Unafraid, Unapologetic and Raw

After a long time I have watched a series that left me completely satisfied. The writer, director, creative team, actors, producers all did a phenomenal job of bringing a complicated subject on screen in the most poetic way. I commend their bravery that they could look beyond the hate.
The story is a unique exploration of one man's inner world while he navigates through his identity and tries to find love in a big, brutal city. He stumbles, makes mistakes of gigantic proportion which leaves him broken and scarred for life. Yet he stands up, fumbles but steadily moves forward. The story explores this journey and shows many things which generally is off limit for romance dramas. It bravely discards the theory of love heals all! Love doesn't. In fact misplaced love can scar and damage someone beyond retribution. Through the struggles and triumphs of a gay man's love life, the drama taps into this often unexplored side of romance.
All the actors acted brilliantly. The production quality was top notch and the star of the show was the screenplay where it did not drop for a single second. I commend the creators again for creating such magic on screen.

Read More

Love, redemption and second chances

This is a story of an established couple and their struggles. How complex emotions like insecurity, perceived loneliness, one's own ego etc. play role in complicating things are manifested in this series. Also how one can overcome those are highlighted upon. It is a nuanced, layered depiction of love, it's complexities, the hurt it causes and the courage it requires to overcome those.
The story is relatable, mature and engaging. It is not for viewers who are looking for BL fluff. It is raw and at times rough to watch. It pulls you in and keeps you worried and elated with the characters. There are no instant fixes and rapid gratification.
The direction is flawless. The series is positioned like a puzzle piece and the viewers are challenged to piece it together. HGS, the director, has directed many cult classic BLs in the past but with this one she dared to break the BL ceiling and give us a genuine slice of life love story minus the rosieness and instant fixes.
The cinematography is beautiful and complements the story. The tone and hue change with the story and run as a parallel story teller.
The acting of all the actors are perfect, even the child actors gave flawless performances. The MLs, their chemistry and acting abilites are legendary already. How much they expressed through their eyes is worth a separate discussion and analysis. They were brilliant.
Overall this series made me cry, laugh, stressed, anxious, happy and satiesfied. I will be getting back to this over and over again. I loved it!

Read More

I will rewatch it whenever I need to be reminded that Life is beautiful!

Kieta Hatsukoi is a slow burn no doubt but a soothing and heart warming one. I have rarely enjoyed any high school drama this much. The actors (including the supporting ones) were perfectly cast and they acted brilliantly. Special mention to the lead couple and their expressions.
Its a simple high school drama about 4 students finding love. Ida and Aoki's relationship starts with a misunderstanding but soon becomes too real for Aoki and Ida is unsure yet hesitant to let go. So begins the journey of exploration of emotions and one's self. All through this they respected eachother's boundary and took the yes and nos with patience. Meanwhile their ever supporting friends guided them and helped them in whatever way they could to realize eachother's true emotions. Even the friends never did anything cringe worthy. The support characters helped the plot move forward. The makers also touched upon the subject of prejudice that same-sex couples face and that was a surprise as generally in BLs they tend to avoid such serious issues. But it was shown in a lighter way and it made me very happy that they did. I am all for rosey romance but would like them to further the cause of the LGBTQ+ communities. The Osts were just perfect and I have listended to them non stop. The drama managed to transport me to my highschool days.
On the negatives, the series in the middle episodes felt a bit dragging. We were seeing the same confusions being played out for couple episodes in a row and it felt a tad bit drawn out for me. Either the makers could put more content or cut the series short.
All in all Kieta Hatsukoi is a feel good drama that shows respect, patience, perseverance and pure love. I will rewatch it whenever I need to be reminded that Life is beautiful with love and innocence in it!

Read More

Violence is all you get

If one is looking for a complete action filled, adrenaline rush without much story, then this is it. I personally prefer a story along with an emotional core in action movies like the "Kill Bill". Hence I was not impressed by this one. I found it to be unnecessarily violent and the action sequences too long. I could not sympathise with the central character and it's struggles. Because, it seemed to me that, the character itself was not fully committed to overcome those. The movie is an exhibition of how good and unbeatable of a fighter, Bok Soon is without much else. This will not be on my re-watch list.

