More Artistic Than Emotional

Overall, I found this film to be more artistic than emotional. You can definitely see why the two main actors went on to become pretty well-known names, so I wouldn't say it was linked to performance. But rather the style.

The frequent switch between silence and noise kept jarring me out of immersion. I really wish they had stuck with one or the other, or used it more sparingly. We also get the ML's thoughts in the form of a black out screen with korean written across it. I feel like what was being thought was important, but the blackout screen didn't help me connect to the character. So perhaps an interlude scene of the ML signing his thoughts would have been more effective. Or even seeing him writing it down in a diary. It's just so important in a short film to keep us connected to the characters, and this film just didn't accomplish that in my opinion.

Visually, it was quite effective and striking though. We got a really comprehensive look at how our characters were feeling, both through their acting and through the way they were visually shot amongst other characters. Or even lighting (such as the green lighting that seemed to suggest our MC's jealousy). It was used with such efficiency to instantly tell us the story and the state of our characters.

I am not particularly qualified to speak to the accuracy of the deaf portrayal, so if what I say next is incorrect - please feel free to correct me. I would love to hear qualified thoughts on this and will gladly adjust my review accordingly.

Based on my interactions with deaf content creators on social media and with other deaf-themed and/or deaf-produced productions, something seemed off with how the MC's vocalizations were portrayed. They didn't seem to have the same sound aspects that I am familiar with. I also initially thought the presence of the sounds were supposed to be indicative of him being comfortable with his friend, as he tended to be quiet in crowds. But then we get a scene towards the end that shows that's not necessarily the case - so then it felt like this aspect was being used to make a story statement, rather than reflecting the character. So I don't know if I can say that the representation is well-done, nor could I find anything/anyone elsewhere speaking to it either.

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Cute, for a student social media project (I'm assuming)

The very first thing any potential watcher needs to come to terms with is that this is very much done as if it is a student social media project.

Many people complained about the episode lengths and the video being in portrait mode, rather than landscape. I personally did not have a problem with that aspect of this series. Each scene was generally composed of 2 episodes. The image quality was clear and they made good use of the screen space.

My problem however is the acting and the script. Plot conflicts didn't have sufficient time leading into them, and were resolved just as quickly (or even vaguely sometimes). Fortunately, there wasn't a problem with overacting like many other newbie works, but I wasn't convinced of the emotions the characters were supposedly feeling. It was cute, but it didn't feel fulfilling as a viewer. But the couples made sense story-wise. As all the couples were some sort of friends-to-lovers dynamic, it's important to show some sort of new circumstance that serves as a catalyst for the change in dynamic - and they did that well.

The series premiered officially on the GagaOOLala and Artop Media Hit Drama youtube channels.

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This film was a breed of mysticism and magical realism that you so rarely see anymore. One that demands the viewer to take time and weigh the details in their mind (so much so, that i had to draft this review in a word document, rather than straight into the MDL textbox). One that provides ample fruit for analysis upon reconsumption. One that requires absolute mastery of cinematography and characters.

“Are we really in the present? I don’t know. We are losing the certainty of being in the present. It could be the past. It could be the future.”

Put in the most simplest of terms, this was a story of reincarnation and rebirth. In it, we see two converging timelines of parallel souls anchored to the forest in which the story takes place. At first, it’s subtle. Mere flickers of visions across Joan’s consciousness. But towards the end, we see it leak into her reality more and more, until she comes to a revelation. The “vision” herb/fungus for which she felt a desperate and indescribable need to find (“I don’t know. I don’t know. I need it.”) wasn’t for her happiness. Nor even mankind’s.

But rather to heal and cleanse the forest of the tragedy that simultaneously happened long in the past and in the present (“I’m looking at two suns existing simultaneously. One in the water, the other on top of the hill.”). The tragedy that created unrest in the forest. The tragedy that seeped agony and pain even into the next iteration of their souls. Afterall, “love never stops.” Even when it looks still. It’s also the tragedy that the old man in the forest comments about it being a sad thought that when he passed, no one would be left to remember those graves on top of the hill. The tragedy of the young father-to-be killed in a hunting accident. And that of the young mother who (presumably) died shortly after giving birth to their son.

The son that the old crone, an old entity who sees not through her eyes but through her mystical connection to the forest that her life is so intrinsically tied to (honestly, she reminds of Mother Willow from the Pocahontas cartoon), carried through the tunnel into the near past. The son who is adopted by the old man telling the story in the forest, and who is given the name Rin. The son who found his way into a familial dynamic with the reincarnated souls of his parents.

And when the 3 should-have-been family members finally reunited and found themselves under the old and cleansing Juniper tree that they have all been drawn to throughout the story, that’s when “vision” is born. Or, the final merging of these 2 parallel timelines. And we see the spirit of the young father-to-be, smiling at what is finally possible, and walking off into the woods – his soul finally able to move on.

