The Innocent Man (2012)

I went into this drama not knowing what to expect at all, only knowing that revenge was a main element of the story. The show starts of AMAZiNG actually. Especially the final minutes.
For me, it's important that a drama episode has an great ending, so i will be looking forward to the next episode. This drama does that VERY well. I just couldn't help but smile when the ending theme sound starts playing and i'm totally confused and have no idea what's going to happen next or what just happend.
This dramatic affect ends quickly tho, after 6 or 7 episodes the drama goes downhill, and il found myself thinking that the drama has lost it's identity. That it should have ended already. The rest of the show was basically a chore for me to watch.
Yes there are some shocking, cute and romantic surprises, but when i look back it's not worth watching.This show went from an ovarall 9 rating downhill to a 6.

Rewatch value is 1. Not 0 because the 1 is for the awesome ending theme in the first episodes ;p.

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This is an excellent melodrama with a awesome cast in Song Joong Ki and Moon Chae Won. Just the two of them makes this show a must-watch, and they do not disappoint with their versatile and excellent acting.

Story:
The story got me hooked right from the 1st episode. The revenge theme was not new on its own but the way it was written in this drama makes u feel on the edge of the seat. You will find yourself empathize with Kang Ma Ru and Seo Eun Gi and even with the evil casts of Han Jae Hee and the evil lawyer. I love the ending (was not expecting it) but like what some of the other users' reviews wrote, it took a while to figure out what happened. On hindsight, had it been any other endings...it would have been really cruel.

Acting/Cast:

This is a perfect 10 for me. Song Joong Ki's acting was a revelation especially coming right after his performance in Sungkyunkwan Scandal. The emotion roller coaster he portrayed in this show was perfect. And, I really love Moon Chae Won, my favourite Korean actress after watching Princess's Man. The range of emotions she portrayed as Sun Eun Gi was unbelievable and she once again showed us how good an actress she is.

Music:
The ost was excellent in evoking the emotions of the show. It just makes the great show even better.

Rewatch Value:

I don't usually rewatch drama so that's explain my rating. If ever I were to rewatch, its because of both the leads.


Overall:

This is easily my drama of the year for 2012, now that 2012 is coming to an end soon.

Without disclosing too much spoiler, the following quote from Maru in one of the very touching scene really sums up what this drama is all about:

"I hear the laughter of my friend, my sister,and my love.

They are part of the most beautiful, delicious,and fascinating dream in the world, that I can ever dream.

Afraid that if I open my eyes, I'll wake up from my dream, so I can't open my eyes in fear.

For this beautiful morning, thank you for gifting it to me. I won't be greedy and ask for more. I won't expect any more.

Right now, I am happy"

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This is a superb drama, that I recommend. It is extremely well acted; the story moves along with just the right pace; it uses pretty much ALL the melo set pieces and makes us believe in these people, to understand how real people are affected by the happenings in their lives and the choices they make and how tragedy occurs. You can take nothing for granted! The writer and director keep up the story moving wihtou filler or credibility gaps and the switches in plot, which come almost every episode, are brilliantly handled - you never see what they have coming. Puts so many other clunky paint by numbers dramas to shame. And did I mention insane chemistry between the gorgeous main leads!

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I know I'm going to get a lot of Not Helpful marks right off the bat because of my low rating, but frankly speaking, this drama disappointed me. I truly wanted to love it going in, and I tried my best to fall into the world this drama creates, but it always fell flat and left me feeling like I was missing something everyone else seemed to get.

In the beginning, the story was looking like it would be semi-original and be about pure revenge for the wrong the male lead received, and an innocent person would end up hurt. Song Joong Ki played his role so well that it really made that plot seem new and believable. He's just man you fall in love with right away, even when he's doing something wrong. I even liked Park Si Yeon when she was mean and defensive, because it's not often you see a spicy female lead like that. Then it all took a nose dive a few episodes in, and the logic behind the revenge or the expected gain of the revenge seemed so non-existent. There were times I cried, but I don't ever remember laughing during this drama. There was no levity, no comedic relief to over-come the crushing weight of the angst in the story-line, no hope that things would get better or that the characters would suddenly find a way to let everything go. It felt like the love was always tainted and the continuing of the scam and then the later refusal to just TELL Park Si Yeon was infuriating and pointless to me. Not to mention the last episode (I don't think this really gives anything away), especially the last five minutes, made me feel like I wasted 20 episodes on never-ending pointless angst because it just didn't matter anymore. Everything the leads worked for, and all the reasons they supposedly couldn't just run away, crumbled into nothing and were all tossed aside, twenty episodes too late.

