Steady, emotional, understated, reserved, refined and mature are just the beginning adulation I can throw at this series. Do You Like Brahms is a rare breed in the Kdrama world that surprised and thrilled me. You will not find characters made for nothing more than comic relief. There aren't villains that laugh into the night, raise their eyebrows, and plot nefariously. There isn't a cavalcade of overly dramatic scenarios or major plot twists. No one falls into someone else's arms accidentally in slow motion. Lovers do not stare endlessly into each other's eyes. Characters do NOT talk to themselves and tell their inner feelings and thoughts to thin air, and by God there is NOT a title card near the end that tells us we have jumped X years later.

If this is what you are looking for then DYLB is likely not going to satiate. It's 8.1 current rating, as I write this, and middling top front page reviews are evidence. This series isn't next in the production line spitting out the same story, tropes, plot points, and journey with only names, job titles, actors, and costumes changed. It isn't light and fluffy. It isn't plastic, manufactured, and fake.

This is a journey of the heart, much in line with stronger fare like this years Yumi's Cells (Minus the annoying animation), or Thailand's I Told Sunset About You (But older and hetero). This is a story of real people, their dreams, their trials, their loss, and most importantly their loves. It moves gradually and purposefully. The story flows outward from the characters blossoming, growing, and becoming more complicated. Like life, it causes pain and shows how we hurt equally to our joy and happiness.

Our female protagonist Song Ah can be summed up in one word, "Mousy." Park Eun Bin has a rather tough line to straddle in portraying Song Ah. It would be very easy NOT to like her as her main traits are being a pushover, never speaking her mind, and. well, generally losing at life. Song Ah shrinks like a violet at being noticed tucking her head down between her shoulders bowing and saying sorry. It is grating at times to watch, and the character will test your patience towards the end.

However, this is how it is supposed to be, and Park Eun Bin in most cases will keep you wanting more of Song Ah regardless. When our female lead finds some inner grit her portrayal delivers it humanly. When emotions threaten to overtake her, she delivers it without whaling theatrics. And when she swoons for our male lead succumbing to his looks and charms, we fully believe it and swoon along with her.

Kim Min Jae as Park Joon Young (our male protagonist) is nearly flawless. The character is given just as rich a tapestry to work with as our female lead. One could argue he is passive to a fault, silent to his detriment, and agreeable to a severity that becomes almost dishonest. To the world, he is a great pianist that is stoic, reserved, and sexy. To those in his life he is isolated, emotionless, and distant. Kim min Jae manages to give us all of this with ease while still bringing the character a warm, soft, and insecure well of inner struggle. When he smiles the world around him dissolves and you become powerless against him. When he hurts the pain seizes his face and burns behind his eyes. When he loves you love along with him and want him to find his peace and happiness.

The two leads are swimming in a sea of rich characters that make the story come alive with a push and pull that ebbs and flows. The story here, as the title eludes to a real life triangle of love and loss, is of people in love with their best friend's lovers. Both the leads are part of two separate trios which hide silent betrayals and masked emotions deep within them. We pick the story of these characters up here, because this is the time when what is beneath begins to ooze to the surface. Friends that have been separated by talent, study, and fame are brought together again and when they try to go back to the life they all had together previously, it simply no longer works and everything begins to break.

Park Ji Hyun as Lee Jung Kyung, is a powerhouse wrecking ball that cannot go unnoticed. She is severe and harsh as well as broken and lost and Park Ji Hyun brings this all to the screen in a subdued, realistic, and seething performance. The central female of our Male lead's friendship trio, she is loved by two men, in a relationship with one, and in lust with the other. Once a child violin prodigy she is now facing adulthood with her childhood sweetheart and a bevy of accolades from the top competitions and schools around the globe that seem to just let her know that her time is over and there is nothing left. At this crux she looks at those around her with jealousy and decides she wants more.

Han Hyun Ho played effortlessly by Kim Sung Chul is the third in this trio. He is the best friend to our male lead and in a ten year love with Jung Kyung that he is ready to move to marriage. When the underpinnings of this trio begin to buckle it is he that will be cut the most as it shatters. Kim Sung Chul shines in this role bringing raw emotion as his world is destroyed. He wants to hate but he loves too much. He wants to let go, but these people are his home and all he has ever known. It is unabashedly heartbreaking to watch and Sung Chul makes his screen time resonate within you.

Our female lead's trio is the opposite, two girls both in love with one guy. This trio takes a backseat to our other and isn't as well designed. Song Ah spends most of her screen time with Joon Young, dealing with the fallout of his group, and her daily struggles working while finishing her last year at university for the violin. Her female best friend Kang Min Sung (played by Bae Da Bin) gets the most screen time but is very much stuck in best friend territory. Her characters purpose is to be there just to serve as support for our female lead. When their trio cracks over revelations it is just as emotional as our other trio but not as impactful.

There are more characters on display, the side cast filling to the brim with talent and well drawn additions. Some will help us along this path. Some will hinder us greatly, and yes some more villainous characters do emerge. But, unfortunately taking the time to run through this gamut is too much. Just know there are some further treats in store if you decide to watch.

Now do not think this story is only about romance. The romance is its heart, the glue, and the driving force behind the scenes. But, DYLB is at its core about dreams. Dreams unfulfilled. Dreams put away. Dreams dissolved. Dreams rebuilt. Dreams born fresh. All of the main cast are at a precipice in their lives. Their next step of great weight in the trajectory of their forever and tomorrow. You watch, painstakingly, as they struggle to hold on to anything and everything. To simply not let go.

Love and romance are as much a dream as anything else. And like most dreams, more often than not, you must let it go. You will watch as characters who have worked hard at love lose it, just as characters who have worked hard at their craft give it up. You will see that, sadly, love picks us sometimes, just as talent chooses us and that is just the way the world works. The success of anything is never guaranteed and sadly, life owes us nothing and never promised us we would get what we want or be happy.

Writing this, I will not lie, I have tears. This aspect of the story broke me and made me so very connected to each and everyone on screen no matter how monstrous their actions became. Our female is a late-in-life violinist who sits last chair and is looked down upon by everyone. Our male lead is a piano prodigy that is sought after and respected. To watch how the story explores these two opposite ends of the spectrum is devastating. Everyone else is somewhere on the gradient between them in both skill and talent and the series moves steadily trying to explore how everyone has someone ahead of them as well as someone behind them.

My final words on this tale are simply watch it. It kept me in its grasp so tightly that I stayed up nearly 24 hours to binge all 16 episodes in a single sitting. I laughed, I cried, I got angry, I made amends, I fell in love, I forgave, and my heart broke. I cared deeply for these characters and this world and allowed the story to carry me along in its song. While I wish someone would edit out all the love ballad background music (It destroyed certain scenes and is the only aspect that reminds you this is a product) there are just far too many. Everything else is nearly perfect. 9.5/A+/ 4 3/4th-stars. Exemplary and a must see especially if you are someone who hesitates when a job application asks you if a person gets where they are through hard work or luck.