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I liked the social discussion about volunteering and participating in socio-economic issues, but it seemed as if it wasn't so important when the main leader was a big close-to-be owner of an enormous company.
Park Shi Yeon and Moon Sung Geun were great though! Excellent job, I loved every one of their scenes.
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There is a Japanese series called First Love which is very similar, but here there is no amnesia trope.
I have to say the love story was very lovely, especially loved the ML (both the younger and older version. )
The only thing I did not like, and why I cannot give it 10 stars is the wife and the fact the ML is married to a woman he does not love. Even if her character is unlikeable, even if she cheats on him, it still bothered me.
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Yoo Ji Tae who played the character of Han Jae Hyun and Park Jin Young who played Han Jae Hyun in his 20s didn't match physically. I understand a young boy would grow in height before the age of 23. Their facial appearance would not change unless they had cosmetic surgery. I guess my imagination couldn't play this mind game in a story. Knowing photo forensics that did sit well for me. I love Park Jin Young playing an activist as I am a real activist His acting was very on point on what we as activists do in real life. Thank you, Park Jin Young. Not saying that Yoo Ji Tae didn't do a good job because he did. I felt like they were two different people. Now, Lee Bo Young who played Yoon Ji Soo, and Jeon So Nee who played Yoon Ji Soo in her 20s did match and so it became believable to me. Both of these young ladies did very well.
The story was cute and romantic, and the visuals were great! The writers did get the divorce correctly in this story. Why is it that divorce causes rifts, threats, and physical violence between couples? I'm glad this story didn't have any physical violence but threats were so heartbreaking. I'm glad it all worked out right. I did notice how Han Jae Hyung's son was named after his lost love.
Thank you to all the supporting actors and actresses who also did a great job. Thank you to the team of When My Love Blooms, y'all did well.
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You never forget your first love
Likes:1. The beautiful way they showed the 1994 scenes and the terrific performance by the young cast helped shaped the 2020 story. I was hooked from episode 1 and i just wanted them to end up together happy.
2. Basically their lives changed / stopped after those awful events in 1995 and while the almost parallel events in their lives was a bit cliche, it was done perfectly to show the healing these characters badly needed and the change in their actions.
3. The show did not shy away from tackling issues such as school bullying, mom shaming, adultery and impact to the children and the problems with divorced couple. I loved all the honest and mature conversations between Jisu and SeoKyung, Jisu and Jaehyun with their kids and their exes. If only this happens in real life.
4. Jisu and Jaehyun's friends who stood by them and supported them through thick and thin.
5. The perfect happy ending after all the misery. Finally Jisu smiling!
Dislikes:
Cant really think of any except there wasnt a lot of plot esp in the present time but it was okay since the drama focused more on Jisu and Jaehyun's lives, relationship and personal growth, which i loved. .
"Life is always flowing by, and the flower is always ready to bloom.".
Rating: 8.5/10 (8 for the plot but added .5 because i just loved the overall feel of this drama, the characters, the visuals and the ost)
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A love story for true romantics
This very moving melodramatic love story spans a few decades, taking these lovers from their teens to their forties. The acting is extraordinary in both the teen lovers and the adult lovers. These teenage actors give outstanding performances and will surely be seen in future roles. The seasoned veteran actors give stellar performances as the adult lovers. Along with the emotional love story comes a drama involving a conglomerate and the greedy ruthless people who are willing to sacrifice anyone to meet their goals. If you are a lover of romance, this one is a must see.Was this review helpful to you?
I am crying
When my love blooms. It's one of the best romantic Korean drama of 2020. If I have to describe this drama then I would say it's heart-warming, painful and full of hopes for a new beginning. The story has so much depth and emotions. The soundtrack, acting and the story is so beautiful. Overall, the drama is very slow, you either fall in love or get bored. But for me, I enjoyed it very much. I was in tears watching it. The performance of Lee Bo Young and Yoo Ji Tae got me so emotional. Jeon So Nee, Park Jin Young and all of the cast members deserved to be praised.Was this review helpful to you?
Still hung up
A slow burning drama but too much sentimental, I was looking for a change in the story line and I am happy that finally I got this because Usually maximum of romcoms(college love stories) ends with break up or happy ending during the college life only but in this drama it is portrayed after life(when actual life struggles starts) of the college days or break ups. I must praise the FL what a strong character, she become stronger and stronger in each seen and both ML and FL had such strong love, especially in one scene she said she will not repeat the same mistake by disappearing from ML life and also in other scene she says she can endure all criticism but couldn’t depart from the ML.I really don’t know how many times my eyes filled with tears when she is fighting for her life and love. Here Compare to FL the ML is little disappointing character in 20 years he became different person while the FL is walking in his food steps.
