Our Blues (2022)

What a show. I really loved the different characters and their stories, this felt like an extended "Hometown Cha Cha Cha" with less romance and more focus on life and relationships. Sometimes, the characters were annoying and frustrating, overcomplicating things because they wouldn't mind their own business and always put their noses where they shouldn't be, especially the grandmas.... I wish we would have gotten more of Hyeon's and Yeongju's life as parents with the baby, also the dynamic with Hosik and Ingwon would have been interesting. The show offers a diverse set of storylines with great actors to portray those stories and feelings in a way that always touched my heart. Studio Dragon knows how to make a show, so naturally the cinematography was stunning, Jeju island is truly such a beautiful place. The OST was just fitting and very, very nice. Overall, a beautiful, heartbreaking, and sometimes funny show about life, its people and their relationships.

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Anyone who understands Life's struggles should watch this

My mom raved about this drama and normally we don't have the same tastes, but I think what makes this show so great is that every generation will be able to appreciate the messages. This show doesn't shy away from exposing the ugly truths of human nature, but it also shows the touching side as well. We follow the lives of a close knit community in Jeju as they navigate through the struggles of life and their own emotional baggage.

Likes: With a star studded cast, the acting from everyone felt very natural and heartfelt, but it was the less famous character actors such as Lee Jung Eun, Park Ji Hwan, and Choi Young Joon who really stood out in my eyes. They felt like the glue that made the community feel alive and real. What made this show stand out is that it was unapologetic about exposing the flaws of each character. It didn't try to glamorize or label a person as evil or nice. It just showed that no one is perfect and we do what we need to do in order to survive according to our experiences. This show knows how to poke those hidden truths, stir up emotions, and make us feel as if the character's emotions are our own. It was funny, sad, touching, and healing.

I have to mention one scene that made an impact on me. That emotional fight scene between Ji Hwan and his son.....I think anyone who has immigrant parents or parents who struggled to get by financially will be able to relate to the emotions in that scene. Ji Hwan's acting was amazing. He truly made it unforgettable in my mind due to his raw emotion.

Dislikes: Ok so I may have a little bias in this one since I'm not a huge fan of Lee Byung Hun so take it with a grain of salt, but I found his story line with Shin Mina really boring. This was the only storyline where I wanted to skip. I just couldn't connect and wasn't feelin the loveline. Also, I found having Woobin and Shin Mina in the same drama, but with different lovers distracting. It felt weird seeing LBH kiss SM, but then WB being all chummy with LBH in another scene. I know it's acting, but my mind would wander into that whole, dude that man just kissed your pregnant wife, etc...and I couldn't help notice the lack of a kiss in the WB loveline when I felt like there should have been. It's easier to forget someone has a real like significant other when they are not in the same drama, but having them in the same show was like a little reminder that kept distracting me from the story. But all in all, these are very small dislikes compared to the enjoyment overall.

Highly recommend checking this out if you like family dramas and are ready for some emotional ups and downs.

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This is a story about the people spanning for three generations in a little fishing village in Jeju. This is not about some smart uni graduate living in jeju or some cheobal coming to jeju to get away from the busy life of soul, this is a story about low income families and villagers barely graduating from high school, living in a little fishing village all their lives. Their entire world revolves around this little village and all their pain and happiness is etched within the confines of this village. Their biggest happiness is to earn a good daily wage and then go for a drink at the end of the day.

This is not one story but several story arcs telling the story of several people living in the little fishing village of Jeju.

The first arc is about Jung Eun Hee and her first love coming back to jeju. She thinks it is the right time to rekindle their love only to find that he was here to borrow money from her due to a failed business venture.

The second arc is between Bang Young Joo and Jung Hyun, two high school students. The girl gets pregnant with the guy's child. This is the most intriguing arch out of all for me because this talks about teenage pregnancy. The issue is debate worthy because this couple decides to keep the baby. I personally feel this is is a bad idea because the two are in high school and both of them don't have mothers and only two incompetent fathers as family members. And both their fathers barely make ends meet with their meager daily wages from working in the fish market. The couple have fantasies about doing their further studies after having the baby, but how far will it be possible? A baby needs attention and as they grow up they require more money and the couple are determined to raise the baby while doing further studies and doing a job while still relying on their father's daily wages. But I feel like their future plan is not very realistic considering their economical background. But I also understand why the kids decide to keep the baby. They are both brought up by their incompetent fathers without a mother's love, so both of them want to give the love that they didn't recieve to their baby, which is undestandable. But in the end will it be possible to give a good future to the baby while securing their own future??

