roddib

The psychological depth in Light Beyond the Reed is outstanding. FL and ML couldn't be better in their roles. This is a very touching, and worthwhile drama. The character growth is FL's mother and brother and father is immensely well portrayed. There's also the police who are quietly supportive and persist in the investigation. This is definitely not for those who want light and fluffy but it is truly meaningful deep drama. The way this drama handles a difficult topic is amazingly well thought out and intelligent.

In the beginning FL really irritated me because she was so unconnected from everything in her life. She was like air, almost non existent. We slowly learn why her husband wanted to divorce her. She never stands up for herself or fights back against her dominating mother. But she finds herself and the strength she had in her youth when faced with a sink or swim situation.

ML is similarly lost to himself. But we don't initially see it as he seems to be the pillar of strength in holding everything together. We see the couple gradually becoming more honest and real with each other. Their initially fragile connection becomes deeper and proves to be a lasting one.

When there's such empathy and understanding in a drama towards its main characters, the tragic events are not depressing. It's more a purifying experience. As in classic tragedies. But this one is essentially a journey from darkness to light and an emotionally intelligent drama.

What I didn't like: the background music with the violin screeching and torturous piano. Was like from a horror movie. Too old skool. I had to constantly mute the sound and then put it up again to hear the dialogues.

9/10

This is so heartwarming. Strongly recommended if you liked Meet Yourself.

To the Wonder

yes it's subbed

Seems like a calming and healing drama.

Youku

You write so well and I hope you put this up as a review so that it doesn't get lost in the stream of comments. I also think of writing a review but it's too difficult!

kisskh

Many thanks for commenting! I'm also rather sensitive and also need pacing with calmness and taking breaks when a drama gets too heavy. These dramas are really not everyone's cup of tea but immensely precious to me.

This drama is very sad but very beautiful. A masterpiece in terms of storytelling, writing, acting and cinematography. I didn't find it depressing, because there's so much empathy in the drama for its main characters. When we feel such strong empathy for the characters in a drama and feel their feelings, it's more a purifying experience. I really like dramas that make me feel strongly. I also particularly loved the storytelling techniques (we get a lot of unreliable storytelling). The cinematography is magnificent, cinema-level. A drama not to miss. 9.5/10

All the antagonists are portraying the standard psycho villain expressions. Mad grins and laughter. So boring. For a drama to be good, antagonists must be interesting and not complete psychos. I totally lost my interest when the mother turned up, surprise surprise, another grinning psycho. The downhill slide of the drama keeps accelerating. Too bad. I only really liked the first 2 episodes.

I really liked the last episode of Our Movie and expected this to have the same solution. Then we could have gotten a more complete story arc for the 2nd couple. Instead we got an ending for the story arc of the 3rd couple which weren't even truly there before the last episode.

Too many k-dramas start filming with incomplete scripts these days.

That would have been so much better.

I absolutely loved Run On from the same writer. The dialogues were great. I've watched it twice. This tried to outsmart the dialogues in Run On but just ended up weird. The characters didn't seem consistent. Instead of forming 4 distinct personalities, they all never said what they meant and didn't mean what they said. Adults blowing soap bubbles, adults playing with firecrackers. The quirkiness was too much for my taste. Too many side characters that never were fully developed. I kind of did like this since I watched until the end. But what there was to enjoy was pulled away by the "we never meant anything by this drama" ending. The actors were trying their best but in the last episode were visibly struggling. Nothing here was really irritating but nothing felt completely sincere or emotional either. I'm giving 7.0 for the good try and the actors. They all deserved a better script.

I'll never forget Bubblegum Uncle

Yes and it doesn't get back on track unfortunately

His story arc and character growth was so satisfactory... for a long time I was unsure which way he would turn.

Finally I got the see the finale. Everything in this drama just screams high quality. The writing is magnificent. The acting, especially Zhang Yi Shan as Joseph Lee, unforgettable. There were many many moments when this drama pulled at my heartstrings and brought me near tears. It's suspense filled and not necessarily an easy watch. To have basic knowledge about the historical background and context before watching is a must, imo. 9.5/10

watching at kisskh (has eng subs)

Am at ep 3. I guess it's fair to warn that this is not for the fainthearted. But I'm impressed and invested. Fantastic drama. Raw and realistic.