1This review may contain spoilers
A three-dimensional, grown-up love story, sensitively told and spiritedly acted
When people have lived for more than four decades, they are usually disillusioned in many ways. Hope for romance and love has given way to various, quite specific experiences... and these are inevitably paved with disappointment and suffering, too. However, it´s not necessarily too late for a new love. It might be different, though. More grounded. Honest. Upright. Less games. Sincere closeness and warmth become more important than romantic squabble. The time ahead is finite. And you no longer expect a fairy tale full of magic, but rather wish for true moments, a safe place to catch your breath and recharge your batteries. Reliability. Trust and emotional intimacy.The protagonists in "Should we Kiss First" have all been through life for some time. The two main characters have had children and lost them again, have been married and divorced, lived more or less honest but empty lives. SHE has been a stewardess for 20 years and suffers from insomnia. HE is a co-founder of an advertising agency and has cancer. Neither of them want to be alone. Neither of them want a relationship. Hm. Difficult. Their best friends each want to pair them off ... and at last are successful. However - being in makjang KDrama Land - the past of the protagonists gets involved in the present and triggers a lot of turbulence.
"Should we Kiss First" focuses on two adults who (re)experience love in a way they never expected. Love is not primarily supple, sexy and redeeming, but presents itself as irrational, brittle, stubborn and complex. As such, it demands one thing unconditionally: complete surrender to this feeling, which remains in spite of adversities, yet does not solve any problems. However gives the necessary strength to face them.
Does this power come from the love you experience from someone? Or from the love that you give yourself? The beauty of this KDrama is placing the emphasis on the fact that it is your own radiance which makes a difference. The love we open up to and give in to makes the difference how we experience life, or what options we recognize and choose... It's about giving in to your feelings, letting them be (even if you rather not put up with it) and trusting them.
The story is told in different nuances - sometimes humorous, sometimes profound, sometimes tender, sometimes playful, sometimes harsh, even fists are flying at times. Enjoying the moment to the fullest and the pure love of life have just as much space as the desolate moments of emptiness, embarrassment, destructive anger and listless lethargy. The dialogues are carefully chosen down to the last detail. And then there are the subplots, that round the story off.
A three-dimensional, grown-up love story. Yes, once again a story about love, but not cheesy. Instead, the story is sensitively told, spiritedly acted and filled with a love for detail. On top of that, a story full of sometimes subtle, sometimes explicit wisdom. A KDrama that doesn't sugarcoat anything, yet feeds you with a satisfying sigh.
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It's not a tragedy. It's a story on
how to laugh your way through pain;
how age does matter but then again So What!
how to celebrate being Alive
It's funny, it's sexy, it's painful and it's thoroughly Satisfying. I left the room with a Happy Sigh.
Married people Shud behave like This and I want to have friends Like That!!!!
The rest is just your personal preference after you've invested in at least 4 - 5 episodes of your life.
1 from my many many Favorite Bits.... lets me make it 2:
So Nagging Can Be Sexy too :D
Check for the keys 1st :D :D
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Started as a comedy it turned into pure melo. This is slow-paced yet beautifully done. Son Mu Han really grew on me.
Coming to the acting this is my first drama of Kam Woo Sung. He did exceptionally well. I'm going to check out his other works. Kim Sun Ah as always she nailed it. (I'm a fan of her.) Their chemistry is no joke. All portrayed their roles well.
Music is so good. No matter how good the drama is if there's no good music it won't be remembered well. This drama has many beautiful tracks. Totally loved the music.
Whenever I feel down will re-watch this for sure. It made me feel optimistic about life.
Beautiful story, beautiful acting, beautiful music and beautiful cinematography. That's what Should We Kiss First? is.
P. S: Loved the 'City Hall' references. The city hall station and the beauty pageant.
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This review may contain spoilers
While this drama focuses on a love story between the main characters Soon Jin and Moo Han the “love stories” go far beyond this couple. The story between Soon Jin and her best friend Mi Ra who is fiercely protective, fiercely loyal and fiercely committed to loving her friend through every heartbreak is incredibly powerful. You find the same deep compassion between Moo Han and his best friend who also happens to be Mi Ra’s husband. There are several “parent/child love stories” that eloquently portray parenting ‘s pains and joys. The secondary story of Mi Ra going through menopause brings out the best in her marriage. While lashing out at her husband he remains loyal, kind, loving and committed to seeing her through to the other side.
Mi Ra has such depth an entire drama with her as the lead could easily be done.
This drama is about not giving up even when things look bleak and the fact that the characters are “mature” deepens the story and shows what mature love in all forms looks like. Well written, great acting (Kim Sun A and Ye Ji Won your best work to date) great directing— I can’t find one thing wrong with this drama.
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First it started off sort of like a romantic comedy, then different parts of the story were revealed that unfolded into a much deeper narrative. This drama was an emotional rollercoaster at times (well most of the time), in fact there was a period in the middle of the series where it was just painful to watch, I cried, laughed, got angry, fell in love with characters, hated characters, and was totally annoyed by some, but in time you came to realize there were reasons for most of it.
The backstory was amazing and just heartbreaking as well, but the real soul of the entire story was the love two people held for each other, the pain they felt and shared, the obstacles they had to overcome, the absolute unshakable love they eventually embraced. To live every day as if it’s your last for another person, just amazing.
I really like a few of the other characters as well. Soon Jin’s friend Mi Ra was hilarious and such a good friend to her, through thick and thin, an unbreakable bond. I Deun, Mu Han’s daughter was also a great character with so much emotion and sincerity in her acting, I was really impressed.
