joviallll
From a little red dot on the map: Singapore!
This review may contain spoilers
Press on, for you are worth it.
This is my highest rating for a drama yet. This show explores the complexity of human life. Everyone yearns to take their life because life’s stresses can be just so taxing. This show, demonstrated through 16 episodes, the reason why life is valued so heavily: and that is because the future is uncertain. As once suicidal, this show has piqued my interest in the afterlife; but more importantly, taught me the ways and means of life. Life is fragile, life can be fluid, life’s path is based on the decisions you make. The decisions you make today will affect the outcomes of tomorrow. Every move you make has an impact, no matter how big or small the move is. What an impactful movie that illustrated all these facts; irrefutable truth to me.
Plot: Extremely well-developed, and intricate. There is a climax, and a resolution. Interesting links of the Grim Reaper’s past and how they affect their emotions and personalities. Through 16 episodes, they ran through the so important cases that are hardly mentioned in society today. What are we living for? How can we better ourselves? How can we find help? Why not let tomorrow be a dream instead? This show explains that dying in such a fashion (suicide) will not make anything better; and the “benefits” like escaping one’s misery is extremely short-lived. Life is precious. Life is worthy. And you are worthy of this gift. This show explicitly showcases all possible instances of when, why, how, and what kind of people can have suicidal thoughts (of course, not limited to them only), but it has the impact of empowering other people to be more alert; to be more aware of the people around them—and how to provide aid. Impressions on the audience is highly vivid: particularly the veteran, eating disorder case, as well as the animal case.
Scriptwriting: Well-written. Meaningful dialogues were used in exploring characterisation of individuals in the drama. Everything had a logical flow to it. My only slight issue with scriptwriting was when some plot digression did seem slightly abrupt; but not abrupt enough to undermine message and impact of the drama, hence only penalised slightly. Some sequential flow seemed hazardous too, but they were explained all the end—perhaps a case of wanting to induce suspense but unsuccessful, in my opinion. Though, overall, ideas still flowed smoothly. One thing I would do if i were the producer would be to add that element of what happens to the star and Jun Woong, making the script advanced to a greater depth. That would, in my opinion, explore the day-to-day lives of everyone and how Jun Woong as a character stands out, and how more people should strive to model him in today’s society.
Music/SFX: Highly appropriate, apt selection. Extremely well-catered to the sequential flow of the story, as well as the tension/intensity/drama it wishes to amplify. Suitable for the show, very well chosen. Job well done, editing team.
Believability & Acting: I have to applaud their acting. Acting felt genuine, characterisation in personalities of different individuals, especially the main characters, were very true to their role played and the message they wish to portray to the viewers. Nothing felt exaggerated, and it was a joy to watch them take their role so seriously to the extent I would forget it was a drama at times. Impact on audience is also amazing, as the drama attempts to convey the message of living on consistently throughout all 16 episodes.
*Side note: This is also the first drama that every episode has a rating above 8.5 from me. I always will have a few episodes that slip and hence, fall under 7/10. But what amazed me was how consistent the drama was, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and this drama has definitely surprised me with how good the scriptwriting is. Every idea portrayed has a link to the other, if not, it is a complex analysis of how one can suicide. Many cases arise, and this drama successfully addresses them. For more information, you may see my scores for the respective episodes at the bottom. They are rated using the following rubric;
Plot, Scriptwriting (Meaningful dialogues, especially), Chemistry (if any), Acting, Believability, Music & SFX, Editing/Props/Atmosphere/Mood, Impact on audience/society (e.g. whether any of these will have a long-lasting change to be embraced), Rewatch value, and loopholes in plot (if any, as a deduction of the overall score).
Abbreviations:
*E = Episode
Rating:
E1 - 9/10
E2 - 10/10
E3 - 9/10
E4 - 8.5/10
E5 - 10/10
E6 - 10.5/10, still my favourite episode. Heart-wrecking & touching. You may see my review on this episode for a more in-depth reasoning for why I felt it deserves above 10/10.
E7 - 9.5/10
E8 - 9.5/10
E9 - 9.5/10
E10 - 8.5/10, pales in comparison to Episodes aforementioned.
