It's a slow and gentle story -- both the school bullying and short violence in the beginning and the initial coldness of Tae Seong's make the thawing of feelings and the beginning warmth between the couple clearer.
I really like the progression of the story, the pacing is right, the camera work is solid. I like that the young men change their hair style and their clothing when starting university. I also think both their body language changes with their changing feeling, though that point is more subtle.
There's one thing I wish would have been different. I feel that the sets and the colour palette of this series are very cool, too white, sometimes even a bit sterile. While this makes sense in the beginning (Hae Bom's room looks more like a guest room than a teenager's room -- but then again, he feels like a guest in this house), I would have like a shift to warmer colours in later episodes -- spring colours to go with the plot. Unfortunately, Tae Seong and Hae Bom's flat still looks impersonal and cold -- personal effects, a bit of untidyness could have helped. The strings of lighting, I'm sorry to say, only feel artificial to me. Still, this is something that I only can put in words now, after having watched this series several times, so it's really only a minor thing.
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One of My Favorite Korean BL’s
I love this series so much from the acting to the story and all the in between. This is one of my feel good BL’s because even though there is a bit of drama it’s handled very quickly. I pray and hope to see the leads in another project soon. The supporting cast was also stellar. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️Was this review helpful to you?
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Full Bloom
This series was so sweet and fluffy, I loved it. The bullying of course irritated me but that's the point so great job to the actors on their part. I know this was a story about two boys raised together but the fact Haebom always addressed Taesung's mom as Tae's mom and not "our mom" helped with the weirdness of that part of it. I was able to see them as just childhood friends living together(With the subs from Viki anyways, i don't know if it's subbed differently anywhere else). I only wish Yonghee got his own happy ending though it was hinted at in the end cause he turned out to be my fave. The mom lowkey annoyed me with thinking about herself and what others thought instead of their happiness but I know she meant well. Anyways, cute quick watch. I recommend it.Was this review helpful to you?
I love Comfy Sweaters & Cherry :)
This was overall a lovely bl drama, loved the 2 male leads but wish it was longer as it's a lot of story to develop over a very short time. It is one of the best bl dramas I have watched this year! The reviews on here are not giving enough credit to the actors which they did a very good job. The MLs are very similar but one is more like the protector that has been in love with the other since childhood. Production could be a little better and if there is another season, there is room for improvement.Was this review helpful to you?
kinda weird plot if you think about it
this drama does kinda have a weird plot because technically they were raised as brothers but grew up not really feeling like brothers… idk but it was cute and I do think I’ll rewatch it one day.I like their chemistry it’s definitely believable that they love each other and we can feel how they feel because the acting was really good.
a good comfort watch and not too much angst that makes you feel bad watching it. it’s the perfect mix of emotional and romantic and I really enjoyed watching it.
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Cute and wholesome
Wholesome. That's the word. I binge watched this and enjoyed it. Here are my pros and cons:PROS
UNCOMPLICATED. After being disappointed with so many (mostly Thai) BL series this year -- with wacky and incomprehensible storylines -- this South Korean BL was refreshing in its simplicity. I like you, you like me, let's get together. Nice.
NICE FRIENDS. I enjoyed that the friends were supportive of their relationship, and there wasn't a big deal made of "ooooohh, you're gaaayy" [except for the villain, but he was disposed of quickly].
NO "I'M ACTUALLY STRAIGHT, I'M JUST GAY FOR YOU." Thank you for that. Thai BLs, please take notice. There was no past girlfriend that was trying to hold on to her man. And Taesung made it clear that he had no interest in girls and never did.
SHORT EPISODES. No wasted time. If anything, they could have shortened the series by one or two episodes.
CONS
SECOND HALF LESS GOOD. I really loved the series up until university. It wasn't bad afterward, just a bit less interesting.
NOT ENOUGH BACKGROUND DETAILS. They tried to give us the backstory, I guess. Would have liked to know more about Haebom's parents, how Taesung managed to go for THAT many years ignoring Haebom... I wouldn't have minded knowing more about the bully as well.
Overall, it was enjoyable and I liked the chemistry between the main couple.
8.0 from me.
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its… okay?
i honestly started watching this due to the high amount of people saying it was “cute” and “fluffy” but honestly the only thing i liked about this drama was the main leads.what confused me at first was the bullies. they start bullying haebom but then all of a sudden they disappear? i get that after the time skip they go because they’re out of highschool but even before the timeskip they just don’t appear anymore.
the acting was pretty good to be honest. the main leads were cute and they portrayed their not so good characters well.
also taesung literally forcing haebom against the wall and nearly choking him was so unnecessary, i get that taesung is in denial of haebom not liking him but it was so weird and made me so uncomfortable. he apologised but that still didnt make me think over the whole situation.
it was obviously low quality and their budget was small but honestly the storyline needs some work.
i wouldnt recommend watching it :)
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A very aesthetic fairy tale that also has some depth
At first, the story is so stereotypical that you would expect to read it in an encyclopedia entry on BL as an example story: sweet little weakling is heavily bullied in school until the savior comes along. And of course, they are stepbrothers. All the good stuff :)But upon closer inspection, some things aren't as stereotypical as you would think - or judging from quite a few very bad reviews here - not as stereotypical as some would want it to be. This is not for you if ...
