This review may contain spoilers
Too confusing with almost zero infos
All I can say is that I'm too confused with everything. I tried to understand what happened in the past. Cha Soo Hyuk's father was abusive to his mother and on the first chance he took her away to hide her? Then his mother found another man and that man had a son, Lee Yoon Dae, and they lived all together for some time but then they ended things between them? And why did the son not follow his father? We get no detail over Lee Yoon Dae past life. As it seems he felt Cha Soo Hyuk as his new family, his home, his safe space. That's why he was coming back. And Cha Soo Hyuk was always worried and tried to support him in each way. While he himself trapped in a mindset of "i have to take care of my broken family" when none of these should've been his concerns. And in the end what was that? What I got is that Lee Yoon Dae finally stood on his own feet to prove that he's worthy of Cha Soo Hyuk's time and feelings. That he found his way of living and faced real life without standing still anymore.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Very good, but missing that something...
I rarely write reviews, but I just feel like this is one of those dramas where I need to express my opinion in one long post, so here I am!! I'll write this review in sections so it doesn't end up all over the place...1. Story
The story was a very interesting one in my opinion. However, there's one thing that bothers me the most about it, and that is how hollow it ended up... They tried to make it deep and emotional, but with only 5 episodes, they failed. They had no time to show us everything they wanted to and I feel like it would've been so much better and deeper if they added at least 2 episodes!
That's the biggest flaw of this series, trying to achieve the depth it didn't have time to achieve.
2. Acting & Cast
If one thing was absolutely perfect here, then it's the acting!
The actors portrayed their characters with perfect facial expressions, voice tones, actions, and everything that goes along. It felt so natural and raw that I couldn't help but want more of it...
Whoever did the casting, THANK YOU!
3. Romance
The romance here is yet another factor that was affected by the fast pace of the show as well as YoonDae's and SooHyuk's relationship... It came so suddenly and didn't feel real at all... It even felt forced due to the characters not having enough time to form a romantic relationship. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't see romantic feelings for the other in either of them.
4. Ending & Overall
Despite my mostly negative review, I enjoyed this series a lot!
I liked how realistic and serious it was, along with the stepbrothers' storyline which almost always ends up tragically...
As for the ending, I know it's supposed to be an open one, but it's also one of the reasons I wish we got a few more episodes. It just felt rushed and I didn't feel like any of the problems with their parents actually got resolved....
5. Conclusion
For me, it's a strong 8/10. However, if it had more episodes to deepen the story, I would've surely rated it much higher!
Was this review helpful to you?
DEPRESSING but GOOD........HEART-WRENCHING but WARM........CONFUSING but ADDICTIVE
First of all, can we stop and notice how handsome Jang Woo Young is!!?? I mean come on!! This is the first time I seen this actor and boy oh boy his eyes made mine locked on him and I didn't even care about Choco (Lee Jae Bin) LOL.... The entire series I was awwwwwww to Woo Young's eyes and HELLO!!!!???? The scene where he is topless!!!! Good lord I need some helping....hahahhaaI must admit that this series is a bit complicated and confusing, well, if you don't pay attention in the whole run then you're gonna end up know which is which and what is what...... They are both complicated, they restrict their selves so much and put each other in pain which is so depressing to watch.... This is one of the problem in Korean BLs, at least this is what I think, they restrict their story so much that left people wanting for more and sometimes disappointed at the end. Yoon Dae's situation isn't that bad compared to Soo Hyuk. I mean it's depressing enough to watch this two hurt by their situations and be hurt by each other, but Soo Hyuk is more depressing situation made me more angry....I mean with his mother and that shitty father??!! Come on!!
I would say the ending sucks though.... It sucks but creative. 5 episode isn't enough.
This drama lives up to its title.... GREY SHELTER... It really is GREY.... depressing, frustrating and sometimes cold.
Shout out to the INTRO art... its a well thought art and the music....its really GREY in a sense..