And what better method of rebirth, than that of fire – which has been intrinsically related to rebirth in both worldwide mythologies and in nature. And fueled by the wind that is Aki, who guided all the key players into making it possible.

And I think what's great about this film, is that this is all just one interpretation. But they all have the potential to deeply move a viewer. For instance, a fellow reviewer who analyzes the story through a lens that does not include reincarnation.

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Largely set in the bar of ARTnSHELTER (which has since been closed, from what I've read), this is a great story of deafness, coming out, and acceptance.

In it, we see a story told entirely through sign language from actors and crew belonging to and familiar with the community. This was actually the first project from the director where they utilized sound, and they did so very well. For instance, the audible sounds that deaf individuals may let off while talking to each other. I know that this is a subject that's brought up a lot in the deaf community in reference to interactions with hearing people. The film also utilized scene-fitting speechless ambient music in the background which definitely helped me, as a hearing individual, focus on the film better than if it was pure silence.

In it, we see the development of concerns about coming out after a bad first coming out experience, especially in the context of how small the deaf community is in some areas. We see a diversity of rounded LGBTQ rep through our main and support characters (bisexual, gay, lesbian, trans ftm, and trans mtf) as they create a safe haven for each other through the sharing of their stories and understanding. In fact, Ayumi even explicitly draws a diagram showing how gender, sex, and sexuality are all independent spectrums of identity.

The acting was also great. Normally, I will tear up upon hearing someone's voice cracking. But Hana's facial expressions were so detailed and spot-on that I found myself tearing up even without the audio input that normally contributes. However, while I was completely sold on the characters as individuals, I didn't think that the 2 FLs had romantic chemistry. They felt more like really close friends. They lacked the glances between each other that would have really sold their emotional investment to each other.

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When the writers play favorites, you get this.

I don't even know if the production team knew what they wanted to do with this? It was a bit of a hodgepodge of comedic and serious acting, scenes that had no significance, a villain that had no motive, and action sequences that contained what should have been bloopers. I seriously watched one of the MLs headbutt his opponent in the armpit. Three times actually, because I was certain that that wouldn't have made the final cut... The official subtitles (via IQIYI) were rough and delayed, and regularly translated the characters' names into their meanings. And the story itself contained problems. Xiaotu was so poorly treated by the script as a character. What was the point of bringing up that they each had their own strengths, if you aren't going to show us what they are? It seemed like the writers were right there with the other characters valuing Xiaohu higher than Xiaotu.

The highlights were when Xiaohu was guiding his brother's actions. Or when they both inhabited Xiaotu's body to accomplish impossible tasks. Those were cool to watch. The two brothers had good on-screen chemistry and really carried when they were visible together. But I can't find anything else to praise. Sorry.

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Edge-of-seat action with heart-melting displays of mundane affection

With a story of a repenting assassin forced back into the fray of killers and former allies, there were many ways that this story could have went wrong. But all the way through, the story and characters stayed true themselves. Even while they surprised me as a viewer. In addition to the reveals keeping me engaged, I found each of the multiple fight sequences absolutely gripping (and well-choreographed). There was no room almost anywhere in this film to potentially multitask to.

The fact that the romance gets established pretty quickly in the film allows for the focus to stay on the action-filled plot as well. But, make no mistake, I still found myself feeling incredibly soft to our married leads. Their relatively mundane shows of affection, painted as normal and natural even in the face of danger, melted my heart on more than one occasion.

The antagonists were well-written as well. All of them had pretty well-founded motivations and were not over-the-top in their villainy. They felt like actual bodied antagonists, rather than comic-book, exaggerated, or for-the-sake-of-it villains.

At this rate, I might need to sit down and just watch all of Michelle Yeoh's wuxias.

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If the story had more focus on the FL and her friends, I would've thoroughly enjoyed it. Maybe even made it a favorite. Instead, the large majority of the film is focused on the male lead. Who is weak-willed, easily influenced, and naive. Who takes the words of his conspiracy theorist best friend as gospel. Who very much presents all the traits of the "nice guy," as told from the perspective of someone who believes that a "nice guy" and a nice guy are the same thing. I found it relatively comedic in the beginning, but after a certain point in time, enough is enough.

And while all the actors sold their individual characters very well, the chemistry between FL and ML didn't feel consistent. I'm not sure if it was intentional or not, but I was never quite sold on their couple performances.

The things that made me keep watching (and boosted up my rating):

-The female lead's hidden past and personality was quite enjoyable to watch. Even more so when it would leak into her present life. Especially when her friends came more to the forefront. They are a HOOT when they are all together.

