Low quality but fluffy
This story may seem like just another teen romance, Icicle knight in shining armour (School uniform) saves the bullied "damsel in distress". But it actually does have quite a bit more to offer and has s slightly different angle than the one we are used to seeing.Icicle ML seems to have spent 10 years completely lacking the ability to communicate when he now suddenly has to take it all at once and is therefore slightly obsessed, and oddly clingy... Hover he is very kind and we as viewers to ge too understand the reasoning behind it.
Weak ML is so weak it is almost made me wonder how he survived so far, he is however kind, forgiving and oddly enough the one character in this drama that is probably the most hard working self aware person in this drama,
The way they interact with each eother shows very clearly how people are different depending on the context they are in, and these two seem to bring out the best in each other, at least if you support clinging...
Non of them are the type to make you swoon but they do seem human , and seem to deal with their imperfections pretty well. Though I must add that the acting was far from perfect... it was still enjoyable and did not distract from the story.
The friendships in this drama are sweet and so are the parental relationships. There Drama has some tension ant there are definitely parts to make you nervous about their future parts that may raise your pulse and keep this from being too bland.
Deffenetly a decent watch, easy to bine and has lots of feel good fluff... soft clothing, soft filming, soft petals... soft cake... yep fluff all around...
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A Blossoming Love that’s sweeter than Cherry !!
Lovely story and adaptation!CBAW is a famous BL Manhwa with a cute high school love story. Even though I was having some higher expectations, I am glad it could prove its worth to me and hopefully other viewers too. One can definitely see the improvement in the idea of the adaptions and stories, as well as the growing attention for Korean BLs. I would recommend “Cherry Blossoms After Winter" when one strives for a cute LGBTQ+ series.
Production / Music 6.5 >> 7.5
PASSABLE - Same as "Oh! Boarding House" the series is not extra outstanding nor is there something they failed in. The story feels less forced and rushed than the older gay romance series we got from Korea, and I am sure we can expect similar dramas to be produced soon. However, what is to criticise is the choice of airing only one episode per week. Even though their general duration of episodes increased compared to the Korean LGBTQ+ shows we know from the past, with all the other series airing (Cutie Pie, You´re My Sky, ...), 25 minutes a week is not enough to keep their watchers attention. It may look like a minor problem at first but it can negatively affect the entire rating of a series that could have gotten more attention if it aired 2 episodes a week. A bit of wasted potential, not by the actors or the production, but by those who made the decision to air only one episode a week. Nevertheless, I like the implementation of the music! It matches the overall mood of the series.
Plot / Story 8.5 >> 8.0
REMARKABLE - The plot of the Manhwa got implemented very well, with no major criticism from my side. It is not easy to produce an adaption that doesn´t offend the original fans but I see no problem with this cute series. Both the characters and the actors are a visual match and the story is catchy, exciting and emotional. The story revolves around the fact that Tae Sung and Hae Bom, for the first time ever, got into the same class, despite sharing the same roof for ages. This reveals a secret that causes their relationship to flourish. I can´t get enough of high school dramas and youth romances even if they are that cringe!
Cast 8.5
SATISFACTORY - Ok Jin Uk and Kang Hui did not disappoint. They executed their roles well and captivated me with their chemistry. So cute! The Supporting Cast also showed an admirable performance. I´m at a loss for words for their performance this time, because I don´t have much to criticize.
Rewatch Value/ Overall 8.0 >> 7.5
"Cherry Blossoms After Winter" offers some incredibly cute scenes and is light to watch.
Therefore I would recommend this show to anyone who likes high school romances with a little bit of drama.
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1080P story with 360P portrayal ?? Actors are 4K tho!
Edit/Overall: My complaint has been the same since day 1....too much story, too less time, hence skipping too much and only having canon shots. Other than that, the leads have been bomb since second 1. The supporting cast just supports like some columns to a building and do nothing more which is a little disappointing. But again it's a very big story but in 8 eps and we can't expect the writers to give big portions to the supporting cast. While I still love the manhwa more than the live adaption, I would still suggest you to watch it atleast once. It's good to watch it once.Overall the series is OK.
