Dream to You

Not-So-Dreamy Romance: Too Much Melodrama, Not Enough Character Growth

High school sweethearts reunite in their 30s and find life hasn’t gone as they’d planned. Their shared aspiration of working as a film director became an unexpected reality for one, a crushed dream for the other, and a broken promise that stands between them.

The premise is promising and creates some interesting tension between the characters, but the way the story unfolds feels like the series is trying to be too many things at once. Is it a coming-of-age story, romcom, melodrama, family drama? There are multiple elements and subplots at play, but instead of combining into a complex and compelling story, it’s sometimes confusing and disjointed. Two other couples and various family relationships thrown into the mix don’t help matters.

Perhaps the biggest miss is the leads’ lack of character growth between high school and their 30s. If the difficult and traumatic circumstances they experienced during their time apart didn’t change them, what’s the point? The characters, while realistic in the sense that they have both good points and flaws, stay stuck in the same behavior patterns throughout the whole series.

That’s not to say the cast doesn’t deliver decent performances with the script they've been given. Hwang In Youp’s male lead, Woo Soo Bin, is sweet, flirty, and determined to win back his first (and only) love. His patient persistence and the way both he and his mom find the courage to stand up to his abusive father are probably the highlights of the series.

Lee Hye Ri’s female lead, Ju Yi Jae, is also a vivid character, the type whose emotions are always cranked up to the highest level — whether her mood is sunny and enthusiastic or fierce and unapologetic. There’s never a dull moment with her, but her emotional ups and downs can be exhausting to watch.

While the series does have a happy ending, the melodramatic elements (including domestic abuse, a scandalous family secret, a serious medical diagnosis, and a last-minute, illogical breakup) sometimes felt jarring mixed in with the overall romcom vibe. There are some emotional moments that hit hard, but overall the writing comes across as messy. It’s a drama that had potential, but couldn’t decide what direction it wanted to take and suffered from trying to squeeze too much into 12 episodes.

Read More

It was not the greatest but it was ok

Dream to you wasn’t a bad drama, but it’s also wasn’t a drama that really stood out to me. I was interested enough to finish it, but I never reached a point where I felt like I needed to know what was going to happen next. A lot of the time, I was watching more because I had already invested so much time into it and wanted to see you through rather than because I was genuinely hurt.

I really like the first love reunion/right person wrong time concepts going into it. I found it particularly interesting that two people genuinely love each other, but met at the wrong point in their lives, and I especially love when the store eventually allows them to find your way back to each other when the timing is finally right. That aspect had a lot of potential for me, but I don’t think the drama fully delivered on it.

One of my biggest problems was that a lot of the conflicts felt unnecessarily complicated. There were several situations where I found myself thinking that the characters could’ve avoided so much pain if they simply had communicated or approached things differently some of the relationship problems didn’t feel like obstacles that would happen naturally in real life; they felt more like problems the story needed to create in order to keep the drama going. Because of that, I sometimes struggle to relate to the characters, decisions, or understand why certain situations had to become as complicated as they did.

Overall, I think dream to you had a good premise, Some interesting story lines, emotional moments, and a few relationships with genuine chemistry, but he didn’t come together, strongly enough for me. I wasn’t bored enough to hate it, but I also wasn’t emotionally invested enough to love it. It’s a 6/10 for me because it was enjoyable, enough to finish, but not memorable enough to make me wish I could experience it again. It was just So-so.

Read More

Another typical romance drama

I have mixed feelings about this drama. I enjoyed it, and even the +1-hour episodes flew by. I like Hyeri a lot because she always delivers a strong performance, even as the stereotypical romance drama FL.

But as is happening in most dramas this year, their success is based mainly on the chemistry and the performance of the main leads, passing up the opportunity to develop interesting adult stories, playing a safe game spending too much time on youth and memories, and solving a forced happy ending in the last episode, full of plot holes that are very difficult to believe, lowering the quality of the drama.

In this case, they could cut at least half of the unnecessary story of their youth, which was frequently repeated throughout the drama, and spend more time on Ju I Jae's feelings and her need to study, the expected support of her partner, how to manage a long-distance relationship, and how to support her without invading or shadowing her, especially when supossely wrote and directed a movie in Canada in less than two years, when their movie took more than one year. She was selfish, just disappeared, and made “her dream,” with no interest in Woo Su Bin’s feelings. Additionally, who would believe that a rookie director in their first movie would disappear during editing, post-production, and promotion?

