Month: April 2026

GyeongSeong Creature Season 2 – Kdrama Review

/ jeana84 / Leave a comment

Title: GyeongSeong Creature Season 2

Language: Korean

Genres: Romance, Horror, Action

Objectional Content: Graphic Violence, Language, Death

Synopsis (from MyDramaList): “Gyeongseong Creature” returns, extending its narrative from the tumultuous spring of 1945 to the bustling streets of 2024 Seoul. This continuation, set against the backdrop of monstrous creations born from human greed, further entwines the fates of Jang Tae Sang and Yoon Chae Ok.

My Review

**Note: this review will contain spoilers for season 1.**

Geyeongseong Creature season 2 takes place nearly 80 years after the conclusion of season 1. We are introduced to Jang Ho-Jae, who looks suspiciously like Jang Tae-Sang. He lost all of his memories in an accident around a year ago. Since then he has lived and worked in the building that used to be the Pawnshop in 1945. While investigating a missing person, Ho-Jae runs into Chae-Ok, though he doesn’t recognize her.

Chae-Ok has survived all this time thanks to the najin that he mother gave her. She has worked finding missing people, the same as she did before the events of the first season. Once she crosses paths with Ho-Jae, everything starts to go awry.

The human experiments have continued underground and we see what became of the baby Akiko had after being infected by a najin. There are new, human looking creatures that are insanely fast as well as ones like the original. I’m not entirely sure if Chae-Ok’s mother is supposed to be one of those, or if she actually died at the end of season one.

Although I really enjoyed this show, I felt like the pacing was off. It felt rushed and didn’t really explain a lot of things. I have a lot of questions still. There was nearly 80 years in between seasons. What happened during those years? How did the two main characters not cross paths sooner? I feel like Chae-Ok would have kept an eye on Tae-Sang throughout his life, even if she never spoke to him.

I’m not sure how I feel about the ending. I wouldn’t call it a cliff hanger but it was open to interpretation. Then there’s the after credits scene. The implications of this scene are devastating and just get even more horrifying the more I think about it. This scene alone would suggest a third season was planned. However, as of the time of this writing, a third season has not been confirmed and with how Netflix can be about renewing their shows, it seems unlikely at this point that there will be a third season. The main actress, Han So-Hee, also seems to be in demand for very physical roles, which may contribute to the delay of the third season.

My rating for Gyeongseong Creature season 2 is 4 out of 5 stars and I would recommend it to those who watched season one. Definitely watch season one first.

Thanks for reading!

Cafe Minamdang – Review

/ jeana84 / Leave a comment

Title: Cafe Minamdong

Language: Korean

Genres: Mystery, Comedy, Romance

Objectional Content: Mild Violence, Death

Synopsis (from MyDramaList): Nam Han Jun is a former criminal profiler now working as a conman. To run his scams, he disguises himself as a fortune teller with his shop called Minamdang. Clients are drawn to his attractive appearance and smooth-talking manner. While he cheats his customers out of money, he works to solve their issues, all the while providing excellent customer service. He’s partnered up with Kong Su Cheol, who runs a private detective agency, and his younger sister, Hye Jun, an elite hacker. For the last three years, detective Han Jae Hui performed her job with enthusiasm and integrity. Will her involvement with Nam Han Jun jeopardize all of that?

My Review

My honest first impression of this show was “Wow, this is ridiculous!” But, I had recently finished Boyfriend on Demand and wanted more of Seo In-Guk, who plays the lead Nam Han-Jun in this series. So, I stuck with it and I’m not sorry that I did. Although the type of comedy in this show isn’t really to my taste, it was so obvious that the actors were having a blast in their roles that I couldn’t help but enjoy that.

Thankfully, the show does get more serious, as Nam Han-Jun is trying to find the person who killed his best friend. From the beginning I had an idea who the real culprit behind everything was. I second guessed myself a couple of times, but I still kept thinking it was him. When the reveal came I was so happy to be right but there was no one around me for me to brag to so I just sort of carried on with the show.

I didn’t really like the character of Kong Su-Cheol. His mannerisms and way of speaking was odd and kind of got on my nerves. Nam Han-Jun’s younger sister, Nam Hye-Jun also wasn’t my favorite. The relationship the two of them end of up in didn’t really feel like it had substance. I also didn’t really like the stylization around Han Jae-Hui, like she was some kind of super hero with crazy powers.

Seo In-Guk as Nam Han-Jun is the absolute highlight of this show and really shows his acting ability here. Looking at other shows he’s been in, this a very different and entertaining character for him.

My rating for Cafe Minamdang is 3 out of 5 stars and I’d recommendation to those who enjoy a good dose of comedy in their murder mysteries.

Thanks for reading!

GyeongSeong Creature – Kdrama Review

/ jeana84 / Leave a comment

Title: GyeongSeong Creature

Language: Korean

Genres: Historical, Romance, Horror, Action

Objectional Content: Graphic Violence, Language, Death

Synopsis (From MyDramaList) Jang Tae Sang, a charming and resourceful man in Bukchon, Gyeongseong, enjoys his comfortable life until he crosses paths with Yoon Chae Ok, a skilled todugun known for finding missing people. Chae Ok, hardened by a tough childhood traveling through Manchuria and Shanghai, arrives in Gyeongseong searching for her mother, who disappeared a decade ago. Together, they tackle puzzling missing person cases that reveal a chilling truth, pushing Tae Sang to question his values and Chae Ok to confront her past.

My Overview

The synopsis from MyDramaList doesn’t really begin to tell you what this drama is about. It takes place in Korea, during the Japanese Colonial era. As the first episode opens, we see Japanese soldiers preparing to abandon some kind of laboratory. Dead bodies are being piled up and doused in gasoline. Those in charge are gathering important papers and samples in test tubes. Some sort of monstrous creature can be seen before the building goes up in flames.

The narrative then moves to Gyeongseong, where Jang Tae-Sang is tasked with finding the mistress of a Japanese police official who has been missing for a week. To help with the search, Tae-Sang employs a pair of sleuths, father and daughter duo Yoon Joon-Won and Yoon Chae-Ok. The trail leads them to Onseong Hospital, which appears to be a respectable medical centre that caters to the wealthy Japanese, but below the surface lies underground dungeons filled with people being experimented on.

My Review

After watching a few more light hearted romantic comedies, Gyeongseong Creature was a bit of a shock to the senses. This drama grabbed my attention from the very first moment and didn’t let go. I hated the fact that I had to sleep and go to work instead of being able to watch this to the end.

Park Seo-Joon (Tae-Sang) and Han So-Hee (Chae-Ok) are great together. I honestly thought it was so funny how Tae-Sang is clearly infatuated with Chae-Ok from the second he sees her face while she is quite indifferent and standoffish. Jo Han-Chul as Chae-Ok’s father is also fantastic. I’ve seen him in a few other dramas where he’s mostly playing some kind of corporate yuppie, so to see him in a more down to earth and action type role was really great.

There is a fair amount of gore and graphic violence in this drama. Human experimentation, including on children, does take place, so viewer discretion is advised for that. I have seen worse in terms of gore, but I think the fact that it stems from human experimentation makes it more disturbing.

If I hadn’t known that there was already a second season I would have been pretty mad at the ending as it ends on a cliffhanger. Thankfully, season two is already out and available to watch.

My rating for Gyeongseong Creature is 5 out of 5 stars and I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys a historical horror drama with a good amount of action and some romance and mystery thrown in.

Thanks for reading!