This review may contain spoilers
Semantic Error has only one error....
When I put it on to watch it was completely influenced by the cute gifs I found on the web. As it was a Korean series I imagined it would be longer and here's my surprise when I come across not only 8 episodes only, but also with durations less than 30 min. I thought "That's good, it's going to be something nice and fast". I couldn't be more wrong hahahahahaI already say that if you are reading to know if it is good, I say that for me it was incredible. It's worth watching and I bet you will like it.
First I would like to point out that I found everything the aesthetics of the drama itself. The opening, the "error" effects, how they play with it in relation to the couple's relationship and in relation to Sang Woo himself, with his robotic behavior etc.
*Now for those who really want a full review, here we go....
The performances were very good, I thought the two actors matched very well and have a lot of chemistry. When I saw it from the outside - little snippets with songs - I thought Jae Young was the serious one and that he was older hahaha - I didn't know it was a college drama and that Sang Woo was the younger boy who is discovering to like a more closed guy. I came across the opposite. A stylish and popular guy paired with a meticulous introvert who thinks too much and doesn't like physical contact - I identified with him a lot, I was a bit worried.
I love the enemies to lovers style and here even if it's just one-sided, it still works masterfully. Because Sang Woo didn't really hate Jae Young, he just didn't like the way he changed his meticulously calculated life. The construction and deconstruction of the characters is impeccable and the way the two change - in the face of their own successes and mistakes - and evolve emotionally together is very light and believable. Nothing is played and done in any way just to shove a forced romance down the viewer's throat,
*Now as my title suggests, Semantic Error does have one flaw in my opinion... it's too short. Maybe too many episodes would spoil it, fine I agree. Especially because many productions become unpalatable precisely because they wrap too much. But I think in this case a little more time would be ideal, just a little. It gave me a feeling of wanting more, not only from the main couple, but in the nuclei around them. Things loose in the air that didn't have time to be shown on the screen. This drama is like choco milk shake - another short, South Korean drama - that shows us two romances so good and with so much feeling, but that last so little. I wanted to see more situations where Sang Woo was thrown against the wall about his own way of acting, especially being in a relationship with Jae Young, who is a very different guy from him.... I wish they would show more of them dating, at least a bit like it was done at the end of the final episode.
I believe that in general Jae Young needed a bigger reason to stay another semester at college and also someone who awakened more than just passion in his heart. Sang Woo, on the other hand, needed someone to force him out of his comfort zone, breaking barriers he considered unbreakable. He needed exactly a Jae Youg to warm his heart worthy of a very well developed software, but that was hacked by the power of love hahaha - very cheesy, I know. As they themselves say... it had to be them, because one needed the other.
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Thank you for reading this far, XOXO <3
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Nothing new, but important to Korea.
Gonna review it through the optic of a fujoshi whos in the BL world for almost 9 years.I know the storyline is not like the thai recent bl's where they're trying to not make the relationship itself the plot, but I can't help but take it easy on this series.
It's a Korean show, with the classic professional Korean filming and acting, this alone already wins over other countries' bl in terms of production quality. They are relatively new in the bl industry, so I do understand that they're having baby steps with the storylines. It was produced by Wavve which is one of the biggest and most important streaming platforms in Korea, it's almost like "their Netflix". So I'm going to consider this more than just a cliche, but actually, a kick start to more and more Korean boys love stories with this level of production, and maybe one day we gonna have a Korean BL like Not me and Kinnporsche.
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Cute, but a bit medicore
So I usually lower my standards and just go in for a good time and some cuteness for BLs and I will say this show delivered on that.Good:
- most of the casting was good! Shoutout to sangwoo's actor for really selling it.
- the kisses were GOOD for a korean bl. The chemistry between the leads was also good
Not Good:
- I'm not sure if it's because of how jaeyeongs character is written or because of the actor, but their performance was meh for me. I think most of it is because the character is damn near written as a psychopath but he also has to come off charming enough to not be totally turned off by him. They don't really do a good job of navigating it so they pull an entire 180 on the character.
