This review may contain spoilers
Ryu shouldn't have let Johan go so easily
All good except Johan's left, and the baby somehow became a 4-5-year-old kid.All this time, Sumiko and Ryu made no attempt to contact Johan. Why??? It wasn't until the very end that Johan's sister contacted Sumiko and told her something about him.
Bro, they lived together, and Ryu had known Johan for a long time through thick and thin, but he just let Johan go and made no attempt to contact him. That was the most unbelievable part of this tale.
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Is this what Netflix does to BL? Because I'm not sure I want it.
I don't know, man... Soul Mate left me feeling hollow. My viewing experience wasn't exactly improved by first eagerly awaiting the show's release and then putting off watching it, because I wasn't in the mood for depression. By the time I finally came around to bingeing it, my expectations were a smidgen too high, and I was sorely disappointed.The plot moves at a strange pace, frantically checking off predictable traumatic plot points and hitting unearned emotional beats. Then the story grinds to an absolute halt, and there's entirely too much baby stuff. Are pro-natalists really this desperate? The straight couple has little chemistry, and of course there's the missed GL opportunity. Even at its worst, the show makes compelling choices, though: Sumiko and Seiichi's love-at-first-sight vs. let's-see-where-this-goes conversation is fun. Sumiko's hair and wardrobe turns tradwife, announcing the pregnancy before the characters do. All the familial conflicts are painfully realistic without being overly dramatic.
These compelling choices, of which I could list many more, such as the depiction of care work or the engaging way all actresses and actors play off of each other especially in platonic scenes, are why I like this series as little as I do. Why insist on showing me the potential you squandered? I'm too tired to suss out what exactly hindered the main leads the most, but I'm certainly sad because their queer-platonic intimacy isn't without merit.
Also, I thought we had moved past the talking speed of a 2016 Thai BL series? If we haven't, then can we at least stop with the flashbacks to recent scenes and without any new (visual) information? Especially the last-episode-flashback-compilations need to be laid to rest.
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Tragic overload series, but could have been much better
I don't have an issue with the non-physical relationship of the two main charterers. In fact I can see and appreciate the lack of a sexual aspect to the relationship. Seems like the creators took a page out of a USA LGBTQ+ series were there is tragedy always associated with and seemingly loving and successful alternative relationships.My issues with Soul Mate are:
1.) The script especially in early episodes seems choppy and inconsistent.
2.) Too graphic in the beginning episodes.
3.) Too many tragic events. Really count them up. There are more tragic events than episodes. Therefore this series for me does get a Trigger alert!
The good aspect of Soul Mate is that the actors all become characters I became engaged with and liked them. The actors ability to present themselves was far superior than the script and tangentially tragic story-line. To the makers of this story...too much drama/tragic events can spoil a series. This is the case here for sure.
Finally, this wonderful cast of actors that could have made a 10 star series. I rate this as a 6.5 out of 10.
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Touching & Heartbreaking ??
I personally loved it. I cried at the end when one of them got terminally sick. Because it hit close to home, while I'm not terminal (as far as I know right now), I am chronically ill. The character who got sick, his personality reminded me of my own in certain ways. Especially the part where he said something along the lines of "It's brave to feel everything. Instead of being afraid of getting hurt and becoming so numb."Which I can relate to.
The fact that his lover, came back at the end and they traveled together. That he stayed despite him being ill. It was touching and I'd love to have a relationship like that someday.
I normally don't leave reviews but, this mini series really touched me.
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What I expected...
