pneatan

Rite of passage: an adult woman becomes a real adult.

"The Crush"
(Yes, you will hate the sound. After a few tries I found the endless piano playing version was the least tiring).
(Also: This review is based on a heartfelt recommendation I gave to a fellow cdrama-fan in youtube comments, it does not include a synopsis of the story).

The theme is about an age-gap relationship (FM much older than ML) and it focuses on the characters' journey, shining a very humanistic light especially over the FL's inner conflict and her growth.

Maybe you could sum it up as "an adult woman becomes a real adult", because it is actually a rite of passage to real independence.
It is also an unfolding of the FL's understanding of the what really being in love means (the difference between love and eros).

The artistic means are as simple as they can be, which is a plus from my POV for any work of art.

I initially stopped watching it during the first scene, annoyed,I guess because the sound was so bad; but there was something interesting in that first scene, so after a while (a few days) I sat down and watched it. And so glad I did.

When it finished I had this sense of tranquility and fulfillment that you get as a teen when you have just finished a good book. Serenity and wisdom gained. A wider view on things.

In all creative aspects (minus the sound) it is more like a film in small chapters than a drama. Nothing fake or forced, no lack of connectivity of parts (not referring only to the story parts, but to all elements of which it is composed). Flowing storytelling with nothing boring or distracting. Well balanced. Meaningful.
(It was also really refreshing that FL and ML were normal working class folks, with bills to pay, it is becoming a rarity lately!).

Many thanks to the people who worked hard to make this drama, hope you enjoyed its making and that you will have the strength to continue making beautiful works of art!

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Boy Friendship From Enmity to Brothers

[For your knowledge: NO ROMANCE IN THIS STORY.]



This is the best boy friendship short drama I have watched, till now.



It follows the two boys' emotional journey from mutual enmity to understanding, acceptance and brotherhood.

A story highly recommended for teenagers and young people.



THE ACTING

The acting of the two main leads was convincing and mature. Mature enough to achieve the following:

At the beginning, express the great differences of the two characters while at the same time conveying an undertone of them sharing something deep in common.

Then, during their dramatic journey, they managed to portray their respected characters' gradual tranformation, but not only as separate characters. They managed to show how the two characters gradually found their common inner ground and grew more on their similarities than their differences.

Since their physique is very different to help achieve the impression of such similarity, the fact that they managed to succesfully portray the journey of this complex relationship displays their professionalism and their potential for a wide range of roles.



The secondary characters were good as well, some with more feeling layers (such as the butler) and some more



The script is well written, without plot holes and, apart from the magic of soulswapping, nothing else happens which is not logical. Their is a part where things go more slowly than I would have liked (but it might have been my anxiety from watching c-dramas instead of working!).

The dramatic journey is smooth, the main characters' development and the secondary characters' as well, is gradual, while there are enough moments of comic relief, intertwined with dramatic tones to balance the many-many touching scenes.

The misunderstandings with the father and with their classmate do get resolved more quickly than they ought to have, but that is a comment for a film, not a series, let alone a short drama produced under pressure.





THE CASTING-DIRECTING-EDITING-CINEMATOGRAPHY



The casting was formidable!!!...but you certainly expected this objective critique, didn't you?



The directing is fine, makes sense all the way, without any of the annoying cheap decisions of short dramas. Au contraire, there are some optically pleasing decisions (frame-in frame, and camera angles mostly) and many scenes with really good staging.



I think the editing follows the directing, both on a technical level (it makes sense!) but aesthetically too. Since transitions are normal and there isn't a hint of the annoying unstoppable jumpcutting without a cause.



The cinematography is technically robust, whith very good lighting choices, interesting depth of field in various scenes, while the colour is vivid and balanced all throughout the drama.



