2
MJ Koontz
Back to being lost in America
The only errors here are the limitations of the budget and unwillingness to leave a college setting.
South Korea has been bombarding the 2022 marketplace with BL's. Like the Philippines last year, it seems everyone is starting to salivate over the dollars that can be made in the genre. However with the bombardment, we are getting a large serving of subpar, stilted, or simply archaic stories. Unbalanced acting, truly thin skimpy budgets, and forgettable series are starting to fill up the South Korean landscape. Soon, and honestly already beginning, BL (and LGBTQ+) audiences will have to separate the good, the bad, and the just plain ugly like you already must for Thai (or the aforementioned Philippines) for shows worth watching.
Luckily, Semantic Error, is not litter upon this landscape, and is something filled with genuine attraction, development, and pulse. It delivers bona-fied episodes of 20 minutes or more making it feel like an actual show and not simply a chopped up movie. Yet unfortunately, it still scrapes the bottom of the budget barrel. But, like many lower budget endeavors with strong players at the helm, it uses its budget effectively and for the most part you will forgive (and even forget) the cost cutting finish. The cinematography is cool with realistic tones of winter pallets. The world feels honest and tangible. The characters come off as true people and not just dolls here to tell a saccharine love story. Thus, the strengths begin to far outweigh the shortcomings.
One of these shortcomings is the stale setting and even staler story. This is an enemies to lovers tale unabashedly and it is, of course, set in college (at least it is not another High School series). While, it tries to be more modern and fresh with the main cast being digital designers and computer programmers (Not ya know, the forever Thai Engineers and Doctors) it still succumbs to the cool kids versus nerd trope which gives us our set-up. Luckily, the story moves adeptly through this repeatedly tread ground and doesn't waste time or draw plot points out needlessly.
The characters, and the casting of those characters, are what make this series shine. Park Jae Chan as our main lead Chu Sang Woo is an endearingly stubborn rule stickler with compulsive "robotic" tendencies. While the show never mentions anything psychologically or developmentally, you get the feeling that Sang Woo may be on the spectrum, though severely highly functional. Park Jae Chan is shockingly worm and funny in this role, even while the story makes him an unforgiving, friendless, developer savant. He is unquestioningly attractive with some of the pout-iest lips you have ever come across, and a face that is strangely expressive, it is all in the eyes, while remaining very stoic. You will become attached to him and root for him easily.
Park Seo Ham as our other main lead Jang Jae Young is a more stock bad-boy rebel artist designed character. The cool kid that gets all the girls, he is revered by everyone he meets and has swagger for days. Jan Jae is of course the bully of the pairing that ignites the back and forth of the enemies to lovers plot. Yet, Park Seo Ham does a great job at bringing a light-heartedness to this character and quickly, not to mention easily, makes our Jae Young cuddly, likable, and funny. Seo Ham is very much more of South Korean archetype beauty. Tall, pale, high cheek boned, strawberry shaped face, fit, and fashionable he is a literal check-marked boxes of perfect leading man design. Luckily, he never comes off arrogant (something that seems many times used as an actual attractive quality to my disdain). He is the one that starts to recognize his burgeoning feelings first and watching him move through his understanding of who and what he wants is quite a lot of fun indeed.
When the leads are with each other, playing off each other, and building the relationship on screen it is enrapturing. There is a current that runs between them and it intensifies throughout the story as their relationship grows. It is, perhaps, the strongest entry South Korea has given us since 2021's To My Star in the world of displaying a sense of true want and attraction between the leads. There is never a moment where the cast seems not to want to be here, or to hesitate and hold back from what they are portraying. Everyone really seems to have come here to give us a story of two guys falling for each other, and everyone seems both fully willing and happy to do so. This is undeniably refreshing to watch and fun to wade through. Butterflies will blossom in your belly as you watch these two spark with each other. As for the kissing, I dare say this entry maybe posses the strongest South Korean has to offer in the current BLs they are delivering. This isn't the cardboard empty uneasy to watch kisses you find in Color Rush or My Sweet Dear, nor is it a one and done affair tacked on at the very last moment like Were Your Eyes Linger or Light on Me. Again, like To My Star, the kissing happens very naturally and a multitude of times, though I will say Semantic Error brings a bit more heat and passion than the former.
This is a prime example of what can be given even if in a tired cliched setting and story. It is thoroughly enjoyably, highly re-watchable, well acted and yes even sexy making you honestly not really care that you've done this story to death, because for some reason, this time it feels fresh and new.