The third arc is between Lee Dong Seok , a street stall owner and Min Seon Ah, a woman going through depression and divorce. Lee Dong Seok was her neighborhood oppa when she was little. Lee Dong Seok meets a depressed Min Seon Ah after years and helps her go through the worst period in her life as she struggles with dovorce and child custody lawsuit with her husband while fighting with her severe depression. Later her condition improved with the support of Lee Dong Seok.

The fourth arc is the love story between Lee Young Ok, a harvester and a captain of a ship, Park Jung Joon. Park Jung Joon pursues the beautiful Lee Young Ok, who is famous for being a player in the village. But Lee Young Ok has a lot of misgiving in her life and repeatedly rejects Park Jung Joon. Later they get together and the reason for her misgiving is revealed to be due to her disable twin sister who she has to look after for the rest of her life.

The fifth arc is about friendship. The story revolves around the friendship between Jung Eun Hee and her childhood friend who comes to jeju. This arch reveals the loyalty and talks about the pure friendship that was built over years in this little fishing village. The friendship described is so pure and simple. These people don't have complex minds and their hate and love is expressed in a pure and straightforward way that it's absolutely heartfelting.

The sixth arc is between Hyun Choon Hee and her grandchild who comes to Jeju for a few weeks after her father gets into an accident. The love between grandparent and grandchild is expressed in a raw but sweet way. The arch shows how the entire village get together to fulfill a childish fantasy of a little child which will make you want to cry.

The final arc is between Lee Dong Seok and his mother who is in her late stage of cancer. This story shows how Lee Dong Seok fulfilled his mother's last wishes before she died and how Lee Dong Seok reconciled with his decades long hate towards his mother after she remarried to another man when he was young.

Every arc speaks to the very depth of my heart. The story is absolutely the most heartfelt story I ever watched. Each and every episode makes me want to cry. There is no tragedy, just talks about the most basic human feeling to its very rawest level.
Apart from those arch it is also laced with other stories and pretty much talks about human nature and their feeling and thought to the most primary levels.

Each and every second is worth watching and I'm so glad that I didn’t drop this drama. The first 4 episodes are more or less an introduction to the lives of the people living in the village but things get interesting from the beginning of the second arc.

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A beautifully anthology

Hometown Cha Cha Cha was one of last year’s best K-Dramas depicting the trials and tribulations of a small village and its inhabitants, and Our Blues does the similar kind of thing this year.

Our Blues is a 20 episode K-drama that essentially works as an anthological slice of life series. The different episodes are broken up into different two or three parters, following residents on Jeju Island as they go about their day. There are a fair amount of people living on this island, and the 20 episodes certainly help to give this show enough time to introduce everyone and tell their stories.

Aesthetically, Our Blues is just as impressive and part of that comes down to the beauty of Jeju Island. From breathtaking sunsets to sweeping establishing shots, this K-Drama makes the most of its lavish, paradisiac setting, and the series is all the stronger for it.

Although some of the narratives didn't quite hit the emotional highs as others, the bright spots outshone the shades of grey. This is a beautifully written Slice of Life drama, with good storytelling and show-stopping visuals.

My Rating : 8/10

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MANY BEAUTIFUL STORIES WITH GREAT MESSAGES

A beautiful Kdrama. Every story, every character, every little thing about this drama is so special. Their stories broke my heart and filled me with happiness at the same time, they made me feel so many different emotions. I liked the fact they didnt just stick to one story and have the rest as a filler, every character had the amount of screen time they needed, i think is very hard to make a drama like this, to create so many characters and give them different storylines and at the end manage to involve everyone without messing the timeline. I do believe that some characters could have less screen time so others could have more but that doesnt change the fact they did a great job invloving everyone. I cant say that i have a favorite storyline, all of them were very interesting, but i will have to say that the last two episodes were just something else, maybe because they had so many emotions to them, they made you happy and sad at the same time, two people finding each other after many years and then been torn apart again, so painful. This is a drama that could have 100 episodes and i would continue watch it with the same interest. I find so important when a drama give valuble lessons and this one did a great job on that, i got so many lessons for this that i will keep in mind as i live the rest of my life. They talked about depression, down sydrome, deafness, grief, teen pregnency etc. things that kdramas hide (i think this year we got so many kdramas with great representations aka Tomorrow, My Liberation Notes etc).