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Trust and appreciate the one you love
If we cannot trust and mutually appreciate the people we love, we will lose the opportunity to be with them.This is what I learned from When My Love Blooms. The premise offered in this series is quite interesting and the story uses a back and forth between present and past. The difference between this storytelling techniques is very contrast. When the days in the past were full of turmoil and full of high spirits in their 20s, the days in the present time were full of drama and endless intrigue. Friendship between Yoon Ji Soo, Han Jae Hyun, and their bestfriend is very solid even after over two decades. Yoon Ji Soo and Han Jae Hyun are very lucky to have these 3 people when they are in a slump. Even though we could say three of them are outsiders. Unfortunately, they are who claimed as our protagonists' family: someone who should understand, trust, and appreciate our protagonists more, are trying to control our protagonists so that they don't take the wrong path. Maybe their intentions are good. But if their intentions followed by ego, what happens is that it makes the person they love increasingly distant and eventually distrustful, let alone feel unappreciated. In the end, When My Love Blooms is not only about our protagonists' struggle for love, but also about learning to trust and appreciate the one we love so that we do not miss the precious opportunity to continue being with that person.
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Worth your time.
This drama brings all kinds of emotions in me. It is about a couple that fell in love on the first sight, being each-other's first love, but have to make so many sacrifices. I cried on the first episode, and almost on every episode.The storyline was great, addicting, making you curious to know what have happened in the past and what will happen in the future. The cast of this drama couldn't be any better. The young couple of Han Jae hyun (Jinyoung) and Yun Ji soo (So nee) is what got me through this drama. Their acting and chemistry is just too good not to watch. I wish someone could make all of their story cut and upload it on youtube so that I can rewatch it all over again haha. The story of the 40-year-old couple seems kind of unrealistic and there were so much tears and sadness, but the fact that they were able to finally meet again and reignited their love once again is just so touching and heartwarming.
Girls, if you're about to have your period and wanted to watch something that can make you cry but still worth the while, this is the drama for you.
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✒ ❇☃✴Lost and Found ☸ Bring the 40's Back✳☃❇ °good°
Blame it on the snowHan “Jae” Hyun & Yoon “Ji” Soo have a record. He's getting out of prison in ep1 (he took the fall for the chairman), and she's explaining why she works menial jobs even though she /almost/ got her college degree (her family record is tarnished). They also have a record with e/o: They dated in college, but that was 20 yrs ago.
We get a few seconds in present day and then we're whisked back to 1993. They meet as the police are scattering a college protest on the 13th anniversary of the 1980 protests against the military dictatorship ruling Korea at the time. These events inspired the partly true/partly fictional film A Taxi Driver-8.4 (staring Song Kang Ho from Parasite-9), which depicts how roughly 3,000 Koreans ended up missing, dead, or presumed dead due to the government's brutal response to the Gwanju demonstrations. 13 years later, the government was still covering it up. Per Wiki “The movement preceded other democratic movements during the late 1980s that pressured the regime into democratic reforms and paved the way for the election of President Kim Dae-jung in 1997, the first opposition candidate to win the office.” From their meeting we toggle back and forth in time.
She pursued him. He was only interested in studies and activism. FF To 2020, he's gone to the dark side. He's a corporate big wheel, and was ‘rewarded’ with a ticket to the /big house/. Now out, and breathing the free air again, he claims he's only interested in enjoying his life as much as possible. In the toggling, we see history repeating itself in ring-theory fashion while their backstory unfolds gradually through ep11.
WMLB is a 2020 release that is rated 85 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of 16 65-minute episodes. Who would like WMLB? One must be right-brain heavy, or moderately emotional (a self-described “romantic,” perhaps) to appreciate this show. Otherwise, all those pesky tears (not that I cried) will just grate the wrong way. WMLB is slow-paced and dripping with sentimentality from the script, to the facial expressions, to the OST. The plot is soapy melodrama. They fall in love in college. She disappears on him. Well into the show, we don't know why this happened, though hints emerge to point at possible family tensions. He's been looking for her ever since she disappeared. At some point, though, he faltered and married the daughter of a chaebol. There are hints that he was in dire need of funds, but also other hints that his moves are not random.
