Liver or Die is a frustrating story. It can make the viewer angry and annoyed in so many levels. The siblings were the most annoying characters, tormenting the lead in so many ways. Not that he can be excused, as he was always forgiving and rushing to their aid. The story was packed with mistfortunes as well, as everything bad and dramatic just happened to happen to the lead.
Now, for the actual story, it was good but nerve wrecking. The love stories were the best part of it, along with some nice family moments and the siblings dynamics. The ending was good as well and quite satisfying. The performances, finally, were really good from every actor and actress. So, seven out of ten.
5 Reviews
What a miserable lot of people but insightful
phd_travel4 March 2023
This drama is about sibling relationships and for most of the show there is no end of troubles of all kinds from financial to relationship to health. Serious issues like alcoholism domestic abuse and gambling are dealt with but there are some comic relief moments. One problem will lead to another and simple conversations explode into arguments. The eldest brother raised and looks after his younger siblings. When he gets sick and needs a liver transplant from them they are all unable or ungrateful and unwilling. They all act stupidly and stubbornly at some point of the show. 2 of them are particularly damaged narcissistic characters played against type by Lee Si Young and Oh Ji Ho who are usually rom com players. The mother of all of them is pure evil. Luckily there are a few friends with common sense.
One of the surprising good points of this show is the insights into the psychology of damaged people who can only see things from their own point of view and obsess and twist things. Viewers may see some of their own relatives in this show. Anyone who has had screwed up family might relate. The characters may seem to horrid to be believable but let me assure you there are people like that in real life.
Not a pleasant watch but engrossing.
One of the surprising good points of this show is the insights into the psychology of damaged people who can only see things from their own point of view and obsess and twist things. Viewers may see some of their own relatives in this show. Anyone who has had screwed up family might relate. The characters may seem to horrid to be believable but let me assure you there are people like that in real life.
Not a pleasant watch but engrossing.
All in all it was okay...it took a bit
eli-stuttgart28 October 2020
Warning: Spoilers
I got puffy eyes on this K-drama from crying. It's a realistic story that was largely present in my life until recently.
At the beginning I was a bit confused because you got a lot of information and impressions. I also kept an eye out for the main character as I thought it would be a young person... so for me it was the youngest of the siblings. Falsely and praise. Because mostly young and really pretty actors as well as female and male are put in the center, so that the whole (love)world revolves around them. But it was not so here.
Sure, there was a central figure as before, but the "supporting roles", rather the second main characters, were shown in full length, their stories, their feelings. Here, too, the central theme was not the love between the two opposite sexes, but the platonic love and the infinite family love.
Besides the important feelings like love, worry etc., which were really nicely portrayed throughout the series, another important topic was the trauma, which probably most of them have been inflicted in life. However, this psychological factor was only reflected in the oldest brother's hatred towards his parents. These became evident with his actions as well as memories of the past.
But all of the siblings had a painful memory that they carried with them like a burden in life and were pulled down accordingly. The analysis was mostly done with an uneven weighting, either at the beginning (superficial first impression) and at the end (bombed with the naked truth). Of course there were comments and the chance to analyze it yourself, but in these two sections you were fed with new information. Which is why it was a bit difficult to keep up with all the characters at the beginning, especially since you were thrown into the deep end.
The eldest brother had a role that may seem incomprehensible to many, as well as the behavior of the other siblings, as all of them step on the same grave every time without really having learned a lesson from their previous situations. It can be annoying over time, but it probably reflects the real life of some people who cannot cope with the truth, do not see guilt and thus find no peace.
What I found more frustrating, however, was that the announcement of his illness then had to happen with the stupidity of the "clever" sister. She knew that her idea could be misunderstood, but she still carried out her idea. It will be said that what she did was an act of desperation, but when it is desperate, one does not think, but makes hasty decisions with sudden movements. However, everything looked very planned and thought out, even discussed it with her husband (very tense couple, you didn't feel any chemistry between the two). The trip looked more like a kidnapping so that the sister's organs could be stolen. Dressing up only made everything more absurd, made me feel uncomfortable. Same pajamas would have done it too.
