Tell Me That You Love Me

WHY SO SLOW

It literally took me almost a year to complete it. I was getting bored with how slow paced it was and that we didn't get that many info in each ep. I liked the plot. It was interesting but didnt hook me up. The whole "obsessed" ex gf thing gave me the ick. Let the man enjoy his peace when he has already moved on! I know that she wanted to give a closure about the past. But why not talk it earlier and let the whole convo drag so long. It was sad for both of them. As for the FML the way she treated him on the last eps was not fair. Brooo, just talk! With whatever way you have. Just talk it out. Dont be like "i didnt wanna fight through texts". Wdym? Thats how you can talk to each other aside from sign language. Thats your own prob in your head. I understand she found it hard to communicate and keep up with being in silence, but express it somehow to the other person. I feel like it could be shorter. At least the duration of the eps. I almost dropped it a few times but it would've been unfair. Overall, I feel it is a little overated. It could've been handled as an idea a little better.

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a would be exceptional love story... but then

Before I start complaining, let me just say that this was one of the most wonderful love stories I've seen, and it's begging will always have a deep place in my heart.
It's so sad that the same beautiful beginning that I loved so much, because of her understanding and unconditional love for him, is what the writers decided to use to ruin this drama for me. What they did goes against the very core of her character, and they twist her into someone we can't stand. Instead, they should have found a different way or at least resolved the issues before the ending. But nope. So I couldn't get over being disgusted at how they decided to use the conflict to break them up. So here's what I loved, cause they're a lot to love, and what I didn't love so much.

LIKES

-This is the kind of slow burn I absolutely love. It's poetic and screams silently that you watch it
-Episode one was just insane and I was hooked. My jaw was on the floor.
-watching them grow slowly in love. Just wow.
-her steadfast devotion and love for him
- Their acting deserves an award. Especially his.
- Their chemistry was off in some bits but was fire when they let go
-how they balance between his character back then and now
-It was revealed little by little and let us fall for the characters and understand them more
-The fashion and OST went with this drama perfectly

DISLIKES
-After episode 10 I started feeling like the story wasn't going anywhere oh but they fixed it a few episodes down
-She suddenly started acting out of character and distrusting him for no reason. All she had to do was talk to him. I hate these fake "Let's make a reason for them to break up" parts. He's literally given her no reason to doubt him
-Their first fight, and she is already giving up on him, knowing everything he's been through. So lame.
-Ep 14 was just a filler cause they had nothing to do. I can tell I'm going to start hating this drama. Her fears are stupid and unreasonable.
- She begged to be with him, knowing he was disabled, and he was hesitant because of that, but he let her in, and now his disability is the reason she's leaving him.
- We all know it was because she was jealous of the second lead lady, and I wished they would have just explored that and gotten over it. But no.
-her wanting him to have hearing and be like everyone else when she knew what she signed up for feels like the biggest slap in the face and I hate her for it
- The scene that broke me was when he called out her name even though he couldn't talk. He was in so much pain. I wept for him. It genuinely broke my heart.
-There was no integration between him and her friend group or family, which was sad. -This is one of the endings I despise, where they waste my time throughout the whole episode 16 and give the characters 2 seconds to get back together with no real explanation, just expecting us to be happy that they gave us crumbs, and I do not like it. -The issue she left him for was never resolved, they just got back together cuz they missed each other, but like, what's to tell me that she's not just going to get tired again?

So overall, I will say I enjoyed this fresh new take and the concept was nice. I loved the actors and how mature everything was. I don't know if I'd recommend it to someone who loves clear-cut endings where all the issues are solved. If you're a completionist and must see a drama through, even if most of the main issues don't get solved, if they end up together, you're happy, then this is the one for you.

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Tell Me That You Love Me (2023): A Touching Symphony of Hearts in Silence

Tell Me That You Love Me isn't a show you simply watch; it's a story that dances into your heart, weaving threads of tenderness, frustration, and the bittersweet beauty of connection through silence. The drama masterfully explores the challenges and triumphs of a love story where sound takes a backseat, replaced by the eloquent language of eyes, gestures, and the profound resonance of unspoken emotions.

Jung Woo-sung embodies Cha Jin-woo, a kind-hearted artist grappling with deafness. Shin Hyun-been shines as Jeong Moo-eun, an aspiring actress yearning for love and expression. Their paths collide, sparking a connection deeper than spoken words. Theirs is a love built on stolen glances, shared smiles, and the subtle magic of understanding hearts beating in unison.

The show's true brilliance lies in its nuanced portrayal of communication beyond sound. Each scene paints a vibrant tapestry of emotions through lingering touches, expressive eyes, and the delicate play of light and shadow. The silence isn't merely an absence of sound; it becomes a character itself, amplifying the unspoken volumes that words could never reach.