Woo Su Bin’s role was plain: it didn't convey much emotion (sometimes I feel the same face happy or sad), didn't define a clear behavioral line, and relied on looks. His character could explore in depth the ups and downs of a romantic relationship with a partner who wants to be bright and stay out of your shadow. His dad was another exaggerated character, and the drama didn’t do much to expose their regrettable behavior. At the end, the bad guy keeps his fortune.

The attempt to exploit the viewers' feelings with the breakup and magic return, as if nothing ever happened, to receive an award is too much of a cheap emotional trick, the same as the sudden and unnecessary death of Sim Yu Geon’s father.

CEO An Su Hui was exaggerated, to the point of being a discordant note each time she appeared. I know the “bad guys” are necessary, but in the context of the drama, they could give the character a more realistic entertainment CEO script.

Sim Yu Geon and O Ha Na’s story was naive, not a story at all, and pretty much felt like a forced script to fill in the second leads, with no clear character definition. It tried to sell a 30-year-old rich, beautiful, famous virgin, never-kissed actress with an unknown actor, almost under the same conditions, alone in their room and only briefly kissing. Is this believable?

On the other hand, the other secondary couple, Seo In Uk and Chae Sa Rang, is a man-predator woman, with almost the same on the man's side, who started a relationship on a fake, ridiculous reality show. After the only smart quote from that couple, when she said it was too difficult for her to keep a serious relationship, then, out of the blue, she appeared as a writer selling books, and he was buying the books. The last scene between them was dumb. Once again, they could explore the challenges of being a couple with no commitment, only enjoying the moment, who suddenly find someone who makes them change their minds.

The drama served to entertain, evoke emotions, trigger dopamine release, and function as another romance drama, missing the opportunity to do something better.

Read More

Dream to You is more of a healing drama. It was tagged as Comedy/Romance/Drama, but I felt it was more Melodrama/Romance than anything. The romances pretty much played out within the daily lives of the characters and we got to see some background on how stories are put together.

Spoilers from here on….

The basic plot & storyline of Woo Soo Bin and Ju Yi Jae was very predictable and has been seen many times over, but still, was nicely depicted in Dream to You.

JJY’s difficult and sad backstory after WSB left took some time to surface but eventually helped us understand most of her ongoing angst with WSB. However, as you watch the two together, along with their backstories, it’s obvious JYJ had grown very little from her high school and college days. The family debt trope is overused in KDramas as a reason to be in that mediocre job she had. She had a brother. Where was he in paying back the family debt? Certainly there was opportunity for JYJ to have advanced in her settled-for career. If not, she could have been collecting ideas for and/or crafting screenplays.

Even if she did none of these, forgiving him in her heart and/or coming to terms with the hard things that happened to her would have helped her in a big way to move forward more than she did. But she stayed stuck in what could be considered a bitter state. What if WSB had never returned??? Where would she be in 5 or 10 more years? What was wrong with Geum Seong Mu exactly? (Did I miss why they broke up?) Or was everything that kept her from moving on all about Woo Soo Bin? I guess I’m reinforcing my point about her limited growth since high school. In the end I was not impressed with how her character was written.

Woo Soo Bin’s traumatic backstory was hard to watch. This was more reality than fiction as there are people like his father (a narcissist through and through) in every country. Watching the real-life childhood story of singer-songwriter Bart Mallard in the movie “I can Only Imagine” was even more devastating to watch. Because it was true, and Dennis Quade played the physically and mentally abusive father with unbelievable realism. The hopeful take away from both these childhood stories (and others) comes from a quote I picked up elsewhere; “childhood trauma, hardship, and broken relationships shape people but do not define their future.”

Woo Soo Bin could have easily become his father and/ or biological mother because he had their genes. He had to have acquired that graceful manner and gracious personality from his mom. Even though he wasn’t fully healed from his trauma, he showed tremendous growth by overcoming much of it. His success helped to a large extent because he focused his life on achieving his first dream so, as he said, he could return home and not run away anymore. Once home, he remained true to his desire for a happy ending to his life.

