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iariaA Rewritten Tale of the Gumiho
Overall this was an enjoyable series with some really lovely relationships and characters.
+ Those last couple seconds really messed things up. Huh. I don't understand the choice made here.
So Yeon reincarnated as a gumiho again and has been lying to everyone about it? ... why??? That's the sort of thing that is going to come out - if he has an accident or, you know, when he doesn't age. It makes no sense that he would lie let alone to Ji Ah about this. She doesn't care if he's human or gumiho. What a terrible way to start their life together!
We've heard many times about how his greatest wish was to be human and that's what he got in the end (his happy ending) so why would the show undercut that at the last second? His smile when he confronted the samjae was a really weird choice too because it implied he's happy being a gumiho again, that he's enjoying doing his old work.
Which actually leads to another problem - him telling Taluipa and Eui Ong that he was human now and that's why he couldn't see them until he died and them going along with it. I don't buy for a second that they wouldn't be able to tell. And even if he'd somehow managed to fool them (why??) Taluipa is 100% going to figure it out when he kills the samjae!
Or maybe he wasn't lying. Certainly his voice-over about being human showed no hints that he didn't think he wasn't human. So maybe he did reincarnate as human. Maybe he thought he was human. But when he confronted the samjae he did not seem at all surprised at turning his umbrella into a sword. He knew it would work ergo he knew he was still gumiho. He chose his umbrella and to go confront the samjae so he knew before leaving his apartment.
Okay so then lets fanwank hard and say that he was reincarnated human but that his gumiho/godhood was in his umbrella/sword and if he ever chose to wield it again then he would cease to be human and return to his 'true' form. Fine, I can absolutely buy that. There's no real build up for that possibility but it makes sense to me (especially with him giving it to Ji Ah when he returned). In that case though what doesn't make sense is Yeon deciding to let go of the humanness he so coveted, so very easily and so soon after getting for... what reason? Because samjae gave Ji Ah bad luck?
Anyway, yeah, I'm pretty WTF about those final seconds.
+ I really liked how connected everyone felt in the first half of the episode but when Yeon returned it all disappeared. I was hoping for one big happy family but while I can assume that we didn't see it. The biggest failing was Yeon and Ji Ah's wedding where they were completely alone and we see no one else. Someone was there to film it and I assume everyone was there unseen but the choice to not show them was not a good one. It made them feel very isolated, especially Ji Ah who I don't think interacted with anyone else after he returned. It's made far more annoying because it would have been so easy to fix - show the wedding with everyone, show Yeon at dinner with his in-laws, show Yeon and Ji-Ah having dinner with Shin Joo and Yoo Ri, everyone having dinner at the restaurant, Yeon being constantly 'annoyed' by their apartment always being invaded by their friends. Do a montage! It would be so easy to do and would have added so much.
+ Nooo, not Rang! D: That was so sad. Him getting to see his family desperately running for him was bittersweet. [Even more so after his message to Yeon when he said that because Yeon was dead there would be no one running to save him.] That said it was a really lovely end scene for him and honestly him dying so Yeon could reincarnate makes a lot of sense to me and feels fitting.
+ How does reincarnation even work in this universe? Because Yeon came back both exactly as he was when he died and only months after his death while Rang also showed up shortly after he died but as his child self. How the heck does that make sense? I guess I could buy the gods sending Yeon back as he was when he died (so not really reincarnation) because he took out Imugi (or more likely to prevent Taluipa from continuing her phone harassment) but what is up with Rang? It doesn't make sense.
Honestly I thought for a second when Ji Ah brought up having a baby that Rang would end up reincarnating as their child and I was not really down for that. But I don't really like him reincarnating in a random life with nothing to do with Yeon either. I'm glad he's happy and finally has a mother who loves him but... I guess I wanted the two of them to reincarnate together and thus for them to get to be brothers again. A do-over. At the least I would have settled for Yoo-ri and Shin-joo having a kid and him being Rang.
+ I loved Yeon's video message to Rang. Everything about that was great. I loved that when Yeon said the message would explode Rang actually thought for a second that it would, lol. I also loved that while he was waiting Rang made a goodbye video for Yeon, which also was super lovely and heartbreaking.
+ It was nice to see Yeon getting so emotional and crying after leaving his goodbyes for Rang (the video message in the car) and Ji Ah (writing the letter after buying her birthday gift) instead of simply stoic and accepting of his fate.
+ I liked getting to see Yeon mourn for Rang.
+ Rang and Ji Ah competing over Yeon, after his death, was hilarious. Rang started it, of course, but I love that Ji Ah immediately engaged in trying to one-up him instead of acting more mature like she usual does. Also her eye roll when Rang said Yeon had spent far more time with him than with her - heh. I also loved them laughing about Yeon's ridiculousness together.
+ I really really wish that the show had had Ji Ah and Rang working together over those six months we skipped to find a way to bring Yeon back. It would have tied back to their truce to work together to protect Yeon. Their scene with King Odo showed a lot more ease and care and understanding between them and having the understanding that they had been working closely together for six months to save Yeon would have made that hit all the harder. Rang gave his life not just for Yeon but also to stop Ji Ah from giving hers. Ji Ah flung her arm between Rang and King Odo to try and stop him from taking Rang!
