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cru3l_tmo
cru3l_tmo

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[K-Drama] Hotel del Luna - Episode 16 (FINAL)

This is it! The ending of Hotel del Luna is upon us. Let's see how they decide to end this wonderful show.. T_T Is it gonna be sad or happy?

Also don't forget to vote for the next K-Drama I will watch! The poll runs 4 more days until Tuesday and you can find it here:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/56123032

 [K-Drama] Hotel del Luna - Episode 16 (FINAL)

Comments

I agree that the show was super enjoyable and yeah, you're right with your analysis of Chang-sungs role. :) How mindblowing the show is, depends in my opinion more on previous experiences with the genre than anything else. I bet HDL is pretty mindblowing for somebody who watches it as her/his first K-Drama. Of course if you already watched lots of these type of shows and are familiar with their stereotypes or tropes, than its harder for a new show to still blow your mind. Same as with anime or most other genres of media. It's hard for any horror film or thriller to still surprise me, considering how much I've seen. That's not the fault of the film or show... Nice to hear that CLOY uses its secondary cast better and gives them more to do. But for me that makes CLOY not automatically better. Not every show needs a strong secondary cast. Sometimes it might even distract from or lessen the main story. All depends on what the show wants to deliver and what the viewer wants out of the show. Personally I prefer the over the top quirkyness and the fantasy elements from HDL over the more "realistic" setting from CLOY. At least right now. That might change with my mood or over time. I think with my 8.5 and your 8.0 we come to a similar conclusion for HDL in the end. And we all should remember: It's completely fine for a show to be just super enjoyable comfort food :D That makes the show not necessary worse than some mindblowing unpredicatble and deep drama. It depends more on what you want / prefer out of a show at that moment of time and on what kind of experiences the show tries to deliver.

Guthwulf

I'm just going to begin by adressing the last paragraph you wrote. I wanted to draw the comparison to CLOY (Crash Landing On You) at the end of my video already, but I think I forgot. That show is the perfect example of a perfect secondary cast, where the characters don't outshine the main couple but have their own little world and "main plot". If you ever watched that: I don't just mean the 2nd couple, but also all of the soldiers and even some people back in NK. That show did SO WELL with the development of side characters, the humor around them and their integration into the bigger picture which is the main story. After watching that show I always compare other shows to that, that's why HDL looked pretty bland in comparsion, even if they did well. The gap is too big if that makes sense. This is practically the curse of having watched some of the best shows out there.. this also happened to me in the anime world. Good point with the painting and then the instant cut to the New York scene, which is like a dream. I did not consider that possibility and it's likely the one they went for. But yeah.. I'mma be one of those "screw that!" people and say that that was actually one of their many next lives, where everything aligned and they all met again. I'm just gonna ignore the fact the other 3 hotelliers were also there, because that is actually way too unlikely to be imagined as my happy ending lol. Overall IU was the main point of this show, but Chansung/Jingoo played into that super well. He supported the Manwol character and without him, certain conflicts and character developments for Manwol would have not been triggered or openly presented like that. He was the quintessential character for this show's progression. He triggered the good IU moments, basically, without having great moments himself (well he did tbh, but not as many as IU). Overall the show was super enjoyable and, especially in the first half, insanely well written. I appreciated it to the fullest and it's for sure a rewatchable show. But it's not a mindblowing show in any way, especially after you got used to the concept and scheme of ghosts and the rest of the show played out afterwards without many more 'shockers' (in terms of mindblowing elements / story twists).

cru3l tmo

The post credit scene is funny especially since I watched "Hotel Del Luna" right after "It's Okay to Not Be Okay". Kim Soo Hyun is a big name in the K-Drama world and his return in "It's Okay..." after finishing his military service was a big deal. He was a big star during his cameo in "Hotel Del Luna" and of course everbody wanted the sequel "Hotel Blue Moon" after seeing the post credit scene. The makers said, that it was just a tease and joke. But some fans of course are still hoping for that sequel... I really like this last episode. Just the last scene is in my opinion weaker. They're making the meaning of the scene pretty clear through the narration and presentation. It's not real... just a dream... somethings Chang-sung imagines. They literally announce it... when Chang-sung looks at the painting in the library before the scene: "do you think the tiger saw what he wanted to see in the painting? (...) He saw the past like a dream, a time where he could never go back." Then we cut to Chang-sun in the park... which is presented like a dream (soft focus, bloom...). And IU confirms it on the park bench... "Someday... if we meet agin... in some life far down the road... we will dream together, looking each other in the eye...". Chang-sung dreams about meeting them all again and having IU back on his side. Maybe he "channels" a future life and it will happen "some life far down the road", but it's at this moment after moving to New York not real and only a dream, something "he wanted to see" like the tiger and the painting. Of course you can also say: "screw that! I want that happy ending!!!" and choose to believe in another interpretation. It's a bit as if the creators thought, it would be to sad if they ended the show without this scene, even though it undermines the message of having the courage to let go / saying good by to loved ones. As for the drama as a whole: I really like it and its themes. I agree, that the show is clearly centered on the two main leads. To me their chemistry is not as strong as the main leads in "It's Okay...". The performance from the actor of Chang-sung falls a bit flat for me, but that might be just the character. The character is meant to be a bit bland to contrast IU's otherworldly charme and persona. IU is clearly the highlight of the show and alone worth the watch (even for multiple times). I liked most of the side characters and side story lines but they clearly took the backburner compared to the main characters. I agree its really good but not amazing. Still like it. I gave the show a 8.5 if I remember correctly and reactions for Hotel Del Luna are always very entertaining.

Guthwulf


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