The Thousandth Man (2012)

This was a drama I eagerly waited for every week. I have MANY shows I try to keep up with on a weekly basis; it's hard to do, but this drama was one I always put at the top of my list!

The plot was the first thing to hook me in: a gumiho in search of her last liver? AND she gets to try charming the pants off Chunderella to do it? Unfortunately, it doesn't necessarily follow the description I gave it to the letter, but that's what my wild imagination read. hee. The screen writer (Kim Gyun Tae) for this drama also wrote Hyunhaetan Marriage War; I had enjoyed that cheesy yet fun drama, so I had good expectations about how the writer would handle the romance parts. The character development was at times abrupt, but done well in the parts that mattered. The relationship between the two main actors evolves quite nicely--and the cute side stories show how the human heart can be affected by adorkable persistence. The hopeful romantic in me would have wanted a different ending, but this one was pretty good. Keep in mind that this is a fantasy drama and you shouldn't really take it so seriously--it's not a melo.

The cast was excellent: Jeon Mi Sun is straight up LEGIT. She has been in so many top dramas! She's a really good supporting actress, but when will she get her own drama?! Park Jung Hak, bless his soul, is out-dorked Chunderella; his sad, puppy dog face made me exasperated yet "AWWW" at the same time. I can see how he drove Gu Mi Sun crazy. Seo Kyung Suk was hilarious; did you know he majored in French and Lit at Seoul Nat'l University? Color me impressed. I wish they could've delved more into the relationship between Kyung Suk and Eung Suk--I love a good bromance. They didn't show a lot of the bromance, NONETHELESS, tears were streaming down my face in that last episode. Lee Chun Hee was fantastic. He was able to add so much depth to his eyes; you could feel how deeply he cared for his loved ones. Seriously, if those eyes were turned in my direction, I'd melt. Kang Ye Won is an amazing actress; she was able to control and convey easy to read emotions to the point where it was like you KNEW what was going on in her mind. The way she was able to make streams of tears flow down her cheeks was just so freakin awesome. As for the young actors, Hyomin and Woo Hyun, they did pretty good. I was impressed with Hyomin, but WooHyun needs a little more acting experience--he could do so much better! I like a handsome guy stripping as much as the next girl, but I'd rather he woo me into loving his character.

The music was so cute! I loved it! I'm looking to get the OST soon! The sound effects and visual effects were pretty great too. I mean, it wasn't Avatar-good, but it's a drama--I didn't expect much.
*update*-Finally got the OST: worth it! I definitely recommend it!


The chances I'd rewatch this are pretty good. But we'll see. So many shows, not enough time.

If you fancy aggressive-love-triangles-that-are-mainly-forced-upon-by-one-person, strong-women-and-their-puppy-eyed-pursuers, a supernatural-element-mixed-with-a-hint-of-silliness, a short-but-sweet-story, tragedy, ticking-time-bombs, and a little French, then, yes, let the short marathon commence!

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Right.

So I decided to watch this drama after reading all of the glowing reviews, expecting a reasonably amusing romance drama. It's only 8 episodes, and the cast is fairly unknown, (except, in my case, for Chunderella and Jeon Mi Sun.) so I honestly wasn't expecting some too amazing, or something too awful. Well... let's just say it didn't go that way.

The story was fairly original. I've seen Gumiho dramas before, but none of the other gumihos have had the same 1000 liver thing. The way that the story was going to go was predictable, but it was fun watching it played out nonetheless. The side stories were nice to watch as well.

The romance, however, I found to be sorely lacking. One episode they're just friends, and the next, he's saying things like "We'll never break up!"? It was a bit unrealistic, and I felt that the main leads had next to NO chemistry together. They didn't even have a cute montage. There are two other romances as well, and neither of them are great either.
The actors themselves, however, shouldn't be underestimated. I found them all individually to be convincing and amusing. They fit their characters well.

The music was this drama's saving grace. Or at least; the SONGS were the saving grace. They had some really great music. If only the editors knew what they were doing. There were many scenes where the music just did not suit the scene at ALL. There was one scene in particular I can think of; it was a funny scene, with the female lead hurriedly trying to hide her Gumiho tail. AND THERE WAS A BLOODY BALLAD playing in the background. It just didn't fit. They would also cut the music off at strange places, and without very much strategic timing.
Another thing I have to say about the editors- there were many times where there was a joke going on, and the scene would abruptly change before the joke even had time to run it's course.

The make-up artist should have been flat out fired.

Overall, I found watching this to be a chore. This drama could have been much much better if they had changed even just the smallest things.
Give the drama a bit better continuity, don't try and cram a 16 episode story into 8, develop your characters, develop your romance, hire better editors that actually KNOW HOW A DRAMA IS SUPPOSED TO WORK.

I hate to be a Debbie Downer, and I feel bad for writing the worst review I've ever written, but the worst drama I've ever seen deserves as much.

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