Just Between Lovers (2017)

Lengthy thoughts. I just wanted to keep an archive of how this drama made me feel :-)

Up to date, I've already re-watched this drama twice. This means 3 times watching this drama, and all 3 times I'd managed to learn something from it. This is the kind of drama that makes you clutch your heart as if it'd shattered into pieces. Never have I not cry buckets when watching this.

Okay, first up: the plot. I would say it's a fairly cliche plot-line to be honest. The thing about a tragedy, followed by the trauma that the main leads face: it's a pretty common plot used in dramas. But here's the thing: this drama wholly focuses on how this tragedy affected not only the main leads, but the various other people involved in this, from their past, to their present, and then their future. And I love it. We get to see how the same tragedy affected the victims (dead or alive), the victims' family, the construction contractors, architects, and many others not mentioned but could be inferred. We get to see the trauma, the survivor's guilt, the lack of consideration or empathy to some extent. All these different perspectives shone through the different characters and the stories they brought along with them.

The cast and acting. I have absolutely no problems with them. Our main leads aren't the most amazing, groundbreaking actors out there, but they acted with so much sincerity and that made their characters shine. All the little flaws in their acting made their characters seem so much more real and human. Their characters aren't heroes, they are just as normal as any human is; beautiful, raw, broken yet strong. I loved how realistic the characters are, they all have their fair share of problems, and they all deal with their problems in their own ways and keep fighting to go on in their lives. It's such a wonderful process to see the characters' growth, especially in our main leads; how they slowly came together, understood, embraced and motivated each other to head towards a brighter life ahead. How beautiful is that? Just two humans, two lovers finding themselves in the process of finding each other. I cannot imagine a love story more beautiful and pure than this.

I especially loved the little moments between Kang Doo and Granny. How Granny would impart her little bits of wisdom, encouraging Kang Doo to let down his burdens and start opening up and live life more courageously and with purpose, not just recklessly. One line from Granny stuck with me long after watching this drama: "Be happy with all your might."

The little moments where our characters are simply just content with the peace in their lives? The drama made me appreciate that too. The feeling of "when today is becoming tomorrow and not much is going on", yeah, I really like it too.

The OST is just breathtakingly amazing. It is the only drama so far where I love every single song, no kidding. Every single song and its lyrics can be related to moments in the drama, especially so for Jun Ho's "True Love" as well as Chang Min's "With Me". Every lyric in these songs revolves around our main leads and their relationship, and it is truly beautiful.

To end off: with any tragedy that happened, it's never "only 48 people died", but rather, "as much as 48 people died".

This is a drama that makes me think long after every single time I watch it, it's a drama that made a lasting impact on me and makes me want to be a better version of myself. And every time I come out from watching a drama or movie feeling this way, I know it's definitely one that will remain special to me in many years to come.

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I wish I had more words to talk about this drama, but it's very difficult.
Real melodrama. I cried a lot. But I ended up incredibly in love.
Whoever you imagined would not sympathize at all, ended up liking ~ ~ even without wanting to admit ~, and you understand the feelings of each character,
 where everyone suffers for something and has the marks of a tragedy.
At first I thought, "What a crazy story this is, oh my God, all them with a broken soul, and that never improves," but the evolution is very beautiful.

Some songs made me even more emotional, and the lyrics also very sentimental.

Very good performances, Jin Ah did well for his first drama, and Junho really impressed me.

I was very marked and the message that has remained in me is that we should always tell people close to us how much we like them, and that it can always be the last time, besides that even if a hurricane of bad things happens, you can rebuild, even without forgetting, and even carrying your marks of war.

I'm delighted, admired and don't know what to watch to overcome this.

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It’s been almost a week since I finished the show and I still can’t get it out of my mind. That’s rare for me.

The whole story feels so real. Like you could go out on the street and end up meeting characters like Moon Soo and Kang Doo. You feel their sadness, their desperation with circumstances and you find yourself rooting for them despite it all because they truly deserve a happy ending.

Both the leads as well as supporting actors did a wonderful job. The chemistry between the leads was palpable and their romantic scenes will stay with you for a long long time. It’s been ages since I’ve wanted to binge watch on a show, and I’m happy to report that all the sleepless nights paid off. The story, character development and finally the ending make for a great watch. I feel like it was the end of something beautiful. I laughed, I cried, and felt everything the characters felt and learned to appreciate my own life a little bit more.

