A Time travel drama without plot holes? YES THIS IS THE ONE
Woww What a beautifull ride this was. I must admit that I started this drama 7 months ago, but the first episode didn't catch my attention so I put it on hold till now. I decided to give it a chance because, I heard the first episode is a pilot (plus this drama as 9.0 rating on mydramalist) and THANK GOD I DID. From episode 2 till the end this drama as FANTASTIC, WHen you are watching time travel dramas you often find plot holes, but I can't find one with this one. The story is confusing a little bi but not to the point you can't understand what is going on, everything make sense at the end.The leads:
- Both the male lead and female lead made I great pair. Their chemistry is really great, for a hight school drama the romance was very well executed.
- Second lead was loyal till the end no unnecessary drama for no reason, I like how both friends deal about liking the "same girl".
- The ending was sad, but realistic, they didn't change the future to make the viewers happy and risk to make plot holes at the same time.
. The fact that they took time to make a special scene for the viewers is so sweet.
Overall: 9.5 (because the first of 1 episode).
Best taiwanese drama ever and belong in my TOP10 DRAMAS NOW
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This review may contain spoilers
The Best Time Travel Drama Ever!!!
Honestly, I haven't seen Taiwanese Drama for a long time since 'Autumn's Concerto' in 2009.I found 'Someday or one day' by Korean's recommend drama on SNS.
I just start watched it without reading the synopsis and I didn't expect anything from this drama.
But after I watch 2 episodes I already into it. The plot was very fantastic and I can't stop to watch it.
I love all the storyline, acting, music of this drama.
I strongly recommend 'Someday or one day' for whos love Time Travel, Romantic, Friendship, Family theme drama.
You will never disappoint and waste your time for sure.
● Alice Ke's Acting
She is a talent actress. I surprised that she can play two different roles in the same time. She made everyone believed that Huang Yu Xuan and Chen Yun Ru is not the same person. Also, it doesn't awkward at all.
● Greg Han's Acting
Li Zi Wei / Wang Quan Sheng will be my best male lead for me all the time. I admired his acting that he can played the character in various age.
I hope Taiwan will continue produce Good-Quality drama in the future. :)
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Having watched mostly korean and some chinese dramas I had no prior experience to taiwanese dramas.
So after seeing the unusual high score of this show on MDL I was a little hesitant to start it. Was it another overrated drama that the fandom pushed into the high ranks by force? After having watched it I can say for sure that this is not the case. It does deserve all the praise it is getting!
--Story--
The first episode starts out really slow and gave me a bad expection of the show to be honest.
All these quirky side characters and the scenes at the company reminded me of old korean shows from 10 years ago.
What kept me watching was the relationship between the female lead and her lost boyfriend and I am glad that I did.
The disappearance of the male lead was shrouded in mystery and at first not a lot of information was handed out.
After a while you get to realise that he is probably dead.... or is he really?
The storytelling of this show is a big plus and you realise that everyone involved took a lot of planning and focus to detail in creating this show. Only sparely information is presented and the focus is mainly on the love story between the male and the female lead. The interaction between the cast members, especially in the past, fills in the lack of actual information perfectly. You try to put together the puzzle pieces in your mind and it keeps you focused on the story. You laugh at the silly banter and feel with the main leads sadness. The thriller aspect could have been done a little better (the villian and his motives were a stark contrast to the rest of the story) but in general the show does a really good job at it. After lovely fluff between the main lead you get upset at all these tragic things that keep happening.
--Acting--
A big big plus of the show. As said before this is my first taiwanese drama so I knew none of the actors. I was especially impressed with Alice Ke since she had to portray two vastly different characters and did a really good job at it. In the beginning I felt Huang Yu Yuans sadness of losing the love of you life and the constant battle of trying to forget him and towards the end I could really understand the problems of Chen Yun Ru who felt alone in this cold harsh world.
The bromance between Greg Hsu and Patrick Shih was super fun to watch as well and I will guarantee you that you will cry once because of it if you start watching this show.
The acting made the show a ton more believable and enjoyable.
