Decent film
A psychologically-scarred family keeps adopting children by the name of Sungkyu (or so I assumed).As short as the film was, it flowed pretty well. Anger, denial then acceptance was shown well.
The acting was all believable. The parents, the "brothers," the friend. The dialogue was believable, and I understood why each of the characters said or did what they did.
I don't remember the music at all, but I guess that just means that there weren't bad tracks, only fitting-but-forgettable ones.
I do wish the film was a few minutes longer to show the acceptance stage more, but the end was fitting.
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Solid movie with heavy themes
I just finished watching this. I must admit in the beginning, I was very confused who was who, what timeline was being shown, and why the characters did certain things. Some of it cleared up, and some of it still puzzles me. Why was there a kiss scene in the beginning? I still can't understand it.That being said, after the first twenty minutes or so things started to fall into place and it became clear what everyone's relations to other people were. I'd recommend anyone trying to watch this film half an hour before deciding if this movie is for them.
If you're looking for something upbeat or lighthearted, this isn't for you. The movie was heavy. It talked about dealing with the emotions one has after a loved one takes their own life. It talked about those who were dealing with depression and stress, and losing the battle. It talked about life and death and grief and trying to let go and move on. Bonding and anger between those who share trauma.
The actors did great. It seems like they are newbie actors, but they portrayed their feelings amazingly. The soundtrack wasn't outstanding, but it lent feeling to the moment, which is enough for me.
The production quality could have been better, and sometimes the sound was a little echo-y. It was a little distracting. There was also a scene where it looked like the characters were sitting in a certain way and suddenly switched sides (that was really distracting and took me out of the moment), but I eventually concluded we were supposed to be looking at them through a mirror. But those are all minor things when considering the film as a whole.
I hope more people watch this movie, and am shocked that only 23 people have rated it on this website. It can be viewed on GagaOOLala. If I hadn't had the app, I don't think I would have ever watched it since no one is talking about it.
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Harsh Reality
If you're looking for a movie with a happy ending (or even a happy middle), move along.This is actually the second time I watched this - I think I watched it almost 10 years ago. I recall feeling a little lost and empty at the end (not about the plot, but about life). I thought it was good enough to watch again one day. Well, that day was today, and I didn't feel the same feelings as I did the first time.
As another review said, there is a lot of skinship, and it doesn't portray the gay community in a humanized light. Although yes, lust is part of being human, there was more lust and less emotional connection. I didn't feel very connected to any character.
The acting was believable (except the very first scene). I also wonder if the actor who portrayed the main character is actually deaf, because it didn't sound like a hearing-person pretending to be deaf. I hope that's the case, and I liked that actor a lot.
The music was forgettable (was there even any music? I don't remember) except for the ending song. No cheesy soundtracks, though, which is more important to me than having suitable-but-forgettable music.
All in all, this film was rather average and I think had more potential with the plot than they executed.
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This review may contain spoilers
It was meh
I was so close to dropping the drama by episode 6, but pushed through. The special effects were often cringy, the green screen had many holes and backgrounds looked fake, and the acting was often overdone. I stayed for the female lead and overall thought she was a likeable character.I didn't think most of the romance was particularly good and there were way, way too many flashbacks of things we had just seen. I skipped through some of the scenes and think this drama easily could have been 5 or even 10 episodes shorter. Some of the plotlines were recycled throughout the story, and for some of it I couldn't tell if it was intentional or not.
Overall, I think this drama had potential but I got really tired of seeing the same kiss over and over and people spitting up blood 5 times an episode. It just lost meaning over time since it was so overused. Moderation is key to everything.
The costumes were beautiful and I enjoyed some songs (a couple kind of ruined the moments because of the cheesy song choice in the moment). Overall, whoever was in charge of costumes did an amazing job. I wish a couple of the songs were not used in the OST since it did sour my experience. Many of the orchestral songs were beautiful.
Overall, this was a mediocre show with poor chemistry between the leads most of the time (the pacing of the romance was also off at times) and I was hooked just enough to finish watching it to find where it went.
Spoiler:
During the last scene (during the last shot), I literally said "oh my GOD" in a slightly annoyed voice out loud. How could the show end like that? That was so unsatisfying.
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Singing wasn't as great as it should have been
I am a musical person, and love music. This is about a busker and someone signed to a music label, and singers aren't always perfect. The beginning scene started with the main character busking, but it bothered me that his voice cracked. I mean, the first scene should set the stage for the rest of the film. Then there was another recording of a song he recorded, but it was completely off-key. I don't know why, because he was good at singing in other scenes and was on-key. But that one recording (which showed up more than once in the film) was honestly embarrassing to listen to. I think that ruined it for me the most, which is unfortunate because the film was otherwise cute and had a little plot.I did enjoy the film for its portrayal of budding romance. As I said, it was cute and fluffy at times, which made me happy, especially when a lot of Korean LGBTQ movies are sad or dark.
