ColourMePurple
This review may contain spoilers
Enjoyable but Original is Superior
Don't get me wrong... A Time Called You is well-made and visually wonderful but there are several ways in which it cannot beat the original despite a great effort. I suppose fans of the original, like me, can be happy that they didn't ruin it which is very common with remakes. So that's always a plus. Hopefully everyone will also go and watch the original drama - Someday Or One Day.
One of the strongest points of SOOD was the OST. Both the theme song and the main song - Last Dance by Wu Bai, are magical and memorable. Unfortunately, Gather My Tears can be described as nice at best but not worthy of being THE song that makes magic happen. It doesn't give me goosebumps the way Last Dance did. It's unforgettable. And it was the highlight of the original. However, I didn't get the same feeling from Gather My Tears. Last Dance was also meaningful to the story and elicited nostalgia. 'A Time Called You' made it seem like a song that happened to be liked by MinJoo and it wasn't the highlight of the scenes. Or at least it didn't come across that way to me. That itself took away the essence of the drama.
The main plot is essentially the same so I won't spoil that but there are a few other differences that I'd like to highlight from memory which count as spoilers. This review might be more appreciated by those who have watched both versions.
- One of the basics, they changed from the original is how the FL discovers the photo of the 3 friends. That was unique in SOOD and tied a bit more into the destiny theme perhaps.
- One big moment that stood out was when the FL, Han Jun Hee first arrives in the body of Kwon Min Joo, she is so shocked to see Koo Yeon Jun. That was supposed to be an impactful scene but it didn't feel that way. It was one of the FL's weakest scenes in my opinion.
- A memorable FL's dialogue from the original is her highlighting the age gap between her and the school boys which also added to her awkwardness at seeing her fiance's face. every time Something this show glossed over.
- They changed the way the ML meets the child FL of the past. The original encounter was far more memorable from the perspective of a child. I wish they hadn't changed it.
- There were times when I didn't see much difference between Jun Hee and Min Joo when it should have been more blatant. Alice Ke, in the Taiwanese drama, was masterful in that way. But Yeo Been's final scenes with her counterpart matched the emotions of the original's actress very well. I appreciated that a lot.
- Comparing the male actors, Ahn Hyeo Seop did a good job and there were moments when he really shined but Greg Hsu had bowled me over (considering I didn't think I would like him initially). He was far more charming and cheeky and one could see why he was popular. AHS's character didn't stand out as much to be a popular guy. I also felt his hairstyle wasn't great. However both male and female leads fit the ages they were portraying well.
- The lame jokes scene was just immensely better in the original. It felt terribly flat in this Korean version and lacked soul considering how important it actually was.
- One of the reasons I was keen to watch the Korean version was for Kang Hoon. Although I feel his character was given more importance here than the original which I liked, the original had a bit more heart. His hearing disability was inconspicuous and forgettable for the most part. The original depicted his liking for the FL far better. You could also understand his pain better in SOOD.
- The ML's accident was quite different from the original though I wasn't really upset with the change.
- Koo Yeon Jun and Tae Ha (Rowoon)'s moments together was an interesting take on the original story.
- The show failed to highlight Min Joo's attacker and his obsession the way the original did. It was a bit muted.
- The weakest points of the original was the ending so it was good to see A Time Called You address that which required SOOD to release an additional clip. Though it would have been nice to have a little bit more.
It's been over a year that I watched Someday Or One Day and I'm glad I could not recall all the details especially towards the end so I could enjoy A Time Called You a lot more rather than just comparing scene for scene. But I would always recommend the original before this one and it will always be one of my most favourite dramas. Watching the remake just made me want to rewatch the original again because that's how impressive it is.
One of the strongest points of SOOD was the OST. Both the theme song and the main song - Last Dance by Wu Bai, are magical and memorable. Unfortunately, Gather My Tears can be described as nice at best but not worthy of being THE song that makes magic happen. It doesn't give me goosebumps the way Last Dance did. It's unforgettable. And it was the highlight of the original. However, I didn't get the same feeling from Gather My Tears. Last Dance was also meaningful to the story and elicited nostalgia. 'A Time Called You' made it seem like a song that happened to be liked by MinJoo and it wasn't the highlight of the scenes. Or at least it didn't come across that way to me. That itself took away the essence of the drama.
The main plot is essentially the same so I won't spoil that but there are a few other differences that I'd like to highlight from memory which count as spoilers. This review might be more appreciated by those who have watched both versions.
- One of the basics, they changed from the original is how the FL discovers the photo of the 3 friends. That was unique in SOOD and tied a bit more into the destiny theme perhaps.
- One big moment that stood out was when the FL, Han Jun Hee first arrives in the body of Kwon Min Joo, she is so shocked to see Koo Yeon Jun. That was supposed to be an impactful scene but it didn't feel that way. It was one of the FL's weakest scenes in my opinion.
- A memorable FL's dialogue from the original is her highlighting the age gap between her and the school boys which also added to her awkwardness at seeing her fiance's face. every time Something this show glossed over.
- They changed the way the ML meets the child FL of the past. The original encounter was far more memorable from the perspective of a child. I wish they hadn't changed it.
- There were times when I didn't see much difference between Jun Hee and Min Joo when it should have been more blatant. Alice Ke, in the Taiwanese drama, was masterful in that way. But Yeo Been's final scenes with her counterpart matched the emotions of the original's actress very well. I appreciated that a lot.
- Comparing the male actors, Ahn Hyeo Seop did a good job and there were moments when he really shined but Greg Hsu had bowled me over (considering I didn't think I would like him initially). He was far more charming and cheeky and one could see why he was popular. AHS's character didn't stand out as much to be a popular guy. I also felt his hairstyle wasn't great. However both male and female leads fit the ages they were portraying well.
- The lame jokes scene was just immensely better in the original. It felt terribly flat in this Korean version and lacked soul considering how important it actually was.
- One of the reasons I was keen to watch the Korean version was for Kang Hoon. Although I feel his character was given more importance here than the original which I liked, the original had a bit more heart. His hearing disability was inconspicuous and forgettable for the most part. The original depicted his liking for the FL far better. You could also understand his pain better in SOOD.
- The ML's accident was quite different from the original though I wasn't really upset with the change.
- Koo Yeon Jun and Tae Ha (Rowoon)'s moments together was an interesting take on the original story.
- The show failed to highlight Min Joo's attacker and his obsession the way the original did. It was a bit muted.
- The weakest points of the original was the ending so it was good to see A Time Called You address that which required SOOD to release an additional clip. Though it would have been nice to have a little bit more.
It's been over a year that I watched Someday Or One Day and I'm glad I could not recall all the details especially towards the end so I could enjoy A Time Called You a lot more rather than just comparing scene for scene. But I would always recommend the original before this one and it will always be one of my most favourite dramas. Watching the remake just made me want to rewatch the original again because that's how impressive it is.
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