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The story is quite complex and the characters' motivations make you question their every behavior. At the same time, a quick guessing game will lead you to the correct answer, because at the end of the day, the ending is not as unexpected and surprising as one could wish for.
The acting was for sure the best aspect of the movie. To say I was impressed would be an understatement. While Haneul aced the role, I didn't expect any less of him. I was the most drawn to Kim Mu Yeol - acting and character wise. He showed both a soft/friendly, but also mad and driven performance, and both were done perfectly.
There was one moment in the movie that caught me off guard and I could not stop laughing for a good five minutes. One of the quite common tropes used in Korean dramas, that turned this movie into a comedy. Thank God it was close to the end, because I wouldn't be able to take any scenes seriously after it happened.
Overall, the process of watching the movie and guessing where it's going was more entertaining than the movie itself.
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This review may contain spoilers
Mame, why?
Also, Kate why? Why are you always giving a chance to Mame shows, even if you know where it leads and how it ends. Why am I torturing myself?Theoretically speaking, Mame's ideas are not bad, but for the love of God she cannot write a good story based on them. So she adds bullshit plot lines to fill the screen time that should be used on developing well written characters and relationships.
Don't Say No with better writing would be legit good BL, focused on the realistic portrayal of friends to lovers (with all the awkwardness and unsureness of it), the struggle with accepting your past, thinking it's holding you back, or affects how your loved one views you, found family trope...
But she just cannot put these ideas into writing. There are truly good scenes here and there, but they are surrounded by so much trash. What seemed like a refreshing story of two completely different individuals with different past and romantic and sexual experiences trying to make their relationship work, turned into a bingo game of what kind of external excuse will Fiat get for sleeping with people. I guess having someone who just likes sex and does not mind having different partners is still too much of a taboo topic.
As I said, it started well. I loved the scenes where the internal monologues show how both Fiat and Leo are unsure, how Fiat's past affects both of them and the choices they make in their current relationship. None of them wanted to take the first step - Leo in fear of being seen like the other Fiat’s partners, who only wanted him for his body, and Fiat in fear of looking like an easy guy who only thinks about sex. Scenes like that were truly well written, and presented both the lead's perspectives and what type of problems they need to face.
But then we’ve got the usual Mame tropes of sexual assault/rape (yes, blackmailing someone into sleeping with you when they don’t want to, and would never do it willingly is a rape). I just don’t understand the reasoning behind these themes in the majority of Mame’s adapted works. They are just cheap ways of making the show more angsty, and one of the lead characters to be either jealous or protective. The dynamics between Fiat and Leo were interesting enough to fill the screen time without adding that dark past. Why is this woman so obsessed with toxic sexual relationships and rape? It’s not like I’m completely against using these toxic tropes in the stories, but there is no novel of hers that does not include them. At best it shows her lack of skills in writing good quality conflict, at worst showcases her unhealthy view and romanticisation of assaults.
That one plot line addressing the blackmail annoyed me for one more reason - the focus that was placed on how bad Leo felt about it, and not Fiat who was the actual victim. Everyone was going around asking Leo if he was okay, Fiat included. I am sorry, but what the heck? Shouldn’t they care a little bit more about the guy that was the victim, and not his boyfriend?
Then there is the mom with psychological issues, Fiat’s suppressed trauma and the explanation behind his bad relationship with dad. Why? Was it needed? No. Not to mention, the whole topic of child abuse, like always in Mame’s adapted stories, was written with complete lack of understanding and respect.
The second couple was cute, and that’s kind of it. Pretty much the cliché stereotypical BL story of a shy good guy who is reserved about the hot playboy, who was never in a serious relationship but wants to give it a chance when he meets that cute shy potato. That said, I did like their ending a lot. It just makes sense. Relationships end, sometimes the timing is not right, sometimes there are more important aspects of your life that you should prioritize.
One of my favorite aspects of the show was Fiat’s interactions with Leo’s family. The found family trope is strong here and I’m all for it. Loved how Fiat and Leon seemed more like real brothers - bickering all the time, but caring for each other a lot. Watching Fiat and Leo’s mother just made me smile more than once. It was amazingly heartwarming and pure. If only the writing focused more on Fiat gaining the confidence while being surrounded by people who love and care for him...
Moving to the actual performance of the actors. I actually liked Ja a lot. He is quite good at conveying emotions with his eyes. The melo and romance were more believable than the few instances of him getting angry, but he just does have this soft aura about him.
And then we have First and I want to cry. This child is so cute, but he truly cannot act. Probably some of the worst dry eyes crying scenes I have seen in years. Even his less emotional scenes were sadly not the greatest. He tends to overreact with his face. I did not mind his line delivery though. It was all about not being the greatest in controlling his facial expressions.
