THE SHORT VERDICT:

Show might look like simple quirky fun on the surface, but under the hood, there’s a great deal of confidence, creativity and deftness that I find truly impressive.

To make things even better, our characters are all very well-cast, in my opinion. Each actor feels well-suited to their role, and they even play off well against one another. That’s no small deal, particularly in an ensemble cast.

I found myself growing extremely fond of these absurd characters, even as I stayed entertained and engaged, all the way to the very end.

Altogether absolutely delightful, and I would heartily recommend. ❤️

THE LONG VERDICT:

There are so many fashion rules that most people follow without question — don’t mix prints, don’t clash colors, don’t pile on too many statement pieces at once.

But then there are the true fashionistas: the ones so confident in their own skin and sensibilities that they break multiple rules in the same outfit, and somehow end up looking fabulous.

This drama is exactly that kind of drama fashionista. 😁

It gleefully tosses together absurd comedy, heartfelt pathos, superhero tropes, and surreal whimsy — combinations that should feel mismatched, even chaotic.

Yet, because Show is so surefooted and deft, the result isn’t a mess; it’s a dazzling ensemble that struts down the kdrama runway with flair.

Every tonal clash becomes a statement piece, every unexpected twist a bold accessory, and together they create a look that’s not just cohesive, but quite unforgettable.

Let’s just say that I am suitably dazzled. 🤩

A NOTE ON THIS REVIEW

This review is a curated, condensed retrospective of my experience watching the show.

If you’d like to experience the drama alongside me, episode by episode, you might enjoy checking out my episode notes on Patreon here. They capture my unfolding reactions as the story develops – it’ll feel like we watched this show together. 🥰

These notes are EXCLUSIVE to Patreon, and are a complete and different experience than my public reviews.

If memberships aren’t your thing, individual episode note sets are available for purchase too. ❤️

OST ALBUM PLAYLIST: FOR YOUR LISTENING PLEASURE

Here’s the OST playlist, in case you’d like to listen to it while you read the review.

I’d say that the OST is as offbeat and quirky as our story and characters – a perfect accompaniment to our story, in my opinion.

Personally, I didn’t find myself noticing the OST too much, but I put that down to it being that effective at calling attention to story beats, while itself remaining relatively unobtrusive.

MANAGING EXPECTATIONS / THE VIEWING LENS

Here are a few things that I think might be useful to keep in mind, if you want to maximize your chances of enjoying your watch:

1. A manhwa lens is helpful

Our story world has more than its fair share of peculiarities and lashings of zaniness, which I personally find best digested through a manhwa lens.

In real-world terms, there are things in this drama world that would land as weird or disturbing, but which go down a lot smoother and easier, when understood as being part of a cartoon world.

2. Trust that Show knows what it’s doing

This, I think, is the biggest tip I can give you.

Show definitely knows what it’s doing, so even if things feel off-kilter or strange, hang in there – it’ll all work out in the end.

STUFF I LIKED

The emotional heft

What sets this show apart from other silly drama outings, I feel, is that this isn’t just nonsensical fun.

Like, yes, these characters are off-the-wall and silly a lot of the time, but there’s also a strong layer of pathos running undercurrent for each of our characters, that I think gives the whole thing a good amount of emotional heft, right off the bat.

Show makes sure to weave a strong layer of pathos and connection into its story, and I found that very compelling indeed.

In a nutshell, Show’s modus operandi is to throw a character at us in all of their unreasonable absurdity, then underline the whole thing with a healthy serving of pathos.

I honestly rather like it, because Show’s handling is deft, and the writing feels sure, and despite the regular undercutting, I never felt like I was being manipulated as a viewer.

Instead, I felt like I was being taken on a journey while being led by an experienced guide, and I liked that a lot. 🥰

The writing feels deft

This entire show is deft, but I do think that the writing stands out as being particularly confident and sure.

