The third weekend airing of tvN fantasy drama Hwayugi (A Korean Odyssey) went off without a hitch much like last weekend, and hopefully all the hiccups of the first weekend and surrounding mishaps are done with for good. Episodes 5 and 6 continued the ratings increase from last week, attaining 6.102% and 6.942% respectively. While tvN’s Wed-Thurs drama Wise Prison Life is getting much higher ratings and critical acclaim, Hwayugi is definitely not a disappointment for the Hong Sisters writing team considering their last drama bombed with Warm and Cozy, and more importantly for me marks a successful role and project comeback for Lee Seung Gi. I love his portrayal of his character and wish the writing would flesh out all the leads more, there is so much depth to be mind but everyone keeps talking in circles about the same things. The acting is hard carrying this drama and the leads need to really amp up their chemistry to sell the OTP romance down the road. Right now I’m in to see how the whole story unfolds but am not invested emotionally as I hope to be.
If someone you knew personally were to be permanently paralysed due to corporate negligence and unsafe working practices/environments on the job whether you would so cavalierly dismiss it as nothing more than “a hiccup and a mishap”?
Of course not, whether I know the person or not. The description was accurate to cover the litany of problems and accidents with the production as a reference in an article solely about the ratings and narrative and not about the incidents itself, which I have covered and wrote on in more detail earlier. Not every article about Hwayugi needs to discuss workplace safety, potentially paralytic accident, and filming conditions in K-ent.
Personally, the drama is a bit too boring. There’s not much to catch except for the star-studded cast.
I agree.
Seems I’m the only one loving the story? I think it went beyond the usual fluff Hong sisters go for and they’re building things in an interesting way. I hope it won’t go makjang all of a sudden.
Seung Gi is slaying the monkey king and I’m loving Oh Yeon Seo. I just hope Sunmi changes her dull wardrob. I’m also glad Cha Seung Won has a depth beyond the comedic side his character is carrying.
It’s not really fair to compare this to Prison Playbook, which had comparable ratings during ep. 6, actually lower ratings than Hwayugi did. It’s much further along than this one. Hopefully Hwayugi continues to do well. Anyway, I’m loving it so far. LSG is shining so much in his role. I was honestly not expecting him to be so good right out of the army. Really looking forward to his future.
If we were to judge just from a drama angle and nothing else, the drama is pretty awesome. The ratings and rave from fans seem to support so.
The story line is very refreshing, intriguing, effortlessly humorous, and fun. The acting is on point, too.
I wouldn’t be surprised if all of a sudden, people started producing more Monkey King adaptations in the modern era after this drama’s success.
The Hong Sisters are a hit and miss for me, but I can happily say, I’m glad I checked out this one because it’s one of my favorites, so far, and it has been a while, both Korean and Chinese dramas.
I enjoy this drama. The cast is so awesome. LSG’s monkey hairstyle is great! CSW is excellent as usual. LHG is a good actor. Lee Se Young is very pretty, I hope her zombie girl character will stay until the end, especially now PK likes her… Lee El is so cool (I liked her in Goblin too). OYS is a little weak as I don’t like her pouty lips expression but she is still tolerable and she cries well… Overall, a very entertaining drama to start the new year đŸ™‚