Soulmates don't have to be romantic to love each other
The relationship between the two was amazing. I might be a little biased over this, since Taecyeon, Johan's actor, is one of my ult biases. I especially loved his acting, he was so good.I really loved the emotional connection between the two characters. What some people failed to realize is that two people do not have to interact romantically to be soulmates. The characters had a strong emotional connection and even if they didn't kiss or make out, you could sense the love they had each other. I'd argue even more than some BL couples.
The only thing I didn't like is that at one point, something happens that takes the attention from our Johan and Ryu. But that's the only negative I'd say.
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The Weight of Reality
[Spoilers will be tagged where they start]First of all, I know people were upset about this show for not having physical intimacy between the two leads, but frankly that is not the plot of this show at all. Is it still queer? Absolutely. This show explores the lives of two characters trapped by society and their own emotions, and how they try to overcome this together but are ultimately still victims of a harsh reality.
Ryu (Hayato), an ice hockey player, has no response when his friend and teammate confesses his feelings for Ryu. When the team learns of this, they make a mockery of the gay teammate, causing him to attempt suicide. Ryu, feeling guilty for not protecting his friend, runs away from his team and Japan to stay with his friend in Berlin. Burdened with the guilt of his friend's suicide attempt and dealing with the weight of coming to terms with his own sexuality, Ryu goes to a church to confess his sins. When the church catches fire, Ryu decides to burn with it until the man that overheard his confession saves him. This random encounter seems fleeting, until Ryu sees the man that saved him compete in a boxing match. In another chance encounter, Ryu meets Johan (Taecyeon), and the two become fast friends. Their lives become intertwined as they both deal with the hardships of being queer in an unaccepting society, and feel as though they need to find a way to save their souls through each other.
This show manages to hit you with a new tragedy every episode. I swear, any time someone seemed slightly happy, the writers decided to throw something horrible at them. I really loved the themes of found family and queer love, but my GOD they could not let any character be happy ever! As much as I love a sad drama, this one felt like a little TOO much.
[Spoilers start here]
I truly think the only positive takeaway from the show was the found family aspect. The way that Ryu steps in to support his best friend and everything she goes through, along with Johan, was truly the best part of the show, even when the entire group was having a rough time. However, for the finale to have Ryu marrying Sumiko for the sake of Kanau really hurt in an unexpected way. I understand why Johan left, and I think it made sense for all of the characters, but for Ryu to never truly be able to be with someone he loves because he knows it won't be accepted and frankly, even HE never accepted it himself, really really hurt. And honestly, I do not think the writing addressed this aspect well at all. I fully understand the idea that Ryu and Johan are never explicit about their relationship, even in private, considering what the two have been through. But for the show to end the way it did, with the "I love yous" right before Johan's death, felt cruel to the audience! It almost felt like a situation of "we're not allowed to really make this gay, so let's kill off the male love interest and have the main character marry a woman." While I don't think that was the intention, it still felt like they could have told this heartbreaking story of two queer men crushed by the reality they live in, but still manage to portray acceptance of oneself in these characters. All we see are two men being beat down over and over again, and never managing to live the lives they wanted. You REALLY need to want a sad show to watch this one.
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Soul Mates for Eternity
Soul Mate is unquestionably one of the most beautiful series I have ever watched. It tells the story of true love, what it really means to find your soul mate and spend your life with them. All the actors were wonderful and overall, the series was very high quality. RyuJohan is such a wholesome and beautiful couple of soul mates.Having watched Soul Mate, my worldview has once again been broadened.
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A queer story for queer people
Do NOT let the people telling you that this is a bromance dissuade you from watching.As a lot of people have stated before me, this series isn’t and will never be the bromance people depict it to be.
It is a raw story about realistic life experiences from a queer perspective.
To be clear, if you’re looking for your typical queer utopian bl where the romance is the focal point and they end up living happily ever after, this is not for you.
Because yes, god forbids we’re literally anything besides being gay and in love apparently.
It feels kind of surreal to me that some people on here were expecting them to just get together and be done with it when they’ve both struggled in life and with their identities.
“They could have made it more clear” but has anyone ever considered it wasn’t even clear to the characters themselves ???
They both went through traumatic experiences and somehow all people seem to think about is watching two men kiss.
Let me tell you in case you haven’t stepped foot outside in 10 years, this is not how relationships work.
Sometimes you have to lose someone to realize the real depth of your feelings, sometimes putting a label on a relationship is not a priority and it is all completely fine.
What matters is that they could rely on each other, trust each other and love each other in their own way.
Not every relationship looks the same, and this is a great reminder to everyone watching.
