Missed Potential and Bad Writing

Story - This drama's concept is so intriguing and could have left an impact if it wasn't for the direction they took it. The idea of an app being used to confess feelings and out LGBT+ people is far more interesting and impactful than the boring 3-way relationship they tried to push to viewers. Kim JoJo and Hwang Sun Oh have almost no chemistry and it often made me question why they were even interested in each other to begin with. Kim JoJo and Lee Hye Yeong had even less chemistry, so his jealousy held no merit. However, if you were to look at this in the perspective of an LGBT+ person, Hwang Sun Oh and Lee Hye Yeong had all the makings to turn this into a coming of age/feel good bl drama. The jealousy and almost possessiveness within their relationship dynamic made it hard to not take note of possible homosexual undertones and could only serve as a reminder of the plot that could have been. The heterosexual lens of the series is ultimately what made this story a miss for me.

Acting/Cast - Song Kang did his best to play his part with what he was given, and since the character was bland, the acting came off as bland. The character had no dimension and was only portrayed as a bratty high school boy who "must get the girl", so the acting seemed to follow. I feel that if Song Kang wasn't so restrained within his boring one dimensional character, we'd be able to appreciate not only the character but the actor a bit more. I seemed to also feel the same energy from Kim So Hyun, but worse. I've seen her in other works and know that she can do better to bring her character to life, but somehow it felt like she just could not get into Kim JoJo's mind enough to portray her as she was at least written. Its a bit hard to blame So Hyun though, i'm convinced it was the lackluster writing of the characters to blame. Now I haven't seen Jung Ga Ram's acting before watching this drama, so I cant say whether he did just as good or bad as any other works. But I personally felt that he did the best within this series. His character is a guilable and kind high schooler who is often misunderstood as the "side kick" to his more popular friend, and he did an absolutely stellar job in that role. He made me feel sorry for his character even though his character was written as someone too bland to really feel sorry for. Maybe it was his great face, but it worked off really well in his favor in this piece and I really look forward to whatever else he appears in next.

Music - I felt that the music of this series was better quality than anything else. It drew my attention even though it mixed with the scenes quiet well. My ears enjoyed this drama far more than my eyes had...

Rewatch Value - I feel that in a few years, if i came across this drama again, i'd watch it not because i liked it before; but i'd ultimately rewatch it simply because i'd completely forgotten what it was about.

Overall - This drama is far from perfect. A lot of unnecessary angst, extreme heterosexual nonsense, and poor writing was put into this. But if you want something new to watch after having already watched everything else that was already interesting, you /might/ find this interesting. However, I don't find it to be a drama you'd find hard to get over after you finish it.

Read More

A Story that Visits Every Aspect of Trauma.

I had low expectations of this short drama. I had came into the first episode expectant of a cliché love story that would absorb the plot to the point of where anything else seemed to not matter. In short: a fluff piece. And boy, was I wrong.

Story- The overall story is engaging and goes completely against expectation. The flow of the plot had me on the edge of my seat in anticipation of just where the director is taking it. At times I even questioned: Would they really go that far?

From episode one, you were thrusted into trauma forming before your very own eyes and as each episode progressed, you watched as each piece of that trauma unraveled itself. As the series is only eight episodes long, you may be asking yourself: "Isn't it rushed to address every characters trauma in a matter of just eight episodes?" And to that I answer: "No". In seven 50 minute episodes and an hour and a half series finale, this eight episode series effectively addressed every single character's trauma stemming to the main plot in a way that made you feel invested. By the end of the series, I felt like I had come to know the way each character thinks and feels.

Despite the main plot being intensely driven, the underlying undying love of Japanese sweets makes you yourself appreciate the fine art. The characters love for the creations makes your taste buds all the more curious. The freeze frame descriptions of each sweet will surely appease your curiosity, if not the meaning behind each sweet within the plot.

From lies to betrayal, hate to love, life to death--Watashitachi Wa Douka Shiteiru truly had it all. To place this title under a single genre is nearly impossible. Romance, Crime, Adventure, Slice-of-life... it has it all.

Acting- This is my first encounter with any of the actors in this series, so I can't effectively compare their acting in this piece to any other. However, I can say that I never once felt that the actors were awkward or outside of "the zone". Feeling each characters pain as effectively as I had, tells me that the actors were able to accurately deliver the story as intended, which seems hard to find in a drama these days.

Music- The ending OST is by far the best OST. I say this because it is the first time I had ever sought out an OST to add to my playlist.

As for the soundtrack within the drama, I never felt that the music was out of place or distracted me from the scene. It played an effective role of setting the mood of the scene, but never overshadowed the scene.

Rewatch Value- I'm the type of person who finds it hard to rewatch things I've previously seen. Especially if I had to force myself to finish the series the first time. However, I do believe that because the plot is so deep and rooted with deception, that it is worth it to rewatch just to find any hidden messages or changes in face from specific characters.

Overall- Watashitachi Wa Douka Shiteiru is a piece that makes you question what it takes to overcome trauma and how your experiences help you shape a new definition for forgiveness. It is a piece written carefully with consideration of how the plot will shape up in the end. I recommend this for anybody willing to be taken on a rollercoaster ride of emotions, knowledge, and deception.

Read More