Something in the Rain

Summary - The first 2/3 of this are wonderful, heart warming and wrenching at the same time. As this pair work against just about everyone in their lives to be able to love each other, overcoming hurdle after hurdle. It's not just the "honeymoon" phase of love, it goes longer, which was great. Then it all goes a bit wrong. The wheels massively come off this one. I lost track of what was happening and why. Ending is ok but unsatisfying on the whole.

Longer...

The FL is 10 years older than the ML. They've known each other for many years and the ML and his sister have practically been raised as siblings to the FL following their own mothers passing and their father abandoning them... so there's some taboo's to overcome when the FL and ML realise their feelings for each other have grown significantly.

This story is one of love, romance and hardship. Fairly early on the couple are getting together and the way in which they overcome that first hurdle of - who makes the first move - was really nicely done. As the relationship grows, the FL's character visibly brightens and changes, she gains confidence and literally becomes more bouncy. There are the silly childish games that couples play in the honeymoon phase along the lines of "no, you hang up first" with some cute scenes involving him dropping her off at home and them taking a long time to actually separate.

There's the FL's brother, the ML's sister, the FL's parents (who by some extension are also somewhat the ML's fake-parents), all of which are probably going to have a problem with this relationship. These are tackled one by one and I thought handled well.

The FL's mother - probably one of my most disliked characters in a story. On the one hand, she's obviously a caring mother, she goes out of her way to help and OUGHT to be a fantastic mother, but she's so controlling and interfering she becomes the clear "bad guy" in this story (that's not a spoiler, it's fairly clear early on who the problem is going to be!). She's acted well though I have to say.

In addition to what's happening in her personal life, the FL has problems at work with sexual harassment from a couple of the male senior staff. I found this whole aspect of the story really hard to watch, but more because it was portrayed well and therefore all the more shameful - not so much about the actual act of harassing but all the scheming and tactics to try and dodge it, cover it up, pass over the blame etc. Ultimately the story kinda builds to a conclusion on this and then SKIPS it however so you actually only find out what ultimately happened via a reminiscence later on, a huge shame.

None of the sound track really stood out for me, it does all seem to be English lyrics which was interesting. One of the songs is a remake of Stand By Your Man - which plays sooo many times - but I found it appropriate if only because this story is clearly - Stand By Your Woman. The FL is going through so many challenges at home and at work, she's a flawed character who makes mistakes on top, and what she needs most (and, for the most part, what she gets from the ML) is support.

So, was it worth watching?

I'd recommend watching this one because of the first 2/3 being SO good, it goes beyond the ridiculously cute honeymoon phase to further in where things become more normal, to where they upset each other, decisions are made and things happen, there's the happenings with the family and with the ML's sister. There's really only two threads (their relationship and the harassment story line) but they are both quite involved.

This is not a story where good people make only good decisions, be prepared to throw popcorn at the screen and shout "just be honest!" "argh no don't do that you fool!" - but that's ok because in the real world, people are flawed too.

The wheels do come off later, the time skip is unannounced and utterly confusing and contributes a lot to the problems in following the story in the last few episodes. The harassment story line is done a huge disservice by not having its conclusion covered properly too.

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A Grueling 16 Episodes

My first review, but I simply could not get over how much I disliked this drama without writing one; it felt like my civic duty, so this is going to be ranty. I watched the first 5-ish episodes thinking it would be something I could get into despite a bit of a rocky start, but then it very quickly plummeted downhill. Like a previous review said, this should've just been a movie and we'd all be happy. If you like noona romances, honestly just skip out on this one and watch "Romance Is a Bonus Book" instead.