I have nothing but praises for the show. Good story, good acting, and great ost, especially Jun Ho’s song.

This one is a must watch as far as I’m concerned.

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why didn’t i drop this lol

i’m genuinely shocked at how many 10s in a row i’m seeing. now, i’m not gonna say this is a terrible drama or one of the worst that i’ve seen, but how are people rating it so high?? at times i would just skip scenes that i don’t care for because they’re so irrelevant. now, i don’t easily get attached to characters and this is because of my low empathy, so it’s not completely fair to bring my emotions in this, but oh well. i hates most of the characters and towards the end i was begging for him (main lead) to die. if he did i probably would’ve rated this higher. a 6.5 is being pretty nice actually. anyway, i skipped so many scenes and i didn’t care for any of the characters and i HATED gang doo, he was annoying as hell. i’m very surprised at myself that i didn’t drop this, but then again, lately, i’ve been dropping too many titles so i didn’t want to add another to my list. to sum it up, nothing was sad to me, it goes very slow at times, was predictable at other times, has stereotypical kdrama things, and was very melodramatic. but, it wasn’t TERRIBLE, so i’m not gonna say i completely hated the show. it was just annoying to watch.

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What a roller coaster of emotions! Great drama about life and a very difficult love that needed time to heal deep emotional wounds it had everything from shyness to friendship, from deep scars to mesmerizing smiles, from healing to loving each other. I never came across such a pure romantic kdrama ever.I loved how they act with so deep emotions and how they beautifully delivered their emotions One of my faves!Just loved how the drama portrayed life and its thousand folds of irony. The acting was superb and topping it up with heart wrenching OST and AMAZING CINEMATOGRAPHY , this might just be the best drama of 2017. This drama has drawn a beautiful sketch of human life. And with the culmination of every episode each character became alive. As humans we all go through hard times in life. It's a part of being alive and it's the reality we all have to deal with. There are times we forget our value as a person because we are so blinded with these thoughts of loneliness, emptiness and ego. Somewhere along the road we become numbed with all the frustrations and dissatisfaction. But life itself isn't always about darkness and sadness, life is also filled with colors that makes it beautiful.

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There is something very special and moving about Just Between Lovers.  The way this drama covers trauma and grief in its lead characters is pretty ground breaking.  Lee Jun Ho is such a dreamboat here in his role of Lee Kang Doo.  He is a complex character who feels like he doesn’t amount to much.  Won Jin Ah in her role of Ha Moon Soo is on equal footing as the compassionate heroine.  She is well-spoken and honorable.  This drama is breathtakingly gorgeous as it explores how to best honor the lives lost in tragedy.  

There are no true antagonists in this drama. I appreciated how this drama painted everyone with their own weaknesses and fears. It’s quite humanizing.

For a person who doesn’t usually gravitate toward melodramas, this is on a different level.  If you are looking for something beautiful and
moving, give this one a try.

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Gang Doo and Moon Soo shared traumatic experience when they were both young; They were trapped in the same area together when a mall collapsed on them. Thus, they both are severely traumatized and broken from this experience and later they reconnect as adults and this drama is about them working together to heal and pick up the pieces of their life. This drama has a gritty & grounded-in-reality tone to it. It's quite depressing but at the same time have a very uplifting hopeful vibe to it. The OSTs are gorgeous, they have such meaningful lyrics and give more depth and insight to the story.

Another thing I really loved about is the chemistry between the leads and their romance story. It was a beautiful slow burn, where two people grow individually and together. Acting is outstanding, the way the two portrayed their characters was so sincere and natural that it touched my heart. I think Junho as Gang Doo really carried the show. I liked the female lead, Moon Soo, a lot more in the beginning and as it went on I kind of lost a little bit of interest in her and really invested myself in Gang Doo. His story is also a little bit more interesting as he's definitely far more traumatized by the whole event. He's given so much character development. I also adored the other characters, especially the spunky grandmother, played by Na Moon Hee. She was such a wonderful and welcomed surprise. One thing I don’t like is the plot twist that happened around the finale, but the ending is fine.

