With the time travel, the drama doesn't really explore anything too new, but it does add in bits of philosophy to break down the reasons. The time travelling scenes were quite cleverly shot so its able to connect the story line along the way. There are some illogical bits towards the end of the drama, i guess its ok if you watch it without really focusing on the details....
Overall, this is a nice, simple drama to binge watch if you have the time.
Bonus, the president of the club (the guy with the glasses) is good eye candy, but he always smoking in all his scenes :(
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Destination Leap Day: Feb 29, 2020
There is a certain charm to this drama, which i believe, only a certain blend of life, philosophy, experiences and fantasy in a médiocre setting can give rise to.My First Hong Kong Drama and I am impressed. The quality seems to be on par with TW dramas. Perfect camera frames and beautiful cinematography. Watch out for the shaky cameras during emotional scenes( well it shook throughout 1 specific scene as i recall now) and I find it oddly appropriate :) :)
The story in itself is not 'extra'ordinary. Just the usual story of a girl who happens to time/cross-dimensional travel. But the implications of that travel/s...well that is explored in a very very satisfying manner.
The FL has an end purpose which is to undo an unfavourable(?) incident in the future(29 Feb, 2020). She drags innocent people into this self- serving timeloop 'drama' and eventually ends up being an executioner of the very same inevitable Destiny . Same goes with all those who help her to avoid this uncertain future calamity.
Some of what i like
1) The dramatic arc of the poor man whose life is messed up by the fl's attempts at re-writing the future. While everyone pins him down as the sole reason for the ultimate calamity, none of the characters realise that they are the ones scripting his misfortune and inturn their own misfortunes. As our leads fail to appropriately apprehend this variable, a realisation sinks in. Doesn't the story also belong to the random passerby who might or might not get swept into this fiasco and be condemened to suffer in silence?
2) The melo take: I Like how they portrayed the relationship between the three female friends . It is so warm and enviable. The drama does pay individual attention to their stories. The father-daughter relation is also explored in detail within the limited time frame. The melo take after episode 5 might have slowed down and shifted the focus of the drama a bit but i personally found it agreeable, therapeutic to an extent and even insightful.
3) The intense love triangle undercurrents. The fl doesn't make it official with any of the male leads in the drama (She is developing feelings towards one and is not really sure about the other). But she did have chemistry with both of them and both are equally important characters eventhough the show concentrates more on developing her relationship with one of them. The answer to 'who all will end up together'really made me persevere till the very end. Did i get a closure? not really.( fear not we have S2 )
4)The ending: The drama does wrap neatly after epi 9. But the expecetd closure is not what we get from episode 10. Instead a eerie sort of uncertain equilibrium pervades that entire episode, which i think is laying the groundwork for a season 2. It is not confusing in itself but yes, incomplete There are loose ends which i hope will be explained in S2
What I didn't like.
I want more of the smoking hot male lead YKC . I want the show to explore more of him and his relationship with the fl in the upcoming season. It was very hard to choose between the two polar opposite Male Leads. I nearly wanted both of them to get their respective happy endings with the FL . But i will be even happier if the show could further explore this trio's relationship and convince the audience of the most compatible couple pairing
This is not a grand and eventful drama. It is a just show for a cold night. Make yourself cozy under your blanket, near the hearth.Let your heart go with the flow.
Feel free to feel conflicted, smile, cry, open up, reflect, anticipate and accept. There are a lot of relatables everywhere.
The show won't pull you in immediately. It maintains a respectable distance. It is entirely upto you if you want to be pullled in. Make sure you are in that frame of mind otherwise the show might end up giving you a sense of dissassossiation and dissatisfaction.
Try to get a feel of the drama with its music, esp the intro and the outro. It does carry within it the essence of the whole thing..
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This review may contain spoilers
Go on and complain about the lack of closure in the romance aspect but for me, the fact that the love triangle is the weakest point of the show absolutely delighted me. People need to understand that this whole drama is Yeesa's story. I do agree that the driver was dealt with an unfair fate and I don't mind an spin-off episode focused on him, but this is a show that begins and ends with her. The character development of Yeesa was written beautifully, with her starting off as a naïve and passive damsel in distress in the first few episodes to someone who took responsibility for her own life and decisions.