No matter how chaotic the story events sometimes looked like on the surface, the writing continued to be skillful and surefooted.

There are no dropped threads; instead, everything is woven together meticulously woven together, with a lot of thought, creativity and care showing through.

Here’s an example of what I mean when I say that the writing is thoughtful.

[SPOILER ALERT]

E5-6. We get a very pivotal conversation, with Un Jeong apologizing for having once suspected Chae Ni of taking the heart of the child of eternity – while also revealing to Chae Ni for the first time, that she had indeed died and come back to life, AND, that Gran had sponsored the experiments 20 years ago.

In one fell swoop, we have Un Jeong putting down his suspicions – while Chae Ni suddenly finds herself full of them, questioning everything she’s ever known about Gran and her own life.

On a macro level, this is such a cool contrast between Un Jeong’s emotional state and Chae Ni’s, with his burden passing so smoothly and innocently over to her.

[END SPOILER]

Execution and handling

Of course, alongside the writing, the execution is the other major star in this show – in my opinion.

Remember what I said about Show being a Drama Fashionista, and being very adept at successful rule-breaking?

This really comes through in its execution, with Show doing things like serving up absurd comedy alongside genuine tragedy, giving us frantic pacing alongside emotional depth, relentlessly diving into mythology without losing character focus, executing tonal whiplash that somehow feels cohesive, AND serving up constant surprises that still feel earned.

This shake-and-serve blend of comedy and chaos is really masterfully done, in my opnion. 🤩

Oh, and I personally LOVE, too, the little moments of slo-mo whimsy that punctuate our story world. 😍

[SPOILER ALERT]

E1-2. Like when Un Jeong decides that Chae Ni is behaving suspiciously like a serial killer, and ends up in a tug-of-war with her over her suitcase, which results in an explosion of her belongings, when the suitcase busts open.

That slo-mo overhead shot, where we see all of her things flying into the air as the camera pans down on both of them, is surrealistic and whimsical, to my eyes.

It creates this effect where I feel like my own watch experience is being punctuated with pockets of wonder and whimsy, and I love that. 🤩

E5-6. It’s so in character for Show to make that moment where Chae Ni nurses Un Jeong one of human connection, with Chae Ni wiping his face with a wet tissue, but also one of surrealistic whimsy, with the way she has to hook her bag with her foot to get said tissue – because her bag is floating in the air with the rest of the room, thanks to Un Jeong’s powers.

[END SPOILER]

Show’s sense of humor

Given that k-humor is so often hit-or-miss for me, it delights me to say that I thoroughly enjoyed Show’s sense of humor.

I kid you not; Show had me not just chuckling on the inside, but laughing out loud at its particular brand of comedy and absurdity.

At points, it even had me pausing my episode because I needed more than a little moment, laugh and soak in the silly funniness of it all.

I found Show’s humor consistently fresh, inventive and deft, rather than merely “funny.”

Show would often put something emotionally serious right next to something completely ridiculous, and I thought that was audaciously well done.

Show could be poignant and ridiculous in the same breath, without having to turn The Funny on and off – and I thought that was truly impressive.

[SPOILER ALERT]

Here are some of my personal highlights:

1. Chae Ni marveling at her new healthy visage in the mirror, while in the background, Ro Bin accidentally knocks himself out with a power-toss of an onion. 😂

2. The boys behaving like bickering children during superpower training – while Chae Ni flips through the sexy magazine and earnestly wonders about the bunny tail. 🤭

3. Ro Bin’s powers being triggered by hurt feelings – poor tenderhearted earnest Ro Bin! 😭🥲

4. Gyeong Un’s sticky power being triggered by lying – so perfectly ludicrous, yet so perfect, with Gyeong Un being such a reflexive big-talker! 😂

5. The coffee jelly teleportation – what an unexpected use for coffee jelly!

[END SPOILER]

STUFF THAT WAS OK

The way Show treats its internal mythology

One of the things that I feel like some viewers might struggle with, is the fact that Show doesn’t painstaking lay out the rules of its mythology for us.