Read More

52 Blue

I enjoyed this drama series to the extent that it compelled me to write a review about it. I have rarely watched such a drama which made me feel this conflicted. There was no clear side to choose from and no clear character to root for. At the same time I felt completely involved in all three characters and indentified with them on many levels.
This is a story about three characters. How their past caught up with them and how all three reacted in different ways. It's a story about lost chances, deep scars, finding and acknowledging one's identiy, healing, moving on and much much more.
The setting of the drama is like a stage play. Only three characters, set in one house with long dialogues between characters. But in no point I felt bored. In fact it felt like a thriller at times where each character was revealing somehting that helped solved the puzzle that was this drama.
The story is a-typical. Where love is portrayed as a means of self-exploration and realization. Love is not treated as the remedy to all problems rather a way to face the reality. And the reality is different for each character. It is a love story but one where love alows the characters to face their darkest fears and come to terms with it.
each actor playing the three characters did brilliant. I could relate with all three. In many instances I found myself in all three of them.
The visuals and color palette of the drama is spectacular. Each character wore a specific color through out the series and it blended with the settling seamlessly. The camera angles and shots were manipulated as such that each frame felt like a painting.
Finally the direction, it is the director's debut venture (as far as I know). He is a veteran theater director. Hence the treatment of the drama was very fresh. I have become a fan and will look forward to his work in future.
I hope this drama gets wide spread acknowledgement both at home and globally. I will come back to it.

Read More

A story of loss and letting go

This drama deals with loss and letting go. To me, this is the single line summary of the series. I will first write about the positives and negatives (my opinion!) and then how it made me feel.
Positives:
The drama tried to tackle the difficult issues of death, loss, despair, guilt, trauma and finally of letting go. A very complex set of subjects to deal with in the first place. This drama delves into super-natural and narual worlds to deal with it. It has main lead dead characters (who show up as ghosts) and also main lead alive characters. So it is a unique plot and a perspective which is uncommon. The story has quite a few very touching moments about guilt and letting go that was hard to watch as they brought out raw emotions on screen.
The drama does not put the same sex relationhisp at the center of the narrative. It is important but not the main focus. The subject matter is.
The actors playing Yoon Oh's and his mother's role did a phenomenol job. Also the actor playing the role of Mr. Yu. The rest of the team did an OK job, nothing special.
The OST's were good.
The produciton quality was also acceptable.
Negatives:
The story has many loop holes in terms of plot. It is a fantacy drama with ghots and humans and suspension of rational logic is necessary yet the execution of the supernaturals was sloppy. Even in this make believe world there needed to be more rationals of why certian things were happening and others were not. There was none given.
When the drama ended many issues were not resolved or unanswered, which in general is not bad. But for this show it left a feeling of incompleteness.
The chemistry between the main lead was not steller. The more convincing chemistry was between the mother and the son.
My feelings:
TBH, I have mixed feeling about this. I very much enjoyed some parts and others not so much. And the quantity seems almost equal. I appreciate the difficult subject matter. Many scenes brought tears to my eyes got me seriously thinking about loss and letting go. And I always enjoy a drama/movie which makes me think about things which I generally don't. So for that I laud this drama.
But the execution was lazy. This drama could have been far better if only a bit more attention were given to details and setting up the premises of the make believe world. One of the main lead's acting was average and that made the drama not such an enjoyable watch.
Also the ending wsa not quite well done. I do not want to give spoilers but the drama, in my opinion, did not need the last 2 minutes.
I must mention again how beautifully and convincingly the actors who played Yoon Oh and his mother's role played their characters. For their scenes only I can rewatch the drama.
So over all I say, watch it with caution. One can find beautiful moments and also can be supremely frustrated.

Read More

So much Potential ...

First, the postives: The two leads were breathtakingly beautiful. They have brilliant smile and they looked good together. The story line was good.
The negatives: the story again had so much potential but the execution was not done in a way so it creates tension. Every story or issue was resolved too easily. Hence the conflict never rose to an extent so one can invest in it. The lead pair at times appeared to be stiff, there chemistry was not coming through. Camera work was also not anything special. Atleast one properly choreographed dance number was needed. I felt let down because the series did not commit to its own name 'You make me Dance'.
It can be watched once.