-That poor contract worker. He just wants to get his job done. But the ML keeps presenting him with difficult work. Making him have to keep changing his job afterwards. That made me laugh more than it probably should have.

-Also, you KNOW you're an adult when you get as excited as the FL at the prospect of winning a household appliance. I just love her expressions in these scenes. They pretty much guarantee that you're gonna like what comes next.

-THE MUSIC. You can just leave out the dialogue please - just the music and character actions are enough to please me.

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The main cast and characters SHINED without stupidity and romance, everyone else... not so much.

The casting was spectacular. This was actually my first work where I really liked Seo In Guk's character. I can definitely see why he has so many fans. And all the cast played their characters so convincingly well. The situational and relatively mild humor was great. I was really expecting more of the usual stupid-funny that comes with the action-comedy genre cross. We didn't get that here, for which I am thankful. I think my favorite instance of this was the epic getaway scenes. Perfection. This was purely a suspenseful crime movie. Comedy added rather than subtracted. There was no romance to make things messy.

My one and only problem, which is a pretty big one, is the antagonist and support cast are all idiots. There was no logic. No defense. I found myself wanting to hit them upside the head more to knock sense into them rather than because of them impeding our mains.

Also, as a fan of heist stories, I wish a tad more of the suspense was related to the heist rather than the violence.

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It reminds of the western Charlie's Angels and Elektra

Am I aware that this film was more about the attractive visuals and fancy moves than actual plot/sustenance? Absolutely. Did that keep me from enjoying every minute of it? Definitely not. The lack of plot worked with the story. For the most part, the FL just follows orders and doesn't question why. Which makes sense, considering her occupation. But we do get that why through news broadcasts scattered throughout the film that she listens to afterwards. The moments when she's not following orders are where we see her character and the sismance shine through.

It reminds of the western stories Charlie's Angels and Elektra. So I do really enjoy the film, illogical outfits and extra moves aside (or perhaps partially because of it, i'm not gonna lie). And they did a great job casting everyone - they were able to not only carry "the look" but also the characteristics and emotions of the characters they were playing.

And hey, at least the director is a woman.

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Cheesy and Easy Watch, Even W/O the Drama

Based on many of the top reviews and several comments, from viewers who watched the drama first, I was really expecting this to be confusing as someone who hadn't watched the drama first. Boy was that a wrong assumption. This was extremely easy to understand. Do I wish some things were fleshed out more? Absolutely. But it didn't detract from the experience at all. This was incredibly straightforward. A little cheesy and kinda fast-paced, but enjoyable. The characters were consistent all the way through. And like most esports dramas, the team dynamics are incredibly fun to watch.

My major problem though, like most Chinese titles, is that I really wish that the antagonists got more consequences for their actions. It wasn't like the leads weren't capable of doing it.

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Thoughts from an Asexual in her 20s

When most shows or movies advertise being about the teenage experience, you typically see a focus on things like first love, peer pressure, drugs, etc. And don't get me wrong, those things can definitely be a part of the teenage experience. But the topic that this drama decided to tackle is perhaps much more widely applicable. And needed. It's what sex education should be, told through the lives of realistic teenagers.

In it, there are discussions not just about sex the deed, but many things related to it (in no particular order): stigmas and pressure, sexuality, desire, terminology, self-gratification, history, STDs, harassment, birth control, periods, pregnancy, abortion, parenthood, parent-child relations, consent, feeling ready/prepared, and even where to find additional resources. It doesn't feel crowded. Nor does it feel like a scare tactic to encourage abstinence (like what was used in my own sex education). It was organic. And realistic. And grounded in real experiences I or those around me have encountered.

It was told through the lives of 3 female leads who all had to learn something or another about the above topics: a sexually-experienced and outspoken female lead, a shy and nervous female lead raised in a conservative household, and the sexually-indifferent to sexually-repulsed aroace female lead who often acts as the voice of reason for the other 2. And at the end of each episode, they come together at their favorite diner to discuss the lessons they learned and to encourage each other once again to keep learning all they can and to accept one another on their different journeys.

At first I wondered why a diner? It's so public. But I guess that was the point. It's effectively saying that this is a normal part of life. One that doesn't need to be discussed behind closed doors. Because when you leave these conversations for only private spaces, you run the risk of not having the conversations at all.

And I say aroace (aromantic asexual), despite the FL in question only being canonically labelled asexual, because she defines herself as not interested in romantic or sexual relations. It was actually my only major gripe with this story. I actually had to stop and put this on hold because the way she handled this label was incredibly irksome and disappointing to me. And I needed to give it some breathing room in order to see beyond this at all the good qualities of her representation.