Is it okay to write a review while only one episode of the show has come out?
I was very excited for this show for a long OBVIOUSLY because of the manhwa. I decided to make a weekly review if edits are allowed on reviews on MDL. If not it's still kwenchana. Go watch the series!
Ep 1: I liked the casting. Especially the mum. She looks so young man ? for 49. I loved how they cut short a lotttt of scenes into just a few dialogues making the series jump to the main story right from the first episode ending. Can't wait for the second yay!
Ep 2: I was a little late with some work but here is it. There's nothing much canon in this episode, it's more like getting into the story that's it. We have two or three scenes which tell us about the pattern of the leads. So far it's all good. I personally LOVED the leads. The height difference is ✨ I think the series won't cover all life like the manhwa but would only focus till the time they get together or so. I liked the outro song. It's got really simple lyrics and simple meaning ❤️
Ep 3: This episode is quite disappointing to me. I understand they are skipping a lot of stuff just to focus on the main plot but in this episode the skipping game went overboard. There's a lot of things that missed pieces. Suddenly ML's friends knew that the MC and ML stay together? And in the camping the mom goes missing all the time and appears to deliver three dialogues? Kinda disappointing but let's see..
Ep 4: Hi besties! I'm back with ep 4 review. It is soft and goes really calm. The plot itself is really calming and the leads did right justice to it. But I still feel the lack of continuity from one scene to another. It might be because of the need to fit the whole story into 8 episodes. There could have been a better transition from one scene to another. For now that's a complaint. They got closer by ep 4, have to see how they'll tackle it here on. Also, I guess they made modifications in the story, as per the ep 5 preview. I'll be back soon!!
Ep 5: A big complaint I have is on Tae Sung who doesn't do/put his dishes away after finishing them. This episode felt extremely rushed to me. Extremely. As I already have the basic outline of manhwa (outline cause I forgot the details of it too, I read it a long back) I could comprehend the story pretty well. But if I were someone to watch it without knowing about the manhwa NGL I'll be pretty annoyed and drop the title. What does the mother do? Why does she always run away from here to there? Very accepting friends who can just get everything in an instant and get accustomed to the new changes? The noona from hae boms part time, she knows what he is going through with no single dialogue???? And Hae Bom changes his mind/answer within a few minutes of screen time??? SHOW US SOME GODDAMN BACKSTORY!! Sorry for yelling (caps mean yells). I mean yeah, I understand the time/episode limitation. But too much skippage (Idk if it's a word XD) is something that is taking away the essence of the story. There's no angst, I feel. It's just too much of 'having a question/problem', & 'finding it's answer/solution within the same episode'. But despite all this rush, they STILL managed to picture Tae Sung as the guy who reflects on his actions and apologizes. I really liked it when he said sorry for what he did. That's some green flag nature. We love green flag people. So yeah, if we exclude the extremely rushed plot or the ornamental support roles, the series even at ep 5 is still worth it to watch; Atleast once. And putting it here again, the leads are wonderful. They're not only attractive but are acting real real good. How is Hae Bom such a pretty cry-er? ??
Ep 6: It felt extremely sped up. The series is just jumping from one canon scene to another. I am not liking it much now. But I guess I'll still complete it
Ep 7: Why are they so cute? Actors and story are a 10/10 it's the time skippage and only filming canon scenes took away the whole flavour ?