I actually was full of anxiety about the ending but when it eventually came I was pretty happy with the way they ended it, though the bastards kind of pulled a gotcha which made me crazy. The gag reel really helped as well to release some tension.
In the end it was just amazing. When it does start getting difficult fight your way through it and you will be rewarded with fond memories and peaceful thoughts on love and life.
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ALL IN ALL, WATCH IT, but don't feel guilty if you also skip the daughter's scenes.
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Kim Sun Ah as Ahn Soon Jin delivers a flawless performance. The story is a mix of genres; it has tragedy, mystery, drama, and realism combined with hints of comedic moments that lighten the plot. The drama is beautiful and the ending is promising as it shows how the leading couple find themselves loving each other more and more, one day at a time. Enjoy it!
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Mature romance of two broken individuals but comedic moments felt out of place
Completed - 7/16/2022 - 8.25I was in the mood for a melodrama and mature romance, so I decided to pick this up. I am a big fan of romance dramas, but haven't really watched too many about individuals in their 40s and 50s. This is probably the first one, if memory serves me right.
Plot - Two individuals who met over 10 years ago through chance but only ML remembers what happened. They cross path many more times and eventually meet in present day due to an arranged date by their best friends. This drama slowly reveals when and how they met all those years. At present day, they are two broken individuals who had a tragic past. Trying to move past and to live only for today, they fall in love but it wasn't smooth sailing. I was taken back by the comedic moments in the first 10 episodes of the drama. I actually checked the tags to make sure I am watching a melodrama. Are they funny? Yes ,they are especially because of FL's crazy best friend. But they also feel a little out of place when we are already starting to get snippets of their chance encounters and history, and we know the rest of the drama is not going to be fluffy and happy. I also feel that the drama should have been the standard 16 one-hour episode format, or 32 thirty-minute format. It seems too long and dragged a little.
Romance - I enjoy watching our leads meet, fall in love, work out their misunderstandings and eventually love and support each other. They have great chemistry and as FL said, she wants to live in ML's gaze for a little longer. I agree. ML's gaze is not of sexual desire or passion, but of tender, love and care. They have many funny and cute moments together, but the romance is not intense or passionate. In the last part of the drama, it feels comfortable like a calm, flowing river, despite what they are going through. I guess that's the difference when you watch a couple who are in their 40s.
Supporting Cast - Ye Jin Won as FL's best friend won an award for her role here. She is quite funny and crazy in here. She really likes to speak French and do yoga in her roles. Aside from an annoying teenager, no one is too insufferable. At least the teenager's angst did not last for too long and I do understand where she's coming from. But FL's ex-hubby really need to focus more on his wife than his ex-wife. I don't blame his current wife for being jealous. He cheated on FL and has the audacity to show up in her life ALL the time. Actually both he and his wife should mind their own businesses more. Oh, Yang Cha from "Arthdal Chronicles" is the barista! I finally get to see Ki Do Hoon's face clearly without the mask and he's quite handsome.
Ending - Without giving away spoilers, all I can say is that I am happy with the ending. If we remind ourselves that this drama is about two people falling in love, then I think we can understand why it ends this way. I don't need to know if there will be a miracle, just that they are happy and in love.
Despite not having major flaws in this drama, it doesn't touch me as much as I hoped it would. Maybe it's the comedy or the pacing? I enjoy the acting, romance, and complicated pasts, but it's missing something for me to give it a higher rating. Lastly, I am a fan of Paul Kim and I love the theme song. There's just something about his voice that is so unique and lovely.
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The writer could've done a lot better .
The plot degrades very quickly. The dialogues are here and there, Especially Kim Sun Ah's dialogue.It started well, had so much potential and then Kim Sun Ah's character had a drastic drop in quality.
Either she messed up her acting halfway through or more like her character went total rubbish.
I think it's the writer's fault. When you have created such good characters initially, what felt so short then?
They could've easily progressed much better.
The daughter's character is forced and irrational at times.
The best friend couple is too fake to watch,
And our protagonist is a guilt machine. I did this, I did that. Dude you did nothing, people commit wrong every day, just to attain happiness.
I had a particular interest in his ex-wife's character but her screentime was too short.
She acted phenomenally.
A decent watch. but I couldn't complete it.
Kam Woo-sung was exceptional as he's always.
3 stages of this drama Fantastic => Mediocre => Rubbish.
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Na primeira metade do drama eu pensei que seria uma comédia romântica onde os dois malucos que se completariam no decorrer da história compartilhando suas loucuras.
Se eu considerasse apenas os primeiros 10 episódios eu diria que o lance da comédia tinha funcionado. Uma mulher doida (Ahn Soon Jin) que já não tem mais gosto em viver e apenas sobrevive a cada dia mas que lá no fundo ainda deseja que alguém a ame e um cara estranho (Son Moo Han), que não quer se prender a ninguém mas que por alguma razão deseja estar perto da Soon Jin. No início estes personagens me pareceram um tanto pitorescos e interessantes.
Na segunda metade o drama muda para um melodrama difícil de aguentar. Aí apareceram as coisas que mais me irritam em um drama:
- Lenga lenga com desentendimentos descabidos que poderiam ser facilmente resolvidos com uma conversa,
- Pirraça insuportável de um dos protagonistas ou até mesmo dos dois,
- A clássica tentativa de afastamento do outro por motivos fúteis e desculpas sem sentido.
Como uma pessoa racional e pragmática não compreendo porque ficar escondendo os sentimentos ou evitando conversas que resolveriam facilmente certas questões. Enfim, entendo que isto rende episódios e por isto este drama não pareceu ter apenas 40, mas sim 100 episódios.
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