--Music--
What is to say here. On of the best Soundtracks I have heard in a while. Starting with the Opening Track which I never skipped to the time travelling Wu Bai "Last Dance". I can't get that song out of my mind for a long time. I loved every musical piece in this drama. The music was a big reason some scenes felt so emotional. You traveled back in time with the female lead while listening to it.
--Final Thoughts / Rewatch Value--
To summarize" Someday or One Day" I would say it is a nice blend of a beautiful love story with an excellent cast + the time travel shenanigans of the german tv show "Dark".
Compared to the big production korean dramas I watch usually this show was a breath of fresh air.
Even though not a lot of money was involved in producing this show you can feel that the production crew really cared about it and focused on the important aspect. Honestly do you need fancy production when the story, acting and music is this good? This show will stay in my mind for a long time and I will surely rewatch it in the future.
When you browse the internet for discussion you realise how many small details you miss that show you what kind of long planning and care took place to create this gem.
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This review may contain spoilers
Intellectual fantasy with a disappointing end
I want to preface this by saying I did enjoy the show. I was on the edge of my seat during all the complex time travel twists and turns. It all made sense eventually. The romance was so sweet that I was really rooting for the couple. It was honestly unrealistically sweet but I like that kind of romance. I watch these shows so that for a little while I can believe that someone actually could love another person that much. Some people may find it off putting that he is so much older than her but the soul has no age. I didn’t mind that. Except at the end. When the show really reminds you of it. On purpose. I think the writers are trying to make you believe that this is a happy ending. See they still know each other. But really am I supposed to believe that because he met her prepubescent self he’s supposed to remember her and find her later? Just on that alone? He should not be thinking of her romantically at that point. It’s fine that she said he should date her later kids say silly things all the time. But if he’s not a pedophile he shouldn’t be thinking that way. He’d forget her by the time she grew up. I’m glad peoples lives were saved. Not everyone. It doesn’t work out so well if you’re gay I guess. I just wish they could have thought of a better ending for the main couple. I was so let down by it that my rating dropped an entire point.I don’t rewatch shows and I don’t have an ear for music so don’t pay much attention to my ratings there.
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This review may contain spoilers
From bored skipper to an emotional wreck!
This is probably the most memorable and favorite time travel drama I have ever watched.The story starts off with the main girl missing her boyfriend who went missing (most likely died) in a plane crash. She ends up time traveling back in time to become a girl student who looks like her, who has a classmate friend that looks just like her boyfriend! I thought the two female characters' stories were separate, but everything end up being more interlinked than expected. Any move from this past would ripple and affect the main girl's current timeline. And, she wasn't the only one able to time travel!
The beginning, like the first 8 episodes, were really boring. They played that oldie cassette song WAY too much. The acting felt unnatural, and there were too many of, what I thought were filler scenes. Turns out, I WAS WRONG.
The first half may be boring, but every scene, even the cassette song scenes, was actually pivotal in the time travel timeline! I am actually super impressed by how the production team came up with everything. I also change my mind about their acting with the last 5 episodes, as I realized how great they were in playing multiple characters. Except the uncle's acting. Plus, their CHEMISTRY got me in an emotional wreck every time I felt they were separating. Another title for this drama should have been "How to Fall in Love With Li Zi Wei in 13 episodes" cause UGH, what a perfect character. I loved him in the timeline with the younger HYX.
Suicide, depression, and other medical illnesses were explored here with even a touch on LGBTQ, although that was quite random. I loved how they were inserted in subtly and bittersweetly.
In what started off as me nonchalantly watching and struggling to feel for the main girl's tears and longing for her mans in the beginning, I UNDERSTOOD and felt everything she was feeling by the end. Heck, I miss her boyfriend too and I was literally crying with her. And I love how I was able to do that because of the way this drama was executed.
Because of how many intricate details were placed in this drama, I'd look over the boring parts and applaud the overall storyline and beautiful casting and chemistry.