I will preface this with the fact that the very, very thin lifeline that kept me watching was Wi Ha-jun as Jin-a's little brother who didn't even show up that much in the end, but as a lot of people are saying, the one good thing about this drama is the actors. Although, what drama these days doesn't have good acting? So it's not that big of a compliment, especially considering they had an incredibly shitty story to work with.
As I said, I liked it at first, but around episode 6, it starts getting excruciatingly long and boring, with plenty of scenes of characters being sad in solitude without any talking- I started skipping after a while because I knew nothing was gonna happen. The characters felt like they didn't learn from their mistakes, and I ended up hating the main couple after the fourth conflict. The conflicts felt contrived and so easy to resolve that I couldn't suspend my disbelief for it; the show is so needlessly melodramatic. The ML was extremely pushy and the FL lied so much that when she said "she's grown as a person," I had a hard time believing it. I will be frank, it did not feel like they were in love. I kinda liked the scenes where the FL hangs out with her friends, and I wish they showed more of that and less of her with the ML because soon enough their cutesy scenes made me want to barf. No one's conversations go anywhere, the mother was controlling and abusive to a cartoonish degree, and the amount of time they spent on her crazy ex was, well, crazy.
Speaking of crazy, it felt like the soundtrack had only 3 songs in it. At first, I thought the music was nice, but then the sheer amount of times they played that same "sometimes it's hard to be a woman" made it start sounding like nails on a chalkboard. If I ever heard that song again, I'd probably lose it completely. You could not pay me a million dollars to rewatch this.

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How to ruin a great show

The first episodes I really loved this show. The main couple is absolutely adorable and especially the lead Yoon Jin Ah is evolving throughout the story. The supporting characters well defined. Subplots are interesting and relatable: whether it is the dealings with sexual harrasment at work, the problems with the ex-boyfriend or the fear of how friends and family react to the slightly unusual couple. Overall the show is slow but well paced at this point in time.
Until there I would rate this show with a 10, so much did I enjoy it.

But then, the writing goes downhill fast: Suddenly the until that point likable lead character becomes absolutely determined to make borderline-crazy decisions seemingly only to make life hell for the male lead. I have seen this happening in shows before - creating artificial drama where non should be, because some more episodes are needed - but never to this extent. The same happens to some of the supporting characters as well.

The actors seem as confused by this as the viewer, as the acting becomes noticable worse. To stretch the overall slow pace even further, we are presented with minute long scenes of people walking or driving - at this point I was thankful for the "+10 seconds"-button and the newly introduced "x1.5"-speed option of Netflix. And to make things the most annoying song of the very limited soundtrack is played multiple times per episode, often louder than the spoken word.

So, how does the show still rate 8 for me? The beginning is just so very good that I would recommend others to watch it, even if you will be frustrated by the horrible second half.

And now to the spoiler part:
I need to point out how horrible a person the mother is. It is one thing to want a good match for your daughter but the fanatic crusade she wages against the main couple is ridiculous. At some point I was suspecting, that she once had an affair with Seo Joon Hee's father and the main couple are actual siblings by blood.
So as the show itself, I will end on a bad note and say: the only thing that can redeem the mother character is actual incest.

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I have mixed feelings about this drama. It is very mature in its theme, but somehow it converted itself to a very immature ending and it catered to what it believed the viewers wanted in the end. I marathoned the first 14 episodes and truly enjoyed the way the story evolved and how the actors and actresses portrayed their roles. As usual, there is always the "Korean mother" - someone we all want to hate , but if this is a true depiction of life as an unmarried woman living with parents in South Korea then the story is given a higher rating. However, the story failed to really deal with true human emotions, especially when the parties have connected so initimately. Character flaws are really the highlighted themes of this drama. You keep asking yourself - would I do that? How would I respond? If only I had that chance? How far would I go to love someone? Would I sacrifice for the one I love? So for me the drama did merit a higher rating. It was not for the younger or inexperienced viewer. As an older woman you can look back at your own personal life and ask yourself these questions and focus in on mistakes or missed opportunities. The drama was a work of art. The painter drew the lines and colored it according to his/her feelings of what is love so I don't condemn this drama totally. I truly did not feel good at the end -- but was happy at the end. It is a judgment we all have to make after watching - and I do recommend watching. There are some wonderful moments in this drama that should not be dismissed because we disagree with the outcomes. Again, this is a drama about character flaws and I must add - love that is unyielding (even if it is by only one party in a relationship). The music was appropriate, but sometimes annoying.

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I created an account to write this review. The frustration I felt whilst watching this show made me want to cry (i did). I have NEVER felt the anger that I felt towards Jin-a’s mother like I have before.

I’m still struggling to understand why they wrote the mother to be the most insufferable character in the world. I felt like she was going to give me heartburn. The actress really played the part because I just wanted her to get her shit rocked. They were too polite, like sometimes you gotta commit murder; it’s the law.

That being said, initially this drama started out super cute. Jun-hui is obviously more into her than she is into him and it’s refreshing. I really liked how in the beginning, episode was unpredictable. They would throw drama and plot twists after plot twists in the middle of an episode which is innovative. I just don’t know how everything can go wrong in a drama.