Each person has to take responsibility for their own lives. Bad things happened to both of them. He was not perfect toward her but to put the blame on WSB for where JYJ ended up 15+/- years later is displacement and wrong.

That brings us to the second couple. Actors from very different worlds, both were fighting for similar dreams of success. O Ha Na had no control over her upbringing by an overbearing mother (another narcissist) trying to live vicariously through her daughter. An Su Hui was literally teaching Ha Na how to be a narcissist. Ha Na wanted out of that prison to find herself and achieve status as a successful actor in her own right.

The humbly raised Sim Yu Gyeon worked multiple jobs to survive financially while persuing his long time goal of becoming a real, bonafide actor. He suffered through rejection after rejection, taking any part he could get, not giving up on the hope that his day would come.

Their first meeting was kind of cool actually - but it was by chance and could easily have been just that. The second time they met was pure and sweet and perfectly executed for us. I looked forward to their screen time together as their relationship progressed. But the mother!!!

The third couple, Chae Sa Rang and Seo In Uk were cute at first. I know their story had a point in this drama, but personally, I was put off by Sa Rang’s caviler character. You thought she fell in love at first sight. But, no. [IMO, their great chemistry was largely because of Lee Sang Yeob’s charisma and charm.] CEO Seo, maybe not fully interested in a permanent relationship, was willing to invest himself in one with her. He deserved much better than CSR.

Woo Soo Bin’s father should have been hauled off to jail more than once. What an awful, awful man.

Ha Na’s mother learned zero empathy from her relationship with that awful man whose son she bore. An Su Hui does not get a pass from me for sending 10-year old WSB back home when he begged and pleaded with her to take him in. Her character offered nothing to appreciate. Her entitled attitude and abuse-of-power over her daughter, her staff, and later, Yu Gyeon was over the top.

WSB’s mom was a truly lovely lady and showed beautiful, unconditional love to him. Any normal husband would have been honored to share is life with her.

Sim Sim, hard working, rough around the edges man was a proud father who loved Yu Gyeon beyond words. This is my first time seeing Ki Hong. The guitar piece he played at the preview party was simply beautiful. FYI - It’s on the OST called Sim Sim’s Guitar by Woo Kun Kim.

The reviews are mixed for this drama. However, I watched it with an open mind, having not read any of the reviews ahead of time. The plot itself was light and predictable, offering some very good emotional backstories and other tender moments. To my earlier point, it would have been more realistic for the writers to have placed both WSB and JYJ at similar maturity levels - even similar levels of accomplishment for their respective paths when they met again. As far as the relationship between JYJ and WSB in the present, they didn’t have the best chemistry in my view. It ended fairly well. Most of the loose ends were tied up except for the dad who should have been spending his time behind bars.

As you can see I got into the characters themselves. My reactions to and analysis of them reveal IMO, how well the actors themselves portrayed their roles. The stand outs to me were Hwang In Youp (Woo Soo Bin) and Park Ji Young (An Su Hui).

I would recommend this drama, however it’s not one I’d rewatch.

Read More

Even in 6x its boring

Just didn't like it. They are trying to make it healthy but the root itself is super toxic

Maybe its actors , i tried my best to like it, atleast try to like it. Even in 6x its unbearable
From actors to music to story i didn't like anything

But the major point is not any of this

Something is feels off
Loved the main from beauty....( Drama) with controversial cha woo..
But whatever its kind of boring there acting maybe
The cast overall....
I barley watched 4 to 5 on 6x still found it unbreathable so i dropped

Will i regret ? No way ... I am watching my boss my bias its amazing so no regret also there shop where we find killers soo

Read More

A dream that came full circle

The story revolved around two high school students whose lives were shaped by their own choices or the choices of other people around them. As young people, they may be subject to their parent's decision in the case of Soo Bin or strive hard as in Yi Jae's struggle to break through in the film industry. This may be what the young generation may be facing right now.

Hyeri's character, Yi Jae, may be similar to other people who had a taste of success when she was young. However, her dream to be a successful director didn't come easy. Her struggle was even highlighted when her first love, Soo Bin came into the picture after 10 years as an accomplished director. We may think Soo Bin stole her dream, since he didn't have any when he was young. Yi Jae inspired him. The question then, will Yi Jae strive to be who she wants to be or let the voices around her dictate her future?

