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A Time Called You korean drama review
Completed
A Time Called You
0 people found this review helpful
by z7nu
Sep 12, 2023
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 9.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 8.5
Rewatch Value 9.0

Interesting plot with A+ acting

Went into this one blind as I haven't seen the og one (I tried but couldn't even get past ep 1). This is my first time watching Jeon Yeon Bin in anything but I've become a fan.

Despite what some are saying in the comments, I think Yeon Bin slayed all her roles with my favorite being Junhee from her college days. There is this innocent charm added to Yeon Bin's timeless allure during this timeline. The ATCY team did such a great job showcasing her different charms as they jumped through the timelines and I was genuinely impressed. If I were to be a harsh critic, I would give the drama itself an 8 but her performance was a true highlight. Kim Tae Ri , Kim Go Eun and Jeo Yeon Bin are the rare breeds in the industry that demonstrate the epitome of acting and why it should be appreciated as an art form. They truly understand how an actor should utilize their body and eyes to convey specific emotions/showcase a character. Without giving away any spoilers here, viewers are in for a treat as Yeon Bin goes through the various transitions.

Without necessary expanding the number of episodes or just by adding one to two episodes, I feel like the storyline and characters could be fleshed out more. Speaking for myself, I wanted more details about between the leads as college students/adults and what they went through as a couple. There were snaps here and there but I didn't think it was enough especially when they dated for more than a decade. Perhaps they could show some key milestones, when Junhee graduated, how the two celebrated when she got her first "real job" (as her character was goal oriented while the ML was more of a romantic), their first fight (and how they reconciled) or when they first met each other's parents. What I'm trying to get at is that the show didn't show enough moments of the two being each other's soulmate, why they love each other as much as they do. There's a part in the drama where Junhee mentions Yeon Jun knows her better than she knows herself but the drama doesn't go further into it or show viewers what she meant. It's a shame because I'm sure the actors would have delivered these scenes well.

**slight spoiler**

They also could have also expanded on In-gyu's character(?) as it lacked depth and felt flat (not an actor issue, there just weren't scenes to show his development). And lastly, with such a complicated storyline with intersecting timelines, viewers definitely needed more explanation on how it all worked (not sure if the og did well on this component). I became very confused by the end of episode 9 and had to resort to third party sources to understand what happened. Perhaps it needed to be broken down more for the average viewer (or maybe I am just the only one missing a few brain cells), an aspect I believe the writer/director could have done better at.

This also leads me to highlight a detail I thought could have been changed. The present story starts one year after the ML's passing and I thought they could have changed it to 3 or 5 years instead. The fact the coworkers at the office thought Junhee should've moved on is a bit odd (I'm not saying she should be sobbing everyday but it would be normal to stay single for awhile after such tragic). As an interesting opening, it would be nice to have someone confess their feelings to the FL but she kindly rejects them. She goes back to her apartment that night and the viewers see all the old photos, only to realize she is still mourning her bf who passed some years ago and is only putting up a front at work/in front of her friends. There is a flashback to when her boyfriend's sister told her about the engagement ring and she cries. A few days later she receives a mysterious cassette tape and the story begins there.

All in all, I enjoyed the show. A few misses here and there but definitely worth your time. I mentioned this at the beginning but you should watch this show just for Yeon Bin's performance alone (the others did well although there's definitely room for improvement); her scenes are for the acting manual.
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