Kate

I would say the strength of this show was in its scenes of traditional practices and focus on religion and folklore rituals. < for sure. Most of my favorite scenes center around these topics 🔥

There is no attempt to build a connection between these characters as they are now. There are only external elements pushing them together < this is one of the issues I usually have with the "past life connection/reincarnation" romance. Coz it too heavily relies on the fact these characters are just "destined to be together" so often the actual built up is weak. I had some hopes for Khemjira since at first they actually addressed the issue and how Master called out Khem that they are not who they were in their past life. But then they just dropped that conflict to never be addressed again...

Yet somehow they became a safe space for each other < and isn;t that our favorite genre of romance 🔥💖
and how somehow she had this tendency to insert herself into situations where she should be standing 500 m apart < the lack of ethics on her part was so bad it was laughable 🤣

And some slightly over simplified mental issues. < that's a really nice way to put how unprofessional the whole mental health side of the drama was 🤣

zombie grandpa!!!! 🔥🔥💖💖🤣

creating a clear picture of the story for the viewer in very limited time. < this! I am honestly so impressed how clear the story, it's progression was without them literally spelling everything out - which would feel less organic and raw.

I honestly appreciate how they were able to creative this raw and heavy feeling about the topic of abuse, without it feeling overwhelming and too much for the viewers. as you said, even tho the themes on te drama were often grim and painful to witness, it did have this uplifting feeling to it.

And Jin is swept offshore as he becomes "weaker." But he is not "weaker," no. The more he's with Haruki, the more he lets himself feel. And it's a needed revelation but also terrifying. < this! Jin being this indifferent at the beginning and socially isolated, not having one truly deep and close connection to anyone is a result of neglect, it;s pathological and unhealthy. So him starting to explore his own feelings is actually what made him stronger even if it does not seem like that at first.

A space that allows the two to forget the worlds/rivers they come from and focus on each other. < this basically. No mater where the rivers started, they met at the end and that's what truly matters 😭

and starts to believe that he is no better than his father! < I think it's even worse than that. Coz there is peace that comes with believing something and accepting it. but it's not that he believe now he is no better than his father, but rather at some point he will become like him. And the anxiety that comes from expecting the worst for yourself in the future is awful... "I am like my father" either gives you peace that comes from acceptance or potential motivation to change. "I will be like my father and there is nothing I can do about it and it scares me" is so much worse 😭

I truly appreciate how they made it clear in the show that Jin's family situation is also pathological and unhealthy. They could easily just focus on the abuse Haruki faced, but they made sure it's not just one sided story. For just 10 episodes each around 20 minutes long, the storytelling was extremly strong.

The ending… Ugh… I hate the ending < I laughed like a maniac when they dropped the "10dance" voice over and rolled the credits at the end 🤣🤣 I just could not believe the movie just ended like that 🤡

and gets even better in the second season. < well now I'm more excited 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Feeds posts:
https://kisskh.at/profile/theKate/feeds/ABB4xzHA - ep 1
https://kisskh.at/profile/theKate/feeds/maapkpcM - ep 3
https://kisskh.at/profile/theKate/feeds/mOO1XncW - ep 4

his inner monologues complaining about his bad luck < not gonna lie, these were some of my favorite scenes 🤣 the relatability of the inner complaining 🔥

It is astounding how the people working on this show have developed the supporting characters so well that I feel like I know them, even though they get very little screen time. < this is also something I enjoyed. They truly were not on screen a lot, and there was close to no focus on their individual stories and lives, but somehow I feel like I can easily imagine their lives.

You can even say she’s an abusive mother. When she was given a second chance to do it all over again, she seized the opportunity to right the wrong and be a better mother. < I'd say she was 100% abusive. I mean emotionally abusive at least. Just the fact she was limiting food and using it as a reward system is literally abuse 🙃 She was never a good mother... And she kept making the same mistakes after the accident too.

Their acting skills are undeniable < the performances was easily my favorite part of the drama 🔥Ra Mi Ran is such a great actress!

Great review! ✨

I needed her to take 100% brutal accountability in person. < this. Like I never truly believed she understood how wrong she was, especially since even after his accident as adult she kept making the exact same mistakes all over again. If we had a proper confrontation, I think it would convey her change a bit better.

I mean out of all BOF actually kind of made sense in that specific fictional universe, since they basically to some extend became friend coz of their influential parents putting them in the same private education since they were like 3 🤣 at least in the Korean version. I think here the connection was more linked to the social status and less to them being hot and popular coz of that.

(obviously not actual diagnostic level but guys made too obviously stereotypically feminine without it ever being addressed as something difficult to endure which it ABBBSOLUTELY would be for teen guys). < the problem is not even them making specific characters more feminine, coz there are guys like that. But the fact majority of the guys in these BL shows are like that - this is the unrealistic part. There is literally close to no variety in dynamics in BL dramas - it's always the masculine hot dude and the feminine cute boy 🙃

What do you mean I need to wait 5 days for episode 2?
When I need it right now 🤡

I'm so in for this idiots journey, so clueless, so adorable 🤣 Ready for all that unnecessary pinning 🙃
Not gonna lie, when they started to drop all these years as they passed I started to get confused as fuck. So just know we start high school, and then present timeline is 10 years later 😅

Yokoi Minato is such a visual 🔥

Every time someone started to be a little bit too annoying - it's time for you to go ☠️⚰️👻

In many ways this drama was cutting edge. (Pun intended 😁) < 🤣🤣🤣🤣 That's a good one 🔥

I didn’t honestly care if romance happened in this at all. It was absolutely lovely and expected, sure, but not at all the reason this is valuable. < honestly for me romance was just a way to tell the coming of age story, rather than being the focus. It was just one of the factors that made the characters grown, change and develop, and not the actual goal of the story itself.

Teen romance in this drama feels like real teen romance. < not only the romance, but overall the teens felt like real teens. And kids felt like kids, university students felt like uni students and adults felt like adults. The character were really written age appropriate and I love it 💖

I do agree about the dad. I was not even mad about him showing up out of a blue, coz it could work storytelling wise - the same way he is just a random presence in the life of kids that brings fear, he could have been a random presence to audience that brings confusion. But the way they handled the conclusion had me 🙄🙄 That was the one unrealistic and ridiculous part of the show...