I still recommend this drama though, I don't know if there's a rewatch value to it, unless you only want to see JANG WOO YOUNG....like i did ...hahahahah
Was this review helpful to you?
Sensitive and anxious
The series were short, but even though vague script, it was written so you would not miss any emotion. It was intense with some sweet moments to fill in the obscure feeling. Strong slice of life punches right in the stomach after each episode. Some characters irks can be overlooked in recognition of tough and harsh nature of life.Story is one of those where you don't want the life to be that way, but at the same time you appreciate it even more.
To me the acting was top notch and the cast did really good job in making the characters chemistry with each over feel very natural that sometimes the mind just wandered back that this was just a series not something else.
This one have punched me in the nucleus of the feelings and gave me a minute of silence to overthink how life flows.
{LOVED IT!!!}
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Hope in misery?
If you are looking for a nice and fluffy bl, you are at the wrong place! I understand why it has such low rating, I do not agree with it but I understand! Because it is grey: misery, unhappiness, hopelessness...mention it, it's there! But it is not all black since there is a sliver of light that appears.It is a story of two men trying to survive, just survive the onslaught of their respective families. They have known each other a few years previously when their parents married but that marriage did not last long. Something happened between the two young men at the time, as well, that created a huge rift. We never really clearly find what it was: an unwanted, unexplained kiss? The main problem are their parents: one father is an abuser, the other a criminal but still very attractive to his ex wife using their son to finance them.
The drama is too short. It touches upon a lot of issues but it does not really have the time to delve deeper into them: mainly parents abusing of their children who are desperately wanting to free themselves from their hold. So much so that the young men are exhausted, desperate and lacking energy to do anything. We are left without explanation as to how and why that kiss (?) happened between them which ruined a friendly relationship they had when they were younger! The older one feels responsible and guilty towards the younger one. Why?
The romance comes out suddenly and is heart flutteringly beautiful, chemistry soaring sky-high but unfortunately nothing is solved by the realization. The life is too difficult to bear to do anything more than just survive. The promise of happiness is too scary to believe: when you've been beaten down by life, you lose all hope. We are left with an open ending, showing us a glimmer of hope that one of them allows himself to dare to feel.
This drama is beautifully filmed, written and acted. The cinematography alongside the animated opening credits are all in shades of grey, perfectly translating the desperation and the misery the main characters feel. The music is just as good. It has been a long time since a korean BL made me feel so many emotions: rage, pity, sadness, hope, love...
Was this review helpful to you?
Pure angst
Gray shelter comes out with a very angsty tone, showing the struggle of two men who are longing for someone that feels like your home. The story itself can feel a little messy and at times confusing, but the overall message in my opinion is still successfully displayed. The acting is incredible here from both leads and the supporting cast, the emotions and thoughts behind the characters actions to me felt clear. The cinema style is also very fitting to the mood and story which helps to elevate it. The OST "Sleepless" by ode has personally been on repeat for me since the show aired, as well as other songs from "Ode". I'd highly recommend the full version of the song as it has this fitting mood of loneliness in it's tone and feels emotionally packed until the very end, which matches Gray Shelter's atmosphere perfectly. Overall I'd recommend this show to those who like angst and those who don't should stay far away.Was this review helpful to you?
The two reunited by chance and rekindled a complicated brotherhood bond. It’s a push-and-pull, give-and-take relationship. It’s a never-ending cycle that was finally broken. The ending can be open to interpretation. I want to believe that they both need to work on themselves, before breaking off whatever is preventing them to lead a much happier life together.
I was quite impressed with Lee Jae Bin’s acting as Yoon Dae after seeing him in “Choco Milk Shake”. He’s still new to the industry and already has the opportunity to act in two vastly different roles. This is Jang Woo Young’s first drama, and he did fine. His character, Soo Hyuk, is so solemn that he can’t really deviate too much away and show us if he has any acting range.
This is a small budget production, and it shows. The sets are simple, the transition and editing appear jerky at times. The storytelling and the execution of the plot could be better.