The supporting cast did fine. There were no outstanding performances, but I also have nothing to complain about. I liked Smart a lot, but since the role itself was not exactly demanding, I can’t go into detail about his performance. He also lost me a bit in the last episode.
Production value and music are the typical Thai BL quality - good, but not breathtaking. Have to say though, the styling of Fiat is just amazing. Makes little sense for him to be the only student wearing checked long sleeved shirts over his uniform and walking around the house in a fashion show like outfits, but I still loved it.
Overall, I have no brain left. It started well, taking into consideration past Mame works as comparisons, but then it went into the same rabbit hole of toxic tropes. I don’t even want to talk and think about the stalker girl and King.
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I’m not even mad about bls delivering all the cliche tropes, romances based on misunderstanding, the amazing soft angst, the naive lead falling for the grumpy lead that we’ve got in the post from straight romance stories. These plots sell, these plots attract the biggest audience and these plots are simply entertaining. And this is kind of what we’ve got from the Unintentional Love Story.
It was a fun journey to follow. While Ji Won Young was a painfully frustrating character at first, I cannot deny - this child grew on me. Surprisingly, he delivered some of the best and most mature lines out of all the characters. Yoon Tae Joon was one of the soft emo guys that makes your heart ache just the right way. Dong Hee and Ho Tae were rays of sunshine impossible not to love.
Truth to be told, at some point I started to be more curious and invested in this second couple, and I cannot stop myself from being quite disappointed with the lack of screentime and development, and only hope for a separate show that will follow their story.
The quality of acting depends on which actor you will focus on. Personally I enjoyed Han Do Woo's and Won Tae Min's performances the most (which was also one of the reason I enjoyed following their characters’ story more).
Cha Seo Won did an amazing job with the “I’m hurt, but I want to hide it and control my facial expression, but I still need to show it enough for the audience to see” scenes. Moments when we need to both clearly see what emotions the character is feeling, but also understand they want to hide it. On the other hand, Gongchan delivered a deer caught in headlights acting - mostly looking confused or scared with his pretty big eyes.
The kissing was basically like trying to stick two magnets together by the same pole. I could literally see how much force they had to put into getting so close together. I laughed... badly.
Production was great. Vast improvement from many k-bls. Would appreciate a little bit less smoothing filter on the actors’ faces though.
Overall, for such a nice watch. Not as emotionally touching as I wished it would, but something I for sure do not regret watching and would probably recommend others to check out.
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Calming and mundane. Wrapped in a thin layer of sadness that gets thicker as you watch.
"People can die of longing. Still, we were diligently making memories that we would be longing for every day."Even with the heartbreaking theme, the show had this peaceful aura about it. While not much was happening (with half of the episodes being cooking scenes with Han Seok Kyu’s narration over it) it just felt right. This show gives you pause to breathe and enjoy the moment while also slowly taking the breath away when you know what’s coming at the end.
It has gracefully balanced between the warm and happy moments and the harsh truth of the reality the family had to face. Recipe for Farewell does not show you the whole journey. It gives you bits and pieces, the moments, but it’s enough to understand the whole process and relate to the characters.
It’s a small story, happening in a small area with a small number of characters, yet it has a big heart and many amazing messages. It’s going to make you smile, laugh, cry. You are going to feel grateful for what you have, appreciating all the small things we usually ignore and take for granted in life. It talks about loss, grief, accepting the inevitable, maturing and putting aside our egocentric nature, reconnecting with people in your life.
All of that was possible thanks to the great writing and directing, but also phenomena acting from the whole cast. I cannot even describe how amazing of the job everyone did in this project.
Is this show for everyone? No. And I don’t mean it in a rude way, as if only “intellectuals” can enjoy it. It’s just truly character driven, truly mundane and truly not focused on the entertainment aspect. As much as I enjoyed it, I can easily see someone else finding it boring.
Overall, it’s a true gem. It’s not a show you watch for entertainment. It’s not something you put as a background while cleaning. It’s something you should enjoy at your own pace, free from external distractions.
Side note at the end, but Yang Su Won is one of the most amazing characters from all 2022 drama. On the other hand, closer to the end I started to strongly dislike Yeo Jin…
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This review may contain spoilers
An essay about an unforgettable journey.
I’m not gonna lie, I hyped myself quite a lot while watching. I heard how complicated and mindblowing of a ride the show is, and how hard it is to predict the twists, I thought of it as a challenge. And a challenge it was - frustrating in the best way possible.The issue with mystery shows is, they are either painfully predictable, or unpredictable to the point of randomness, when there is no point in trying to figure things out yourself, because the writers never give enough hints to make it happen. Someday or One Day is a hidden gem that was able to both deliver enough information I could somehow puzzle the pieces together and form my own theories, while keeping the mystery alive. A miracle most shows are unable to achieve.
