Tomorrow

Too Episodical and Not Enough Backstory

TLDR: Started off strong, too many episodical episodes, not enough Worldbuilding for the Reapers and their rules, not enough Character Backstories/Development for our 4-5 main characters, too many messages (e.g. suicide is a sin) I disagreed with.

As the title suggests, I felt this drama was too episodical when all I really wanted was backstories and worldbuilding for our Grim Reapers and the Grim Reaper world. The episodes were fine a 1 to 2 capsulated stories until about episode 8, and then I was getting bored of the format and just wanted to know all about our 3 main reapers (Koo, Lim, and Park), plus the boss of them. I wanted so much more worldbuilding of the Reaper world, the rules, their day to day life, what they did in their free time etc. by that point.

So the last 8 or so episodes were a bit of a drag. I absolute loved the two episodes spent on Lim and his backstory but I feel like we super super rushed through Park and Koo's -- also I was expecting there to be a twist such as he's actually her son or something, rather than the predictable story we did get.

I wish we had gotten like the first 8 episodes as is, and then the last 8 episodes were actual worldbuilding and backstories of the Reapers and the Reaper World -- it fell very lacklustre at towards the end.

Also, you can see the Christian values and the influence it has on Korean culture within this drama such as "reap your sins before death", "purgatory before you can go to heaven or reincarnation", and "suicide is murder and a sin" which are things I personally disagree with.
I AM happy that towards the end we do see Park change in his thoughts of "suicide is sin and people who kill themselves should suffer in hell" somewhat, but I wanted something more explicit from him.

Another thing is you can see the heavy handiedness of the Pro-South-Korea messages throughout the show where it makes the Reaper world very unequal/unfair. I'll post the full explanation at the very end because I get very detailed and could make people uncomfortable and angry but TLDR: there are some Pro-Korea episodes, and one is basically "look how amazing South Koreans are and we're so amazing that after death, even if we killed people in war, we aren't going to hell for these sins because we were the winners." Which, I thought the Reapers were supposed to be fair? So surely, they should be going to hell because they did sin?!

If we had been given more details and explainations in the show for things like this rather than have 13+ episodicals. Even just a simple "if you're killing people in self-defense or without malicious intent (such as defending your country from invaders) then it's not seen as a sin in the Reaper world." would've been good enough for me, but even this isn't explained.


Conclusion: Started off strong, too many episodical episodes, not enough Worldbuilding for the Reapers and their rules, not enough Character Backstories/Development for our 4-5 main characters, too many messages (e.g. suicide is a sin) I disagreed with.


****


Here's the long version of my Pro-Korea part:

We see two episodes of two different wars (WW2 and the Korean War).

First episode: it's never said or confirmed that the South Korean soldiers will be sent to hell for killing people (when killing is very obviously a sin). This show very much felt like it was implying: so long as you're defending your country and you're on the side that wins, killing people is absolutely fine according to the Korean Reapers. But neither the rules nor explanation is in the show.

Secondly, we have a heavy Pro-Korea and Anti-Japan episode which to me felt very intentional (therefore harmful) which is what I disliked about it.

If you don't know Korea-Japan relations and history this is a very important, eye-opening, horrific, and informative episode. Everyone should know about this history, absolutely!

But, I personally felt the message of this episode is intentionally very harmful: "hey, young Koreans, Japanese imperialism did this to us and they still haven't apologised for what they did. So, we're making this episode because we want Koreans furious at Japan for another year and we wanna increase the anti-Japan views in Korea even more than they still are".

But as someone who has studied it:

Actually, Japan HAS apologised (since 2007) and has done for many times.
Korea DEMANDS apologies every single year and has done for many years (more so from great-grandchildren now rather than the people who actually suffered because most have passed away, rest their souls - which you could probably now call 'generational-trauma').
Japan HAS compensated the families and victims (apparently 1 billion yen -- although I know that it won't ever be enough for the victims).
Korean newspapers and politicians still post and encourage anti-Japan views - they literally blamed Japan for the 2022 Itaewon Halloween incident in a few newspapers - while Japan is embracing Korean culture at an alarming speed (thanks to KPop and Korean food).
This history is still not in Japanese history books (especially in school ones where they rarely learn modern history anyway).