And if you still think this is queerbaiting somehow, yes they did confess their feelings to each other. No it wasn’t ambiguous. And yes you will remember this series for the rest of your life.
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Just give it a shot. Please.
it's my first actually feeling like I HAVE to write a review for something I've watched. I was so excited for Soul Mate but when I saw the negative reviews, I was a bit mixed but I still gave it a shot.Thanks God I did.
It's the first time in years that I've cried so much watching a series. My eyes are still red from how much I've cried nonstop those past few hours.
I saw people complaining that it's not a real bl, that it's disappointing since they don't kiss and I even saw someone calling it a "homophobic crap". In my opinion, those people didn't understand at all the whole point of the story. There's something between Ryu and Johan, it's a fact, but it's just that sometimes relationships are too complicated to be put in boxes like friendship or romantic love. A soulmate doesn't necessarily mean a romantic lover by the way. And I would argue that here, the soulmate aren't only Ryu and Johan because almost everything that happens is by chance, by coincidence. It's a miracle as Johan said.
I found this series truly beautiful. It reflected life so well. Even with everything that happens it didn't feel heavy. I liked everything about this series: the way it was shot, the acting, the ost...
Everything.
Of course, if you're starting it thinking you're in for a cute little bl, you'll be disappointed. But if you're starting it with an open mind and if you're able to see and understand human relationships that go beyond labels, you'll probably enjoy it as much as I did.
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A Journey Beyond Romance : Disappointed Reviews Miss the Realism of this Masterpiece
Key points:- Themes of friendship, hardships and societal pressure
- A deeper bond than lust and simple romance
- Impactful and moving storyline
* Most importantly, I highly recommend this series who wants to feel moved and grounded. Please do not let all negative comments alter your own evaluation of the TV show. You shall end up devouring this series while tears pouring out till the after the end. *
This series reveals the core foundation defining the themes of friendship, hardships and societal pressure. Through the characters’ relationships—queer and family related—that may appear unconventional from the societal norms, the term “soul mate” is defined as a bond that reaches a deep understanding that goes beyond linguistic communication.
The disappointed comments do not objectively portray the series’ worth. While I was also expecting a BL series from an honest point of view, the series show cases that love can go further than the lust and romance. I understand that many, me included, were expecting this TV show to be a Boys Love series with hot chemistry and love trope as seen in many previous Korean and Japanese gay romance tv shows. What brought some to be disappointed is the trailer and summary of the show that portrayed a different main idea.
However, the screenwriter and director successfully moves the audience through an impactful storyline. It is solid, moving and realistic to the context we live in today. The characters are well portrayed and support the main message; it is inevitable to attach yourself to them. While feelings of frustration and grief remain at the end of the watching, each event felt purposefully placed in this story line, completing the puzzle pieces together to form the whole of the message.
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The most beautiful love story I’ve ever seen
Wow. I just finished this and I don’t even have words for how beautiful it was. Best love story I’ve ever seen, truly touched my heart. Probably cried 10 times but worth it. This one will stick with me for a long time.Even though they never had romantic gestures like other shows, their love transcended romance honestly. It was deeper, and proves that not every love story has to be romantic/sexual in nature. This is not your average BL, in fact it isn’t a BL in my opinion, it’s so much more than that. I cannot even explain how good this show is, I truly will think about it for a long time. I cannot understate how beautiful this show was, please watch it, don’t listen to the bad reviews, they just wanted a “regular BL” which this is not.
BTW: If you want an idea of what this is like, it’s a bit like the anime movie “a silent voice” so if you like that, you will love this!
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This review may contain spoilers
A Healing Love Story
I had been waiting for Soul Mate for over a year, and honestly, it was 100% worth the wait.At first, I thought this would be a BL series, but it feels more like a bromance although there’s clearly something much deeper between them. And honestly, that’s what makes the story feel so real and emotional.
What makes Soul Mate so beautiful is that it doesn’t only focus on the relationship between the two men. The series also gives attention to the people around them and their own struggles. One of the most emotional parts for me was the woman’s story — dealing with the loss of her husband while also becoming a mother. Her storyline added so much depth and showed that everyone in the story is trying to heal in their own way.
The series explores loneliness, trauma, healing, and real-life struggles in such a natural way. At first, the two main characters seem completely different, but as the story continues, you realize they were always connected. In the end, it becomes clear that he had always liked him all along, which made their bond feel even more emotional because they truly are soulmates.
The chemistry, cinematography, and emotional atmosphere make this series unforgettable. If you love slow-burn emotional stories with deep connections and healing themes, Soul Mate is definitely worth watching.
