JennyJan

A well crafted take on the theme of good and evil.

To be honest, I actually watched TU a year ago, without reading the novel, just because it was a censored version of BL and it was very popular. But I couldn't get past the 25th episode, precisely because I didn't understand anything. I had no idea what the characters were doing, and adding to that, this was my first chinese xianxia drama.
But a year later, I came across the manhua, and I started reading it thinking I would understand better, and again I was wrong. The manhua had mentioned a dozen times that the explanations are better in the novel, and I gave the novel a try.
And as for the novel, I was hooked on reading the first few chapters, because it had better explanations of the characters and the general elements of the MDC.
So, if you are confused watching the series, I highly recommend you to read the novel first.
( I read only read 2 volumes completely and wangzian scenes of the other 3 volumes, since I felt the timelines of the novel confusing and I was in a rush to complete due to my exams nearing)
Summing up, reading to the novel helped me know the characters, but apart from that I didn't know anything about the major events taking place in the story and I watched them in TU for the first time.
Coming to the drama, what makes it a worthy watch is the story and the compelling acting.
I will first talk about the acting.

ACTING
Both Xiao zhan and Wang yibo have done a tremendous job in bringing the characters to life. Their acting makes us remember their characters, forever. And apart from the leads, I think all other supporting characters also did a great job in portraying their characters, and no character in this story is superficial, they are defined by their actions, intentions and motives.
PRODUCTION
The direction is perfect, but personally the production was mediocre in some scenes. Apart from those few scenes, all other scenes had beautiful cinematography and the costumes and set designs seemed well planned ( especially the interiors of the clans bases).

STORY
The story was perfect because it conveyed the notions of good and evil perfectly to the audience. What I learnt through this drama are two things -
1. Nothing in this world can be labelled as completely good or evil, and that intentions of the doer is what is important.
2. Next, a third person can judge our choices as right or wrong very easily, but unless and untill you are in the circumstance, you cannot understand why a particular decision was made unless you understand that person. A decision cannot be made purely because it is good or bad, but there are many factors affecting it - the situation, the feeling and personal ethics and opinions of the person.

The drama had conveyed these aspects so perfectly that I was thinking about this a whole day after watching the nevernight finale episode.
And next coming to wangzian.
How fortunate is to be loved like how Lan zhan loved Wei ying ! A beautiful portrayal of love at it's most purest form. I badly manifest a love like theirs.

OST
The music perfectly complimented and elevated the emotions of the characters.
I am forever in love with wuji and wangzian.

I know I am a little biased, but I never knew I would love TU so much before I started it (Cuz when I watched it last year without context, I didn't like TU and it seemed a waste of time).
And I came to know that there are many changes in the novel and the adapted form, so I am planning to read the novel completely once again Because I am interested in how the book conveys these same themes.
I will admit, there are a lot of shortcomings in the drama, but those can be overlooked for the sake of the impact the story and characters had on me.

Rewatch value - I will rewatch TU in the future as I am busy with exams for now.
If you are debating whether to watch or not, I would definitely recommend you to read the novel first ( atleast 2 volumes, as most of the characters are introduced in it, and the drama doesn't explain the background of the supporting characters, which is crucial to the story), and then watch the untamed.

Read More

An important phase of life portrayed beautifully

So, I kept away seeing this series thinking it might be overhyped and because reviews kind of told this drama is traumatic. But I am glad, I decided to watch the trailer and give it a chance. And all it took was the trailer to convince me watch 2125.
And if you are reading this review with a dilemma to watch this series or not, trust me, and watch the series right away. (And come back later to this review so that you feel connected.)

I felt a lot of emotions while watching this series, be it inspiration, the will to work hard, motivation, happiness, pain and love.
There's nothing I can point out as a flaw in this drama. The story, the way it is told through this series, the actors and the acting, the ost, the emotions it conveyed, I couldn't ask anything better than this.
So what I liked about this series :
~ Both the main characters, Na Hee Do and Back Yi Jin
Tbh, Hee Do inspired me to live life and work hard no matter what, the sparkle in her eyes conveyed hw she dared to hope (the way she tells in the last episode .
I could relate to both the characters personally and feel every emotion the went through.
Yi Jin, I couldn't take my eyes off his eyes, his eyes conveyed a million emotions. The way he gracefully accepted his hardship and navigated through adulthood, the way he tried to manage both his personal and professional life, the way he could see the happier things of life (through Hee Do), as a teenager I hope I will be a little of him in this aspect.
~ the friendship and fencing
The other main characters, Ko Yu Rim, Moon Ji Woong, Ji Sweung Wan, the way rivalry turned into friendship and and how a girl and a boy can be just friends and how strong and supporting love can be (in case of Yu Rim and Ji Woong )
~The realistic portrayal of a mother-daughter relationship
~ the mature take on love ( You Jin and Hee Do)

