love and life is for brave ones
i personally was able to relate very much to it. The show truly captures human emotions and insecurities really well. The series try to spread the message to never give up and be brave enough to face what comes one's way. Additionally, it also portrays the found family trope adorably. The series ignites the hope of living life, giving people second chances and holding them dear to the heart, when they are still around.Ryu is definitely a conventional human being whom i hold near to the heart and the actor playing it has done an incredible job. Plus, Johan speech in the last episode is worth applauding.(literal tears)
The music is melodious which goes very well with the scenes and vibe of the show.
While the show may be low on the romance level(intimacy) but ryu and johan definitely are connected close through hearts and the similarities of how they have experienced life events and how they look up to each other in loneliness is what truly makes them SOULMATES. Eventually this does not let the queer elements of their story get downplayed. I can see myself returning to watch this series when i feel low or to just restore belief in human nature
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BL Or Not
BL or Not..this is a gem!Brilliant series....Acting Top Tier. The chemistry between the leads is off the charts, and the storyline, though simple in concept, is executed with such emotional depth and nuanced storytelling. It's a show that stays with you long after the credits roll, making it a truly special viewing experience.
Definitely worth watching.
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Not an 'any of the tag words' - story, but a beautiful adult love story
I just finished watching this in one go and just want to say that this is one of the most beautiful love stories I have seen yet.I don't watch any of the modern, copy and paste feminised BL dramas for many reasons I don't want to elaborate.
But I watched this and was deeply moved by the way this story was told, and by the fact it was NOT about cheap, repetitive, one-dimensional, childish, unrealistic romance mainly made for teenage girls.
In fact, this was not about sex and cheap butterflies in the stomach triggers at all. It was about human relationships and it was about love in different shades, and life coming in between in all sort of ways. I was touched by many things in this, by the FL with the story of her childhood with a mother who completely ignored her as well as I was touched by the main male characters and especially the last few episodes.
I also liked it was multilingual and shot in different countries, one of them my home country even. I loved that the two male lead looked ordinary, in a way of their natural complexion instead of chalky white makeup and pink lipstick. I liked that their hair was messy when they got up in the morning, that they had dark circles under their eyes when they were stressed and desperate. I simply liked they looked like real people for a change.
This was not something to watch in between or for escapism and feeling better, many things here were without words and explanations. Many things were about reading the room, about glances, about guessing what a character might think in one moment or another, so, in short, it was something for people with brains - which I crave so much and which is so very rare these days.
Of all the actors I only knew Ok Taecyeon, whom I liked because he was in one of the first dramas I watched and liked about ten years ago.
I think his role as Jo-han here was by far his most serious, adult and actingwise his best role.
I enjoyed this a lot and will certainly rewatch it some time.
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This Isn’t Romance. It’s Something Deeper.
I don’t think Soul Mate is the kind of drama you “watch” casually. It’s the kind that quietly settles into your chest and stays there long after the final episode ends.What impressed me most was how emotionally restrained yet deeply intimate it felt. So many dramas try to force emotion through dramatic speeches or constant romance, but Soul Mate trusted silence, distance, longing, guilt, and timing. The connection between Ryu and Johan felt painfully human — two lonely people carrying heavy emotional wounds, finding understanding in each other without always knowing how to express it.
The cinematography was beautiful without feeling artificial, and the atmosphere across Berlin, Seoul, and Tokyo gave the story this drifting, almost dreamlike feeling. There were scenes where barely anything was said, yet I felt everything. The show understands emotional loneliness in a way that many romance dramas don’t.
Hayato Isomura and Ok Taec-yeon gave incredibly layered performances. Their chemistry wasn’t loud or flashy — it was quiet, aching, tender, and believable. I especially appreciated that the story focused more on emotional dependency, healing, grief, and companionship rather than trying to constantly “prove” romance to the audience. That choice will probably divide viewers, but for me, it made the story feel more mature and realistic.
