Star Struck (2023)

More like Dumbstruck

I only give this a 6 because of the casting and because it seemed they made a minimal budget do what it could for the quality of shooting the scenes, I think those two things hold up quite a bit for this show on their own, everything else makes no sense.

I commented that this show is what I'd get if I ordered The Eight Sense from Wish dot com, because let's face it, visually and aesthetically, Hanjoon and Yoo Jae look like remixes of the ML's of T8S, and the show seemed to be angling for a similar editing style but it is ultimately a failure because they missed the mark by a mile.

The disjointed story and questionable characterization aside, because those are whole other issues on their own and I won't even go there, the editing of this feels like the production staff originally filmed for ten eps and then lost a bunch of footage somehow, and for whatever reason they decided not to reshoot. So they gave the job to the editing staff to put together what remained on film however they could...then the editing crew said f*ck it and quit, so they passed the job to an intern or someone's semi-popular Youtuber kid.
In the end, what we got feels like a story missing chunks of sense and scenes and a whole point.

Basically;
THE GOOD:
- The casting and acting pass muster.

THE BAD:
- The story doesn't connect much of anything to, well, anything, not even it's barely developed plot idea, and the loose ends are so numerous, legends will tell of it still unraveling even after it's long , long over.
- Yoo Jae as a ML love interest. No thanks. There are two kinds of of a-holes, one type acts like a dick but is still likeable because essentially their behaviour is mostly harmless or skin deep over all, and then there is the type who acts like a dick because they are a dick and their behaviour is trash. Yoo Jae is the latter.
- The music (while I don't generally pay much attention to it) was strange and loud in some places.
- The final two episodes are a waste of everyone's time. They could have finished it more decently on episode 6 by editing in Yoo Jae's suggestion to 'date', then time skipping to the final scene of episode 8.

It never got UGLY, because really, it never got anywhere, so...

HIGHLIGHT:
- Welp, I liked Han Joon.

I don't recc this.

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two bros chilling on the swing set....

holding hands because they are supposed to be gay.

so yeah it didnt give what it promised to give. i wanted childhood friends to lovers, longing, subtle touching and gazes, realizing they are in love and awkwardly trying to navigate on how to transform that relationship. but until the end both of them seemed like they are forced to be in this homoseggual relationship. LOOK WHAT THIS GENERATION HAS DONE. IS THIS THE FUTURE LIBERALS WANT?

it started off real good - the setup was immaculate even. the acting wasn't bad either so i was looking forward to some giggling and cheesing. What I got? Two besties being posessive and stubborn.

obviosuly the lack of chemistry CAN be attributed to the short time they had. fitting this complex of a relationship and developement into 8 episodes is not an easy task. they probably did the best they could.

conclusion: a lot to be desired. go besties tho !!

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Emotions, emotions, emotions

Before I start, let me just say that I am a sucker for emotion and Star Struck has it in spades.
Talk about pining!! But it's much deeper than that.
Both ML's genuinely love each other, protect each other, have a NEED for each other. It's a beautiful thing, and both actors did a phenomenal job of portraying this. From childhood on they clicked, they are connected, and they will remain so forever.

The writing was done well, especially since the episodes were so short and looooots of content, and subtext, needed to be jammed into what were essentially mini episodes.

While both ML's have their flaws, we can see their growth as they mature, entering into adulthood, as well as settling into their new relationship. Throughout it all, their love for each other shines through.

Music is decent, for those wondering. Nothing majorly great but it goes good with the mood and doesn't detract from the show in any way.

My two complaints:

1) I wish the episodes were longer so we can explore more. While I don't think more time would have changed anything in the story, I'd have loved to fall deeper into what the story already tells us.

