A Time Called You (2023)

Confusing Yet Captivating Love Story

A Time Called You is a drama that captured my heart, despite its moments of confusion. The storyline, which weaves through complexities and emotional depths, sometimes became tangled, making it challenging to follow every twist and turn. However, what truly stood out and compensated for any narrative confusion was the remarkable acting from the cast. Their performances were not just skilled but deeply moving, bringing to life the essence of the story and its characters in a way that was utterly convincing and compelling.

The drama has this incredible ability to reignite a belief in love, thanks to the palpable chemistry between the leads and the earnestness with which they navigate their relationship. Even when the plot felt a bit muddled, the sincere and heartfelt portrayals kept me engaged, rooting for the characters and their journey towards love. This drama is a testament to the power of strong performances and the enduring allure of a love story, even when it takes you through a labyrinth of emotions and timelines. It's a drama that, despite its flaws, leaves a lasting impression and a renewed sense of hope in the magic of love.

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Doppelganger madness

I have indeed seen the original drama, but it's been enough years that I can also watch this drama with fresh eyes and for it's own merit and flaws. The story feels like it takes way too long to get going to the interesting parts with multiple episodes of emotional scenes for a characters and a couple we don't know yet. It's a relief when finally Jun Hee wakes up in 1998 and it's interesting that she has some of the host body's memories, enough that she is confused about who she really is. Like most magical reality premises, the magical item/ability origins is not explained, but the drama kept consistent with doppelgangers of a specific 7 year age difference regardless of being related or not interacting with the walkman and song on the tape.

Si Heon's hair is a bit distracting, but it looks like Ahn Hyo Seop's hair may be contractually obligated to be styled like that since 2020 after looking through stills of the dramas he's been in since that time period. Jun Hee and Min Ju feel like completely different people, which is kudos to the actor. She changes up the chemistry with Si Heon according to the character she's playing, which is great to see. I do think it's a bit weird that Jun Hee acts different when she is in Min Ju's body versus when she's herself both in college and in 2023. She's way more playful teenager, but her mind is still her adult self. It's a minor thing though that can be easily looked past for the story being told.

The biggest heart wrenching tragedy is original Yeon Jun's untimely death when he and his almost boyfriend Tae Ha finally recognized the feelings they have for each other, but didn't look at the road ending with a complete and total kill your gays moment. They deserved a second chance, I wish the show made some effort to change their ending rather than just using them for a shock twist. A gay man's body being used to change the fate for a straight couple instead is extra cruel. He wasn't even out to his family, nobody even knew how out of character he's being. Real Yeon Jun deserves better.

The way that it was unavoidable that Jun Hee would accidentally divulge all the important information to the absolute worst person to tell since it's a family friend from college was well set up, as was Jun Hee saying all the wrong things to a suicidal high school student that no one paid proper attention too, not even Jun Hee even though she was literally in her shoes for a long time. It's good the show spent time to explore Min Ju's perspective as well, how crushing it is to hear from everyone tell her to her face that they didn't like the real her, how her desperation would drive her to lie to Si Heon and welcome her demise at the hands of a serial killer. It's good that Jun Hee is able to use her free will to break the time travel cycle which saves Si Heon. Whether Chan Hee would kill again isn't shown, but there is enough in the story to indicate that maybe his elder brother would be enough of an influence for him to suppress that side of him without his future self going back to encourage it.

I'm really glad that the drama concludes with Si Heon meeting Jun Hee again in 2011, when she's also a full grown adult rather than a minor. It was totally stingy of them to not set aside time to show a bit more of their new world together though.

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Not for Unkeen-to-details People. Good for those unique storyline enjoyers.

I had a brief moment thinking of words to describe my review. But, only these thoughts would better fit my watching experience.

/ Existential Paradox
/- Even though, confusion and questions tend to pop out during the whole series, I am glad this went into a well-structured time-fractured events that determine the connection of each timeline they went through with each POV remaining true and intact even until the ending "reset."

/ Resonated My Timeline = Reincarnation in the mix
/- In whole honesty, I choose to believe reincarnation is possibly real. I just haven't figured out the timeline where I would meet my late bestfriend again. Somewhat similar with that, I'm fascinated by the twists of this show given that it offered as much fiction and dream analysis that unfolded like a song looped into place.

