Shining Inheritance fits both definitions. There's envy, greed, a dead man walking, 10 trillions lies, missed encounters by a microsecond, corporate plotting, memory loss, love polyhedrons and such a dose of odious behaviours your becoming a virtual assassin would be justified.
But before you decide you hate the genre and turn the page, let me say this drama is strangely and acutely addictive. It took me 4 weeks to pant through the first 7 episodes and less than 1 to watch the remaining 21 (granted, with a little fast forwarding here and there).
The plot is very consistent. Every narrative line comes to a conclusion and justice triumphs. Delicate subjects are touched here, and I appreciated this the most.
I maintain the whole story could have been easily condensed in half the time and the dialogues thinned, if only the characters had stopped repeating the same sentences like an echo and the word money had been uttered one thousand times instead of one billion. There will be moments in which you'll question your choice of dramas, but at that point you'll be so implicated in the crime… ehm, plot, drop it will be harder than exit a gang.
The acting mark is the result of an arithmetic mean. The beginning is not encouraging at all, with exaggerations and wooden deliveries all over the place, but it improves a lot in going. It's as though the actors had been attending Theatre Class while filming. With a notable exception: Yun Joon Suk, who plays the autistic brother, is impressive all through, and makes the drama shine in depth and emotion every time he's on screen.
I'm usually only mildly interested in the cast's attire, unless it's so distracting it prevents me from fully enjoying it or it is integral part of the narrative intent. But grandmother's grey wig - I truly hope it was one - looked so disjointed from her skull I watched all her scenes brandishing a comb. Not that Lee Seung Gi's hairdo was much better: now and then it truly looked like it was about to migrate towards warmer shores. I prayed he would be caught in a sudden downpour to flatten it but, alas!, the sun shone brightly on him. There's improvement in this department too, though, and if you fall for the very pretty main couple, the deed is done.
Two words about the music. I had a hard time coming to terms with the blend of Bach's adagio and K-pop, the first being too solemn and fit to a mass in Latin and the second too… pop. Once again, it's the little brother who saves the score with his very sweet piano piece dedicated to his Noona.
So here's my little piece of advice: watch it. Resist the urge to drop it after the first episode, contain your puzzlement in the second and third, wipe your sweat to the 7th and you'll be hooked. Completing it will give you a sense of power and the feeling you have truly watched The Drama of All Dramas.
What does not kill you, makes you stronger.
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The characters, at first may seem a bit tiresome, but they have this uncanny knack of growing on you, until you genuinely care for them and wish to see them happy, successful or in some cases burn in hell. It will make you laugh and cry, which is what all good dramas should invoke. Throw into the mix a nice, non annoying soundtrack and some pretty good cinematography and you get a seriously a good watch. Strong recommended, not just for viewing but repeated viewings as well.
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When I started watching this drama I thought it just had 16 episodes, I didn't expect 28 episodes at all, that's why in the first 4 or 5 episodes I thought that the drama was way to slow, the screenwriter was wasting too much time and I also thought that the drama would be boring, but then I saw that in fact this drama has 28 episodes and then I had another thoughts... The screenwriter took the necessary time to develop the story and help the view to not just get used to the main character, but know personally each and every character that is part of the story.
In this drama the screenwriter knows how to control the characters and the history being faithful to each of them and as the viewers get into the story - as a viewer I can say that - they learn to develop different feelings towards the characters. The story has different levels and in each level we can see new sides of the characters as the story develops naturally. There's nothing forced about his script, it is the most natural one and at the end... I must tell that everything was thought carefully. This end was one of the few ones that gave some satisfaction, it was a really good end.
The music is nothing special, I like the OST, but there was nothing too memorable for me.
As for the acting... It was brilliant! I didn't expected that Han Hyo Joo would pull out such a good acting as she did with her character Go Eun Song in this drama, the actress Moon Chae Woon also did an awesome job and as for me deserves a round of applause for her performance as the second main female lead Yoo Seung Mi, also the actress Kim Mi Sook just wooow, really good one. Really good acting. But of course Lee Seung Gi as the main male lead and Bae Su Bin as the second main male lead did a good job.
I'll watch this drama again someday for sure since is such a good drama.
Even if the OST isn't that memorable, from the acting, screenwriting to the directing this drama is the best.
I highly recommend it.
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I love everything in this drama, especially the characters. The leading characters by their acting and their story make the story brilliant.