2) Lack of kissing.
I know I know!! Kissing isn't everything. And as this show has a heavy focus on the emotional (which I love!!) one might argue that kissing is secondary BUT!!
At the start we are teased with physical attraction. Then there is one kiss that we're shown, except it's zoomed out, and we get to see less than a second of it. So....teasing but not revealing? Not nice writers! Not nice at all.
Beyond the kissing, I'd have settled for cuddles. Sleeping in the same bed? I don't know. Something, anything, that pays tribute to the physical side of their relationship but nope!! We get none of that. So...yeah. I'm disappointed.
This couple is definitely physically attracted to each other (earlier episodes show this) but we're only let in on their emotional relationship after they become a couple. (I don't know if this is because one of the ML's is an idol. )

{{I will say that 8'th Sense spoiled the hell out of me. We get beautiful emotions + wonderful physical connection. It's my candy, my addiction, my all-time standard of Korean BL's. So learn from 8'th sense Korean BL actors/writers! Learn and repeat (please and thank you) !!}}

Re-watch value is like a 7 I guess? I will come back to this one day. And it's definitely worth a first watch. <3

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Good initial start but it never really went anywhere

This show started of really well with the first initial few episodes. It was well paced and the story telling was on point. The two main leads acting was also good. The last 2 episodes is basically how a decent show just went downhill so bad. So many key points were skipped or glossed over to focus on aspects which were not really needed for the story. I know this had a short runtime but they really should have focused on what was important.

TBH i could not feel yoo jae romantic connection for the ML at all apart from the jealousy here and there. He clearly just wanted a friend and somehow ended up where they did. The lack of chemistry is telling also but i guess zuho is an idol and may be limited on what can be done then i guess different actors should be casted then.

This show could have been so much better with the correct pacing, storytelling and chemistry. I wouldn't recommend tbh

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So Much Potential But Super Rushed Last 2 Episodes.

General spoilers. Eight 16-20 min episodes. The first 6 episodes completely drew me in and tugged hard at my heartstrings. I was fascinated to see how things would unfold. It perfectly explored pining and unrequited love. What this did differently, and what I found special, was that it also explored how a friendship could be effected by this from BOTH points of view. In addition to that, it realistically portrayed how struggles with family and money can effect kids and sometimes strain their interactions with even their closest friends. (The kids in this case are seniors in high school.)

The last 2 episodes were rushed, introduced more plot than it had time for, and took the focus away from the evolving connection between the lead characters. It was slice-of-life and following the interactions and emotions between the two friends so I expected that to continue. Instead, the story started to jump large spans of time in episode 7. We go from not knowing how things will actually work out romantically to being 62 days into their dating, and then 100 days.

The ending was happy but unsatisfying because we didn't get to see/experience Jo Yoo Jae's emotions progress into romance. I couldn't help thinking the character might have decided to date Seo Han Joon just to keep him in his life. Which I don't think is the intended message, but the script and editing didn't really give us examples of it being much more than that. Episodes 7 & 8 showed us romantic milestones but didn't actually show the characters being romantic with each other.

The acting was very good. Especially Kim In Sung who conveyed so much through his face, eyes, and voice. Very natural, a lot of micro facial expressions, and captivating.

I would have been fine with the one lead-up to a kiss and not getting more if the script, directing, and editing had shown examples of them being sweet with each other. Even just staring into each others eyes and smiling. Something! Their physical interactions didn't change at all once dating. We especially needed to see something from Yoo Jae to believe his feelings had grown past platonic affection.

I would easily watch the first 6 episodes again so I'm really disappointed with what they did with the last 2 episodes. Feeling this unsatisfied by the end brought my rating from a potential 9 down to a 7.

Nothing remarkable or distracting about music or cinematography.

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Um... Un-slay...?

English is not my first language, but allow me to write some review. First and foremost, I'm crying. But not due to how good the story and plotline is - but I'm crying out of frustration. The acting are okay, I do love the actors in this drama but the plots are quite frustrating and uninteresting for me... It's too slow, and I keep on skip, skip, skip and skip. It feels like same thing is repeating over and over again, and IDK, I feel like this is like one of the most hetero BL I ever watched. There's a bare bromance included here??? I mean, atleast put some bromance into the story but I feel like there's none? Or did I missed it as I keep on skipping?

Not to mention on how I'm irritated with the i dont know, friendship? couple? - where you know... One is "I'm the only one who are correct here, you're not and I can do whatever I want based on whatever I feel at the time and I'll just apologize." and the other one is "I'm sorry for everything despite it is not my fault." Do you get it??? It's giving me a selfishness, inconsideration friendship...

Also, I thought that after the first 4 episodes of the drama, the plot would be much better. You know, I was trying to convince myself that "Oh yeah, it's high school things, they're still immature and yeah things happened sometimes" BUT NO! -blinks aggressively-. It keep on dragging even after they're entering university like HuH???