All the negatives in the above paragraph aside, the cast was really well selected, and even though I really didn't enjoy the story-line most of the time, I really do think the actors played their roles extremely well. Song Joong Ki was awesome in his role, and he really shined in one of his first male lead roles (at least that I've seen). Park Si Yeon also played her character well, even if I got whip lash from the changes in personality at times, she acted well and I believed the emotions she was projecting. Awesome acting aside, I unfortunately never came to really care about any of the characters. It was truly hard to find any real qualities to love, knowing that half their personalities were just based on circumstances or loss of memory. Even the villain became someone I couldn't understand towards the end, and I started to forget just what her justifications were exactly.

The music was good, I can't particularly remember much, but I do know I love the opening and the song playing during it. As much negative as I have towards this drama, I truly think the opening sequence in by far one of my favorites, and the small change in it they make on the last episode only made me love it more. I love small details like that. The rest of the OST really fit the mood and was well chosen.

I really don't think I'll ever re-watch this drama because even the semi-happy scenes are doused in angst, and I just don't feel the need to. Maybe I'll rewatch the last five minutes, because those are my favorites. XD

Overall, I want to point out the good aspects because I know my review is really critical and may upset some of the drama's lovers, and I do like some of it! I did really like how I could tell the main pair was in love (At least towards the end), even if I didn't understand their motivations anymore or particularly like their characters, I liked their real love. You felt it, you WANTED then to work out, and you rooted for a happy ending, even if there was no logical hope. Also, once again, the actors played their roles wonderfully, and the camera work was beautiful and smartly done. I just didn't connect with any character, and felt like all the drama was so pointless not even halfway through. I'll be honest, I'm bitter. I really, truly, wanted to love this drama as much as everyone else, but it ended up being a good drama that is a one time watch and move on type of drama. If you watch it, I really hope you like it more than me!!

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I don't think there is much I can say as the reviews out here point out all the good bits of the series!
I thoroughly enjoyed this drama! It's off my usual track of Kdrama's but I'm glad I watched it. I started this drama in the evening and couldn't stop until 8 am the next day!

The revenge plot if excellent, there is no-nonsense romance without 'near misses', the 'second banana' misunderstandings, less comic relief and digression.

You have smart and strong, albeit, hot headed female leads that would go to extremes to get what they want.

It was pretty much impossible to guess what could happen the next minute. I came up with nearly 10 different possibilities of how the story would progress as I watched!

I would have liked to have seen more screen time for Kang Maru and Eun-Gi but it worked well either way. For all those who love 'skinship' ;p I would say the kisses worked well on screen, not too many though, but good! Especially the last one in the series. I only wish they didn't cut into a different scene in between!!!

The few things that annoyed me were the excessive bitch-slapping conversations the two female leads had during the earlier episodes and the annoying shaky camera.

All in all, an excellent drama with unexpected plot twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat at all times!

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I waited for all eps to be posted to begin watching. Ran through it in just over a week, and I've said it before, (probably here) Kang Ma Roo is a Superhero! Rarely does a drama character do EVERYTHING right. I've tried. You can't be (and remain to be) a 'Nige Guy' when every female within 30 meters of you is a card carrying, fully licensed Train Wreck Engineer. But, Dude pulls it off. With barely a scrape on him in the end, he got to reconcile his errors of Love, disregard the shame of Love and capitalize on being an error-free Lover; unashamed to be Loved. Bravo...

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Not even sure if I can write a meaningful review of Nice Guy. I'm still pondering the ending and whether or not I understood it or even liked it; however, if you have an interest in a melodrama that is not too heavy on either the melo or drama, this is definitely worth watching. The actor, I must say was STELLAR! Song Joong Ki as Kang Ma Roo was absolutely phenomenal! His character portrayal, you could not figure out whether to hate him or love him but you definitely understood him! moon Chae Won as Eun Gee was as usual, the best! Again, she has impressed me with her acting ability and she does not fail here either. The supporting cast who were new to me, Park Si Yeon as Jae Hee, you could not help but hate her! Lee Kwang Soo as Jae Gil (or affectionately known as Giraffe) and the actress, Lee Yoo Bi as Choco, will be memorably and I will look forward to them in the future. My only complaint is the story and especially the ending. Cannot say that I was truly enamored with it but felt I understood where the writer was going. I recommend it but it's definitely a one viewing drama for me.