There are so many dramas that make the female characters' lives revolve around romance but I am glad that this isn't one of them. Yeesa's main priority is never on romance, even when she meets the two male characters. Maybe she did have some interest in Ryan or she feels safe enough to share her feelings and thoughts with Ka-Chung but she has never been obvious in pursuing a relationship with any of them (or at least makes things official). She has her father and her best friends, and it makes sense that her concern will be them if she were to die.
For me, the pivotal scene of the show was her conversation with Fiona after Fiona's suicide in Episode 8. The way they had to work through the losses of their lives (Yeesa's mother and Fiona's baby) and forgive themselves for the decisions they have to make (or the mistakes that they thought they were responsible for, directly or indirectly) was written so well! Such a beautiful, touching moment between two female characters, and it is one that I hope to see more in Hong Kong dramas.
Recently, this drama became Drama of the Year (Hong Kong) in the Asian Academy Creative Awards and I am happy for them because this drama is so deserving! Compared to other dramas released in the year, Leap Day is so quiet and intimate but it is precisely this reason that the writing is able to shine through with the help of the gorgeous cinematography.
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One thing that actually was amazing was the cinematography. The lenses and the filter they used were just on point with the atmosphere of the story and the shots and scenery were beautiful. The leading lady was extraordinary too, with a great performance without overdoing it with her dramatic scenes. The time travel theme was also well presented and it didn't get confusing, while they kept the final twist well managed. However, it felt like the story was lacking something. The love triangle was nice, but it didn't have much intensity, though the characters were interesting. Perhaps the drama needed a few more episodes to wrap things up better.
So, overall, seven out of ten.
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+ Points
1. Interesting storyline
2. Focuses on side characters too
3. Gets time travel almost correct
- Points
4. Slight focus on romance
5. Bittersweet ending
Detailed Review
If you are like me who loves to watch time-travel stories, then this drama will keep you hooked. The ending scene can be difficult to wrap. A word of caution, the ending might slightly disappoint you.
If you are a novice to time-travel dramas, then this drama offers enough context to understand the story.
The story from the summary may seem to focus on the female lead and her relationships but that isn't so. This takes a broad approach with giving depth to every character; which is also the reason why there is hardly any romance. Sometimes, it may be difficult to keep going on as it focuses on other characters but in the end, it all makes sense.
The opening credits are spectacular and nicely edited.
The character of the female lead is very relate-able - talented but unsure, procrastinating and always in dilemma.
The casting of both the male leads is very perfect. The second male lead is just the perfect guy for the sapiosexuals.
Have a box of tissues with you, just in case. (Justifies the rewatch value)
~~~
This is my first review.
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The time travel element could scare off some people, but it absolutely isn't overbearing. It perhaps pushes the plot forward, but what fuels this drama is friendship and family. Not even the obvious triangle can take away the focus off these two core elements.
The series' flow of time can somewhat be confusing at the beginning but as it goes on, viewers will quickly grasp the framework of the show.
The finale is neat and ties up all loose ends, but does fail to deliver an emotionally satisfying ending. Despite this fact, "leap day" is a worthy choice if you don't mind a dash of sci-fi in your romance.
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Simple but mysterious time-travel drama
Watched this without expecting much, but it was a pleasant surprise. As someone who isn't a big fan of romance or love triangles being the main plot device, I was glad that romance wasn't a big part in this. Just hints of it here and there made it more fun to watch, to be honest.The time-travel concepts that this drama used are fairly easy to follow. If you're used to watching time-travel dramas or movies, this should be a piece of cake. To me, what really impressed be was exactly how simple it was, yet it was mysterious enough to keep me interested. The fact that quite a huge portion of it took place in Sapporo really gave it a unique and mysterious vibe. Props to the director and his team for this. The snowy backdrop really gave the drama a mysterious and subtle romantic feeling. I also like that we got to hear a foreign language, because it makes the plot more interesting, like how Yeesa felt lost and helpless at first because she didn't know the language. It was easier to empathize with her because the Japanese language is a foreign language to most viewers too.
