ARMN
A story about healing so that you can love
The director Hwang Da Seul is a genius for sure. She took what was originally just a fluffy romcom franchise, rams it through a messy breakup plot that does not make much sense in the first instance, and then gives us a story about two people very much in love trying really hard to heal, survive and perhaps even love again.
Saying that the show is angsty does not do it justice. It is not angsty, but it will put your through a lot of pain for sure before giving you what you need.
But at the same time, the creators have given us a show that will have few parallels not only in the BL industry but also the larger queer entertainment, when it comes to unpacking a relationship. The break-up is just a set up here. It is a story about how two people radically different in how they interact with the world, come to terms with the traumas of their past, their insecurities, their needs and wants, and more importantly how strongly they are in love with the other. And more importantly it is a story about how we really need to be able to work on ourselves to be able to love without hurting them or yourself.
Couple of things to note before watching:
1. As a standalone series it is top notch, but there are major gaps if you judge it as part of the franchise. The tone and mood of this season is quite different from what the earlier season offered. There are logically sound plot points that connect the two (if you grab the subtle cues given to us), but overall the two are very different in all but name and the backgrounds of the characters. It is quite likely that you might not enjoy this if you really enjoyed how things were in season 1.
2. Do watch it in one go, now that all the episodes are out. Spend a day to watch it just so you can process all the emotions you go through. For those of us who chose to watch it as the episodes aired, it was just literal torture for over a month. So when you binge it, keep hydrated, keep tissues to wipe your tears as well, and keep remind yourself to not project on to these characters.
3. Adding to the need of doing point number 2, it will also help in understanding the subtle cues that the creators have given. There is a lot to interpret in the series. After rewatching it once again, I realised that there is not a single shot, no character, no sentence spoken, not even a look or a gesture that does not have a purpose. Big or small, but definitely serves the main plot quite a lot.
Saying that the show is angsty does not do it justice. It is not angsty, but it will put your through a lot of pain for sure before giving you what you need.
But at the same time, the creators have given us a show that will have few parallels not only in the BL industry but also the larger queer entertainment, when it comes to unpacking a relationship. The break-up is just a set up here. It is a story about how two people radically different in how they interact with the world, come to terms with the traumas of their past, their insecurities, their needs and wants, and more importantly how strongly they are in love with the other. And more importantly it is a story about how we really need to be able to work on ourselves to be able to love without hurting them or yourself.
Couple of things to note before watching:
1. As a standalone series it is top notch, but there are major gaps if you judge it as part of the franchise. The tone and mood of this season is quite different from what the earlier season offered. There are logically sound plot points that connect the two (if you grab the subtle cues given to us), but overall the two are very different in all but name and the backgrounds of the characters. It is quite likely that you might not enjoy this if you really enjoyed how things were in season 1.
2. Do watch it in one go, now that all the episodes are out. Spend a day to watch it just so you can process all the emotions you go through. For those of us who chose to watch it as the episodes aired, it was just literal torture for over a month. So when you binge it, keep hydrated, keep tissues to wipe your tears as well, and keep remind yourself to not project on to these characters.
3. Adding to the need of doing point number 2, it will also help in understanding the subtle cues that the creators have given. There is a lot to interpret in the series. After rewatching it once again, I realised that there is not a single shot, no character, no sentence spoken, not even a look or a gesture that does not have a purpose. Big or small, but definitely serves the main plot quite a lot.
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