User Reviews

I can empathize with the characters as I have depression, anxiety, and multiple health issues. They are people who are unable to perform to the best of their ability and they just happen to be have super powers.

The "fat" sister is wholly unbelievable. No one spends the rent money on food. No fat person is constantly thinking of eating...they just become fat because of various issues, usually related to health.

My issue is with the "mysterious" woman who saves the main character from drowning. It appeared to be happenstance that she was there at the beach, but then later it appeared to be some type of grift. I will continue to watch to see where this show is going with the plot.

The series takes its time. But somewhere along the way it pulled me in hard with its meandering time-bending strangeness. Definitely there's an undertow thing happening with every black & white shot glimpse into characters' recurring dreamscapes and nightmares. I'm at episode 8 now, and I'm guessing that those who are reviewing this drama as "Boring" probably swam to shore very early. Honestly, it took about 4 episodes before the dramatic undertow broke down my "you've got to be kidding me" barriers.

Bottom line is it's not a show for a k-drama beginner.: It would tigger too much crazy-making culture shock. But once you've seen a lot of k-dramas, you get used to a lot of really strange stuff. Like how a tiny 12 yr. Old girl, who seems to be legally blind without her glasses, is allowed to walk to school (and all over the whole darn city) ALONE.

But if you can get past the clueless child neglect, "Atypical Family" might just pull you in like it did me. Btw, This is maybe a 7 star series, but I gave a full extra star for the top-notch performance of Jang Ki-yong, who plays time travelling Gwi-joo. His character slowly sheds his comatose stone-coldness, frays and unravels, then unleashes a range of nuanced and cagey emotions. Jang's 4D acting definitely unveils itself as a cut above his costars, whose emotive capacities are either borderline passive, over-the-top, comic-bookish or just blah. (The actress who plays Grace deserves a small shout-out too. She's a cool combo of sly and fierce.) Anyway since the whole super-power thing was slow getting started, maybe we get a cliff hanger and a Season 2? I Hope so.

The settings is not normal to show a beautiful romance but I see the writer is a genius. A man who wanted to be a hero but wasn't able to be, then became just for one person. It has the family thing in it but English title(The Atypical Family) is not telling what the show wants to tell. I like the Korean title("Although I'm not a hero") more. All the actor are good but Claudia(Suhyun?) Kim is the best. It's not like acting I feel like there's that kind of person living next to me. I watched until ep8 and every episode was amazing. The ending song perfectly goes well with the show. I hope the rest also be the same good enough.

This series has a sophisticated, atmospheric magic blended with real life traumas and believable characters. People in the drama are flawed, but relatable and likeable.

In "The Atypical Family" story as well as character development expands with an atmosphere - the colour tones, the music scores as well as sound design, and the easily flowing caesural pauses allowing the viewers to take in the vastness of the scene settings, the seriousness of the situations. One could almost compare this drama to a poetry. Actors and their characters are allowed pauses to think, not to say that they're slow, on the contrary, it makes them and their choices more believable.

The script and most chosen actors are spectacular in their roles. The characters are written as smart, thinking, conniving ones, not by making others extremely dull and stupid, but by letting them make smart decisions, allowing them to have multiple purposes. Not a single person here is B&W, they all have their own personal colour pallets.

For now (6th episode) I could name only one major drawback - the ML's sister. Her character is overweight, but acted by a slim actress, which makes her movements and mannerisms not genuine and weird.

All in all I find the story refreshing and interesting, the clashing of one dysfunctional family with a fake united one, the deadpan comedy, the pain of trauma and not managing to let go of the past.

TLDR; 10/10 unique, time-traveling, fantasy plot with stunning music, cinematography, and acting. Pacing is quick and you never feel bored. Main couple has me kicking my feet and giggling, while crying at the same time. Probably one of my favorite kdramas of all time.

Highly underrated. Whoever gave this series a bad review clearly didn't bother to watch past the 1st episode. This is the first time I felt compelled to write a review for a kdrama in my life. I think it's because something about this series makes me strangely emotional even though it's not necessarily a sad story? This series brings me a lot of happiness.

Initially the unique plot made me interested in starting it, but the pacing of the story, the characters, and chemistry of the main couple got me absolutely hooked.

The casting is immaculate, I've never watched Jang Kiyong's older projects before as the plots never really interested me and I knew Chun Woohee was known for her film acting, but both were rather new to me. But wow, the emotional scenes hit hard. Chun Woohee's acting makes me choke up and the music!!! The OSTs in this series is magical and along with the cinematography it immerses me in the scene and the emotions. The chemistry of the main couple is too good and the romance is well-developed. I love how the writers take their time, but by no means does anything ever feel slow.

I love all the characters in this story. Every character has their own color and somehow remains likeable to me despite their flaws (even the loan shark lady!). The relationships between the characters are so enjoyable to watch and you become invested.

There are 8 episodes out, and very excited to see how the series progresses.

First I saw some small clips uploaded in you tube and watched it , and again I came to see some more clips the it got my attention but don't pay heed much , but again the name which got hooked in ma mind suddenly been uploaded episode wise in some online streaming platform then I go check it out and then the ....... All magical things been going on in series, so I went on and on and literally, such a beautiful series was waiting for me to grab him and yes it found me . It was a really sweet , suits my type and meets my soul. All the stories, uniqueness the characters all have been portrayed in a very gentle flow and now I haven't completed it yet and I will soon complete it all, given a full rating as it deserved.

