A Time Called You (2023)

Missed opportunity

*****This does contain spoilers *****

This is the go-to show that got me hooked on the Asian market. I can’t tell you how many times I have watched it. I like the English version for falling asleep to -Daniel Kim’s voiceover work for Ahn Hyo-Seop is smooth. 🫠

One thing I don’t understand is how at least 10 years later (after college) Yeon-Jun and Jun-hee are not married. As in love as he is with her, why wait so long to propose? We know Si-Heon takes the entrance exam in 2008 and JunHee goes to New York in 2023 so that’s a HUGE chunk on SiHeon’s part.

Now, for the missed part. Uncle is explaining to YeonJun the meaning of his stores “27” names. It would tie in better with the story line if Koo Yeon Jun were to “fly to New York” when he was 27 years old. It would make more sense to wait those few extra years after school to get finances in order and propose. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Gather My Tears still hits, especially knowing the tragic background of the artist.
This drama still makes me cry. Every time. ♥️💔

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THE BEST KDRAMA OF 2023 FOR ME.

I know I have not watched yet a lot of kdramas that ppl loved this year (for example the good bad mother etc) but this for me was the BEST kdrama of the year. I loved it so much that I had to write a review even if I rarely do so.
I just found out this was a remake of a chinese drama, I'm not sure if I'll watch that one, just cause I'm curious but all I can say is that no matter that one, this drama was made very good.

I won't make spoiler in this review but I will tell you its a CONFUSING drama, at least for the first 8th episodes. In number 8 you'll start putting most of the pieces together.
On one side it was such frustrating not understanding ANYTHING of what was going on and where all was going to go til the very end but that was what made this drama beautiful.

The acting of Ahn Seop was really amazing on this drama and also all the other actors were very good even if his performance was my fav (if you watched the drama you'll get why I say so).

Only thing i can say is that for me the rewatch value of this i very low. I've rewatched true beauty or Land crushing so many times but this... I'm not even sure I can watch it a second time because when you know and find out everything than its done. You can love or hate the story they invented but when you know it, in my opinion, rewatching it its a bit pointelss since the all point of this drama is that you wanna so desperately to find out whats happening .

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Great story and theme

So this review is based on someone who hasn't seen the original. I heard it was a remake but I never watched the original so I won't be comparing anything.
As a standalone, I thought the story overall was very well done - It keeps you on your toes kinda wondering where its gonna go and what happened to Koo Yeon Jun, while at the same time slowly unraveling the mystery of Min joo. Even with the time travel aspects, I felt they did a great job wrapping up the ending as well. We see a very powerful theme of mental health with Min Joo's character, while the theme of destiny and fate is heavily portrayed in the leads. For me the pacing was great, every time a loose end was wrapped up, there was another that would begin to be worked on so it kept me waiting and enjoying the happy moments inbetween.

The story was the biggest selling point for me - the actors did a great job although if I were to criticize anything, it would probably be the FL for 2 or 3 scenes. Primarily, the first time Jun hee sees "Jeon Jun" again - I felt the impact of the scene wasn't as strong as it could have been.

The romance wasn't as strong as many other dramas, but the green flag ML moments were there and they were very sweet! His character may seem a bit clingy at the start, but as the drama goes on, you understand what he was protecting and why he valued her so much.

Music was very memorable and all the characters do leaving a lasting impression so overall a very pleasant watch! Would 100% recommend to someone who enjoys a little murder mystery and happy throwbacks.

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Brilliant.

A Time Called You was brilliant. Brilliant in its writing, brilliant in its storytelling, brilliant in its acting. The cinematography was on another level, absolutely breathtaking. The story was complex and deeply interwoven but not hard to follow. It was more than just a story about time travel and love; it was about identity, free will, depression, and grief. Every episode was thrilling, emotional, and made me want to binge it back-to-back. I tried to predict and foreshadow, but every twist and turn in the story was unexpected and in the end, it all came together, unraveling beautifully.

The Plot: The drama follows a non-linear plot line, and the writers did a great job at being consistent and keeping pace throughout the story, avoiding plot holes and tying up loose ends. The 12-episode format was perfect for this drama. While there were some aspects that the drama failed to address, this did not take away from the story and were only minor issues. The overall premise and plot of the story was interesting and engaging throughout; on multiple occasions, the drama provokes its audience to question, suspect, and think deeper. I loved it.

