Enjoyable short watch!

This 8-episode drama was enjoyable for me. I went in with 0 expectations but simply knowing Kim Heesun is in the cast. The story was not over-complicated but my only complaint is there were many characters to keep up with.

The tension between Hye-Seung & Yoo-hee was building up throughout the drama. Both Kim Hee-sun & Jung Eugene did wonderfully in their roles. Jung Eugene literally took on the role of Yoo-hee and basically acted out such a horrible character that makes you hate her

Overall, I enjoyed the plot twists the writers dropped in but I think towards the end I expected/predicated things would end that way. Good resolution to the drama!

It was an enjoyable watch and if anyone wishes to watch, give it a try!

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Not-so-overcomplIcated drama

This 6 episode drama was a great watch. The pace of the drama fit beautifully with the story as it was not overcomplicated.

I don’t think this drama is for everyone but I’d say to watch the first 2 episodes before deciding anything.

: ̗̀➛ story

I like how the story focused on how staring into the buddha statue’s eyes placed people in their most painful memory. It showed how the manipulated memory made those affected deranged and aggressive.

The eye colour change reminded me of Train to Busan

The story was not over complicated and the choice to focus on the main couple backstory & the side story of the mother & son was very wise. With the 5th character the focus was more on his behaviour and control over others + his abusive mother’s bf being the reason why.

: ̗̀➛ story closure

I felt content with the story as the issue was resolved. (I didn’t have any questions. That being said, the ending of the drama does open the path for a second season as the couple continue their research in other regions.

: ̗̀➛ acting

All cast members did a wonderful job collectively and individually. No complaints on this end. Just an appreciation for Shin Hyunbeen & Kim Ji Yeong!

: ̗̀➛ cinematography

The cinematography cleverly achieved the purpose (+premise) of the drama. At points it was too foggy & dark so it was difficult to see what was happening. This relates to the effect of seeing nothing but the most painful memory they have.

: ̗̀➛ overall
It’s a good short drama with 6 episodes, each ranging between 33-38 minutes.

I have no regrets watching this, I think it was a well produced drama which was kept short and sweet.

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⋆ Heartwarming, relaxing drama about the teachers in a high school
⋆ Positive for me was that it didn't focus too heavily on the students as it's a workplace drama
⋆ I related to the main character
⋆ Highly recommend this to anyone looking for Slice of life

— Contract/Temp Teachers
Even if a temp teacher teaches like any normal teacher, they still do not have the same rights under the law as a permanent teacher.

The start of the episode focuses on the effect of this after “sudden” death of a temp teacher. The family are left to suffer whilst not getting the same rights as a permanent teacher’s family.

This briefly shows at the gap/error in the law that places a lot of people at a disadvantage.

— College Admissions
A lot of work goes into achieving X number of college admissions for a school so that they can survive. This places a lot of pressure on teachers.

They even started after-school club for high achievers. The first half of the drama showed how great this was

— Unfairness for students
This drama also showed how providing support just for high achievers pushes the other students away. They feel unsupported.

The latter part of the drama focuses on creating a space for those students who don't make the cut for the special clubs.

— Growth
This drama has a lot of character growth. It was heartwarming to see how each character had their arc and growth. How some teachers were promoted, how some left. The realistic approach and dialogue was much appreciated. I could relate.

Overall, lovely drama which I highly recommend to slice of life watchers/lovers!

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Wholesome and Healing Drama

General thoughts:
⋆ Wholesome & Healing drama
⋆ Great Cinematography
⋆ Well written stories with closure for all characters (main & side)
⋆ Amazing acting as the characters had an element of realness to them.

— Love isn't as easy as it seems
⋆ This drama briefly showed the difficulty of "noona" romance & the backlash one would get.
⋆ Obstacles will come in the way, this could be anything but it's how it can be faced together.

— Childhood Trauma and Healing
⋆ Realistic portrayal of how things in our childhood can still hurts us even if we're "older" but it's what we can do to heal our inner child
"Did he have anyone to lean on?"
⋆ It shows to not to be harsh on ourselves for what happened in the past.

— Cinematography
Shoutout to the crew for the beautiful cinematography. The way this was filmed and edited. The focus in the scenes & not cutting scenes quickly made this so relaxing to watch. It feels slow but it's still amazing.

— Overall
It was a beautiful drama that I didn't want to let go. I felt so moved by the story. But I felt somewhat healed. Things I normally wouldn't hear (/read) in a drama were what I saw in YAMS.

Highly Recommend! It may be slow but I just felt relaxed watching it.

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Well Executed Drama

I didn’t read up about the drama beforehand but I am glad I went in without any expectations.