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Needed two seasons for the amount of plot it covered (minor spoilers)
Overall: enjoyable but they needed 1 season for high school and a 2nd season for college. I read the beginning of the manhwa but don't remember it well. Watched on Viki.Content Warnings: non-biological brothers raised as brothers from ages 7-17, bullying, punches, slap (not between m/m ship), manhandling, attempted non con kiss
What I Liked
- sweet moments like that jump hug/kiss
- good production value (except shaky camerawork)
- Hae Bom is a cinnamon roll who has character growth by the end (more confident/takes initiative)
- Tae Sung did apologize for something he did in episode 5 that was bad
- that Tae Sung respected Hae Bom's boundary at the cafe in episode 7
Room For Improvement
- my major complaint is it was too choppy/not fleshed out enough. For example, they say they are going grocery shopping and then the next scene 1 guy is in a shower...
- in episode 5 I really didn't like Tae Sung pushing Hae Bom against a wall and putting his hand around Hae Bom's throat, especially since Hae Bom has been bullied and then the mom's pretty calm about it...
- in episode 5 there is a dream but it looks like Hae Bom is actually remembering something and that would be non con because he's so drunk (but it was a dream)
- cliche evil wannabe girlfriend
- unknown time jump at the end
- the intro was too long/gave away too many future scenes
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A bit cringy, a bit boring
Sadly, this korean bl suffers from what most korean bls I've seen suffers from. Low budget. It is so painfully obvious that they're just acting, it is almost impossible to imagine, even for a second, that it could be real.No offense to Ok Jin Uk and Kang Hui, who did the best they could with what they had. But something about their interactions always feel off. I think it has to do with the sound. The sound of their dialogue sounds so harsh in all of their scenes. The drama in general sounds as if it was filmed by a couple of high school students. It feels cringy watching two people supposedly fall in love, when I'm constantly aware that they are just actors, who, let's be honest, are probably straight.
That coupled with the awkward script, and the too short episodes. As well as music that feels disjointed in the scene; makes you constantly aware that this is just a drama. Not once did I get lost in a scene because of how good it was. Not once did I feel giddy, or sad, or annoyed, or any other emotions. No feelings were evoked watching this.
So, although I am happy that SK is progressing so far as to produce lgbt dramas at all. I can't wait until some major networks greenlight lgbt dramas. But until that happens, be it 1 year or 10 years from now. I suppose I'll just have to abide by these web dramas.
And unfortunately, I usually find them very hard to watch. A for effort, but C for everything else.
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One word to describe this: RIDICULOUS
To be honest, I felt ridiculous while watching this! Everything about the story, the acting, the cast, and everything else was ridiculous! I can't believe I'm completed this. I might as well have dropped this if it hadn't been for its length, although I don't usually drop dramas! I was expecting for more from this, after watching some good Korean BLs. But now I'm completely frustrated.I'm not sure how the story in the Manhwa is because I haven't read it, but the story in this drama is completely problematic. It had a lot of issues that I couldn't get my head around:
1. The ML, Jo Tae Sung, who had been unable to communicate with Seo Hae Bom for years, was suddenly hurt when he saw him being bullied. I don't think he was bullied out of nowhere. Also, the bully seemed to recognise Hae Bom, and he seemed to to be his usual prey. So there's no way Tae Sung hasn't encountered Hae Bom being bullied in the past.
2. Another issue was Hae Bom's development of feelings for Tae Sung, which felt rushed and unrealistic. How could he fall in love with someone who had completely ignored him for the past few years?
3. Then there's Tae Sung's mother, who had previously opposed their relationship and then suddenly agreed. It was not clarified why she did so.
When it comes to the cast and acting, it is anything but likeable, let alone good. They had no chemistry at all. Their performance was comparable of that of children. It was almost comical how bad it was.
What I liked in this drama: Nothing.
What I disliked in this drama: Everything.
I'm not so cruel as to rate dramas 1 or 2. So, I have given this the utmost I can give: 3
It's true that this drama offers incredibly cute scenes and is full of fluff. So, this is a good watch for people who enjoy fluffy high school romance dramas, but not for those who want a good and sensible story with good acting.