Read More

A drama I wish I did not watch

If I do not enjoy a drama series I generally give it a rating I think is appropriate and move on. I tend not to waste anymore time on it. But this one was so infuriating that I had to find time to write about it.
Positives:
The character Kang Tae Wan. His was the only character that had growth, grace and could make me, as a viewer, empathise with it.
One of the OSTs was pleasant also.
Negatives:
The story, the script, the pace was terrible. I am alright seeing flawed characters on screen, but I also want to see the redemption of those characters. The half baked redemption efforts in the series were not enough and also not plausible. A major act of fraud will have legal repurcussions, but there was none shown!!! Everyone was defending the fraudulant act at the end, this does not happen even in La La Land!
The Main male lead character was extremely selfish and only cared about the feelings of one person (the female lead). He is the only one who did not suffer any real consequences for his actions. Everyone else did! He requested his little brother to not start his career because of his lie!!! He also exploited the emotions of Kang Tae Wan and finally said to him, be happy, come out etc. etc,
The female lead character was written as one dimensional. Her character was naive, foolish, prying and unreal. She kept on defending the Main Lead through his lies because she was touched by how much he loves and cares for her!!!!!!
I found the premise to be borderline homophobic. They made a straight character claim that it was gay and then gave that character scenes where it was defending 'homosexual' behaviour. The homosexual character at one point said, I am responsible for my own pain, as I have lied to myself and did not acknowledge who I was!!!!! Seriously?????!!!!!!
I am sorry for my harsh words but this was really a drama done wrong.

Read More

The story I will never forget

This is an excellent series and a must watch for anyone who loves good content. The story, acting, direction, music all too good. Specially Wayne, his acting was so on spot and relatable. All the supporting casts, including Wayne's sister played their part very well.
The story is the hero of the series. The final monologue by Wayne was so true and touching. I have lost my sister when she was 18. She has remained at that age and time, did not change. Where as me and everyone else have moved on. I have carried that pain with me wherever I have gone and so does Wayne. Yes as viewers we do not want to be reminded of the harsh reality we face eaveryday. We look for escape in what we watch. But once in a while a realistic vision of what can and does go wrong can be given. This series does that. I do not know if any other series will ever top this one for me. A very well made and acted production. Congratulations to the team!

Read More

The movie is about flawed characters and their tangeled life.

The movie is about flawed characters and their tangeled life. Which I do not mind, its just that I do not have to like them and/or sympathise with them. The character Imagase is obsessed, a stakler and kajoled his "Love" into having sex. He pushed him to a point where the other guy "Falls" in love with him and longs for him. Appeared to me as some form of Stockholm syndrome. Otomo repeatedly and continually cheats. He has no respect for anyone else's feelings. I think he is a sociopath. Extremely self-obsessed and emotionally immature. Yes people like these are all around us and in a movie we would like to see the redemption part of such characters. Here I felt that was missing. There was no redemption for Imagase. He is still as obsessed with Otomo as he was before to a point tha he cannot even enjoy sex with someone else, even though he chose to leave Otomo. Otomo appears to have redemption by falling in love with Imagase, which is really unrealistic, cause this is a realistic movie and sociopaths need serious rehabilitation. By loving someone you cannot redeem yourself. There was no serious consequnces for the two lead characters, they have treated other people with such disrespect that the movie should have shown some consequences for them. Yes, one can argue that they did not end up together and there was no happy ending. To be honest these two characters cannot be happy together unless they work on their issues. May be at the end the makers wanted to show some glimpse of road to redemption by Otomo, but Imagase was left hanging. All in all it was not a satisfying expereince for me to watch this. I am all for movies portraying complex characters who are ruthless and self absorved. But I am against glorifying them and I think in this movie both these characters were glorified and the director wanted us to sympathise with them. Sorry I could not.

Read More

Movie with a message

What is the message : love is about patience, sacrifice, being brave and vulnerable at the same time, trust, resilience, heart break and passion.
Well made movie and well acted. The only criticism I have is the story was resolved too easily. As in the struglle could have been a bit more layered. In life nothing gets resolved so easily. Also Oat's acting appeared to me to be a bit stiff. The other lead was excellent. I could feel his raw pain literally. It was very real.
But the final message : one does not have to promise to love someone forever but love for that day, now ... that is my take away. Congratulations to the team.

Read More