Rather, it allows room for us to discover it on our own.

While I found this to be a pretty fun exercise, I feel that your mileage may vary.

To Show’s credit, I do think that it manages to abide by its own rules – it’s just that you might have to chew on it more than you’d bargained for, in order for it to make sense in your head.

Here’s an example of what I mean.

[SPOILER ALERT]

E5-6. One of the questions that I found myself wondering about, is why Ju Ran’s mind control power works on Un Jeong in the beginning of these episodes, but doesn’t work on him later on.

I think that the way Chae Ni’s able to fight off Ju Ran’s mind control power is a very interesting clue, though it’s a little blink-and-you’d-miss-it: this indicates that Ju Ran’s mind-control abilities aren’t universally effective; they are only effective when you’re in a weak state of mind, or have a weak sense of self.

Or at least, this indicates that you can regain control and agency against her mind-control, with the power of your thoughts.

I thought this was quite fascinating.

[END SPOILER]

THE LARGER STORY

The backstory and mystery behind the superpowers in our story land as surreal, bizarre and tragic, all at the same time.

I’d say that this is where the manhwa lens really comes in handy, because it helps to smooth over the pain of the tragedy at the center of it all.

[BROAD SPOILERS]

It’s awful to see how the children were subject to experimentation, and it’s just as awful to see how most of them cleaved to Dr. Ha (Son Hyun Joo) and addressed him as “Father” – not in a priest sort of way, but in a parent sort of way.

I found Dr. Ha to be a pretty fascinating Big Bad sort of character, because beyond the cruel experimentation, he really does appear to be quite brilliant and have a serious passion to achieve scientific breakthrough.

It’s just that he also appears to be quite sociopathic and possess quite a big god complex.

At the same time, I found his charges Pal Ho, Ju Ran and Ho Ran (Bae Na Ra, Jeong E Suh and Choi Yun Ji) sympathetic, even though they’re painted as doing a lot of very bad things.

Even though they are now adults and therefore technically could choose to walk away from Dr. Ha, it’s a lot easier said than done.

They’d been brainwashed by Dr. Ha from childhood, and sincerely believe that he’s the only one who truly cares for them, and the only one who can help them find a way to get rid of the defects that plague them – and that would eventually kill them.

Add on the fact that he regularly reinforces the emotional and mental manipulation whenever any one of them shows signs of disobedience or rebellion, and it really does feel like they’re tragically trapped.

[END SPOILERS]

SPOTLIGHT ON CHARACTERS / RELATIONSHIPS

Park Eun Bin as Chae Ni

I flat-out love Park Eun Bin in this. 😍

I think it was j3ffc who said that this character, Chae Ni, is most similar to Park Eun Bin’s character in Age of Youth (review here!), and I heartily agree.

From the get-go, Chae Ni comes across as very off-the-wall and irreverent; a detail that I found fun and amusing.

More than that, though, I found that the more I progressed through my watch, the more I was drawn to Chae Ni’s heart.

She’s quirky, impulsive, funny, slightly chaotic, wonderfully earnest and altogether charming.

More than that, she is consistently kind, compassionate and caring beneath the quirky blustery surface, and I would even go so far as to say that she’s the true heart of this show. 🥰

My feeling toward Chae Ni was basically: What a wonderful girl. 🥹🥰

[SPOILER ALERT]

I love that Chae Ni’s default response to people is to move toward them.

She sees Un Jeong’s bare apartment and wonders about his loneliness. She makes his space more comfortable; she tells him that he has friends now. 🥲

When she learns the truth about the Child of Eternity, she feels enormous guilt.

When Un Jeong (Cha Eun Woo) betrays her, she still tries to understand why – and even wonders whether he’s one of the people whom her heart will save.