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high school to college, cohabitation, popular boy/nerd, orphan protag
Korea is really borrowing other country’s styles of BL this year. With this one they took on origin Japanese yaoi but gave it their signature softness and precise production style with a STUNNING color palette. I can’t get over the visuals of this show, the beautiful pastels, the sun-saturated over-exposure, the elegant staging. Combine that with manga framing style, some prototypical BL character archetypes, that tiny edge of bullying roughness and out-of-control seme, plus FINALLY a palatable take on the stepbrothers trope (in this case it’s adopted son of best friend) and it was, in a word, classic.Orphaned uke, HaeBom (Ok Jin Uk, trot idol group SUPERFIVE) is small, sweet-natured, and adorable, but also timid and bullied and desperate to be loved. The seme, TaeSung (Kang Hui Thumping Spike), is tall and reserved, depicted pumping iron and sporty and desired by all. In typical yaoi fashion it’s TaeSung who is the passionate one, who has adored HaeBom since childhood, who wants him desperately.
At first I discounted CBAW because it was so quiet (did I learn nothing from Oxygen?) and then I realized it’s just sophisticated and understated - with occasional flashes of *holy gratuitous shower scene, batman!* Don’t misconstrue me, it’s not slow, it’s just subtle. It ended up being both sadder and more whimsical than I was expecting - dream-like and atmospheric, as if the whole thing took place under cold water on a warm spring day. Is there plot or peril? Not really. Do we care? Also, not really.
The chemistry is awkward but I’m learning that awkward is something Korea enjoys putting in its romances. I wonder sometimes if they don’t think awkward = romantic. Regardless, it works for this couple since TaeSung has always known what he wanted (just been in denial and rejection mode) and HaeBom must play catchup. There’s always a power imbalance with this extreme of a seme/uke pairing, but it’s even more so with these two since it encompasses not just the height difference but desire. (I happen to really enjoy power imbalances.) TaeSung was always going to be too much for HaeBom - more demanding, more in love, just more. It is only his adoration of HaeBom that keeps him from becoming too much for everyone. TaeSung knows this, he’s self aware, which is why he holds onto HaeBom with such desperation. HaeBom’s journey is one of learning to accept that he is the the quiet softness that tempers TaeSong’s extremes, and is just as necessary for all he goes unnoticed. When they are just together as a couple, they’re ridiculously cute and visually nostalgic and I grew to really love them as a couple.
Look, I can’t help it, I’m old school and so is this show.
This BL is VERY traditional, almost pastiche. As I watched I could feel that song from Fiddler on the Roof running through my head.
In case you can’t guess, I absolutely loved CBAW, but I can’t separate it from my relationship journey with this medium as a whole. I grew up reading sweet yaoi, and this was THAT YAOI just on my screen. There’s no objectivity with me and CBAW. It’s beautiful and I loved it for what it was and how it made me feel and what it reminded me of. It’s not flawless, but it is a wonderful experience.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
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Not even cute.
I think I’ve finally worked it out. For the longest time I’ve been scratching my head over how these shows are getting 9 and 10 stars, but I am confused no more - it must be that the Viki rating system is NOT, in fact, an indication of how good a film is, but a cuteness factor rating.And yet, even armed with this new revelation, Cherry Blossoms did not rate a 9.6 on my cuteness radar, no matter which way I tried to look at it. ??♀️
So let’s start with some context. This show is based on a webtoon of the same name, one which I didn’t necessarily love but still persevered through. I’m all for steamy romances but 150 chapters worth of smut was a bit hard to walk through, especially when webtoon Haebom looked uncomfortably too much like an underaged boy. Still, I skipped through it because it was hugely popular and I wanted to see what the fuss was about. I come across a lot of this weird combination in BL manga: super cute art in bright colours (in this case, lots of pretty pastels) paired with a truck-ton of explicit sex. It can be a very unsettling experience.
So why on earth did I watch the live-action drama, WHYYYYYY? Again, I guess curiosity got the better of me. And we all know what curiosity did to the cat.