The characters had so much depth, they were so well written and with many layers. I can talk for hours for all of them, i dont really have one favorite, i like almost everyone the same, i really feel bad for Dong Seok, at first i thought he was going to be a rude man with zero respect but i was so wrong, he went through so much and he manage to forgive and move on, i am really happy he got the happiness he deserved, same for my girl Seon Ah she made it, she did everything for her son and she deserved happiness too. All characters deserved happiness. Eun Hee broke every stereotype, her character is one of the best in this drama, she isnt the typical middle age women, i loved her and i really hope she ended up with Ho Shik, i think he was in love with her i wanted to see more of them together, her storyline with Han Soo had like zero impact, actually Han Soo character had zero impact, i think it would have been better if they hadnt include him at all, they could have made a story about Eun Hee and Ho Shik instead. Mi Ran is one of my least favorite characters, i really disliked her at some point, but i am glad her friendship with Eun Hee stayed strong (i do believe Eun Hee deserved better). In the first couple of episodes i thought Young Ok was going to be my favorite but at some point i just couldnt like her enough, but i adored her story with her sister. And exactly because i couldnt really like Young Ok, i didnt care about Jung Joon either, i liked him and i loved his relationship with Dong Seok but other then nothing. Ok Dong pissed me of so much at times, but at the end i understand why she did what she did, i just hope she had tried to reconcile with Dong Seok sooner, they deserved more. Choon Hee had an interesting story with her grand daughter but it wasnt something special, the moon scene though was so beautiful. Ho Shik i think is one of my favorite characters, they way he cared about everyone, i wished he had more screen time. In Kwon made me wanna break his head at first but his character development was so good. Jung Hyun and Young Joo had a very important and interesting storyline, i am so happy a kdrama talked about something like that. All of them were great, their chemistry was so good too. (not only between the couples, between everyone)

Overall, this drama is a must watch. So many great stories and so many feelings.
I am going to end this review with a quote from this drama that i will always keep in my mind and heart
"THERE IS ONE THING WE MUST REMEMBER IN OUT LIFETIME WE WERENT BORN INTO THIS WORLD TO SUFFER OR FEEL MISERABLE, WE WERE BORN TO BE HAPPY!"

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The drama is slow but feels too short.

I personally don't write reviews. But, man, this drama is just so good.
This drama will make you feel like you're part of the community they're in. I laughed when they laughed and cried when they did.

It shows how we strive to be better and happier despite our flaws, regardless of how dark a place we are currently in. I like how they address social issues and how hard it is for both sides.
The array of issues addressed:
- poverty
- depression/suicide
- teenage pregnancy/abortion
- forgiveness
- friendship
- special needs child.
- love
etc ...


"We were born to be happy. We wish everyone happiness."

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Best storyline ever

I enjoyed this drama, from the conflicts between friends and families, mental health issues, awareness to the different abilities, everything are prefect. this show is absolutely perfect with good ending too. strongly recommended
I enjoyed this drama, from the conflicts between friends and families, mental health issues, awareness to the different abilities, everything are prefect. this show is absolutely perfect with good ending too. strongly recommended
I enjoyed this drama, from the conflicts between friends and families, mental health issues, awareness to the different abilities, everything are prefect. this show is absolutely perfect with good ending too. strongly recommended

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A beautiful story about unique characters and all their ups and downs in life

Our Blues reminded me how precious the "Slice of Life" genre is. It showed the viewer how different and unique everyones life is and it drew attention to so many important topics in a beautiful and heartwarming way.
I have to admit that the beginning was a bit jolty for me, so I even dropped the drama by ep 8. BUT that didn't prevent me from rating this drama with 9 stars. The only reason why it was difficult to drive into this drama was the big amount of characters that were presented, so I was a bit overwhelmed by which person was related to the other one. And of course some storylines were more relatable then others, yet they were all beautiful written.
What I loved the most about this drama was how well the characters were designed. For every emotion they felt and every action they took or every word they spoke, there were reasons and past events which explained their choices so well. So especially in the beginning of a story I sometimes was a bit angry at some characters because of the way they treated others but while watching their story developing, their actions began to be understandable. I also loved that in every conflict nobody was totally right or wrong, this made their stories so realistic. It showed how important it is to be forgiven and honest to each other.
I also was stunned how well they brought sensible topics like mental illness and disability to the surface which are often presented in a stereotypical way. As a person who doesn't have to handle depression or facing ableism, it gave me an insight which made it a bit more tangible for me.
In general the drama covered so many stories about love, friendship and parenting beautifully and it is for granted that you will feel every emotion. From heartbreaking scenes to heartwarming ones everything is there!
Definitly worth to watch :)

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"We were born to be happy"