So, as you can see, both sides are bad!

I can't help but think this episode wanted to strain Korea-Japan relations even more than it already is. It feels like the episode was created on purpose to make Koreans continue the rage and the pain, rather than "this was absolutely horrific but it's time to heal; educate ourselves and others while trying to build a better future and relationship with each other both inside and outside Korea." and I personally find that in very bad taste.

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Not a bad watch, but has some indefinite issues and tends to favor one gender over the other.

I can't be the only one who noticed over 70% of the cases were basically "Men bad, Women good. A Man is the reason I want to kill myself because they're so terrible!"...?

Can't get behind a lot of this shows logic. It was a constant pattern that felt like solely Men bashing for no reason. The first few cases were great, down to earth and problems anyone could face, but then it went downhill from there into the toilet.

**SPOILERS TO SOME DETAILS ABOUT ONE OF THE CASES**

The case about the girl being raped - The siblings fight, say hurtful things to each other because they were scared and felt guilty for what happened, blaming themselves and each other etc. and in the end it's *him* who needs to apologize to *her* and *he's* the one who gets absolutely reamed for it by the grim reaper? I understand she didn't want her name on the news and he was protesting something that could make her feel ashamed, but she acted like he tried to do absolutely nothing for her and partly blamed her incident on him. They both said extremely hurtful things, he's not without fault but neither is she. This drama catered to the idea that Women can do no wrong and if they did something bad, it was because a Man made them that way.

**END OF SPOILERS**

The grim reapers seemed more compassionate to the Woman victims than the Men. It didn't feel equal.

Due to this, the emotion it's supposed to bring out doesn't hit as deep and made me become disinterested because I knew the next story and the next was going to be a victimized Woman, blaming all her life's problems on a bad Man.

It's an okay show to a certain extent, but Joon woong is barely in it as much as you'd expect and a lot of it is boring and falls flat. Joong gil needed more exploration, sadly a wasted character with great potential.

In the end, the Soundtrack is absolutely on fire. Red light is spectacular.

Worth a watch, but I skipped a lot of filler and backstories to characters I didn't particularly take a liking to. Wasn't aware the lead was the pink haired girl, and she doesn't make that many faces throughout the drama and doesn't do her grim reaper job well at all, with little to no improvement.

Joon woong was a great grim reaper and knew what he was doing, if they'd actually let him handle any of the cases. He barely does anything but stand around. Underutilized great character.

7.5 from me.

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Story is not moving towards anything near to progress.

Let's review it in more minimalist way.....

Points of admiration :-

1. Great story or concept on which this drama is based on.

2. Super attractive Cast... I mean not just female lead but you'll find the males leads are also the eye-candies if you are girl.

3. Super fascinating aesthetics they have used here like when they show you the director and it's workplace, it left me to watch it again and again in loop.

Point of detesting it :-

1. They should not make it the 16 episode drama but a 8 or 10 episode drama. I mean I've already watched the half of the drama but it's like I don't even have any idea of the cast and their backgrounds, how they really ended up being a reaper.

2. Not to mention it I don't even have any idea.... are they going it to make a romantic drama or not. I mean if they meant to make it one.... So they must have made some progress towards the direction.

3. All the stories they bring to us are just not the unique type but dull and boring except the couple and the Korean war veteran.

All and all if they are just going to explore the stories of the other people and save them but doing nothing else throughout the whole drama.... Then sorry , but I'm out !!

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Healing Is not an Event, It's a Process

"Tomorrow" is slick looking drama with slick and cool characters and beautiful cinematography. There were so many scenes which made my lips part because I was in awe at the stunning visuals.

