Jazz for Two

As a For X, I feel like I have an obligation to watch this drama. It's Hangyeom's acting debut after all! Plus this drama has a pretty good blurb that makes me want to see what's going to unravel.

Overall, I really enjoy the story! There is of course some things that made me scratch my head and feel like it could be better than this, but I'm not disappointed in what I've watched.

What I like:
- Jungha! You see, I never read the manhwa before so I never expected Juha to be a hell of a character. Jungha has a rather gentle face so it's really surprising to learn that his characters is like... that.
- The story. As I said, I really enjoy it. I don't know the technicality, about the pacing or whatnot, but it's really better than what I thought it would be. I guess given the work has longer airing time (30-40 minutes per episode??) so I think some of the main points of the plot can be elaborated pretty well.
- The cast! I think aside of Jungha, the other cast feels so perfect to the characters. Jinkwon to Seheon, Hogeun to Taeyi, and Hangyeom to Doyoon. A special note to Hangyeom tho, I also think it doesn't stray too far from what Hangyeom is like as far as I know him as an idol.
- The reveal of Taeyi and Seheon's brothers' relationship! Did that count as plot twist? Because I never really expected it to be that way. It added spices imo, although the resolution might look too easy?? I thought Taeyi would be angrier about it. But I guess at that point, Taeyi only wanted closure about what happened to his brother and won't bother to point fingers and blame whoever made the event happened. Idk.
- The music theme! Although I'm not super familiar with jazz, but the piano playing is really pleasant in my ear. I especially love the ensemble performance and their fall festival performance! Jazz for Two do sound really good!
- While I don't think Doyoon and Juha's relationship change is the best out there, but I kinda like it! It makes me wait for a second season hoping it would explore their relationship.

What I don't really like:
- Juha. Just... I can't relate to him and why he needs to be that mean to Taeyi, Seheon, and Doyoon. Especially Doyoon cause like you can see how smitten Doyoon to Juha ever since their first eye contact. But after a thing that happened in the locker room, I started to be like, "OK, at least you're showing a bit of development!"
- Not that I don't really like but... it's too surprising how Taeyi and Seheon's relationship dynamics changed. Like, the day before, Taeyi was REALLY mean to Seheon, but the next day he's really mellow and suddenly being a simp??? I guess he actually liked Seheon a lot but he's afraid of something. Like his own feelings, maybe? Since after a tragedy, he's pretty much stuck in the past and his feelings for Seheon was something entirely new.
- I also don't really like Juhee in the first two episodes of the drama. But my impression changed afterwards, especially after the karaoke event. Hopefully Juhee can find a better man :)

I want to end it by saying good job everyone who's involved in this production! Thank you for bringing out a story that I enjoy a lot. Especially Hangyeom, good job on your acting debut!!!

Read More

disappointing,SA,physical abuse,rushed

first of all i would like to say that acting cast and music was good.Second last 2 epi felt rushed specially epi 7 where seheon get SA but next he forgive taeyi like it was nothing?!?!??like how can you forgive someone easily who just bullied,SA, physical abuse you throughout whole series.toxicity in this series is really concerning.About the second to be couple which got flopped dont have much to say but yeah "meh".Tbh i liked the kiss at the end which is not a deadfish kiss.And people who gave 10 ratings for this series needs a reality check.Sometime it felt like series on its own screaming homophobic.And my review was based on only watching the series and not reading manhwa so yeah overall it was "meh" not bad and not good either.

Read More

bamboozled

So cute until ep7., damn he gave me the ICK, man turned full on harassment mode. like what do you mean ur gonna be stuck knee deep in de Nile and TWO seconds later it’s like nothing happened.
Also we don’t talk about the thing with the brother enough. He likes main dude cuz he reminds him of his brother? do we ever talk about it again? nope
SO rushed towards the end. It just makes no sense why they would rush over the most important a part of the plot like that.
The acting is not bad but not good. This boy won’t stop inhaling every time he says something . Once you notice it you can never go back

Read More

BL & Jazz FTW !

I just finished this short series with a happy contented smile on my face.
There are some shows that go on and on and you wish they would have cut them in half, but not this one. If I have any gripe it would be that I wished it was longer with way more jazz music shown.

