Individual Circumstances (Movie)

I placed spoilers at the end of this review.

I love doing comparison reviews when a BL series is edited into a movie. It’s just bizarre I had to wait over 1 ½ years to do this one. What is even more bizarre is I had to use a VPN to watch the movie edit of a Viki original series on GagaOOLala. This is especially weird considering that Viki released three other Korean BL series (one of them also a Viki original) after this series which all were quickly edited into a movie within the same year of its release.

The movie/series: This had an interesting storyline. The script was simple but good. I love how they used Woo Jae’s web-based novel to mirror the main couple’s situation. This helped explained both main characters’ feelings. It had nice cinematograph but the flash back scenes in the beginning was a little confusing because it was not clearly marked. The acting was good with the usual exception often seen in Korean BL series/movies.

The movie: The movie has a different starting point because they edited out the opening credits and the first 2 minutes from the series beginning. Overall, the move version was ok. They did a great job editing it into a cohesive movie. However, they made a few poor editing choices with the scenes they cut out. I know this was probably done for timing purposes, but the storyline did not have the same pacing it had in the series. On a good note, it did not affect the relationship and story progression in anyway.

Random Notes:

I strongly recommend watching the series version (on Viki if you can) because the pacing had a nice, even flow to it. Another reason is the movie’s English subtitles on GagaOOLala were very bad (I did not take points off for this).

(Added on 2/14/2025): The movie version is finally available on Viki, well in my region. The English subtitles for the movie are definitely a lot better on Viki than on GagaOOLala.

******Spoiler Alert******

Although it was a bit extreme, I get why Woo Jae left. However, I don’t fully understand why he showed such hostile anger towards Yeon Woo. Especially considering he is the one that left without telling Yeon Woo.

The usual exception of course were the kiss scenes. I don’t need the actors to suck each other’s faces off, but at least kiss with some emotions. if the actors are not willing to do a proper kissing scene, have them kiss each other on the check or them hugging. Again, not every BL series has to end with a big make-out/kiss session.

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An overall entertaining drama

This drama begins kind of slow and uneventful, but it doesn't take long to understand what Woo Jae is writing has everything to do with his past relationship with Yeon Woo. It takes awhile for the complete picture of what happened in the past and how it has effected both of them in the present time.
I found it kind of interesting how the scenes are playing out between the man & women in the story being written, while you completely understand who each character is representing on screen.
It's definitely an original approach to a BL drama that I have seen. I thought the actors Joon Gyu & Jung Wan definitely clicked on screen together. It was a bit cold in the beginning, but most bl stories begin that way anyway.
Toward the end, they both gave great performances alone & with each other.
If you want a relaxing drama without too much to endure along the way, this one works.
The movie version is a much better way to enjoy it, rather than the short episodes with breaks.

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Not as bad as I feared.

I've been dragging my feet on watching this for the last two years because I read a review where someone basically said "this has a kiss so bad it's homophobic". But I have reached the bottom of the proverbial BL bucket so I thought I'd give the movie version a shot.
And I will say this: It is definitely not worst movie I've watched in the last two years, but yeah, the kissing was bad. Honestly I'm a bit surprised they didn't change the edit for the movie. Because I feel like it's mostly the prolonged lingering on the moment that made it so extra cringey and awkward.
For the most part the story is decently told and acted. Although I will say that it does sometimes feel a little disjointed. Almost as if there are scenes missing.

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I did not watch the drama version but the movie on Viki. It seems like a few scenes might have been edited out but I don’t think it affects the movie much. It’s still coherent enough for me to understand what’s going on. As a movie, I found the pacing quite slow (maybe it’s better as a drama?). There really isn’t a whole lot that happens after the leads reunite. Their history was told in flashbacks and also in the form of the novel/movie script, which I like. The movie can probably tell everything that needs to be told in 1 hr and 20-30 minutes, instead of almost 2 hours.

The acting is OK, not as good as the recent KBLs that I’ve seen. And yes, the fish kisses are bad. The first 2 kisses are acceptable fish kisses given the circumstances (pun!). But the other 2 should have been more passionate, or at least let’s not prolong the torture.

I have trouble understanding characters in these ‘individual circumstances’ (pun! LOL). No matter what you were dealing with, a quick text or phone call is not going to cost you a lot of time, especially when you care for each other. Additionally, just because you guessed the password to the laptop doesn’t give you the right to read its content.

The plot is actually quite simple but interesting enough to keep me going. At least I don't find anything cheesy or cringy. The acting and execution could have been better. I probably won’t recommend this unless you have nothing to watch.


Completed: 3/31/2025 - Review #562

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