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BRILLIANT IS ALL I CAN SAY
I can confidently say this is one of the best drama out there! I want to say this drama is a time travel mystery but it's actually not. It’s all about an unbreakable friendship and love that meets tragedy. You might actually find yourself empathising with the characters more than you would for other dramas and that's what makes this drama such a masterpiece. You will laugh, cry and be kept on the edge of your seat when watching Someday or One Day. If you love watching dramas with meaningful messages that will tug on your heartstrings but also has a mysterious vibe that will keep you wanting to watch more. A rare gem no one should miss out on.Was this review helpful to you?
The Best TDrama. Ever.
I don't think I'll ever get over this drama. I cried for hours after I completed it. I do not see how another drama can top the emotional grasp that Someday or One Day has on its viewers. I give my outmost respect to the countless people who worked on this drama to bring it to where it was.Someday or One Day leaves you with the sense that something was left behind, or something is missing - yet you're satisfied with the ending. That void is what makes you cry, but it's also what makes you smile - knowing that in the end, no one experienced the pain of loss as they had before.
The viewer is left alone with the story, and that's what hurts the most - only you will remember. That is something I have never seen nor believe I will experience again with a drama. That makes me cry even more - I'm the only one who will remember their story. And trust me, you want to remember as well.
This drama has taught me something important - that although the current you cannot change the past or go back to it, present you can change your future. Please give it a try so you can see just how true this is.
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I'm your future
"If one day I could really go back to the past, I wouldn't find myself. I would find you and tell you that I'm your future. The only one you can like. The only one you can love. "The distress about the remake made me rewatch it.
This drama suffered a huge scandal when the final episode was leaked before airing (with an apology and a change in choice of ending, compared to the three in the script).
The story is intense, deep, with superb acting and beautiful cinematography.
I loved the intensity of the story, the characters, their complexity and their growth. There are a lot of positive messages, such as giving importance to mental health, the pro-LGBT message, if you have an emotional breakdown you need to ask for help and not underestimate it. Another message is also to give help to the most fragile and difficult adolescents.
The leads were wonderful in their roles, very skilled and able to be able to distinguish the characters by a glance, roles tailor-made for them.
I also loved Mo Junjie as second lead, because he is really best bro.
Throughout the whole drama there are small details to grasp to understand the plot and recognise the villain, but he is the character who makes it very clear how important should be caring about psychological disorder.
Meticulous attention to details.
Wonderful and intense OSTs, they won't leave your heart ❤️
it's a drama that makes you completely fall in love with the characters, all of them. Special mention to the adult, mature, sincere and willing to do anything relationship of Li Ziwei and Huang Yuxuan, because we all deserve a relationship like this ❤️ full of sincerity. of true love, of the desire to be close to each other, to support and protect each other.
The scene, both in the film and in the drama, where they argue, is due precisely to this.
Complete ending after seeing everything ( special scene + movie)
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The reviews don't lie people,It really is a masterpiece
I am someone who rates the drama a lot on the basis of the lead couple. And well this one was a delight in that area . The chemistry,the relationship and the way their love could be felt through the screen was unbelievable. I really like the way these characters were portrayed and the understanding and true love that they showed.From the plot point of view,it is really well written and the twists are not something you can guess from a mile away . Everything was well wrapped up , and as I had read in a review before watching this show myself, let me tell it to someone else , that after watching you will know li so Wei and Huang yu kuan ,will always in all lifetimes find and love each other.
Absolutely recommend,a worth watch!!!
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Simply superb
I put off watching this drama when it was released because fantasy is not a genre I normally enjoy. I now regret waiting four years, this drama was outstanding.When it was first released, the creator of the drama was reported as making comments that astounded me, and that have always stuck with me. They said that they created this drama specifically and explicitly for Ko Chia Yen. That is a remarkable tribute to her as an actor. I have heard of individual movies that were created with a particular actor in mind, films that the writer and/or director have said could not have been made without that specific person in that particular role, but I have never ever heard of a 15.5 hour runtime drama that was created specifically to give a vehicle to one particular actor. Having completed the drama, it makes perfect sense that the one particular actor was THIS actor.
Ko Chia Yen's performance was phenomenal. Not just in playing characters at different ages, but playing two completely different characters at different ages. Because of the nature of the storyline she was at times playing an unstable introverted teenager who was playing an outgoing adult who was playing as that unstable introverted teenager. Layers upon layers, and she nailed it every time.