/ Exciting Experimental Experience
/- As the last episode told us, people may not find it interesting at first to experiment with different genres of plots. But the way this show portrayed the different possibilities that a KDrama would go and evolve in many ways that they wouldn't drop a feeling of yearning. Moreover, it was really a good resting piece of a show that tackles not just finding someone over and over again but you will find it comforting to build peace for your own life as you go through with people who will be there for you—always.

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You gotta try hard for this one

Honestly, it was really confusing at first, but if you observe and watch it and not rush things, you will have a good chance of understanding it at first episode itself. For me, I had to repeat certain parts of episodes to understand the scenes succeeding them. It was a complicated network of past and present. Coming to the actors and their portrayal of the characters. Jeon Yeobin as Han Junhee/Kwon Minju was perfect. From being a shy, coy girl named Minju in 1998 timeline to a career driven, independent and proud Han Junhee in the present, it was sheer perfection. Liked her more than Vincenzo here. Next, Ahn Hyoseop as Goo Yeonjun/Nam Shihyeon. I will say this, cuz nobody else will, he was the most confusing character in this drama. You can't understand and figure out what his deal is, until the end of the drama. Yet his acting was pretty natural I'd say, especially that bl cameo story with Rowoon as Taeha was amazing actually. Kang Hoon as Jung Ingyu. Man I hated his character no offence. He liked Minju, that was perfectly fine, I mean second leads are supposed to fall for the FL, but ditching your best friend who once saved you from getting bullied by your colony kids for a girl?? That some immature and rude move. I so desperately wanted Shihyeon to ditch him and not be his friend anymore, and I wouldn't be lying if I say that I also hoped for Ingyu to be the killer, so much, just so he'd be out of Minju and Shihyeon's life. He was that infuriating, and his expressions kinda looked like psychopaths. Anyway, conclusively this drama is a pretty good watch, but you might feel an urgency to finish it as soon as possible, as I did get impatient by the time I reached the half of it, tho I do recommend it, it's a light thriller romantic so you guys can give it a watch.

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Watched for the leads

I watched this drama for both the leads and I was not disappointed in terms of the acting. The acting in this drama was really good.
Was up with the kiss scenes, both ML & FL can kiss as seen in their previous dramas so I’m guessing this was on the director and that was super disappointing, they had really good chemistry only to be let down by such mannequin kiss. Anyways luckily the story was good enough to let it slide. Now the plot was a little confusing at first with all the timeline changes and whatnot but after awhile you get the gist of it.
One of the reasons I didn’t rate this higher is because I refuse to accept the reason giving for why MinJu wanted to kill herself, claiming it’s depression, I disagree, IMO she wanted to kill herself because a boy didn’t like her back, when she came back in ep11 instead of Jun Hee, she was all well and good as long as Si Heon didn’t notice and continued to like her but when he finally realized she wasn’t Jun Hee all of a sudden she wants to kill herself, and also Si Heon and In Kyu were friends with her even before Jun Hee showed up, so that whole monologue of nobody talking to her and liking her was complete BS, In Kyu liked her but apparently that didn’t count because it wasn’t Si Heon, so I don’t agree with the reason giving for why she wanted to kill herself.
Anyways I don’t think I will be rewatching this but I recommend for a one time watch.

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Dropped at 4 episodes.

I'm intrigued with the concept and the mystery. Unfortunately, the romance is not romancing for me. There was zero chemistry. I don't buy the whole epic love that transcends time and space. All they've showed is a typical, cliched love story complete with corny and cringey qoutes. It's like they're trying too hard to convince you that it was the greatest love ever that would defy science and logic. Sorry, but their love story wasn’t noteworthy nor special enough to be doing all that. I wanted more and maybe we'll get that in later episodes but four episodes isn't enough to pique my interest, and it fell short.

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Good Enough

Korean Drama " A Time Called You " is the remake of the Taiwanese drama "Someday or One Day", and somehow it makes it work. It does follow the story closely to the original, but it makes it fit the Korean standards, altering the storyline slightly, but without ruining it.

The drama, first of all, is pretty entertaining, with the main mystery being intriguing and reaching its full climax in the final episodes, which were full of action and twists. The ending, in addition, was just right for the story, bittersweet yes, but appropriate for the story and leaving it up to the viewer to imagine what will come next.

Moreover, the actors and actresses of the cast did a great job with their performances and they handled their characters masterfully.

Finally, the drama managed the fantasy paranormal element smoothly without complicating the story or confusing the viewer.

So, overall, eight and a half out of ten.

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Good but confusing

This was really good but I spent too much time trying to figure out who was who. Beautiful love story and it turned into two. So happy with the ending.