There was great chemistry between the main leads and it would have been great to see this develop more deeply, same for the second couple. I think this 8 episode series only allowed time to skim over the surface of everything that was happening, both past and present, but that being said, it was still very well done.

The story was engaging and interesting, and an unusual take on the usual "BL in high school" shows we get.
It would have been great to see Seheon come to terms with his Father and play him some jazz on that beautiful Baby Grand!
Overall I loved this show and hope for a second season :)

Read More

pushing & pulling

i have never written a review before; spare me, but i felt the need to for this series.

i believe this show is only for people who can deal with heavier topics and are able to understand characters flaws on a higher level. every single character in this series is complicated & it's not for the weak of hearts.

there are some scenes i felt were just straight-up unnecessary, but that never deterred me away from the show or the characters themselves. especially taeyi or juha; who are indeed more flawed than the rest. they could've written taeyi much better (then again, i am not familiar with the original media this is adapted from, so he could be just right) - and i wished they did, considering he's a likable character if you look at him through a good and understanding lens - some of the parts felt incomplete and lackluster, but it's certainly not trashy for what they had. (i believe a solid 12 , maybe even 10, episodes could've done them some good).

seheon was a well-written character! i liked how even in the very first episodes, he found himself wondering what was wrong with taeyi instead of just entirely thinking he's a bully of some sort. he's been through a lot, they all have. doyoon and juha were perfectly awful. i didn't have much interest in them until later episodes, but their dynamic and relationship is extremely interesting if you take internalized homophobia into the equation, because that's certainly what it felt like to me. not much to note; the storyline was interesting and actually made sense in the end. i like how it was history repeating itself. the main leads' chemistry was good, despite what anyone says, and i think seheon and taeyi make a nice couple after everything they've been through with each other. there wasn't a large amount of the second couple, but i hope they're swell. (i would like to see the main leads in another series together, maybe a softer one, that seems more up their alley).

overall, would i recommend it? to the right person, yes. if you don't enjoy hurt/comfort, messy up & down and even toxic relationships: this isn't for you. but there are plenty not like this, so go watch! ^^

Read More

Very well done all around.

I thoroughly enjoyed this series and everything about it: the story, the acting, the pacing, the directing. It all came together really well to create another great series to add to the growing Korean BL lineup.

The series begins with an insight to where the story is headed then we go back in time to tell the story of how we ended up there. By the time we catch up, there's still more story to come (including one of the best plot twists I've seen).

This series could have really benefitted from a couple more episodes, just because the story was that good and it deserved more ironing out. That's my main issue with KBL series; they are always so short. Sometimes it's good when the story is less involved and doesn't need all the extra filler. But when they are working with a more complex theme or multiple storylines intertwined, they really deserve a bit more time to have it come together better.

I think this series did a decent job with tying together all the loose ends though just a tiny more explanation or conclusion in some areas could have made this series perfect.

This could have been a 10 from me if they didn't use my most HATED trope ever.. The "I don't love you" excuse for breaking up instead of being honest about what was going on in their heads. I can't remember which series I wrote it in but one of the reviews I did for a series that used that, I said that there's no coming back from a claim like that and it's just as true here. Thank goodness the very next scene is someone stepping in and the couple clears the air and reconciles not even two minutes later so the unnecessary angst didn't linger.

The only other complaints I have for this series is that I wish the "side couple" (if you could call them that) didn't really end up together although they were back to being friends. But the senior kind of allowed his internal homophobia to win which is really unfortunate. It would be great to see a side story or even spin off series that explores their relationship more as I still think they had (have?) a lot of potential.

I wish there was a little more resolution with the father though I get that there were time constraints to fit in the main storyline. They needed to have a serious conversation. The dad get's told off once and he's suddenly a changed man? I highly doubt it. But I just took it to mean it would be a work in progress and that they would eventually come to an understanding, even if we don't see it.

Speaking of things we don't see... I love when a plot twist comes completely out of left field and I don't see it coming while it still fits in seamlessly with the story. I could see people saying there were too many coincidences but I think it was pretty poetic when the truths came to light. (I'm trying really hard not to give it away so I'll stop talking about it now.)