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Corny, Melodramatic, and Cliche
Take every sad plot point and character background you have ever seen in a drama. With every plot point, assume the screenwriter is doing this solely to make a tearjerker. Predict how said plot point could be a tearjerker. 99% chance you got it right. Even the music score felt rehashed.The whole thing also stinks as if something fishy went down with the production of it. As if in order to make it palatable to a wider audience they clipped out every perceptible gay romance scene or the actors refused that aspect of the storyline so it was omitted. In turn, it meant we ended up with this incomprehensible bromance. Seriously, whatever they are is never explored. Once. Just a couple of best buddies for life, apparently.
The only saving grace was the acting. They did a great job with the dreary script they were presented with. Maybe they have some better projects you could spend your time on? But do not waste precious hours with this.
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Sad and complex bromance with problems
In my opinion, no one does a sad story quite like a Japanese series. Soul Mate is a beautiful and touching story, but marketing it, even if indirectly, as a BL was a mistake.We had 10Dance a few months ago, so we know Netflix can deliver a great Japanese BL story with big names. At the same time, we’ve seen two versions of Love in the Big City recently, proving that big Korean actors are doing BL. Because of these expectations, Soul Mate will likely disappoint many viewers since it ultimately ends up being a bromance.
That said, the characters are complex and the acting is strong. I didn't always agree with their choices, though, like a friend withholding from their best friend the fact that a former “roommate” has been seriously ill in the hospital.
The only element the series truly fumbles is Arata. His confession and the incident are the catalysts for the entire show and a major driving force behind Ryu’s journey. It’s the reason Ryu is in Berlin, why he tries to give up inside the church, and why he abandoned hockey. Yet, it’s resolved so briefly and forgotten so quickly that it feels like Arata didn’t even matter. Ironically, mishandling this plotline is exactly what allows Soul Mate to exist. In my opinion, a proper resolution would have likely inspired Ryu to live without regret, prompting him to confess his true feelings to Johan much earlier.
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mostly Mates and then some Soul (wrenching plot)
There was something genuine in here, which drew so much emotion out of me. The last two episodes, I was crying without stopping.However, I cannot say that this show was good. Why? Their relationship was not well developed. Chemistry where. While I could see Ryu trying for a bit of chemistry to surface, Johan is like a board; almost too immersed into his character that he forgets that the character exists because of Ryu. I understand no overt bl or whatever the script said, but I felt I see kdrama roles and kpop members acting more touchy feely than these two. They really could have umped it up for at least a notch with platonic touches. Just to see some closeness between the leads cos I did not get any via dialogue. Ryu literally hugs Johan the same way he hugs Sumiko, cmon. They could have brought Arata back to show the jealousy subplot but nah, they put like 100th random disaster.
Their characters were not well developed. Ryo's interest in hockey dissipated almost as quickly as Arata from the plot. And then all those random plot twists for the shock effect? hmm, not impressed because they are obviously a lazy filler.
Idk, I would say that acting was relatively good but chemistry was zero. Is that an oxymoron? well maybe but I feel it is true. Maybe the genre caused some insecurity in the leads or we can blame it as always on the lack of quality script.
I would still recommend this one.
Thanks for reading,
RPX
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You have to watch to know what it really is.
I heard about this series first i guess in 2024 , that it's gonna be a thing. And i was very excited cuz one of the actors was Ok Taec yeon. Even though it took me 2 days to finish(cuz of my schedule) but i enjoyed every second of it. I was not expecting anything like this. I mean even when i watched the trailer i was like yea okay it seems normal lets watch it. But when i started it yesterday, i couldn't help but giggle to every scene. Every thing seemed so cute and just natural that i just wanted it to never stop. Though i was sad about Arata, but I wouldn't call it anyone's fault, i would say that the situation wasn't good.All the characters went through thick and thin throughout the series, something searching for warmth , support and compassion, while at other time, not wanting to burden the person on the other side, isolating themselves. But everything proved to be beautiful as they all supported each other.
i am mainly very disappointed about the fact that why johan everytime. i mean he's been struggling since childhood and in the end he got als too... that was so heartbreaking. and also Seichi too TT
i swear i cried throughout the entire last episode cuz it was so painful yet so beautiful. I dont usually like these kind of endings but this one was worth everything, ignoring every other element.
this was a meaningful watch for me cuz i learned that love doesn't comes easily. you have to let it grow and flourish. you have to be patient. you have to support yourself and the person on the other side. you have to understand them. but most importantly , you have to be you.
this might sound like some random rant but it was an eye opener for me...
*Saranghae*
*Aishiteru*
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