1/9/24 I made a couple edits to reduce dramatic word choices. Mainly, I wanted to urge the pondering of different possible perspectives instead of leaping to condemnation of the actor as we don't know the details and he hasn't made any homophobic remarks (that I'm aware of).
Is it possible Choo Young Woo's actions (leaving out YMMD in his awards speech & removing in his social media) were influenced by the likely uncomfortable temperature conditions he was made to work in for You Make Me Dance?
*This is a hypothosis*, but if it were me, I might not want to honor a production that used my newbie status to make me perform in possibly unpleasant conditions. And unnecessarily so- it wasn't needed for the story (and really, what dance studio wouldn't heat their rooms?). I could understand IF this generated any bitterness or soured his BL experience (I don't know if it did or not).
There are only a couple of scenes where you CAN'T see Young Woo's breath in the frigid cold air and he is almost always thinly dressed.
I can't help thinking that the production was unnecessarily thoughtless for the sake of a few cinematic shots of breath in the air. The sets already look cold with the winter lighting, they didn't actually need to keep the heat off! Plus, performing athletically (like dancing) in the cold can increase the chance of muscle strains and injuries.
To me the extent of cold settings in the story isn't logical, which fed my incredulity over it.
If his character was practicing alone in a random space, like an abandoned warehouse, then no heat would make sense. But he's in an actual dance studio room and he's not the only one using it; it's unrealistic that it's not heated.
If his home was small and cramped then practicing out on the balcony would make sense, but it IS large enough so that choice is nonsensical.
That's why it seems unnecessary. Working in some conditions, like summer heat for example, is not something that's easily controllable. The two choices above are, however. Unless the character was conciously choosing to rehearse 'cold' despite the increased risk of injury and for a reason (beyond a few nice shots), but it wasn't shown that way.
I will post spoilers on the ending in chronological steps. That way, you can decide how much of the ending you…
We are shown Ritsu holding up the white shirt he made while waiting for Sho in the park while Ryo walks past in the distance holding a large bouquet of more white flowers.
I will post spoilers on the ending in chronological steps. That way, you can decide how much of the ending you…
Ryo kills Sho (his brother) because Sho wants to leave their home to be with Ritsu. Ryo loves Sho romantically and is rejected when he finally, and desperately, makes his feelings known. Ryo also doesn't think Ritsu is worthy of Sho. FYI they are blood brothers, not stepbrothers.
I will post spoilers on the ending in chronological steps. That way, you can decide how much of the ending you want revealed before deciding to watch or not :)
And yes, there are so many other things they could start with to ease Zouey into physical intimacy! That seems…
Yes, EXACTLY! To everything you said :) I had very similar thoughts but got tired of articulating my incredulity, disappointment, and frustrations over this series, lol.😅 Thank you for writing it out, now I don’t have to 🙏😊
This series does a disservice to everything it touches. The characters, the actors (some of their couples tiktoks are more fun to watch than the series because they show an actual connection and comfortable intimacy), sex workers, and BDSM and the whole fetish community.
I get that it's supposed to be more of a cautionary tale, but it over-generalizes and feels like it's condemning what the production is simultaneously using to try to gather viewers.
This articulated many of my issues with the series, and especially that Zooey-Teena scene, really well. a lot…
And yes, there are so many other things they could start with to ease Zouey into physical intimacy! That seems a no brainer, which makes that scene frustrating in its stupidity.
Your comment made think about Teena more. He was indeed being fairly respectful of Zouey's boundaries until that scene so I think you're right about him being written out of character too.
This articulated many of my issues with the series, and especially that Zooey-Teena scene, really well. a lot…
Completely agree with your sentence, "Zouey is the most interesting because he feels the most authentic but then it was completely mishandled." I was the closest to being emotionally (or at least mentally) invested in Zouey and Teena because, for a little bit, they felt the most authentic out of everyone.