Look, I’m a big fan of slice-of-life college romances in all forms and sizes. I love the newness, the thrills and the angst - oh the angst - of young love. But this really was nothing to write home about. If Kim Bok Joo is a deliciously fragrant, warm cup of tea in winter and I Told Sunset About You is a single origin, equal parts bitter and sweet latte, complete with expertly poured art on top, Cherry Blossoms is … is …. like a coffee franchise ice-blended red bean special that you thought might be a good idea cause you’re dead tired on an airport layover and thought you’d just give it a go.
So, some positives: they casted two fairly good-looking actors with a reasonable amount of acting chops. The support cast were also okay. The producers did what they could within their limited budget to still deliver the “pretty” settings - the house they grew up in looks the part as a “wealthy” home and the apartment they end up in is styled to a T. This is the least we’ve come to expect from a mid-level budget K-webdrama, so no surprises here.
I think ultimately that was precisely the main issue with this show: there is really nothing new here, not even by BL standards. Story aside (hard to rate the problematic storyline, because they were just being faithful to the original manhwa), the acting was okay and the chemistry was also okay-ish. The pacing was really not great and neither was the cinematography. Use of slo-mo in truly uninspired moments, and not even paired with a good score to try and improve these weird bits. The first half was actually better for me than the second half - at least the school bullying arc was interesting, as was seeing the boys trying to come to terms with their feelings. In the end the serious, dark bits ended up coming across as too incongruous with the rest of the show, which was just so much ice-blended red bean filler - a bit like the manhwa. It could have been cute, but it was largely dull or problematic, and quite a bit cringe.
Still, good shows don’t need to be life-changing. We still watch a lot of rom-coms with the same tropes over and over again - and we still enjoy them, as long as the show is done right. Unfortunately, Cherry Blossoms just came across as bland and uninspired. I’ll give it a 6, because it wasn’t God-awful, but just terribly meh.
So, should you watch it? Maybe, if you were dead-tired on an airport layover and didn’t have much else to do.
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So goddamn fluffy it’ll make you puke rainbows
Cherry Blossoms After Winter is an incredibly fitting title for this show, yet not at all seemingly relevant. It was so colorful and so soft. I can’t describe this show as anything other than mind-numbingly gentle. Objectively, I see this show as incredibly mediocre, but subjectively I was entranced.Looking back, the story wasn’t jampacked, but that’s okay. The first 5 episodes followed their life in high school and how they slowly transitioned into something more than friends. The last 3 followed their university life with some bigger (but not *that* big) problems. I think the 25-minute episodes were a great length, and it felt neither rushed nor dragged in my opinion. However, one big thing about the story that I wish they explored, was the fact that the two of them grew up as brothers. It’s no secret that Tae-seong had like Hae-bom ever since they were kids, but they didn't explore their past relation-dynamic enough. Since they barely talked as they grew older, and they practically grew up as brothers, shouldn’t there have been a little more conflict from that regarding their feelings for each other? It's not often you end up falling in love with someone who was raised as your brother, you know. This is coming from a non-Webtoon reader, so I’m sure there are a bunch of time skips and holes that only people who have read the Webtoon understand.
As for acting, it was alright. I wouldn’t necessarily say that the acting was great as much as the leads’ chemistry was great. There were quite a few moments where the acting felt awkward when the characters were shy or flustered, but it didn’t make the show worse. Nevertheless, THEIR CHEMISTRY!!! I loved that it didn’t just have one or two fish kisses and one deep kiss like most K-BLs do. They did what people in relationships do: hold hands, give small and quick pecks on the lips, and give random hugs. It was nice.
The production of this show was good compared to what they had. The budget was higher than the average K-BL, but it’s obvious we’re not so far in the game that we have big companies as sponsors. But it was nice that the sets were varied. And OH MY, Tae-sung’s family must be so goddamn rich for them to have that house. Occasionally throughout the drama, I suspect the audio was ADR'ed. Probably because it was too windy sometimes so they had to re-record some lines. But it was fine.
