Bajo la lluvia (2018)

intimacy in the face of the storm

i can't stress enough how important this story is in today's world. besides the beautiful romance, it deals with the taboos of korean society, but in a way that imbeds them to the story, not merely checking things off a list

1. romance:
No one suspects they're a couple because of the many differences between them: income, age, social class. still, they fit like two pieces of a puzzle. there are no over the top declarations, but a genuine, all encompassing love that can be seen in the smallest actions, like drying each other's hair and bringing coffee after an exhausting day at the office. their intimacy shines like no other kdrama, you truly believe they are a couple. no other people are more tethered to each other

2. Acting:
exceptional and subdued. the characters show their full range of emotions, from crying to laughing to being adorably cranky. it features both seasoned actors and relatively new ones like the main male lead that can play off each other naturally.

3. story
besides the love arc, there is a story about sexual discrimination in the work place. it's not presented lightly or get wrapped up with a bow. it's a serious issue that the main lead faces and the enemy isn't a single person, but society's attitudes that benefit men. she's not a crusader, but she's a fighter. things don't come easy to her, but that's what women face in the workplace. it's important to see that. for me, that's what makes the ending the perfect conclusion

4. music
you will both hate and love Carla Bruni

5. ending
fitting. that's all I can say. many people don't like it, but it's very consistent with the show and hopeful.

TL;DR a must-watch for every woman

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I liked this sweet little drama. I found myself smiling through a majority of the episodes. The romance worked for me. The ML was fairly established in his career so there was none of the usual hand wringing about the older FL stifling his dreams and potential. The conflict was largely familial. They both learned from each other and both made mistakes. My only caveat was that if felt like the writer had problems with the last couple of episodes disrupting the flow of the storyline.

Also, I liked that the FL didn’t recoil from the ML’s kisses as if he was going to give her a root canal. They had a healthy tactile relationship. One of the few Kdramas I’ve seen where the couple was in a believable intimate relationship.

I found the acting solid all the way around.

Regarding the OST: I dinged it for the overuse of Stand By Your Man. They could have cut the use of that song by 80%. Bonus points though for Rachael Yamagata’s Something in the Rain. Already downloaded it.

I will rewatch all or at least parts of it when I’m having a bad day and need a smile and a warm feeling in my heart. I definitely recommend giving this drama a try.

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In order to get to heaven, must go through hell first.

After reading several bad reviews, I was hesitant to watch this drama. However, I was glad to have watched this drama and left me feeling appreciative to the deep insight of the writer. It is really nice to watch a grown up drama.

I wish they had wrapped up the ending with more details of their future together. The last episode contained many minutes of flash backs that did not move the story forward. As expected, the our main couple ended together but the director could have given us some more answers about our primary couple.

I was sad to see their breakup but, in retrospect, it was really necessary for Jin Ah to find her self. In order to come to her own, she had to really let go of all bonds that were holding her back. She really had to learn to walk the path of her life on her own. Although, it is nice have allies but ultimately she is the author of her life. I really appreciate the writer's willingness to explore/risk it all to find the happiness.

After the breakup Jin Ah tried to live her life according to her mother/family outlook. But she was still miserable and no better off than before Joon Hee. She finally found her happiness when she risked it all. Our "young" lady has finally grown up.

This drama is not a typical ROM-COM. After watching the drama, I am still left with an ache in my heart as a reminder of our own lives. The lesson: In order to live happily with a significant other, I must be equal to him or her. It is not 50-50 but 100-100.

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UNDERSTANDING LOVE AT A DEEPER LEVEL

What is love ?
Is unorthodox love accepted ?

We are represented by the people around us and judged for the same .
Whether it's family , work or personal everything holds a view and opinion .

This drama is really wonderful .
You would see lots of people being dissatisfied with the ending .
But the director had the guts to convey what really happens .

Are you the kind of a viewer who watches an idealist romance ?
Everything has it's ups and downs .
This drama portrays the good and the bad with such convenience that it's baffling .

All the moaners in the review are immature to accept the beauty of this drama .
( These are all weak people and not smart . Like you average viewer with the disability to assess and tell diamond from carbon )

This has an indefinite ending .
Coz people really don't have answers for everything .
Life and relationships are stories .
And not all stories have a definite ending .

It does get slow but the director is giving you time to think what you could've done in that situation .
This drama comes with an art of reflection for what to do and what not to do .


PS : Cinematography is one of the key element of this drama . Purely phenomenal !

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This drama is NOT for everyone!!!