I’m a huge Ahn Hyo Seop fan. Loved him in Business Proposal (my first K-drama ever) and also Dr Romantic 2 & 3. That guy never disappoints!

Kang Hoon was just the sweetest and cutest guy and his story was heartbreaking. Will look for more series with him.

Jeon Yeo-been did a fantastic job in the dual roles. So much so that I had to look it up to make that was her. Very talented.

I would recommend this series if you like time travel but don’t try to figure it out logically. That nearly made me crazy and literally kept me up one night.

Would love to see Ahn Hyo Seop and Rowoon together again! ❤️❤️❤️

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Enjoyed it ? ?

Well first of all i didnt watch the original series called "Someday or One day". So i really cant compare this to that one.
For me i enjoyed the story . The story really made me think a lot which i liked . I really had to make a lot of theories ?. I enjoyed the watch time. But if i have to say i am not sure about acting. Sometimes i really liked the acting some times i didnt.
One more thing , actually after ep 9 i just figured out the things and the twists so after that it became a little bit boring ? but its okk ? i guess
Well i loved the ending obv. I was really hoping that jun hee and si heon could meet in the future again . I am really happy for that ☺️ well u can see it as a open ending. It can be sad or happy upto your imagination .
In my opinion if you didnt watch the original one you can give it a go. Its not that bad . Obv the original one is best ( i guess i am not sure but i read reviews where people said that) but you can watch it too i think ?
Thats it i guess hope my review can help you ?

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I feel like I had to cry more than I did

This kdrama has a really good plot, although confusing in the beginning. That made me to be more focused on understanding the plot than empathizing with the charecters and their stories. So when sad moments came I couldn't really find a feeling of crying (unless if the hurt one was in-gyu, his story was the less confusing and heart touching for me). I really adoted In-Gyu tho, he's the purest soul and deserves everything.

I would like to talk more about Ming-ju in another post. At first when I was finishing the kdrama, I really hated her attitude and egoistic decisions, but after a time thinking about it I got the point and understood her behavior. But for less spoilers, I'm not mentioning more for now.

To resume, I really enjoyed the mystery, and making maps on my mind of every time-line.

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Bad acting and a horrible setting

This Korean remake falls short of capturing the essence of the original Taiwanese series. The leads have zero chemistry, and their acting feels super forced. It's like they're just going through the motions- it was so slow and boring. The OSTs are not memorable. They do not add anything to the drama and are quickly forgotten.

Even with utmost generosity, I can't rate this remake higher than a 4. The filming location fails to evoke the sentiments of longing and loss that permeate the series. The attempt to modernize the setting detracts from the story's intended atmosphere.

Overall, this remake is just a massive disappointment. It doesn't capture the magic of the original drama, and it's just a waste of time. Honestly, I wouldn't recommend this drama to anyone. If you're looking for something good, just stick with the original.

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Amazing performances

Amazing show. Standout performances from all of the actors, but JYB was in a league of her own. She was the drawing card for me and did not disappoint. She is such a joy to watch on screen. As others have noted, her acting in the last two episodes was just phenomenal. I thought KH and AHS did a great job too, and managed to hold their own across from JYB. That scene between JYB and KH in the last episode still gives me goosebumps.

Some people have complained that AHS did not play his two roles distinctly enough. I recently watched an interview where he said it was a deliberate decision to play them the same as they are essentially the same person. I think this was the right choice for this show and made the storyline easier to understand (even if it took away some of the big reveal).

I am very surprised by the vitriol in the reviews and comments. It makes me wonder if we watched the same show? The major complaints seem to be that this remake does not live up to the original and the storyline was confusing. It is fine to prefer the original, but as a standalone piece this show was objectively good. If anything, the comparison should elevate the original. It is unfair to denigrate this show just because it is not a carbon copy of the original.

In relation to the storyline, this is a show where every detail matters. As someone else said, you need to pay attention to every scene. The storyline, especially the time travel logic, is intricate but is well planned out. If you pay attention, the pieces come together in a very satisfying manner. It is the type of show that gets better with a second (or third or fourth) rewatch as you pick up on details that you missed the first time. To me, the beauty of this show is that it is intelligent without being convoluted. Props to the entire production team for pulling it off.

I hope people can watch this show and form their own opinion. Fans of the original should be able to appreciate the respect and care they showed the original work. First time viewers who have the patience will be rewarded with a beautiful story that is excellently executed. Like others, I wish there was more of an epilogue, but how it ended was kind of perfect too.

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