The acting was great, they really managed to convey the emotions and lay it on thick and raw, really outstanding, especially from support characters
Overall this drama was a real game changer with its sudden plot twist, it always seemed to keep me on my toes throughout the drama, it was enjoyable and really made me think how important time is and how you should spend it and the overall importance.
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1The writers cleverly hid the real plot and tricked the viewers into believing it is a romantic comedy. They held our hands and pulled us toward a fantasy world that was funny and sad at times. All to ease us into the real story that is fascinating, deep, and heartwarming.
Main Themes:
- Bond between parents and their children, friends, lovers, and family members.
- Living through the hardships and enjoying each moment you have, instead of worrying about the future or regretting the past.
I am so impressed with the morals this drama carries and the amazing performance of all the actors. I am also happy that my curiosity made me complete the episodes, because I would have missed a valuable gem.
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This review may contain spoilers
I have a lot of mixed feelings about this drama and even months after finishing it, I'm not sure where I stand in terms of liking or hating the plot twist. Yes, the message is beautiful and all, and yes, that last episode had me crying, but I can't say whether that's because of the writing or my feelings towards Alzheimer's after experiencing it through my grandmother.And, while the message is important, I would have cared so much more if I knew going into this drama what it was about. Sure there are some people who would choose not to watch it because it is a heavy topic that affects many people in real life. When someone has Alzheimer's, its effects radiate. It affects their family, their friends. It even showed as much in the drama. But the choice of whether or not to watch it should be theirs to make. For some people, dramas are an escape from the hardships of the day. They go into dramas wanting to forget real life and to instead invest in characters that they get to slowly learn and care for. So if they go in wanting an escape, it could be considered cruel to throw away the story they developed over 10 episodes for a topic that hits close to home for many. At the same time, I do understand what they were trying to do and respect that. I'm just not sure I agree with the implementation of it.
If the show was honest from the start, I may have loved it. But it wasn't. It feels like those 10 episodes weren't needed if this was the story they were going to tell. All of those story threads and all of that time invested to get to that point were just thrown away in favour of a slice of life melodrama. The show made me care about the delusion of Joon Ha, and I just didn't care at all for the real him because of it. The fake versions of the main couple were a lot more compelling to watch, and I really did care about them, no matter how absurd the story around them was. It's a kdrama, I'm used to the absurd. But the reality of them just made me numb to it all. When I should have felt the most and been hit the hardest, I didn't feel it. A part of me regrets watching it.
And yet, at the same time, I respect the premise. I think that Alzheimer's should be talked about and discussed more often, especially since early intervention is very important for treatment. But I don't think this story pulled that off as well as it could have. Judging from the polarizing reaction to it, while some appreciated the message, a lot are just upset at wasting their time.
So I'm torn on whether to recommend this or not. I do feel that the surprise is unnecessary, and that going into it understanding what you're going to find at the end is the best approach. You can't be disappointed if you know what's coming, so go into it with an open mind and steel your heart.
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a collection of distorted memories - painful, yet dazzling
(It's hard to believe the MDL ratings for this drama because it deserves so much love.)A friend recommended this to me and I immediately began watching it. At first, I thought of it as a slice of life, romedy - packed with a bunch of ridiculously funny moments. The first few episodes are definitely light, set with a good pace and a good amount of humor as well. The characters, especially Hyeja's brother had me rolling my eyes and facepalming at his antics (in a good way). The bond of friendship is cute, filled with some heartwarming moments. You'll never know what the story is about and what's the motive behind it all till you get to the last four episodes. At least that's what happened with me.
It is then when you realize that the story isn't coming to an end, it is, in fact, beginning to come around so well, that it leaves you in awe of the way it's so cleverly written and how beautiful it is. I felt the need to revisit all the previous episodes to see how the moments we saw have completely changed in their meaning. It flips the entire perspective around and suddenly things start to make a perfect sense.
(might contain some spoilers)
I will begin with the beautiful symbolism of the watch. How it is seen as some time-traveling device but actually turns out to be more meaningful and connects you with a painful memory. I never could have thought that a watch will make me cry so much. The moment you find out its significance, things become sadder. It's just like what Hyeja's son says - that she goes back and relives the happiest moments of her life. And now we know why she is seen traveling back in time and why the watch is shown as some time-traveling medium (cue tears).
The strongest point of this drama, for me, was its beautiful, larger than life moments. The cast is so brilliant, their acting is honest and heart touching. At times it even made me tear up. My friend discussed with me how there are some powerful scenes where there aren't any dialogues but the expressions convey their feelings so well and I'd agree with that.