Prepare to be moved by Jin-woo's poignant struggle to express his love, Moo-eun's frustration at being unheard, and the bittersweet joy they find in their shared world of silent understanding. This is a story that will stay with you long after the credits roll, a gentle reminder that true love speaks a language all its own.

A Tearful Verdict:

If you yearn for a story that tugs at your heartstrings, a love story that transcends words, and a cinematic experience that speaks in the hush of unspoken emotions, then "Tell Me That You Love Me" is a must-watch. Just keep a box of tissues handy, because this symphony of hearts will leave you with tears of both joy and bittersweet longing.

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars (with every star sparkling with unspoken words)

P.S. If you watch this show emotionally, consider it a badge of honor. It means you've opened your heart to the beautiful melodies that love whispers in the silence.

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good romance packed in melancholic vibe

Tell Me That You Love Me (2023) - 8,,5/10 -kdrama
nice romance drama with quite melancholic vibe, but story is normal happy-end one.
That melancholic vibe which this drama have is quite alike to :My mister: for example, not sure if its caused by alot :silent passages: where actors used mainly sign language. But still its quite good and I liked it.

main pair is middle aged one and male lead seems to be type which usually doesnt lets hid emotion show on his face + reality of him being deaf which makes problems to express himself by words. All makes it rare and nice scene once he lets emotions flow out of him. At other hand female lead seems to be quite opposite. She is expresing herself quite well just by face mimicry.

plot - romance

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An extremely slow burn--perhaps too slow toward the end--but worth a watch nonetheless

By the folks who brought us Our Beloved Summer, Goblin, and a few other top dramas. The ML's dialog is communicated entirely in sign language, which makes his interaction with the FL at times touching and at other times a bit awkward--so much so that it sometimes felt like their chemistry was lacking. The rest of the cast is quite good, but two in particular stand out: Park Jin Joo is an absolute delight as the FL's goofball sidekick. It's a role she's played several times before, but I can't think of anyone that does it better. And Heo Jun Seok plays the ML's bartender sidekick to perfections. His character is both the perfect bro and perfect husband to his adorable (deaf) wife. This drama is an extremely slow burn--much more so than even Our Beloved Summer. The slow pace feels comfortable in the beginning as the two leads learn to navigate the communication barrier, but the drama dragged in the final quarter before recovering to wrap things up elegantly in the final episode. I watched this as it was released, two episodes per week, on a sketchy, lo-fi streaming service which may have contributed to the feeling the story dragged. It may show better in a binge watch on Viki or Netflix.

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Good start, but failed to keep me hooked

I watched until episode 7, but I didn’t catch up in time, so even that episode I watched with some delay lol. I did like it until that point, but people complaining about further development and plot points made me decide to DNF. I didn’t want to see miscommunication, heartbreaks, etc. Episode 1-7 were good, but I don’t want to bother to finish this. I enjoyed the acting, especially Jung Woo Sung's. You can tell that he is an experienced actor, his eye acting and subtle expressions were perfect. The music and cinematography were also very beautiful and complimented the drama well. But again, I don't want to invest in the drama if we get too much *drama* instead of healing vibes lol. I am also currently watching other shows that are able to keep me hooked much easier than this one, unfortunately.

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A Realistic Romance that Doesnt Feel Very Realistic By the End

This drama is shot beautifully and well acted. The OST might be the best part of the show. Up to a certain point the romance is a warm hug with no cliche misunderstandings. Then the dreaded kdrama episodes 12-16 hit this show like a white kdrama truck. Everything was going too well in the show, so the director needed to spice things up by adding in unnecessary melodrama that didn't fit the characters or tone they were building.

This brings me to my biggest point of contention with the drama: the breakup. Its realistic for couples to breakup over misunderstandings and miscommunication. My problem doesn't lie with the breakup, even if its a kdrama cliche, rather the problem is the writing and character assassination that took place to get there. There is a way to write the FL becoming unhappy with the relationship as she moves on from the honeymoon phase. The show presents the FL as nice, caring, thoughtful, and a sweet person in every single scene until episode 12 when she becomes completely different. Her actions don't make sense, she becomes bitter and depressed like she is a scorned lover. The show tries to tell us that the barrier to communication was the reason, but to the audience it seems like she just fell out of love. This would be fine if the show's message is about appreciating the time you spent together and loving in spite of knowing the end, but the show doesn't stop there! In the last 5 minutes we get a ham fisted monologue (in a play) and then the couple is back together. The writers clearly didnt know how to properly get the couple to break up in a realistic manner, and then we also get a patch work reconciliation at the end. Either the show should've put more effort in showing the audience why and how the FL eventually grew distant or they needed the couple to break up for good and have the last episode with them reconciling and moving forward without each other.