There was always a back and forth with all characters, whether individually or together. Each of them either agreed or declined to make any excuses and all over again. The vicious circle was simply to be seen everywhere, not only in their actions, but also in their heads, because the past was still present in everyone.
The siblings were disrespectful to the cancer patient who had raised everyone as best he could at his age and worked his ass off to make it right for everyone.
The daughter and wife were outsiders to me at the beginning, since I considered their going and returning to be pointless. But it really is so superficial at times with the youngsters and the older ones have to go through a divorce drama once in a lifetime at that age.
I found his wife's character to be the strongest, because she made "strangers" a burden in her life and she really didn't have to. Simply because she could have a better life with the money that was given to others. She left even though she really loved him, but she pulled it off for the good of her daughter. But in a bad time she couldn't leave him behind and find him again.
All in all it was okay, it took a bit of time to finally say it or find out. In every episode you had the moment -Now! Now he will say it!- Or -Now she will find out!- It was not so and at some point the tension and expectation sank, instead disinterest turned.
The Mafia story with the youngest didn't fit in the scheme. Mafia doesn't mean beating up a bunch of men and wearing a suit. His casual appearance would not be the end of the world and smaller missions would have done it too, but not immediately the right hand of the leader?!
Well, some I should have just written... ;)
I didn't like the picture of the whole series, it had a gray undertone, which seems a bit over the top in my opinion. I also thought that I was watching an older series because of the film sequences.
I only want to say one thing about the end: cliché. (Mafia, doorbell on the door, twins pregnant ...)
P.S. The youngest and his flame were my favorite couple. Their common scenes, just to melt away. I celebrated the twin sister with the curly hair.
At the beginning I was a bit confused because you got a lot of information and impressions. I also kept an eye out for the main character as I thought it would be a young person... so for me it was the youngest of the siblings. Falsely and praise. Because mostly young and really pretty actors as well as female and male are put in the center, so that the whole (love)world revolves around them. But it was not so here.
Sure, there was a central figure as before, but the "supporting roles", rather the second main characters, were shown in full length, their stories, their feelings. Here, too, the central theme was not the love between the two opposite sexes, but the platonic love and the infinite family love.
Besides the important feelings like love, worry etc., which were really nicely portrayed throughout the series, another important topic was the trauma, which probably most of them have been inflicted in life. However, this psychological factor was only reflected in the oldest brother's hatred towards his parents. These became evident with his actions as well as memories of the past.
But all of the siblings had a painful memory that they carried with them like a burden in life and were pulled down accordingly. The analysis was mostly done with an uneven weighting, either at the beginning (superficial first impression) and at the end (bombed with the naked truth). Of course there were comments and the chance to analyze it yourself, but in these two sections you were fed with new information. Which is why it was a bit difficult to keep up with all the characters at the beginning, especially since you were thrown into the deep end.
The eldest brother had a role that may seem incomprehensible to many, as well as the behavior of the other siblings, as all of them step on the same grave every time without really having learned a lesson from their previous situations. It can be annoying over time, but it probably reflects the real life of some people who cannot cope with the truth, do not see guilt and thus find no peace.
What I found more frustrating, however, was that the announcement of his illness then had to happen with the stupidity of the "clever" sister. She knew that her idea could be misunderstood, but she still carried out her idea. It will be said that what she did was an act of desperation, but when it is desperate, one does not think, but makes hasty decisions with sudden movements. However, everything looked very planned and thought out, even discussed it with her husband (very tense couple, you didn't feel any chemistry between the two). The trip looked more like a kidnapping so that the sister's organs could be stolen. Dressing up only made everything more absurd, made me feel uncomfortable. Same pajamas would have done it too.
There was always a back and forth with all characters, whether individually or together. Each of them either agreed or declined to make any excuses and all over again. The vicious circle was simply to be seen everywhere, not only in their actions, but also in their heads, because the past was still present in everyone.