... you like a simple story stretched out over 12 episodes of 45 minutes each, spelling everything out for you
... you need a clear seme/uke relationship with no deviations
... you are looking for somewhat realistic cinematography or a very realistic story (but please, which BL ever has that?)
To elaborate on the above statements:
- The episodes are 25 minutes each and every episode is a new chapter in their life. So it is somewhat fast-moving and spans over a year or maybe even more. But to me, it was very nicely paced and it is easy to fill in the gaps that you didn't see.
- In the beginning, the smaller boy is indeed the weakling and the tall guy is the strong protector but over time it becomes apparent that the smaller guy is actually the stronger and more confident one. This culminates in the nice twist in the finale. I don't want to spoil, so let me just say: as this is Korean, it is especially nice how being gay is such a non-issue.
- The cinematography and set design and makeup and styling and everything visual in this is just from another world. Everything is in soft pastels, with extremely nice sun-lit views, sun flares and lovely interior design and architecture. And of course he has a part-time job in a flower shop that's straight out of an AI's mind with the perfection level and the pink level set to maximum. So in that regard, it is all very fake. At one point there is an outside scene on the street in an actual neighborhood and it felt a bit out of place to me, as it was - surprise - realistic looking. Some might hate this style, I love it. It is a fluffy fairy tale - enjoy it! The story and how the step-brothers act towards each other and with their mother is also a bit unrealistic at times, but even that for me adds to the positive fairy-tale experience.
Smaller details:
- The two friends are such nice characters, as I said before, especially as this is Korean.
- The smaller actor is so unbelievably good at conveying emotion with his eyes and face: the looks of fear and love and happiness from the tiniest of facial changes are so convincing - at least for me (I have read contrary views on here).
What a blossoming cherry tree is to nature, this piece of art is to BL.
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Improves with each episode.
Cherry Blossoms After Winter is not anything groundbreaking, it’s something we have seen in one form or the other countless times, but it is cute. Light and fun watch with some questionable directing in the first half.Here’s the thing, the second half was truly nice. The plot seemed to have the right pace, the scenes did not seem random, the dynamic between the leads was more clear and easy to understand. That said, the first (about) four episodes were just confusing directing wise. The plot was easy to follow, but how the specific scenes did not flow well was at times funny. Characters be talking about going grocery shopping, so I get excited to see some cute shopping scenes, just to get none of that. It felt like quite a number of times they were setting up a specific sequence of scenes, just to give up halfway through, and cut to something completely different.
The characters were fun. Hae Bom had a nice and realistic character development - it was presented in a gradual way. Realistically speaking, Tae Sung was there just to like Hae Bom. Hae Bom was the main character who had to face different external and internal conflicts. Not mad about it. With a short show like that, it’s better to focus more on just one character.
Acting wise, I am okay with what I got. The shock I felt when I found out the ages of the actors was something new. Being in your mid 20’ and 30 and still being a convincing teenage boy? That’s an achievement.
Production, as I said, improved in the second half. The show was better structured. Instead of trying to fit many random scenes in one episode, we get less, but better paced and developed moments and present the dynamics and relationship better.
Overall, I almost dropped it half way through. It just truly jumped around a lot and it felt like random cute scenes put together to create a typical BL show. It’s still a typical BL story, don’t get me wrong, but the quality improved a lot in the second half, and I was actually excited for the new episodes by the end.
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I loved it and now i'm so disappointed :(
I loved this show so much. I know the production wasn't super great but I loved the character chemistry and the softness.As always I think the "growing up like siblings and falling in love" thing is not something I particularly like, but still.
**SPOILER EP 5**
...But then again with the (almost?) assault story-line? WHY? So unnecessary! Also: so many straight dramas have (at least) questionable consent concepts and then always the BL dramas where it's portrait ..and probably also forgiven later? It just makes me sad...I'm still thinking of erasing that scene out of my my but I don't think I can continue watching it.
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A cute story on a budget
Ahhh okay I admit it, this was super cute! I've bumped into this series multiple times, but because of the prejudice towards the Webtoon I never considered picking this up. But, since I saw many interesting tags, I decided to briefly skip through it- that was until I got so invested that I wanted to watch this properly later, but then in the end I ended up binge-watching the entire thing. I was worried about the "step-sibling" setting, but it turned out to be less awkward than I initially thought. Another thing that turned me off was the scene where Taesung attempts to force himself on Haebom- and I was scared that they would romanticize it, but thankfully they didn't and Taesung condoned for his actions. This wasn't anything great, and the pacing was all over the place- but it was cute and I wouldn't be surprised to catch myself rewatching this someday. One thing that brought me comfort was the healthy relationship both leads had with Taesung's mother.To me this just didn't make me feel anything or think of anything new. It just exists, it's cute, nothing more nothing less, and it just isn't something I reminisce about, hence the semi-low scoring. Although there isn't much critique I'd give it just lacked something that would tie it all together.
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Why have story's who romanticise this kind of relationship?
I watched it in reverse. And the whole "brother but not" wasn't as weird as it felt when I watched the first ep. However I still think its unnecessary to have that as a storyline and romanticize it. The actors had chemistry, but the force scene was sheeesh. However it was a quick return from that (Eventhough it was only the forcer who saw something wrong, since the forcee didn’t say anything about it. we do not like unwanted kabedon!!). That being said, it's not the worst "brothers, but not, to lovers" I've seen.Was this review helpful to you?