I can really write a whole essay on which this drama gave me indigestion, but I will leave with this. The ONLY redeeming quality of this drama is the acting. The actors/actresses had a piss poor plot to work with and they made the most of it. I think every body in the show played their part well, they just weren’t written well lol.

I’m still mad I put almost 20 hours into this show. The weak plot and whole 3 songs really can go swan dive off a balcony.

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Beautiful love story.

Where do I start with this kdrama, or should I say k-trauma, because it felt like that at times. Yet again the writers have messed up what would have been a beautiful, modern love story. The cast were exceptional. They were perfect in their roles. Full of fun, depth of emotion and understanding of what they had to portray in their roles. What let this drama down was the poor script in the latter episodes. From episode one to about ten, we had a great story. A beautiful couple finding their feelings were changing from old family friends to lovers. The intimacy between the male and female leads was so well done that at times I thought are they really a couple in real life.
Where the writers let the story down was the way they brought in the break-up storyline. Yet again going down the predictable storyline of happy, happy, happy relationship, let's bring in more drama by splitting them up, for then to bring them back together later on. As if they didn't have enough problems to overcome with the female lead's mother. A break-up was not needed. For this to be an adult relationship with longevity they needed to stick together and support each other and show the world no matter whatbyou throw at us we can get through it, but no they had to go down the boring predictable break-up route.
Also, why is it they always have to have these toxic, psychotic mothers who hide their awful behaviour behind the pretext of their motherly love, and wanting what's best for their child. Shouldn't their happiness be the number one thing, not whether they are in a high powered job, or dating (with a possibility of marriage) to another high powered, successful man. Both times, when we saw the female in those types of relationships, she was miserable. The first one cheated on her with someone much younger. He also stalked, sexually assaulted, kidnapped, and tried to kill her! W.L.A.F!!! Who in their right mind thinks that is a good relationship. The second one, we see at her brother's wedding. Yet again a self absorbed prick who is constantly on his phone with work. Yeah, I get in his line of work he probably does not get a moments peace, but even at a family event he could not keep off his phone, and then left without saying goodbye because he had to catch a flight. He was never present in their relationship. Throughout the date and the drive home, he was on his phone, and ignored her. I bet he didn't even notice that shebleft his car when they were at a set of traffic lights. Someone like him should not be in a relationship. Even though this was bad enough, her mother when she told her that they had split up, she was still angry with her. He daughter at this time is nearly 40. Leave her alone. You created this situation. Her toxic parenting was responsible for her daughter making those decisions. What she should of done is get a life of her own. Done things with her husband instead of focusing so much on her children and what they got up to. I know the Korean culture is different to ours, and a lot of emphasis is placed on parents and your piotity towards them, but still this was yey again on another level. When are writers/directors going to learn that this level of abuse, especially with adult, independent (she might have lived at home, but she had a professional job) is not OK.
Also the other disappointing thing was the ending. They did the predictable time jump thing that they always do. This time it was 3 years. She was with douch-bag number two, the male lead turned up after 3 years to his best friend's (her brother's) wedding. Loads of awkward interactions with everyone else, but no contact between them. Lots of side looks, and unhappy stares. It took most of episode 16 for them to talk face to face. Still for all to see a deep lingering love between them, but because of their past hurt and their stubbornnes, never resolved their past break-up and trauma.
Eventually in the last 10 minutes or so of the episode they get back together, but it was so lame. They definitely needed another episode or two just to tidy everything up. She was living on Jeju Island. He still had a job in America. Was he going to stay in Korea or was he still going back to America? Never addressed that. Also was his sister, her mother and the rest of her family going to accept her being in a relationship with him again? Never was addressed. How could they live happily ever after? Could they forget their past traumas? Could they move on and be at peace with the relationship as it is. A sort of secret love affair like before? Or were they willing to be open with everyone and be damed with the consequences? So many unanswered questions, that really spoilt what was a lovely modern day love story.
Even the secondary storyline of the female lead's sexual harassment case, was a breath of fresh air. Tackling a very difficult subject matter, that can be understood globally, but yet again they messed up with this storyline. They dragged out, and then did a poor job in resolving it. She didn't get justice, but you find that in a lot of these cases, but the lack of support from her female colleagues I just found gobsmackingly awful. I know women can be bitchy, especially in the workplace, but this was on another level. They deliberately through her under the bus just to save their own skins. It was disgusting to watch. She was literally alone. Her family were no use. Her mother, the toxic mess. Whose idea of love is to make her daughter miserable. Her boyfriend who's idea of support, was to run away. And then her best friend, who what I can gather, had never been in love or ever had a boyfriend/relationship, completely cut her off because of how her brother was treated. She never once put herself in her friend's shoes. The blind date she was forced to go on, because if she didn't she would have been seen as an ungrateful and disrespectful daughter. Even though all she ever did was bend over backwards for her family and friends. Literally a doormat for them to walk all over her. Then her mother having a go at her best friend and boyfriend, in front of everyone. I get why the sister/best friend would be angry, but not once did she think all that vitriol would not hurt her friend too. The two closest people in the world to her. The two people she loved the most, was being abused my her own mother and she didn't know what to do.
Overall the writers missed a whole chunk of the story out. They rushed parts in order to get a 'happy' conclusion, but dragged out some storylines (the sexual harassment part being one). Maybe more episodes might have tidied up the story better, but I believe some of the middle episodes could have been reedited so as to not have such a rushed last episode.
In the end it has great actors playing their roles well. The leads had great chemistry, but the ending was an anticlimax after such a great story build up. The age gap between them was never an issue throughout. In some instances you could be mistaken for her being younger than him. The way he conducted himself, at times, was as if they were the same age, and this made their love story more sweet and their compatibility more true.