I also loved how flawed everyone felt. Nobody was written as purely good or bad. Every character carried regret, fear, selfishness, and love at the same time. Arata’s storyline especially hit hard and added emotional weight to everything that followed.
My only reason for not giving it a perfect 10 is that the pacing occasionally became a little too restrained, and there were moments where I wanted the emotional tension to fully explode instead of remaining so subtle. Still, when the show landed emotionally, it landed HARD.
Soul Mate is less about labels and more about connection — the kind of bond that changes your life forever, whether the world fully understands it or not. Quietly devastating, deeply comforting, and one of the most emotionally memorable dramas I’ve watched in a long time.
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High Teir Gay Romance and bittersweet slice of life
I was right! What an amazing and beautiful gay romance.I was hooked from the beginning to the end. The acting, cinematography, and writing were superb and heartfelt.
Overall it was a bittersweet experience about love, loss, life’s struggles, sacrifices, and the bonds we form.
People who just skipped through for kissing or NC scenes are missing out on one of if not the best, BL/gay stories I have seen in a long while. One of the few where I was enraptured by the storytelling and didn’t find myself 2x or skipping through any scenes even ones that were focused on the secondary characters.
It definitely fits in the vein of other amazing stories like Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo or Blonde and Blue Eyes. If anyone doubts the romance they are missing the whole thing and clearly didn’t watch it through nor paid attention to the last episode which clearly lays it out. Or are they being disingenuous and obtuse about depictions of romance since there’s no “fan service” or dated stereotypical cliches?
Also, as a follower of Christ, I absolutely loved the characterization of Johan’s faith, the symbolism of God’s hand at work in their lives, and the foreshadowing of the main lead’s future together. From the sculptor who mentions liberation from the sins/struggles of life, the bathing scene, the cryptic elder’s words to Ryu, how by chance Ryu met Johan, and by “fate” becoming the perfect person to care for and love Johan… refreshing especially in this genre.
Oh and the closing lines was a perfect capstone for this beautiful journey.
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Shunki Hashizume's mission
First chapter: an ice hockey player attempts suicide because he is gay. The minimum age to watch the series here in Denmark is 13 yo; poor teenager who is just discovering he/she is homossexual. As the series, which was primarily marketed to the LGBTQ+ audience (which constitutes total queerbaiting), is a succession of dramatic events, this same teenager will have as a benchmark that gay people don't deserve to be happy. Now it's understandable why the premiere of Soul Mate didn't happen in December, as planned. That month the LGBTQ+ community was intoxicated with the "queer joy" of Heated Rivalry. But director Shunki Hashizume is a defender of "queer misery," as he had already demonstrated in More than Words, the most homophobic series in history. For the creator, that teenager who is discovering him/herself deserves to suffer until his/her last drop of blood. This is Shunki Hashizume's mission in the world of entertainment. This is Shunki Hasizume´s agenda in the real world.Was this review helpful to you?
Life Just Happens
I loved this show. I was so excited to see a well known actor like Ok Taec Yeon main role in a queer show that didn't focus on family drama dynamics of a coming out story, but a story that focused on how life just fucking happens and you have to deal with it, and it's all about the choices you make.Ryu and Jo Han showed a different side of what being a soul mate can mean. Whether physical or emotional, you got to watch them build a connection that superseded time and space. But that it's the choices you make and the decisions you make on behalf of other people that shape your life and* the the lives around.
I did not anticipate this to be a BL story, because BL is a very specific fictional category (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boys'_love) and fully anticipated it to be a queer show similar to Love in the Big City, I over all felt this show had the vibe of being a cross between Love in the Big City and Mr. Plankton. I was glad it did not end up a tragedy, but it was definitely bittersweet*.
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are you miserable
if you dislike this drama im so sorry that you're miserable. i do hope that you too get to experience love the way it exists in the simplest yet most complicated ways. and who knows maybe it will shift your heart so that you realise ah. so that's what it was all about. if you still don't get it i am so sorry. this masterpiece i'll never watch again, thank youWas this review helpful to you?