The concept of the drama really intrigued me - the calls at 10:33PM & the fact that they were both 1 month away from each other (31 days). The significance of this was explained in the later episodes & I think this perfectly wrapped up the question of why this specific time period/minute was occurring.

However, I was quite confused between episodes 12-15
when the past Seojin figured things out & regained his memories. It felt as though the time period got messed up between future Seojin & past Seojin. But, I chose to ignore that aspect in order to continue the drama. This definitely was solved towards the end.

I am glad the characters did get character development which I believe Ep 8 was the trigger to.

I am pleased with the characters’ stories and the plot overall. It all connected at the end. I’m glad they didn’t choose to focus too much on more than what they did as this would have confused the plot.

Hyun-Chae (the wife) - her story concluded in the final episode which was good.

Every villain was punished and you could also say Hyun-chae got the poetic justice she deserved. She was greedy and her greed led to her being by herself at the end.

The cast did a wonderful job portraying their characters and the realistic emotions one goes through.

I do recommend others to give this drama a try!

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Beautifully Written - Don't watch if you are after "excitement" / twists & turns

I really think this was a beautifully written drama that did cover a really sensitive topic. They did manage to make good use of the number of episodes they had for this series.

It does raise the argument of what is "worse", which you find yourself thinking about each time a child's story is explored. Sometimes, I felt like Red Cry was doing the right thing and other times, I did not. In regards to "who Red cry is?" it was pretty clear as the writers laid it out in front of us.

Even though some may watch this drama expecting it to be filled with twists and turns as to the revelation of the killer. Though, the killer was a big part of the drama, I just don't think it should be the only thing to focus on when watching. The main topic is childhood abuse and trauma, if you're looking for a drama to give you excitement, don't watch this.

This drama did tackle the different types of childhood trauma faced by both kids and when the adults were kids too. The Female lead Woo-kyung was an example of this. The memory loss she suffered due to a tragic and traumatic thing she witnessed first hand. I felt for her because she was continuously brushed off by her stepmother and the fact that there were barely any photographs of her childhood. It was tragic but a harsh reality some people do face.

So-Young (the female detective) even talked briefly about her experience of getting beat by her brother and how her natural reaction to his beatings were.

This show does raise awareness of the effects of abuse, especially childhood abuse on people.

I think the cast did a wonderful job acting together and alone in this drama and I would 100% recommend this drama to anyone who has patience to watch the story unfold.

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A MUST WATCH

I’ve heard so much about this drama that I thought I’d give it a try. It’s a good thing I did!

I felt so moved by the cases and the characters in this drama. I did cry at several points but it’s a drama that left me feeling good after completing it.

The cast did a wonderful job with the acting and the story was very well written.

Shoutout to Choi Jin-Woong who made me fall in love with Lee Jae Han. His character very well written and the actor did an amazing job portraying the passion for justice.

As I watched the drama this year (2021), I was satisfied with the ending. Even though it’s a cliffhanger, I am satisfied.

I 100% recommend this drama as you will not regret it!

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Beautiful Portrayal of Motherhood

⋆ This drama portrays motherhood from different perspectives. Alongside the main storyline, we see motherhood from Soojin's adoptive mother & her birth mother.
⋆ This drama explores in great depth the meaning of being a "mother".

At first I thought 16 episodes were far too long for this type of drama but the writers made very good use of each episode. They explore and closed the story very nicely. We are not left to wonder what happened X or why did this happen?

: ̗̀➛ story + character development
I enjoyed watching the 2 leads become closer and attached to each other. Their dynamics worked well together.
The exploration of the characters (main+side) showed how many are imperfect which gave the drama an element of realness.
I also appreciate how we were given enough information and closure for side character stories.

: ̗̀➛ story + cinematography
The writing and story-telling was honestly beautiful. The dialogue added perfectly to the story.
The crew did well with the cinematography whether to show us a dark scene or the lovely scenery.

: ̗̀➛ acting
Absolutely brilliant acting from the entire cast. I was really impressed with the child actress Heo Yool, she gave off a strong performance!
Lee Bo-young as Soojin was just perfect. She beautifully portrayed the change from cold to warmth in Soojin.

: ̗̀➛ overall thoughts
Mother is not the typical kdrama as it's not as light-hearted. But it did keep me warm. It also made me think about those who are mother figures in my own life. I highly recommend this drama to anyone who wants to watch!

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Beautiful Life Drama - MUST WATCH

۰ A very heartwarming, slice-of-life drama that made me cry so much. This drama included many life lessons & has a different approach to the lives of the older generation. The stories of each character felt so raw and real. This added to the overall quality of the drama.

I felt so affected by the stories because it did make me think and relate it to my own life. If a drama can do that, then I know it's a good one!

۰ Top-tier cast
The cast did an absolute wonderful job in portraying their characters. Each cast member and their character fit so well to the overall drama.