I learnt so much watching this series and got to see a different dimension of youth and 2125 taught me to see my life in a brighter shade. I looked forward to see each episode, 2125 made me reflect on my own self. And about the ending, I personally believe that all love stories don't get a happy ending. So I believe the ending was realised ad just perfect.
My favourite dialogues were :
" I don't regret meeting you or loving you. Wanting to falter and letting myself falter is my mistake. A mistake that is clearly not minor."
"Life is long and fireworks are short."
" I don't think not living your dream means you have failed at life. And I don't think living your dream means you have succeeded either."
"It isn't a rainbow, it's love."
"My result was amazing and the process was beautiful."
My favourite ost is Very slowly and Go! (I am hooked on them).
I will definitely re-watch 2125 because I went through a lot of emotions while watching and I will definitely love to go through these emotions again.

Read More

Realistic portrayal of two flawed people and their relationship

This review is conclusion of both the S1, S2 and the movie and haven't read the novel.
I remember watching S1 last year but I hated the series and thought Hira was very boring and a very unlikable character and hated him, and dropped the series. But suddenly I wanted to watch the series again after coming across good ratings for the series, and I now, I absolutely love HiraKiyoi.

The first 5 episodes of S1 are a bit unlikable mainly cuz Hira isn't such a likeable character and he might seem like a very creepy guy. Nd hein borderline is. But after you get to the 6th ep, you will begin to immerse yourself in the characters.
The writer of the novel did a great job in developing both of their characters. And If your open-minded, you would find the characters of both leads described in a very realistic way instead of identifying them with cliche character notions. The director and the actors too did a great job in portraying the characters with authenticity. It is not very easy to make a completely character based series.

Personally, it felt like both of them are real people and I was watching the portrayal of two real people and was travelling with them in the journey of their relationshipI would say their relationship both imperfect and perfect and bothe of them completely balance each other. Both of them are self aware as well as understand each other in and out. In the first season, it may seem like their relationship is toxic and both of the leads are toxic in their own way- Hira being obsessed with kiyou and Hira liking such a creepy person may seem unreasonable, and the way kiyoi was ordering around Hira might seem like bullying or taking advantage of Hira, but when you get to know Kiyoi's pov, everything made real sense.
I personally think Kiyoi doesn't understand Kiyoi as much as Kiyoi understands Hira, I would say Kiyou is a very mature guy, in the way he patiently handles Hira.
And as for Hira, one cannot judge a person based on his actions alone, if you are to understand Hira's pov and his wierd thought process, he actually does makes sense.
And I liked Hira's photography master, he understood about Hira apart from Kiyoi. He was a very sensible man.
Scenes I liked :
1. The confession scene in the 10th ep
2. And the last scene of S2, where kiyoi asks Hira about his hobbies to understand him better
3. The bathtub scene - Actually when Kiyoi tells Hira that he can kiss, I was expecting him to kiss on his lips, but the way kisses Kiyoi's hands made much sense and shows how hira values Kiyoi beyond his life. And the way Kiyoi turns away embarrassed, showed his emotional depth. The scene didn't seem like a normal kiss scene or a making out scene, it was much more than that, we get to see the deepest emotions of both the characters in this scene. I couldn't sense a bit of lust while watching all I could feel was deep emotional connect between the characters, vulnerability,love and desire to be there for eachother, cuz that was how perfect the execution was. Even though Hira just says Kiyoi is beautiful, it seems like he was telling Kiyoi much more than that which is hard to put into words. That scene was very beautifully executed, I could feel the emotions of both the characters. This is my favourite scene of all.
4. Their fight in the movie, when Hira tells his parents will never know if Kiyoi.
5. Anna's rain photoshoot
6. Kiyoi's photoshoot by Hira

I liked the opening and ending theme songs of S1.
Ps - Kiyoi is very handsome I would rewatch the series for him.
But apart from Kiyoi, I would definitely rewatch the series for their relationship growth, and character development. I might read the novel to understand their characters better
Actually, I am not that good in expression through words, but there's much more I feel for both of their characters. HiraKiyoi have grown in me as characters I would never forget.