- I know sangwoo is supposed to be robotic and all, but it gets to a point where his scenes without jaeyeong are pretty slow and dull. I think they overdo the robotic trait
- the story is not written very well and the romance is poorly fleshed out. I've seen shorter bl that did a better job of convincing us of the romance. Again, I think they overshot with exaggerating the leads' character traits so it makes it hard to believe that they fell in love that quickly. This is the first bl where I wouldn't mind the episodes being a little shorter.
Overall, I'm meh about the show. It is cute if you want a bl to watch, but part of me feels like it was a waste of time cause you don't really walk away with anything.
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This review may contain spoilers
Could've been cute but they added unnecessary bullying plotline and then rushed the love story
Things I liked:- The acting and cinematography
- How organized and methodical Chu Sangwoo was
- Ryu Ji Hye was very adorable and I'd love to see more of her
- Sangwoo setting touch boundries
- Jaeyoung asking Sangwoo for consent to kiss!!!
Things I disliked:
- Jaeyoung was literally a bully and a stalker?? What the fuck?? And they are in UNIVERSITY! This man is in his 20s bullying another guy. It's literally pathetic, and Sangwoo deserved better.
- Their relationship felt rushed
- Their 1st kiss???? Sangwoo kissed Jaeyoung WITHOUT CONSENT?? WHEN HE WAS ASLEEP? WTF???? This was especially weird when the show made sure to show them set boundries and ask for consent in other scenes...... :/
- Jaeyoung being controlling and trying to keep Ryu Ji Hye away... Yikes.
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A BL Webtoon That’s Perfectly Adapted!
Semantic Error is already a great webtoon and this production did an amazing job adapting it. Park Seo Ham and Park Jae Chan were the perfect main leads to play Jang Jae Young and Chu Sang Woo. They delivered a great performance and made it feel like I was seeing the original characters come to life. This live action of Semantic Error was done absolutely well from casting, directing, cinematography, to OST.S. Korea has definitely made another great BL series along with Light on Me and To My Star as some of my personal favorites. I definitely hope WATCHA will produce another season later on because they really produce quality series, including Light on Me. Hopefully they will give us full length series because 8 episodes was not enough! S. Korea has the potential to lead the Bl industry if they are able to bring in the budget and production they do for their mainstream series.
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Loving the live action adaptation so far (episode 6)
Loving the live action adaptation and adjustment of the story to cover a big arc of the relationship in 8 episodes. I think that live action made the whole cast much more interesting which was important for the feel of a campus drama, and there are ways the story has been adjusted to focus on the relationship being fresh in not following some of the usual tropes, which will be helping the boy's love genre get more mainstream. It's really a thoughtful and loving adaptation in a way, compared to what I think can usually be suspected as just attempts to censor, which can disrespect LGBTQ+ people in general and the type of media that is created about their relationships yet isn't even truly adding to positive media representation for them.Beyond those thoughts, I love the creative use of special effects, the casting, the acting, the OST and production. I felt that what comes off the screen is this intriguing exploration of how you could get attracted to someone you've judged negatively for being different from you, and coming to understand their values and character better (the timeless dynamic of the couple in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice that I always loved). And, very importantly, the leads carry on with chemistry in spades, the key ingredient for any on-screen romance to thrive, but they also include with that a lot of vulnerability, affection and growing maturity, which makes this a very special kind of dynamic to root for as an audience member.
Hope that more dramas like this can be made!
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This is a must watch!!