It’s truly a masterfully crafted time travel, and I always have some issues with time travel stories. Me saying it’s good is a statement I never thought I would make about a time related story. With all the time lines, all the crossed paths and changes to the events, nothing was lost, nothing was contradicting, nothing felt out of place.
What is even more surprising, the plot itself is truly not that complex if you strip all the time travel aspects away. It’s a tale of loneliness, friendship, sacrifice and love. It was like a labyrinth that had an entrance and exit point right next to each other. Simple story presented in a complex and enticing way. While the core of the show were the characters and their relationships, I do believe it was more plot than character driven overall.
Was everything about the plot perfect? No. I do believe the psychiatrist's time traveling was one time travel too much and that arc was borderline makjang material. At the same time I accept that without it, it would be impossible to deliver the same conclusion to the story, which, after I slept on it, I found actually fitting and strangely beautiful.
Since it was not simply time travel, but actually body migration, I was disappointed how it was never truly a topic of conversation. How the characters never stopped to truly think about how morally questionable it is to live in someone else’s body. It was briefly mention at the end after Yun Ru’s suicide, but it was not enough for me.
I do believe some sequences are unnecessarily put in incorrect, non linear order, just to make the viewer more confused, when I felt the story was confusing enough without it. Yes, it all came together at the end, it is still a fact that at times I felt like I needed to start writing notes to make sure I can keep up with the story.
The last 3 episodes are something that is hard for me to make a judgment on. While I was not thrilled watching them, since the tone shifted from tight mystery to personal drama, after some consideration, they were necessary to give the show closure. As much as it was a love story, it was also a journey to acceptance of the loss.
Huang Yu Xuan was a character desperate to find her lost lover, to go back to the blissful days they shared. She was not able to heal from her loss, so when the opportunity arose to fix the future she could not accept - she took it. And yet, all that was futile and by the end, she had to accept she cannot produce the future she wants without hurting other people. I found her decision to destroy the tape brave and selfless. Not only did she give up reuniting with the love of her life (as she could not truly be sure they will be able to find each other in the future), she also gave up all the precious memories she had with him - all to keep the people she learned to care about alive.
It is true that she had faith that they would find each other, but she could not be sure about it. She took a chance, gave up the control over the events and put her trust in the connection they had, that was able to overcome countless setbacks.
Then we have Li Zi Wei. While I did find him adorable, dedicated, dreamy and perfect in all boyfriend type of ways, I did think he as an individual character did not have much to offer. Someday or One Day is his love story, but he does not really exist outside of it like the rest of the characters. And it makes it hard for me to truly talk about him, because there is not that much to address. He survived years of pain with the hope of reuniting with Yu Xuan. His love for her was deep. And yet, somehow I craved any scenes that were not connected with Yu Xuan, for example his friendship with Jun Jie. Things that would make him more than just Yu Xuan soulmate, lover, 2nd half.
The 3rd of the trio friends - Jun Jie. The character that was the hardest to read and one that left the most space for viewers interpretation. Was his love for Yun Ru based on his desire to save her? Or was he interested in her because he thought they were similar, could potentially understand each other? Personally, I found him to be one of the more heartbreaking characters. He made so much effort and yet it was inevitable he would be hurt by the end. All the tweaks to the timelines, all the changes and attempts to make things better, and yet he was always the one to suffer the consequences. I’m honestly happy that by the end of the show his life got back to normal and it was no longer affected by the two main characters trying to find each other and create the future they desperately wanted.
Talking about the characters, I cannot ignore both Chen Yun Ru and Wang Quan Sheng. First of all, justice for the boy. He got nothing from it. He suffered alive, got his body used by a lovesick guy after his death, and by the end of it all, his future was not affected in any positive way, he still ended up taking his own life. How much he was used in this scenario is honestly quite sad.
Chen Yun Ru had a little bit more agency. We get to know her more, understand her struggles on more than a surface level. She gets her 2nd chance and hopefully learns how to heal. Sadly, I find her story to be both hopeful and questionable with the presentation.
I am not sure how I feel about her change of heart at the end. Someone with such deep psychological issues getting better after hearing “manage your expectations” seems just silly. The vague message makes sense, don’t get me wrong. Many people are unhappy with their lives as they don’t see and don’t appreciate the things they have, fixating on things they want, but cannot achieve. And when their expectations are not met, they become even more unsure of themselves and unsatisfied with their lives. The issue is, Yun Ru was not just a gloomy and pessimistic girl who had issues making friends. Depression is not something you can easily change by fixing your mindset, and she was depressed. She tried to kill herself, and asked to be killed. So the idea that the few lines from Yu Xuan made such a huge difference felt flat.
I also feel like the message was quite conflicting. On one hand we were told her suicide was the result of the judgmental society who tried to changed her to match their expectations, the idea that whatever she did, it was never enough, because people did not accept her for who she was. But then they end her arc with the idea that it’s her who had to fix her expectations, not the society's approach towards people who do not meet the “norm”. So which one is it?