When I started watching Soul Mate by asking from ppl I know and comments, I was really excited, I expected an emotional and meaningful story about love, healing, and connection. But honestly, it just felt like the show kept adding sad things only to make people cry. There was suicide, illness, grief, loneliness, abandonment, death — one tragedy after another. After some time, it stopped feeling emotional and just felt forced.My biggest problem with the show was the relationship between Ryu and Yohan. The way the series was promoted made me expect a romance or at least a deep emotional love story, but their relationship never really developed. There were barely any romantic moments (I understand it was a very discreet and non verbal love wt no intimacy, and not much emotional payoff, but their barely had a sentimental HUG when needed). The show kept calling them “soulmates,” but I personally never felt that strong connection between them. They barely talked
one - a - one. Honestly, sometimes Ryu seemed closer to Sumiko than to Yohan, which made the main relationship even harder to believe (Considering they were Soul Mates for real).
Another thing that bothered me was the writing. A lot of the dialogue sounded unnatural and too slow. Big emotional moments happened, but I didn’t feel connected to the characters enough to really care. Some serious storylines, especially the suicide attempt and grief, were handled too quickly and didn’t feel realistic. Instead of feeling emotional, I mostly felt distant from the characters.
The pacing and editing were also confusing. The story jumped around so much that sometimes I couldn’t tell how much time had passed or how the characters were supposed to feel. In the second half especially, the series started to feel messy and unfocused.
The acting was probably the best part. The actors did a really good job with the script they were given, and some emotional scenes worked because of their performances. The cinematography and music were also nice, although sometimes the music felt too dramatic, like the show was trying too hard to make viewers emotional.
What disappointed me the most was how the series focused so much on queer suffering without giving enough happy or warm moments in return. Every time something hopeful happened, another tragedy came right after it. By the end, I wasn’t heartbroken — I was just tired.
When Yohan is about to get seriously sick and Ryu goes to him to be wt him in his "final moments", that alone was supposed to have crushed RYU'S feelings ONCE HE WAS HIS SOUL MATE, but to my surprise she had hidden from him that his supposedly ex- partner was dying and he accepted almost instantly.
Overall, Soul Mate had a good idea and strong actors, but for me it became an overly depressing story that confused sadness with emotional depth.
NOTE**** They completely forgot about Arata. Who almost got handicapped and never to be heard of him again (?)
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Soul Crushing!
Overall, this is a series steep in the imagery of ferocity, harshness, and seemingly emotional intensity. But it is a ruse; a gimmick. You do not get to witness that fervent intensity until the VERY last scene when the very last line of the series is finally delivered. And even then, we never see our protagonists – our heroes, the emotional nonpareils – deliver the words: we only hear their words. I cried. I found that so profoundly sad. That, sullenly, I felt. We had to literally wait until the end to find out that they were deeply in love with one another. I cried because I wanted those words to be spoken much earlier. They never did. Or at least inferred. They never were, and thus they never were. The only emotion that this series gets undeniably correct is sadness. Unfathomable despondency. This is by far one of the saddest, if not the saddest, series I have ever seen on all appraisable levels. If you are wanting or expecting it to be emotionally passionate, you are going to be disappointed. Perhaps it might be better, ironically, to watch this series from its end to the beginning. Then the whole picture is made clearer. They got the editing all wrong. The saga tries too hard to convince us it is a story of intrinsic feelings. Sure, we are overwhelmed with ardencies, but we have no time to feel them. The story continuously takes us on along a journey into a world of hurt, leading into forks in the road that only lead to other levels of affliction. As if somehow, all this represents the only way life is for them. It does not. This odyssey became corpulent with deleterious effects and therefore hard, at least for me, to know what to sense and thus, I shut down. I saw and felt no real connection between the two of them. This is a soul-crushing series full of pain and sadness. Nothing more.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
This miniseries is like a war.
This miniseries is like a war, because the protagonists have to endure an impossible number of emotional blows!First (01.), a young man confesses his feelings for his best friend (Ryu). It’s incredibly distressing. What are the chances that these feelings will be reciprocated? Answer: virtually nonexistent.
02. As expected, the feelings are initially just being processed. During this time, however, rumors start spreading, and the young man jumps out the window and ends up in a coma.
03. The pressure on Ryu is immense because he feels guilty in so many ways. He is not allowed to visit his friend, whom he seems to care for in some way.
