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It’s a journey full of roller coaster rides, misadventures, heart-breaking, heart thumping moments, but also an expedition to discover love, jealousy, courage, the good & imperfections of humanity.

You don’t need a reason to fall in love, but you just need one reason to keep it going.

Selling points of the show:
– Plotting & scheming between the demons – depict of the modern day 尔虞我诈
– Gods, Deities, Ghosts, Demons, Mermaid, Zombie
– Love story of Son Oh Gong & Sam Zang
– Bromance between Son Oh Gong and Ma Wang
– Loveline for PK and Buja

Morale of the story:

平凡是种幸福。
所有的关系，无论是亲情，友情，爱情，都需要用心经营。
所谓”爱的真谛”, 就要必须很爱, 很痛过, 而且懂得牺牲奉献。

除了人物性格和原著一样，我想你可以用轻松的心情来看这部爱情，抓妖喜剧。既然连唐三藏都可以变成女人和孙悟空谈恋爱了, 那就不要太执着于原著，用更放宽接纳 creativity 的心情来看这部”花游记”。

在现代生活，孙悟空和牛魔王依旧是互相交恶但又互相依赖, 易敌易友的关系。 孙悟空依旧高傲，目中无人，且是个无业游民。

三藏竟然是个从小能看见鬼怪的女生，职业是房地产代表。

最颠覆众人印象的应该是猪八戒吧? 在原著里, 他沉迷女色，但却长得丑。 在花游记的版本，他是个人气超高的偶像歌手，努力聚集粉丝给他的人气。

沙悟静则是企业 CEO，但却只爱为孙悟空烧菜做饭。

牛魔王则是 Lucifer 经纪公司的老板 (也是八戒的老板)。魔王依旧对铁扇公主情深如昔，为了不让她受尽100 次轮回的痛苦，而尽量积分成仙。

这部剧真的蛮逗趣的。It really makes you burst out into laughter and their CGI is impressive, except the finale scene. 除了金钢箍，和人物的一些特征，这部剧比较像是韩国的 Fantasy Drama。

Who are these script writers with such great creativity and imagination? They are the renowned Hong Sisters who have written scripts for“You Are Beautiful”, “The Greatest Love”&“Master’s Sun”.

竟然能把流传千年的西游记改成这样 Modern，可以说是几乎脱离了原本的故事，但人物线还是有跟着原著。You would be assured of an interesting drama, though the last episode seemed pretty much rushed into and there are many unsatisfying plots.

The new version of 金钢箍 is on the wrist so that it can control Oh Gong’s heart. That’s also the initial reason why he could only helplessly fall in love with Sam Jang no matter what she does and he couldn’t bear to kill her, even if he wished to.

Much as Sam Jang’s lotus-scented blood is a magnet to all demons & spirits, including Son Oh Gong, the bad guy/monkey is like an irresistible magnet to Seon Mi as well. He’s downright bad to her, but she still loves him.

We call this “Deadly/Fatal Attraction”, right from the beginning.

Good girls love bad boys and when bad boys turn good for the girl, she loves him even more.

The all formidable Son Oh Gong’s only weakness, is Jin Yeon Mi.

在他眼里，她是最漂亮的, 只因为他爱她。

也只有她能让他痛彻心扉, 痛不欲生, 彻底拿她没辙。

Watch how the Monkey God who has a heart of stone, slowly learn to soften, be more considerate to others and most importantly, learn to love and sacrifice.

You also learn to recognize and revive those emotions when you used to or still love someone.

Isn’t that just love being portrayed in the most apt way?

她的一个笑容，能溶化你的心。
她受伤，你会撕心裂肺。
也会想代她的承受所有的痛苦。
就连平凡的一起吃棉花糖和冰淇淋都会感觉无比幸福。

I like how they depict the demons in the modern world.

现代的妖魔来自于 “心魔”。不管是人和妖精，都会有正和邪的一面。

There will be people who are jealous of you and will spread fake rumours, to make you feel down. There are demons who feed on inferiority complex, making people suffer from anorexia, depression, etc.

It is also pretty fascinating to see how our main characters, particularly Son Oh Gong, Ma Wang and Sam Zang could get into photographs, movie films into a different world dimension or era.

个人最喜欢的3段感情线:

1) 孙悟空 (Son Oh Gong) & 牛魔王 (Woo Ma Wang)
2) 孙悟空 (Son Oh Gong) &陈善美 (Jin Sun Mi)
3) 猪八戒 (PK) & 富子 (Bu Ja)

孙悟空和牛魔王依旧是互相交恶但又互相依赖, 易敌易友的关系.