That's what I felt too- like it was a Sparknotes to something greater. I missed the romantic build of the connection between the characters so when conflict came, the stakes didn't feel as high as they could have. I mentally knew they were in love, and they were certainly cute/sweet to watch, but I didn't feel it emotionally. I was rooting for them and the plot-twist scene did tug at my heartstrings, but I kept feeling like too many chunks of the story were missing/skipped to feel fully connected and satisfied.
I didn't much like him in season 1 to begin with, and I've been debating whether I really want to watch season 2 or not... and now I have my answer, in the most cleverly humorous way possible! 🤣 Thank you 🙏
I like reading other people's perspectives too! I appreciated your review. Reading it helped me with the final sorting of my thoughts so I could write my own review coherently :)
As I was thinking about the film I wondered if SungKyu was gay and that's how he could easily tell that SungWoo was, and what it would mean if he wasn't... but when I read your bit about sexuality not being the point, that really clicked for me mentally. There were other impulses driving that action, and that is the focus. I really like your final paragraph too.
Thank you for explaining some of the disturbing things done to Anda in this series! I dislike when those kinds…
Glad to be of help :) "Whimsical" is a good way to describe the manga/movie. The slippery sock chase around the sofa was my favorite bit in the movie 🤣
Yeah, it's a weird combo of too much going on but not enough there. It's certainly difficult to get mentally/emotionally invested in such flatly written characters when the actors don't have enough talent and charisma to over-compensate for that flaw.
Thank you for the review. I have been meaning to watch this.
I'm glad you found the review helpful :D I was surprised I hadn't heard of it before yesterday; it was an enjoyable binge-watch. Hope you enjoy it too!
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Is it possible Choo Young Woo's actions (leaving out YMMD in his awards speech & removing in his social media) were influenced by the likely uncomfortable temperature conditions he was made to work in for You Make Me Dance?
*This is a hypothosis*, but if it were me, I might not want to honor a production that used my newbie status to make me perform in possibly unpleasant conditions. And unnecessarily so- it wasn't needed for the story (and really, what dance studio wouldn't heat their rooms?). I could understand IF this generated any bitterness or soured his BL experience (I don't know if it did or not).
There are only a couple of scenes where you CAN'T see Young Woo's breath in the frigid cold air and he is almost always thinly dressed.
I can't help thinking that the production was unnecessarily thoughtless for the sake of a few cinematic shots of breath in the air. The sets already look cold with the winter lighting, they didn't actually need to keep the heat off! Plus, performing athletically (like dancing) in the cold can increase the chance of muscle strains and injuries.
To me the extent of cold settings in the story isn't logical, which fed my incredulity over it.
If his character was practicing alone in a random space, like an abandoned warehouse, then no heat would make sense. But he's in an actual dance studio room and he's not the only one using it; it's unrealistic that it's not heated.
If his home was small and cramped then practicing out on the balcony would make sense, but it IS large enough so that choice is nonsensical.
That's why it seems unnecessary. Working in some conditions, like summer heat for example, is not something that's easily controllable. The two choices above are, however. Unless the character was conciously choosing to rehearse 'cold' despite the increased risk of injury and for a reason (beyond a few nice shots), but it wasn't shown that way.
This series does a disservice to everything it touches. The characters, the actors (some of their couples tiktoks are more fun to watch than the series because they show an actual connection and comfortable intimacy), sex workers, and BDSM and the whole fetish community.
I get that it's supposed to be more of a cautionary tale, but it over-generalizes and feels like it's condemning what the production
is simultaneously using to try to gather viewers.
Your comment made think about Teena more. He was indeed being fairly respectful of Zouey's boundaries until that scene so I think you're right about him being written out of character too.
I was the closest to being emotionally (or at least mentally) invested in Zouey and Teena because, for a little bit, they felt the most authentic out of everyone.
As I was thinking about the film I wondered if SungKyu was gay and that's how he could easily tell that SungWoo was, and what it would mean if he wasn't... but when I read your bit about sexuality not being the point, that really clicked for me mentally. There were other impulses driving that action, and that is the focus.
I really like your final paragraph too.