E11 - 9.25/10
E12 - 10/10
E13 - 8.75/10
E14 - 10.25/10, an amazing episode that explores even Grim Reaper’s have their past. My review is also up for this episode.
E15 - 9.75/10
E16 - 9.5/10, interesting ending to the whole drama. Sweet. In my opinion, could’ve been explored further with Jun Woong, hence slight deduction.
Plot: Extremely well-developed, and intricate. There is a climax, and a resolution. Interesting links of the Grim Reaper’s past and how they affect their emotions and personalities. Through 16 episodes, they ran through the so important cases that are hardly mentioned in society today. What are we living for? How can we better ourselves? How can we find help? Why not let tomorrow be a dream instead? This show explains that dying in such a fashion (suicide) will not make anything better; and the “benefits” like escaping one’s misery is extremely short-lived. Life is precious. Life is worthy. And you are worthy of this gift. This show explicitly showcases all possible instances of when, why, how, and what kind of people can have suicidal thoughts (of course, not limited to them only), but it has the impact of empowering other people to be more alert; to be more aware of the people around them—and how to provide aid. Impressions on the audience is highly vivid: particularly the veteran, eating disorder case, as well as the animal case.
Scriptwriting: Well-written. Meaningful dialogues were used in exploring characterisation of individuals in the drama. Everything had a logical flow to it. My only slight issue with scriptwriting was when some plot digression did seem slightly abrupt; but not abrupt enough to undermine message and impact of the drama, hence only penalised slightly. Some sequential flow seemed hazardous too, but they were explained all the end—perhaps a case of wanting to induce suspense but unsuccessful, in my opinion. Though, overall, ideas still flowed smoothly. One thing I would do if i were the producer would be to add that element of what happens to the star and Jun Woong, making the script advanced to a greater depth. That would, in my opinion, explore the day-to-day lives of everyone and how Jun Woong as a character stands out, and how more people should strive to model him in today’s society.
Music/SFX: Highly appropriate, apt selection. Extremely well-catered to the sequential flow of the story, as well as the tension/intensity/drama it wishes to amplify. Suitable for the show, very well chosen. Job well done, editing team.
Believability & Acting: I have to applaud their acting. Acting felt genuine, characterisation in personalities of different individuals, especially the main characters, were very true to their role played and the message they wish to portray to the viewers. Nothing felt exaggerated, and it was a joy to watch them take their role so seriously to the extent I would forget it was a drama at times. Impact on audience is also amazing, as the drama attempts to convey the message of living on consistently throughout all 16 episodes.
*Side note: This is also the first drama that every episode has a rating above 8.5 from me. I always will have a few episodes that slip and hence, fall under 7/10. But what amazed me was how consistent the drama was, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and this drama has definitely surprised me with how good the scriptwriting is. Every idea portrayed has a link to the other, if not, it is a complex analysis of how one can suicide. Many cases arise, and this drama successfully addresses them. For more information, you may see my scores for the respective episodes at the bottom. They are rated using the following rubric;
Plot, Scriptwriting (Meaningful dialogues, especially), Chemistry (if any), Acting, Believability, Music & SFX, Editing/Props/Atmosphere/Mood, Impact on audience/society (e.g. whether any of these will have a long-lasting change to be embraced), Rewatch value, and loopholes in plot (if any, as a deduction of the overall score).
Abbreviations:
*E = Episode
Rating:
E1 - 9/10
E2 - 10/10
E3 - 9/10
E4 - 8.5/10
E5 - 10/10
E6 - 10.5/10, still my favourite episode. Heart-wrecking & touching. You may see my review on this episode for a more in-depth reasoning for why I felt it deserves above 10/10.
E7 - 9.5/10
E8 - 9.5/10
E9 - 9.5/10
E10 - 8.5/10, pales in comparison to Episodes aforementioned.
E11 - 9.25/10
E12 - 10/10
E13 - 8.75/10
E14 - 10.25/10, an amazing episode that explores even Grim Reaper’s have their past. My review is also up for this episode.
E15 - 9.75/10
E16 - 9.5/10, interesting ending to the whole drama. Sweet. In my opinion, could’ve been explored further with Jun Woong, hence slight deduction.
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