This review may contain spoilers
We make the most of what life gives us and forge on... despite it all...till we breathe our last.
Wow! This drama has been mind-blowingly good and after such an awesome production with stellar actresses and actors as well as a realistic and moving plot, it is hard for this viewer to move on. WLGYT is lingering in my mind.
What I Loved A Lot:
- The cast was amazing! Their performances were powerful and memorable. Everyone - the leads and the supporting cast - was great. They nailed their roles and gave everything they had and then, more.
- The characters were believable and I felt invested in them. There were numerous meaningful and moving lines which the characters shared which inspired me and touched me. Oh Ae Sun's aunts were great. I liked that different characters also grew up such as Park Yeong Ran who developed a backbone and stood up for herself. I liked the "redemption arc" for Bu Sang Gil who went from total scumbag to trying to be a better father and grandfather to make up for his lack of fatherliness. I liked how Yang Gwan Sik eventually inspired him enough to change for the better.
- The plot was riveting and realistic. I did not expect to laugh and cry and cry some more and laugh wistfully and cry again and smile through my tears and cry again... What a roller coaster ride but it was so worth it!
- The plot was also meaningful and helped me to mature/ grow too. I liked that we got to see the different perspectives which added more meanings and insights to the things which were happening in the plot.
- The cinematography was spectacular. Every scene seemed poetic. Additionally, I felt almost voyeuristic. It was as if I had gone back in time to witness the ordinary and yet, extraordinary lives of Oh Ae Sun and Yang Gwan Sik.
These are the moments/ parts/ lines that linger in my mind (and they maybe paraphrased). I shall be going back to relive these moments/ parts/ lines to "experience them all over again".
~ Living can get very tough and tiring. When you feel like you are too exhausted and cannot live anymore, you keep on going back up to the surface. You kick your way back up to the surface (to breathe again).
~ A mother who has lost her child has more tears than the sea. (My heart breaks too... multiple times... over and over again...)
~ Life goes on if you let it. (Bam! So powerful.)
~ It was exceedingly touching to have Oh Ae Sun's mother-in-law and in-laws (and husband and other characters) not blame her for her third child's death. After all, which mother would want such a thing to happen. It was so telling of how much pain they, too, felt and so, they did not want to add on to Oh Ae Sun's pain because who was feeling more pain than the mother herself/ the parents themselves? Blaming would not have brought him back either. The pain of his death was suffering and punishment enough without having others rub it in further. This part stood out for me greatly. The empathy shown was powerfully moving.
~ The love between Yang Gwan Sik and Oh Ae Sun was tender and yet, powerful. Since the time they were kids, they were each other's soulmates. It was extremely touching and saddening to see how much Yang Gwan Sik just gave and gave of himself until he had nothing more to give. Oh Ae Sun devoted herself to her husband and family and continued to try her very best no matter her age or circumstance.
~ The part whereby the cleaner took the ring. I thought she wanted to live the lie that was spun and take the ring for herself since it was considered stolen. I was stoked when she stood up for Geum Myeong and protected her just like how her parents had helped her in the past. We don't wish bad things on others. Talk about kindness begetting kindness and about paying if forward.
~ The part whereby Oh Ae Sun's "mother" - the woman who married her stepfather after her mother had passed on - gave her rental money. The part whereby the elderly couple watched out for them while they rented the small space. These parts were moving. Talk about humanity.
~ Don't look down on my life. (Insightful and powerful - who are we to think that someone else's live could have been lived better? Let's just strive hard and be accountable for ourselves and our actions and have a clear conscience.)
I recommend this drama to both the young and the old. While I understand that this drama is rated PG13, I think youths who are say 10-13 will benefit from living the lives of these plucky characters vicariously.
This drama deserves 10/10 and it will replay itself in my mind for quite a long time to come. <3 Thank you to cast and crew et al for this magnificent drama! <3
What I Loved A Lot:
- The cast was amazing! Their performances were powerful and memorable. Everyone - the leads and the supporting cast - was great. They nailed their roles and gave everything they had and then, more.
- The characters were believable and I felt invested in them. There were numerous meaningful and moving lines which the characters shared which inspired me and touched me. Oh Ae Sun's aunts were great. I liked that different characters also grew up such as Park Yeong Ran who developed a backbone and stood up for herself. I liked the "redemption arc" for Bu Sang Gil who went from total scumbag to trying to be a better father and grandfather to make up for his lack of fatherliness. I liked how Yang Gwan Sik eventually inspired him enough to change for the better.
- The plot was riveting and realistic. I did not expect to laugh and cry and cry some more and laugh wistfully and cry again and smile through my tears and cry again... What a roller coaster ride but it was so worth it!
- The plot was also meaningful and helped me to mature/ grow too. I liked that we got to see the different perspectives which added more meanings and insights to the things which were happening in the plot.
- The cinematography was spectacular. Every scene seemed poetic. Additionally, I felt almost voyeuristic. It was as if I had gone back in time to witness the ordinary and yet, extraordinary lives of Oh Ae Sun and Yang Gwan Sik.
These are the moments/ parts/ lines that linger in my mind (and they maybe paraphrased). I shall be going back to relive these moments/ parts/ lines to "experience them all over again".
~ Living can get very tough and tiring. When you feel like you are too exhausted and cannot live anymore, you keep on going back up to the surface. You kick your way back up to the surface (to breathe again).
~ A mother who has lost her child has more tears than the sea. (My heart breaks too... multiple times... over and over again...)
~ Life goes on if you let it. (Bam! So powerful.)
~ It was exceedingly touching to have Oh Ae Sun's mother-in-law and in-laws (and husband and other characters) not blame her for her third child's death. After all, which mother would want such a thing to happen. It was so telling of how much pain they, too, felt and so, they did not want to add on to Oh Ae Sun's pain because who was feeling more pain than the mother herself/ the parents themselves? Blaming would not have brought him back either. The pain of his death was suffering and punishment enough without having others rub it in further. This part stood out for me greatly. The empathy shown was powerfully moving.
~ The love between Yang Gwan Sik and Oh Ae Sun was tender and yet, powerful. Since the time they were kids, they were each other's soulmates. It was extremely touching and saddening to see how much Yang Gwan Sik just gave and gave of himself until he had nothing more to give. Oh Ae Sun devoted herself to her husband and family and continued to try her very best no matter her age or circumstance.
~ The part whereby the cleaner took the ring. I thought she wanted to live the lie that was spun and take the ring for herself since it was considered stolen. I was stoked when she stood up for Geum Myeong and protected her just like how her parents had helped her in the past. We don't wish bad things on others. Talk about kindness begetting kindness and about paying if forward.
~ The part whereby Oh Ae Sun's "mother" - the woman who married her stepfather after her mother had passed on - gave her rental money. The part whereby the elderly couple watched out for them while they rented the small space. These parts were moving. Talk about humanity.
~ Don't look down on my life. (Insightful and powerful - who are we to think that someone else's live could have been lived better? Let's just strive hard and be accountable for ourselves and our actions and have a clear conscience.)
I recommend this drama to both the young and the old. While I understand that this drama is rated PG13, I think youths who are say 10-13 will benefit from living the lives of these plucky characters vicariously.
This drama deserves 10/10 and it will replay itself in my mind for quite a long time to come. <3 Thank you to cast and crew et al for this magnificent drama! <3
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