Overall, I feel like I just wasted my time but it's fine, life do be like that sometimes.

So yeah, the story itself is literally out of my league, I was bored the entire (almost) time to the point I almost dropped it (Yeah, almost.) BUT HEY, overall I love their acting. The actors are robbed in my opinion. I do hope both of these actors would comeback with another BL, and I do really hope they'll get a better script with a better storyline. Support the actors y'alls. Hehe.

I'm not criticizing about the actor here that makes the drama bored. NO. Their acting is totally good but the thing is, the script is not really written well and it's too hetero for a BL. Too slow as well. I am frusturated once again.

Last but not least, I personally agree with those reviews here and I can't judge your preference but if you're into a BL that has a slow and steady of story development, with you know, no aggresive homo things, yeah this might be for you. Aight, cya.

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Definitely a watch one time kinda show.

To say that this drama was a let down would be too easy. It’s been a hot minute before we had good back to back consecutive kbls since blueming, to my star and semantic error. I had some expectations considering we’ve gotten some of my favorite kbls in 2023 with our dating sim, the eight sense, and unconditional love. This is my fault I guess for thinking this drama would also make the same ranks.
The acting. Nothing wrong with the acting in fact it is some of the best in BLs that I’ve watched. The only reason this show wasn’t a complete bust was because of the decent acting.
The plot. Classic plot with best friend falls in love with other friend and then they disconnect but we all know they’ll reconnect and the roles of who is falling in love will shift. This could’ve have been the only plot of the series and it would’ve crept on by being an average typical bl story. But ofcourse in the last two episodes they throw in the “drama.” I was expecting one of the parties to miss the date because it’s the most obvious conflict for this type of plot but I really hate how they decided to add all this extra fluff of conflict with one of the protagonists mother. The writers really thought “hey lefts give this single mother a sickness in the last episode and have her not tell her son she moved and was running away from debtors.” The issue I had with this was because we never even heard why she needed surgery. Most people might be okay with this but I actually watch a lot of these dramas for the plot. Not just for some lovey dovey gay moments. Which by the way we barely got that in this drama anyways. Why even introduce this women’s struggles and not elaborate on it in even the slightest bit. You have slated this show for 8 episodes and 15 minutes long. WHAT WAS THE REASON?
Don’t even get me started on the chocolate scene. So one of our protagonist has a single mother who does her best to provide for her son. The son feels the struggle and does what he can to save his money which even means skipping meals. His best friend knows this and during the love confession takes the box of expensive chocolates that the poor friend used his money on and threw it down like it was garbage. He was mad his friend bought expensive chocolates on him when he knew he skips meals. This part really irked me because the writers wanted us to move on from this given the fact that when the guys reconcile they have us see the friend who bought the chocolates originally kept the broken box of chocolates in his room. When both guys met up again the douche bag dude who broke the chocolates ended up throwing the same box of chocolates that he broke originally away in the garbage in front of his friend. LIKE CMON. You know this dude skips meals but wanted to buy you something and you showed gratitude by throwing it away knowing he used his money on you. A simple thank you would’ve been sufficient. This part was hella triggering and thinking about it again is making me angry.
I don’t even want to talk about the kiss scene. You know what though let’s actually talk about it.
The first kiss well Can we even call it a kiss? I guess I’ve just gotten use to being spoiled with decent kiss scenes for this year with our dating sim and the 8th sense but damn if we’re going to get a cheap ass kiss the rule is to have a minimum of two cheap ass kisses. The perfect set up for kiss #2 was the chapstick scene. I’m really confused as to why they even had that as a gift from one of the guys to his partner for an anniversary gift if he didn’t mean for him to use it on the spot for convenient reasons such as getting your lips ready for a smooch. I for sure thought anyone with a knack for dramas in general would’ve wrote and directed that scene as after he puts on the chapstick that his partner gave him he would ask him if he would also like some. Or to also try it. No? Like anyone who watches dramas would’ve thought that’s what was going to happen.
If you didn’t want another direct kiss scene you could’ve easily slid by with an indirect kiss scene by having one of the protagonist apply the chapstick to his partners lips then use it on his. It’s giving the directing lacks effort.
The ring part after that was cute so I’ll say those two moments cancel each other out.
Most of the show was more intense and angsty. Honestly would’ve been okay but the last two episodes really threw me off.
I did like how after they both finally got their shit together they went head first into the couple thing and we’re cute or whatever.
Overall it’s a quick watch nothing more nothing less. It’s definitely not making the top 8 BLs of this year list but I wouldn’t rank it with others like Check out or what the duck so I guess it’s just meh. Go in with no expectations and you’ll be okay. If you don’t mind useless last minute conflicts that make no sense then this is for you. I didn’t waste my time but I wouldn’t rewatch it again.
Honestly people these days think they can have a good looking cast and slide on by nowadays with some nonsense writing and directing. Anyways I’m done ranting. Happy watching and pride month^ - ^