“Gray Shelter” is a quick watch if you are in the mood for something darker and more mature. It’ a breath of fresh air from all the rom-coms out there.
Completed: 4/28/2024 - Review #435
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Understanding in the same shoes
I had to write like that because from what I saw with sleepy eyes, if we look deeper, this drama with a duration of 20 minutes with 5 episodes looks interesting. I like the composition of the story. Because as I said through the title, understand in the same shoes.They are both in a shade of grey. Gray means doubt especially in Soohyuk. I know for sure that at first he also hesitated to protect Yoondae, the man who became his brother .But their relationship is not just love with a desire to have more of each other, it seems like they want to care for each other and understand each other because of the heavy burdens on their shoulders. Only Soohyuk never dared to step outside further because he had to endure all his family problems since childhood. Meanwhile, Yoondae, with his haphazard life, can get rid of the burden in his heart faster, the problem is that he just waiting for Soohyuk. Therefore, from the start Soohyuk repeatedly pushed Yoondae away even though in his heart he wanted to pull Yoondae away.
If you're wondering about the ending, they stay together....getting better with the burden on their shoulders fading. I really like the story, it seems heavy because the meaning is quite deep. I'm just sharing from my experience when watching this.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Wasted Potential
The story started off slow. There is so much family drama with family dynamics in this series. The step-brother turned love interest was hard to distinguish until episode 4. If you didn’t know going in that this was a BL, it would be hard to tell. Even knowing this was a BL, I still had trouble figuring out the chemistry and romance between these two. It was more of co-dependent stepbrothers with dysfunctional baggage from broken homes than they had romantic feelings for each other. Even when YoonDae kissed SooHyuk it felt like co depency than anything else.Was SooHyuk mad at him being a failure because he is gay? Was the mistake that he found out his son liked YoonDae? Then does this mean YoonDae’s dad hope to be a the gay out of him? YoonDae isn’t interested in being in a relationship with women which is why he’s a dick to his girlfriend, right?
The ending was so unsatisfying. I really wish YoonDae had taken up SooHyuk offer to sleep together. I think they would have both discovered that they can be together for the long haul. Or maybe they did when YoonDae told SooHyuk to pretend he is still sleeping. Maybe that’s the rabbit hole they went down. They are living separately but now can pursue a relationship together without the co-dependency.
I want to like this series more but with so much left unsaid and feeling so unsatisfied. I hate the editing and direction of an otherwise good series
Was this review helpful to you?
masterclass !!
This series is, for me, a huge masterclass, it's an amazing work, whether cinematographically speaking or in terms of actingWe feel directly touched and carried away by the story, it is very touching despite the condensation of information in these few episodes
I really hope that she will find her audience & the recognition that she deserves <3
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Atypical BL with stunning art
I am late to the party, so to speak.After the series ended I did not really understand what was happening but now I binched watched the series again. So, if you don't understand it, as many reviews say, you should binch watch all five episodes again and it will make sense.
The story is sensible, the acting of the MLs stunning and the style was also great and different from the known happy BL world. You feel depressed, the angst of the characters because they did not have a nice life and they fight with their inner demons. The end is not confusing, it's a happy end, they will try. So after all the "shit" they went through, the end offers hope for both.
I wholeheartenly recommand this outstanding series, but only if you can handle a downer and you can focus the story of this series otherwise you might misunderstand.
Was this review helpful to you?
detail means everything
Firstly, the cast has to be decent-looking, you don't have to be a model but a least average. I can't lie the main cast slightly put me off because of their looks (I understand that don't they don't control that) only the friend was up to my standardsThe story I felt was incomplete as the big theme from what I interpreted was that each of them has a difficult life they are trying to navigate the journey and gravitate towards each other as they have an understanding of each other. The was as fully developed as I wanted as there were constant times that nothing was happening.
But I learnt a lesson about the meaning of comfort from individuals and what it means for different types of people and how it can affect relationships with others
It would've been clearer if it had a marker it was a flashback as it confused me at times figuring out the timeline
Was this review helpful to you?