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A love that needs no labels, a love that dares to stay undefined.
Throughout the series, I had mixed feelings about the way the story was told. I found myself confused, endeared, longing, and melancholic, every emotion and scene burying deeper into me and leaving me with more questions than answers. The story itself is hard to relate and integrate into, yet, the characters add so much depth, flaws, nuance and vibrance to what would otherwise hold no form.One of the asterstrokes of the story was Sumiko and Ryu's mother, both abandoned by family that ought to catch you when you fall, yet refusing to stay within the grasp of its pain. Their kindness, strength, refusal to diminish themselves even when it comes to being a mother, a wife, and a friend, refusing to give up love for their own self in the name of sacrifice truly settled down something deep within me.
Ryu and Yohan's relationship was so sheer, raw, unexplained and unapologetic. The team took such a brave yet dangerous step in deciding to leave most of their genuinity, closeness and tenderness hidden behind the scenes. And this is exactly what pushed us audience into the role of the society around them. We know they live together, we know they belong to each other in ways we'll ever be left guessing, we know they share a home- and that's all we know. Oftentimes, we look at snippets of people living next to us and carve out their life deciding we know enought about them to do so. Just like that, within this story, we are left to project our ideologies into their relationship, forcing it to fit within frames that were never meant to hold them.
We yearn for a conclusion, a label, a status, an answer. But, the series remains stubborn in not giving one. It dares us to fill in the gaps left behind while silently moving forward on its own terms with no remorse. And that's where it perfectly captures life and love. It flawlessly denies conformity and definitions, truly existing free within a literary utopia where to live together and create a home, you owe no one any explanations.
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Beautifully raw and real
This show was beautifully done. I wouldn't consider it a BL, maybe more of a queer story. I loved this so much. I watched it one sitting. I loved getting to go through so many years of life with our cast. It felt like watching someone's life more than watching a show and I loved that.Ryu was my favorite character. He was so caring and so adorable and just the biggest green flag. Jo Han was an incredible character too. He went through so many hard time but I loved that he kept getting back up and trying to make the best out of his life. Sumiko was also so enjoyable to watch. She is so strong and I loved her determination too. All the characters in this show had such a complexity about them that made them feel so real. They all went through good times as well as a lot of hardships that life throws at you.
The boys wanting to help Sumiko raise the baby and seeing the three of them raise her together was so beautiful to see. I loved that it showed different sides of it including the judgement that would naturally come from other people. Even after Jo Han left, Ryu agreeing to marry Sumiko to make it easier on the child was so incredible to see too.
I have a feeling some people won't care for the ending since the boys never confessed to each, nor came out and said they were gay, but I loved it. Somehow that made the story seem that much more real. You as the audience knew they were gay and knew they had feelings for each other from little moments here and there throughout the show without it ever being said outright and I loved that. We hear their monologues and the end and hear the I love you's but I personally think the I love you's were just in their heads. I think they spent Jo Han's finals moments together and then Ryu goes back home without them ever saying anything to each other, but I don't think they needed to. I think they knew deep down how they felt and that was enough for them and even though some may say it's tragic they never heard it from the other, I think it is still beautiful.
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It hurt me!! But I loved it.
I've been waiting for this series ever since the casting was announced, I truly couldn't care less if it was gay or not I just wanted to watch it because I really like these two actors.I gotta say that I am absolutely impressed with how good this series is, I didn't know what the plot was going to be exactly as I avoided reading the description and didn't watch the trailer, but that poster, it was obvious that it was going to be a sad one, but I didn't expect it to be this sad!! I cried, I'm still crying, from the very beginning it's just so gloomy, although there are cute happy moments it's mostly sad. It is still worth it, the story is beautifully told, the acting is fantastic and the episodes are short so it's an easy binge.
I loved it, it hurt me, it hurt me so that I need to go watch some cartoons or something cute to lighten my mood, but I still would recommend and maybe watch again at least 1 more time.
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