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This review may contain spoilers
Deep, thought provoking, and performed with passion
This is a deep...thought provoking series performed with an artistic passion not often seen in BL series.
The cinematography from the first scene sets the stage for a dark and foreboding story.
It seems that many of the viewers found the end to be confusing. To be truthful, it was a mind bender but after connecting many hints that are given throughout the series, the ending is clear...and happy.
The first thing to establish is that the word Kyu (or the letter Q) is interchangeable with the word reaper in this series. The second thing to establish is that time is not linear...as we have been taught. The past and the future can be fluid...they can even exist at the same time.
It was Sunshine who was Sky's reaper. So...how did Sunshine become a reaper in a past time? When Sunshine started to erase people from the universe he became a killer. There is a scene in the flower shop where Tete tells Sky Kyu that Sunshine determined his own destiny by becoming a killer. Sunshine then wished to erase himself from THIS universe, that was almost like a suicide...and his existence as Sunshine the man ended and his life force became a reaper. Several times throughout the series Sky Kyu tells Sunshine that the past and the future are fluid. So it was entirely possible for the future Sunshine of the present to become Sky's reaper in the past.
On the night when Sky as a man had to choose between his father's death and the death of an anonymous person...and the wind blew out the candle of the anonymous person before Sky could choose...that candle represented Sunshine as a man from the future. And when the wind blew it out, that was the moment when Sunshine from the future had wished for the erasure of his own existence. Past and Future were fluid.
Immediately after the wind extinguished the flame of Sunshine's candle, Sky re-lit the candle, thereby undoing Sunshine's erasure of himself from this universe and setting him back on course with his human life. Sky didn't know Sunshine at that moment. At that moment in time, he didn't know who the candle represented. For him, it represented just another anonymous person whose fate was in his hands.
Sky later chooses to end his life in the river. His past actions of ending the lives of others by blowing out their candles along with his own suicide caused him to become a reaper. He didn't knowingly choose to become a reaper. After his death he was transformed into a reaper by a force of power...a power higher up in a chain of command of the forces that control the universe.
When it was apparent that a reaper would be sent to Sunshine (and we are never told why a reaper was sent to him), Sky Kyu requested to be assigned to Sunshine because he remembered Sunshine as his own reaper.
There were rules, to follow, though. And Sky Kyu could not overtly break those rules. He couldn't directly tell Sunshine about the events of the past...so he told them as a story. But he held firm in not telling Sunshine that in the past he was Sky's reaper. He also could not tell Sunshine that he was the one who brought Sunshine back from human erasure. There were rules...and he could only stretch them so far.
Moving forward.
By the 7th evening when Sunshine still had the opportunity to erase one more person, he knew already knew Sky Kyu's past. Sunshine had been witnessing Sky Kyu's endless suffering as a reaper and wanted to bring him peace. He loved Sky Kyu..and was actually falling in love him. He wanted to erase Sky Kyu's present existence as a reaper. He understood that Sky had died from suicide and that Sky's actions had caused him to become a reaper. Sunshine needed to know that Sky would never forget him no matter what. Once Sky Kyu promised that he would never forget Sunshine...no matter what...Sunshine was then hopeful that by erasing Sky Kyu as a reaper he might return Sky to some type of existence that did not have pain and suffering. He would miss Sky...but he was content with just knowing that he would not be forgotten.
And that brings us to Sunshine and Sky meeting on the airplane while boarding. Sky's existence as a reaper in the present is erased because his acts of killing and suicide were erased. Sky remembers everything except when he was Sunshine's reaper. The only place where Sky's existence as a reaper remains is in Sunshine's memory.
As for Sunshine, even though Sky Kyu's existence as a reaper was erased, Sunshine was still able to remember Sky as his own reaper because of the power of Love. Love conquers all. Sunshine remembers the man that he loves....Sky. Sunshine, though, had no recollection of himself as a reaper.
But...each remembers the other as a reaper. And that is why they both called each other Kyu when they recognized each other in the airplane.
Moving to the final ending. There are enough details known by each of them that together they will be able to place the pieces together...make sense of all that has happened... and move forward with their lives together as couple.
Although it was mind bending to connect the dots in order to understand the final episode, the ending itself was joyous...happy...incredible. And as seen in Sunshine's face...it was ecstatic.
What a plot...what a story. What a mind bender. I have never seen anything like it before. It was absolutely beautiful in every aspect from the cinematography to the lighting to the music to the interesting characters...and finally to the two incredibly handsome main leads.
