The Bride of Habaek

I saw a lot of bad news and reviews about this drama, so I never thought about watching it. Eventually I watched it and it's not that bad, actually it's pretty good drama. Even though I don't really like how So-ah sometimes behave, and the conflicts that they have just felt like being forced, overall I could enjoyed it. In fact, I want to rewatch it. Another thing, the plot is kinda slow, so I give eight for this drama.

Worth to watch, especially in this quarantine time!!! I love both main and second couples, they're cute and their chemistry is on point.

Firstly, although this is a pretty good story, superbly acted by all involved (Lim Ju Hwan's performance has a troubled half-god/half-mortal living in the human world as successful real estate CEO Shin Hoo Ye was EXCEPTIONAL!), this series is about 8 episodes much TOO LONG. Secondly, the overall feeling conveyed was of a bunch of entitled, immortal "rich kids" imbued with super abilities, constantly squabbling over who's more wealthy, beautiful, and or more powerful and on which "lowly" human or despised "half-breed" can these elitists direct their over abundance of arrogance, venomous retorts, and upper class contempt. I was SO over the infighting, plotting, and posturing of these "frenemies" by the 3rd episode, but decided to stick it out. Thirdly, there were so many obvious wrong decisions and missteps made by the characters which, of course, lead up to some predictable "crisis" or fist fight. One main character constantly had conversations with herself as she pondered aloud what her love interest or other characters were thinking, feeling, or planning. SO annoying. This whole drama devolved into one predictable and totally avoidable crisis and or conflict after another. I could not wait until episode 15 concluded so I could watch something better like Lee Dong-wook and Jo Bo-ah in "Tale of The Nine Tailed" (2020-2023).

Let me start by saying that after excitedly recognizing the characters and art style from the Manhua (Bride of the Water God), I was horribly disappointed to discover that this story has nothing in common with it at all. So for readers of the Manhua, this is likely to be a let down.

HOWEVER, that being said, I still can't understand why this show has received such poor ratings. If you look past the title and treat the film as a stand alone product, it is actually pretty solid (as K-Dramas go). While the story lacks originality, the script itself is well written. The acting, though not Oscar worthy, is mostly believable (especially CEO Shin). The special effects are acceptable (some are even pretty cool). And the other technical aspects (such as cinematography and soundtrack) are all nicely polished.

That's not to say it was perfect. I struggled with So-ah's fainting (which was probably meant be slapstick but only translated as annoying), her clueless character early on in the show, and the disparity between her caring personality vs her standoffish behavior. I also never bought her role as a psychiatrist. On the other hand, I loved how she was humble enough to admit her faults, yet never let others put her down.

Some other nitpicks include Habaek's "smile twitch" (what was the purpose???), the rushed ending, and the fact that Habaek's backstory gave absolutely no explanation that the curse caused him to become a child during the day and revert to an adult at night (a major point in the Manhua). This made the 2-3 scenes with his "younger" self completely disorienting.

In addition, the plot also took some unnecessary turns toward the end (but what K-Drama doesn't suffer from those?), and the current subtitles on Netflix had several critical segments of conversation where the wording was out of context or failed to tie together the larger meaning/subtext of what was being said.

In summary, despite some minor problems, I thought this was a pretty decent film overall, with lots of romance. If you are a fan of manga and K-Drama with a splash (no pun intended) of fantasy, give it a try. Recommended!

ROMANCE RATING: 10/10. I thought the lead couple had good chemistry (though others may disagree), and they share the largest number of kiss scenes I have yet to see in a K-Drama (7+). Additionally, in comparison to the brief or static "pecks" used in many K-Dramas, these kisses didn't skimp on dynamics or duration. This flick also deserves a nod for its' plentiful amount of skin/fanservice, courtesy of Nam Joo Hyuk and Gong Myeong's gorgeous torsos.

I write this review in 2023, and my main reason of writing is to state that this series is way better than some reviews here suggest!

All in all, this is high quality entertainment, pure fun! And by fun, I mean it covers all ranges of emotions. Yes, funny as well, some times, but also very dramatic other times. In my humble opinion, K-dramas excel in acting in sad scenes, and here is no different.

Morover, both leads are very pleasing to the eye, and do an all-round masterful acting job. And not just the leads! The whole cast is very lovable in their respective roles. Hats off again to South Korea! 8/10.

I'm still not sure why i chose to watch this, but i'm glad i did. It is a good mix of fantasy and everyday life, with some great one liners and a few good fights thrown in. I don't know the original tale about the water god, so it seemed a nice story. I've been to Korea though, it's a lovely place i'd like to see more of and i've been to some of the places shown, but i never saw men there with frilly or lacy shirts with giant bows around the collar (maybe i wasn't in the right place and to be honest nowhere else in the world i've been to either has men dressed like that), but it somehow fits in here with the gods and their OTT lifestyle. The acting was good, the ending was pretty good and I'm glad i watched it.