Dec 2023, Yovita
Find me on Instagram: @kdramajudge

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JUST BETWEEN LOVERS .......this is not just a drama but a roller coaster  ride of emotions,feels and healing  our hearts.This is by far one of the most beautifully shot dramas after Goblin with a melancholic tone.Every scene looked like a beautiful picture crafted in a canvas.
The synopsis given here is quite simple but the drama is just the opposite.It portrays human emotions so realistically.The story is about Lee kang do and Ha moon soo who have a tragic past and are now  suffering from that traumatic phase where their lives are devastated.
The story itself was so soothing that you gonna love it even though you are not a melodrama lover because its so real and heartwarming that you cannot wait for the next week.Every episode gave you some awesome explanations o f our convoluted life.The story had an essence of originality.
Director KIM JI WON has excelled this time with his superlative direction.You can expect this from the director of Nice Guy and I remember you.He has outdone himself in this department.Screen writer Yoo bo ra has also done a nice job in transition of stories from one track to other.You wil cry your heart out surely.
Now comes the biggest factor that made me write my second review is the acting of the of the leads.Lee jun ho was the heart of the show.Being a kpop star I never thought he would do good but he was outstanding and if he doesn't get an award for this then i would be really upset because he was freaking awesome in every frame.His every expression was priceless and when he was crying i couldn't stop my heart that was hurt.The rustic guy  lee kang doo  having a heart is my charcter now.Ha moon soo is a character with ehich everyone can relate  though her sufferings were same as Kang doo but she had a strong capabilty of handling problems better than kang doo.Won jin Ha is amazing in her first drama ,Being a newcomer she is so alive on screen and her chemistry with lee jun ho is amazing.along  with the leads if someone who captured my heart was sang man and offcourse my halmae.Kang do scenes with both of them were gold.All others were good i loved the relationship between ma ri and yoo taek.Even the second leads were good especially kang ha na.Every other actor have done justice to their roles.Music was one of the most important factor of their success.Every song was good beautifully fitted to the story.Finally a drama you will never forget.My fav drama 2017.It deserve awards and even if they don't get it i know they have already won our hearts.


JUST BETWEEN THE LOVERS AND THE AUDIENCE................FIGHTING
 
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YOU ARE MISSING ON A LOT IF YOU SKIP THIS !!

I had been skipping this drama for long and I don't even know why, maybe I thought it will be dark which btw lives up to its expectations. The cast is amazing, the osts are perfect, the emotions you'll feel are unprecedented, the supporting characters are pure gold and know what they're doing. First drama where I clearly did not have to skip through scenes. Absolute gem. The story is beautifully unique, paces you through very calmly but you'll keep feeling a certain ache inside. What I loved the most was that there is no person in this drama who is wrong or right black and white. There are flaws and for a change THE CAST DOES TALK ABOUT IT AND RESOLVE THINGS IN THE MOST MATURE WAYS. The places where it's been shot will give you a fresh breath of air no doubt. You'll cry a lot though. HEAVILY RECOMMENDED!
However, you would not want to rewatch it because some dramas are simply not meant to, not because they are not good but because those emotions and flow sometimes have to keep treasured.

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Why don’t you cut your heart out instead?

This drama, I don’t know if I’ll ever do justice describing what I feel for it. When I began the drama, I knew it would be angst, but I wasn’t prepared for how much of it would play a part throughout the series. Even until the end your heart is in constant pain because of what the leads go through. What sets it apart is how brilliantly it’s depicted. The characters are going through traumas of their own, born of a shared traumatic event, and their way of dealing with it similar and yet different. After nearly a decade, they are brought back together to face their fears head on. The kind of events they go through, the pain, at times it feels so overwhelming that you need a break. In form of Moon So and Gong Doo, we see cute romance under whose layer lies a backstory that can both make or break you. It was their beautiful interactions that kept me going because at many points the angst felt too much.

The cinematography of this show is beautiful. So much is said in scenes which have no dialogues (I love it when dramas do this!) the OST is something you can listen to on repeat long after you’re done with the show. The story is so well written, the characters are perfectly flawed, the supporting characters grow on you and everything about this draws you in. I hope I’ll be able to go back to this one day and rewatch it.

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