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Star Struck didn't leave me seeing stars

Unfortunately this show fell into the KBL cog and wheel of 8 eps with 12-18min run time and the result was less than star worthy in my opinion. The story was too overly complicated with many elements happening at once, while execution of them was less than wonderful.

Childhood friends to lovers is a great trope, but instead of feeling the pining and the slow burn, I felt a huge annoyance {almost bordering complete dislike} towards Yoojae. There were points where I honestly questioned what it was exactly that Hanjoon had fallen in love with. Because even before Hanjoon confesses, to the confession scene, and afterwards--Yoojae was a jerk to Hanjoon. And even after they were separated and finally reunited at college, when Yoojae threw away those chocolates that Hanjoon had kept all that time {right in front of him}, I wanted to kick his face in.

I never felt genuine love or care come from Yoojae towards Hanjoon. He felt self absorbed, selfish, and at times cruel. These feelings couldn't be resolved by the last two episodes and those were the absolute worst ones out of the 8. They were a mess: spending too much time on family drama that isn't resolved for more than HALF of the episodes and leaving a small window of time for us to see Yoojae and Hanjoon together.

I'll never understand why Hanjoon was desperately looking for his mother, only to see her in the hospital and then leave two seconds later because he was late for his anniversary with Yoojae. And not only that, but afterwards, the boys never talk about what had happened and Hanjoon never discloses that he was late and lost his phone because he was seeing his mom in the hospital? Of course I would expect Yoojae {laughs} to understand, but instead it's pinned that Hanjoon has to apologize for disappearing and he promises to never do that again.

This was literally a mess and there's nothing really salvageable about it.

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A mess from start to finish

This was honestly a waste of time. The leads had so little chemistry that they weren't even believable as friends, let alone lovers. They had nothing in common and fought in every episode for the dumbest reasons. The love confession was the most underwhelming thing I've ever seen, and the ML who at first rejects the other suddenly changes his mind after a timeskip with no character development to back it up. They kiss once at a camera angle where you know their lips probably aren't even touching for real, and then they start dating but still act exactly the same as before. The romance is nonexistent. Sprinkle in their family issues that make no sense and add absolutely nothing to the plot, and that's pretty much all this show is.

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Good drama but could be better

Ok finished the drama, I really liked it but still I think it could be better. In the last few episodes they wanted to bring everything forward, I think that if they hadn't brought in family problems, we could enjoy more moments together and more character development. This series definitely lacked more screen time for a better story, there are scenes (many) that leave us without explanation, some cuts are poorly executed, they made zuho's character very "dirty".
Even so, I enjoyed every moment of them together, they had chemistry and they didn't need the "kiss". The last scene was beautiful and meaningful, very cute. Thank you Zuho and Insung for this project (directors and producers fck each other, for not lengthening the story)

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4 epidodes too short

I don't know why I keep falling into the 8 episode trap. Most of them would have been much better had they chosen 12 episodes instead. These series usually start off strong and then fizzle after episode 5 or 6. The last episodes are rushed and dissapointing because we are missing so much explanation and filler that makes the story flow through until the end.

After they decide to date the story just jumps pretty much to date 100. They are supposedly madly in love enough to get couples rings but we just don't feel it because there has been NO feeling of any romance. They are the same two sitting on the swings just talking like the best friends they have always been.

Those extra episodes we are cheated out of would have made the last episode so much better. We would all have been feeling the anxiety, the disappointment, and the joy together. Instead it was more like "Well OK. Thats a thing that happened."

Will I continue to watch 8 epidode series? Probably because every once in a while a gem does come along. Sadly though this was not one of them.

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