Jasgiul

This is funny! And a bit weird lol

Great suggestion, thanks!

Thanks for the explanation. Interesting that the story is still continuing. That makes me hopeful for a season 2. In my opinion this drama really deserves that.

I felt this had a similar vibe as Racket Boys, Twinkling Watermelon and Study Group.
Story is not very original right now, but I liked the way is developed in the first two episodes. It wasn’t boring at least. I like the members of the rugby team and the coach. They’re all likeable. I hope they grow as a team and win tournaments. Can’t wait for that progression of the story. I also like learning more about rugby. I hope it stays true to its subject and not turn into a boring romance highschool drama.
I recommend to watch!

We NEED a continuation of the story by the way
I’m still hoping for a season 2 revival.

Watching this for the second time. Man, I forgot what a masterpiece this was. Such a shame this went unnoticed for many and also the confusing connection with BTS probably did more damage than good. It is one of the better male focused coming of age drama’s SK has to offer. A bit melodramatic but very relatable. Some very important realistic themes throughout the drama with a touch of fantasy in the end. The actors are well chosen and deserve more recognition. The main mystery is looming every episode which makes it exciting but for me the boys, their personalities and their struggles take the center stage. The friendships, the caring for each other, the hopes and dreams and the dissappointments. You step into their world for 12 episodes and it won’t let you go. Constantly thinking how great it would be to have a group of friends like that. That’s probably what BTS likes to symbolize so there’s the connection. But I hope for the members that their lives are easier than the lives of the boys in Begins ≠ Youth.

Hi firefly,
I’m not saying it wasn’t inspired by Night Flight (2014) bc a lot of elements are def similar. But to be fair the scene you reference is actually inspired by another Korean movie that came before it. And a scene that’s somewhat of a classic in South Korean cinema. Night Flight’s and WHC1’s ending scenes (both beautifully done if you ask me) are inspired by that older movie for sure.

The movie I’m talking about is Once Upon a Time in High School (2004)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TTei-H3W5aU
Especially around minute 6 we can see the similarities.
It is a movie about the situation in South Korea in the 70’s if I remember correctly. School violence and bullying are its themes. For sure similar to WHC and Night Flight!

I haven’t watched it recently so I can’t remember the details and the relations between the main characters. It might still prove your point. If you guys like WHC and Night Flight, this one is a must watch I guess.

sorry 😂

I wrote down the lyrics while listening to it. I hope I heard everything correct.

“Awake. Awakening. From a dream I never thought would end.
Afraid of my long absence. Is the world the same? W(h)ere I left behind?
I listened to your words when I was in pure darkness.
Well now it feels so real when I hold your hands together.

Am I dreaming? Am I dreaming? Am I still dreaming? Am I ready for the world?
I am dreaming. I am dreaming. Now I’m dreaming for tomorrow I am here.

I can feel everything. And I can go anywhere.
I want you to know that I’m here with you.

I listen to your words when I was in pure darkness. Well now it feels so real when I hold your hands together.

Am I dreaming? Am I dreaming? Am I still dreaming? Am I ready for the world?
I am dreaming. I am dreaming. Now I am dreaming for tomorrow I am here.

I can feel everything. And I can go anywhere. I want you to know that I’m here with you.”

(Awakening by Die Boy and Primary)

I love Die Boy’s song at the end of the last episode when Si Eun meets Su Ho for the first time after he wakes up. What I like about it is that it can be interpreted from Su Ho’s pov as meaning waking up from his long sleep but also from Si Eun’s pov as an awakening that he has gone through this entire season. They both finally wake up from a very dark time. It’s a nice contrast that they both wake up but one was literally ‘sleeping’ all the time and the other couldn’t sleep at all.
It’s one of the main themes of WHC2 I think.

I was also thinking about all the hard times Si Eun had to go through and keeping a whole diary on his chat with Su Ho 😂

Ofcourse you could be right. It won’t be easy for Su Ho to forgive him. But Su Ho has a big heart and an uncomplicated personality. He might if Beom Seok is truly sincere about it and changes his ways. That would be fun to find out in a future season.

I felt Beom Seok was a tragic case and he was in the wrong. But it would be cool if we could get a redemption arc. To return the monster to the friend he once was. He still has a lot to learn.

that would be wild… But I do think it’s necessary to bring him back at one point. To go full circle.

I really liked this season because it gave us more of the same like S1. I want to watch it again to understand some things more deeply. I think the action scenes took some attention away from the psychological things for me. But I don’t mind bc WHC has always been more on the subtle side about the feelings of its characters. I liked that they showed how Si Eun was affected by what happened in S1 and the impact it had on him. Also the love for his friend Su Ho wasn’t tucked away. I felt, just like in WHC1, friendship was the most important theme here.

And I loved that it has the potential of a WHC3 with Su Ho back in the gang!

So... what should we categorize this drama as? Can anyone help? It doesn't qualify as BL right?

In summary it's about a guy (who has feelings for other guys) that has to deal with his best male friend and secret crush having a new girlfriend. Also ultimately developing feelings for his new male friend who already has a secret crush on him.

So would you say a LGBTQ story about a closeted guy that has to navigate/come to terms with the feelings before even starting a first love?

Based on the comments below they miserably failed at adapting an already existing story.

Now my personal experience about one aspect of this adaptation. I actually found it consistent with real life that it gave Chan Yeon and Ji Yu so much screentime.😂 In those teenage years on school I remember I had all those feelings like Hui Su has in this drama but keeping them hidden and secret. And seeing all around you your friends and other guys chasing girls and having girlfriends. They had no timidity for having what were only considered natural feelings and acting on them. Feeling such freedom, they actually had all the ‘screen time’ while I hid in timidity. I mean, there was an obvious different level of difficulty for acting on those romantic feelings with all your peers around. It couldn’t even muster up a tiny bit of the courage needed to confess my feelings to a crush. That’s why I also get the confession scene with the dark room and that this adaptations Chan Yeon was just flabbergasted. I even had an experience like that in real life. Poor guy 😂

So in my opinion that was consistent at least about this adaptation.

But don’t take this as a defence of this adaptation. I belief your opinion about why this totally missed its mark is correct.

I’m enjoying this actually! It’s not really my genre but that’s okay. Choi Hyun Wook impresses me more every new project he does. I personally think he will be one of the greatest Korean actors of this and the coming decade. In the meantime, let’s just enjoy this no-brainer 😂

They did lol
I’m watching it this evening. It felt weird to watch it in the morning 😂

Viki suddenly released the 2nd episode in the European region this night. lol make up your mind guys. But not conplaining haha

I like the idea of having 3 episodes next week!
It's a bit weird that Viki released only one episode in the Europe region though...