The overall plot of this drama hinges on the "fire event" during their college years. So much of the ML's, 2FL's, and weird friend's motivations and character makeup begin from this traumatic event. Unfortunately like many kdramas that try to play up a large traumatic event in a character's past, the actual event is messy, borderline nonsensical, incoherent mumbo jumbo. Ultimately it led to me questioning why we needed a random unknown stalker who whistles, why the friend side character (whose name I cant even remember) is even needed in this story, why the ML and FL didn't just communicate or read the police report of such a big event? Sure, the FL admits she was looking for an excuse to run away in the end, but there are so many leaps in logic that we, the audience, have to jump over to get to where we are in the present day story.

I enjoyed the side romances in this show. Jinwoo's class was hysterical and the best side characters in the show. The FL's roommate and her brother's romance was enjoyable too, but it was clearly there to pad out the run time to 16 episodes because they are never mentioned again after they become a couple and have no relevance to the overall story or the ML/FL romance. I was expecting something from Modam because he had such a strong negative first impression of Jinwoo, but nothing comes from that. Also, Jinwoo's reunion with his birth mother was very well acted and well earned.

Its a very slow drama. I think it's worth watching for the cinematography, OST, and the first half of the show. I didn't love the main couple as much as I wanted to, but other's may feel differently and consequently you may love the show much more than I did.

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Great drama that is different from the norm. Worth the watch, although it can be a little slow.

I really enjoyed this drama. It is different then your normal drama and is more mature. They use silence to their advantage and some of the scenes are really beautiful. There are a lot of messages to this show if you look deep enough. It is fast paced, although the scenes can be slow due to the sign language. The leads confess to each other early and really like each other and fill in for each other's insecurities. The FL is insecure and has low self-esteem due to her lack of success in life and as an actress, but she is very kind hearted. She meets the deaf ML who has lead a sad life as an orphan abandoned by everyone he cared about. Both have flaws which lead to misunderstandings and the language barrier between the two does not help.

Both the leads have side characters who have unrequited love for them respectively (SFL and SML). The ML's love interest is his past lover from college who hurt him badly and the FL's love interest is her childhood friend. Both the side characters are coming on recent relationships and just decide to intrude on the leads lives just when they finally find love. That's drama for you.

In this show you see a lot about life and the struggles of everyday people. First you see how hard it is for deaf people and the scrutiny they face from the public. Then in contrast you see that even normal people can have worse times and being deaf is not something to pity a person on.

I really enjoyed the scenes with his students and best friend. They had some good comedic moments.

The random break-up at the end ruined a 10/10 for me. They broke up just for melodrama's sake. I get that the ML stopped wanting to hurt the FL. The ML was always insecure about being in a relationship due to being deaf and the FL was insecure about their relationship. He was tired of seeing her hurt because of him so he decided to say let's break-up. This really made no sense to me...and is the reason a lot of people did not like the later episodes. Like their total relationship was not even a year but in the last episode we get a break-up than a 1 year time-skip. Typical...smh.

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Stellar Acting - Phenomenal Cast

Overall, I really enjoyed this adult drama. We went through the motions of falling in love and breaking up and it was heartbreaking. I really loved Jung Woo Sung and Shin Hyun Been. They were great together. The whole cast is really good too.

For the most part, I thought the writing was extremely well done but it unfortunately, in the last few episodes, the series falls into those same, stupid, familiar Kdrama tropes that I can't stand like an ex who can't let go, people no longer communicating when they had been up 'til that point. Compounded childhood trauma for the ML as if his life hasn't been difficult enough just to pile on. Secrets and misunderstandings affecting peoples lives for years. Adults who can't seem to get past perceived slights and wrong doings.

It's a very, melancholy series and the music/soundtrack plays well into that. I really enjoyed the soundtrack. The series may be a bit slow for some people but it's worth a watch if you want a well written, adult show even though it may disappoint you towards the end.

3/17/25

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Good Enough

Korean Drama '' Tell Me That You Love Me '' is an emotional love story.

The drama has beautiful cinematography, with a slow tempo and a sensitive view on the main lead's disability. The love story, moreover, was sweet, romantic, and realistic, even though the ending felt rushed and wasn't handled as smoothly as the rest of the story.

The performances, in addition, were brilliant, with the male leading actor, especially, doing a brilliant job talking in sign language. He also had chemistry with his partner. The side characters were enjoyable as well.

So, overall, eight out of ten.

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