Color Rush (2020)

Lovely series that touched my heart

When I discovered this series I didn't have high expectations. Even though the plot sounded interesting and the overall design wasn't bad either I didn't expect more than another average Korean miniseries. But the opposite turned out to be true and I fell in love with this amazing piece from the first episode. And it's one of my favorite series up to now.

The plot itself is not particularly elaborate, but this time I didn't mind it at all. Because thanks to this you can fully concentrate and take on the role of the given character observing the beauty associated with innocence in every look of the protagonist. Or laugh at Probe's provocative and sneaky albeit lovable behavior. All these little particles wonderfully fit together and complemented each other. Because of this I could only watch with open mouth as I laugh at Yoo Han's pushiness and feel sad the next moment when I see Yeon Woo's helplessness and despair during his decolorization. It was amazing to watch someone's innocent feeling of happiness just by looking at the colors and that feeling alone is definitely worth watching this series. The series beautifully depicts the joys of the little things that most of us take for granted and makes us think about them.

As for the characters I didn't have a problem with any of them. On the contrary it was the supporting roles that made the story so well-aligned. The characters didn't change much during the course (they didn't even have much time to do so), but I enjoyed them all the more because each character had their own characteristic and each had something to offer. One was straightforward and a little out of touch with reality, the other was overly protective.

I was extremely satisfied with the cast. Yeah, there was some little flaws but I got over them with ease. And still in my opinion each actor was incredibly suited to his character.

I fell in love with the soundtrack of the entire series. Whether it's the opening song that accompanies the show throughout the first season (and I was just annoyed that there was never the whole) or just the background tunes that kept popping up.

To at least criticize something here what I probably had the biggest problem with were the various visual effects, editing, ... and the overall shortcomings of post-production. At times there're unnatural shots where it screamed at you that it's staged and it's just a fiction. For example already in one of the first scenes when the characters are driving in a car.
What also bothered me a little was the effect of the "burst of colors" which seemed terribly unrealistic. Another thing is the cuts, which in my opinion were poorly timed at some points and sometimes the music was cut in absolutely illogical places.

But what is also important to mention is that this is a relatively small project, so it is probably good to expect small flaws and a certain lack of elaboration.

To sum it up. I love this series and definitely recommend it to everyone.
It is an incredible spectacle because it gives you the opportunity to look into a life without color, without joy and to see the beautiful and innocent happiness of a person when they see color for the first time. In a few minutes you can find countless feelings and what you take away is (at least for me) irreplaceable. It is definitely worth watching it more than once, because everytime you watch it again, you will catch feelings that you didn't see last time. I've seen the whole series twice so far, and certainly not the last time, and every scene of it still grabs my heart.

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For me perfect (even if nothing is really perfect)

I like this just as story but I think under the surface the mono-probe theme is really metaphor for minority identity and alienation and with the BL setting specifically alienation and search for identity of lgbt sexual orientation with one boy in school ”society” masking his colors and his full self and the other needing him to unmask to also unmask his own full spectrum of identity forced into monochrome by dominant society (not just mono benefits both need each other)〜I like the episode with the ”rainbow” prism being revealed to the mono 〜and I think the resistance of the mono boy fearing the probe's advances = refusal to accept your sexual identity because pressured to conform to dominant assumptions and attitudes for me this is a very original take。actually this is from my personal experience maybe others interpret otherwise。 if some aspects of surface story stay unclear this is not so important for me 〜maybe this is because life is unclear and we also have to read in to the story to create our own vision
First rewatch 21/July

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Korea coming through with BLs

It's been a while since I watched it, but I give it a solid 8.0! I think it was a pretty good series, the acting was nice and the story was somewhat creative, it gave me pretty much the "you see color when you meet your soulmate" only with the fact that it goes away once you aren't around them. However, the whole storyline with the mom's disappearance did not make any type of true coming back... Like yeah, she disappeared so you feel more for the character and the fact he doesn't remember the color of the headband but we never knew why and how or anything on her disappearance. Nonetheless, I really recommend the series!

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I loved it, but they glossed over too much

Color Rush is and will probably remain my favorite BL Drama. I loved the concept of the Monos and Probes and all that went along with it. Since they're coming out with a second season, I don't really mind the unfinished plot points. My main issue with it was how they glossed over a lot of things that they should have explored more deeply.

STORY: The story is so interesting to me. The main character, Yeon Woo, is a Mono, which means that he is only able to see the world in black and white. The story begins with him talking about his mother, who was also a Mono. She, along with a number of other Monos disappeared when he was a child so he went to live with his aunt, who spends her whole life trying to find her missing sister. I do wish that they dove into what happened to his father, but all we know is that he died at some point.

Yeon Woo starts off going to a brand new school, since he got expelled from his last one for causing a fight with another kid who bullied him because of his colorblindness. There, he meets three fellow students. To be perfectly honest, I don't remember the names of two of them, as their characters were barely even a part of the story. Other than them (who's main purpose is to basically fangirl over the main couple) he meets Yu Han, who's training to become a Kpop idol. Yu Han is Yeon Woo's Probe, which basically means that when Yeon Woo looks into his face, he's temporarily granted the ability to see colors.