The cinematography from the first scene sets the stage for a dark and foreboding story.
It seems that many of the viewers found the end to be confusing. To be truthful, it was a mind bender but after connecting many hints that are given throughout the series, the ending is clear...and happy.
The first thing to establish is that the word Kyu (or the letter Q) is interchangeable with the word reaper in this series. The second thing to establish is that time is not linear...as we have been taught. The past and the future can be fluid...they can even exist at the same time.
It was Sunshine who was Sky's reaper. So...how did Sunshine become a reaper in a past time? When Sunshine started to erase people from the universe he became a killer. There is a scene in the flower shop where Tete tells Sky Kyu that Sunshine determined his own destiny by becoming a killer. Sunshine then wished to erase himself from THIS universe, that was almost like a suicide...and his existence as Sunshine the man ended and his life force became a reaper. Several times throughout the series Sky Kyu tells Sunshine that the past and the future are fluid. So it was entirely possible for the future Sunshine of the present to become Sky's reaper in the past.
On the night when Sky as a man had to choose between his father's death and the death of an anonymous person...and the wind blew out the candle of the anonymous person before Sky could choose...that candle represented Sunshine as a man from the future. And when the wind blew it out, that was the moment when Sunshine from the future had wished for the erasure of his own existence. Past and Future were fluid.
Immediately after the wind extinguished the flame of Sunshine's candle, Sky re-lit the candle, thereby undoing Sunshine's erasure of himself from this universe and setting him back on course with his human life. Sky didn't know Sunshine at that moment. At that moment in time, he didn't know who the candle represented. For him, it represented just another anonymous person whose fate was in his hands.
Sky later chooses to end his life in the river. His past actions of ending the lives of others by blowing out their candles along with his own suicide caused him to become a reaper. He didn't knowingly choose to become a reaper. After his death he was transformed into a reaper by a force of power...a power higher up in a chain of command of the forces that control the universe.
When it was apparent that a reaper would be sent to Sunshine (and we are never told why a reaper was sent to him), Sky Kyu requested to be assigned to Sunshine because he remembered Sunshine as his own reaper.
There were rules, to follow, though. And Sky Kyu could not overtly break those rules. He couldn't directly tell Sunshine about the events of the past...so he told them as a story. But he held firm in not telling Sunshine that in the past he was Sky's reaper. He also could not tell Sunshine that he was the one who brought Sunshine back from human erasure. There were rules...and he could only stretch them so far.
Moving forward.
By the 7th evening when Sunshine still had the opportunity to erase one more person, he knew already knew Sky Kyu's past. Sunshine had been witnessing Sky Kyu's endless suffering as a reaper and wanted to bring him peace. He loved Sky Kyu..and was actually falling in love him. He wanted to erase Sky Kyu's present existence as a reaper. He understood that Sky had died from suicide and that Sky's actions had caused him to become a reaper. Sunshine needed to know that Sky would never forget him no matter what. Once Sky Kyu promised that he would never forget Sunshine...no matter what...Sunshine was then hopeful that by erasing Sky Kyu as a reaper he might return Sky to some type of existence that did not have pain and suffering. He would miss Sky...but he was content with just knowing that he would not be forgotten.
And that brings us to Sunshine and Sky meeting on the airplane while boarding. Sky's existence as a reaper in the present is erased because his acts of killing and suicide were erased. Sky remembers everything except when he was Sunshine's reaper. The only place where Sky's existence as a reaper remains is in Sunshine's memory.
As for Sunshine, even though Sky Kyu's existence as a reaper was erased, Sunshine was still able to remember Sky as his own reaper because of the power of Love. Love conquers all. Sunshine remembers the man that he loves....Sky. Sunshine, though, had no recollection of himself as a reaper.
But...each remembers the other as a reaper. And that is why they both called each other Kyu when they recognized each other in the airplane.
Moving to the final ending. There are enough details known by each of them that together they will be able to place the pieces together...make sense of all that has happened... and move forward with their lives together as couple.
Although it was mind bending to connect the dots in order to understand the final episode, the ending itself was joyous...happy...incredible. And as seen in Sunshine's face...it was ecstatic.
What a plot...what a story. What a mind bender. I have never seen anything like it before. It was absolutely beautiful in every aspect from the cinematography to the lighting to the music to the interesting characters...and finally to the two incredibly handsome main leads.
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