I just finished watching MANHOLE: WONDERLAND’S PIL~ I have nothing but praise with this show for the most part. I’ve seen a lot of K-dramas here and there for the last several years and this show is one of those few shows that hit close to home for me, despite the fact that the rating is not as high as it could be. Today was the last day for this show to air and I feel a bit bummed and empty. Every Wednesdays and Thursdays were exciting because of this show. I couldn’t wait for those two days because I care about the characters so much and what happens to them. MANHOLE aired starting from August 9th 2017 and just ended today which is September 28th, 2017.

Let me give you a brief premise of this show so you can get the general gist of what this show is about. Our protagonist Bong Pil played by Jae Joong (JYJ) has been in love with his childhood friend Soo Jin played by UEE (AFTER SCHOOL) since their infancy. They are 28 years old and were born in the same hospital and raised in the same neighborhood. However, Soo Jin is about to get married to a handsome young pharmacist that just moved to the neighborhood named Jae Hyun. Pil is not so happy about this so he wants to change it or do something about it. Pil is an aspiring police officer while Soo Jin is into photography. Pil wants to change his circumstances and he is able to have a chance to do that by time travelling through the neighborhood’s MANHOLE.

Pil has his friends that they call themselves FAMILY and they have known each other for a very long time since their childhood and teenage years. Pil was friends with a boy named Seok Tae played by Baro (B1A4). Pil saved Seok Tae from the bullies so everything seemed fine until Pil started to treat Seok Tae like a servant. Seok Tae is an aspiring public servant, he wants to work for the government just like Pil.

There is this girl named Jin Sook played by Jung Hye Sung who is pragmatic and practical. Jin Sook pretty much raised herself and has no time for B.S or playing around. She is an aspiring C.E.O who wants to have her own business. Jin Sook has a thing for Pil and she has liked him for a long time although our main protagonist is too dense to notice anything. There is sort of a triangular/rectangular relationship going on with these four young people from the neighborhood.

We also got another set of triangular relationship in the neighborhood. We have Jung Ae played by Kim Min Ji and she has a thing for Dal Soo played by Lee Sang Yi. However at first Dal Soo feels awkward towards her, he just treated her more like a little sister. Googil played by Kang Hong Seok really likes Jung Ae a lot but doesn’t get the same treatment as how Jung Ae treats Dal Soo. All the people that I  just introduced are all part of the FAMILY since they grew up in the same neighborhood since they were young but a so called bad element that came into the neighborhood changed the flow of it all and  wasn’t the same again.

I really like this show a lot because I felt like the characters were relatable and personable. The seven young people in this show made me feel like they were my friends who I was rooting for which is not too common when you watch a show. At first I was a little worried because it’s a time travelling show. I wasn’t sure how they would pull it off. I have seen a show similar to this a handful of years ago called Operation Proposal that came out back in 2012 played by Yoo Seung Ho and Park Eun Bin. I don’t know if I should say this as a Yoo Seung Ho fangirl but I thought MANHOLE was a little more intriguing than the previous.

At first it was just sci-fi fantasy with a bit of rom-com thing going but as the show progressed there was a side of mystery and thriller as well. A little surprising but they do it well since the execution seems to be done in a brilliant manner. I don’t know what it is really, I don’t know how to put it into words but I’m wondering if it was the editing or even the performance from our dear actors and actresses in this show. Or it possibly be the writer who knows how to make the show sharp and creative in it’s own right.

Another thing I was impressed was the performance skills of these fantastic actors/actresses. A lot of them are from idol groups so I wasn’t sure if the acting was gonna be up to par but it was actually really good coming from idol actors. I’ve seen UEE before in HOGU’S LOVE and she was pretty good there but still Baro….I know he was in REPLY 94 which I haven’t seen and plus I have heard of B1A4 but wasn’t too familiar with them so I was in for a surprise. I thought Baro wasn’t gonna bring anything to the table but he played his role just well.

Another surprise was Jung Hye Sung who played Jin Sook. I first saw her from REMEMBER: WAR OF THE SON as Nam Goong Min’s younger sister and in that show she was promising but didn’t really have anything to do, she just drifted away without any warning but in this show SHE IS GREAT! BRAVO to JUNG HYE SUNG! I absolutely fell in love with her character in this show and maybe it’s cus her character was very different in REMEMBER but either way I applaud her big time in MANHOLE!

I really fell in love with the background music and even their OST in this show…I hate to say this but it’s pretty rare when I say that I loved the music in a K-DRAMA because for the longest time they played nothing but sappy stuff. I mean, there is nothing wrong with sappy but when that happens all the time you get sick of it. However, in MANHOLE the music was dynamic. You hear like latin type of stuff, reggeeish type of stuff, hip hopish, cute little tunes that reminds you of anime, classical, and even pop. Also the OST was pretty cool.  The OST was done by LOUIE, SOO YOON, SAN DEUL (B1A4), NORWAY FOREST, U-KISS, KIM YI JI, and KIM JI SOO. My favorite is probably NORWAY FOREST and SANDEUL in the OST department.

You might feel confused when Pil travels back and forth in time but it’s really fun and with each and every episode it makes you wonder where and when our dearl Pil will end up. The cliff hangers aren’t overdone either, they do it just right with a little bit of mystery.

I think the writing is pretty sharp. There is a lot of funny moments and there are moments where you end up pondering about what the characters said. By the way, I forgot to mention something very important. This show is a bit of a hybrid between Alice and Wonderland and Cinderella. Riding the MANHOLE was obviously adopted by Alice in Wonderland, you know the RABBITHOLE? And there also is an element they borrowed from Cinderella. Pil is only able to travel back and forth in time when midnight hits!

The main actors that played the main characters were Jae Joong and Uee but I ended up liking Baro and Jung Hye Sung more….They won me over for sure and I developed a minor crush for Baro, so strange when I’m not even a fan of B1A4. But don’t get me wrong JAE JOONG UEE SHIPPERS! I actually shipped them as the show went on…At first they didn’t seem all that good for each other. Actually I was confused towards the beginning because I was shipping Jae Joong and Jung Hye Sung but later on that changed because of Seok Tae’s persistent attitude towards our dear Jin Sook. I’m not gonna spoil it but as the show progresses I started to slowly but surely support Pil and Soo Jin although Soo Jin frustrated me at times.

I don’t want to go into explaning about the character Jae Hyun because I might spoil it and this show would be a lot more fun if you know less about it so I think I’m not gonna get into to too much detail about anything else.

One more thing about this show. I really like the time travelling aspect and they even talk about souls and stuff. I’m really interested in sci-fi and spirituality stuff. I’m glad Korea is finally making more shows like this since I’m burnt out on Jaebol dramas and certain Sageuks that have become nothing but a cliche. We need more shows like this and I’m a bit bummed out it’s over. It was a part of my life for almost two months. I’m also a bit upset that the rating is not as high as it can be but I have faith that it will go up because this show deserves it! MAHOLE FIGHTING!