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Really nice
If you are looking for something short and sweet, then Jazz for Two is just for you. It is a light watch and if I could wipe my memories just to watch this again, I would. There isn't too much drama which is good and the characters really complete each other. I don't really listen to jazz unless it is just playing in the background but the jazz in the show is quite nice.Was this review helpful to you?
Music to the heart
This is a sort series that mad a big impact on Jazz... for two. We can all relate to loss, but something about how they leave us makes it even worst. This story unfortunately has one of the worst ways. However, I like how they handled the situation, making it seem real, how the persons left behind deal with the loss. Even worst is when someone reminds us of what we lost.The most wonderful thing is finding that one person that can remind you of what you lost but still find happiness in the new things they offer. It was fun and flirty to see the first meeting, to the first piano session, they had ups, downs and confusion. I honestly loved how they made him confused because his lost prevented him from understanding it. It was a healthy situation that they handled well and the romance that followed was organic. I am very happy to see the older brother step up and take responsibility for his actions, though nothing was his fault, he ensured that his little brother didn't have the same faith that he did. He has my respect.
Loved this series, So if there is a part two, I'm here for it.
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Not Really The Best One!
I was really excited for this drama. I thought that it had potential. But after watching it, I don't feel that anymore. With this cast, the drama could be made better. Acting was okay but not par excellence. The friendship between taeyi and doyoon coud be portrayed in more depth. But it was not so. Doyoon and Juha's relationship deserved more screentime but they didn't get so. I was disappointed that even till the end of the drama, taeyi and the other guy got screentime. The friendship between the four could be portrayed better and in depth. Overall, its good to watch once.Was this review helpful to you?
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Endearing story about loss, grief and letting go.
Very lovely story and I enjoyed the actors immensely. The cinematography was lovely and the sound of the cicadas made me giggle. They reminded me a lot of the ones played in Japanese dramas. The faces the protagonists made when playing music was so passionate I could feel it. Ultimately it reminded me of how situations we may not address in the present tend to be fated to come back again in the future. How one brother ignored his love and it ended in the suicide of the object of his affection only to see his younger brother weighed down by that very same mistake was incredibly fascinating to me. The way they were brought together through the music of someone else’s love was so heartwarming. This is true for the second couple as well. Love and forgiveness brought them together it showed compassion and grace. However the series does suffer from a few pitfalls. It was too short and could have used at least another two or three episodes. I would have loved to see the situation with the sister resolved, she came off as a good person caught in between several destinies but I suppose life is like that sometimes.Was this review helpful to you?
Beautiful!
I really enjoyed this drama. The story was not very complicated and slow burn, but it was good and had a great plot twist.Visuals and the music were beautiful, i really love a drama with music in the center of attention.
The actors did a great job, the dynamics between both couples were good and the chemistry and kisses between the leads were very good.
Definatly a must watch! I will surely watch it again in the future.
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I actually liked this one.
After watching this ,it makes me wants to also listen to some jazz.
also the audio is so good that I kept wondering if it was dubbed because it's literally so intact and idk where they got
that boom mic but it is so good.
the performance at the is so good at had to close my eyes and vibe to it
give this a solid 9.
han taeyi at the first 5 eps is a total jerk plus he doesn't wanna give reasons, but yk I get it
that you don't have to give reasons to a
total stranger from the start ,but why are you so aggressive?
it's good thing that juhee didn't do anything bad in the story and she just goes on with her life.
what I like about seoheon is that he keeps trying to talk to taeyi to understand him better than ignoring him ,if he actually ignored him and stayed away this whole plot is probably nothing.
do-yoon my fav.♥️
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ALMOST GOT A STANDING OVATION
The plot is nice, intricate and somewhat logical. You might think it's not logical at all, but when you place yourself in the characters' shoes, you'll know why they at the way they did. Still, plot holes and cliches are still there.For the acting, however, it's not good when the main character can't cry. Taehi didn't shed any real tears in the movies, thus, I can't feel him. The other actors did great on their parts.
The camera work on this series is very basic, it did its job, but didn't not stand out.
Overall, i'm impressed by how the story is planned out and organized. I would recommend every bl fan friend of mind to watch this.