04. Ryu "flees" to Berlin, Germany, where a childhood friend works and studies. Lost and adrift, he enters a church that is the target of an arson attack.
05. Ryu is rescued from the flames by Jo Han (or Johan/Johann). He now feels guilty about this, yet he can’t even properly thank him, because Johan is a typical loner who believes he shouldn’t show his true feelings. He is completely incapable of accepting gratitude.
06. To cheer him up, Ryu’s childhood friend takes him to a boxing match. How crazy is that decision? There, Ryu realizes that one of the boxers is Johan, who gets knocked down. I know a lot of people enjoy this sport. It would weigh heavily on me. We also learn at that moment that the boxers have been bribed, which weighs heavily on Johan.
And we meet Johan’s sister, who is studying medicine in Germany.
07. We learn that Johan and his sister grew up practically without parents, and that Johan supports his (clever) sister in any way he can.
08. Back to Japan, Ryu is still so shaken by his friend’s accident/suicide that he gives up his career as a college ice hockey player. Here we meet Seiichi, who’s always in a good mood and spreads cheer wherever he goes.
09. Meanwhile, in Seoul, Johan is giving up his boxing career.
10. Johan visits Ryu in Japan, where he meets Ryu’s parents, and we learn about the death of Ryu’s uncle 13 years ago. An artist whom Ryu obviously enjoyed spending time with as a child.
11. Ryu’s best friend wakes up from a coma, and the two talk. Ryu apologizes—and, as I suspected, the one who came out about his feelings suddenly doesn’t want to understand Ryu’s feelings, who feels responsible. And then we don’t see anything more of the “best friend” for the rest of the series.
12. Johan completes his military service. He spends two years in squalor, is bullied for being a former boxer, and has to endure hardships for which no one takes responsibility.
13. After finishing his military service, Johan goes to a bar whose owner he knows well. Some patrons arrive who behave badly, provoke trouble, and unleash raw violence on the bar owner. Johan puts a stop to it and learns that the whole thing was a setup, an act of revenge by a scoundrel.
14. The press finds out from the former boxer in a gay bar, which ruins Johan's potential career as coach.
15. Of course, Johan can’t think of a better solution than to hide away. Until Ryu pulls him out of a tight spot and takes him to Japan.
16. Ryu’s high school girlfriend is now back in Japan; she meets Seiichi through Ryu, they get married, and she’s expecting a child.
We learn that the high school girlfriend was neglected by her parents and was raised by Ryu’s parents.
17. Seiichi, the cheerful, life-affirming guy, is hit by a truck while singing and doesn’t survive the accident.
18. We witness Seiichi’s funeral and the accusations hurled by a parent at Ryu’s heavily pregnant school friend.
19. And as if all this shit weren’t enough in terms of challenges and failures, Johan has to suffer from an incurable disease.
20. Johan does NOT confide in Ryu and does what he does best: run away.
21. Johan pretends to be interested in someone else, moves out, and leaves a mess behind.
22. A few years later, Ryu’s school friend finds out that Johan is sick and doesn’t tell Ryu until a year later.
23. Ryu and Johan meet again in Germany, where Johan is in a wheelchair and has essentially made his final video testament.
Sorry, folks, this is just too much for me. A bomb carpet of 23 impacts.
There are many wonderful moments in the series.
But there’s also a constant lack of communication. I’m German, and I’m often seen as rude... addressing things head-on—both what’s going well and what isn’t. And if a script can only work because people talk past each other, don’t say what’s on their minds, and out of misplaced concern don’t want to be a burden to anyone, then to me that’s a disaster for me.
Of course, you shouldn’t just brutally throw the truth in someone’s face. But… make up your own mind. How many movies and TV shows would have lasted if the characters had just come clean with each other relatively early on?