Time to talk about the glorious performances. Ko Chia Yen amazed me. Being able to deliver a believable portrayal of not only 2 characters, but in different stages of their life, making sure the small changes of approach and personalities make sense, making sure Yun Ru and Yu Xuan truly feel like two different people - she achieved it all.
Greg Hsu Li Zi Wei was painfully beautiful. The striking difference between his take on the teenage boy with cheerful demeanor and the adult version who suffered both physically and psychologically was perfect.
As for the production - I will never ever listen to Last Dance EVER again. This song goes right next to The Heirs “Moment” as the song used so much in a drama I’m actually sick of it. It’s a beautiful song, but I think I heard it enough for the lifetime.
Visually speaking it was low key beautiful. It felt like all these stunning moments we can actually encounter in our lives if we pay enough attention.
All that said, at the end of the day it’s a simple story about love and loneliness, presented in the most complex and convoluted, yet best way possible. It’s not a perfect drama, it’s not a perfect story and it’s not a perfect presentation of it, and yet I was invested from beginning till the end. I made wild theories and tried to uncover the truth as I watched every episode, and for that I am grateful. It made me rethink many issues and consider various situations from different angles. It invited me to explore various takes on the same problem and how, depending on one’s personality, preferences, expectations and past experiences, other people might see them in their own distinct way.
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No logic, no cohesiveness, no brain… and I have no self respect for watching this.
When watching this movie, every new revelation made me ask one simple question “why?” - everything about the characters, their relationship and plot progression was so unnatural all I could do was laugh about the piling up cliches.Alpha male with a soft heart and an innocent kid with a warm nature will give you a second hand embarrassment with every little ridiculous interaction and painful dialogues. Who needs decent writing when you can just throw poorly executed cliches at your audience?
And the ending? I don’t think I would manage to write something similar even on crack. What happened? How high were the characters? How high was the writer? It took me 30 minutes to finish the last 10 minutes. I kept pausing because my brain could not take this level of prolonged idiocy.
Acting wise… I think it’s time for me to leave the delulu land and admit Zee is not really a good actor, he is just good at delivering heart eyes. It truly pains me to say, since I basically wrote an essay about how amazing of an actor with great potential he has 4 years ago. On the other hand NuNew did quite well trying to deliver good performance even though the script made it an impossible task.
Overall, I regret watching it alone. I think this is a perfect title to group watch and joke about all the stuff that makes no sense. The movie truly invites you to rant your heart out.
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Everything stays in the family… kind of.
I’m not gonna sit here and pretend like both romances in the drama were not questionable, they were. I also have to give props to the director and writer for doing their best to deal with potential issues a story like that could present. Age gap, family relations, grooming, predatory behavior, lack of informed consent - all that could have been an issue, but somehow they managed to avoid shooting themselves in the foot - for most parts.What we’ve got, rather than just a romance, was a found family trope drama. The bond between Wei Qiao and Wei Zhi Yuan was deep and meaningful, slowly transforming into a partnership. They knew each other's shortcomings, they understood each other’s pain, they found home in each other’s presence.
Whenever the drama did a good job transforming the brotherly bond into a romantic one is a matter of opinion, personally I was quite fine with it. Being an overanalyzer, I appreciate how the show made me reflect on their relationship, examine how much of the connection was form on shared trauma and how much was driven by pure love. I’m glad the writer, with how the plot and characters were written, kept reassuring me that what they had was more than just codependency. Do I think both of them should go to therapy? Of course, but they are not the first, nor the last BL couple to never truly address or deal with the trauma.
We witness a story of two people who were abandoned and who found peace and happiness with each other. They had to face a lot of setbacks, both external and internal, to finally admit to each other feelings and allow themselves to be loved and love the other. The journey was not easy, but with love stories like that, it shouldn’t be. For me to enjoy this type of romance I need to understand it first, I need to feel like the characters also understand their own feelings. That they thought about it, talked about it, that there is no misunderstanding. And Unknown managed to do just that.
What made it possible were obviously the performances. Chris Chiu made the confusion and the strong internal denial Wei Qian was facing so real and raw. The way we could see on his face what he wanted, and how it went against what he actually did. The constant regret and fear of the situation and the feelings he could not quite understand and accept. Then we have Kurt Huang as Wei Zhi Yuan - from a chaotic teen, to resigned young adult, to confident adult. We witnessed his growth, we saw his dedication and unwavering feelings. And it all seemed so real on the screen.
All that said, there was one aspect of the show I just simply could not comprehend. One directing and editing choice that ruined quite an important scene for me. And I just cannot understand who thought this was a good idea and how no one questioned that choice on all the steps of the production.