This plot point creates such an interesting dynamic, especially after we learn that Yu Han has a condition which basically makes it so that he can't distinguish people's faces, and Yeon Woo is the only ace that he was ever able to properly see and tell apart. All in all, the story was well set up and I can't wait to see what they come out with in season 2.

ACTING/CAST: Okay, I'm a little iffy about this one. The actor who played Yeon Woo did amazing. He was really believable and I could really tell how scared he was over what he might become. It was interesting to see him portray the feeling of wanting something so bad but being afraid of what you might do once you obtain it. On the other hand, the actor who played Yu Han, while being very pretty, wasn't the best. He acted well when playing the cute, lovable, clingy LI, but when faced with more serious acting scenes, he seemed kind of flat. I'm not sure if that's a directing issue or an acting issue, but I felt like I didn't really believe him when it came to those deeper feelings. And I think that he was too touchy with Yeon Woo too early on. I would have loved for the skinship to progress more slowly.

MUSIC: I loved the music. I was singing the OST for a week straight after I finished watching the drama. The only reason why I only gave it 9.0 is because I wish there was more tracks.

RE-WATCH VALUE: Honestly, I've re-watched this show many times over- I can't get enough of the characters. However, if you're looking to re-watch it for the plot, not so much.

Now, there's one more thing I would like to bring up. And this is what bothered me the most about the show. Now I will say that I will be delving into a very serious topic, so if you are easily triggered please don't read any further.

At the end of the seventh episode, Yeon Woo decides that the only way to save Yu Han from himself was to take his own life. He attempted to do exactly that. Luckily, his aunt found him and took him to a hospital. The main reason why I think the show chose to do this was to keep the main characters apart. Yeon Woo tried to forget about Yu Han, and Yu Han went to break him out of the hospital. I don't like a lot of things about this.
1. I don't like how Yeon Woo's choice was taken so lightly, especially by Yu Han. This slightly plays into my dissatisfaction with Yu Han's actor's portrayal of emotionally sensitive scenes, but he didn't seem worried about Yeon Woo at all, despite his attempt on his own life. The only time he actually talks about it directly is to say that Yeon Woo was doing it for him. Which, while being true, I found as slightly cheep. If he really cared about Yeon Woo, he would have at least made sure that he was okay mentally. I found it very insensitive of him. And that mainly goes into writing.
2. Yeon Woo's aunt places him into a locked hospital where he can't contact Yu Han. I think that this was a good choice on her part. He tried to take his life because of Yu Han, so it only made sense to separate them so that Yeon Woo could recover. However, it is treated as if she was in the wrong by doing so. Like she didn't care about him at all, when in fact she was the only one who seemed to care about his wellbeing.
3. Before he attempted to take his life, both his aunt and Yu Han see him doing suspicious things, like playing with rope and even having marks on his wrist. He was actually practicing with the rope so that he could kidnap Yu Han (he eventually changed his mind and used it on himself), but the other characters didn't know that. They both directly asked him how he was doing, but neither of them actually tried to help him before he did what he did to himself. I mean, his aunt literally told him that she knew what he was going to do and didn't stop him.


All in all, it was a great show and I really loved it, but it skipped over a lot of things. Hopefully it'll dive into them more in season 2.

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An intriguing concept that never reaches its full potential

I was pleasantly surprised with the mythology this series created with Monos and Probes being commonplace in society. However, this concept never really develops any layers beyond the violence that some Monos exhibit towards their Probes. I would have loved for them to explore their relationship a lot more. There is a lot of potential for tension with their relationship. I could definitely Yeon Woo questioning his interest in Yoo Han as actual attraction to him as a person or to what Yoo Han gives to him as his Probe. But I guess that is the downfall of such a short series.

There are two things that stick out as loose threads for me. The story of Yeon Woo's missing mother and his Aunt looking for her, never really served a purpose and didn't go anywhere, so Iʻm not really sure what the point of that was plot point was. And then the reveal of Yoo Han's disorder seemed to come out of nowhere, I wasnʻt really alluded to anywhere prior, other than Yoo Han being interested in Yeon Woo's face and eyes. That was something that could have been explored more.

I did like the visual effects they did with the color, it was very clean and enhanced the scenes. Also combining that with the sound fx was very nice. The music, although repetitive, was also very calming and fit the scenes.

However, unless they expand on the story a bit, I donʻt think I would rewatch.

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Review of “Color Rush”

STORY
- I have to admit this is a first for me. The concept was so new to me and many other kdrama/Bl fans that I honestly don’t know if I should be mad or sad that we only got the most basic info/ chilling parts of this whole Mono/Probe situation.
- I feel like they mostly only focused on all the terrible things that could happen instead to the experience and the amount of perspectives it could open up, but I guess that’s what you get if every time you turn on the tv you're hearing abt how another mono killed or kidnapped their probe.
- Also, are we not gonna speak on that big axx plot hole that we were left on??? Like not to ruin your lovey dovey moments but..... did u forget your mother disappeared without a trace?! I would’ve liked to see more plot line for that.