This drama is more about character growth, especially the three main leads--Yeesa, Ryan, Yu Ka Chung. The three of them have grown individually since the first episode and you feel attached to their characters. Yeesa and Ryan are more of an open book, while Yu Ka Chung's character still remained a little mysterious coz he doesn't talk much about himself. But that would be answered in the sequel "940920". Despite all that, each character is still pretty fun to watch because they all grow, and you feel for them easily, even the supporting characters, like Yeesa's father. I like that it focused more on family and the message behind it, as it gave the time-traveling some meaning which I thought was a brilliant touch. It wasn't just time-traveling for the sake of time-traveling (which was how I felt about "940920"--it lacked a clear and solid meaning and reason for the time-travel). For example, in Leap Day, the main goal was to find out the reason Yeesa can time-travel back to a specific time and why. The revelation in the end was moving and added meaning to it, which was really satisfying to watch. The ending might not be that pleasing to everyone though. But that's exactly the point, as it makes you crave for more, hence the sequel.
I used to watch HK dramas growing up and really enjoyed them. But I have ditched HK dramas for close to 10 years now because the plots kept getting repeated despite the genre and it gets cheesier the more you watch it. Leap Day broke all of that bad impression and I truly enjoyed it. I also liked that it only had 10 episodes because that meant less fillers and the story wasn't dragged out. As they stuck to a simpler time-travel concept, that also meant lesser plot holes. Instead of a complicated plot that ends up getting messing, I think going with less-is-more and nailing it is way better. And Leap Day did exactly that. They kept it simple and it might be a bit of a slow-burn, but it was beautiful, interesting, mysterious, and meaningful. It's a HK drama that I'd definitely recommend.
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This review may contain spoilers
Annoying luckless FL travels aimlessly..
Leap Day has an interesting premise for time travel: the FL, Yeesa, who was born on a leap day travels to future on non leap years at the moment the 29th of February should be and isn't. I found this idea new and original and being a time manipulation trope super fan, I set out to see what they managed to do with it.Unexpectedly very good! Time travel is a notoriously difficult trope to use since the very fact to travel in the past implies the butterfly effect repercussions to the present. Yeesa travels for one whole day every year between two leap years. She finds out about the future and tries to change it only to realize that changing destiny need an ultimate sacrifice.
The story is very well written and everything is pretty much straight forward. What would you do, how far are you willing to go in order to save yourself or a person you care about?
The major problem I had with the drama is the character of Yeesa: she was so annoying, does not know what she wants and is convinced to be the misery magnet! I disliked her, so much so I wished for her to fail! LOL
I must be frank, too, when I noticed the first plothole (idiotic one: during her first time travel, even though she does not speak a word of japanese and does not understand a japanese doctor talking to her, she understands perfectly a j drama dialogue and j TV news!!!), I was so disappointed that I stopped paying attention!LOL The characters are not really likeable, some are quirky but the mains are ...meh! There is lots of philosophical mambo jambo about life and responsibilities and sacrifice. The fl looks like Park Min Young's (WWWSK) twin sister: very distracting! She time travels once a year in the moment the leap day( Feb 29th) should be and then proceeds to aimlessly run around. Why does she time travel? It was never really explained: something to do with a Buddhist temple and a talisman: very spiritual! Another main character not in the cast list but it should be: the white truck of doom features heavily throughout the drama. There are two guys vaguely in love with her. There is something that really really gets on my nerves, extremely so: a guy is hit by the truck so instead of calling for help, she cries, wails, shakes the victim and hugs him!
The ending is open. She is single. She was in a coma for a year but is fully operational as soon as she wakes up?!?!? The dead guy never existed. She seems to be in a parallel universe. And the whole thing is just a novel!
I probably should watch the second season if I want to find out what is really going on!
Beautiful cinematography, though!
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