Even with negative zero expectations, the ending of tvN fantasy drama Hwayugi (A Korean Odyssey) still managed to suck donkey balls level of bad. It’s not the deaths, or lack thereof, it’s the terribly plotting with no emotional payoff that makes this drama such a turd. The Hong Sisters have had their share of sad endings, hello Hong Gil Dong killed off every single character except one, and yet everyone still loves it because the ending paid off the emotional narrative and audience connection built up.
The ending of Hwayugi paid off on in the second character, and even then dribbles, as I cared about the fate of Summer Fairy, Zombie Girl Bokja, the Dragon Prince, the Pig, and even Ah Sa Nyeo, and those characters got a decent wrap up. But for the leads Song Oh Gong and Jin Sun Mi (Samjang) it was beyond middling not to mention nonsensical even within the parameters of this fantasy universe. In the end I’m just going to hold onto Oh Gong driving off into the sunset in his cool convertible and erase this waste of time from my hard drive and memory. The cast and crew worked hard and got past the early pitfalls, and the last episode brought in 6.881% ratings to end with a solid send off.
Did somebody die? I don’t wanna waste my time to watch if somebody died or no happy ending. My rule in watching asian drama: it has to have a happy ending and nobody dies..lols.
They all die.
what?? all of them? I’ve stopped watching since episode 7, was planning to pick it up again. I don’t know why Hong sisters are really bad with endings…… it was so good in the beginning.
Whoaaa… thank you for letting me know. Definitely not gonna watch this one.
Not all of them die.
Some die and a few of the endings were rushed …but i actually thought the end for the MC was ok ,it never felt like its was going to be happy ever after he`s a god and shes human ,i kinda liked the open ending
They die and one of them gets to come back for just one day and its worth watching it to see this.
Me too… Can’t afford to see a sad ending… Why they are so bad with ending? I’ve watched hwayugi.. Totally loved the concept but the ending sucks… I want season 2
hong sister should just stop writing stories. this one beyond crappy since day 1. I stayed because of LSG…no other reason.
TOTALLY AGREE.
Lol this is what happens when you dont develop the main plot and let the main characters have progression so there is build up to the story and drama. Instead we have tonnes of useless side cast fillers that goes no where and does not drive the plot taking up screen time. This drama should have just casted the main leads characters and develop them together with the main plot and find some lesser known people for the side characters so they dont need to take up screen time for the main plot and we can lessen the fillers.
I love your thoughts
Hong Sisters need to go back to basics and reassess their approach to writing. I am not impressed with the mishmash that I got. I think Seungi deserved better than the bargain he got here. He was great in it but then again he is always good. Oh Yeon Seo, lets say I couldn’t relate to her acting here and better luck with CITT movie and next project. She has the ability undoubtedly given I’ve seen her act before but some external life style choices have limited them quite visibly here. I do adore the secondary characters, they grew close to my heart. The cast as a team worked extremely hard even given the shaky start and financial limitations that culminated in CGI dragon that made me laugh out loud. Better luck next time.
Lol the seconday characters are the most extra fillers ever actualy ruining the drama with those useless fillers and bad acting.
“External life style choices”?
I really think the hong sisters rushed all of this without thinking it out…A disappointing contribution from a talent i believe capable of much more…my opinion.
The Hong sisters fared quite oddly with this one and at the end this is forgettable drama. Yes, logically the secondary characters did get their closure but why treat your OTP this way. Jin Seon Mi was the most bland character written by them. Oh Yeon Seo did what she could for her but her narrative direction fizzled post her apocalyptic premonition and the chemistry was luke warm at best between Oh Gong and Seon Mi. Shame, she was so good in Come Back Ahjusshi, where did that firebrand actor go?? But even then, more than her the writing was what let the show down for me. Mawang redeemed himself by the end, I do love Buja and PK the most and Frost, Dragon Prince, Summer fairy all had their very strong yet small arc that I did love a lot. I wanted a last moment twist for the OTP but that never came. No, Hong sisters have lost ability to write the way they used to.
i am curious what is your definition of good chemistry? Chemistry is subjective as it depends on how the writers write the interaction between the characters and how the dynamics between the characters change and how the character progress lol. You honestly thk that the monk character should be over the top then you should revise JTTW as the monk character is always reserved. Lmao your pig zombie is the shittiest filler ever as they take up useless screen time and dont drive the plot causing the main characters or plot to not have any development.
Lmao chemistry is subjective as it depends on how the writers write the interaction and dynamics between leads. Also this is the monk character. IF you expect over the top performance then you need to revise JTTW as the monk character is always reserved. LOl the pig and zombie are the most useless filler ever taking up lots of screen time to develop the main character and plot period.
