Go, Back Diary (2018)

Even though this show is very short (only 4 episodes that are about 9 minutes long), it managed to surprise me with the direction they took the story. I won't say more than that so as to stay away from spoilers.

The actors/actresses did a good job, though the wig (at least I hope it was a wig) on the second female lead was a bit distracting at times. The second female lead was an exceedingly terrible character and it was impressive that the actress could convey that in such a short time span.

I'm not sure if I should recommend this one or not. It was not my favorite drama, because I wasn't a fan of the way the story played out, but others might like it. It's around 40 minutes for the whole drama, so if you don't like it, you've not really wasted much time and if you do like it, it's a quick little journey.

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A story of 10 years

I have forgotten how skilled they are at Playlist global in making amazing short web dramas and telling a complete story.

Go, back Diary (what's with the odd punctuation in the title making it incomprehensible?) tells a story of a relationship over 10 years. A vast enterprise but they still managed to put everything in it without making it rushed. From the first crush, to the adult relationship to the obligatory girl best friend who wants to be more, we are shown every stage of this relationship.

The drama shows are the difference in growth of characters. After ten years the girl keeps sending signals of wanting more attention, more of a relationship but the boy is not there yet. He is struggling to find a job and the best friend uses this to drive a wedge in the couple.

The actors are excellent, Lee Jong Won is so handsome and his smile is electrifying. The cinematography is nothing special though they managed to convey the confusion of feelings through some camera angles and foggy scenes. The only really remarkable thing, technically wise, was the awful wig the SFL wears in school makis her ugly and unrecognizable! The music is generic.

This is really a good short watch

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Poor time management didn't allow for much of a plot to form

No Spoilers Until Warning

Before I go into the actual review, let me just say that I really hate the flashes of important quotes at the beginning of each episode. They're already super short episodes and if you listen to those quotes you know exactly what'll happen in each one. If you do want to actually watch the show, I recommend skipping the first 9 seconds of each episode. Honestly though, if you don't want to spend 36 minutes on this, then you should only watch the first 9 seconds and you'll be able to figure out pretty much the whole story. Honestly, I feel like a 5 is generous but I don't want to be too hard on a show that only had so much time to work with.

Now aside from that poor editorial decision, I feel like PlayList Global is pretty hit or miss for me. On one hand you have great shows like W.H.Y., XX, and Ending Again but on the other hand you have web dramas like this. This one was only 36 minutes in total, but it didn't make good use of its time. You can definitely make a sweet or emotional short with 36 minutes and then break it up into parts, but this show told the story from multiple perspectives and points in time causing some overlap in story.

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Complete Plot Breakdown:
The whole first episode seemed like a comedic filler flashback that just conveyed attraction without any plot development. Then there's one relevant present-day scene at the end that you don't realize is relevant until the end of episode 3.
The second episode is a typical high school couple backstory. One likes the other at first sight and doesn't hide it, then the other starts to like them back, then a misunderstanding splits them apart, then it gets resolved, and then they get together.
The third episode starts with a relationship montage to bring us back to the present and then a hostile conversation between the girlfriend and childhood friend establishing a love triangle. Then it ends with a scene that has a clue from the first episode that tells you exactly what's going to happen in the last episode.
The last episode is a predictable argument because of a distant boyfriend, followed by the girlfriend feeling bad and catching him in a lie on her way to apologize. The episode ends exactly as I expected with not much resolution.

The show used the first two episodes to convince you it would go one way and then the third episode convincing you it could go another way with an ending scene confirming how it ends. The last episode could've sped through the argument and shown the climax to allow time for some resolution, but instead it took it's time and the only scene after the climax was a quick flashback to a high school conversation about where they thought they'd be in 10 years.

I didn't realize how dumb the plot was until I thought about it for a bit. A guy has a female friend for several years who likes him, but he doesn't see the same way. Then he sees a girl singing and it's love at first sight. He tries finding her with no luck until she transfers to his school, and he's convinced it's destiny. Then his jealous friend relentlessly bullies the new girl and tries keep them apart, but eventually they get together. The guy stays friends with the bully and dates the new girl for 10 years. Then he starts to like the bully friend and dumps his girlfriend of 10 years. And that's the whole plot.

If you actually read this far and aren't completely turned off yet, then I actually recommend watching it. I did go over the entire plot but if you care more about the journey than the destination, then you should take a half hour and just watch it for the experience.

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