just wanna squish their cheeks together'.
Overall, the story focuses a hell of a lot on the two main characters Yeon Joo and Kang Chul, but there are a bunch or other awesome cast members that I just have to mention.
Soo Bong is probably my favourite character of the show, he was absolutely hilarious, and as viewers, we could emphasise with him almost completely. He's one of those characters that was made to express how the viewers would react to the rest of the nonsense that goes on in the drama. His reactions were dearly priceless. Also, he's even quite handsome with his glasses off ;P Overall, he's just a very likeable character. One of my favourite Soo Bong moments was probably that time near the end when Yeon Joo was supposedly dead, and Kang Suk-Bum (her boss in the medical department) was making comments that were directly hitting on the sore spot of the characters in crisis, and Soo Bong basically lost it on him. Poor Soo Bong. Even his name is fun.
Do Yoon, Kang Chul's best mate, reminded me a lot of Mingyu from the korean group, Seventeen, for some reason. It may have been to do with his appearance, facial expressions and the way he talks, but in all he was a nice character, and I constantly found myself cheering for him in whatever he did.
Oh Sung Moo, Yeon Joo's father, is quite the complex character. At first he appears as some anti-social father, then as a merciless murderer or god-imposter, then he becomes a poor, insanity driven man. I mean, if a comic book I wrote came alive, I think I'd become somewhat insane as well. Not to mention when his face became that of dark killer, and he obtained a psycho-maniac appearance. I guess his disappearance in the end, although heart-breaking for Yeon Joo, it was the only way to silence the evil that was stuck within him. Note, that point where he lost his face was utterly horrifying - I was like "is this a horror drama now or what? Because I am chilled out."
The other villain, however, I felt no remorse. I'm pretty sure everyone just wanted Han Chul Ho to just go away. He was made to be such a detestable character. With all his torturous ways, and power hungry plots.
There were definitely points in the plot where I would literally table flip, or just pull my hair out because it just didn't fit well in my head. Like the fact that Yeon Joo died, but then she didn't. Don't even get me started on the amount of theoretical holes that I just haven't even tried to comprehend. There was a lot of the escalating insanity that I just simply ignored, or brushed past because I simply could not.
I think we were all traumatised when Kang Chul was lying by the bus stop with blood all over him and coughing up blood, yet still expecting Yeon Joo to pick him up. Like seriously, when he was driving in the car and called Yeon Joo, he literally said "I don't know where am, but come pick me up." I don't know about you, but if someone told me that, I'd be like okay, that's great. Good luck with that. That's just one of the many ironic quotes from Kang Chul during the drama. Another favourite is when he told Sung Moo about Yeon Joo: "She's dead, but you can save her." Like applause to Kang Chul right there, not only has he defied the laws of physics with his transporting between worlds and stuff, but now he is defying the laws of life. 10/10, good job.
I'm still struggling to understand how Kang Chul dramatically dying at a random bus stop was in any ways a happy, let alone appropriate, ending for the so called viewers. Most of the good stuff in the end happened behind the scenes after the webtoon supposedly ended. What even ended up in that webtoon? I'll tell you now, if I was reading the webtoon, without the drama, by what they've shown us, it would make completely and utterly no sense at all. Let's face it, the webtoon was set for ruins as soon as Kang Chul pulled Yeon Joo into the story. But personally, there wasn't much of a story to begin with without that happening - at least not to my interest.
The animated designs for the comic were quite stunning I must say. Thumbs up to the artist in those parts of the drama.
The ending was quite reassuring to say the least. It was sweet, and they were happy and that's all that matters, who cares about the technicalities? They made the impossible, possible. Congrats.
Oh, what an exponentially escalating journey I have been on. Yet, I enjoyed it all the way because of Lee Jong Suk's beautiful visuals, and star rate acting.
I look forward to Lee Jong Suk's next hit. And possible some Han Hyo-Joo?
Bye Bye ~
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