The story gave us some complication with Soo Bin's father being abusive and possessive. The fear of exposing the truth may be the reason for his abuses. I am thankful that Soo Bin's mom was able had the courage to leave her father. Also, Ha Na's mom CEO Ahn was possessive and even dictated her every move. No matter what their pasts, Soo Bin and Ha Na learned to break free and be who they want to be.

As for Yi Jae, there is quite a transformation of character as soon as she recognizes her love for Soo Bin. She may have scars in the past, yet the moment she and Soo Bin reciprocated each other's love, she is somehow healed. Her struggles in life may be about her career, while for Soo Bin it may be his father. Yi Jae is learning to stand on her own, to embrace her true calling and support his first love.

The second leads have their own troubles, but nothing too difficult to handle. I am rooting for them to get out of the struggles with CEO Ahn and truly be free to love each other. I hope their love story won't be crushed.

The life in the spotlight is truly a difficult one. Rumors, scandals and even bad behavior affected their lives and even their own works.

Read More

Mixed bag. Some good, some bad. Overall forgettable.

First, the positives. The cinematography, framing and camera work almost feel like an MV at some points, which is actually quite refreshing, so I want to applaud the PDnim and DPnim and the entire production team for their hard work and unique style and for actually trying something different for once.

As for the plot, this series is a real mixed bag. It has a lot of dramatic elements clumped together. It seems as if every sad backstory trope you can think of, the ML and FL have experienced, yet they honestly just don't seem like people with pretty tragic pasts. Some of the performances don't land, and the drama is starting to drag towards the end. I am also just getting tired of all these reunions and second-chance romance plots. Seems like every other modern drama is following this template.

As many pointed out, SML and SFL have an interesting dynamic, but their screentime is literally like 5 mins per episode (it does increase later on, but at this point I'm checked out), yet it suffers a similar fate of becoming somewhat stagnant.

Overall, just struggling to empathize with any of the characters in this series, so this is just not for me.

Read More

It was more like a nightmare to me.

Sadly, I’m dropping this one. Idk, something just feels off. I feel like I’m watching actors play characters rather than actually seeing the characters themselves. The framing often throws me off, and the editing feels a little clumsy at times. The use of AI is also WAY too obvious in some scenes, which pulls me out of the story even more. I just can’t seem to get immersed in it.

I don’t really feel much emotionally either. It feels like the drama is just showing us things without actually making us feel anything, if that makes sense. Even the dialogue feels kind of hollow.

The plot is also a mess. It feels like a random pile of events being thrown at you without any real depth or development, rather than an actual story that’s being built. Everything feels disjointed, and the pacing is weird and all over the place, which makes it even harder to get invested.

I also get the feeling that the drama took some inspiration from the C-drama When I Fly Towards You, but honestly, I don’t think I’m missing much by dropping it.The only thing I really like is the color grading sometimes. It has that kinda 2016 vibe that I actually enjoy lol. But yeah, that’s pretty much it.

Read More

Nope

Nothing original in this series. Can we have a mature female lead in a kdrama for a change? I could not watch this show without constant cringing because of Hyeri's character childish traits. Is constant crying, running away screaming or hiding under the table from her boyfriend a desirable behaviors in Korea?
Also did we really got another white truck accident trope in episode 3? Why do they always speed with honking without any effort to stop the car and checking if everything is okay with potential victim of a hit? So many questions...
Overall very boring drama with overused high school sweethearts trope.

Read More

AI over use really

I am happy for Hwang In youp as this dramas ML. I haven't seen much of his films ,but so far he is doing a good job.

I loved how the drama actually demonstrated the hospital circumstances very well. As someone who's in this field , the small inaccuracy when it comes to medical circumstances really grind my gears . But when i saw the portrayals in the first few episodes , i was very much impressed.


So far it seems to be straightforward, with not to many twists and turns in this drama but its still early in the series for me to accurately judge.

Starting to go down-hill for me ... can we not over use AI ? Why green screen most of the drama? It seems so lazy . It takes away a lot of the originality thereof

This show had so much potential, but joh this pacing is not pacing . Some parts of this drama is so unnecessary.

I actually prefer Hwang in a Bad boy vibe , rather than whatever this was.

The 3rd couple was not needed in the story , i feel it's a bit all over the place .

I don't know a lot of things feel very unrealistic

Just my opinion

Read More