JoJo

Too gray, just a little gay

It was a good story but I have some issues mostly with how they decided to tell it.

We have too many fillers and too little context about their relationship. We see more about the functioning of his job than the background of what happened when they were younger.

There are too many questions and no answers. Who made a move when they were younger. How was the reaction. Why did he run? Why was it so difficult to accept him. He had already said they weren't family. He's OK with being gay since he openly says he's having sex with men. I don't seen where the issue lies. They don't even have a relationship with their parents.

It's all way simpler. The character, much as the writer, decided to complicate something that could be way simpler.

The chemistry between the leads was excellent. There was an overall annoyance that was perfectly transmitted but it was too much to enjoy this drama a bit more. Maybe there's a fine line between frustration and annoyance. According to the tittle there should be a little more sadness and a little less frustration.

All in all, it was an interesting watch.

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It lacked conviction

I'll start with what's more obvious for me, they're very incompetent for those who are praised to be the best detectives. The mystery solving part of the drama was very lacking and that's what annoyed me the most.

A lot in this drama lacks conviction and commitment. Deciding to trust someone just because they're supposed to be your friend but had hidden important information from you doesn't seem very sensible for someone in the middle of an investigation. Even when things are blown out of proportion like FL's expulsion, the train of thought associated with everything around it doesn't make much sense.

I couldn’t finish it all, I just watched the last episode. The ending also lacks conviction. It feels like lukewarm water when you're trying to take a shower on a winter day. It's not satisfying

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How about the journey?

I hate how kdramas depict capitalist struggles and the stoicism they attach to it. Suddenly the struggle gets 100 times harder than it already is without the stoicism.
I hope, as a global community, we can all go to the root of the problem so we can move forward as a healthier and more humane society. We're not made for capitalism and we're social animals, we need community, we strive in community.

I don't believe the FL had low self-esteem. Not relying on other people is usually a symptom of trauma. It's usually experienced by people who have, throughout their lives, found out they don't have anyone they can rely on. Having to pay back every help you were offered, means you have had many people let you down and know there are no free lunches. Failing to build trust and friendships as a result is what she would have to overcome. It doesn't make much sense that she can't seem to rely on anyone since she has a very supportive mother and she had received help from a friend. She doesn't seem to know how friendships work. It would have been better to end at episode 5 instead of painting the issues with the relationship in such superficial terms.

The male lead suffered from something very typical of heterosexual men. They don't listen or pay attention and do as they please. Not listening to something someone with trust issues says or goes through furthers the trust gap. Where there's no trust, there can't be a healthy relationship.

Capitalism in action, where your worth is dictated by what you do and how much money you have, will certainly interfer with a normal relationship. A fragile relationship will certainly suffer even more. But, all the money in the world can't get a man to start listening and paying attention. He did, however, show maturity when he proposed to communicate instead of ignoring the issue.

Camiño de Santiago is seen as a spiritual journey and a journey of faith, very closely linked to the Catholic religion and the spiritual struggles of being a Catholic. It felt like they treated the journey as a vacation, we didn't get to see the impact, we saw all the problems solved but we don't even know to which extent. Did she relent all control? Did he start to listen?

It seems weird that she goes on a journey of self discovery with company. I honestly don't understand the message. Is there a message?

Anyway, it made more sense than the first one. I know shorter dramas can be challenging to adequately portray a story. It was a good and fun, at times, drama to watch.

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Capitalism is the problem

It's one of those dramas where everyone's an asshole.
Probably Ari's brother is the one that is not actively an asshole, but he was hardly in the story.

They chose to go for an anonymous hater, with no real motive who represents the working class, instead of addressing the real issue with this stratification of society. Calling someone with depression and someone who clearly sees the disparity in society a nut job is dismissive, offensive and villainizing. It was a choice to make her a hater. It was a choice not to go to the root of the problem.

Their self-importance remains unchanged in the end. They didn't learn anything.
I do know there are a lot of online haters and trolls but social media is only a reflection of society. If we cared for the people and solved the disparities there would be a lot less hate. Many people are mad at the disparities and don't have the tools to figure out why they're mad. This drama made it seem like a jealousy problem instead of the real issue, which is inequality, that derives from some having access to privilege and also from salary theft.

