Still Shining

Again a weak FL and a stupidly caring man

The first few episodes are some nice storytelling of a by-chance first love, nice cinematography, and I love acting of ML actor.
it is a mismatch between a shallow, weak, dumb girl and a smart, dedicated, deep boy.

Then... they grow up and really cannot continue, she dumps him brutally bc it is convenient to her, but he is still stuck on her.

So, I dropped. I am tired of watching a grown man going after taking care of a woman-child.
FL is no match for the ML and he should NEVER try to come even close to her.

FL IS A WOMAN CHILD WHO IS NOW TWO TIMING
AND ML KISSES HER AS#.

How boring.

FAREWELL!

Again, FL who is immature, weak, lacks focus, and wants some boy toy when it is convenient for her
and ML who chases her, loves her and takes care of her bc he is ah so pure and dedicated.

The fact is, she is a sleazebag, and he is a moron, and the two should never be together. LET GO OF IT ALREADY

So many dramas like that lately - Surely Tomorrow, Our Universe, Practical Guide to Love, etc etc etc etc

DROPPED WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT

THIs DRAMA IS FOR VERY DUMB WOMEN TO FANTASIZE OF CAPTURING ATTENTION OF A HIGH QUALITY GUY FOREVER AND DOING WHATEVER THEY WANT AND HE WILL STILL ALWAYS BE THERE

HECK NO

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Nice but not mind-blowing

Still Shining is a peaceful and nice k-drama. I don’t really have a lot to say but I enjoyed it most of the time. The main couple was very cute and the drama balanced light romance with deep thoughts, serious incidents and mature conversations.

Could have been better: The last few episodes were a bit confusing, I would have wanted to know more about Bae Seong Chan’s relationship with Mo Eun A. I didn’t really like Im A Sol and would have preferred for her to have less screentime.

Isn’t it weird that the leads keep coming back to each other without ending things properly (at least that is what they seem to think)?

Also I would have wanted to know more about the gap in the storyline, between episode two and three, where it differed ten years. What happened to the characters and formed who they became? I found it a bit odd to dedicate that much time to the past, but those episodes were probably the best so I’m not complaining.

Best episode: Episode 1
Favorite character: Mo Eun A

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Suffocates under the weight of a hyperfocus on the leads

There's some real interesting characters here.

[Long dramatic pause - Narrator takes a long drag on a cigarette. Slowly exhales. Flicks cigarette toward the dumpster in the dimly lit alley. Watches as the cigarette smolders and the smoke dissipates. The narrator finally turns and ambles towards the main street. As he approaches the street light, he looks to his left. Then to his right. The seconds tick by waiting for him to speak. The sound of idling taxi engines hum in the background. And finally, the narrator raises his gaze to the camera}

None of the real interesting characters are named Tae Seo or Eun A.

Someone in the pre-production meetings should have asked "Do people really want to see a borderline depressive subway driver that can't move on from his ex?" Or maybe they did and some dummy said "Hell yes. Sounds great." If that actually happened, the dummy should be tracked down and summarily fired from ever having input in a drama production ever again.

Or perhaps someone could have asked "Does this female lead character make a lick of sense?" Because Pablo Picasso being asked to illustrate a medical anatomy textbook would be a smarter move than putting this sack of "Wtf is she doing now? What did she just say?" on screen.

It's not just that there are some occasional bright spots from supporting characters that outshine the leads. It's every moment from every supporting character in every episode. Not all of them are likable. Seong Chan is grating and toxic but at least it's a watchable grating-ness and toxicity.

In this made up "Still Shining" world, if there was any justice, A Sol would land a hot doctor boy and every time she looked at that table or a picture frame that Tae Seo made for her, she'd think "That idiot could have had me but he'd rather never STFU about oil drying on wood. What a hopeless bore."

[sigh]

Not recommended. Except for those that might be inspired to write some dope A Sol fanfic.

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Writers and their artistic egos

Some may say that this drama reflects the reality of many relationships. True. But people are already slapped daily with reality, with the harshness of life and relationships. Entertainment, and especially K-dramas, should supposedly offer an escape, an alternative reality to the harsh everyday life, something that makes us believe that tomorrow can be more colorful, happier. But writers always want to do something different, artistic, that makes us think and blah blah blah. Make the journey, the story as difficult as possible, but in the end give us a happy ending. Reality is already harsh enough.
Anyway, the premise is good and the acting as well, but the ending, well, more of the same. Writers who prioritize their artistic ego's, and not the satisfaction of the viewers.

