SO much potential and so much lost out on by not fulfilling it - did they even try?
I love BL romances, and I love a story where the main character has been in love with the love interest for many years, but I think in this particular context – idol and his fan, that Na Ae Joon was in romantic love with his idol initially meant we missed out on some of the nuances that are unique to idol-fan dramas. In this type of drama, we expect Na Ae Joon to love Si Yeol as a fan loves his idol. I think kpop fans (and I am one) usually view being fans more as a … (ugh, I’m going to butcher this, but I can’t think of better wording right now, so please forgive me) a purer, more selfless love. At the very least, it’s in a different category than romantic love and fills a different need than romantic love. Then it would almost make his betrayal that much deeper. Because when you’re a fan of an idol – or the level of fan Na Ae Joon is supposed to be, your idol is the light in your world – not in the way that a romantic partner is, but how your greatest passion is. How do I put this. In a fan’s life, you have your romantic partner, your friends and family, and your idol/group/bias, and they each fill a different need, or they fill the same needs in different ways… hold a different place in your heart? Anyways, watching them perform lifts you up when you’re at your lowest; them smiling and laughing on a show makes you smile and laugh; you look forward to going home so you can watch more of their videos and fanboy over them with other fans. Falling in love with a person and finding out they used you is a huge blow, but losing your bias on top of that – the person who got you (and specifically Na Ae Joon) out of one of the darkest points in your life, who you cheered on for years behind the scenes – they’re someone who holds a different part of your heart. It’s like taking away the person you love and your greatest passion all at once. Two things you can’t live without, rather than just one. Ugh, am I even making sense?
Also, they did the second couple dirty. It was like they forgot they needed to resolve the second couple's plot until they were making the final episode, and they rushed the conversation – so much that we never get a clear answer as to what Kyu-sung was doing (no specifics to not spoil things), and we blink and everything is better. Wuuuuuuuuuuuut? Even if they’re expecting us to make inferences from context, this revelation is the key plot point! Not just in their specific case, but every love story! It’s the moment when everything becomes clear about the misunderstanding – and the actor’s response to and the character’s growth from this is the climax of the show/arc/character’s development! Instead, it was like we were being told a story and the narrator nods off at the climax and snorts awake when you start complaining, only to yawn and tell you, "they had a happy ending, now will you go to bed."
I didn't notice the music, but that's not a great sign if it's a drama about idols.
I put a 6 for the rewatch value and not lower because I want to go back and rewatch it to better remember the parts where they went wrong and to reimagine them in my head. As I said, so much potential, none of it taken advantage of. If they had changed these two parts, it would have been a pretty good drama. B+ BL and not a C- like it is now. a 70% barely.
Also, they did the second couple dirty. It was like they forgot they needed to resolve the second couple's plot until they were making the final episode, and they rushed the conversation – so much that we never get a clear answer as to what Kyu-sung was doing (no specifics to not spoil things), and we blink and everything is better. Wuuuuuuuuuuuut? Even if they’re expecting us to make inferences from context, this revelation is the key plot point! Not just in their specific case, but every love story! It’s the moment when everything becomes clear about the misunderstanding – and the actor’s response to and the character’s growth from this is the climax of the show/arc/character’s development! Instead, it was like we were being told a story and the narrator nods off at the climax and snorts awake when you start complaining, only to yawn and tell you, "they had a happy ending, now will you go to bed."
I didn't notice the music, but that's not a great sign if it's a drama about idols.
I put a 6 for the rewatch value and not lower because I want to go back and rewatch it to better remember the parts where they went wrong and to reimagine them in my head. As I said, so much potential, none of it taken advantage of. If they had changed these two parts, it would have been a pretty good drama. B+ BL and not a C- like it is now. a 70% barely.
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