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[Beanie Review] The Heavenly Idol

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Provide a quick review of this drama in the comments below for the benefit (or is that safety?) of others. Please keep your reviews as spoiler-free as possible and share your thoughts on the show’s overall quality, squee-factor, writing, etc. (Standard character limit applies).

 
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I think it's fair to say this drama focused more on the "heavenly" than the "idol" and was that successful? Depends on your humor and tastes.

When the show originally started, it seemed like it was going to be a fish out of water story with insights in the idol world and by the time it ended, it became a hodgepodge of mythology and otherworldly elements.

One thing I disliked most were the scandals were used, specifically Kasie and Riz/Liz's scandals. The show kept mentioning their scandals but never said what they actually were and I *think* they were going for a "your imagination is better/worse than anything we could give you" approach to it but alas my imagination isn't better because I was just left in frustrated curiousity as to what the hell could've been so bad that they developed panic disorders and suicidal ideation?

Then again, that also just fed a bit into the critique (or could've fed in to it) about the idol world; it doesn't even matter what the idols actually did but the backlash was so intense that it led to these psychological affects. It shows how it's not easy mentally being in this world. I think that was one fairly consistent aspect of the show when it was featured: everyone was having a hard time in their own ways. There was alot of insecurities and doubts but also persistence. Sigh, as I write this, I just imagine an alternate version of the drama where this stuff was more focused on.

Anywho, there's lots of little comedic moments and there's lots of ridiculousness. I think if you just enjoy the show without thinking too much, it's more enjoyable. I think the show is fun and it wasn't a waste of time to watch, it just wasn't as expected and it's like you can legit see where the potential for something was but another direction was chosen.

It's only 12 episodes (and personally I'm liking these 12 episode and shorter lengths) so that's cool.

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This drama has a lot packed into it, and if you were to try and give a three line plot summary to a friend it'd come out sounding a bit comical: priest body swaps with an idol and tries to defeat the evil one with his magical divine powers that he charges with sugar (?). That's one attempt at least and there's a lot more pretty hilariously ridiculous elements of the plot that I've left out for spoilers sake. In saying that though, the sheer "wtf-is-going-on" aspects of the drama were kind of it's best bits - along side the meta and satirical look into the idol life - there's something just really nice about sitting there and being like I'm going to turn my brain off (not in a bad way, just in a, 'I don't need to pay attention or be super hung up over details' kind of way) and enjoy this drama and the wild and whacky trip that the writing team take us through. I mean by the end of episode 12, I was sitting there like what on earth did I just watch, but I didn't hate that I watched it nor did I have any regrets or a bad time during. It was just a very funny 'wtf' 😂

And on the flip side, arguably the least enjoyable parts of the drama were those bits where it did move away from the shenanigans and gave more screen time to trying to build up a convincingly interesting and sinister villain and cult - for me at least anyways. Funnily enough The Evil One, I found, was better enjoyed as just a two dimensional evil dude, and I'd rather that screen time had gone to our leads and/or the band. There were also some plot lines that I felt were a bit underbaked - like the romance and some of the fantasy lore - but at the end of the drama that all just fed into the comicality (is that a word) of it all.

So yes overall, I'd recommend it as a fun, breezy one time watch, something for when you're in the mood for a bit of fun without having to think too hard or pay too much attention! And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention - I think the cast is another reason to give this show a go, because they really pulled off the quite bizarre script this show had to make it work the way it did. In lesser hands I imagine that my enjoyment levels might not have been as high - comedy is hard to pull off, especially when you've got a premise and script like this!

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First maybe 4 episodes are hysterical if you know a bit about kpop scene, bonus fun for deeper knowledge of all the references. After that there's a lot of melo, dark fantasy with super messy lore, side plots no one cares about and romance that actually works fine before eventually falling flat with over-packed and abrupt conclusion. So again, just watch the first 4 eps and FF everything else - or finish with recaps/fanmades.

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Those are my feelings as well!

I wasn't too mad at how it got so messy since it's not like I had high expectations of the writer or director and I didn't feel like I was tricked into expecting more. And it's not like the characters are frustrating and stupid. It's just the story they live in is.

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Going into a drama, I usually look into the plot first and the plot for Heavenly Idol was encouraging. However, getting in, I wanted Wild Animal to at least show a half (quarter?) performance to understand why they were the way they were in the beginning. Maybe if they added at least one practice video or something, but I guess not all of the members can dance. And then with so many side characters like Lord Redrin (who I only saw in ep. 12, I think) who was bad, the Evil One who was also bad, and the Queen or something (who was good but did nothing when the Evil One surfaced). Oh well, I still enjoyed some parts of the show.

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I just enjoy the silliness and fun. I love it.

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