+ I loved that Rang and Soo Ho moved in with Yoo Ri and Shin Joo after their wedding. I loved that the four of them became a family. I loved Yoo Ri's offended "we are one set" (aww she included Soo Ho in that.) I loved Rang as the stressful in-law. Shin Joo's exasperation and annoyance at having to be the only mature adult in the household was great but I loved how quickly he got over it when it's revealed Rang bought him an expensive gift. They were lovely and I'm sad we didn't get more of them.
+ I love that the two people Rang saved ended up becoming a family. Yoo Ri was very sweet with Soo Ho this episode. Even from the beginning we had her covering Soo Ho's ears and rushing him out of the room when Rang started yelling at them which I thought was sweet. I loved her being there when the kids were bullying him.
+ Shin Joo dealt with Yeon's death surprisingly well considering that he very much seemed to live for him. A lot of it is that he had Yoo Ri to love, absolutely, but I think Yeon tasking him with the care of Ji Ah and Rang also really helped in the beginning. It gave him a purpose and a way to keep honouring Yeon. I like to think that this is why Yeon asked this of him. But I also like that we did get Shin Joo breaking down too - and of course at the most inopportune time. I loved their reunion.
+ Ji Ah trying to get Yeon into the dentist - lol.
+ Taluipa trying to cajole her brother into reincarnating Yeon before losing her temper and yelling at him was great. I love that despite her words to Ji Ah she did try to help him. I also loved in that scene - Eui Ong breaking into laughter at Taluipa using 'inflexible' to complain about her brother and the fact he brought them a compromise meal between mild and spicy.
+ I liked Taluipa actually reaching out when Yeon was going to leave to invite him to one last meal with them.
+ I loved everyone being there when Shin Joo proposed to Yoo Ri and them having a big family dinner together in celebration. I like how all the different groups came together in the end.
+ Except Ji Ah's parents who were rescued and then never really became characters in their own right. They interact with basically no other characters and seem to have no curiosity about their missing time or the weirdness around them. They weren't even at her wedding! They were very lovely with Ji Ah and I'm happy for her but as characters they were a bit nothing sadly.
+ The way it works is you offer King Odo the thing most valuable to you so I feel like there's some cheating here with him asking for Ji Ah and Rang's lives in exchange. As shown by how easily both were willing to accept those aren't the most valuable things to them - their families are. And we know that people can be exchanged because Rang did it to Yeon. Also Ji Ah's offer of all her memories of Yeon seemed like a pretty good offer as far as value goes.
Overall this was an enjoyable series with some really lovely relationships and characters.
+ Those last couple seconds really messed things up. Huh. I don't understand the choice made here.
So Yeon reincarnated as a gumiho again and has been lying to everyone about it? ... why??? That's the sort of thing that is going to come out - if he has an accident or, you know, when he doesn't age. It makes no sense that he would lie let alone to Ji Ah about this. She doesn't care if he's human or gumiho. What a terrible way to start their life together!
We've heard many times about how his greatest wish was to be human and that's what he got in the end (his happy ending) so why would the show undercut that at the last second? His smile when he confronted the samjae was a really weird choice too because it implied he's happy being a gumiho again, that he's enjoying doing his old work.
Which actually leads to another problem - him telling Taluipa and Eui Ong that he was human now and that's why he couldn't see them until he died and them going along with it. I don't buy for a second that they wouldn't be able to tell. And even if he'd somehow managed to fool them (why??) Taluipa is 100% going to figure it out when he kills the samjae!
Or maybe he wasn't lying. Certainly his voice-over about being human showed no hints that he didn't think he wasn't human. So maybe he did reincarnate as human. Maybe he thought he was human. But when he confronted the samjae he did not seem at all surprised at turning his umbrella into a sword. He knew it would work ergo he knew he was still gumiho. He chose his umbrella and to go confront the samjae so he knew before leaving his apartment.
Okay so then lets fanwank hard and say that he was reincarnated human but that his gumiho/godhood was in his umbrella/sword and if he ever chose to wield it again then he would cease to be human and return to his 'true' form. Fine, I can absolutely buy that. There's no real build up for that possibility but it makes sense to me (especially with him giving it to Ji Ah when he returned). In that case though what doesn't make sense is Yeon deciding to let go of the humanness he so coveted, so very easily and so soon after getting for... what reason? Because samjae gave Ji Ah bad luck?
Anyway, yeah, I'm pretty WTF about those final seconds.
+ I really liked how connected everyone felt in the first half of the episode but when Yeon returned it all disappeared. I was hoping for one big happy family but while I can assume that we didn't see it. The biggest failing was Yeon and Ji Ah's wedding where they were completely alone and we see no one else. Someone was there to film it and I assume everyone was there unseen but the choice to not show them was not a good one. It made them feel very isolated, especially Ji Ah who I don't think interacted with anyone else after he returned. It's made far more annoying because it would have been so easy to fix - show the wedding with everyone, show Yeon at dinner with his in-laws, show Yeon and Ji-Ah having dinner with Shin Joo and Yoo Ri, everyone having dinner at the restaurant, Yeon being constantly 'annoyed' by their apartment always being invaded by their friends. Do a montage! It would be so easy to do and would have added so much.