Others and myself were excited about this drama because it is comparable to the beloved "Uncanny Counter" The 2020 drama has less than perfect visuals, but the characters were so charming that we didn't care so much.

Watching "Tomorrow" did reveal some similar concepts, but I personally didn't find it similar at all. It deals heavily with mature topics as the characters work to save people from suicide. I want to be careful about how I word this because this is such a sensitive topic....While the synopsis of the show is considered to be healing and saving others, I did not find the show to be healing at all. We see only the abuse others suffer (which can also be triggering if such things affect you).

The end result of "saving" people hurt me the most. Our main characters will sort of talk them down from the ledge, and then that will be considered the end of their job and the person is saved. I didn't finish the show, so I am not fully aware, but from what I saw we didn't see the ones they helped again (correct me if I'm wrong). At one point in the show, one character complains of this, saying that it only takes a few words to save a person, and the response is that it's because "no one has ever said those words to them before." This is certainly powerful, but words alone are still not enough to change a years of habits and pain a person has endured and believed.

Healing is not an event. It's a process. An ongoing one that I myself continue to work on everyday.

The show does seem to imply that the main characters are healing themselves throughout or are in need of healing, but it was still very disturbing to see half an episode of incredible trauma inflicted on a person (I had to skip most of the time) and then boom they were fine in the end. I also personally don't love it when shows are mostly all about characters of the week anyway when I know I'm never going to see them again haha. So there is that.

If you are like me at all and agree with any of this, I don't recommend this show—especially for the light of heart (or mind). I'm honestly not entirely sure what group I would recommend this drama too....it is challenging because so much of it is disturbing abuse, but we also see the empathy and kindness of others which is happy. Basically this show isn't for everyone—it wasn't for me and that's okay. I actually made it pretty far but I was mostly skipping because of all the violence haha.

On a side note: a show that I love and did find healing and even comparable to "Tomorrow" was "Move to Heaven" if you haven't seen it yet. :D

As always, I appreciate the work that went into this drama! My rewatch value is my enjoyment value.

Cheers,
Kenzie

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Mature drama, for mature audiences.

In my opinion this drama is really really interesting, to the unique backstories to the main 3 characters. The stories are really informative and it uses scenarios from real life problems, and shows them, without glamorising it.

Noh Eun-Bi's Case really stood out for me , it was nice to see a victim of bullying be happy, after all the years of torment and mental frustration. K-Drama's often normalise bullying but I think in this drama it was particularly special, as the bully got what they deserve, nothing.

Another case that really, made me cry out of happiness and frustration was Namgung Jae-Soo's Case, the backstory of a deprived family, who's dad just wants to make his family happy. I think this was particularly special as the connection with Choi Jun-Woong and Naming Jae-Soo is really special and Jun-Woong just wants the best for his friend and wants to know what's behind his 'happy' face. It was a really nice ending for the family and Koo Ryeon, really wanted to make the child happy, despite her cold appearance.

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ennoying

I didn't like it and had to pause a few times while watching. I began the drama in october 22 and finished it in january 23, this means all. the stories are hard (after all these are suicide stories) but that wasn't the problem. there is too much cliches and all the things that happen to the characters aren't well bound together. it lacks this little something that makes you want to watch the next episode right away. I finished it just because I wanted to know how the story ends.

not for children or sensitive people because there is a lot of violence, sex, drug and so on.
when to watch: I wouldn't recommend

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We are the only ones who can save ourselves.

It only takes a few words to give your loved ones the will to live again. The weight of your words can make someone happy or want themselves to die. I think a maximum of people want to commit suicide in their life, some give up on this urge, some don't. The show told us that our words matter the most to our loved ones. That's why we should always be there for our loved ones, listen to their problems, be there for them, comfort them if you can't then contract a psychologist.

Choi Joon Woong reaction after seeing Jumadeung.

Love the Jumadeung office elevator.

Director expression why the RM team wanted to go to the past to buy chicken.