Hyeja's character, despite all of her struggles, is so inspirational. I absolutely fell in love with Kim Hye Ja and how she beautifully portrayed her. A woman who is struggling to hold onto her memories and her memories resulting in that vague, distorted ones that we saw. And yet, she believes that all those memories, even though they were painful, were full of light. And I believe in her words. I believe that she cherishes them so much because it is visible in the way those moments shine and I loved how they managed to capture them so well.
I couldn't stop my tears for Joonha's character. He left such a deep impact that it wrecked me. Nam Joo Hyuk is a phenomenal actor; I always love watching him on-screen but this is his best acting till this date. He really shone as Joonha and was so radiant.
There is this scene where the old people look at the setting sun and seemingly reminisce about their youthful days. And it made me think of how the title "The Light In Your Eyes" is so apt. We often think of old age and relate it with death, but at that moment, their eyes shone so bright and they looked so alive.
The drunk conversations between Hye Ja and Joonha, the fun times with their friends, the old people making us laugh; I think 'The Light In Your Eyes' definitely had its bizarre moments, but despite all of that, what it really meant to me was this beautiful collection of distorted memories - painful, yet dazzling.
This drama will surely make you think about what is important and how to hold onto it forever.
I'd like to end this with this beautiful quote from the drama - "Even if you are struggling right now, everyone alive has the right to enjoy this every day. Even if one ordinary day is followed by another ordinary day, life is still worth living. Don't waste the present regretting the past and worrying about the future. Live this day beautifully, you deserve it. To all of you who was a mom, a sister, a daughter and yourself."
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The Light in Her Eyes!
'The beautiful journey which keeps you engaged till the end, giving you pain still you have a smile left on your face.' if someone asked to be to describe this show in one sentence. Well, it's an emotional roller coaster where you experience every emotion itself, you cry, you laugh, there's pain, you'll shock, in short you'll experience everything in this small ride. But the main thing is you'll get more than just entertainment, bitter truth, or reality you can say. Surely it's not a fairytale but none the less than that.The story itself was phenomenal, you cannot predict anything, and the twist you get near the end was more than any surprise. I've seen in any thriller, suspense drama. The execution, the direction was perfect. Characters their emotions, sentiments were amazingly conveyed. The humor was to the point till not absurd, nothing was perfect, every character had it's pro and con, and that's the specialty of this. Its realisticness opens our eyes to see the real world where we live.
Hat's off for the acting, Kim Hye Ja absolutely nailed it, like this role was made for her. I can say I saw a really good change in Nam Joo Hyuk's acting he did a great job portraying his character and last but not least Son Ho Jun wow he's gonna be one of the characters which made me laugh most.
So this was a whole package having a great story, cast, execution, beautiful cinematography, and more than just a drama face to the reality which can teach you the real value of life.
"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's First Law of Equivalent Exchange"
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I'm not really a fan of actress Han Ji-min so I was quite worried to watch Radiant. I needn't have because we spend a lot more time on screen with her elderly counterpart Kim Hye-ja who is a wonderful elderly actress (not to be confused with their character with the same name!) Yes, there is a bit of a supernatural twist involved. Of course, Hye-ja's family and friends are greatly effected by this change in her. And we explore this effect alongside her estranged relationship with Lee Joon-ha who she is forced to emotionally abandon even though they fall in love.
Radiant is a very odd story. We assume from the first couple episodes that it will be a supernatural romantic comedy... and it surely has all of those elements, but it is more of a melodrama than anything. The twists start coming hot and heavy in the last handful of episodes and it totally changes how you view that beginning. Yes, there is a roller coaster of emotions that we go through with Hye-ja and Joon-ha, and the end is rather poignant rather than strictly happy, but the journey makes Radiant worth the watch.
Kim Hye-ja and Lee Joon-ha sell me. I was totally on board with this couple. They connected on a visceral level in those first episodes that I really related to and wanted to see play out to the end. Alas a family tragedy totally derails their love affair and we watch Radiant with bated breathe wondering at the promise in that beginning. It's quite heart breaking and Hye-ja works hard to stay close to Joon-ha even as his life spirals out of control. All is not as it seems.