I absolutely loved this show. It was short, simple, unique and the height difference omg it was so cute!! The romance to me was a slow burn and they portrayed this really well with having sweet moments throughout the show to keep your attention.Chu Sang Woo (the nerdy computer science junior) is a bit of a savage and I was totally here for it, he didn't stand down from the popular people and I really liked how it showed how serious Chu Sang Woo was about his work, which in turn was a main reason why the romance started in the first place. Jang Jae Young (the laidback senior majoring in design) at the start was not my favourite character because he used people like Chu Sang Woo to do his work in school just because he was popular which really frustrated me because I've seen a lot of people like that when I was in school and none of them were nice lol. But once the romance started to unfold I saw a change in his personality and how charing he was towards Chu Sang Woo made me start to really love his character, he really reminded me of Xiang Hao Ting from HIStory 3: make your days count which is my all time favourite BL so that says a lot.
It was only 8 episodes but I thought the pace of the romance wasn't too quick because it was an enemies to lovers drama, which I love. Overall a really loved the storyline and the height difference was a huge yes from me.
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This review may contain spoilers
South Korea really upped their ante lately when it comes to BL dramas. Though short, most of them hit just the right spot with me. And this one was no different. Why?Because it ended up going in a completely different direction than I thought at first. I thought that Jaeyoung would be your typical jerk and Sangwoo the soft and emotional woobie or... whatever. But no. Jaeyoung turned out to be much softer and sweeter and Sangwoo much more cynical and clinical that I expected. It sure made for a very interesting storytelling.
The story itself was very standard, there was nothing exceptional or all that original about it - for original or downright weird and twisty stuff one really has to dig into Japanese BL - but the characters sure elevated the whole thing, they made me smile while watching which is always a big plus for me.
Overall, a sweet story. Loved it.
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same formula but they got right
again koreans follow the same formula, short episodes, short season and a pretty good story. Like man????????????? sit down, let's talk about, I didn't read the manwha so I really can't say anything about that, so let's focus on the drama. They take a such good attetion to the details to creat a safe zone, a confort place and they did, the whole drama was awesome, I wait to watch for days because i want to watch carrefully, the series really deserve others seasons with more drama, more episodes, they really gets the point here. The ost is AMAZING, I'm hearing since the first episode. The actors are so good I'm in love, they act is so goood, I hope to see them again in others seasons and in others drama too because they do a good job here. I will for sure rewatch sometimes because I feel good watching, I will miss they a little bit, but i feel happy because i feel they can do others formulas to Koreans Bls in the future.Was this review helpful to you?
No Error Detected
Definitely one of my fav Korean BL! It's inevitable at this point to be short but don't let that stop you. It starts out very cliché with the petty "I hate you, I hate you too" theme but even that was made funny. It's a very cute, quirky, fluffy drama with an amazing cast. Everyone's role was portrayed perfectly and I loved they didn't throw any side drama. It was the MC and their friends which is exactly how it should be to avoid anything from the MC being left out. I honestly have no questions involving the ending. Everything played out and ended perfectly!I heard the novel was a bit R-Rated but you won't find that here and that's actually fine with me.
I'd highly recommend if you want something classic with a splash of original BL
Enjoy...
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Best BL adaptation kdrama
Man I’m so glad this kdrama was just as great as the manhwa because everything in it was just right! Ok there might be some differences such as Sangwoo wearing less of his hat but it didn’t matter like everything was just perfect. I personally don’t think it needs a season 2, it had everything you need to enjoy a series, even the sexual tension.Park Seo Ham, Song Ji Oh, Kim Noh Jin and Park Jae Chan were just stunning in this series! Also Park Seo Ham is off to military enlistment today so best of luck to him like I hope to himself and everyone on other projects in the future! Honestly again I can’t express my love for this kdrama, it’s outstanding!
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I started this series with hate, because my logic didn't agree what I saw on this series. How could you forgive someone who failed you? or even delaying you for your graduation? I did something terrible when my best friend took my book a month before final exam (when I was in college), I can't imagine what I would do If someone failed me on my test like sang-woo did.
But... at a leisurely pace I fell in love with this series. Especially when their feeling toward each other gradually improved in every episodes.
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