22
22
2
Zii3
This review may contain spoilers
Good For 1 Watch. Missing Some Emotional Stepping Stones.
Very general spoiler on the ending only. Definitely good for one watch but I may not rewatch as it wasn't very emotionally engaging for me. The fight scenes are great, intimacy is fairly realistic and there's more of it than the average Korean BL, the acting is strong (9.5/10 for the two leads, 7-8/10 for everyone else), and the plot-twist is surprising. I was glad I watched it but didn't feel completely satisfied afterwards, even though the ending is happy.
The review by Rent343 on MDL puts into words some of what I was feeling (my own notes are below this quoted excerpt): https://mydramalist.com/profile/Rent343/review/63835
"...I dunno, it felt like I was reading a sparknotes summary for a great novel. I got all the big facts/ plot points but the delivery took little to no time to make those facts emotionally significant..."
MY NOTES:
That's what I felt too- like it was the Sparknotes to a greater story. I missed the romantic build of the connection between the characters (both by text before they met and then after) so when conflict came, the stakes didn't feel as high as they could have. They still felt like a few-dates-old crush. I mentally knew they were in love because the audience was told so, and they were certainly cute/sweet to watch, but I didn't feel it emotionally. I was rooting for them and the plot-twist scene did tug at my heartstrings, but I kept feeling like too many chunks of the story were missing/skipped to feel fully connected and satisfied.
It didn't help that there was absolutely no sense of time. It felt like they had only known each other for a few days, which is why their love confessions didn't feel that strong. It's possible multiple weeks passed, but who knows!
Some side threads are annoyingly left in the air, like the reason behind the plot-twist. A character says they will tell another everything but the audience never gets to hear it!
The review by Rent343 on MDL puts into words some of what I was feeling (my own notes are below this quoted excerpt): https://mydramalist.com/profile/Rent343/review/63835
"...I dunno, it felt like I was reading a sparknotes summary for a great novel. I got all the big facts/ plot points but the delivery took little to no time to make those facts emotionally significant..."
MY NOTES:
That's what I felt too- like it was the Sparknotes to a greater story. I missed the romantic build of the connection between the characters (both by text before they met and then after) so when conflict came, the stakes didn't feel as high as they could have. They still felt like a few-dates-old crush. I mentally knew they were in love because the audience was told so, and they were certainly cute/sweet to watch, but I didn't feel it emotionally. I was rooting for them and the plot-twist scene did tug at my heartstrings, but I kept feeling like too many chunks of the story were missing/skipped to feel fully connected and satisfied.
It didn't help that there was absolutely no sense of time. It felt like they had only known each other for a few days, which is why their love confessions didn't feel that strong. It's possible multiple weeks passed, but who knows!
Some side threads are annoyingly left in the air, like the reason behind the plot-twist. A character says they will tell another everything but the audience never gets to hear it!
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