Camelot
New York
I'm sure what I write here has all been said before but I'm going to say it again. Hwayugi was a Goblin knock-off. The Hong sisters are known for being unique magnificent story tellers and while Hwayugi had many fun and interesting elements the major plot points were almost exact replicas of Goblin.
I'm not trying to hate on Hwayugi or the Hong sisters; I enjoyed Hwayugi but it was lacking originality. This is my main critique about the drama and the reason why I rated it so poorly compared to Goblin. My other critiques of the show are the ending, the main female lead, and some of the mythical plot elements. First the ending...I hate open endings. They are unsatisfying and leave too much to debate and the imagination. If I invest 20+ hours into a show I want to get an ending, any ending, but an ending nonetheless. Hwayugi did not give me one. Next our female lead...Seon Mi
was frankly boring. She was a stereotypical kdrama heroine in every way (the tragic past, no friends or family, hard working to a fault, and she smiles through it all). I haven't seen Oh Yeon Seo in other dramas but she fell flat here. She simply couldn't keep up with Lee Seung Gi and they had no chemistry. And finally the mythical elements...for the most part I actually quite liked these elements. I loved the characters backgrounds based on the Chinese parable, the powers, and the heavenly realm. What I disliked was the dragon. What was with the stupid dragon plotline??? It made no sense, was unnecessary, and distracted from the better elements of the drama. I don't have anything else to say about it. It was just bad. As for the things I liked I'll quickly summarize those as well. I loved Lee Seung Gi, the bromance between Oh Gong and Ma Wang, the powers and the fight with heaven, One's character, and Pal Gye and Bu Ja's flirting. If the show focused more on these elements the drama may have fared better in my opinion.
Hwayugi had the potential to be a unique and interesting drama with an intricate backstory and historical context but I feel that the Hong sisters wanted to capitalize on Goblin's success and their own drama suffered for it.
I'm not trying to hate on Hwayugi or the Hong sisters; I enjoyed Hwayugi but it was lacking originality. This is my main critique about the drama and the reason why I rated it so poorly compared to Goblin. My other critiques of the show are the ending, the main female lead, and some of the mythical plot elements. First the ending...I hate open endings. They are unsatisfying and leave too much to debate and the imagination. If I invest 20+ hours into a show I want to get an ending, any ending, but an ending nonetheless. Hwayugi did not give me one. Next our female lead...Seon Mi
was frankly boring. She was a stereotypical kdrama heroine in every way (the tragic past, no friends or family, hard working to a fault, and she smiles through it all). I haven't seen Oh Yeon Seo in other dramas but she fell flat here. She simply couldn't keep up with Lee Seung Gi and they had no chemistry. And finally the mythical elements...for the most part I actually quite liked these elements. I loved the characters backgrounds based on the Chinese parable, the powers, and the heavenly realm. What I disliked was the dragon. What was with the stupid dragon plotline??? It made no sense, was unnecessary, and distracted from the better elements of the drama. I don't have anything else to say about it. It was just bad. As for the things I liked I'll quickly summarize those as well. I loved Lee Seung Gi, the bromance between Oh Gong and Ma Wang, the powers and the fight with heaven, One's character, and Pal Gye and Bu Ja's flirting. If the show focused more on these elements the drama may have fared better in my opinion.
Hwayugi had the potential to be a unique and interesting drama with an intricate backstory and historical context but I feel that the Hong sisters wanted to capitalize on Goblin's success and their own drama suffered for it.
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