Overall, it was less about finding a lover, and more about finding home. A partner that can understand and support you. One that you can rely on. One that always has your back. A partnership. Sharing the burden, sharing the happiness. A drama about finding a family and then working hard to keep it, in whatever form it might be.
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This show is the wake up call that begs us to be more skeptical.
This whole documentary just made me angry. The idea that some people can get so easily manipulated simply by the virtue of a person claiming they have holy guidance makes my blood boil. Rape, torture, murder, abuse, suicide - all because some random person claimed they are Jesus reincarnated. At the same time, it shows how clever these cult leaders were, how well planned their schemes were and how they selected the victims - they did not target everyone. That's why it's so important for us ask questions and rely on more than trust and belief.I’m not going to lie, the level of religious freedom in Korea was always fascinating for me. On the first glance the idea of all the religions being able to rather peacefully coexist in one country, where no one is truly judged by their religious beliefs sounds like a utopia. With this level of acceptance and “no questions asked” comes a big danger though: the country becomes a breeding ground for cults. How many reincarnated Jesuses can there be in the small country of South Korea at the same time?
The documentary presents a rather uncomfortable question: what to do with victims who become perpetrators? How much can be forgiven based on the brainwashing they went through, and how much responsibility should they take for their actions? The leaders were evil, we can all agree. We wanted them to be punished and suffer as much as their victims did. What with the members? Logically speaking you know they are the victims, but it’s impossible not to feel any resentment towards them.
Some people may say it was unnecessarily detailed, unnecessarily graphic, unnecessarily descriptive, but I strongly disagree. Did this documentary make you feel uncomfortable? Angry? Sad? Scared? Good, then it did its job to present the reality of the victims. Saying it was unnecessarily detailed is like saying it was unnecessary realistic - they used real footage of the events, they used real photos, videos and recordings, they used real testimonies - it was not shown for a shock value, it was shown because it was the reality of what happened. The reality was just that shocking, awful and evil.
If I were to complain about one thing production wise - some footages were shown a few too many times, especially of JMS in the first 3 episodes. They kept showing the same videos of him preaching, and that I felt was a bit too much and truly unnecessary. Showing it once would be enough.
TW: I don’t know… feels like anything you can think of: rape, dead bodies, suicide, self harm, abuse, child neglect, child abuse… They show real photos and videos from crime scenes and recordings from victims, even the reenacted interviews are detailed and based on the real statements from real victims. It’s a lot.
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The first few episodes bombarded me with many plot twists and "shocking revelations" to the point, I started to call the show "soft makjang". So many things happened, I was left in a state of confusion, but it made the show that much better, since the main focus of the drama is the aftermath and the process of healing and re-connecting with the family. We were getting to know the facts with the characters, learning bits and pieces, which helped me empathize with them more. I could understand why they struggled with the new situation, since I myself was confused about what was truly happening.
It touches on subjects such as LGBT, rape (did not happen during the show, but one of the characters was a victim of it, and it played a part in their story), ending a relationship when both sides do not agree on when and how to part ways, misunderstanding based on differences of characters and how you show you care for people.
Through the 3 siblings, we can observe different struggles people face in life. The oldest, Eun Joo and how she always tried to be strong, level headed and control her emotions. The middle sibling Eun Hee, trying to keep the family together and pacify all the sides in times of conflicts, acting as if she is carefree. The youngest Ji Woo, who tries to find himself, learn how to be independent, as he watches his family fight with each other.
I just truly cared for these characters, so when the drama ended, I already missed them. Did I cry? Yes. Not to mention, it has some of the best, natural and well paced romance I watched this year and the best "not a confession" confession scene (you'll know when you see it).
Did anything bother me? Not really. I was not that interested in the Sang Shik and Jin Sook story, and it was the weakest part for me personally, as I was annoyed with some choices both of them were making.
Overall, I have a feeling I might rewatch the show, or at least a few scenes this year. The good set of characters was for sure the core value of it.
Ps. Kim Ji Suk... damn, he fine.
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This review may contain spoilers
I am not going to lie, I felt extremely frustrated while watching this drama. It had amazing potential, but close to nothing worked out. The beauty - amazing cinematography and styling of our main character, and the beast - the writing.There honestly is not much to say about the characters, since the only one that had true depth was Man Wol. She was the centre of the drama and IU did an amazing job representing her development and gradual change. Chang Sung could have worked way better if it wasn't for Chung Myung. All the rest of the characters we simply did not spend enough time with, to truly care about. I must say, Sanchez was my favorite and he was the breath of fresh air.
Kim Seon Bi/Choi Seo Hee/Ji Hyun Joong aka when writers do not care.