Go Eun-Song, is my favourite female protagonist of all time... Her strength and way of life makes me want to be like her...
The drama has so much to teach about different values and goals for life.
This drama has a big lesson, that the human life is so empty without a goal... even the worst plan... the meanest plan...the cruelest plan, that had the protagonist's step-mother... well, we all know what happens to bad plans that hurt other people... some time later, you understand that even she hurt all the people during all this time... after all is over, she is the one who is going to hurt the most. There are so many words in this drama, that are so true, they made me cry.
The progress of the characters is one of the strongest points of the drama... you'll have to watch this to understand all the beauty of this aspect.
And the music... Just try not to burst into tears when K.Will's song is playing and the actors are making your heart stop and skip a beat... you'll be my hero :)
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A simple or predictable story with good acting and execution is better than a complex story that loses its direction. For that reason, I decided to give the story a 9 because of how well the drama developed, even though the story wasn't out of the ordinary. The first few episodes were a little slow and melodramatic (major turn off), but it redeems itself quickly and prove to be really entertaining. Despite the sad theme, the drama managed to be both funny and positive. This is one of those longer dramas that actually get better and better as it progresses.
Acting:
Everyone acted pretty well. I particularly watched this because of Moon Chae Won, but I quickly found her character boring and unlikable. It was my first time watching a drama with Han Hyo Joo and she was really natural in her role as the female lead; it almost seem like the positive part of her role matches her real personality. Her scenes with Lee Seung Gi were definitely the highlights of this drama for me.
Music:
The music was adequate. I don't miss it or anything.
Rewatch Value:
I would specifically skip scenes between 2 characters if I were to rewatch this. I think it'll come obvious when you watch it too. However, I think the rest of the drama really made up for it.
Overall
Thinking about all those scenes that I enjoy makes me want to give this a 9. However, the scenes I disliked just went by so slow that I wouldn't even want to sit through it if I was occupied with other things. For that reason, I give this drama an 8.
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However, I found that the first maybe 7 episodes dragged on for far to long and I almost stopped watching because of it. However, the drama did pick itself back up! It was a great story and a great ending, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes a good tear jerking romance. You do have to have quite the tolerance to get through the beginning episodes though but I promise it will get better.
You will find yourself hating the main villain, probably more then you've hated any bad guy in a show or movie before, and it will make you want to yell at your screen over and over. The actress does an excellent job at it though, as I've seen her play a complete opposite role and she does a phenomenal job at it.
So overall, very good drama, but a very slow start. This drama is what made me fall in love with Lee Seung Ki. x3
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Let's start with the good first. I think this drama has one of the best cast ever. All actors were brilliant at what they did. I couldn't think of any flaw in that department. Lee Seung Gi pulled off his character amazingly well. He completely made me fall in love with him more than ever before. For me he was a big factor in saving this drama from being unbearable. Never have I been so well hooked by an actor's performance in the past (okay, I have but it's been quite long). I consider Han Hyo Joo as one of the best Korean actresses and I loved her once again here too. Her character cried way too much but she did all those scenes wonderfully. There were other actors in the drama too who I've never seen in anything before and they all managed to capture my attention.
This is more of a family drama than anything else. That was both a good and bad thing. Good- because it makes you think a lot and helps you understand human emotions better, bad- because it took too much of time which could have been devoted to romance. I really wish there had been more of romance because the characters were so madly engrossing. Ah, well. Apart from that the antagonists in this drama are my utter favorites. Never have I ever enjoyed hating bad guys in a drama so much before. It was off the wall crazy and idiotic.
The soundtrack isn't the most impressive I've ever heard but it was oddly addicting. I think the last half of the drama fit the songs better. The angst was amazing and matched well with the background music.
Now let's get to the bad part- too much crying, too much of repetitiveness, too mellow and moments which make you pull out your hair. This drama was unnecessarily long. I would say it had a pretty heavy plot but it could have easily been 8 episodes less. Not saying that the last few episodes were bad but the middle ones were too dragging. It started out amazing but after episode 10, things started going downhill. It picked up after a good amount of episodes. I wish Han Hyo Joo had to cry less. I've never seen a female character cry so much before nor have I see a more miserable life of one either. LOL.