I thought it was quite fascinating how her family and friends play into Hye-ja's story with Joon-ha. Even though we don't learn much until the end, I was fascinated by Hye-ja's parents relationship. There was history there we don't learn about but can feel the effect of. And Hye-ja's own relationship with her father was quite pregnant with emotion boiling under the surface. It was the later episodes though that put all of these moments in perspective. Like I said all is not as it seems but the reality is just as authentic once we know the truth.
Radiant is a true melodrama that wrings your heart out! Romance lovers and non-romance lovers will enjoy this as its authenticity to real life touches your heart despite the supernatural elements that allow us to explore Hye-ja's life. The twists and turns make the journey worth the watch as the truths inherit in Radiant give you a vehicle to ponder your own life.
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This review may contain spoilers
Make sure you are in the right mood
Spoilers ahead.
I feel conflicted about this series. It was recommended to me after 18 again, bizarrely. I think this was due to the fantasy element. On this vein, I was enjoying it as fantasy drama, including and up to when the FML accidentally ages herself. From here in started to go downhill for me. The plot seemed to drag with the FML spending most of her time moping around. Even Nam Joo-hyuk's visuals couldn't keep me engaged. The emotional scenes were well acted but the story felt very dreary.
Part of this I will blame on myself. Normally I like to watch dramas because they are uplifting and funny. Occasionally though, a series like Youth of May will demonstrate that they don't have to be tropey or fluffy. Unfortunately I don't feel like this series got the balance right. The romance didn't feel fleshed out and I struggled to root for the characters.
By the time the big reveal came I was already pretty exhausted with this series. The promise of a big twist kept me going but when it finally I arrived I was disappointed. It just seemed to add more dreariness rather than shock factor. I will guiltily confess that I was enjoying the fantasy escape from the care home.
I don't want to sound too harsh though. I think prior to watching this series it's important to manage your expectations. It's not a particularly happy or thrilling watch. It does however deal with a timely issue that many will face. The acting is solid, particularly from Nam Joo-hyuk and Kim Hye-ja. It's also unlike any other k-dramas I've watched.
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The story is about a middle class young girl named kim hye ja. When she was a child She got a watch from the sea side with an supernatural ability to travel back through time. She used that watch helself many times in her life for her own purposes, but some unpredictable and mysterious events happened in her life and the things are changed over a night.
Initially the whole story where entirely predictable and there where nothing new but after that plot twist it will surely surprise you . The acting of the lead characters was superb especially in the finale episode emotional moments. I think this is a worth watching emotional drama and you should give just a try..
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This review may contain spoilers
This is my first time writing a review for a kdrama! I personally started watching this drama as I am big fan of Han Ji min not for her looks but for her acting. As the story , as it progressed it was filled with joy and then slowly transcended to a sorrow and sad story! The meaning behind this drama is ethically beautiful. The plot is heart wrenching and heartwarming all at the same time but it simply touches the soul.The last few episodes deliver the crucial blow - that's when this rom-com drama turns into a slice of life drama! It tries to deliver an important message - live every moment, enjoy every seconds of life no matter how mundane it may seem as the most precious thing to you as you would age would be the memories you preserve. This is exactly the message being conveyed by the main female lead hya ja as she tries of imagine a better life which is in stark contrast to the reality she is living in. Even though she suffers from Alzheimer's, she would never let go of her precious moments with her husband.
The very ending delivers the most crucial message! It might have been the moment of death for Hye Ja but seeing them "reunite" on the beach with the sun setting while hugging was away of interpreting they both lived a tough life but in the end they found their way back to each other and everything turned out okay. The quote is what really set the tone at the end, it was said and written beautifully.
A beautiful story with excellent cast and direction is what makes this drama unique and inspiring.
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Han Ji Min and Kim Hye Ja deliver stunning performances.
Some really great characters, I thought the brother was a really different character and I really enjoyed the playful relationship he had with Hyun-Joo.
Nothing in the sound track particularly stood out, but it wasn't bad either, I think it's more a sign that what was going on in the story drowned everything out emotionally.
I think it's definitely got to be worth at least one rewatch, because once you finish it you'll probably want to watch it again to see if, knowing how it ends, you understand what goes before it differently.
So good.
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good acting but confusing story
Every so often, I would try to pick a good Korean drama to watch. It will not be fair to say that this drama was not good, but I definitely did not feel good after watching.Is it just me, I wonder? Korean dramas, many a time, though try to convey thought-provoking and inspiring messages to audiences at the end of the show, tend to have stories with lots of angst and make them sensational, but sometimes ended up making the stories more complicated and confusing than they should have been.