Out of all their stories, only Seo Hee's had some depth to it. Kim Seon Bin's story was extremely random, there were close to no hints about his previous life so I did not even care to speculate what happened to him. Hyun Joong's past life story had the least sense. How did his sister not recognize that the guy taking care of her was not her brother. How did his family not ask any questions, why did they recognize her and not him? You could say it was a war so they did not see him for a long time, but the same would apply to the sister. Hong sisters did not care enough about those characters to spend time to truly explain and develop their stories. They had the material for a good 8 episodes of Man Wol's side and had to fill the rest with random storylines. I could not feel emotional about them all leaving at the end, because all I could think about was: None of it makes any sense.
I also believe it would be better to start sending away the characters around episode 10-12, and not just have them all gone in the last 2 episodes. We could slowly see how Man Wol is realizing all the people she loves and cares about are gone and moving on to the afterlife. How the ones that stay behind struggle with the loss. We would see her being more concerned about how will Chan Sung deal in the future when she is gone. Them gradually leaving would have more impact on both the characters and the storyline.
Chan Sung/Chung Myung aka the failed romance
While I enjoyed Chan Sung at the beginning, the moment we got more scenes with Chung Myung and the past story developed into something interesting, I could not focus on the present. Chan Sung was simply a boring character that was there only for Man Wol's story to develop and he had nothing going on for himself. When we met another male character that had a past romantic relationship with Man Wol, but also was its own character, it was easy to forget our male lead. At the end of the day I wished for more flashbacks and less present plot. And I would rather have them as friends than as romantic partners.
Kim Yoo Na aka no one truly cares about anything
While I enjoyed Yoo Na, I do believe they should have made her a more tragic character. Yet again, there was no depth to the story. Show me how much she struggles to fit in that new house, how she misses her old friends and family and how she is tired of pretending to be someone else.
All the hotel cases aka when you try too hard to please the viewers
I did not truly like any of the random hotel cases, but I hated some more than others. The most random one with the humans having sex in the hotel room to have some superior child in the future. I was truly confused why this plotline was in the drama.
There were too many cases, so at the end, none of them was developed or complex. They tried to fit any genre (horror, crime, romance, melo, etc.) into the drama, just to make sure all viewers can find something they may like.
Disney ending aka when you are afraid to commit to the tragedy
None of the characters involved in the drama had a truly tragic ending. Which was extremely unrealistic. It could be easily fixed. Make Yoona too late to say goodbye to Hyun Joong. After Seo Hee goes to the bridge, cut to the mother registering the baby with the father's surname because of the grandparents. Make the book about Seon Bi flop. I would even like for Chung Myung to vanish because he used all his energy looking after Man Wol. The Song sisters wanted to show us how sad, tragic, and emotional the feeling of loss is, but they did not want to show the truly ugly side of it. Because of that, the ending felt bland.
Overall, during the whole watch, there was literally (and I truly mean it) only one time when I thought "wow, this is a good writing, I finally feel the playoff" and it was with how they used the Coffee Writer Dude. They spent just enough time for us to be curious about him and wonder what will happen to him, when he will go to the afterlife.
At the end, Hong Sisters had an amazing idea, about an amazing character, and no idea what to do with the rest. Trying to fit too many stories of too many characters made this drama a... mess.
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Recipe: Loveable characters, relatable stories and heartwarming messages.
20+ minutes long episodes that leave you with hours of reflections and open you up to perspectives you might have never thought about.What the drama does great is showing the variety of issues people who are hard of hearing might have. They are not monolit group - depending on their personal experience, personalities, social circles, environment, they might deal with different hardships. And that’s when communication enters the chat! One of the clear messages of the drama was to speak up - whenever you need something, do not understand something, are curious about something, dislike or like something.
While the hearing disability was obviously on the forefront of the story, the plot was not limited to that. The writing was not stuck in the bubble of presenting the struggles of the minority - for me the writing was clear in showing that even though they have their own unique problems, they also face mundane issues and daily hiccups like any other person. There is far more that we share, than what differs us.
And that’s where the two mail leads shine - Kohei and Taichi obviously shared the same world, and they made an effort to stay connected. Kohei did not blame Taichi for mistakes he made that were the result of his lack of knowledge. Taichi was trying to see the world from Kohei's perspective and understand potential hardships that he himself never had to deal with on a daily basis. It was such a heartwarming story of two people fitting so naturally together, but also working hard to improve their understanding of the other’s point of view.
Even though their connection was clearly deep and obvious for anyone that was watching, it’s hard to call this drama a romance. At some point the writing focuses a little bit too much on Taichi and his personal journey of self discovery, making Kohei seem more like a supporting character in his own story. I’m not sure how I feel about drama that centers around representation sidelining the character that is the key to said representation.
