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Well . . . Okay

I actually tried watching the k-drama Guardian: The Great and Lonely God a couple of years ago, but certain aspects of the story aggravated me, so I stopped around episode four. Since it has been touted as such a great series I decided to go back and give it another try, and at last saw the whole thing.

Let me get my gripes out of the way first. This is a Korean style paranormal romance, with a literary overtone that I really didn't like. Also, the fact that a beyond wealthy, pretty omnipotent immortal falls for a poor, abused high school girl while knowing her situation sucks, and really doesn't do much to help her (and even subtly torments her now and then), didn't set well with me.

Disclaimer here to explain some of my gripes: I really dislike Cinderella stories; a woman in a bad situation doesn't need a fairy godmother or even a prince to save her -- she just needs to get away from her family and work for herself. I personally know a Cinderella who did just that and ended up fine without any man or fairy rescuing her (points to self.)

The bromance between the lead male character and his nemesis was cute at times, but got too much focus, and distracted from the main romance. The plotting was unoriginal and misogynistic to a degree I found rather breathtaking, considering the drama's writer is female, and really tiresome. Finally, the pacing, oy. Molasses moves faster.

If you're willing to put up with all that, then Guardian isn't a horribly bad series to watch. Gong Yoo does a fine job of portraying Kim Shin, a general betrayed and basically murdered by the king he served, who is sentenced to immortality for all of the lives he took on the battlefield. That I bought. That he walks around for nine hundred years with his own sword sticking out of his chest (literally and metaphorically) is a less believable pricetag, but okay. He still manages to be convincing, although at times I got the feeling he was rolling his eyes between takes.

The echoes of the past return to haunt him as he meets Ji Eun Tak (very artfully portrayed by Kim Go-eun) the abused high school girl, who becomes his first love. Cinderella isn't helpless, and up to this point does a fine job of dealing with her sucky life, but as soon as Kim Shin steps on stage suddenly she becomes helpless and clingy. That I also don't get. This is the point when the whole series slants to the petty and mean, so I'll stop here. I don't even know if I should recommend this series, but it may be worth a watch for the Cinderella lovers. Available on Viki.com.

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