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Profound slice-of-life melodrama with outstanding acting, cinematography & symbolism

I really enjoyed watching and rewatching this melodrama. This is not a light-hearted romance and those looking for that type of drama will be disappointed and frustrated. On the other hand, if you are looking for a drama with lots of intense emotional scenes and thought-provoking uses of symbolism and imagery to explore themes of transition, personal growth, healing, trauma, and communication issues that many of us experience in life, I recommend this drama.

Park Jin-young hit it out of the park with his acting. It was a pleasure to witness how he has matured as an actor: how he took on the role of Yeon Tae Seo, made it his own and powerfully conveyed the complex emotional states of this introverted character. Kim Min Ju took a risk with her first leading role which was a challenging one given that the POV was more focused on the ML. I applaud her for not playing it safe and she definitely showed how she is improving as an actor. I look forward to upcoming roles from both of the actors.

The cinematography and OST were both beautiful and enriched the emotional tone of the different scenes, both in the countryside and in Seoul.

The use of symbolism and imagery was an important element in this drama that I really appreciated. Some of these are particularly noteworthy. For instance, both of the main characters carried their "emotional baggage" throughout the drama (and they had a lot)-the ML's backback and the FL's yellow suitcase played an important role in many scenes. Another important image was that of the door to the FL's house in Yeonwoo; a door often represents transitions, personal growth, and new opportunities and it was used well in the drama in multiple scenes. The use of flashbacks that were prompted by seeing or hearing something such as a key in a lock or the sound of footsteps were also particularly poignant.

Since the POV was mostly focused on the ML, it was harder to empathize with the FL and the script writing struggled a bit in this respect. We witnessed the personal growth of the ML during the drama so that he could finally accept that he was worthy of a future and then take steps to shape the future that he wanted. One of the many compelling scenes was the one where he asked his friend "Will talking about it really help me move on?" In other words, is talking about our problems helpful since, like many people, he had held it in all these years and he could start to see that is yes, it is helpful to talk with others about our problems and issues and indeed, that is the way to healthy relationships. In contrast, the FL was living a life that had almost been shattered by the abandonment of her mother and suicide of her father. She was living but not really living. Ultimately, she needed to reclaim her "family" and her sense of worth before she could enter into a healthy relationship and she was able to find a way to do that towards the end of the drama but it was a frustrating journey to witness because she was really lost and really struggled.

The ending: There is an important conversation between the ML and SFL in episode 5 which indicated where the relationship between the ML and FL was headed. While speaking about the making of a frame, A-sol asks “Then can it be done quickly?” Tae-seo replies “No, you have to wait 3 more times”, “you have to wait for these three, no matter what”. (They are not just talking about making a picture frame). A-sol then says . . ."oh . . .3 moments of waiting” and again in episode 9, they discuss the the "3rd and final moment of waiting" . . .which is where the drama ended. Although the photos that the FL sent the ML at the end that showed the spaces that they had shared together in the different stages of their relationship including the school, the bus stop, the train station and his rooftop flat indicated that she was ready to enter into a relationship with him since she had healed and she was shining again.

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I really loved the beginning of this drama, but as it went on it got worse and worse. The ML is FULL of problems, but the drama focus mostly on how sad he has become after the FL left him, like: he can get over having his parents dying, his brother barely walking, his grandparents getting ultra sick, but his ex girlfriend leaving him? that's too much, my guy won't be coming back to normal after that, like ??? wth this is not how life works! I hate the fact that the FL basically only thinks about herself and she wants for the future and still keeps coming around to go after him, to get in his way and that she became his biggest reason for everything. I didn't like the acting of the FL in general, but I also didn't get why the character was written like "I never got over you, ML, but I've been dating this other person and I'll keep maintaining this person in my life even tho I lied about this person's existence for you" what's this about ??? who's acting like that in real life? please come to your senses, make it make sense!!! They keep making it seem super r
imposible for them to be together when they haven't even really tried anything, she just kept on leaving and he kept on giving up on his on desires. It is like they're two sides of a very ENORMOUSLY sad coin and both of them are living in extreme contexts, never having balance or real life human conversation to make things work, what's that ????? I swear to God that if they had ended up together this drama could be considered a crime.

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Complex main characters, slow pace.

April 2026.
I had high hopes for this drama, as I love Jin-young's acting. I actually thought both leads gave good performances, as both characters were incredibly complex, and with reason.