Of course, as exceptional as her performance was, the drama would not have worked if she had been carrying substandard performances from the other leads. Hats off to all those involved in the casting of the other main roles. Greg Hsu and Patrick Shih rose to the challenge of their roles superbly. A special word of praise has to go to Patrick Shih. The layered, Inception-style nature of the storyline meant that his was a distinctive and different kind of a second male lead role, full of nuance and complexity. His delivery of the role was moving, conveying the pathos of the characters situation perfectly.
The romance at the heart of the drama also would not have worked had the casting been off. The on-screen chemistry between Ko Chia Yen and Greg was palpable. The brief little thank you BTS they hastily put together after the drama aired was a wonderful glimpse into the professionalism of all involved - Ko Chia Yen being bleeped out when she commented on having to refer to the six years younger Greg as "Li Zi Wei gege" was funny, but it was also a nice reminder that this was a performance by highly skilled and trained professionals who told a well-written story exceptionally well.
There were a couple of flaws that prevented this from getting a score of 10 from me. The first were the 'comic relief' characters featured prominently in the early episodes, especially Kun Bu. I felt sorry for the actor playing that character because the role was superfluous and tonally grating. It was interesting that her character was easier to take later in the drama when she was playing a younger version of herself, she was less clownish at 19-20 than 26-27.
The other and more significant flaw for me was the "big bad" arc. The deranged psychopath was a plot device to generate tension and danger for all four of the leads – both of Ko Chia Yen's characters, and the two male leads. However, I felt that it was unnecessary, or at the very least excessive and over-emphasised. It was obvious right from episode one that the biggest danger to Chen Run Yu was internal, not external. The stunning performance in the penultimate episode when Chen Run Yu and Huang Yu Xuang went head-to-head really demonstrated that. Their interactions showed that there was little need for a somewhat crudely cartoonish external villain to generate an existential threat, when Chen Run Yu carried the biggest threat inside herself.
The prominence given to that external villain seemed to be a nod to a tradition in Taiwanese dramas, the apparent need to include elements of Makjang. It also contributed to the drama suffering from a very common flaw with Taiwanese dramas, that of being longer than it needed to be. Reducing the prominence of the role given to the psychopathic villain and perhaps reducing or eliminating the comic relief roles could have shaved one whole episode of the drama and would have made it even better than it was.
A somewhat controversial opinion here – the ending was just a few seconds too long. At the VERY end of the Drama, the creative team made EXplicit what had been made IMplicit seconds earlier, and I thought was a bit of a shame. Ending with the child actor would have been absolutely PERFECT, imo. Less is more. A very minor niggle, though.
That it was a little longer than it needed to be made me think of the Korean remake, which is 25% shorter. It was the airing of the remake that prompted me to finally get around to watching the original. I wanted to watch the original before I watched the remake. Having been blown away by the original, I will not now be watching the remake.
I hope that all who do watch the remake enjoy it, and I'm sure that this will be especially true for those who have not seen the original, but there are two reasons why I think it is fundamentally impossible for the remake to match the original.
First, the casting. The fact that this drama was created specifically for one particular actor, who was obviously the very core of the entire drama from beginning to end, means that any remake is missing a certain something. When the remake was first announced, long before it was filmed, it got a black mark in my scorebook for the fact that they went out of their way to cast the male lead first. This was a drama that was created specifically for the FEMALE lead, she was the reason the show existed at all, the fact that the Korean production chose to prioritise the casting of the male lead said to me that they had missed the fundamental point of the show's existence.
The other reason why I don't think the remake could ever be considered as good as the original is simply that - the original was ORIGINAL. It was inventive and creative and put well used elements like time travel and love triangles and internal conflict together in ways that, at least in my 600 dramas, I've never seen. That creativity and originality is something that no remake could have. No matter how good any remake is, it's working with pre-existing material. The bulk of the really hard work has already been done. And, of course, no remake would have Ko Chia Yen in the role.
This drama reminded me why watching East Asian dramas has been a major hobby of mine for 10 years. When they are good they are very good, and few come better than this one. I hope others try it, and I really hope they try the original first.