Lots of ups and downs, I switched back and forth from really hating some characters to starting to love them again especially with Eunhui. Eunhui had a lot of redemptions, which is shocking because when I hate a character it's usually for the rest of the drama. This drama has a lot of actresses and actors I'm familiar with so it's always nice to see how they'll portray this character. I still have a dislike for Hansu even from the last episode, and it's probably because he doesn't show up again after episode 3 until episode 20 so you can't see any character development and that's frustrating. Inkwon and Hosik were so annoying at first but once they stopped fighting I loved their characters. I love how we get to see how vulnerable Eunhui is on the inside. I didn't like how the first three episodes were only about Eunhui and Hansu, it made it hard to follow and it seemed strange to just start with only those two without knowledge of any other character. I definitely like Hyeon and Yeongjus story the most. I was very frustrated by Seona and Dongseok at first, but in the end I really liked them. If I could wish for anything for this entire drama I wish I seen Kijoon more often. I think if a spin off was created just for Hyeon and Yeongju I would enjoy it, but that wouldn't be necessary at all and probably wouldn't end up being very good. I absolutely love Hyeon and Yeongjus characters and their story. I liked Miran a lot I just wish we knew about her more from the beginning and not towards middle/end. For the most part I don't think it was AS good as the reviews acted like, but it was still quite good, just a bit overhyped so I had high expectations, it definitely wasn't as good as other dramas I've watched but the way the episodes are formatted could be the reason I feel that way. I think throughout this drama I was able to empathize really well with the characters and could almost feel what they felt, and hate the person who wronged them, however that wasn't really the case with Okdong, I just couldn't feel bad for her at all, but I was a bit sad by her ending. I wish we got an update with Hansu, not like the last episode but a proper one where it cut to him like a proper support role not just a guest role. Another thing I wish is it could've been just normal episodes and not divided by only 2/3 characters that were related to each other at once, I kinda wish they talked about all the plots at once, the dividing made some things predictable and just less nice to watch, I think my rating would be much higher if it was formatted like dramas usually are. I think in this case the time jump in the last episode was done very well. Quite a cute ending. I wish Eungi got a proper ending or just appeared more, she was so cute. I liked the message at the end about I think the way the ending was made the entire drama much better to me. I liked the message at the end, "There is one thing we must remember in our lifetime. We weren't born in this world to suffer or feel miserable. We were born to be happy. We wish everyone happiness!" Ups and downs, but I'm happy I watched this.

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Smoldering hearts; soothing splashes

The stories of loosely related characters take place on the volcanic island of Jeju, far from the thrills and electric pace of the mainland. Jeju's a place where you can only run so far before reaching the shore to contemplate upon yourself; a place where flashing wealth is not in style; a place where the wealthy still haggle for the best fish prices (or so the setting has us believe). Through music, cinematography, and short stories, the show's ambience encourages us to examine the human heart with a magnifying glass. And that is what Our Blues does so well - invite us to look at the human condition intimately, intensely, and to the point we want to run away and cleanse ourselves of these heavy feelings. It's so intense, that I took several days' breaks from watching the show to seek out lighter fare. It's not all melancholic plot; there are many moments of humor and joy.

The show isn't particularly plot driven, or even character driven; they're important but development is limited due to the omnibus-style narration. What the story does well is invite us to slow down and contemplate the universality of being human. Every human struggles with hardship, relational stress, and craves acceptance. The stories also remind us how much effort goes into living with self, with others. If we work on communication, work through difficult experiences, the potential to find permanent solutions, or at least respite from problems, is achievable. It's when we realize others are hurting and working to get through life that we may back away from hardened feelings, and find opportunities to heal, forgive, and re-connect.

I wouldn't listen to any of the soundtrack in my personal listening, but it was an effective accompaniment to the show. Many tracks evoked the wistful, playful vibe of an island. Perhaps a bit folky. Not a lot of virtuosic guitar solos at the end of the fretboard if you know what I mean. The natural scenery was impactful, soothing, and we see the sea in its many forms, both day and night. The lodgings, market places, and community spaces all looked authentic and humble.

It's difficult to comment succinctly on characters. Overall, a terrific ensemble. Several stories are not believable, but succeed in evoking emotional reflection. One of the scenes that captures the show's overall ambience is when Lee Dong Seok gets angry when his regular customers purchase products from another vendor. In mainland commerce, everyone knows that competition drives life. But here on the island, working together means survival. The haenyeos reinforce this for us as well - "We move together".

Don't feel you have to watch this show in one go. Take a deep dive (watch what you can handle), catch some pearls of wisdom, and return to the surface for air when you need. When you're ready for the next dive, go for it.

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