Random small things that I enjoyed:
- I love it when BLs use the word gay. I feel like most of them shy away from the actual topic of homosexuality.
- The blatant product placement in episode 6 was so funny to me, like the three scenes in a row where the characters used that weird jumbo lipstick. I usually dislike obvious product placement, but it was just SO apparent that I enjoyed it.
- HAE-BOM AND TAE-SEONG HAVE A LITTLE RAINBOW IN THEIR APARTMENT!!
- Their friends were surprised but supportive of their relationship.
- I laughed every single time they were like "Ugh, I can't sleep" and all of the lights around them were turned on.
Overall, this show was great. More than great. Even though it was so average. This is what I call a simple watch, not because of the length but because of the content. A lot of K-BLs try to pack in way too much story into 120 minutes of TV. Cherry Blossoms After Winter nailed the story-duration ratio. If you’re interested, give it a try!
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Im disappointed...
This drama was very cringe...The story line is ridiculous. How do you all of a sudden fall in love with someone after ignoring them for years and yall were living in the same house since kids??? I had to skip a lot of the scenes because it was so cringe. There was not really any chemistry, it was kind of dry. There was this scene where the popular guy was walking down the hallway and all the other students were screaming and gushing over him like he was some kind of celebrity. It was so dumb I couldn't help but laugh. Honestly, I wouldn't watch this again, kind of wish I never did.Was this review helpful to you?
The Blossoms were alright
At first this drama was going ok. I liked how they started out in high school and just giving some background story of their childhood. What I do not like is how fast they went for collage. I thought it was just not time for them to go because they have just started the show.Jinwook's acting was ok. It was not the best. I wish he could have done a better job. To me he always looked sad. Never really had any good expressions. Just watching him some times kinda made me cringe. If you know what I am talking about?
Hui's acting was better. He had already been professional in acting so I was not worried. He expressed his feelings well but not too well. But I think he at least TRIED.
The side characters were funny and alright. I liked them a lot. I also do wish we could have seen more of Taesung's friends but you know what, its fine.
The music was great to me. I enjoyed the intro.
Overall I think the drama was pretty decent. I think I would rewatch it again but only when I am bored. I do wish this drama was a little better but this was fine. Really liked it. I would defiantly recommend.
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Honestly, disappointed
I've been a fan of CBAW manhwa for years now and when I learnt a live action would be made, I was exited. Still had my concerns because I know a-lot of live actions don't go as planned and are often not made well due to low budget. However, I still had my expectations because of how well written the book was (in my opinion) and thought this show would do well since they had such good material to be inspired by.I have a hard time believing those who have not read the book first would understand what was happening in this show, so much plot was missing and random time skips between high-school, college, then at the end for the proposal.
I understand that remakes won't closely follow the book and things will be different. There is 4/5 seasons of the manhwa being crammed into 8 short episodes, and with the slow dialog, scenes lasting too long, and just plain awkward moments, theres a-lot of time wasted when important information could be protruded.
Instead of trying to pack all the chapters into this short time-span, I wish only the high-school chapters were acted out, maybe a glimpse of college, allowing for a second season if things went well. Giving time to have more in each episode and full stories rather than trying to get by everything quickly and lacking plot.
I can't judge the acting of the main characters since i've never seen any other of their works but it's clear that they needed more chemistry with each-other to portray this love they're meant to have. I wish actors that are actually lgbt would be casted for shows like this, it would add so much.
I hated the sound design from the first two minutes of the first episode. I get the feeling they were over-exaggerating the everyday sounds to include the written in sound effects of the manhwa, it was un-needed, I did not like it at all, and just made the scenes feel so fabricated.
Though I did find a small few scenes sweet and enjoyable, the awkwardness and plot skipping outweighed the replay-able moments. I have a-lot more I could go into detail about but I'll restrain.
In conclusion, I wish they did not try to portray moments from all the big scenes in the chapters and took the time to simply focus on the beginning plot of the first 1-2 seasons of the manhwa.
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