But yeah, I definitely recommend this series. It was full of heart, great storytelling and had a mixture of funny and serious moments that blended well together. The music was a nice change of pace too, giving a fresh spin on a classic formula.

Read More

Didn't meet my expectations.

I read the whole manhwa years ago, thinking the series would relive some of my memories, it does not. They change so many things from the manhwa it feels like a different story💀 i literally re-read the manhwa bcs i thought my memories wronged me, because i remember vividly that seheon's father was a young professor, and taejoon was his student. so when i saw seheon's father is a strict old man i was like ??? and taejoon being a highschooler too makes me ????? more. I thought why would they make it so extreme, an old man with a highschooler?? turns out they create a new character (seheon's brother). i kinda understand, cause maybe it's the censorship or they want to make the series more general friendly, not really mad about it but still they changed way too much.

the series explained NOTHING. the story's too complex to fit in 8 episodes. why tf are they cutting the fucking explanation to some running scene, like... at least put a voice over about the brother explaining about what happened??? ik they showed a bit of taejoon and seheon's brother story but MAKE IT CLEAR?! seheon's brother is indirectly the cause of taejoon's death, and how tf taeyi is FINE after listening to the "explanation"?? I mean this whole story is revolve around his trauma, his insomnia caused by his brother's death, he was eager to know why would his brother doing it, and after he found out, he's just like that? oh come on!?

also in the series they make taejoon and taeyi so.. idk i got the wrong vibes from them.

Next, Why's seheon's dad literally poof gone??? after seheon ran away we never seen his dad again, not even once.. he can't missed one of his practice at home before but he suddenly can participating in a whole competition?? Playing jazz?? oh ok..? they make his dad's favoritism a big thing in the beginning and make it disappears just like that🤷🏼‍♀️ the story is just really all over the place, the pace is very disorganized. But surprisingly, they kinda nailed it with the second couple's story, maybe because it's less complex??🤷🏼‍♀️

should i even mentioned the acting—? I think we all know? It's not like bad bad but it's not good. Especially the main couple, the chemistry way off bro they don't act like couple at all! Taeyi's actor got more chemistry with Taejoon's actor and Doyoon's actor than with his own partner... damn.. but some scenes are fine tho.

Taeyi's actor failed big time, he didn't conveyed any feelings, he can't cry, his smile is stiff n his expression is flat. he reminds me of bright, from the (uhmm) acting, the expression, even the stiff awkward smile HAHAHAH (sorry).

Seheon's actor is just so so, i remember him in To my star, he stands out well in to my star, but idk he lost his sparks in his own series, he's not that bad but i just feel like he's missing something from his act.

Juha's actor did fine, he didn't have much screen time but he actually did great i mean he potrayed the asshole aura/vibes perfectly.

Doyoon's actor, i love him. he acts very naturally yet awkwardly, it's his first time acting no?? Cause yea i can see it and he did great tho, he's got the potential!

the 2nd couple chemistry is super good too, maybe if maybe they got another series together.. they'll totally gonna make it big..

last but not least, the ending.. haahhh I don't have much too say, they ruined the storyline, ofc they ruined the ending too, so abrupt, and out of nowhere. Jazz for two is my favorite manhwa, and when they announced the series i was so hyped and the actors are good looking too, didn't expect those visuals are the only thing that carrying the whole series.. I'm being generous by giving this 6/10 because this was my favorite manhwa and i have a very high expectation.. should've expect nothing.

Read More

Amzing, would recommend

This show was so good, I rewatched it too many times to count. One of the best shows and BL's I've ever watched.

The story was such an amazing rollercoaster of emotions, and the plot was amazing. The acting was absolutely mind blowing for 2 new actors, i had no trouble putting my emotions inside. The music was so good, ive put this OST on multiple of my playlists that i listen to daily, its such a mood riser as soon as i hear it, i always get so emotional when the first few notes play. I cannot stress this enough, i have rewatched this show far too many times to he healthy, this is by far one of the best korean BL series or any BL series I've watched and i can only think of one k-BL show that tops it (but i dont think any show i will ever watch can top it(semantic error if anyone is interested))
Overall, i have to give this show a 10/10 it blows my mind every single time i watch it, absolutely mind blowing for 2 new young actors.

Read More