Conversely, the Legend of the Blue Sea DVD set (also Malaysian) subtitles are pretty good. Really no issues at all with the wording or structure. Very easy to follow. The only issue is that every once in a while a couple of dialog excahges don't get subtitled at all, but nothing major. I'm watching this with my wife, and we're on episode 10 of 20, so will weigh in again once I'm finished.
Finished this one tonight. I really liked it. Ji-hyun Jun plays a mermaid whose tragic tale that originally took place during the Chosun Dynasty time (i.e., "the time when the men wear the funny hats") is being retold in the present day. It seems that all of the participants in the previous tale have been re-incarnated, and fate is repeating. The evildoers of the past are evildoers in their present incarnation. The lovers who were star-crossed then are similarly star-crossed now.
Now, I love stories of star-crossed lovers. If done well they really hit me and I don't roll my eyes during the more ridiculous parts. And let's face it, a mermaid come to land who can cry pearl tears and erase people's memories could be eye-rolling. But I bought into it. The series is 20 episodes. The first 5 or so, Jun the mermaid is really goofy as she tries to fit into landlubber life. She learns the ways of humans by watching K-dramas on TV, which leads her to believe some weird things and provides some humor. The man she loves is part of a con artist trio, which makes for interesting scenes as well.
These types of shows really do need boo-hiss-evil bad guys to root against. For a while I was thinking we weren't going to get that; at least not in the present day story. Sure, there were annoying people, and those with obviously not-so-great motives, but no one as bad as the Chosun baddies. But about episode 12 or so, the evil folks showed their true faces. For the next 5 episodes or so, the story switched almost exclusively to them and how they were working against our hero/pair. Not because she was a mermaid (no one knew, except the main fellow who finally was clued in), but based on some of the other plot elements. The mermaid plotline took a back seat for this portion, which was fine by me, as there's only so much you can do with the man/mermaid love story. And like a few other K-dramas I've seen, when the baddies get their due comeuppance,
boy do they ever. The audience is NOT cheated in seeing them get what they deserve. Very cathartic!
And then the romance continues until the ... (happy? sad? bittersweet?) ending. I won't tell! (jk--it's a happy ending.)
There's a lot to like here. I love the leads, as well as the supporting cast. There's some very funny parts. One girl even thinks to herself, upon gazing at a fellow that may or may not be sweet on her (a fellow who has, shall we say, quite delicate features), "How is it that this guy can be prettier than a girl?" Ha ha. There are a few twists, as folks you think are one way might just not be what they seem. Keeps your interest.
I would have liked for the con-man plotline to have carried through more, as cons and scams are always interesting. But no real quibbles. The subtitles are excellent. The picture stuttered a bit on any action/movement shots, which was distracting but not a deal-breaker. Since most scenes were fairly static (people talking; lovers looking longingly doe-eyed at each other), the video stutter-steps were kept to a minimum. All in all, I seriously thought about 4.5 stars, but will settle on
4 stars (out of 5)
