mediocre but a decent watch
im not sure why people are claiming there are no new scenes in the movie when in especially the second half there are loads. it focuses a lot more on their emotions and psychological state thanks to the added scenes. we also get to see more of them being sweet together. whilst the film is smoother and more explanatory i will still call it mediocre for south korea's bl productions so far. it's a decent watch with some good dialogue, especially between youngwoo and his father. speaking of, for me, youngwoo carries this film. the actor is great and his character is definitely the best out of the cast imo. i also don't really find it confusing like others say but maybe that's just me. overall give it a shot if you have time to spare. it's not great but there's some good in it.Was this review helpful to you?
have to say, nothing new here - this is the 8 min's of "meat" without the starting and ending credits - stuck together, nothing more nothing less - and for sure nothing new... ah yeah - there is one hell of a french-kiss between Ki Jin and Young Woo (initiated by Young Woo) after the yr long disappearing act Ki Jin pulled (still call b.s on how that whole situation was handled. cause no one disappearing on my ass and then i take them back like nothing happened - there would be hell to pay). so i didn't 'get' it watching the drama, and i don't get it here - yeah one could say "love makes u stupid" but still calling b.s. - there aint no "...apologizing once is enough..." plz
the only reason i aint miffed that i rewatched this, was cause of Yi Bin - or rather scenes between him and Young Woo. cause the translation in the movie differs from what 'we' got in the drama, and here it makes sense, as opposed to the drama where it left me confused. not that i got a clear picture about the past between the 2 - and yet think they should've ended up together - it would've been a better ending IMHO, but it is what it is.
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This review may contain spoilers
the weird last-minute rushed conflict strikes once again
I actually....liked this despite its many....many, flaws idk. I think the characters really saved it for me.the characters are likable/charming, the main leads had pretty good chemistry, I barely felt any awkwardness from them, and no dead fish kiss! congrats!
the two leads are also pretty cute together, so it's a shame that the rest of the movie is. all over the place. I saw a lot of people call the series "choppy" but I don't think it was that bad until the last 30 minutes or so. Not sure if that's just a personal taste thing or it flows better as a movie.
they really like leaving certain plot points just....dangling, probably because of time constraints, but it doesn't really work because they never give you enough hints to actually connect the dots yourself? there felt like a lot of those here but I think even those would've been more easily forgivable if not for that WEIRD last 20 minutes. I've been binging through a lot of korean BLs lately, and I've noticed that a lot of them have this weird, rushed conflict and then equally rushed resolution near the end ?? I think this happens with regular length kdramas too but it's noticeably worse since K BLs tend to have like...10-20 minute episodes....yeah.
but anyway, so the last minute conflict in itself isn't too weird for me, it just gets lumped in with the other common issues for me to expect when watching a K BL but it was REALLY incoherent here. Usually, I at least vaguely know what's going on even if I'm a little confused, but here, I went back to rewatch the last 20 minutes twice and was still confused. What the heck lol
It's a shame because if they stuck the landing, this could've been a weird but still really decent series, (a better ending wouldn't have fixed how the characters and the time itself sometimes seem to jump all over the place), and it had a promising start, but I guess that sentiment goes for a lot of K BLs tbh.
also this literally has nothing to do with the actual story or quality or whatever but I adored the fashion designer's outfits. he always looked quite cool and trendy and I loved it.
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A cut above the rest - in its own way
Oh Behind Cut, my beloved mess.This movie makes me FEEL things that I don't quite know how to articulate.
It can't be denied that it makes for an incredibly confounding and high-effort viewing experience - this is not a movie to simply breeze through without giving it your full attention. There are a lot of details the audience are left to fill in for themselves; the film absolutely refuses to hold anyone's hand and walk them through the plot, it expects the viewer to make the connections themselves. In that, as well as with the general pacing, atmosphere, and occasionally inconsistent audio quality, it reminds me a lot more of a queer indie film than of a professional K-drama.
And on one hand, that's exactly what I love it for. The acting is absolutely stellar, the dialogues feel wonderfully real, and the way the main characters' relationship builds does not just feel entirely believable, but also a refreshing step removed from the more common romance beats. Don't get me wrong, I love me a good romcom and there's a reason why the classic formula works so well, but there's just something about getting to see a relationship at a slightly different pace and through a slightly different lens that I really appreciate.
But on the other hand, was it all really necessary? Did they need to lean so far into the artful incoherence and away from a more straight-forward storyline?
I absolutely detest the one-year separation trope, but here it could have worked so well. There's something interesting there, some genuinely poignant commentary on the nature of passion, dreams, and what it means to pursue them. There are insightful observations to be found about the fine line between self-determination and rejecting all help, between finding inspiration in someone you love and loving someone for the purpose of being inspired by them.
All of that and more is right there, so close to being fully woven into the story and coherently brought across, almost, almost, but not quite...
I don't know if you'll like this movie, I honestly couldn't tell you. I can only say that I, personally, really love it. I bemoan what it could have been with juuuust a little more polish, but I also adore it for what it ended up being, in all it's sincere, chaotic glory.
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This review may contain spoilers
This is oe of the worse short K-BLs I've seen. The premise is fine, but how they told the story in the second half made it fall apart completely. Did the people who were responsible not get feedback from someone else?What I liked:
* I loved the relationship between Yeong Woo and his father. Even if there are only a few scenes with them both, I have a distinct impression on how growing up must have been for Yeong Woo with this father, and for the father, raising is son to be an independent, and kind person. You see, it IS possible to establish how people feel about each other in just a few minutes of screentime!
* Stories not set in college or high school are always a plus for me. I liked that Yeong Woo was of a lower or middle class background. I also found it very relatable that he did not know what to do with his life.
What I did not like:
* The two main leads got too close, too fast for my liking. I've never talked to people I've only met three or four times about my most initmate dreams and hopes for the future.
* The show seems to follow the precept of "show, don't tell". The thing is, if you show only fragments, and we, as the audience have to guess what is going on, we won't be very satisfied. This becomes especially clear just before and after the time skip, where we only get to see disjointed scenes, sometimes without context. If we don't even get clues to guess, then it only becomes an exercise in frustration.
Some examples: Why the crying at the traffic lights? Where was Ki Jin during the time skip? When did Yeong Woo become a model, and how does he balance this with his delivery job? Where is his mother? Why is the friend also back? Did they ever talk about their breakup? What happened between Yeon Woo and the friend in the past? (Were they lovers? Friends? Rivals? Just classmates?)
I don't get why "follow your dreams" and "be with the one you love" have to be an either-or-decision. Long-distance-relationships? Talking about things and then compromising? That's apparently nothing that exists in this world.
All in alll, the drama feels more like an outline for the first few episodes of a longer story, not something you would consider complete and fit for release.
You can watch it, if you like, since the show is rather short, but I'd recommend to give it a miss.
[This is a slightly edited version of the review I posted on Viki.]
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Not what I had expected ...
I was really looking forward to this, although to be honest I started with the Movie first before the actual series, and well I was not that overly impressed with it, the trailer for both of these looked really good but I was not happy impressed with the movie.If just seemed to have lacked a whole lot of story line and potential, I did not feel any chemistry between the leads and the some how it feels liked it was all of the place, then it did full circle a year later without back ground to what really happened between them?
So I might watch the drama (MIGHT BEEN THE KEY WORD) or just forget about it, if there are literally the same along the lines of nothing !!
Overall: Guess its up to you, but a NO FOR ME!!
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