+ Nooo, not Rang! D: That was so sad. Him getting to see his family desperately running for him was bittersweet. [Even more so after his message to Yeon when he said that because Yeon was dead there would be no one running to save him.] That said it was a really lovely end scene for him and honestly him dying so Yeon could reincarnate makes a lot of sense to me and feels fitting.
+ How does reincarnation even work in this universe? Because Yeon came back both exactly as he was when he died and only months after his death while Rang also showed up shortly after he died but as his child self. How the heck does that make sense? I guess I could buy the gods sending Yeon back as he was when he died (so not really reincarnation) because he took out Imugi (or more likely to prevent Taluipa from continuing her phone harassment) but what is up with Rang? It doesn't make sense.
Honestly I thought for a second when Ji Ah brought up having a baby that Rang would end up reincarnating as their child and I was not really down for that. But I don't really like him reincarnating in a random life with nothing to do with Yeon either. I'm glad he's happy and finally has a mother who loves him but... I guess I wanted the two of them to reincarnate together and thus for them to get to be brothers again. A do-over. At the least I would have settled for Yoo-ri and Shin-joo having a kid and him being Rang.
+ I loved Yeon's video message to Rang. Everything about that was great. I loved that when Yeon said the message would explode Rang actually thought for a second that it would, lol. I also loved that while he was waiting Rang made a goodbye video for Yeon, which also was super lovely and heartbreaking.
+ It was nice to see Yeon getting so emotional and crying after leaving his goodbyes for Rang (the video message in the car) and Ji Ah (writing the letter after buying her birthday gift) instead of simply stoic and accepting of his fate.
+ I liked getting to see Yeon mourn for Rang.
+ Rang and Ji Ah competing over Yeon, after his death, was hilarious. Rang started it, of course, but I love that Ji Ah immediately engaged in trying to one-up him instead of acting more mature like she usual does. Also her eye roll when Rang said Yeon had spent far more time with him than with her - heh. I also loved them laughing about Yeon's ridiculousness together.
+ I really really wish that the show had had Ji Ah and Rang working together over those six months we skipped to find a way to bring Yeon back. It would have tied back to their truce to work together to protect Yeon. Their scene with King Odo showed a lot more ease and care and understanding between them and having the understanding that they had been working closely together for six months to save Yeon would have made that hit all the harder. Rang gave his life not just for Yeon but also to stop Ji Ah from giving hers. Ji Ah flung her arm between Rang and King Odo to try and stop him from taking Rang!
+ I loved that Rang and Soo Ho moved in with Yoo Ri and Shin Joo after their wedding. I loved that the four of them became a family. I loved Yoo Ri's offended "we are one set" (aww she included Soo Ho in that.) I loved Rang as the stressful in-law. Shin Joo's exasperation and annoyance at having to be the only mature adult in the household was great but I loved how quickly he got over it when it's revealed Rang bought him an expensive gift. They were lovely and I'm sad we didn't get more of them.
+ I love that the two people Rang saved ended up becoming a family. Yoo Ri was very sweet with Soo Ho this episode. Even from the beginning we had her covering Soo Ho's ears and rushing him out of the room when Rang started yelling at them which I thought was sweet. I loved her being there when the kids were bullying him.
+ Shin Joo dealt with Yeon's death surprisingly well considering that he very much seemed to live for him. A lot of it is that he had Yoo Ri to love, absolutely, but I think Yeon tasking him with the care of Ji Ah and Rang also really helped in the beginning. It gave him a purpose and a way to keep honouring Yeon. I like to think that this is why Yeon asked this of him. But I also like that we did get Shin Joo breaking down too - and of course at the most inopportune time. I loved their reunion.
+ Ji Ah trying to get Yeon into the dentist - lol.
+ Taluipa trying to cajole her brother into reincarnating Yeon before losing her temper and yelling at him was great. I love that despite her words to Ji Ah she did try to help him. I also loved in that scene - Eui Ong breaking into laughter at Taluipa using 'inflexible' to complain about her brother and the fact he brought them a compromise meal between mild and spicy.
+ I liked Taluipa actually reaching out when Yeon was going to leave to invite him to one last meal with them.
+ I loved everyone being there when Shin Joo proposed to Yoo Ri and them having a big family dinner together in celebration. I like how all the different groups came together in the end.
+ Except Ji Ah's parents who were rescued and then never really became characters in their own right. They interact with basically no other characters and seem to have no curiosity about their missing time or the weirdness around them. They weren't even at her wedding! They were very lovely with Ji Ah and I'm happy for her but as characters they were a bit nothing sadly.
+ The way it works is you offer King Odo the thing most valuable to you so I feel like there's some cheating here with him asking for Ji Ah and Rang's lives in exchange. As shown by how easily both were willing to accept those aren't the most valuable things to them - their families are. And we know that people can be exchanged because Rang did it to Yeon. Also Ji Ah's offer of all her memories of Yeon seemed like a pretty good offer as far as value goes.