9 = A, 4 1/2-Stars. Strong in all aspects, Best of the Bunch and worth your time.
Now if South Korea would just take this as an example, plop it into a more original base story, get it fully funded like straight romances, and churned up to hour long 16 episode orders, then we could knock it up to perfection.
Luckily, Semantic Error, is not litter upon this landscape, and is something filled with genuine attraction, development, and pulse. It delivers bona-fied episodes of 20 minutes or more making it feel like an actual show and not simply a chopped up movie. Yet unfortunately, it still scrapes the bottom of the budget barrel. But, like many lower budget endeavors with strong players at the helm, it uses its budget effectively and for the most part you will forgive (and even forget) the cost cutting finish. The cinematography is cool with realistic tones of winter pallets. The world feels honest and tangible. The characters come off as true people and not just dolls here to tell a saccharine love story. Thus, the strengths begin to far outweigh the shortcomings.
One of these shortcomings is the stale setting and even staler story. This is an enemies to lovers tale unabashedly and it is, of course, set in college (at least it is not another High School series). While, it tries to be more modern and fresh with the main cast being digital designers and computer programmers (Not ya know, the forever Thai Engineers and Doctors) it still succumbs to the cool kids versus nerd trope which gives us our set-up. Luckily, the story moves adeptly through this repeatedly tread ground and doesn't waste time or draw plot points out needlessly.
The characters, and the casting of those characters, are what make this series shine. Park Jae Chan as our main lead Chu Sang Woo is an endearingly stubborn rule stickler with compulsive "robotic" tendencies. While the show never mentions anything psychologically or developmentally, you get the feeling that Sang Woo may be on the spectrum, though severely highly functional. Park Jae Chan is shockingly worm and funny in this role, even while the story makes him an unforgiving, friendless, developer savant. He is unquestioningly attractive with some of the pout-iest lips you have ever come across, and a face that is strangely expressive, it is all in the eyes, while remaining very stoic. You will become attached to him and root for him easily.
Park Seo Ham as our other main lead Jang Jae Young is a more stock bad-boy rebel artist designed character. The cool kid that gets all the girls, he is revered by everyone he meets and has swagger for days. Jan Jae is of course the bully of the pairing that ignites the back and forth of the enemies to lovers plot. Yet, Park Seo Ham does a great job at bringing a light-heartedness to this character and quickly, not to mention easily, makes our Jae Young cuddly, likable, and funny. Seo Ham is very much more of South Korean archetype beauty. Tall, pale, high cheek boned, strawberry shaped face, fit, and fashionable he is a literal check-marked boxes of perfect leading man design. Luckily, he never comes off arrogant (something that seems many times used as an actual attractive quality to my disdain). He is the one that starts to recognize his burgeoning feelings first and watching him move through his understanding of who and what he wants is quite a lot of fun indeed.
When the leads are with each other, playing off each other, and building the relationship on screen it is enrapturing. There is a current that runs between them and it intensifies throughout the story as their relationship grows. It is, perhaps, the strongest entry South Korea has given us since 2021's To My Star in the world of displaying a sense of true want and attraction between the leads. There is never a moment where the cast seems not to want to be here, or to hesitate and hold back from what they are portraying. Everyone really seems to have come here to give us a story of two guys falling for each other, and everyone seems both fully willing and happy to do so. This is undeniably refreshing to watch and fun to wade through. Butterflies will blossom in your belly as you watch these two spark with each other. As for the kissing, I dare say this entry maybe posses the strongest South Korean has to offer in the current BLs they are delivering. This isn't the cardboard empty uneasy to watch kisses you find in Color Rush or My Sweet Dear, nor is it a one and done affair tacked on at the very last moment like Were Your Eyes Linger or Light on Me. Again, like To My Star, the kissing happens very naturally and a multitude of times, though I will say Semantic Error brings a bit more heat and passion than the former.
This is a prime example of what can be given even if in a tired cliched setting and story. It is thoroughly enjoyably, highly re-watchable, well acted and yes even sexy making you honestly not really care that you've done this story to death, because for some reason, this time it feels fresh and new.
9 = A, 4 1/2-Stars. Strong in all aspects, Best of the Bunch and worth your time.
Now if South Korea would just take this as an example, plop it into a more original base story, get it fully funded like straight romances, and churned up to hour long 16 episode orders, then we could knock it up to perfection.
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