Choi Joon Woong childish behavior upon seeing luxurious cars in Jumadeung then becoming disappointed that they were riding an old car was cute.

Loved Park Joong Gil & the fighting scenes.

Loved episode 6 ending scene in which all the escort team came to show respect to the freedom fighter, even the director also came.

Laughed at the scene where Lim Ryung-gu gave the interview in episode 7, also slapped Koo Ryun gave to the interviewer.

Choi Joon Woong & Lim Ryung-gu arm wrestle was ridiculously funny.

People are too much obsession with maintaining a thin figure. Sometimes it may lead to health sickness even excess dieting can lead to death. Fat shaming, loneliness, work pressure or not getting work can also lead to suicide cases. People love to fat shame others without any reason. The number of people doing this is high. Saying something hurtful to someone is easy, but helping them is hard. We should come forward to help people.

Poor Direction had to sign hundreds of documents.

Laughed at the time when Choi Joon Woong hugged & kissed Lim Ryung-gu in his sleep, the reaction he gave afterward is hilarious.

Loved how Park Joong Gil punished the rapist.

It’s cute & funny at the same time as Choi Joon Woong wanted to hug Koo Ryun & Lim Ryung-gu both, but they kept on pushing him, but in the end he did it, their expressions were priceless.

Loved how Director & Park Joong Gil twisted the truth.

Laughed how Lee Ryung-gu stopped Ryu Cho Hui from eating Choi Joon Woong food, but then his expression while tasting it.

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prepare to cry every episode!

do not be deterred by bad reviews; what an absolutely groundbreaking and incredibly brave k-drama. i particularly admire how the show dismantles stereotypes surrounding mental health and suicide (especially in south korea where such topics are taboo), and is unafraid to cover difficult, sensitive themes (e.g. the atrocious mistreatment of comfort women). furthermore, whilst nailing perfectly the acting and somber plotlines, the drama's romantic storyline was personally the most heartbreaking sequence of the show-- episode 13 hit me like a wrecking ball. overall, HIGHLY recommend this drama for anyone who needs a good cry!

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Be strong for your tomorrow

Tomorrow is a different K drama than the usual ones we see. Dealing with sensitive cases like bullying, rumours that leads individuals to end their life is something that has become a harsh reality of the society, that is showcased in Tomorrow, in an effective way.

A Team of 3 people (2 Grim Reapers and 1 Half/half) are on a rescuing spree of those who wish to give up on their life due to the harsh treatment in the society. Although it's not as serious as it should have been, considering the seriousness of the issue. However Tomorrow, handles the theme effectively and every episode is an emotional ride in understanding each individual's life and purpose.

Tomorrow finale bowed out with a sweet last episode as best as it could. Although some of the episodes in the series have been quite problematic, the series had its moments and the episodes surrounding the main characters were splendid. The soundtrack was good, the acting of the characters could have been better.
It had moments where it shone and considering some of its weaker episodes, the end was rather satisfactory considering the finale felt a little bit rushed, without exploring more about Re yeoon and Jung Gil.

My Rating : 8/10

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Fate ... What things could be like in the afterlife

This series was all around a great drama. It had everything you want, great storylines, great acting & great characters.
The four protagonists are fantastic. Each of them suffering from events of the past, but not knowing what it is or how to correct for it. The way this series sets up is brilliant, because it sort of delivers many individual stories that eventually all intertwine with the same meaning, all life is important, you must cherish it!!!
Each protagonist has at least one episode that shows us what brought them to becoming a reaper. I must say, every one of the actors were just marvelous at showing us the past life of that character. Ji On easily became my favorite by portraying Ryung Goo. His emotional scenes were so heart wrenching and believable. I found that character so great with a bit of mystery until we eventually found out his complete past.
Although not original in a lot of the story, it was taken a bit further to show us what we all wonder about, what happens when we die??
I think the ending says it best, "Everyone that fate brings together must part at least once, whether they like it or not"
Great ending to a great series.

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