A special mention goes to the kid who played the autistic brother. His scenes were done so nicely! BTW the jealousy scenes of this drama are so memorable!!!! I think Lee Seung Gi is at his best in this drama when it came to romantic moments or scenes. His character was an A-grade arrogant jerk in the first half and developed very well in the later half. He was so good by the end that I could hardly remember him being bad at all. The second male lead in this drama was boring according to me. I didn't feel like I could root for him. The female lead was very strong and admirable in spite of her crying. The second female lead played by Moon Chae Won was super annoying. I don't know if it's just the actress or her roles itself- she somehow ends up annoying me all the time.
Anyway, I really enjoyed watching this drama because it was a full blown experience. It had its great and awful moments but it was worth my time. However, I will never rewatch it again except maybe the few romantic scenes.
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There is almost every type of charactor in this drama; ever innocent like an angel lead girl, evil step mom, uncaring step sister thats influence by her mom, loving father who will do anything for his kids and the cold and uncaring guy that becomes the most lovable guy in the end. The acting for most of the cast was very good and deserve some form of notice, especially the Jang Sook Ja (Grandmother) i love her.
Watch it, you`ll be going up and down twist and turning, the fun won`t stop. So bare the slow start and by episodes 6 n 7 u`ll be begging for more. ENJOY!!!
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the story was quiet addictive and unique
however it has it's flaws
first of all , I had a hard time trying to stick my face into the screen at the first few episodes of the show , it was slow and dragging and the main character was so annoying and arrogant , but if you manage to get through that the story with get intersting and addictive
also , the main couple had an extremly weird chimesty and I found them really awkward sometimes , you will notice either that eun sung ( the female lead ) and the second lead that i forgot his name had even more chimestry then the main couple , he even helped her a lot through her journey while the lead was giving her a hard time but for some reason they always fall for the bad guy
the music was good enough but not epic ,it fits the situation but it just does't improve your experience and does't move any kind of emotion , at least for me
for the rewatch value , i don't think that i will rewatch this drama ever again althought it was a good drama , since there will be no suspence and all the secrets are already reveiled but i guess it depends on the person for there's some peaople who just enjoy the funny moments and the romance more than the story itself
overall i found this drama very good , addictive and i highly recommand it , believe me you will experience all kind of emotion from happiness to sadness to the urge to kill the evil step mother with your bare hands
thank you for reading this review and i hope you enjoy this drama :)
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Way too much time is spent on characters whining about money. They whine about not having enough, who's getting it, and how to get more of it. I was tempted to fast forward through some scenes with particular characters, but I was afraid I'd miss too many key plot points. I would have preferred it if Lee Seung Ki, and Han Hyo Joo had more screen time together instead.
Though I loved watching Lee Seung Ki's character's transformation the most, the entire cast impressed me. Of course Kim Mi Sook stands out as the epitome of a wicked stepmother, but she could have had less screen time in my opinion. Quite a few of the characters have really good epic crying scenes, though I personally was never moved to tears by the story. Still, the actor that impressed me the most overall was actually Yun Joon Suk, who was so believable that I initially thought he was autistic.
I am glad that I decided to stick with it, and watched the whole thing. There are definitely a few moments that I already want to watch again, but I don't know if I could ever watch all 28 episodes again.
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The acting in this show, well like the title it was Brilliant! You can really feel for the characters while watching it. I dunno how to describe it, but the acting was realistic. This was the first show I watched with Lee Seung Ki and Han Hyo Joo, and I plan on watching more dramas with them. And whoever played the step mom should've got an award. I hated her character but her acting was really good. Seung Mi's character... I liked her in the beginning but you feel her falling under pressure as the events continue. Her character was played really well, you could feel how hard she wanted to keep what was hers (or what she felt was hers). Jun Sae's character... I liked him. I felt bad for him later on in the story, he is a good guy. I'm glad at how the story ended, though.
As for the music...I liked it. The music played it's part and I liked a lot of the songs played throughout the show.
Will I rewatch this drama? Probably not anytime soon (too many dramas I wanna watch). Maybe a couple years from now I'll rewatch it. 28 episodes is a lot to get through (almost 3O hours total), but I think that watching this show was worth it.
Overall: Definitely worth watching. The story is really good, indeed like Cinderella in ways (evil step mom, step sister, "Prince Charming"). It makes you think about what money does to people. I'd have to count this as one of my favorites now (: And I loved Lee Seung Ki as Hwan haha, but that's my personal opinion
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