Hwayugi Ep 1-2 Discussion Post

[keytfelt.livejournal.com]

Synopsis: In 2017, Son Oh Gong and King Woo Ma are in conflict with each other and they look for a true light in a dark world where evils exist everywhere. ~~ Adapted from the classic Chinese novel “Journey to the West,” but reinterprets the story into the present day and has a romantic-fantasy twist.
Cast: Lee Seung Gi, Cha Seung Won, Oh Yeon Seo, Lee Hong Ki, Jang Gwang, Lee El, Kim Sung Oh, Bora, Lee Se Young
Director: Park Hong-Kyun
Writer: Hong Jung-Eun, Hong Mi-Ran
Network: tvN
Episodes:
Release Date: December 23, 2017 --
Runtime: Sat. & Sun. 21:00

Watch Here: Viki

Sources: AsianWiki | MyDramaList

Reminder that there will only be one ep next week because of production issues. If you want to talk dramas more frequently than these posts, feel free to join the unofficial Omona Discord server.

Comments

[cafetin99.livejournal.com]

LSG looks SO.FINE in his character, I love the hair and the clothes.
The drama it's awesome, the 3 leads have a great chemistry and I'm rooting for SM, she's vulnerable yet badass.

[tjmok125.livejournal.com]

He does look good but I'm not sure how serious I'm supposed to take him as the monkey king😂 like he keeps doing all this stereotypical bad boy kdrama shit like the pulling and pushing up against the wall and yelling. So I'm just like "girl give him some bananas and walk away, you to old to be playing these games."
As for the guy who plays bull king he is a bit distracting with his acting. Like everyone else is more subtle with their animal counterpart influence but he is just like out there, which makes sense but at the same time is annoying. Idk.
The part where he tried to get her to kill herself triggered me with jonghyuns passing being so close so heads up to anyone about episode 2

The story is interesting because I really like journey to the west but I'm confused bc the monkey king was cocky and petty but he was never a full blown asshole like this guy is? Idk I'll see where it goes.

[accioanime.livejournal.com]

Im honestly disappointed with the production issues. I know they were pushing for Christmas because a scene in ep 2 was filmed under a Christmas tree, etc. but they were clearly not ready and TvN should have just waited to release it in 2018. Heck they could have used Christmas as an excuse to add some short Christmas variety special similar to Chuseok specials.

First ep was a little confusing to me because I have never read or watched the original material. The world building style reminded me of Goblin where you don't know where the rules start and end in terms of the main characters' powers and dynamics. Why is Seung gi living with Seung won when Seung won clearly hates him? Why does he complain about getting cold if he is super powerful? Why can't Seung Won just eat Samjang too if he wants to be a deity so badly? Wtf is with the magical teapot? Whats the point of Frosty and the bartender? How the hell did Samjang survive all this time with her clearly useless yellow umbrella because everyone seems to have no problem flinging it away? Why is the talented Lee El wasted with her secretary role and repetitive "should I kill him?" line?

[weneedmedicine.livejournal.com]

Spot on comment. The whole roommate thing reminds me too much of Goblin, and it doesn’t make sense in this case. The umbrella remains the biggest mystery. ladygaga-dull-stupid-terrible.gif

[musicnkisses.livejournal.com]

The roommate setup was an obvious Goblin ripoff. But I think I was more pissed when Oh Gong called up that old man for money. That scene was so contextless and was suppose to invoke the old man/Deok-hwa’s grandpa from Goblin. But it was the poorest setup of all time.

[we-rob-banks.livejournal.com]

If they would shorten the episodes (who needs 1.5 hour episodes of ANYTHING? especially something filmed week to week?????), it would help a ton with the editing and production issues. I don't want to imagine the stress the crew and cast are under, especially after the news about the on-set accident.

I'm a hardcore Seung-gi supporter so I'll finish this, but had it been anyone else, I would drop it. It's so OTT and not even in a fun way--it's one thing to be aware of how dramatic your script is and to play with that, but this one misses the mark SO BAD. The Hong Sisters have always had more misses than hits for me, and I'm reconsidering rewatching some old ones I liked (My Girlfriend is a Gumiho) and see if they've always been this bad and I just liked them because I was young and bright-eyed.

[weneedmedicine.livejournal.com]

I’ve only finished episode 1 so far, but what the hell is the point of that yellow umbrella? I’m sure it’ll be explained soon, but like??? It seems so useless. Also, a little bit of comedy doesn’t hurt anyone, but this show needs to tone it down 10x. The bull demon is unbearable to me for some odd reason. All in all, I’ll probably continue/finish this show, because I like the plot.

[shinychopstick.livejournal.com]

I wanted to like this because I love Seung Gi and Journey to the West as a source material and starting point, but the production and script is just so bad. The music cues and goofy sound effects are just so distractingly cheesy. The "stunts" and demon scenes look patched together. Characterization is ott and all over the place in ep 2. Everyone overexplains their every single thought and intention in dialogue (especially Ma Wang) rather than showing through action, yet the underdevelop core mythology and world-building. I didn't even really like Goblin but it pulled off fantasy world-building and tone so much better through its pacing. Also idk why the hell there needs to be an audition show embedded in the story, and the Pig character is so misused. Man, such high hopes squandered.