I highly recommend this drama!

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Darker School Drama

An interesting drama which includes discussions on illegal businesses, underage escorts, s*x trafficking, the rights of workers & the need for security. This drama really had me hooked.

▹ Jisoo's character
He was presented as a straight A, quiet, shy school boy at the start. Later, it's revealed he runs an illegal security business in the backdrop of his perfect school life. He is different when he is "Uncle" and then when he is Jisoo in school.

▹ Illegal Business
Depending on individual views on escorts, the business Jisoo runs provides security for escorts. The business is illegal and he also allows underage Minhee to use the service. If one is being "equal", "protective" they wouldn't allow underage girls to do this.

▹ Dark but real
It was interesting to see how dark but real the show was. It’s common to see something like this in Asian cities, the motels/compensated dating etc. This drama feels raw and different. Not the typical school drama

▹ Gyuri's impact
People have moaned and said that "it's gyuri's fault". Yes, it is. She took Jisoo's phone but how else did you expect the drama to even start. Something had to go wrong, since they're all high school kids. They don't know any better.

▹ Minhee & PTSD
Her character was always shown to be smart-mouthed and stubborn. Yes, she should have listened to others to not go to the motel that day but she experienced something brutal. She was left traumatised and couldn't work.

▹ Police officer
For some reason, the show wrote the police officer in such an annoying way. Perhaps this was intentional. We are seeing the officer, the way the high school kids are. She did the right things but she was doing them in the wrong ways possible.

▹ Ending
The last 2 episodes were basically game changers like American tv shows and movies. The good turn bad and the bad turn good. I do wonder why they chose to pursue this root instead of sticking with what they had. But, I understand. The shock factor outweighs consistency in this situation.

OVERALL
Really good kdrama, it's not the typical school drama. It's dark and real. It opens up discussions about the dark side of Korea. The underage escorts, the money problems and the need for good parental figures. The last two episodes could have been a bit better in terms of the story and I find that the episodes stand out/ are different in terms of consistency with the rest of the series.

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Beautifully Written

Tragic but beautiful movie which explored the suicide of a young middle school girl. Her sister and mother wondered why it happened and as the movie went on, we came to find out what the cause was. Bullying.

The way in which the story moves is ever so carefully and almost silently like Cheonji. It goes well with the main characters overall and their mood.

This movie was realistic and explored the psychological/peer pressure that the girls in the class took part in. the victim knew it was going on around her, the giggling, secret texts etc making her seem like an outcast.

After the suicide, it's like there was a blame game as everyone felt guilty in one way or another. Whilst the family search for answers, the use of the yarn and the thread to uncover cheonji's last words was beautifully written. Holding onto her last words/thoughts were shown by the literal ball of yarn that she left for everyone.

Cast performed very well showcasing subtle actions but were so emotionally powerful. Beautifully written movie which opens up the conversation regarding peer pressure and depression.

In conclusion, please do check out this movie and give it a go.

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Masterpiece Drama

As Military Enlistment is talked about quite often, especially with the news that X actor is enlisting. It all seems like a very heroic job but this drama shows the realities faced by those in the military.

Military practices are years old and the drama definitely pointed out that change is difficult. Quite a sad ending to the drama, it felt quite light at the beginning but as the story progress it took a dark turn.

I think the screenwriting, acting, cinematography. The drama portrays emotions beautifully within each arc. The message this drama left is very powerful and I hope this makes a difference in the places where there are issues in Korea.

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Not the best but not the worst

I recently finished this drama and have time to think about it.
I don't think it was the best written drama released this year but I don't want to discredit it and say it was the worst.

| Story |
The story and plot were not over complicated like other dramas considering this was supposedly a makjang. I appreciate the writer keeping it simple and easy to digest. However, I do think certain characters should have been explored more to further lift this drama. For example, Jisun's backstory with her mother and then why her son hated her and what happened. Jiyong should have been explored more as to his background and why he did what he did. What even happened to Maggie Chen?

I will say that they wrapped Do-young and Nayoon's story well which I appreciate.

| Yeo-Wool |
I started the drama not feeling as attached to the main character and I left the drama not actually feeling anything for Yeo-Wool. Her character was just what we saw, no backstory or anything, just a mysterious woman.

| Character Development |
I can say many characters did get the ending they deserved. I was impressed with how consistent and well written Do-Young's character was. I do think she had the best development in the show and everything wrapped up well for her.

| Final thoughts |
This drama could have been written better in certain aspects but other than that I just continued to watch it each week. I wouldn't rewatch it but it's a decent show. I didn't expect there to be too much thriller or gore since this show of course involved small kids. I would like to say a good job to the cast for performing their characters well!

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