You’ve said and I quote, Chemistry is subjective, your words, not mine. You might wanna look up the meaning of the word ‘Subjective’. And yes I went in expecting certain things from this drama,the actors and you need not fret over them as they are my opinion alone. They don’t representative of any form of consensus. I am sure you’re a busy person with a life of your own so its adorable that you care so much about fictional characters. Its not like anybody can actually offend anyone else here, they aren’t real to begin with. Your entitled to your opinion about them and I respect that.
Yes the chemistry part is subjective. But what i am emphasizing is the acting and plot. The 2nd leads are plain terrible actors who cant emote or execute any subtle acting and they are just fillers with lots of screen time detracing the main plot and character development. So yeah the 2nd leads are plain extra and waste of space bad acting with lots of screen time soiling the drama.
Hwayugi episode 20: Flashback Galore.
I can’t say I’m disappointed by the ending because I had no expectations of this drama. Absolutely none. My expectations of this drama fizzled out by ep. 5. I did keep hoping that the Hong Sisters would do a turn around and surprise me, but it didn’t work out that way.
Mad respect for Lee Seung Gi, he absolutely killed it in this role. I held on to the end for him alone and now, I can’t wait to watch him in another drama. Hopefully with far better writing than this one. The last drama I enjoyed from the Hong Sisters was Master Sun which was followed by two duds. Maybe they should take a long break from the entertainment industry.
how come something nice like this seemed to turn out bad for other viewers… i really am not understanding it… this kdrama is amazing and i love it… though i agree to one point this was rushed… i was expecting more from it … i think that since they delivered an open ending to this kdrama… could there be a part 2… following JSM onto dead land means meeting the others… Buja and Ah Saenyo… well just a thought so… still love this one though
CGI really sucks. What a horrid dragon! Where did all the money go?
to pay the A-listers I guest, with LSG had the highest paycheck I read somewhere. CGI looks like coming from 70’s B movies lol
Not done with the drama but I agree that Hong Sisters shouldn’t have created so many characters and developed them… it’s like the story could have ended at episode 16 without the parts viewers aren’t interested in. I mean just look at My Girlfriend is a gumiho/master sun/the greatest love, they focus on just the main characters and develop them for 16 episodes and it turned out so much better (no comments for warm and cozy though)
they should just stick to formula they use on Master’s Sun. maybe it wont as messy as now.
with the exception of de ending which i just hated.. i lovee the overall drama.lukewarm chemistry? for someone who doesnt like korean movies.. that ws de only kdrama i watched that managed to build up my emotions n hopes soo high for the otp! i cud feel their emotions beneath all that bland face. Message? Delivered!!!
As for LSM she was supposed to be naive, monk like and had a shitty childhood and betrayed by her fairy. obviously cnt expect to grow and become some sleazy socialite, smiling and pouting all the time!
i just wished that they didnt waste time making the two lovebirds in denial,bickering n grounded and spend some time with more loving.
i agree
I really liked their first works but now they’re doing a terrible job with these endings 🙁 First of all Big.. what a disappointment… and now this! I was so in love with this drama! :((((
they just have to ruin JTTW who idea that try to put romance between the monk monkey in korean ver. chinese fan should be mad at how korean ruin their JTTW.
I’m not mad they adapted JTTW. I’m mad that they didn’t make a good story.
I fell in love with this series. Bittersweet ending.. I cried a lot hoping the main characters will have a happy life ending up together. I hope Son O Gong will find a way to pull her out of the underworld. Maybe a part 2? I doubt it will happen but it will be great. The guy reminds me of my fiance and just like the main characters I hoped they will get married but there was no time for it in the series. I love this show and I love the inspiration of this series.
Lots of love <3
Same here!! :’)
What de fucking hell did you all watch? This was an amazing drama, one of the best i’ve seen so far, original and emotional. You just hate ir because some characters die and you can’t manage sad endings. The effects and stuff like that are things that we can forgive in a drama that doesn’t have tlotr money, even though they could have made a little more effort, but over all, it was a beautiful and original drama, very emotional and also, very very funny. People just like bullshit and dislike good stuff. I’d prefered another kind of ending, cause this one was so sad, but still, it’s a good ending…
Totally not what I expected for the finale and it’s so sad that after everything they’ve been through she(Samjang) still died. If only they extended the final episode to where he found her atleast it would have been nice. The end really sucked.
So, the drama was actually pretty good, but the ending… guys… if I learned something in all this years watching Karamas like a freak, is that when you see even a short part in the movie about the Joseph era, stop watching it. The ending will be sad… even tho they are the best dramas, they always have the worse ending possible. Like in this drama… the offering could’ve been soooo avoided, like … it made no point. She died for nothing, and he killed the dragon in less then 30 sec … so… what the hell was that all about?!?! Like… I would’ve understand if her death was the key to kill the dragon… but it wasn’t … she was killed by that Kang weirdo and her death brought nothing. At the end she didn’t even knew that he really loved her… so it made me soooo sad. Like… I have one ep left, but I feel like all the action already happened and it disgusted me the 19tj ep. her death was in vain… seriously … too bad… it started so good and ended so badly ..