This will definitely not be for everyone, and I imagine it splitting opinion quite widely, just like 'My Liberation Notes' did (which I didn't enjoy).
I thought this was well written; there were no real extremes in the story, and it felt quite true to life, in terms of the ordinariness of the every day.

The ML character has, what feels like, the weight of the world resting on him ~ he feels overwhelming responsibility for his family, seeing himself as the most able provider.
He is often withdrawn, doesn't say unnecessary things, and doesn't talk about how he feels, to anyone.
The FL character also feels similarly about family responsibility, but for very different reasons. She is somewhat more outgoing, but at the same time has no friends.
The two connect whilst nearing the end of High School, sharing a study space, and become close friends. They seem drawn together and provide one another with often unspoken comfort.

The pace may be crippling for some, and the story at times stagnant. I personally felt that fit. They were healing slowly and beginning to think of themselves more ~ Eun-A was definitely a shining light for Tae-so; and Tae-seo a rock and guiding light, for Eun-A

At this point I liked her character; quirky and quite focussed. However, some actions towards an adult female character earlier in the story, especially when coupled with later behaviour as an adult, made her seem an incredibly selfish character, to me, byvthe end of the drama She put herself first, and I got the distinct impression she was desperate for a way out of her young adult life, which she was successful in getting ~ again through someone else's guidance and involvement.

The two grow apart, as happens, with college/Uni and maturing. They reconnect later, and it's from this point I really grew to dislike Eun-A. I felt she used people, from beginning to end~ maybe it wasn't intentional, but the feelings of others were secondary to her, from where I was sitting, it was mostly about her own aspirations, and needs. Yet she allowed herself to be pushed around in work settings. Infuriating.

The ending, I thought, was fitting.
Made me want nothing but love for Tae-seo in his future, and for Eun-A to grow up and think of others, as well as herself.

If you don't mind an at times snail pace, with a contemplative focus, you might like this. I didn't dislke it at all, but watched alongside others, as it aired, which I think helped. Not one I could binge, nor would I revisit it.

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Yeon Tae Seo and his family are the only shining characters in this series

Disclaimer

What I am writing here are my views and thoughts about this series. Some of you may not like it. That does not give you the right to try to come at me with your opinions on why this series should get a higher or lower score and why it is better/worse than I think it is. You have your own opinions, and I have mine. Kindly respect that.

I am just going to come out and say this – I am a bit disappointed with this series. I can safely say that the saving grace for this series was how Park Jinyoung was able to portray the character of Yeon Tae Seo. When he was in scenes with the other actors who portrayed his grandparents and his brother, they were beautifully done. He is an actor that is able to portray emotions so well, and he did that with this character. A good example of this was when they broke up the first time – he portrayed his emotions so well there.

I liked this series in the beginning when they now met and up to when he entered college. Then, we got them ten years later. And I just lost interest in them as the episodes progressed (which is a first for me in watching anything that Park Jinyoung has starred in). Clearly communication was an issue with them, as we, the audience, saw throughout the series. I am shockingly okay with the ending, as they didn't end up together or with the SML/SFL (who I also felt nothing for or was even rooting for them to end up with the main characters).

In the end, it was nice watching another series that starred Park Jinyoung as he did an excellent job (along with the actors who portrayed his family) with his character, even with the few flaws that he had. However, I don't see myself recommending this series to others, unless you are a fan of the actors, because of how it didn't hold my interest for the whole series.

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A bit disappointing

Before I go negative on this, I gotta say Jin Young was great as always. This role of Tae Seo was made for him and he did an outstanding job playing it.
It seemed like this drama started out strong, giving us a good story that was going to take off ... but it really had trouble getting off the ground. I really couldn't tolerate the two characters of Eun A & Seong Chan for so many reasons. She had a good thing waiting for her in Tae Seo, but for some reason she really had no idea what she wanted in a relationship. I never saw a character keep showing up and then leaving ... and showing up again and leaving. It became so frustrating and exhausting to follow. Why Tae Seo kept trying to make this work without any success, it was just a complete mystery to me.
The character I had so much empathy for was A Sol. She when out of her way so many times for the chance of a relationship with Tae Seo, but he just couldn't give it a try. Instead he kept ending up in front of Eun A saying "goodbye" ... and goodbye, and goodbye. They said goodbye to each other so many times you lose count.
Again, thumbs up to Jin Young. He made a bad script work well enough to keep me watching till the end ... but there was only so much he could do.

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