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NO SPOILER WARNING - I write down my own thoughts without ruining your joy ^^

POOR ENGLISH WARNING - English is not my mother language so please don't be freaked out too much because of my mistakes. Thanks! ^^

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Soooo~ first of all: hi everybody, I'm belladance and even if I saw more than half of the drama Innocent Man, I'll post episode reviews from now on.

The thing is that I've started to show a long ago - I think when it came out... yeah it seems like it was a decade ago but I have university to attend okay? - but my mum likes Korean dramas as well and since there isn't one in TV nowadays I recommended her this one. I was about to rewatch it anyways. So after 2 episodes of Innocent Man, here is my summary.

The Plot
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Things start out quickly but strongly: we get to know the life of the characters as it is, thanks to the unexpected event we time-travel some and show how things has changed since then. Both episodes have pilot feelings in my opinion but not in a bad way - I think everybody needs some time to 1) get used to the athmosphere 2) get a bigger picture about the usual characteristics of our heroes. Because let me admit, their life are way too complicated and unusual for their own good. Nobody in the story has a normal or more like full life, everybody has their own scars and mistakes. And when these kind of people meet, when similar worlds collide, the appearing tension can cause a mind-blowing chain reaction. Just like in case of Innocent Man.

Of course there were some moments which I looked weird at because they were out of the picture but I blame the people who did the cutting. Seriously this show has high quality but sometimes the cutting killed me...

Acting/Cast
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In this aspect I'm fully satisfied: I've always known that Song Joong Ki, even if he did very well in his supporting roles, had born to be a hero and Kang Ma Roo's complicated character shows itself perfectly thanks to him.

I'm also a big fan of Moon Chae Won - the presence of the two of them made watching the drama urgent for me - I like how she has a gentle appearance but can leave a stronger impression after just a few minutes of acting. She got the perfect role and it was about time. After her role in Shining Inheritance it was rare to see from her this kind of a slightly badder one so YAY! :)

About the others: it's my first time watching Park Si Yeon, Lee Kwang Soo and Lee Yoo Bi but I don't really have complaints. Park Si Yeon got he kind of role again but I fully agree with it, she just has the face and emotional deepness. About Kwang Soo... After seeing him in Running Man it's incredibly hard for me not to laugh but I like his acting, in a melodrama a little laugh is need or else you'd be drenched in tears. The only thing which I don't like about Lee Yoo Bi is her character LOL. I understand that Ma Roo needs his sister but I'd be slightly happier if his sister behaved a bit more reasonable. Some of her acts just don't make sense for me. :/

Music
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I LOVE the OST of this show! It has the dark, revenge feeling but also has the vulnerable, innocent side and two melt together just good. After listening to a bunch of overdramatic, cheesy drama songs its refreshing impact can't be describable. *.*

Rewatch Value
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After two episodes it's hard to decide but if I only mean to rewatch these two episodes, I have to say yes. They're dynamic and heartbreaking, they make a good basis for the next to come.

I'm definately glad that I've decided to rewatch Innocent Man from the start not continuing from the episode where I was. And as I saw my mum's reactions, she's more happier than me that she finally has some interesting Kdrama to watch. :)

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Love in the hands of writers

Poor MaRo was treated badly. This brave boy sought revenge for his arbitrarily destroyed life.
In the end, the evil was done, a mild punishment was meted out to the main criminals, but the most destructive of all was the attractive MaRo himself.

That the love of the main characters ends tragically was known since EunGi, whom MaRo loved, had sexual intercourse with the dubious lawyer Park. This consistently and irreparably destroyed the whole love story. Why, was there no other option for their difficult love that cost us a lot of nerves and hopes?

In the end, we are left with a bunch of loose ends, a presumably dead MaRo, EunGi who might be with one of her cheaters. Yes one could make free-floating guesses. Very unsatisfying, downright annoying the whole thing.

There was a consolation for us sensitive souls in a quasi-separate final chapter. In an obviously fictional story, the lovers found themselves in a kind of modern-day Xanadu. A village by the sea, bathed in pastel colors, it was the place of their longing.
MaRo, who had lost his memory, and EunGi seemed strangely empty. His voiceover described that he would find EunGi again in his next life and live his happiness with her.

Everyone should think what they want, the writers probably think. Don't get angry friends, and peace on earth!

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