As for the supporting characters - Taichi's friends were amazing. They’ve got exactly as much screen time as needed for me to see them as real people with distinctive personalities and not just fillers for the screen, but I never felt like we are wasting time on them. But then, I do feel like Maya’s story could have been improved. On one hand (this might sound weird), I truly appreciate how they were not afraid to show her as a complete egocentric asshole who is unable to see anything outside of her own perspective, because yes, people with disabilities also have personality flaws. On the other hand, I think they spent too much time on her “annoying phase” and the flashbacks, explanation and development happened way too late.
Performances though - so good. Nakazawa Motoki aced the surprise and amazement every time he looked at Taichi. Kobayashi Toranosuke perfectly presented how bad at hiding his feeling Taichi was, but also how he failed to understand his own emotions, while also understanding others.
On technical aspects, I am still mad about the “fake kiss” camera angle. I do not care how accurate it was for adaptation - some things that work on a still drawing will not on a moving film. You need to adjust to the media you are using.
Overall, with flaws, yet great drama. It’s for sure more than romance, I’d even say romance takes a backseat for the majority of the runtime and I’m not mad about it. Adding one or two episodes to give a bit more fulfilling closure to the relationship the boys had would be preferable, but even with a bit rushed ending, I’m just happy with the journey I’ve got to experience.
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When the characters regress and you are questioning reality.
After watching one episode one would think the female lead will get an amazing character development and slowly will learn how to prioritize her own needs. One could not predict she will infect male lead with her Jesus complex - and yet this is kind of what happens.Not gonna lie, Takumi was adorable. The twist on the contract marriage and the initial presentation of him as a cold male lead was done perfectly and set my expectations for the rest of the show slightly too high. On the other hand, Yae was just frustrating. While at the beginning the situations she put others’ needs ahead of her own made at least some sense, later it was just too much to handle and the script was leaning into some ridiculous territories.
I think the writer just fails to deliver a character development. I know not all characters need one, but her behavior was truly pathological on a whole new level. If anyone needs character development, it’s her. What’s worse, I feel like her “giving up so others can be happy” persona started to influence male lead too, which led to at best questionable last episode.
That said, I did enjoy them as a couple and their scenes were adorable and blast. The actors had amazing chemistry and as a viewer it was clear to me how in love they are. I also really liked all the side characters - which, surprise surprise, actually got more character development than our leading lady…
Overall, a decent rom-com that is lacking in some major areas.
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Less means more, more means less…
At least in terms of number of cliches, politines, schemes and unnecessary side characters. Develop and elaborate on what you already have - sadly the writer did not get the memo.Yes, I am aware that all these unnecessary side plots and twists were part of the source material, but I am also quite aware of the fact one should be selective of how much they decide to bring to the adaptation. It’s okay to remove some characters from the plot if they don’t really add much to it anyway.
First half of the show was honestly pure perfection. Female lead with good character that you want to root for. Too perfect to be true male lead. Supporting characters that feel like real people. Well paced drama and conflicts and get reasonable resolutions. Villains that are so awful you kind of start to appreciate how much of a hazardous waste they are.
And then the second half happened… Adding one dimensional characters just to annoy the viewers (since the same plot could have been achieved with the already existing cast). Why? Tell me why they decided adding side plots and characters to never develop them, never give a proper closure and actually make the already existing set up more messy and unrealistic, would be a good idea. Adding one dimensional, poorly written and poorly acted characters will never increase the quality and value of your project.
But even with that messy last few episodes, the drama managed to end on an enjoyable note. One thing I for sure appreciated was the message - you do not really need magic powers and time travel to change your life. Pay attention to your surroundings, see the value in people who support you, don’t be scared to ask for help, do not let people treat you badly - you deserve better. You have more power in your hands than you might think, you just have to take that first step and start using it.
That would be the “message” part, how about the romance? As for the chemistry, it was mediocre. I honestly think Park Min Young does not have good chemistry with any of her romantic co-actors. All of her rom-coms usually feel one sided - I see a lot of feelings and passion from the men, and then… not much from her. It’s the same case here. For how unreasonably perfect and poorly developed Yoo Ji Hyuk was, Na In Woo truly sold the character and even if by the end of the drama I did not feel like I know Ji Hyuk that well, I knew how much he loves Ji Won.
While I did not vibe with Park Min Young’s romantic scenes, I do think she did a great job with the personal journey of Kang Ji Won - from the shell of a human, defeated, angry, dying, to a confident, driven and strong woman. I felt her pain, I felt her frustration, I felt her fear, but I also felt the satisfaction and the sense of victory with each and every positive step she took.
All that said, I think we can all agree that the true stars of the drama were Lee Yi Kyung and Song Ha Yoon - what a powerful duo. They could be given as a definition of characters you love to hate. Cannot believe I’m saying it, but I will miss their selfish, crazy, self pity shenanigans.
Production value? Soundtrack? Set design? Makeup and costumes? All typical mainstream drama level - great, but not outstanding and for sure not memorable.
