Niiice! I never actually got into the first Iris, but this one has me intrigued for some reason. Can't wait to check it out! ^_^

I usually don't watch action dramas, but I might check this out just for Choi Siwon's spinning high-kicks. Love him! And because of Cha Seungwon's ridiculous beard. <3 x 2

I lost interest in Iris within the first 20 mins, so not sure about this. A recap would be awesome though!

I'm a little more interested in this than i was IRIS, but its proabley cos i'm shallow and fancy one of the male leads.

Still wary though cos i think I watched half of the first episode of IRIS before i threw in the towel.

Hhmmm lets see what happens...

I can't wait for this one! Unlike Iris, I LOVEEE the cast in this!

Athena's gonna show who Kim Hyun-Jun's killer is! A lot of you guys are gonna be surprised ;)

I was so shocked when I saw Hyun Joon's killer..

yay Athena’s being recapped!
love the cast ESP SIWON <3 eyecandy :D

now. if only i could ensure that it wont end like IRIS :O

After watching the first episode, I must say I'm hooked by the action and the action... and Im usually not that crazy about action films like this. And I lovee the cast too! Every single person in there I love - maybe not for acting skills, but I still enjoy their presence. Enjoying this one much more than IRIS so far

JUNG WOO SUNG! I want to lower my expectations on this one, because I still haven't seen Iris yet and I've heard the negative reviews on it. I don't really want to be disappointed with you, Show. If you do disappoint me however, at least most of the cast can compensate (excluding Lee Jia. never seen her in any show, and don't take an interest in her).

hmmm, i'm actually not very surprised with its ratings since there's quite a number of notable actors/actresses in this action drama.

my jaw dropped at the hotness that is = jung. woo. sung + cha. seung. won

and i'm glad that someone will be recapping athena on dramabeans because i know that the writing will be amazing!!!

just a question for JB though - will you be writing the initial thoughts on athena or will the first recap come from the "mystery" recap-er?

So far so good. I'm liking the casting so far and Choi Si-won hasn't even appeared yet. Hope Lee Ji Ah can keep up with the stellar cast.

I'm looking forward to those Athena recaps by the unknown recapper. I do have a hunch of who it's gonna be, but I'm going to wait before I say anything more and just let time unfold itself!

Just finished watching EP1....

The action is really good; reminiscent of Minority Report or Mission Impossible (both are on the list of favorite action movies).

The music seem to match really well with what is happening in the scene.

The foreign languages (non-Korean) in various scenes didn't seem forced or over-used. It seemed that they left most of the languages (Russian and Japanese) to native speakers or those who were really comfortable and fluent with the language. The English scenes were limited and didn't seem forced.

The transition between locations, scenes and characters was very fast paced and would be better to follow with subs (at least for me a native English speaker with very limited understanding of Korean), but this didn't dissuade me from continuing to watch and enjoy the episode.

EP1 seemed to end at a good point that makes you want to see the next episode and find out how the scene plays out and explains/hints to the connection with the overall plot of the show.

Definitely looking forward to EP2, English subs, and recaps here at Dramabeans.

*** I liked the major action that took place within the first 15 mins of the show - very well choreographed and filmed. I don't like when the camera switches to quickly and blurs the action and makes the scene hard to follow. The action or fight sequences in a movie or tv show are meant to be followed (IMO), so to me Athena did a very good job satisfying my expectations.

Su Ae (Hye-In) fight initial fight scene – well choreographed and believable. Her character definitely comes across as a force to be reckoned with.

Cha Seung-won (Sohn-Hyuk) first fight scene (in bathroom) – reminiscent of Minority Report - longer, well choreographed fight sequence. He does a very good job of setting up the formidability of his character.

Jung Woo-Sung (Lee Jung Woo) - first fight scene (I guess you would call it that) is a somewhat (this is an opinion without English subs)comical and seems to set his character up as someone who is but shouldn't be underestimated with holding his own and getting the job done.

who is hyun joon killer?

will be watching this bc of choi si won good thing it also seems to be really good ;D

can't wait to see my beloved JWS!!!!:D

to the person who'll recap this series, am one very grateful gal to you.^_^

Yes!!!

