You know that feeling you get when something feels so familiar and it nags at you and you just can’t place it? Well as I watched (I’m up to the end of Ep 10 right now) that’s what I was feeling..the feel..the writing style…all felt like I’d seen it before..in Punch so I finally looked it up and of course! Punch is written by the same writer…..I’ve never had that experience before though..where I can identify the style of the writer.

Now I loved Punch; it was an awesome experience and very draining by the nature of the subject matter… by the ups and downs of the action… by the resolution of things at the end… by the sheer cruelty of some scenes. I honestly don’t know when I will be up to seeing it again but it was amazing. The absolute star was our “hero” who wasn’t the classic hero at all, but who I was rooting for every second. I loved his drive, his intelligence, his ambition, his courage… and the reason I bring him up is that I don’t feel the same way for our hero in Whisper. It feels like an imitation of the real thing.

The template of the plot is the same – one minute the good guys win, the next minute the bad guys are on top. The characters are sharply written, flawed, neither black or white, but very credible and the very flaws give us a reason to connect with them – even the heroes are multi-faceted while at the same time still being obviously bad – no conscience to hamper them at all.

Punch never bothered with romance (at least it flirted in the background); here we have a different scenario but for some reason I don’t connect with them as a couple, They work well together as the fighting duo but any hint of the personal and it becomes awkward – maybe that will change towards the end but since we’re half way there I don’t expect much. Of course I wasn’t really watching this for the romance so it’s not a huge flaw. The action is still tension filled and you keep waiting for the next twist to be revealed… it almost feels like the last man standing will be the one who just happens to have the most tricks. I have faith that good will win over evil but the fun part is figuring out how!

#lee-bo-young, #lee-sang-yoon, #punch, #whisper