The siblings were disrespectful to the cancer patient who had raised everyone as best he could at his age and worked his ass off to make it right for everyone.
The daughter and wife were outsiders to me at the beginning, since I considered their going and returning to be pointless. But it really is so superficial at times with the youngsters and the older ones have to go through a divorce drama once in a lifetime at that age.
I found his wife's character to be the strongest, because she made "strangers" a burden in her life and she really didn't have to. Simply because she could have a better life with the money that was given to others. She left even though she really loved him, but she pulled it off for the good of her daughter. But in a bad time she couldn't leave him behind and find him again.
All in all it was okay, it took a bit of time to finally say it or find out. In every episode you had the moment -Now! Now he will say it!- Or -Now she will find out!- It was not so and at some point the tension and expectation sank, instead disinterest turned.
The Mafia story with the youngest didn't fit in the scheme. Mafia doesn't mean beating up a bunch of men and wearing a suit. His casual appearance would not be the end of the world and smaller missions would have done it too, but not immediately the right hand of the leader?!
Well, some I should have just written... ;)
I didn't like the picture of the whole series, it had a gray undertone, which seems a bit over the top in my opinion. I also thought that I was watching an older series because of the film sequences.
I only want to say one thing about the end: cliché. (Mafia, doorbell on the door, twins pregnant ...)
P.S. The youngest and his flame were my favorite couple. Their common scenes, just to melt away. I celebrated the twin sister with the curly hair.
Plot from a sadistic writer
itsvalli30 August 2021
There's so much potential with the plot. But the sadistic nature of the plot makes it wonder if the writer(s) had a past to bring it out.
Poong-sang character is a sacrificial lamb to an extend that you feel angry about the character and the imbalance of virtues.
Overall, a great plot screwed with character definitions.
Poong-sang character is a sacrificial lamb to an extend that you feel angry about the character and the imbalance of virtues.
Overall, a great plot screwed with character definitions.
Watchable but....
Park_Min28 April 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I'm not sure what's the writer trying to do. There are 5 sibling who encounter every imaginable individual/familial problem every single episode. There was no period of recovery, problem after another until the writer ran out of episodes otherwise she would keep writing more problems. The problems didn't really help progress the story as much as just prolong its run. There's no real development. After the end credits they will get back to being their usual miserable selves but maybe they will drag more people into their misery now they're married. The formula is simple and the fix is even simpler. Reduce the amount of ridiculous problems, give the characters more depth and bigger problems rather than more problems. These problem should be characters defining type of problems.
If I had to take a guess, the writer mainly writes daily dramas and writing for a smaller series was an unfamiliar territory for her. This showed by how things changed around the end, just like any daily drama. The change came because they ran out of episodes. I wanted to like the drama but it's in a non-functional state. Yet, it had some nice moments and some dark humor at times which makes it kinda watchable.
Shim Ran raped We Sang while unconscious, got pregnant, had a baby and gave him the kid to raise. In what world is that acceptable? The drama made a big problem of the smallest things but somehow they brushed off this matter like nothing and didn't get more than a couple of scenes. I think Shim Ran had a total of 4 scenes in the entire thing. There were several other examples just like that, this is how the writer treated most of the problems. They were added just for the shock value.
If I had to take a guess, the writer mainly writes daily dramas and writing for a smaller series was an unfamiliar territory for her. This showed by how things changed around the end, just like any daily drama. The change came because they ran out of episodes. I wanted to like the drama but it's in a non-functional state. Yet, it had some nice moments and some dark humor at times which makes it kinda watchable.
Shim Ran raped We Sang while unconscious, got pregnant, had a baby and gave him the kid to raise. In what world is that acceptable? The drama made a big problem of the smallest things but somehow they brushed off this matter like nothing and didn't get more than a couple of scenes. I think Shim Ran had a total of 4 scenes in the entire thing. There were several other examples just like that, this is how the writer treated most of the problems. They were added just for the shock value.
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