Good!! I'm happy now I have three dramas with the suju boys to watch! They have made my winter^^ now if only Heenim would join a drama soon... of course i'll still see him weekly since he joined Radio Star^^ but I want to see him acting!
anyways *off to watch ATHENA*

Woohoo been looking forward to the show. But I am gonna wait it out for a while so that I can catch many eps together later.

Looking forward to Siwon's appearance on episode 2...we OML fans have been waiting since May for this!!! Honestly, I'm just gonna watch because of Siwon, but I really hope the story would be good enough for me to tune in instead of zoning out and then would just focus when CSW appears. =)

Looking forward to the recaps...

oh I am so happy Athena is finally here. I saw Iris - the movie. Err...if you could call it a movie. It's like snippets of IRIS mashed in to movie size...waste of time...only thing revelationary is the last 10 min...which I still don't think is believable....ok...off to drool over the 2CSW in Athena before I comment again...muahahaha.

Really looking forward to the recaps on Athena and waiting for the subs to be available. I planned on watching this for Siwon, but Jung Woo Sung & Cha Seung Won make it even better :). Also love Soo Ae!

Only like the ost of Athena, so will be skipping the actual drama

so excited

Looking forward to recaps. I found the 1st episode sleek and fast. Su Ae is terrific! And Jung Woo Sung already a lovesick puppy running around her is so handsome. Can't wait to see Si Won.

SBS Dramas are so interesting thise year !!! ^^

Yes! Pure adrenaline racing through my veins while watching the first episode, and Si Won enters the story next episode. Bring on the sizzling beefcakes. So many hot men, so little time.

Great drama : i am already hooked . Jung woo sung ! The way he looks to a woman he wants is absolutely incredible . Great editing , which is usually a flaw in K-dramas .
Don't wait : watch it .

Hmmmm ...

Contrary to what I expected Athena looks good. Very good. The beginning was way better than Iris'.

Just watched Ep 1 & 2

well, it's ...
@ - @ .... U - n - B- e - L - i - e- V - a - b - L - e .. @ - @ !

absolutely, this 'drama' is a one-of-a-kind Must-Experience ...actually it's gone beyond 'drama' ... how did they even fit this into the small screen ??

and .. *Jung Woo Sung* ..... @@@@ .. they should issue Level 5 Typhoon warnings before unleashing a force of nature of this magnitude on the poor viewers...! .... *Ker-Thud!*

2 episodes down. it's UNBELIEVABLE.
Hands down a must-watch. This is a Movie in a small screen. Great work !

And *Jung Woo Sung* .. what can i say ? .. they should issue a Level 5 Typhoon warning against an on-screen force of nature of this magnitude !

Watched episode 1 & 2. It's pretty amazing! But don't really get what's happening.. T_T Can't wait til the recaps come out! :D

I will be watching this drama. Simply because it has two of my favorite actors in it...no need to say who they are.

now for the fangirl in me.......damn CHASEUNGWON! can he or Jung Woo Sung turn it down a notch.

I'm just saying.

If in the end,Jung Woo Sung won't end up with Lee Ji Ah , i will totally hate the scriptwriter !

like all cast, excellent!!! Love Jang Woo Sang.

Honestly, I have been anticipating this drama since summer, as I love CSW and LJA. After Runaway plan B which I have not finished and so into SG. I am hesitated to start sthg. similar. I watch the 1st 20 minutes of ep 1 today and I stop. As I feel like I am watching Mission Impossible + The Bronce report but in K version. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad, great action, good acting etc...I guess I am not in the mood to watch this "mind set and action" style drama around X'mas time.

whew. !.. i will support lee ji ah and the other cast MEMBER of athena. fighting !

- FROM PHILIPPINES WITH LOVE:)

aww..the recaps are not out. But after the 2nd epi I feel that Athena is a little slow...nothing much happened. Only JWS cuteness made me tune in. Appreciate the different approach they took with the characters...but even though IRIS started very cliched it was more enjoyable. IRIS start well...lost steam at the end. Let's hope Ahena starts slow but pick uup steam towards the end.