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Promising bl disguised as a dumpster fire
The beginning of it was promising, but after episode 5 it went all down hill. I am a sucker for enemies to lovers trope but this wasn't that. The enemies to lovers trope doesnt have internalised homophobia, SA and intense physical and verbal bullying.The fact that Seheon forgave both Taeyi and Juhee for sexually asulting him after them just apologising to him was so stupid. What do you mean you're okay with just that?? Those scenes were so uncomfortable to watch.
Where was the character development? There was so much to work with both Taeyi and Juhee for that but I felt zero remorse from them for their actions. It felt very rushed.
My favourite character was definitely Doyoon even tho I still feel bad for him after what Johee did to him. I know that Johee was struggling with internalised homophobia, but I don't think that topic was explored deeply enough, or at all for that matter, for their relationship to feel genuine and healthy. The same goes for Taeyi and Seheon.
The way Taeyi behaved when Seheon kissed him in the classrom was I guess understandable because he was still greaving and saw his brother in Seheon (although it has already passed two years from his brother's death), but it was still a shitty way to treat someone.
The ending was nice but I couldn't enjoy it properly because of all of this.
5/10
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A BL better off as a Bromance
If you scroll down the comments and reviews you will find that many liked the story in early episodes, then half way through the series it lost it's charm and many lost interest or even didn't like it by the end.This tracks with the beginning of the Romance between the leads, the first 5 episodes were beautiful, acting was acceptable, story was intriguing, the push and pull between the two leads was fantastic, story getting unwrapped beautifully as the series goes and it could pass as a Bromance or highschool drama about friendship.
Alas, romance has to happen, the beginning of the romance by the end of the 6th episode was so sudden, they didn't hint on any emotional aside from "caring" which is normal between friends, the two leads were too stiff in some emotional scenes, their acting was barely acceptable, just good enough to be watchable but they don't look comfortable acting as lovers and they don't look like one tbh, the awkwardness we have to endure between the 4 leads was unnecessary because the romance wasn't worthy tbh, I would pass on the dead fish kisses they showed us in the last 3 episodes for another sleepover with dorky moments that happened in the beginning of ep6 any time.
I believe this is the first time I watch a BL and want it to be more censored or a Bromance instead, because it totally ruined the last 3 episodes.
The writer did great in the first 5 episodes that I can't overall call it a bad series but again as a BL it's so bad IMO, and the two brothers thing was also unnecessary, it feels like it was written in a hurry with the mediocre acting skills from the cast i would not say it's a highly recommended series but maybe watch it for the first 5 episodes and for the friendship because it was nice.
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Incomplete story
I had read part of this webtoon but never finished as it dragged on a bit. This series did the opposite. There are so many unresolved issues as a whole in the story that I think 2 more episodes would have given more time to fill in the gaps.This series had three major issues that were not resolved to any satisfaction. First is the bullying. Second is he suicide of Taeyi’s brother. Thirs is the domineering father.
For the first matter of the bullying. How can Juba who was beaten that bad but no teacher of students seem to care. Is bullying this bad seen as a normal thing. I don’t know how Korean school systems are but every series with bullying and how celebrities get canceled because of it seem like bull isn’t tolerated. Then how is it gloss over. I don’t care if a bully gets bullied but this isn’t making sense for me.
Taejoon being a depressed person who is gay to be shun by the very person who kissed him first isn’t addressed properly. How can they bring Sejin in but make him so ambiguous to how he has internalized homophobia? It was so glossed over to what a piece of trash he is not only to Taejoon but whole situation with his brother Seheon.
Sejin is such a self serving cretin. He seem to not care about how his father is applying pressure to his younger brother because his father is praising him and have a loving good relationship with him. It can be hat he’s more talented and he likes being an award winning pianist. But he can’t be that oblivious to how his brother is struggling under his abusive father.
The side couple is so underdeveloped. The pace and arc of Juha and Doyoon seem so rushed that it came out as an afterthought to fit in a filler. Either leave the out or flesh them out with a more satisfying ending for them.
Two major ambiguous points was the umbrella scene. It can be view as a kissing scene at first. But after the replay it just seemed like a lean in which Mae more sense after Seheon kissed Taeyi and Taeyi had such a strong negative reaction to the kiss. Again it’s internalized homophobia.