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Story: (8.0/10)
In terms of romance, this drama is awesome. The main couple had a lot of chemistry, the love scenes was wonderful. I got jealous of them because I wanted a romance like that. But well, for some people the story can be boring and the last episodes was pretty bad. In general, it's a medium story, nothing impressive.

Acting/Cast: (9.0/10)
The cast is good. They chose very well the male and female lead because they had a wonderful chemistry. The others characters was also well played but Jung Hae In and his sister (i don't remember the actress name), stood out the most. I really loved Jung Hae In's character, he was so loving, caring and a great boyfriend. Actually he was a boyfriend material.

Music: (9.0/10)
OMG I LOVED THE OST!!!!!!!!! The soundtrack was incredible and made the moments of the couple more beautiful and enjoyable!

Rewatch Value: (7.5/10)
The romance is really good so it can be valid to watch again but not the entire drama because the story isn't that much great.

Overall: (8.0/10)
I feel that the drama started very good but got lost in the final episodes. The female lead is so boring and immature... I got tired of her. Of course the main lead isn't perfect but I felt that he was much more mature than her. Anyway, it was a drama that I enjoyed watching. The plot isn't that great and the last episodes was a mess, seemed like the directors got lost about the story but I really liked the romance of the main couple so I don't think it was a lost of time after all. The final episode could be better tho. I think you must watch to make you own opinions.
Now I have to wait for the next drama that Jung Hae In will do because I'm completely in love with this guy HAHA.

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It's not a typical romance kdrama and it's not for everyone

After I started the 1st episode I decided to look at the comments and reviews here and I got scared because I saw so many bad comments and reviews, most saying 'it's boring, I wasted my time, it was good until the 7th episode'. I am the kind of person who continues a drama without getting affected by other people's opinions. I also concluded that I don't trust all 'asian drama watchers', I guess we don't have the same taste. Something in the rain is an excellent kdrama.

About the story, it touchs on matters like family stereotypes, dating and marriage stereotypes, friendship in adulthood, sexism in workplace and incidents of SA. As I said on the headline, it's not a typical romance kdrama and it's not for everyone. It needs a 'strong stomach' and the emotional cappacity to understand the charachers situations and emotions. I didn't get bored after the 7th or 8th episode as some say, it was the opposite tbh because the last episodes ended with cliffhangers and I was more invested to the story than I was in the first.

The acting is EXCELLENT, it feels very real while you watch it and Jung Haein really does justice to noona dramas. I even got really annoyed by certain characters but that's what good acting is.

The music is also very good, it gives a warm vibe to the serries. For me it's a drama that you will enjoy more watching during autumn/winter or early spring.

Lastly I think I will watch it again after few years when I will be in my 30s.

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This drama really hurt my romantic soul in some parts but i absolutely loved it.

