Kon yo mo Ochiru, Koinaraba. (2025)

Intriguing.

I rated Love Thunder a 7 based on comparison with other dramas of the same kind; i.e, mini short dramas with barely cohesive storylines, even when compiled.
But, I enjoyed it quite immensely as it managed to maintain a constant momentum throughout it's short runtime. If you are reading this, bear with me for my lack of knowledge in music and the jumbled thoughts.

☆ Story:
It's doubtful whether the scriptwriter explored further into the fantasy aspect that governs the tale, as it is more of a short story rather than a full fledged novel. But, it works out for a short-form drama such as this.

In 1983, two boys, Nagi and Ao, meet at a record store and share their love for music, particularly concerning an empowering composition by Dvořák, (9th Symphony, 4th Movement from the New World), which Ao finds quite scary, yet inexplicably tearful. Nagi, who is more forward with his emotions takes him back to his home, enjoys the song for a while and expresses his liking for him. A slightly disconcerted Ao and Nagi bury a time capsule to be opened 42 years later. And thus begins a mysterious cursed cycle of fate.

☆ My Thoughts?
It very, very strangely reminded me of Someday or One Day with the only similarity being that they both rely on music as a medium/trigger of time travel.
When it comes to characters, I don't know if it was purposefully hinted, but I never believed that somebody was human.
The very urgent and passionate moments of the drama are all tinged with sombreness as we already know the fate that awaits them, yet it is what ultimately makes me stick to it.
Nagi in particular had such a strong circle of fate over his head and his devotion was evident to the point of perturbance.
Even with the short runtime, the actors did a convincing job. The director must've clearly pictured what and how each moment was going to unfold because I did not feel any gaps or discrepancies while watching the compiled version.
And many thanks to the fansubber for providing the subtitles.

Music? I don't know much, but even I was disturbed by the 9th Symphony by the end, thanks to the story and atmosphere.

It is disappointing that the mysterious aspect was not explored, but the finale left me wanting more, so this is definitely a must-try from me.

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Disjointed and chaotic

I don't know if it was the fact that this is short form, and so it's hard to flesh out characters, or that the writing is poor, but I honestly felt so confused the entire time watching this.

This show uses the fall-at-first-sight trope heavily, where the main leads meet for not even a full day and they're already professing their love for each other. There's no time for the characters to breathe and grow and they're already knee-deep in an intense love.

Then there's the reincarnation plot. These characters meet for a day, fall in love, and die once they accept each other's love. And then they start the process all over again. I actually really enjoy reincarnation stories, but this one was so chaotic and disjointed that I didn't even feel like I had a chance to enjoy it because Nagi's chaotic energy had me honestly very confused the entire show.

Not to mention the sprinkling of fantasy elements in the show -- there's a weird sort of prophecy that they're a part of -- but similar to the characters, it's not fully fleshed out.

This entire show/movie is a stream of chaos (and not in a good way) that leaves you with whiplash every time there's a scene change. I feel like not only does this show need more time (time to grow; breathe; let the characters fall in love) but also a rewrite of the characters' personality so that we can relate to them instead of being lost the entire time.

It's honestly hard to say that I can see potential in this show. I feel like they focused on aesthetics more than plot, with the disjointed filming leaving you more empty than anything else.

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