The love interest (I can't consider him a male lead. He wasn't a lead in the story) said if it wasn't for him his workers would be unemployed, so he doesn't mind providing them with undignified work because, for him, he's being charitable. We don't need charity, we need proper salaries and proper jobs and we need the rich to pay a fairer amount of taxes that will support a strong network of social services. Then no one needs to die because they can't afford food, healthcare or even a house.
We all know millionaires and billionaires don't provide for more work or for more money to be in circulation, they are hoarders of wealth. Trickle-down economics doesn't work, and there's no such thing as an ethical rich person, just like we saw, those rich influencers weren't ethically created as well.

Social media is a way to numb the working force and to make sure we don't organise and create a fairer world. They kept saying throughout the drama that life is unfair. Yes, life is unfair, but knowing the root of the issue helps us create a fairer world. If you were going to talk about inequality, you should have gone to the root cause. I believe art has the power to conduct change and this drama could have been a spark in that direction.

It was a good mystery drama. It was annoying, especially for someone who doesn't care about influencers, like me. It was a good social commentary, but it will go over people's heads if they aren't aware of the root causes of our social imbalance. With all the fascist propaganda going around, I'm assuming that it will be a lot of people.

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Not just summer, a strike of a lifetime, hopefully

Why did you kill Halmeoni?!!?!?!

Now that that's out of the way, let's get into the review.

I find the dramas and films with the most dreamy posters tend to be the most traumatising and yet again it was proven true.
Besides the trauma, the drama was peaceful, purposeful and exciting. I loved that the main couple decided they didn't want to live up to anyone's expectations and did their thing. I'm hoping that's what I'm doing too, so it was relatable and inspiring. I wish I were that brave sometimes.

In kdrama world we're often bombarded with a work ethic that is unhealthy and inhumane, it's refreshing to see someone realising exactly that and going the other way.

The romance was inevitable since the leads are two of a kind. I would love to see it being developed more but I know they're shy and that's part of their charm. Still, you robbed us of a kiss IN THE RAIN and I'm never going to forgive that.

I found the solving of the mystery sloppy, it could have gone horribly wrong. It was probably the most fictional part of the story. The mystery was important but wasn't as interesting as the more mundane parts of the story.

The vibe was good, the place was beautiful. I wouldn't mind moving there too. I hope one day I can live by the ocean.

One last thing, there's no need to follow harmful Disney stereotypes. You don't need to have dogs growl at bad people. Dogs can't measure morality, that's a harmful stereotype for people who can't get along with dogs for whatever reason and that doesn't make them bad people. It didn't even make the ones in the drama bad people. Whenever you think that's a good way of telling people's intentions, please remember Hitler had dogs that loved him.

I'm still not over Halmeoni. I cried so much watching this drama. Note to self: don't trust dreamy posters.


15.02.2024
I rewatched the show again (except the Halmeoni part) and I've been listening to the soundtrack since yesterday too. Summer Strike has, indeed, turned into one of my comfort shows. The theme, the ambience, the characters, the struggles, the simplicity in the way of life they enjoy and pursue are what mainly draws me to it.
It's the definition of contentment and that's my ultimate objective in life. To feel content. To feel like nothing is missing and I can simply enjoy every second of all that life brings.
Friends, food on the table, time to oneself, a fulfilling and paying job I can do from wherever, a calm city by the ocean, access to art materials and the internet and health and energy to enjoy it all.
It does seem like the perfect life. A life of enjoyment and contentment. A goal and, hopefully, not just a dream.

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Healer or Ji Chang Wook always delivers

It's a good drama but, naturally, it has its flaws.

The story was interesting and engaging up until episode 15. This could have easily been a 16 episode drama. The back story was sometimes confusing.

What put me off the most was the increasing eagerness to make Chae Yeong Shin afraid and/or repulsed by Seo Jung Hoo. She was the one who believe in his good side from the start, even before she met him, it makes absolutely no sense that she would be afraid of him after knowing him. It didn't seem natural to the character and so it made absolutely no sense to me to lead the story that way.

I liked the yearning, that's something I find myself missing in the dramas I've recently watched.

The OST is of its time, you can definitely tell it's an older drama because of that. It's very cringy at times but the start of the main theme and ending theme still get me excited.

Driving people to change for someone else will lead to resentment. I'm glad they put the parallel between being a journalist and a truth seeker, it's something that is missing in journalism today, they report without informing and without putting the truth above all else. Maybe watching this drama could inspire some journalists.

It disappointed me a little that they went with such tropes as asking the father for permission to date. Their meaning of being normal turned out being boring. You can be interesting and exciting without committing crimes. At least I'd like to think that I am. lol

I know he's supposed to be somewhat the best at everyhting but it didn't add up him being bedridden without any strength to push her out the door and in the next moment they have what seems to be hours of intense love making. He could barely open his eyes! Be for real! It took away the supposed "magic" of the moment.