Read More

Wasted potential

I watched this series after being impressed of Edward's performance in your name engraved herein. But after watching this series, I feel like like I have wasted my time.
I actually didn't notice the genre tags and thought this to be a romantic drama based on the title and the poster and I was proven completely wrong.
Things I liked :
1. The acting was par with the what the character has to offer, the actors did what they were told. I would say writing was at fault. The chemistry between the leads was okayish in the intense scenes.
2. I liked edward chen's acting as a spoiled rich brat in the first few episodes and how he never gave up on the FL through out the series even if it didn't make any sense to me. The first few episodes portrayed him as a very unpredictable boy for which I was looking forward to, but unfortunately his character seemed very cliche.
Before the ML got to know about the FLs revenge plan, I felt that his emotions were being played with and he had to go through all this just because of the mistakes of few so-called adults who were drunk in selfishness and rage . But the ML didn't bother with being used, lol, which I could never understand.
3. The female villain's characterization was pretty good but the writers should have developed her character, like a more intense face off between the FL and the villain would have made sense but everything was down played at the end since the writers decided to end the series thru the school directors action
4. Cinematography and the music was good

What I disliked :
1. The fact that a student-teacher relationship was shown very acceptable in the society
2. The scenes between the ML and FL were very cringe in all through the series. Especially before they both fell in love, I was literally wanting the FL not to accept the ML, but it was later told as her revenge plan.
3. I hated MLs mother in al through the series and I don't know how her marriage was saved. For the sake of her son's relationship, she went ahead to lie about her son's father being the art professor, I don't know how her husband accepted her after all this
4. The 6-11 episodes were dragged so much going around the bush with so much confusions that I had to fast forward for the sake of the end
5. I felt like every character was flawed and actions of many characters made no sense at all
6. Coming to the ending. They tricked the viewers to believe that the ML stabbed the FL in the opening of the 1st episode. So I badly wanted to know what circumstances lead the ML to take such a decision. But as I told they tricked us into watching another dramatic climax. If not for this, I would have dropped the series in after the first major revelation.
Rewatch value: I regret wasting time watching this series

Read More

A fairly good attempt on a creative concept.

This is my first review !!
I had a very high expectation for 'W' , but soon it faded away when I began watching the episodes. The Drama do keeps you hooked on because it is unpredictable in most cases, but I wanted this drama to end soon cuz I felt like the story kept repeating again and again but each time with an other event.

Story & Concept - I think the concept of two parallel universe is a really brilliant idea. And the fact that the other world is a comic world makes things a little complicated. Special mentions to the writer who chose this concept, but choosing a complicated concept has its own demerits. So this is were the writer/director loses the track. I guess the screenplay could have been a little more neater and sorted out.

Production- The Production is good and casting is perfect but the characterization is weak. The visuals are great.

Acting -
~ Male lead - Lee Jong-suk was actually perfectly suited for the role of Kang Cheol. He seemed cool and classy. I particularly liked his character.
~ Female Lead - Han Hyo-joo as Oh Yeon Joo too played the role well but it could have been improved as far as the emotional scenes were concerned. I guess that's how the characterization was. The romantic plot is a little weak. Except for the fact that she saves his life, there was no reason for the male lead to fall in love with FL. The characters lacked depth, and the writer must have worked on the characterization. They lacked chemistry and their romantic parts seemed too rushed(and short ).

Supporting roles - The supporting roles really had very less role other that helping the plot move. They had no role except that they played the roles of story players. The cartoonist's acting is really appreciable. because he could differentiate both the roles really well and it had its own impact. The assemblyman's acting too is kinda noticeable. The professor's had his own role and he rightly depicted his role . Lee Si-eon as Park Soo-bong had very little role cuz it was limited just to panicking and being shocked. I felt Lee Tae-hwan as Seo Do-yoon really suited the character and the prosecuter too perfectly suited.

In conclusion, the supporting actors did their role really well, but their roles were too limited.
I felt like in some scenes, the number of dialogues were unnecessarily more. It could have been neat and crisp. And when I first read reviews on this drama, many mentioned it as romantic comedy, but I couldn't find any comedy elements. I liked the part that the writers tried to explore every merits and demerits of a comic world. ( like disappearance of a comic character).
~Fav scene - Her first slap and the ice cream eating scene.
~OST- Not too good, Not too bad. No particular song could grab my attention.
~Rewatch value - I would rewatch only certain favourite scenes.

CONCLUSION - One can give a go to this drama, its an innovative attempt but a little messed. Recommended if you really want to get hooked on for a while.

Read More