When she discovers Gran’s (Kim Hae Sook) involvement in that dark experiment project, she manages to hold two truths simultaneously: what you did was wrong, and I still love you. ❤️

Chae Ni isn’t compassionate because she’s incapable of judging right and wrong.

She has principles; she just refuses to let those principles erase people’s humanity – that’s just so profoundly compassionate and loving, isn’t it? 🥹

[END SPOILER]

Cha Eun Woo as Un Jeong

I do think that Cha Eun Woo is well-cast as Un Jeong, the taciturn employee at the Complaint Center.

By design, his handling is completely different from our three preposterous musketeers, and I find that works really well.

Instead of introducing him on the silly side of things, Show introduces him as this very measured, stoic character, who’s able to remain completely unruffled, even when faced with Gyeong Un, the most feared visitor at the Complaint Center.

He essentially makes a great foil for our more ridiculous characters, and his perplexed curiosity, particularly towards our core trio, works like a mirror of sorts, since I also had a lot of curiosity towards them.

I also think that Show does a really good job of bringing out the pathos in Un Jeong’s character, and I definitely found myself sympathizing with him and rooting for him, during my watch.

[SPOILER ALERT]

In fact, I became increasingly invested in Un Jeong.

His loneliness, his guilt over the fire, his complicated relationship with Ho Ran, his longing for his mother, and his instinct to carry everything himself all became increasingly meaningful to me.

I think what drew me in was his loneliness and the burden he was carrying all by himself.

He’s someone who has spent years believing that he has to deal with everything himself, while simultaneously carrying enormous guilt over the fire, the Child of Eternity, his powers, his mother, and the experiments.

I was particularly moved by the small signs that he was beginning to let people in.

The little leaked smiles around the Chae Ni and the boys; allowing them into his space; telling Chae Ni things he hasn’t told others; quietly watching over her when she’s grieving; eventually choosing to save her – and finally allowing other people to help carry what he’s been carrying.

Honestly, that’s why I found his betrayal of Chae Ni genuinely shocking. My reaction was basically: “WHAT?! NO!😱” 😂

But I also understood why he did it, once I realized that this was his only way to locate his mother. His desperation to find her changed everything, in that I could understand why he would hand Chae Ni over to Dr. Ha like that.

Ultimately, I love that Un Jeong’s key arc is that he learns that he doesn’t have to be alone.

And that makes the Chae Ni relationship particularly meaningful, really.

She doesn’t “fix” him. She gives him something he’s never really had: people who would stay. 🥲

[SPOILER ALERT]

Choi Dae Hoon as Gyeong Un

To be honest, I didn’t start out enjoying Gyeong Un as a character, but by our finale, I basically loved him.

Talk about a surprise character, yes? 😁

Choi Dae Hoon is just fantastic as Gyeong Un, the scoldy, naggy, blustering, calculative leg of our core trio.

From his imposing “I’m Difficult” face from when we first meet him, to his increasingly hilarious elastic reaction faces, he’s just such a versatile sort of character, to my eyes.

[BROAD SPOILERS]

Initially, I saw him as rather hapless and dorky – and his superpower seemed hilariously useless. But his nagging-scolding personality became one of his comedy engines, and then Show brilliantly turned that very trait into an actual asset in the finale.

I absolutely loved the gag of him interrupting Ju Ran’s “Can you hear my voice?” over and over – which effectively stopped her from getting her brainwashing spell going. 😂

More importantly, I came to appreciate the person underneath the comic relief.

His decision to protect his wife and daughter during the apocalypse was so affecting to me. In that moment, he knows he may not come back, and he goes anyway. 🥹

That made me see him in a whole new light: beyond being the group’s resident nag and occasional dork, he’s also courageous, loyal and deeply loving.

I went from neutral-tending-dislike, to grudging fondness, to literal stars in my eyes for Gyeong Un, over the course of just 8 episodes.

That’s pretty darn impressive, yes? 😁

[END SPOILER]

Im Sung Jae as Ro Bin

Ro Bin was probably the character I found most straightforwardly adorable.