Here's why it disappointed. There is a big movement in the asexual and aromantic communities to raise awareness about the differences between sexual and romantic attraction. Too often, the conflation of those terms is used to delegitimize us and our experiences. Too often, the conflation of these terms confuse those of us just trying to figure ourselves out. Too often, the conflation of these terms leads us to believing that asexuality/aromanticism are terms that almost fit, but don't. And using a phrase like "there are many ways to be asexual" does not erase the potential harm of ignoring why that movement of awareness exists. And it's even worse when the resources and adult figure informing the FL all describe the term in terms of sexual attraction - but the FL turns around and almost solely uses the term in reference to romantic attraction (instead of perhaps saying both). "It means I do not feel any desire for a romantic relationship." Like I said, it irked. A lot.

Perhaps this could be partially the fault of the subtitles though, because I do think i heard the term aromantic pop up in the spoken dialogue a few times. But as I do not speak the language, I may never know.

That being said, I related to the asexual FL a lot. Her perspective on the conversations her friends had and the pressures she overheard were a lot like mine. Her annoyances and break downs stung, because I have (and even continue to) feel them. She's comfortable with the label, and won't hesitate to support her allosexual friends and advocate for the spectrum of experiences. She's good rep, conflation of the asexual and aromantic terms aside. So it is a great start for asexual rep, and I look at this character with all sorts of fondness for existing.

But one other warning i will give though, is that this is NOT a show to binge. While it does overall have a happy and hopeful tone with great messages, it tackles a lot of heavy, sensitive, and/or uncomfortable topics and experiences. And I don't think it's just my fellow aces who will be itching to hit the exit button after too many episodes in a row. So for the sake of your ability to enjoy and appreciate the story, I highly recommend only watching a couple episodes at a time.

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There's not really much to say on this film. I get that we are supposed to be watching a depressed male lead realize that he can be loved again - but the delivery just wasn't there. Shima's face didn't really change much throughout the drama nor was there any sort of chemistry between the two leads (and I'm not just saying that because of the fake kisses). Shima stands around like a log, even in the rare occasions where he masters his facial expressions for the scenes. The music was so quiet that I couldn't hear it, even during quiet moments in the film. And the story overall didn't sell me anything memorable.

The only thing that might add rewatch value, if you didn't notice it the first time, is the way they used lights and colors. Shima is consistently in and surrounded by monotonous colors and darkness. Meanwhile, whenever Togawa is in the scene, there's color and light coming through. Sometimes his color/light will affect Shima on the screen. Sometimes they look like theyre almost embodying two different spaces, even while being right beside each other. It's beautiful visual symbolism. And something the film did spectacularly well.

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A New Favorite: Love Triangle and Meaning of Love Done Right

It wasn't groundbreaking or fresh or anything like that. But it is definitely a favorite now. The acting was spectacular, especially when we got into heavier/deeper emotions. I was laughing and crying and holding my breath right alongside the leads. And the way that the story handled the love triangle was excellently done. No despicable villains here. And we didn't just watch as the leads fell in love, we watched as the female lead learned about self-love as well. It's a precious story. And I was sold on it for every minute (except for few instances of second-hand embarrassment that is). My camera is also now filled with pictures from the movie. And I have downloaded several songs as well (my favorite is Di Mo Inakala by Juris).

If I have 1 complaint, it's that the film seems to have tried too hard at being "trendy" with all the acronyms. I've never seen a film try to use so many before. But, they did mention what each of them meant, and you don't have to commit any to memory. So while it was a bit clunky, it didn't get in the way much.

I will also admit that there is a sizable focus on appearances throughout the film. So if that's a subject matter that's sensitive for you, I don't think this film will work out.

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A More Than Capable Story, Lacking in Bite

From the onset of this movie, I was struck by how very 2000s it was. The visuals. The wardrobe. The music. The comparatively muted tone. What I did not expect from a 2000s lesbian film though was the sexual content - especially towards the end. Not that it's a bad thing or that it was poorly done - just a bit surprising.

The story also took me by surprise in some ways. I loved the communication between the leads. I loved how natural the ensemble of LGBT+ characters are. And how each of these instances and characters bring something new to the perspective the story is telling - without ever once feeling preachy. Whether it be about stereotypes, family, acceptance, coming out, loneliness, or even questioning identities. It seems like a lot to touch on that would subtract from the story - but it really doesn't. Because it's told in a simple organic way that comes out of the plots themselves. But most of all, I loved how the different plots interweaved together. I didn't particularly like the female leads (didn't particularly hate them either) for a while, but the growth and development that both of them got as a result of the interweaved plot lines were really well done.

However, there were a few moments that I don't think should have been as muted they were. I deserved to feel a little bit more emotion. And that complaint exists because of a few factors: music choice (or lack there of), lack of consistent chemistry (not just romantically, but the ability for the characters to bounce off of each other on the screen), and the ease at which certain topics were moved on from in the script.

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