SCENOGRAPHY-COSTUMES-HAIRSTYLING-MAKE UP



The scenography is aesthetically coherent and the spaces match the characters well, without exaggerations or optical storysigns for dummies. (Ok, there does appear a hillarious portrait somewhere in the story, and yes, it is an optical exaggeration, but I think it suits the script at that point, as it provides comic relief, and it undermines the portaryed character's authority). (And yes, it is so absurdly hillarious that I have been thinking whether it is an inside joke towards the portrayed actor and not the portrayed character!).



The costumes are generally alright, very well matched to the characters. But not only – they are moreover well chosen in relation to the settings too (a rarity in dramaland). They also follow the plot quite beautifully as the main characters and their loved ones trasform.



The hairdos of main and second characters are just...perfectly suited! Just that, what more can be said?



The makeup is also fairly good and it did not follow the usual unneeded extremities of dramaland . The secondary characters have good make up too, which is also rare, and a rest for the audience's eyes. It would have been nice if a less white tone was given to Li Pei Yang's complexion; though the principle of contrasts does work in this story, the contrast seemed a bit more than needed in some scenes. But that is a little drop in the ocean.



THE SOUND

The sound? The sound was good in the video I watched (unbelievable, nay?)!





ALL IN ALL

If not addicted to kissing scenes it is worth your while,

and the two actors are good professionals.





P.S.: When refering to dramatic journey, I mean the inner, emotional, journey of the whole story, or of the individual characters.

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Pseudo-incest, cute couple

As with most dramas it starts well and loses its tempo after a while. The wrap-up was somewhat ok though. Anticipated (and would have enjoyed) an overflow of different near-intimate scenes, but, alas, this wasn't the case. But the existing scenes were ok (though repetitive)!

Yes (yes-yes!!!)
Love the widowed sis-in-law - brother in law forbidden love. The ML-FL couple does bring to life the relationship.
ML gives a good overall performance, with some moments of more refined acting.
Storywise, besides the bitchy antagonist 3FL there is also another antagonist 2FL who is cool (sister power vibes).
The actor playing the ML's subordinate was interesting actingwise.
Settings and costumes not the best, not memorable, but good enough most of the time.

Not so much yey...
Some repetitivness and boring writing did allow for some yawnings, and at times camera angles really didn't do justice to the actors.
Also, felt that the director could have helped FL and ML bring out a range of more, and more subtle, facial expressions, given the many layers of antithetic feelings the two characters faced and the two actors' performances.

A decent watch.

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Rebirth, revenge, cute couple, bad scripy

Writing this review because I felt it was unfair that the actors, and everyone else, were really dragged down by the poorly written story. I would recommend watching it only if one wishes to see the actors' work evolution.
It's the standard rebirth and revenge trope, the FL getting revenge against 2ML, in a school setting, while finding her true beau simultaneously. The script is very-very heavy on the sadistic part and very light (almost non-existent) on the romantic (erotic) part.

Pluses:
Acting fairly good, given the poorly written dialogues and characters, and the young actors' ages 'n' relevant experience. I also liked the FL-ML chemistry and flow. The support characters had good positiong and movement skills too.
Though an evidently low-budget production, the costumes and settings seemed to have been chosen with care, not in a generic way. Nothing great to look at, but decent enough to carry the story (without my eyes rolling now 'n' then with great question marks!).
Storywise, it was nice that though the 2FL was nasty, she stopped being so, upon learning the truth. No catfights there.
There were some nice directional choices, especially some camera angles and staging during the first sequence.

Minuses
The script. Firstly, it is totally devoid of logic at many points, important ones for the story included. Moreover, the FL and the 2FL are very inconsistent characters.
Secondly, there is no balance, it is a drama for 16+ in terms of violence and dark themes and deeds, but a story for 8 year olds romantically-wise. Apart from the heart-wretching first sequence kisses, since there was no strong romantic tension to counter all the negativity, the whole thing felt, well, negative really. (But the FL and ML really did their best to overcome the script problems).

All in all, everyone tried to overcome the badly written story, and I feel much respect for their effort.

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