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toxicbybritneyspears

toxicbybritneyspears

Do You Like Brahms? korean drama review
Completed
Do You Like Brahms?
2 people found this review helpful
by toxicbybritneyspears
Aug 26, 2021
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 1
Overall 7.5
Story 7.5
Acting/Cast 7.5
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 6.0
I'm honestly not sure if I truly liked it (to some extent) or was just bewitched by aesthetics and the overall concept/idea of this drama. It had a few moments of poetic depth, but majority of the plot ideas got sacrificed for mediocre, bland and uncreative script.

A bumpy road towards one's dreams is nothing new story-wise, but I like the fact that Brahms does not sugarcoat this theme. Alongside the inspirational one-liners we have a bittersweet message that talent doesn't mean anything or that you are nothing without a talent. That sometimes destroying your dream is a road to true happiness (or not?). Maybe there will be a moment when you start to detest what you once cherished the most. Dreams/happiness is not something that's given to you and it may not be a permanent thing. And that's okay. As a story about young adults and their struggles with the stress inducing combo of work-passion-identity trio, it does an okay job.

I was interested in complicated relationship between Jung Kyung and Joon Young. No, not the love triangle lol, that was horrible. I'm talking about their weird codependency fueled by Jung Kyung's money/power dominance and Joon Young's hopeless love caught my attention. How it affected Joon Young's relationship with music, as well as his personality and interpersonal relations. It was a crippling, toxic relationship created with good intentions and pure feeling. However, the whole love trangle thing when all three of them were just staring at each other, looking gloomy and depressed like the members of a shoegaze band, speaking....exactly... like... that... for....some...reason was so hard to watch. Clichéd and tedious, without any solid, emotional punch line. I guess it did its job and triggered further self-exploration of the characters, but on its own it was just boring and slightly annoying to watch. I did care about the future of each character, but their relationship as a troubled thouple didn't move any strings in my heart.

I also liked the FL. I've seen a lot of people complaining about her lack of development, but I actually appreciate the consistency in her character. We're talking about a girl who has no sense of self-worth. Always self-conscious and anxious. Ready to hide deep within the walls of her own mind when something bad happens again. Endure the pain and try again. Repeat. It's like she still, despite being a full grown adult, doesn't know who she is. I was happy that her falling in love didn't really change anything/fix her problems. but her getting hurt by love forced her to do a big reality check and reflect. Seem like not much, but that's what I expected from such deeply insecure person. They change slowly, step by step. Small growth is still a growth. I liked that.

What bothers me the most is that Brahms never pushed the button to the fullest. There were ups and a lot of flat lines. dull, repetitive scenes, dragged plotlines, episodes that mashed into one pulp of empty spaces that could have been filled with emotions. I love that specific mellow, slow paced, poetic atmosphere in movies/drams, but sometimes Brahms was a little too much, too pretentious for my taste.
And...did I mention... long....







pauses?
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