I loved both actors playing the lead couple, off the charts chemistry, they really played well their part as 2 people who fall in love and behave like a real couple, such natural scenes they had together, they were so cute and loving with one another (and i’m including all the scenes, all the small gestures, the looks, the hugs, the small smiles, flirting and also the well done kisses and skinship, even tho they did those with excellency i might add, the rest was also very important to me and the hot scenes were a plus!) and the way they shot the scenes were very good too, i felt like i was invading they privacy and peeking through the keyhole the whole time XD was that good!
Kudos for both actors and the crew and directors for making such good scenes.

The story isn’t exactly something new, the typical guy falls the girl kind of thing, even tho this time the guy is a few years younger than the female lead and he is the younger brother of her best friend so if nothing it's a complicated thing from the start because people still have prejudice for those relationships between younger/older people falling in love and being seen together.
I honestly don’t see any kind of problem or issues with it but maybe i’m too open minded about it?
I mean love is love, they are both adults so what's the problem if they want to love each other and be together for life? It's their business and people need to learn how to look to their own noses and not other peoples lives but anyway...

All the problems they encounter with their relationship are caused by others, it makes them waver if what they are doing is right or wrong because people are judging them and pointing fingers.
They tend to be afraid of showing the other person how much they love them and that they matter the most, they feel themselves like a mouse in a trap with no one to help or support them, with no way out or room for happiness unless it's on everybody elses terms.
And that really pissed me off, because people just want to control other peoples lives and it ticks me off in such a way i really tend to be agressive towards people that act so high and mighty all the time, like they know better than everyone else and that only what they say is law.
It really gave me an itch to just slap some sense into them so badly it made me cry so hard.
I could relate so much with this couple that i felt bad for days after watching it, i felt so sad and angry at the same time and i even cried my heart out for them T_T

Don’t get me wrong, i loved this drama and i had already prepared my heart for the bad ending but i was surprised in the end :) Thank the gods!

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Nuna love and the road to freedom

This is the first work for the duo Kim Eun, as a screenwriter, and Ahn Pan-seok, as director (they collaborate again in the production of One Spring Night). It is my final (and perfectly negligible) opinion that they work really well together and should continue to do so (in fact, they should involve Jung Hea-in next time as well).
The deeply feminine and insightful writing is capably rendered through soft tones and careful pacing and an overall aura of independent art film. Therefore, I wouldn't recommend this drama to watchers that don't like artsy vibes or slice-of-life plots.

The female protagonist, Jin-ah, is portrayed with such brutal honesty and is so very lifelike that it's almost depressing (Son Ye Jin is the best at playing this kind of characters).
Here is a woman held hostage by her family and society's expectations: she is told to compromise and keep the peace. Basically, she is forced to partake in her own abuse only to end up being judged for trying to meet expectations.
Her unconventional love (older woman loves younger, orphan!, man... so shocking!) is the cue to realize the true nature of the cage she is trapped in and to finally have the courage to imagine herself outside of it.
Therefore, a bluntly realistic premise mellows out in an optimistic ending that, to me, feels like advice: Jin-ah frees herself, at last, when she stops trying to make people around her happy and tries to be happy herself (by physically escaping both her job and her family).
The superwoman concept of constant self-sacrifice is, in this drama (and in my personal view), less like a virtue and more like a heavy chain keeping women down. We encounter a number of female characters, each one distinguishable and multifaceted (all the actresses are fabulous), who are trying to find their own solutions to living with this metaphorical chain made of expectations. Sometimes they help each other and sometimes they become the jailor (internalization of mysogyny is strong in all genders).
Male characters, instead, are on the sidelines: fragile and cartoonish. When they are not actively harmful, they are, however, incapable of truly being of support in a struggle they don't fully understand.

I was once again weak and fell in love with Jung Hae-in (his sweet smile and abs keep confusing my feminism and I forget the bitter reality). His character's genuine sentiment and devotion are so innocent, fresh, so naive that it makes you want to simultaneously join him in his artsy illusion and smack him for being so cruel to make you think one can be forgetfully in love. Joon-hee and Jin-ah's romance works well, at first, when it is in its own bubble, but can it survive outside, in the harsh world of social costraints?

OST by Yamagata and Carla Bruni. You either love it or come to hate it. I liked it.


Female Empowerement Score 5/5: Jin-ah suffers a lot, but in the end she wins her battle and is able to regain her self despite her molesters, her family's wishes and society's judgment.

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