The Characters: This is where I had to dock 0.5 stars for the drama. Jun Hee’s and Si Heon’s characters felt almost two-dimensional and a little stereotypical in my opinion; there wasn’t much depth to their characters like there was for Min-ju. Aside from this, every character was interesting and served an important role in the plot. I was especially attached to Min-ju and was rooting for her throughout the story; the last two episodes had me bawling my eyes out. I also found it really fascinating and disturbing how Min-ju and other characters whose bodies were taken over were just watching their life go by, like audiences, with no control over their own actions anymore. Overall, the characters were mostly well-written but I found that I only deeply cared about Min-ju even though the story was about Han Jun-hee.

The Acting and Chemistry: Jeon Yeo Been was phenomenal, an absolute show-stealer. The way she portrayed two very different characters so masterfully is something to be applauded. I could easily tell when she was Han Jun-hee and when she was Min-ju just by her body language, her eyes, and her demeanor alone. Even the way she delivered her lines as Min-ju was subtly but starkly different from her character as Jun-hee. The last two episodes were especially chilling and highlighted her acting range brilliantly. Ahn Hyo Seop also delivered his role brilliantly; he embodied both the coolness of Si Heon and the mysteriousness of his future self so well. The chemistry between the two actors was also good, but I found that I didn’t care enough about their relationship and wasn’t as attached to them.

Overall, A Time Called You is a thrilling story, charged with intense emotions and profound meaning. I enjoyed every bit of it. I did not watch the original Someday or One Day, but maybe, I'll also watch it.

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I loved A Time Called You

In my honest opinion, watching this K-Drama and observing how the story unravels was super intense! As a person who loves the concept of time traveling, going into the past, and going to the future, this was a K-Drama for me. I was so invested in this K-Drama that I took an entire day just to finish (or try to) all the episodes.

I usually don't watch K-Dramas with hour-long episodes, but the urge to finish it pulled me in. The story was so confusing at first but as the episodes went on, the puzzle and mysteries started to come together. On top of liking time travel, I like the idea of solving mysteries or murder mysteries. The entire plot is based on Jun Hee discovering things about her newly found friends as Kwon Min-ju.

After finishing this, I kept listening to "Gather My Tears" by Seo Ji Won because they played the song so much in the show, it slowly became addicting that I had that song on repeat for weeks. It was on my Spotify wrapped that I listened to it so much. I became really obsessed with this show and I would HIGHLY recommend it to this K-Drama IF you are into time travel, murder mystery, mystery, and suspense.

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Must Watch

As someone who almost can accurately predict everything I’ve ever watched. This one had my predictions proved false. Definitely one you’d really have to sit down to digest every episode or you’d miss an important detail to piece together the plot. Casting for this series chef’s kiss, they played their parts so well, and the chemistry was definitely there.
From first to last episode, I was hoooooked. I ended up binge watching the entire series in one day. All the emotions this drama puts you through…
Make sure you watch the post credit scenes in the first two episodes, it’s nothing grand but definitely watch them they help you understand the character so much more from their prospective

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A convoluted drama that fails to establish itself

It is honestly quite a shame, I had high hopes for this drama from both the trailers and some of the casting. But did it disappoint so much early on that it made me drop the drama completely. Normally I would hold on for hope that it would get better but the drama failed to even give the slightest bit of hope. The concept itself is very convoluted and disorients quickly, having had the entire show spoiled on the decision to drop it all but confirmed my decision to drop the drama. The lackadaisical and nonsensical concept which could work if it was outlined better.

The only saving grace with the casting was Jeon Yeo-been, her ability to play both roles of Jun Hee and Min Ju with both of their different personality types was fantastic. But it's a shame the world built around them and the story they are in completely is the opposite. Ahn Hyo-seop unfortunately bores me as a main male lead, his presentation of both roles of Yeon Jun and Si Heon are completely unremarkable and stale. The drama itself doesn't even bother to build up initially the emotional attachment to Yeon Jun, only living small flashbacks here and there which are only a minute or two long.

The only thing truly outstanding about the drama was the production quality, the cinematography and the accompanying music was great. I wished this drama did a better job in drawing the viewer in within the first few episodes and had a better flushed out timeline and concept. Will I return to it? Probably not especially knowing the entire story already from reading the entire story.

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