The Manipulated (2025)

Ji Chang wook cooked!!

I don’t watch K-dramas the way I used to. If I calculate properly, I’ve watched more than 130+ K-dramas so far—romance, action, thriller, all kinds of genres. But nowadays I can’t digest rom-com K-dramas anymore. No matter how hyped they are, I always end up watching them at 3x speed.
Since I’m already quite familiar with the K-drama industry, I still watch thrillers and action dramas. You could say the addiction is still alive!!

Now let’s talk a bit about The Manipulated.
I watched it while it was ongoing, so my review is based on how much I enjoyed each week’s episodes.

In the first week, four episodes were released—and those first four are the best of the entire series. Ji Chang-wook’s performance was outstanding. The prison scenes were incredible; every character inside the prison was fun to watch. And I can’t skip mentioning one person—Yang Dong-geun (Player 007 from Squid Game). He was absolutely amazing.

Episode 5 is a bit weak, but the next episode has some of the best action scenes of the drama—probably the best action sequence in the entire show. Episodes 7–8 take their time to build up the story.

Episodes 9 and 10 are the best of the second half, packed with great action.
Episode 11 is the weakest episode of the series, but the finale was pretty good. The climax could’ve been a bit better, though—it would’ve hit harder.

As for acting—like I said, Ji Chang-wook literally cooked. And Yang Dong-geun was fantastic too. If the main villain had been stronger, it would’ve been even better.

For action lovers, this is a must-watch!!
The cinematography is beautiful, and the camera work during the action scenes is really impressive. If you haven’t watched it yet, go for it.

You’ll enjoy it more if you binge all the episodes at once.
Definitely one of the best K-dramas of the year!