The acting wasn’t bad. The story as a whole seem to have all the right elements. The problem was the direction and the editing. It left a lot to be desired with lots of gaps that needed to be filled. The way to fix it would have been to add more episodes or reduce some of the story points. We don’t need that many scenes with the music quartet performances or the competition. I can skip the whole girl crushing on Taeyi part. The time could have been used on side couple or flesh out the main couple’s issues.
I would score it lower if it wasn’t for the acting being good. The cameo helped too.
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Happy ending (because that is very important not just for me, but for so many).
It had me on the edge trying to figure it out and I can say… I was wrong…lol. The story is very cute with a message of the importance in mental health (I’m a caseworker so with more reason, I liked it). Furthermore, it did make me wish one of my toxic relationships would have ended in a good and nice tone as one of the couples did (you will find out which one…lol). But the plot twist was very good, and it did made me feel bad (in a good way… if that’s possible).Overall, I cried, was laughing, and cried some more once I was done with the show. I just wish it had more episodes.
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and all that jazz...
Honestly, I wasn't planning to watch this one... but I couldn't skip out on supporting my blue haired bias. I'm glad I did though! Compared to A Shoulder to Cry On (by the same company), this series had a much tighter plot, more interesting ensemble cast, and better production quality--particularly some really excellent score, which was vital to this series. While I still have my gripes with some K-BL tropes that get overused and abused here, I was prepared for them going in and didn't find that they significantly detracted from the story. I may have tuned in for Hangyeom, but I'd definitely watch it again on it's own merits.-The Full Review-
STORY:
In general, I really enjoyed this plot! I spent a lot of time with music majors in my schooling, and some of the ridiculous antics were really nostalgic. I liked the push and pull of the four main characters, and felt that the structure of the story worked well for the run time and pacing. The flashbacks and dream sequences worked well and weren't overused, though sometimes it was confusing if the voice-over was meant to be taken as ongoing dialogue.
What I didn't like, as has driven me away from a huge amount of K-BL, was the rampant homophobia. I understand that homophobia is a real issue faced by many people, especially in conservative countries, but three separate characters doubling down on how disgusting and weird being gay is... is a little much. I would have at least liked to see some of these characters unpack those thoughts a little bit more.
ACTING:
I was quite happy with acting here! I am definitely a fan on Ji Hogeun now--I was very impressed with his performance. I liked most of what Kim Jinkwon brought to the table, though his character ended up being a little bit static for my tastes. As a pair, I thought they were very sweet! I particularly enjoyed their flirting in the classroom as an insight into them as a couple. They established a strong sense of intimacy.
Of course, I came here for Hangyeom, but I'm happy to say his comedy was a delight and really brightened up the story. I also enjoyed the few moments where he was allowed to settle into something more serious. Kim Jungha was an interesting match for him, and I'm not sure I truly cared about where the show took them. But it was competent and complimented the main couple at least. It was definitely not a lack of talent.
PRODUCTION:
To begin, for the most part the production value was very nice. Good compositions, evocative lighting, good costuming choices despite being limited by school uniforms, and excellent set dressing (especially of the piano room and the jazz bar). It felt quite polished throughout and established a good tone. I especially likes how it leaned on lighting tropes of this genre.
INTIMACY:
C's get degrees, my guy. Listen, it's fine. I get it. I know that I can't put the expectations of other countries media on K-BL, especially when tangling with idol actors. And there definitely *were* kisses, so it's doing better than most. But I really am just tired of shows that will double and triple down on how "gross and weird" being gay is, and then go out of their way to avoid showing any "controversial" intimacy, even if it's as simple as a kiss.
The main couple kisses, and it's a little bit dead fish (though they do try). The second couple "kisses" and it's a trick of cinematography. It's fine. It is the absolute minimum required to tell this story effectively, and they do it decently well. But I'm not going to get excited about it or praise it. In my opinion, it definitely doesn't feel like a story for queer people, that takes joy in the love between two men, but rather a story that happens to have queer characters dotting their I's and crossing their T's.
In all, Jazz for Two exceeded my expectations, but my expectations were pretty low. I would recommend it and I did enjoy it, but it's not really one that hits me hard in anyway and definitely reinforced some of my grievances with K-BL. It was good. It could have been great.
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