ACTING
- Personally, thought the acting was quite good in my opinion at least. Ofc there were times when I thought Yoo Han was a little stiff and could see the visible awkwardness in some emotional scenes but he can only get better from here! Yeon Woo blew me away though! He was able to convey so much without speaking which speaks loads to his skills, which is why I loved his emotional scenes sooo much but his cutesy, shy scenes were adorable also!

SOUNDTRACK
- I am absolutely in love with the music. That’s all I have to say It’s was literally music to my ears.

Overall this was a nice 4-5 hour binge definitely worth watching but prepare yourself for the second hand embarrassment!

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This needs a second season

This one has an interesting Setting in a alternative World, where Colourblinds (monos) only can see Colours with one special Person( their Probs)and become obsessed with them...
so the idea is great,just as the side stories like the lost mother, the ghost of the grandfather and so on.
I’m looking forward to a second season to see if this stories are cleared up.

In the first Epsiodes i don’t get the Character of Go Yoo Han, he reminds me of a manipulative Drugdealer (with far too much make up!),who only uses the poor Choi Wee for his own pleasure.
But the Twist in the End makes sense. As well as the commited Suicide of Choi Wee, which suits perfectly to his Character.

So all in all it’s a good series.
But unfortunately the BL-Aspect is the weakest part of the series. It seems forced to me and it would be more plausible if they were only friends, cause there is no romantical chemistry between them.

So as a Low Budget Drama it’s a good series, as a BL not that much.

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TOO SHORT!!

The plot for this drama is so incredibly original, unique and new but its full potential sadly isn't reached.

The only thing I can pinpoint as lacking is the length of the series.
Don't get me wrong, the crew and cast did an amazing job at bringing it to life. There's unique camera work, the imagery of the color rush and the decoloring is well-done, the dialogue is interesting and the protraying of the two main leads was very good! But it pains me to have to admit that, if this wasn't a boys' love drama (or not a KOREAN boys' love, other countries tend to make them longer), the story would've been stretched to at least double the length it is right now. And it would have done a great job at exploring more of this unique world!
Looking at how little footage there is, it's unbelievable that the plot doesn't feel rushed or forced, a feat that I put up to the natural dynamics that were already there. The series could have used some extra scenes, just to satisfy my liking for domestic/candid interactions. But even though those weren't there, the story still feels genuine and progresses naturally. So that's incredible!
But still, knowing that the story could have easily been double the length, makes me frustrated with the way it is now. Aside from that, Yeon Woo's mother's disappearance is just completely forgotten about? So that was kinda weird.

The handle on the plot is really well done! The writers did a good job at working the details out and I liked the focus there was on the obsessive nature of monos. It might've felt a bit too much for some people, but I write that off to, once again, the length. If it was longer, Yeon Woo's obsessiveness might have progressed a bit more naturally, but the way it is now was well done in the circumstances. But back to the plot, the obsessive part is very real and I'm glad it wasn't avoided! If I imagine being a mono, it feels very normal that I'd become obsessed with literally the one (1) person who makes me see color. The returned fascination Yoo Han has due to his face blindness makes it work out for them, since it's like, as Yeon Woo says, a double miracle. I really liked the simultaneous aloofness and shamelessness of Yoo Han and Yeon Woo's internal dialogues do a good job at underlying the struggle he's having. The friends bring a nice and entertaining dynamic to it, even if they're not that present.

In conclusion, I wouldn't mind a future remake or special in which more of this world is explored, but until then I can just rewatch this one over and over (the only good thing about it being so short).

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really wish it was longer

I think the title sums up my feelings pretty well. It felt like it could be twice as long because of how many interesting things there were, but they were never really explored.
The last episode seemed pretty rushed, but even then, it was pretty nice series.


Spoiler ahead ( though kinda minor and it was obvious it will happen )

The only thing that felt a bit awkward to me was the beginning, where the main guy with the mask ( sorry I can't remember names) was acting a bit stiff and then the "kiss" at the end, if you could even count it as that, but, truth be told, I noticed that most of the Korean dramas have pretty...weird kissing scenes. It's like the put their mouths on each other and freeze, it's kinda hilarious, but in the kiss scene in this series, the mains looked kinda uncomfortable.

But overall, the chemistry was really nice, the episodes really, really interesting (I really wish they would explain more about all the cool stuff!) the music was...well decent for me, but I'm really hard to please with soundtracks and songs so take this with a bigger grain of salt that the rest :)

Overall, definitely watch, it can make you feel things and has many interesting concepts and the chemistry is kinda cool.

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I already knew that the production crew is small so that affected my review.

Before watching the drama, I already knew that the production crew was small. That alone, affected my reviews in a way that I consider the lack of time to narrate the story more or go through the depths of plot.

The plot has a potential and is unique. Personally, never watched a drama with this kind of plot. There were lacking informations in the series but again, they were limited of what they can do, so that affected the narration of plot.

The chemistry of the main characters are overflowing. I don't really watch BL dramas that much but these two definitely sold me. I just wish they will have a project together soon. Better, a season 2 for this series since they can go deeper than what it originally ended.

Overall, a very good drama and a recommended from me. I had watch it five times and I still can't get over it.

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