the little heroes.
in my quest to find other (see: better) projects from actors i really enjoyed watching in SQUID GAME after how disappointed i was by season 3, i stumbled upon WHEN THE CAMELLIA BLOOMS. without knowing it, i'd watched kang haneul a few years ago in his film MIDNIGHT RUNNERS, which i enjoyed a lot back then, so i was glad to see him again in SQUID GAME, even by accident.
i decided to watch WTCB because i really wanted to see him in a happier role with a nice ending and i'm glad that i picked it. i fell in love with yongsik almost immediately, endeared by his crybaby, lover boy, overly optimistic ways. he was my favorite character throughout the entire story and would have been even if it was another actor instead of haneul.
i think the story was decent. i like when genres are blended, and i think romance and mystery really did a good job here. i also have a lot of commendation for the actors as well. there were a few i recognized from other projects and i was happy to see them here too so that i can praise their acting! yeom hyeran is fantastic in this after only seeing her in more dramatic roles (THE GLORY and WALL TO WALL).
i loved the romance between dongbaek and yongsik. it was really sweet to see a man fall so hard and so fast, and be so earnest about it. i feel like so many romance dramas i watch go with the love triangle cliche, which is fine in most cases, but here, it was clear that dongbaek was only ever going to end up with yongsik and i was glad for that because he saw her for who she was the whole time and never made it seem like her son was a burden to him. he was ready to take it all on from the very beginning and i adored that. men need to take NOTES.
i will say that some character beats did annoy me at times. i didn't like the group of women at the start who bullied dongbaek, though i was glad to see them come together to protect her near the end. and as much as i liked yongsik's mother, i hated how she treated dongbaek after she and yongsik started dating. it confused me a lot because if my son started dating the young woman i was friends with, i'd be excited to potentially welcome her into the family eventually as my daughter in law! maybe that's just me though.
all in all, i thought this was super cute and would totally rewatch again someday! hwang yongsik, you are so everything to me.
i decided to watch WTCB because i really wanted to see him in a happier role with a nice ending and i'm glad that i picked it. i fell in love with yongsik almost immediately, endeared by his crybaby, lover boy, overly optimistic ways. he was my favorite character throughout the entire story and would have been even if it was another actor instead of haneul.
i think the story was decent. i like when genres are blended, and i think romance and mystery really did a good job here. i also have a lot of commendation for the actors as well. there were a few i recognized from other projects and i was happy to see them here too so that i can praise their acting! yeom hyeran is fantastic in this after only seeing her in more dramatic roles (THE GLORY and WALL TO WALL).
i loved the romance between dongbaek and yongsik. it was really sweet to see a man fall so hard and so fast, and be so earnest about it. i feel like so many romance dramas i watch go with the love triangle cliche, which is fine in most cases, but here, it was clear that dongbaek was only ever going to end up with yongsik and i was glad for that because he saw her for who she was the whole time and never made it seem like her son was a burden to him. he was ready to take it all on from the very beginning and i adored that. men need to take NOTES.
i will say that some character beats did annoy me at times. i didn't like the group of women at the start who bullied dongbaek, though i was glad to see them come together to protect her near the end. and as much as i liked yongsik's mother, i hated how she treated dongbaek after she and yongsik started dating. it confused me a lot because if my son started dating the young woman i was friends with, i'd be excited to potentially welcome her into the family eventually as my daughter in law! maybe that's just me though.
all in all, i thought this was super cute and would totally rewatch again someday! hwang yongsik, you are so everything to me.
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