Gyeongseong Creature

I started watching this with the expectation of a thriller series about fighting a monster. But what I got is much bigger and meaningful than that. The greater monster in this series is not the said "creature", but the people who created it. This is a story about the oppressed and the oppressor. A story about survival in the darkest time of history. You won't find "Stranger Things" type of monsters in this series, but you will find a story about humanity, with a great cinematography, settings, and quality acting. It might be slow paced at first, but please continue the ride, and you will be mesmerized.

First of all, simply WOW, I'm a great fan of Korean film and TV. How is it that they keep regularly rolling out some of the most talented and gorgeous women on this planet! Han So-Hee is superb. What can one say about Soo-Hyun! The cinematography is impeccable. Park Seo-Jun is also excellent as. Jang Tae-Sang. Choi Young-Joon and Hyun Bong-Sik are so perfectly evil.

The "Creature" is terrifyingly destructive and lethal. We learn of its creation and horrific human experimentation hidden in Onseong Hospital by the Japanese Military trying to develop a occupying Korea in 1945.

Note the early reference to Unit 731 during scenes in the Manchuria hospital, The US bombed Hiroshima on August 6, and Nagasaki on August 9. Japan offered its surrender on August 10. Cherry blossoms normally fall by the end of May, so I think the film takes place only little more than two months before Japan's surrender.

It seems the referenced experiments were looking for a decisive weapon to use in world war 2. That whole setting is important. I had for years suggested to Netflix that they consider expanding their Korean content. I still want to see them include Guardian and Descendants of the Sun.

I think they made the right choice and will hit it big with their new focus.

After watching the second season, I decided to add this. First, there are obviously a lot of Korean drama haters in this review thread. You can discount all of them. Korean drama is far better than any of the usual Hollywood formula garbage. You will always find much deeper treatment of life experiences in Korean dramas. I'd put them up against the top Hollywood offerings any day. The links to relevant issues the world is facing today are all over this series. I could clip and cite passages from all along the episodes. In the scene in Season 2, Episode 5, when Lady Maedea meets Master Jang, she refers to the "terrorist attack" he committed at Ongseong Hospital. He responds to her "We call it resistance." Go back and watch Season 1 carefully. I don't want to get into any political or social debates, but the historical and current allusions are extensive. Many don't like to be prodded into thinking. They just want the entertainment, usual Hollywood gratuitous violence and sex recipes provide. That's OK. If you're that kind of audience, Korean drama is not for you. I understand. I can enjoy Keanu, Cruise, and Marvel productions, too. Long ago, I tried watching subtitled foreign. TV and films: Fellini, Bergman, Truffaut, Delouch, and others. I discovered and highly enjoyed Bollywood productions, then about a decade ago I stumbled onto the Korean treasures.

This film is very well written, directed, and acted. It deserves the praise and high ratings it is getting. Han So-hee is an excellent young star. You will see her in a lot more great performances. Park Seo-joon has already proven himself a top notch actor. I was right when I highly recommended to Netflix to carry a lot more of the Korean content over ten years ago. They did. That move, I'm sure not only on my humble nobody suggestion, worked out very well for them. This one will go on my Netflix list of favorites. Don't leave it off your lists. You won't regret it.

Han So-Hee didn't disappoint, again.

Experiments on humans were portrayed so good that 95% of the time I had to look away.

Characters are well-written and it's not easy to predict outcome.

Get ready for bunch of plot twists that will make your jaw drop.

On the other hand CGI was good but you can still tell that it's CGI. So that's one of the things I didn't enjoy that much. Anyway, drama is so good that I watched all 7 episodes in one breath.

Immediately after watching I came to give my rating, and I was astonished to see such low ratings. Most of the ratings are 1, and I bet those people didn't even watch the show. And I'm guessing they were given by bunch of JK girlfriends that are jealous because Han Soo-Hee starred in their boyfriend's music video.

Don't let those small ratings to keep you away from this drama, it's better than most of the dramas that are currently on the air.

NVM. 10/10 now. Wow, It just keep getting better and better.

Season 1 It's such a tragic history of Korea while Korea was colonized by Japanese for 35 years from 1910 to 1945. It was painful to watch Gyeongseong Creature cuz it's based on true history but I am sure the reality was even brutal/cruel.

The first episode of the show takes its time to build up the entire narrative, but once you let the period, the fantasy, and the premise in, you are in for a growling ride that you do not want to miss! The cinematography and director need to have mentions for 'Gyeongseong Creature'.

Strong Performances: Both Park Seo-joon and Han So-hee deliver strong performances, particularly in the action scenes.

Overall: "Gyeongseong Creature" Season 1 is a captivating and suspenseful K-drama that successfully blends horror, mystery, and historical elements. While it has some minor flaws, its strengths lie in its unique premise, strong performances, and engaging plot, making it a worthwhile watch for fans of the genre.

Season 2 This series should have ended with season 1. Pretty sure when this series was written it had only season one but Netflix being Netflix was like " ok now lets make season 2".

I personally am gonna forget that a season 2 even exists.

Unit 731 of Japanses Troops, Maruta is true DARK history of Japan that in China, Korea and Asia during WWII.

During World War II, the Japanese government kidnapped civilians, led them to sexual slavery, forced labor, and conducted "Maruta"biometric tests.

Maruta means log in Japanese, and the biological experimenters were called Maruta.

Also Flag Rising Sun used with German National's Hakenkreuz.

For that reason, the use of the Rising Sun Flag is a crime in Asian countries.

Unlike the German government, the Japanese government is not unscrupulous and hides this fact, and most Japanese people are likely to be shocked to see the drama.

If you want to learn more, check issue, Unit 731, Nanging, Maruta, and Great East Japan Earthquake Massacre.