Essentially, Ro Bin is the sweet, loyal, emotionally vulnerable powerhouse of the group.

He was one of my favorites – even though, in this show, it’s actually hard to pick a favorite.

[BROAD SPOILERS]

I loved his sweetness and his loyalty to Chae Ni.

The flashback where Chae Ni simply decides that he’s her friend and protects him from the bullies was particularly meaningful to me because it explains why he’s so fiercely attached to her.

I loved his combination of super strength + incredibly tender feelings; it’s just so cute and funny.

His powers being triggered by hurt feelings is so quintessentially Ro Bin: physically enormous power paired with extreme emotional vulnerability. That comic-tragic combination just never got old for me.

By the finale, when he stands up to Pal Ho and basically says, “I may be a nobody, but I’m not going to stand here and watch people die,” I had literal stars in my eyes for him.

Ro Bin’s basically all heart, and I luff him. 😍

[END SPOILER]

The three musketeers

I loved this trio of dorks; I think I saw them almost as a little found-family unit before Un Jeong fully became part of it.

One of my favorite things is their earnest dorkiness around one another.

When they’re together, they literally behave like children.

They bicker; they’re easily distracted; they make stupid mistakes; they don’t always understand what’s going on – but underneath all of that, they’re extraordinarily sincere about one another, and that sincerity is what makes the comedy work.

Because they’re people who genuinely care about each other, their ridiculousness has warmth underneath it – and that’s honestly a big reason I like them so much. 🥰

[SPOILER ALERT]

One of my favorite beats is the way our trio stakes out Un Jeong.

I just can’t help chuckling at the way they get all pleased with themselves while playing that word game, and cackle so happily, even while they have all these questions hanging overhead.

To my eyes, they’re like a trio of gleeful chipmunks who happen to have goldfish memories – coz they seem to completely forget the mortal danger of their situation, which is the very thing they’re tailing Un Jeong to ask about.

It’s cute in its own way, isn’t it? 😁

And I do love how they gradually become this wonderfully earnest, chaotic little family around Un Jeong.

It’s so great the way they essentially decide: “Un Jeong says he doesn’t want friends? Too bad. He has us now.” 😁

Isn’t that just the most endearing thing? 🥰

[END SPOILER]

Our Wonderfools

One of the highlights of my watch was seeing the way our core trio keeps gravitating towards Un Jeong despite the fact that he really doesn’t want to have anything to do with them.

The reluctant but inevitable process of Un Jeong getting absorbed into the group is something that I found very heartwarming, particularly since Un Jeong is presented as a very isolated character.

Slowly but surely, these four ordinary, damaged, ridiculous people became a family — and that was the part that ultimately got me in the heart.

I loved that these four people became each other’s people.

Here are some of my favorite OT4 (🤭) beats from the show.

If you’d like to experience the full journey alongside me, episode by episode — with plenty more OTP goodness like this — you can find my episode notes on Patreon here.

(Prefer not to join as a member? Individual note sets are available for purchase too. ❤️)

[SPOILER ALERT]

Un Jeong reluctantly gaining “disciples”

E3-4. I continue to be tickled by our trio glomming onto Un Jeong and treating all their time with him as training on how to use their powers – when all he’s doing is trying to keep them out of his hair.

I will say, though, that Un Jeong seems to be a good-hearted guy.

As much as he doesn’t want to get involved with our trio, he can’t help but get involved, whenever he senses that they’re in danger.

Like when that group from the Church of Salvation shows up to volunteer; he immediately shepherds our trio out of the way – to prevent them from crossing paths with these members of the shady church.

And, he takes the time to warn them to keep a low profile as well, for their own safety.

I’d say that he’s far from being as nonchalant and disaffected as he’d like to let on.

And although he locks the trio in that container mainly to keep them away from the members of the shady church, he does tell them to try to find the key that triggers each of their powers.