Overall, it was extremely entertaining, then it became extremely frustrating, but still entertaining. Closer to the end it hit rock bottom and almost made me drop, just to finish on a high note again.
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Loved the individuals, did not like the couples.
Am I the only one who was far more happy and entertained when I was watching the group moments and interaction between participants that were completely not romantically involved? Too many times I wanted to skip the dates and just watch them hang out in the house. I like them all as individuals, I like them all in the group setting, but I could not vibe with any of the couples at the end.And I feel like this is why the show failed me - I had no pair to truly root for. I felt like none of the exes would work out, since they just danced around each other, but never truly try to solved their previous issues. The new couples were easily shaken by the past relationships, which made me think they would not last anyway, so what's the point?
I actually loved first few episodes, but the more romantically involved everyone became, the less I cared. That said, I still like the whole cast a lot, especially the best girl Da Hye. Wish her all the healing and happiness she needs.
Overall, I have barely any thoughts. I think I just truly don't care.
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Top level of entertainment. Can’t say the same about the quality of writing.
I want to start by saying - I did enjoy the show a lot, almost till the end. I watched the episodes as soon as they dropped. That said, I’m not gonna pretend like it’s some writing masterpiece - it’s not. It often hits the “teen’s first fanfic” level. Did I mind? Not really. I went into it for the Dear Daddy Devil and Bai Lu’s acting, and these two aspects were easily 10/10.What did the drama do great? Tantai Jin’s arc. The questions of predestined path, freedom and choice, the importance of having the supportive community and people that trust and love. How much of where we end is on us, and how much can be explained by how others treat us? At which point we should take responsibility? Is revenge and justice the same? What’s more important - trust or perceived truth? Surprisingly a lot of depth in his story. Sadly, the writers had some issues with keeping Tantai Jin's wits and cunning nature and also progressing the plot - which led to quite a few moments when his brain must have been turned off to make such dumb choices.
Luo Yun Xi in the role? Pure perfection. The emo angst fits him so well, I was in awe. Whatever you ask from him - he will deliver it and more, in the most beautiful and heartbreaking way. I never knew an actor who presents suffering in such a stunning way.
Then we have Li Su Su played by Bai Lu. What a performance. She did great as a more idealistic and naive Su Su, desperate and driven Xi Wu, and the duality of Sang Jiu. Each character/persona was easily distinguishable with the portrayal. The angst and pain Bai Lu can deliver - be it extreme or subtle - was just phenomenal and truly breaking one’s heart. I don’t think the character herself has much to offer though. Any weaker performance than the perfection Bai Lu presented, would make Li Su Su either boring or insufferable. I just feel bad for the girl, because the writers obviously did not give a fuck about this character… She was this great thanks to the actress and the chemistry she had with Luo Yun Xi.
And that chemistry should be illegal. How can such a questionable and build on a toxic fundamentals relationship still seem so amazing, beautiful and perfect? Love, hate, hope, trust, doubt, protection, resentment, fear - what a mix of conflicting emotions and motivations. And that complexity was what made this duo so entertaining and such a blast to watch.
Beside the main characters, I want to give big props to Chen Du Ling who played Ye Bing Chang. How much I hated this character, how much I loved the performance. It’s also impossible not to appreciate Pian Ran - stunning arc as a side plot, amazing conclusion fitting the plot, great performance by Sun Zhen Ni.
Talking about the characters, it’s time to talk about the biggest sin this show and the writer committed - they made everyone so dumb, I did not even care who will win and who will lose, because I did not see a bright future no matter which side gets the victory.
So many things did not make any sense, but you cannot really call them plot holes, because they kind of had an explanation - lack of working brain cells. At first I found it amusing, but at some point it just frustrated me on a whole new level. You don’t know how to write a proper conflict and the origin of it, so you just make your character dumb for a few scenes to set it up.
That also led to repetitive scenes and arcs - just rewriting the same moments we have seen a few episodes ago, with small changes here and there. Refusing to give your characters’ proper character development can only lead to them making the same mistakes over and over and over again. This is one man show, and all the other characters are just a background for his story.
I have to say though, I’m quite impressed with the directing and editing taking into consideration how much of the plot and scenes had to be cut down to fit the 40 episodes format. Yes, there were many moments that the pacing seemed like a car chase, but the overall story was still relatively easy to follow and understand. On the other hand, the make-up artists need to change their careers, because the thing these actors had on their faces should be illegal to present to the public. Loved the costumes, liked the set and magical objects designs. Loved how they Sailor Moon changed their clothes when they reached new powers.
The soundtrack had some good moments, but there were also “oops” bits like them playing a pop royalty free facebook ads like music in the background in the last episode.
Overall, I had a lot of fun, later I had less fun, by the end I had a lot of fun ranting. One could say it’s a full on personal journey I had with this drama, and they would not be wrong.
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