Some other things don't add up but we'll leave it at that. It was a good watch nonetheless. The action was fantastic, Ji Chang Wook is one of the best in kdrama land.

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Love in times of a global pandemic

Ok! The word baby has been redeemed! I don't mind if someone calls me like that anymore! Hehe

It's cute, real, a bit cheesy sometimes, a bit sad as well, fun and heart fluttering.

Love in times of a global pandemic.
Or what a relationship is probably like all the time for me! Lol

The whole series has several layers of relatability. Besides showing what living is like during a pandemic, it shows life stories that I can recognise even in my own life and it shows the dynamics of relationships and dating long distance.

It's a rollercoaster most times but we all have those phases in life. It seems like nothing really happens for a long time and all of a sudden the whole world falls on you.

Their jealousy quarrels made me feel very uncomfortable because I lived that. It was pointless and frustrating. I don't think I can see a way out of the circle an argument like that creates. I didn't seem to see a solution in what they presented and in real life that would have resurfaced once again.

We'll see if it carries to season 2. (Hopefully not because I really hate jealousy!)

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Anti-Climax

It started well, it was fun and engaging and it had a good starting point.
The main problem I believe is the storytelling. The notion of show not tell is completely lost on this K-drama. The last episode, with the children's play, is a true representation of that. They show us the story we just watched and include the story we just watched again. It's like saying the audience isn't smart enough to take a hint.

A lot of the plot points were too forced. Everything was conveniently placed or things conveniently happened, like FL having to enter the dating show. I didn't mind that if it continued to be fun but it wasn't.

There seemed to be no romance outside of the love triangle. Once the love triangle stopped, the romance turned into a friendship.

The most important part was the emphasis on mental health and the importance of being honest with oneself.
I believe it was mostly a story about how harmful stoicism is and its implications for our mental health and our relationships with ourselves and the ones around us. So, don't bottle it up and don't go through hardships alone. We can be trees but we're also a forest.

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I guess there was a reason I waited so long to watch this. It did disappoint me a lot.

The theme is great and the relationship is mature and those were the only positive sides for me.

At the beginning it's all extremely silly, instead of it being a comedy, it turns into just silliness. The soundtrack didn't help with that at all. I do understand this drama is adapted from a webtoon but sometimes they forget the adaptation part.

Then there's a point when the main actors don't seem to be acting anymore and everything turns into a melodrama we can guess how is going to turn out that we've seen time and time again. The magic that was barely there (except for the scene at the writer's house) disappears and the overconfidence and comfort appear but that just left me uncomfortable. It was like I wasn't invited to the story anymore. It disengaged me completely.

Everyone keeps talking about the chemistry between the leads but I couldn't feel it. There wasn't any spark in their eyes and they didn't manage to put one in mine.

In the end, it was extremely boring to me. My love for the leads wasn't enough for this drama to leave a positive memory in me.

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Just because it's common, it doesn't mean it's the best for everyone

If this is the type of propaganda the South Korean government is making to fight the "marriage crisis", I can see why it's not working.

I wasn't expecting much from it. It goes along what's to be expected from a web drama. It was maybe more well produced and not as obviously reliant on "in your face" advertising, which made it easier to watch.

I don't agree with the plot. I believe it's forced and doesn't make sense. The woman who didn't want to get married is the only one who ends up married. That's not a plot twist because it goes against what she wanted for herself. It comes from an ultimatum. Both situations are ultimatums. The only way you can get women to do what men want is through ultimatums and social pressure and not through their own accord.

The woman who was taking in information that made here weary of marriage was the one who only had the choice of either getting married or breaking up with someone she was only seeing for a year. They obviously had different goals in life, she was still figuring out what she wanted and was made rush a decision against her instinct.

The other couple was obviously very immature, even if they had been together for longer. It doesn't make sense to break up because she's doing an internship in another country, especially after he was in the military and they didn't break up because of that. It was good that he came to his senses and didn't try stopping her from pursuing the career she wants. It doesn't make sense breaking up because you're trying to better yourself as a person. A relationship is supposed to be common growth and shared growth as well. It must be an Asian ideal I don't think I'll ever understand.

The single girl didn't make sense in all of it. Why would she intentionally mess with a taken man? She wasn't even in love with him, she just wanted to get married and she thought they were a match because he wanted to get married as well. It's really grim when basic manners are perceived as affection or even love. That should be the basics of human relationships.