I think a script like that is incredibly weak—it would be much more sophisticated if writers could find a solution for it. I think either the writer is trying to make a point so that you say, “HEY, WHY AREN’T YOU GUYS TALKING TO EACH OTHER?” or he's just being lazy to find a solution.
The series is well made. The writer must have done a tremendous amount of research, or perhaps he lived in Germany himself. The scenes set in Berlin are very well chosen. The details are almost spot on.
The basic story is good, too. Two people in "need" meet and heal each other. And together they are strong and weather a few storms.
But does it really have to be 23? Three would be enough for me. Or if we want to be generous in judging negative events, let’s make it 10. But please, not 23...
The actors were excellent. I fell in love with every single character. I’d take them all home with me and take good care of them.
The music was not too bland, but not overpowering either.
This series is not a BL series!
BL is a genre of its own. A world lined with rose-colored velvet that makes hearts race when a man seduces another man. The male lead cannot simply be replaced by a woman, because part of a BL story is the “Oh my, I’m a man—why do I have feelings for a man?” moment, and I submit to my male-male partner without any sexual submissiveness.
So, BL fans, this series is NOT in the BL genre.
This series is about as far from being BL as Tokyo is from Berlin.
This series is a battle zone. Unfortunately.
Dear Shunki. Please show me your next piece.
I’ll gild that for you then. Promise.
The best part at the end was the confession. Those redeeming words: “I love you.”
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Emotional, slice of life story
I've waited a while for this series to come out, though the story didnt go the way I expected it to, it was worth the wait.it's an emotional story between two people who found comfort within each other. Although we never get a confirmation of what they exactly are to each other, you can see how much they care for other with their actions. They go through ups and downs together, at some point even being separated for years, however when they reunite you can tell how much they missed one another.
I'd say the ending is pretty open and up to interpretation although I like to think it was a happy ending.
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This review may contain spoilers
This drama was so unnecessarily tragic that it felt frustrating. There was genuinely no reason to kill off a character right before the birth of his child and give the main character a life threatening disease, all in a miniseries. I loved Isomura Hayato’s acting though, it felt really natural.However, I want to talk about Ok Taecyeon’s acting and his character, Hwang Johan. I’ve loved his acting in dramas like Vincenzo, Save Me, and Blind, but this time, I really couldn’t connect with his emotions. This was probably because his lines were in Japanese, the 20% Korean he spoke felt much more alive. But then again, Japanese isn’t his mother tongue, so I shouldn’t expect too much from him. He still did a decent job, though.
His character was like a template for an extremely tragic figure, and it all felt so rushed. They could have either made it a longer drama where they explored Johan and Ryu’s relationship, maybe yk added a little romance here and there or they could have just made a movie out of it and kept the narrative to the point.
What I liked was how supportive they were towards Sumiko. I especially loved Ryu and Sumiko’s friendship. But why is the genre of this drama Boy’s Love? They’re all really good friends at best. This drama is really just about friendship and figuring out life, while Johan navigates his own life, which keeps kicking him in the balls. The last episode was nice, which makes me think that the story was okayish overall.
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Could Have Had a Happy Ending…
I still don't understand why this couldn't have had a happy ending... I mean, why not?Also, I wouldn't call this a “BL” show but it is a show about two men who love each other.
I don't have a lot to say about this one honestly. I don't even know how I feel about it. It just feels like the tragedy is so forced and it could have had a happy ending but okay I guess
You want to watch it? Do. You don't want to? Don’t. You're wondering if you should watch it or not? Probably.
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Be prepared to cry
I kind of knew it would be a sad drama but DANG. CAN'T WE LET TAECYEON'S CHARACTER BE HAPPY? HE KEPT HAVING BAD THINGS HAPPEN. It also felt like anyone close to Ryu was having bad things happen. By the end, I had a headache from crying too much. I was sort of relieved by the ending, but it was still extremely bittersweet.I wish it had just been an indie film instead 😕 that way it would have got some awards at film festivals or something. Taecyeon really deserves recognition; he was amazing in this!
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