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A drama so perfectly made
This is the first time in my asian drama watch history that i have given 10 to all of the ratings.Every thing is so well made here. No complains at all . Even with best of the best i do have some complains but in this none.
Story, acting, cast, music everything is so smooth before you realise it just sucks you in !!
Dont miss this gem. There is a korean remake but i decided to watch original and i am so glad. I see some discussions on the over all quality being high in Korean remake but even though i have not seen the remake i think the original is so well made i didnt see any issue in the quality whatsoever. Do not miss on it for that reason atleast.
Just huge shoutout to the cast and special love for main lead couple who has so much chemistry!
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Are you a fan of serious time travel thrillers? This drama might not be for you.
So I'm a fan of time travel/alternate worlds dramas. Fighting against fate, trying to save someone from death in the future. Tampering with past events to try to achieve better results, but often ending up getting unexpected, unwanted changes (the so called butterfly effect). My two absolute favorite kdramas that embody a lot of these elements are Signal & Nine Time Travels, but I also enjoyed Train, Times, or anime like Steins Gate, Erased, Higurashi.I never watch dramas that are on the lighter side: comedies, romances - things like these I only tolerate in small amounts, when they are just a (rare enough) addition to the serious, character & story driven show.
This is a review-warning for people with similar tastes to mine.
The first episode already made me highly skeptical of whether Some day or one day is for me - but we all know there are tv dramas that take time to pick up but end up being worth it, and this show has to have the score of 9 for a reason. So I tried getting some non-spoiler information if I should stick with it. The opinions were prevalently in favor. To quote a few:
- "One of my all time favorites. I dropped it multiple times though and like everyone says, it shifts just about where you are right (ep. 2) now to be good."
- "I understand your dilemma as the first two episodes are foundational (and a bit slow) to creating such a masterpiece. "
- "You do need to get through the first few episodes, because they are tonally very different from the rest of the show"
- "The first 2 eps were bad imo, but it definitely does get better. It gets so much better that I completely forgot those first 2 episodes. "
- "When the time travel happens and the main group start interacting— that’s probably when you’ll be hooked"
- "Story telling starts slow. Was kinda bored for the first 4 episodes before it started to pick up"
- "Romance is not the main focus of the show"
Keeping the opinions I've read in mind, I continued watching and passing the checkpoints: 2 episodes, 4 episodes, "second half". And with every episode I continued convincing myself "it's going to get better now, the mood of the show is about to shift and I'll finally get what I came here for".
I never had to fast forward any parts of the shows before, likely because I successfully avoided everything that - given my described tastes - I'm not the target audience of. But this time I've caught myself doing this several times. There's so many slice-of-life conversations between the 3 main characters, so many flashbacks to ML & FL romantic, "sweet" moments, so many gag-like situations that I simply don't find interesting at all. Being as far as 6 episodes in, I was fairly confident this wasn't going to be the kind of time-travel show that I thought it would be, and that "Thriller" in the tags is likely a mistake.
'Some day or one day', despite a couple of events with short screen time in the first half that were purposely left to be explored later, only began to scratch the surface of what a person like me seeks in the shows towards its end: from episode 10 and on. And I'll be honest: this part was great. The climax of the drama will definitely stay in my memory, it wasn't just interesting - it was moving, it evoked the kind of emotions that I craved for. And while I'm on the good things, I must also mention music. I'm absolutely in love with some of the melancholic piano soundtracks: at least 3 of them are going to make it to my favorites and they will most certainly help me carry only the good memories with me on my way out. Perhaps this is already happening - as I'm writing this review and listening to the OST, a part of me begins to miss 'Some day or one day'. But emotions aside, I'm convinced that someone, who decides to pick this show and:
- is not into slice-of-life teenage romance
- prefers sad, touching stories over cheerful conversations
- expects to see a lot of time travel and observe the changes to the world they bring
will have to treat the first 9 episodes as a long buildup - and that raises the following question: Is it really worth it? Perhaps it's better to leave this show to the audience with different genre preferences that will appreciate every bit of it, not just the finale (rather than end up grumbling "just because it's not what we want it to be" ... ;-)).
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