This 12-episode drama gave a glimpse of how in order to save and have something back, one has to give up in return another thing of the same value or at least that was what I thought it was trying to convey.
Kim Hye Ja (Han Ji Min), though wasn’t sure about her direction in life, was an optimistic and bubbly 25-year-old girl. She found a watch on a beach when she was young and this mysterious watch when winded, allowed her to turn back time. When her father met with an accident, she desperately winded the watch, hoping to prevent the accident from happening. Despite trying many times, she failed again and again. Eventually, at the very last attempt, she managed to save her father’s life, but as a result turned into a 70-year-old woman herself.
The initial 10 episodes of this drama were interesting. They showed in detail Kim Hye Ja’s initial shock and her gradual acceptance from a 25-year-old girl to a 70-year-old woman who was acted by another actress also by the name of Kim Hye Ja. The problems she faced all of a sudden as a 70-year-old woman were realistic, such as not being able to run like before, knees cracking after climbing up a few steps, feeling tired and wanting to rest after walking just a short while, not being able to see as well as before, feeling sleepy early in the night and waking up very early in the morning, etc. I felt intrigued watching all of these. They were portrayed so well in the older Kim Hye Ja. Although I did wonder why they didn’t use the same actress, the older Kim Hye Ja looked convincing enough with similar face features, build and mannerisms as the younger one.
This drama also highlighted some of the issues faced by less well-off families in Korea and problems faced by the elderly in the Korean society – abandonment by their own children, loneliness and suicide.
I had wanted to give this drama a high score when I was watching the first 10 episodes, in fact I binge-watched the 10 episodes in less than 2 days because I was really curious to know what would happen to Hye Ja at the end, whether she would remain as an old lady or return to her original state and how, and what would become of her romance with Lee Joon Ha (Nam Joo Hyuk), the cute-looking male lead.
However, I changed my mind entirely after watching the last 2 episodes. I do not know how to describe my feelings towards these 2 final episodes. It felt like a different team of scriptwriters took over the script-writing or the scriptwriters couldn’t decide how to continue the story, or simply they just changed their minds and decided that they did not wish to continue with the original script, but all in all it was a total letdown for me…It was incoherent and I was watching with bewilderment the whole time. I did not quite understand why things were happening the way they were because what I saw in the first 10 episodes seemed no longer valid. The characters were the same, but the setting was no longer the same. It felt like what happened in the first 10 episodes was just a dream, imagination or illusion of Kim Hye Ja or was it not? I wasn’t sure.
I will not be able to describe my thoughts of the last 2 episodes without some spoilers, but as I do not want to write spoilers in this review, I will just touch a little. Simply put, there was a twist in the last 2 episodes, totally unexpected, everything just changed all of a sudden and we were thrown to the year 1970 when Hye Ja and Joon Ha (whose wig was hilarious – the typical long straight and thick hair of the 1970s) met before their parents’ times. There were neither explanations nor hints, maybe there were, but I didn’t see nor understand them. And then we were brought back to the so-called present where we saw Hye Ja, an old lady in a nursing hospital with slight dementia and her father and mother in the past 10 episodes were now her son and daughter-in-law. We were then shown frequent flashbacks on her life with Joon Ha in the 1970s from their dating, marriage, birth of their son, death of Joon Ha to just Hye Ja and her son eventually.
All the while, until the very end, I was hoping for an explanation or at least clearer hints as to which was actually the present time, which was the past, what exactly happened, how were the last 2 episodes related to the past 10 episodes, was the watch responsible for all these, but I never got the answers from what I saw, at least not from watching it once. Maybe I have to re-watch twice or even thrice to better understand.
As for the cast and their acting, I have no negative comments – from the first episode to the end. I think their acting was believable, everyone of them from the main leads to the supporting leads did a good job. When they were jubilant, sad, helpless, desperate, or even silently devastated, whatever emotions, I could feel and empathize with them and I cried or laughed with them. The BGM also helped. Such were the emotions I had when I watched the first 10 episodes, but the last 2 episodes had me in disbelief that this was the show I had binge-watched the day before. The acting was still just as convincing, but the turn of the story gave me so much confusion that I couldn’t wait for the show to end. The incoherence made everything, whether it was the movements or the conversations, suddenly just became meaningless, exasperatingly slow and draggy.
Overall, I would still recommend this drama to anyone, because I did enjoy the first 10 episodes, but enjoy the first 10 episodes and be prepared for some confusion in the 10th and a half episode mark onwards till the end.
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