In conclusion, this show makes it seem as if every woman wants to get married and to a man. The truth is that more and more women are choosing to be single. A recent study showed that single women are the happiest and most satisfied demographics. Maybe we should start reflecting that in our media instead of trying to push an outdated model that doesn't server and wasn't designed to serve women at all.

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I still don't know why her

It was exciting for a little bit and then it was just meh.
It was very predictable from the start but predictability is OK so long as the right decisions are made and the interest is kept. That's not what happened.

Some decisions were ridiculous, others infuriating. The ending is anticlimactic.

I still had some fun and enjoyed some of the secondary characters. There was too much emphasis on Oh Soo Jae. I know she was the main character but there comes a point where you can't have so many secondary characters and they simply disappear or are simply plot devices. Even the male lead wasn't a lead, he was a secondary character.

Still, I couldn't figure out why her. It's very random that this all happened to her.

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I still don't understand the title

This kdrama showed me a lot of the things I missed about the industry: real people - real skin, pores, skin texture, beard stubble, beautiful and healthy, sun kissed golden skin; people throwing liquids at the FL; a hopelessly in love ML; a healthy dose of nonsense; the nonsense ring tones and a ridiculous keyboard tapping sounds; people looking sad and depressed, saying nothing for long periods of time, looking longingly at their surroundings.

It was fun and depressing, with a little sprinkle of nonsense and hope. Even if it was annoying at times, it was nice to see real people and a story that takes its time. The state of recent kdramas has me longing for simpler times and I guess that's why I watched this one.

Even if the beauty standards aren't as strict as today, they're still equating glasses and curly hair with ugliness, but I guess that's still universal, unfortunately. In this drama we see superficial "improvement" or more topical and stylistic ones, instead of the permanent ones we're seeing in today's kdramas. Most of today's kdramas seem like an advertising to the plastic surgery and cosmetics industry. It feels like they're telling us to apply new paint to an imperfect house because what matters is what we see on the outside. Anyway, this kdrama was refreshing because it was an escape of what the kdrama world is largely becoming.

It has been puzzling me for a while how there are so many dramas that deal with cancer. It's a very specific trope to KDramas, which is probably something that is very present in Korean society. Tropes and stereotypes exist for a reason. They might be reductive but are usually indicative of at least a trend. I found out not long ago that there is a correlation between the presence of military bases and the increase in cancer diagnosis. Correlation might not be causation but the probability of causation is very high.

I'll leave a few articles here that might bring light on this:
https://gijn.org/stories/investigating-toxic-military-bases-and-their-links-to-cancer/
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/unpublished-study-finds-elevated-cancer-rates-us-military-base-2023-11-10/
https://www.civilianexposure.org/military-bases-are-full-of-cancer-causing-compounds/

Besides being the highest polluter in the planet, the US military is poisoning the people around the world. They have 800+ military bases all over the globe and these are the ones they have in South Korea, they're a lot for such a small country: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Army_installations_in_South_Korea
It doesn't matter that many of them are closed, the contamination remains in the soil. The uncountable amount of cancer patients we see in KDramas could be linked to that, since, in some way or another, kdramas reflect Korean reality. Maybe that would be something interesting to talk about in a kdrama but with such levels of pro-US propaganda I doubt anyone will ever do that.

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Powerful and beautiful

This would make a close-to-perfect film.
It was slow in the beginning and it had some plot holes. It's not clear how or why the leads fell in love with each other. It's cold and weary and then half-way they lit a spark that we aren't sure where it came from. They were too subtle on developing such an intense love. I believe that's my biggest criticism of this drama.
I do believe this drama is worth it just for the last three episodes. It would have been great with an optimised storyline for film. I'm giving it a high score just for the last part of the drama.

I knew this could never have a happy ending but I'm still left profoundly heartbroken. It took me a long time to finish this drama because of the theme, in the current political affairs, and because I was feeling the pain of the protagonists a little too intensely.

Overall, the drama is great. It talks about important topics, the cinematography is insanely beautiful and the soundtrack matches the visual and the theme. They all work perfectly together with the acting and most of the story.

I like the way the Soul Reaper confronted his abuser. While he was talking about transcendence and deity, the Soul Reaper brought him back to earth. The ones who do evil do it because they are evil or are ok with the suffering of others and there's usually a societal and political structure which allows them to do this level of evil. He put him in his place and it was an act of justice. Those who commit these acts are people, no matter their social or political status. They need to be treated as such and need to be served the people's justice. I found this very relevant in all of society so often controlled and propagandised by religion and power.