This review is for the 1st episode only.

I won't watch the rest, mainly due to the fact that if the writers and the cast are not able to capture the viewer's attention 30 minutes in, it's probably not worth the time to watch the rest.

Story and pace: It's more interesting to watch paint dry... Nothing of interest really happens...

Plot Development: Hard to determine after only one episode, but it seems they are going for Dark Comedy(?), but it wasn't really remotely funny... It seems they attempt to blend family drama, comedy, and superhero elements, but the mix doesn't always feel seamless.

EP 1&2 BORING AMD VERY SLOW...NO DIRECTION .. HE IS DEPRESSED, FAMILY WANTS TO CONTINUE SUPERPOWERS BUT WHERE IS THIS HEADED?? TOO BAD WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO IT.

If you want to engage the viewers there should be don't dwell on one character who sets the tine to the entire show. This pulls you down pointlessly..I don't know how the average score is 8.5?

The character is so depressed there doesn't seem to be and end in sight. Totally disengaging the viewers ..make it livelier and get him out of that rut FAST..TOO DEPRESSING ..

IF THE MAIN PLOT IS ABOUT SUPERPOWERS THERE SURE ISN'T ANY INDICATION.

It's hard to believe that a story about a family with superpowers could be so boring. These people have NO charisma, except possibly the father, played by Oh Man-seok, who also plays the dad in SOMETHING ABOUT THE RAIN.

The character he plays here, I might add, is a total dud in the superpower department - therefore nobody pays much attention to him.

One of the reasons I like Oh Man-seok, other than his eternally cheerful demeanor, is because he's one of the few Korean actors in a major series with less than a lily-white complexion. Hey, Netflix, how about more brown-skinned Asian actors in your series? Thanks.

All the other members of this so-called family might just as well be strangers waiting at a bus stop-for all the interaction they have with each other.

My main problem with this series is that it lacks any logical coherence. Why is the family putting on an elaborate wedding--with no guests--mind you, when A) the groom didn't actually propose, and B) the bride never accepted the non-proposal? Did either of these two ever say? "I love you"? Did I miss something? This is the stiffest, least-convincing romance I've ever seen.

And each person in the family is aware that the marriage is a fraud, and an attempt to steal their money. And each one of them goes along with it. Really?

Then there's the matter of the depressed brother, Gwi-ju, who apparently needs to "save" someone. While the series at first shows us how obsessed Gwi-ju is to "save" a dude that he worked with, suddenly without any rhyme or reason the target of his obsession changes.

He's now set on "saving" Do Da-hae, a woman who's moved into the house under suspicious circumstances.

But as Ms. Do points out to Gwi-ju, in a rare display of logical thinking-rare for this series anyway, that she doesn't need saving as she's a healthy, fully functioning woman. Therefore she must have survived whatever horrible, no good, very bad thing happened to her in the past. You know, that thing that Gwi-ju has a bee in his bonnet about.

I can't imagine that the writers have answers to all these questions and will somehow put it all together in the end...If they do I'll revisit this review.

*** Several episodes later: This series is so inconsistent it's impossible to suspend belief or care about anyone in this family. A couple of questions:

1. What exactly are the rules for Bok Gwi-joo's superpower? At first, he can only revisit times when he was happy-until Do Da-hae enters the picture. Then the rule changes: he can only revisit happy times he shared with her. But then things change again-he goes back to a happy moment he shared with his classmates, without Do Da-hae.

It sure feels like the writers made it all up as they went along.

2. Are we to believe that certain characters went about faking a bogus accident scene in the middle of the day on a well-traveled coastal road-and nobody saw them do it? No cars, bikes, or pedestrians came by?

I subtracted another star because...NETFLIX WRITERS, YOU CAN DO BETTER!

Series is not complete yet. So my review will be edited later.

So far the draw here seems to be the development of romance between the son who can time travel and the "adopted" maid who comes from a gang of crooks. Initially the son is disinterested, and the maid is conniving to scam his rich family. But as things evolve it is clear they are interested in each other and more is at stake.

The time traveling son seems confused about what he can do as a time traveler. When he goes back to revisit a past event he can move about and learn details surrounding that moment in time, a bit like a news reporter could wander and talk and see things not known by participants when the event originally occurred. That can cast light upon what actually happened and upon motivations of those involved, and those details can inform the present when the son returns to his time. There is some tension whether this added information might conflict with what the people in the present want to portray as what happened.

But things from there become confused: can the son meddle with the past when he's back there in a way that changes the present? Unclear. And more unclear, he seems somehow to know about what is going to happen. Because the present he is living in is not really the present. He actually is living in the near past so he can predict what is going to happen because it already has happened in the real present. So he can tell his mother lottery numbers that won in the real present, thereby to enable obtaining a winning ticket in the near past. Suggesting that cashing in this ticket would make the winner rich in the real present. Confusing enough?

Various machinations between the son's family and the maid's con artist pals serve to keep the two lovers in turmoil. Needed to make the course of true love not run smooth.

By and large the story is engaging. The actors do well. But the time travel needs to be straightened out. Will the crooks become good guys? Will the daughter's ability to fly actually turn out to be useful? Will the mother finally get what's going on? Guess things will work out.