20 years forward there's a pile of refuse that is keeping them separated. First of all, he's married. Secondly, he's married to the conglomerate that owns the business that she's actively protesting against. Third, it looks like if he walks away from his rich wife, he'll walk away with just his underwear. Finally, they each have a son, though she is divorced. Their sons happened to go to school together, and his son is a cruel bully toward her son, which is how they meet up again. The bullying is so oppressive that her son, Young-Min, finally throws a chair at his tormentor. This leads to the couple's reunion (in the principal’s office) and subsequent run-ins with Jae's family. His wife is outraged and wants to make a big deal out of it, while Jae insists they let the school incident slide.
“The fun in your life probably got cut in half,” Ji remarks, when she learns that he doesn't eat ramen much anymore. She's now cr@ppy-poor, and he's cr@ppy-rich. They're both alone and miserable. Just as Ji dogged his steps in the past, never looking to the right or the left, now that Jae has found her again, he's doing it right back to her.
Lee Bo Young is the FL. In Mine-8 she plays a cool Grace Kelly type who could dress a person down with precision. It's a good show and she's the best thing in it. In WMLB, she's been beaten down by life and is emotionally damaged. When we toggle back to her teens we'll see that her father was a cold-hearted tyrant. When her relationship with Jae was cut off, she ended up marrying the wrong man. Each heartbreak was like a sledgehammer to the head, so now she holds her neck stiffly, with head forward and slightly down-turned. She looks like she needs a cervical fusion. It may be good acting, however it's still unpleasant. I want to shake her loose. She starts loosening up a tad in ep11. That's a long way in.
Yoo Ji Tae from The Devil Judge & Oldboy-9 is the ML, Jae. “You seem like a different person than the one I used to know,” Ji remarks. Mr. Yoo, as Jae, is delish. The chairman‘s assessment of his daughter's husband? “ No one is better at getting rid of people.” He used to take the losing side, but now, instead of demanding justice, he specializes in neutralizing contrarians. His wife describes him as an Iceman who never smiles. He is stoic, indeed. His wife, Jang Seo-Kyeong (Park Si-Yeon from Birthcare Center-8.2), is the typical spoiled riche. She's beautiful on the outside, but her insides are rotted. They are married, but very much alone. He did his time alone. She decided to do his time NOT-alone.
There's several fantastic child actors in WMLB. The protags’ kids are played by Park Min-Su & Ko Woo-Rim and they practically give a masters class. Park Jin Young (The Devil Judge) & Jeon So Nee (Parasyte: The Grey-6.9 - She's fabulous) are the couple in 1993.
I love how comfortable they are together. It made me feel warm and comfy. One thing they bond over is the classic movie, Love Letter/Koibumi (1953). It was directed by a woman, Kinuyo Tanaka, and is said to be technically excellent. We can thank JAPANONFILM for the write-up. “Briefly, an ex-sailor scraping by on the occasional translation is offered a job writing letters in English from Japanese women to the American soldiers with whom they slept during the Occupation... Eventually, of course, the woman he loved before the war comes in. His attempt to cope with his love on one hand and her past on the other occupy the rest of the movie, in a complex emotional relationship that is also in a subtle way quite political and racial. The issue for both of them is not just that she slept with other men but that she slept with Americans (she says only one, but a late meeting with a group of street prostitutes suggests otherwise).” Consequently, WMLB has the soundtrack and feel of a movie from the mid-20th. It's an old-timey melodrama, complete with violin music. The movie, Love Letter, deals with moral compromise out of necessity in post-war chaos, particularly what the ‘Have-nots’ must do to survive in the face of the indifferent oppression of the ‘Haves’. Same for WMLB.
WMLB shows us how anger and fear steal peace, love & joy. ‘Does your heart have to run slowly?’ ‘Once it starts to run, it's not easy to stop it,’ says Ji. That inertia works in all directions: love or hate, joy or sorrow, fear or confidence, anger or contentment. Toxic and controlling parents are another theme. Their love was crushed when they were kids. I hate that her father dies right after he finally realizes he was wrong. Couldn't they have some nice years together? It's very bitter. Another theme is that one can't maintain a good relationship with a selfish human. “This is my way of love,” says Jae's wife. No doubt, she's selfish, spoiled, and grossly entitled. She's also a legitimate victim in this show. Being a victim doesn't always make a person right, and even a person who is right is never 100% right. No human ever is. Selfish people are keenly aware of the love they want to receive, yet it doesn't even occur to them to try and /give/ that sort of love.
It isn't perfect. WMLB is simple. Nearly everything works out in the end. Many of the bad actors want to do better, going forward. By ep7 it was clear that the show has too many flashbacks. I tried to roll with them, telling myself they intended a relaxing effect, but I had to start hitting the ff button. The chairman missed some background info about a key player until the trap had been sprung on him. It's an unlikely scenario, and it's problematic to the script.