That’s not nothing, and it’s true that if they’re able to find the keys to their powers, it would make a huge difference.

What’s wrong with having a few people in your corner?

E5-6. It’s so silly but kind of touching, the way our earnest musketeers park themselves at the Complaint Center and try to make themselves useful, all in a bid to get close to Un Jeong.

I mean, yes, they do want his help because he’s had powers longer than they have, and knows how to use his powers, but also, there’s the thing where Chae Ni tells Un Jeong in earnest, that they like him; that even though he says he doesn’t want to help, he helps in the end, unlike other people.

With that, I feel like Chae Ni really cuts through to the heart of things for Un Jeong – he really has been a reluctant ally through all this.

He might state very firmly – even to himself! – that it’s none of his business, but he still steps in to help Chae Ni and the gang, when it matters. 🥲

I also really like what Chae Ni says to him – that it’s not like he has any friends, so what’s wrong with having a few more people in his corner?

They’re essentially not just there to ask him to help them; they’re also presenting themselves as being there for him, and I do like that a lot. 🥰

And I LOVE that Un Jeong leaks a smile in response to this! 🤩

It’s like he can’t help but let this clumsy earnest trio grow on him – which is exactly how I feel as well. 😁

[END SPOILER]

Kim Hae Sook as Gran

I essentially love Kim Hae Sook in principle, and to no one’s surprise, she’s fantastic as Chae Ni’s grandmother.

Whether she’s being no-nonsense strict with Chae Ni, or fussing over her, or dancing with joy at the idea of Chae Ni getting a job, or being the fiercest, most protective mother hen in superhero history, Gran is awesome, and I love her. 😍

[SPOILER ALERT]

My favorite Gran moment is when Chae Ni calls Gran to tell her that she’s going to be working at City Hall (thanks to Un Jeong calling her in as a volunteer).

I love the way Gran explodes into a happy little dance, right there on the street. 🤩

Awww! Isn’t that’s so cute, that Gran and Chae Ni are wired so similarly?

[END SPOILER]

THOUGHTS ON THE ENDING [SPOILERS]

The thing that strikes me about Show’s finale, is that it might look and feel chaotic on the surface, but there is a lot of intention and organization underneath it all.

It’s Intentional, Organized Chaos – and it works remarkably well. 🤩

Show somehow takes everything it has been doing — the absurdity, the comedy, the emotional sincerity, the superpower nonsense, the human warmth — shakes it all together, and somehow produces something delicious.

I was very taken by the way Show managed to be so inventive in crafting this finale, making all the “silly” superpowers work, while still being funny – AND while still keeping Chae Ni as the heart of our story.

The thing that really stays with me, though, is the idea of people setting other people free.

We have Jun Mo setting Un Jeong free from the burden of the fire, by telling him that he and many others were able to live normal lives, thanks to him.

We have Chae Ni telling Un Jeong that it’s ok, and that he can stop now.

And of course, we have our core four coming together to set a whole community free, using everything that they had at their disposal.

This is how ordinary people became extraordinary, and I found that to be a very affecting idea indeed.

Honestly, this show started out looking like a pile of ridiculous ingredients: bizarre superpowers, goofy characters, absurd triggers, cult shenanigans, supernatural nonsense.

But by the finale, to my eyes, these exact same ingredients all feel like they belong together. 

It’s really impressive that Show doesn’t become less silly in order to become meaningful; it allows the silliness and the meaning to coexist, like it’s saying that you don’t have to become less yourself, in order to be amazing.

I love that idea, SO much, and it ties in beautifully with that idea of ordinary people being extraordinary, not because of their genetic makeup – but because of their choices. ❤️🥲

THE FINAL VERDICT:

A hilariously quirky, unexpectedly warm, absolutely entertaining kind of wonderful.

FINAL GRADE: A

TRAILER:

THE EPISODE-BY-EPISODE EXPERIENCE

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