It’s a love & hate relationship between these 2, they just tickle you when they start bickering or fighting. It’s the 2nd time that Cha Seung Won & Lee Seung Gi collaborate, thus you can feel their chemistry since they are good friends in real life.

2) 孙悟空&陈善美

Sam Jung is his “master” in another way. She taught him how to love, be more considerate and kinder to others, think from others’ perspectives.

They started off as predator vs prey, 欢喜冤家 kind of relationship but it eventually sparked to a romance.

While viewers are asking for a Season 2, I thought it might just be good if they can have 1 or 2 more special episodes, to see what Oh Gong will do to get her back from where we “lost” her.

3) 猪八戒&富子

This is a pair with a bittersweet storyline and I’m sure most of the viewers, would hope that they could have a less忐忑 journey. You could see that love was blooming right from the beginning but there could never be a happy ending between a zombie and a pig demon.

I also like Lee Se Young’s switch to an evil Anh Sa-nyeo and how PK tried to 感化 a little at at time.

I sincerely hope to have a HWAYUGI special to have the love lines for Son Oh Gong, Sam Jang, PK & Buja and even poor Ma Wang, better paced for their respective endings..

My Vote goes to Cha Seung Won for the best acting in this drama.

牛魔王 is so funny! 他应该是有史以来最帅和有魅力的牛魔王吧? 还真是第一次觉得牛魔王把孙悟空的风头都抢尽了。姜不愧是老的辣! 演技派大叔真不是盖的!

I also like this part when Sun Mi and Son Oh Gong were discussing about the differences between demons and humans.

She mentioned that human feelings are fleeting and they don’t stay the same forever, but Oh Gong mentioned that for demons, once they have ascertained that you are a friend, they will fight alongside you till the end. Once betrayed, they will pay with their lives.

Well, I guess that’s why there’s a saying 人是善变的。

All in all, I enjoyed this drama, despite the very bad CGI for the Finale Fighting scene.It’s a fantasy rom-com that teaches you how to love and also believe in yourself.Read More →

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It has been an intense, intriguing, action-packed 18 episodes with the latest “Grim Reaper” theme drama “Black”. It keeps you glued to the screen in a compelling way when you thought you were getting close to who the culprits were as the story unfolds, but every time, the twists and turns would lead you on to something new.

Intricate details showcased in this detective thriller, with a mixture of the unknown “afterlife” & a little romance, give the viewers a gravitational pull.

If not for the last 10 minutes that spoiled the “beauty” of this drama, it would undeniably be getting much better reviews.

“Black” is not just the name of the Grim Reaper #444, it also adds an additional “mysterious” layer to the dark theme. While the colour black is often associated with gloomy, dark, inauspicious things, or even death, it is a combination of these factors that gels the drama together to become so attractive.

It not just opens our curious minds to what holds in the unknown “afterlife” topics, but also sets us thinking about what are the most important things in life.

While Lee Dong Wook’s “Grim Reaper” image has been deeply entrenched in our minds & hearts since “Goblin” took on a global storm, Song Seung Heon’s tough, rash but witty “Grim Reaper” detective image does get on our good books too.

It seems that Song Seung Heon has not aged since “Autumn in my Heart”. With a tall, hunky physique, coupled with dashing good looks & nice thick brows, Seung Heon oppa fits so nicely in that black suit you wouldn’t mind seeing him wearing it for 90% of the drama.

Song Seung Heon’s acting has been much criticised over the years but the director does give some opportunity for him to enact 3 characters in one body.

It’s about a Grim reaper who’s stuck in a detective’s body, but as time goes by, he found his previous life memory as well. He then fell in love with a mortal woman who has the ability to see spirits.

We can see a big difference between Moo Gang who’s too timid to be a policeman and throws up at the sight of blood or can’t even hold a gun, versus a very badass Grim Reaper who is unfeeling and violent. I would say he has pulled through this drama better than many of his past dramas.

Even though there’s a 14-year gap between him and Go Ara and you feel that there’s a lack of super great passion cum chemistry, it was just sufficient for a drama like this where romance is not the main line.

It shows the gradual transformation of Black who was nonchalant and unfeeling to everything around him, to becoming a warmer person, who would seek justice and also care for Ha Ram. He eventually breaks down upon uncovering the truth and had to find ways to solve everything and make life better for Ha Ram.

While we can say all that he has done is noble and is in the best interests of Ha Ram, would Ha Ram have wanted him to do it this way?

All in all, I would say I have enjoyed the drama greatly. So many of the supporting roles have made this drama much better than expected.

Most importantly, we should not forget some of the tragedies that happened in real life and we need to reflect and learn from these incidents.
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