WMLB keeps a steady temperature like a yogurt maker. It stays in that 97°-99° range, never getting too hot or cold. Am I calling it tepid? Perhaps a tad, but it is more good than not, and it's low anxiety. It's one of many shows that could have easily been better with a pinch better direction and editing, less flashbacks, and an inch or 2 of more depth. The acting is actually superb. This is my only exposure to this director, and when one looks at Son Jung Hyun's body of work, he's been steadily going in the right direction. His low marks are his first works and his highest rated works are his 3 most recent: Should We Kiss First?, Mental Coach Jegal, and Twinkling Watermelon @ a whopping 9.2 on Awiki. He has skills and he is getting better with age ~ just like the romance in WMLB. Screenwriter: Jun Hee Young is just getting started. For a 1st effort, this is good, and her work should bloom in the future, too.
QUOTES 📢
You win a fight by knocking down your opponent, not by holding out and enduring.
It's probably not about how to endure it but how to accept it.
I poise myself on my toes, but I just can't see you. Sometimes my wait lasts longer, and I feel resentment towards you. High up in the sky, fleecy clouds drift away. What song should I sing to reach your ears? We didn't meet, so we can't be parted. Even though we are not parted, I still can't hold your hand. So when my wait lasts longer like this, I feel bigger resentment towards you. ~A Korean poem~
〰🖍 IMHO
📣6.8 📝7.3 🎭7.5 💓6 🦋5 🎨7 🎵/🔊7.8 🔚7 ▪ 🌞5 ⚡3 😅2 😭4.5 😱3.5 😯2 🤢2.5 🤔4 💤3
Poli-wagging 3/10
The soundtrack is beautiful. Shazams: Someday We Will Meet Again by KLANG; If You Just Love by Han Dong Geun
Age 12+ Rated TV-15
Re-📺? no
In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ you may also like:
Modern Day -
Crazy Love-7.8,
Racket Boys-8.3
A Witch's Love-7.8,
Live Up To Your Name-7.6
Our Blues-8.5,
Love to Hate You-8.9,
Familiar Wife-8.5,
Her Private Life-8,
Touch your heart-8.2,
Crash Landing On You-9.1,
Oh My Ghost-10,
It's Okay Not To Be Okay-9,
Love Struck in the City-7.3,
Law School-8
Hospital Playlist-9,
Move To Heaven-8.4
Call It Love-8.4,
When the Camellia Blooms-8
Mine-8
Misaeng-9.1
My Liberation Diary-8.9
Mother-8.8
My Mister-9.5,
I'll See You When the Weather is Fine-9
Parasite-9
Historical/Period -
My Only Love Song-8.7 ~ excellent comedy,
Mr. Queen-8.5,
My Sassy Girl-8.5,
Saimdang-8.5,
The King's Affection-8.3,
Mr. Sunshine-9
Action/Crime/Sci-fi -
Descendants Of The Sun-8.3,
K2-8,
Private Lives-8.1,
Sisyphus-8,
Tunnel-8.1,
Signal-8.6,
Romance junkies only -
My Secret Romance-7 (if you ff thru overdone flashbacks),
Boys Over Flowers-8.3 ~ melodrama to the max,
The Bride of Habaek-7,
Heirs-7.3,
That Winter, The Wind Blows-7,
Something in the Rain-8.6,
C🇨🇳: Well-Intended Love-7.5.5 Rom-porn - extra points for the dopamine,
You are my destiny-6.8 cute, sweet & 1/2 padding,
A Little Thing Called First Love-8.5,
Find Yourself-8.9
Consider a Chinese 🎎/🔮 romcom: The Romance of Tiger and Rose-9.8, Love Between Fairy and Devil-8.9, Love and Redemption-10 or Japanese romcoms: Maid Sama-10, Mischievous Kiss Love in Tokyo-7.8, Love, Chunibyo And Other Delusions-8.4, or Toradora-8.5
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This review may contain spoilers
First, let me say that the cast have done amazing. The younger version and older have done well with what they've been given. My issue is with the story. It's emotional, and I'm usually ok with that. BUT this story brings the emotion to an uncomfortable level. **Major spoilers** I don't like the slight cheating aspect. I don't like the bullying (child to child, dad to daughter, father in law to son in law, wife to female lead, exhusband to wife, etc). I don't like the frequent arrests of ML and FL like that's nothing. The story sucks tbh. It isn't a heart warming romance like I wanted. It makes me depressed. If a story isn't enjoyable, why waste time? I dropped it. Was this review helpful to you?