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Almost like a musical
There was a lot of singing and playing guitar. It was a little forced for me, and the production was a little low during those scenes (it suddenly sounded like they were recording in a studio, which took me out of the moment).This wasn't a happy short film. I think it's realistic, though, so I do give it points for that. I enjoyed the acting of the woman (I don't think they ever said her name), and found her to be a believable person.
The film got me thinking, which is probably what it intended to do. But I didn't feel any connection to any of the characters.
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This review may contain spoilers
Strong women in the face of it all
I will keep spoilers out of the beginning of this review, but if you want to know if this is a happy or not happy ending, scroll to the last sentence of my review.Great acting! But I didn't feel a connection between many of the characters (as in, feel the relationship between them) until about halfway through the drama. I kept watching because I loved how the main lead, Duanwu, kept being so strong in the face of everything, and seeing a woman struggle in the world of men (being blocked from being successful on her own) spoke to me. I admired her courage and persistence and really appreciated her character.
I really enjoyed the sibling relationship with Shrimp and Duanwu and thought that was the most realistic. The romance didn't feel as close and I wasn't feeling much of a connection between the main characters for a long time, until maybe the last story arc or so. Maybe it was just because I thought the male lead was heartless in the beginning and I couldn't understand how anyone could get past that horrible attitude.
Overall, the music was pretty good (except one track was kind of overdramatic and it even made me laugh out loud once), the sets were beautiful, the costumes were beautiful, and I thought the plot and premise was pretty interesting. However, the last episode seemed a little rushed, which is a bummer.
SPOILER:
If you want a super happy ending where everything is rainbows and puppies, don't watch this drama. I still think it was worth the journey.
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Hazy plot and uninspired romance
I feel like this drama started off strong, but the romance was a bit uninspired. I just wasn't sold on the love story of the main characters, or even some side characters. I didn't feel a great connection between them. I don't know why, but maybe it's because of something with the main female lead. (The male lead's loving gaze was so sweet!) I understand she's not a particularly romantic person, but something about it just didn't enthrall me.The great thing about this drama is how strong and intelligent the main female lead is. I found her character so refreshing! Against all odds, she still tried to stand tall. I think her character is what kept me watching.
However, after a certain number of episodes, the romance seemed pretty much fulfilled and I was wondering why the story even had to keep continuing on. It just got really political, and in a way I didn't enjoy. There were a lot of characters and it was hard to remember who was trying to scheme what, and everyone's facial hair and hairstyle was the same and there were multiple people with the same last name and it was difficult for me. Maybe someone with less face-blindness than me would enjoy the political aspect more, but I also felt like it was just dragging on.
Ultimately, I finished most of episode 31 and didn't feel compelled to complete the story. The parts I enjoyed here and there didn't outweigh the parts I didn't enjoy. It wasn't a memorable show.
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Strong female lead, strong morals, strong couple
I went into this drama with very few expectations and really enjoyed it. The character growth was great and I thought the main couple had great chemistry. They were just believable as a couple and I think that's what sold the show the most for me. They were really sweet and dedicated to each other!The music was pretty good except for one or two tracks that had distracting electric guitar which totally took me out of the scene (I mean, this is ancient China, which has zero electric guitars), but overall the OST was well-done and supported the scenes.
I also enjoyed some of the supporting characters and was interested enough in following their stories.
I agree with one of the other reviewers here in that I loved how morals and doing the best thing for others was more important than just following blood lineage. It was discussed a lot in the show from various points of view, and I appreciated it. It felt very progressive and it was refreshing to see.
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Intelligent main lead
I thought this was a solid drama, but there was a lot of people being very dramatic and crying and pretending/actually fainting. I also thought the main female lead was a bit too magnanimous at times. I didn't love how the relationship progressed at times. Overall, I enjoyed the drama and really enjoyed having an intelligent female lead. Not to spoil anything, but there were some times where something happening and I could see it a mile away, so it wasn't as impactful as it could have been. There was just too foreshadowing.There was a lot of crying in this series. I think people cried at least 2x an episode and it did lessen the impact of sad scenes sometimes. I still binged the series in a week, but think it had areas of improvement. Overall, it was a pretty high production quality as well, so I enjoyed that.
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