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There's one missing

I wasn't going to write about this, but, as usual, I can't shut up.

Other people have talked about how badly DID was represented, I agree and don't have much to add to that, except that you can't cure mental illness with "romantic love" and pushing that idea could stigmatise an already stigmatised condition and other mental health conditions by extent. I do know that shows have some creative liberty and the Cinderella DID, which switches at midnight, is a bit nonsense enough to maybe not be taken as a norm by people who don't know about the illness, but you never know.

You don't need to do a disservice to mentally ill people if you want to talk about the multiple facets women can have within themselves and how not all of them should be accepted and loved. It's a bit sad that, to show the multidimensionality of women, you need to make it into an illness that then is cured by love or whatever. It also raises the question of having to be healed to be deserving of love. People with mental illnesses are capable of having a love life and people who love them, even if they can't be cured.

What I really have to talk about is the sex trafficking apology. It is pushed as sex work, a personal decision for adults kind of thing when, in fact, that's not the reality. While trying to show the reality of sex work to the character, they ended up showing propaganda that has serious consequences in real life. I'm not a prude, it's not about sex or the individual right to sell whatever part of the body the person wishes to. Usually, we tend to see the individual stances, instead of the systemic forces and consequences behind it. They referenced sex work as a driver for tourism in Thailand as if that is a good thing. We all know (or should know) about passport bros and how problematic they are in Asia and other countries with high wealth gaps. It's an industry of exploitation, trafficking that doesn't just involve adult women or men (who usually come from poverty), it often involves children. Portraying sex tourism in a positive light is being compliant and complicit in the abuse of women and children. The FL does push the point that if people had other choices in life, they wouldn't chose that path. It's sad the show decided to push personal choice, instead of talking about the system that makes people choose this path or be thrown in these circles of abuse and trafficking by their family at an age when they can't consent. Not all money is welcome, not all money develops countries and classes in the same way or even in a desirable and healthy way. And we can't keep reducing systemic problems to choice and "girl bossism". There needs to be a social responsibility other than "money good" and "individual choice". We should, above all, protect the children. Promoting sex tourism is promoting the abuse of children.

About the show, it was ok. The actors were good, the cinematography fantastic, as per usual.

I might stop watching these type of shows because I have to turn off my brain to enjoy them and that doesn't happen very often, the cinematography alone isn't motive enough to get me to watch a story. There are so many parts that don't make sense, but I'll talk about the ending. It doesn't make sense to me that she asks Sun which one she should be, especially when she is Marnmok. It doesn't make sense to me that being cured means she sticks to one personality and not a 6th one who represents the unity of them all, since they are all her. It also doesn't make sense to me that Sairung, the "pretty and sexy" one, is the one who remains - it shows the shallowness of Asian beauty standards. The personality who had the most time with Sun (and with us) was Marnmok, she was the one who truly drove him to make an effort to become a better self and develop himself as a person, alongside herself. They both grew together. There's more history with her than with the other personalities, there's also friction and more of what being in love is about. With the others it's all more shallow and fleeting.

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Can we have other stories?

It wasn't bad but it wasn't good. I liked that it ended up being a lesson on community and friendship, much more than a lesson in love or young love.

I have watched the original Taiwanese version in 2016 and I apparently sort of liked it. I honestly can't remember even watching it. I wonder why they keep remaking the same stories again and again. And did we really need a series and a movie? Is there nothing else to say?

All characters felt like caricatures, especially the support characters. It might have something to do with a Thai type of humour I can't really grasp, so I won't comment on it, I feel like it's cultural. It was funny at times, but other times it became annoying.

Lin never truly acted towards her feelings or let her feelings known out loud. We see a girl who exists to be put on a pedestal all throughout the series. She accepts the love given instead of acting on her love. She only acts towards her studies. She even decided to marry someone for pity, making the one she supposedly loves think its for love. It's a story which belongs to a time, and that time isn't now. First love doesn't mean only love. It never did. I know it's a story about first love but the ending is forced. It doesn't feel heart-warming, it feels cringe. It doesn't seem driven by love (you wouldn't ask someone to throw their phd away if you loved them). It seems like it's a matter of nostalgia and habit instead of love.

Having them have a relationship to sell products is a new level of low. I know they need financing but creating a second storyline doesn't sit right with me. Is it a story or an advert? And they gave us more romance in the ads than in the story.

It's fun and cute sometimes but that's just it.

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