Syowindo: Yeowangui Jib

Low effort makjang. A random makjang drama from early 2000s would make a better watch than whatever this was. One of the most crucial elements in makjang is creating tension and this one kept failing in that regard. The tiny teasers at the beginning and end of every episode were nothing but cheap tacky fillers. Low effort makjang. A random makjang drama from early 2000s would make a better watch than whatever this was. One of the most crucial elements in makjang is creating tension and this one kept failing in that regard. The tiny teasers at the beginning and end of every episode were nothing but cheap tacky fillers.

One expects such a long series to be an Asian soap/telenovela stretching a thin story unbearably. It was a pleasant surprise to see that the script filled it with enough material to keep the interest with twists and turns and not too much time filler material... except towards the end.

The series is well made with most of the important characters well portrayed by the cast, supporting cast ... not so much. Beautifully filmed and edited. The product placement gets a bit too much.

The script isn't the most credible at times but doesn't get too soapy.

While it maintained the mystery very well despite flash forward teasers, the reveal episodes were extremely disappointing. With the main mystery solved many episodes before the last episode, the series runs out of steam and credibility and resorts to a lot of silly filler material to stretch it to the contractual length. One feels one's time wasted watching the last two episodes.

A re-edit to 12 or 14 episodes might improve it for reruns.