I have read so many bad reviews. If you hate and don't see the beauty of this drama then you are either immature, love cheesy and unrealistic love story or don't like slow dramas which its okay considering everyone has their opinion and preferences. Yes it has its flaws like every other drama. I cannot emphasis enough on how the drama is not for everyone, it is EXTREMELY slow paced and people complain about that. I believe that's how the story was intended to be, with the slow burn we get to see how the connection developed between the characters and it happened so naturally. The Irony is that you would expect the female lead to be mature considering her age but we all know who the real adult in their relationship was.

Jin ah's (FL) mother is a hated character, she did the most to break them apart. For me that made it more realistic because some parents are very traditional, closed minded and want what they think is best for their children, (thus they can go to any extent to see that happen as we also see in the show) I could personally relate to this. If you are looking for something that would uplift your mood then this is not it.

Although I think it would have been better if it had been a movie or a mini series than having 16 episodes, not a huge problem though. Also I enjoyed the ost at first but then it got very repetitive and some scenes really did not match the songs. Nevertheless the songs are very calming (has a little vintage vibe to it) I still play it. It's the first kdrama I have seen with all english ost.

A lot of people complain about the ending but what more could have seriously happened, happy endings are not always guaranteed. After the mother begged for forgiveness, One can say that Jin ah did not need her mothers approval any longer and she can finally be with the person she loves without getting judged. It hurts me that the drama is underrated, it deserves more attention but what can I say the underrated ones are sometimes the best ones. If you hate this drama then it was personally not your cup of tea not that anything was wrong with it. I totally recommend this If you are looking for a very serious, mature and reflecting story. If not please pass rather than coming to degrade a remarkable drama.

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i don't know how i'm supposed to feel after finishing this drama. i'm just... blank.

it was so good at first that i had super high expectation for it. Son Ye Jin acting was incredible and Jung Hae In was so damn cute. their chemistry was awesome. it was so good it kinda felt like a guilty pleasure watching it. the way they shoot this drama is something i have never seen in korean dramas. beautiful, slow paced and somewhat retro scenes which focus on the characters' feeling made me hold my breath many times.

but the plot kept getting pointless and disappointing. the last 5 episodes were really gloomy. i truly hoped things could be different, beating the stereotype in most dramas and making me believe in love again lol. but unfortunately it got into some cliché trope. the characters couldn't really figure anything out episode after episode and that makes watching them such a pain. oh and the sudden ending. it's like the writer tried to settle everything down in some last minutes and tried to convince the audience that everything was fine. but hey i'm not fine. it's just so unsatisfying.

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Congratulations to this drama for getting my lowest score yet.

The MVP of this series was really Netflix for letting me watch at 1.5x speed and the ten second fast forward feature for which this low review would not exist in the universe.

It’s really a pity that the first eightish - nine episodes get completely squandered by the absolute Chernobyl disaster that is the second half of this show. The FL is a mid thirties almost forty year old human who possess ZERO communication skills. It’s really impressive how little communication skills one human woman can posses. I commend the writers for showing that forty year women can also have the same emotional maturity as a sixteen year old girl. Representation matters!

The other watchers of this show seemed to love the Male Lead for being the best boyfriend but if being a good boyfriend = being a complete doormat and running after your girlfriend whose idea of communication is crying, saying she’s sorry and promising never to do it again but then in the literal next scene doing it again *surprise pikachu face* and then whining about how she’s apologized. Her character reaches a point where it's not that she's unable to communicate, she willfully refuses and believes the best way to get ahead is to sit in misery and grind through but also to ask him to do the same. The way to progress forward is for them to simply be in abject misery together.

Let’s talk about the mother of the bride - the worst Asian mother portrayal I’ve seen on tv. If the FL wasn’t also such a doormat, she could have moved out before the season started and I wouldn’t have to watch this character for 12 hours. I have a new nemesis and it’s this Asian mother. She has NO redeemable qualities and yet the writers still put in a redemption scene in the last hour. I’ve never felt less moved by a mother-daughter scene in my entire life. It happens on the street and I was looking for truck-kan the entire time (why don’t you show up when I want you and only when I don’t???). I tried, I tried to look at this in an Asian centric culture mindset but alas I’m a lowly Asian-American and even with my knowledge of traditional Asian family roles, I cannot feel warmth/sympathy towards this mother.

The music: If an English lady crones “it’s hard to be a woman” at me one more time, I’ll end up in jail.

My final gripe: the plot. Writer-Nim. Come back here and explain to me wtf was the POINT of the last three episodes. Just really explain. There’s this whole plot about how she’s going to stick with it and make her big comeback and stand on her own - - for her to get another bf who doesn’t appreciate her, to learn zero communication skills and to STILL quit her job and become a waitress on juju island! Why did they even break up? They learn zero things from the breakup! Here I would like to compare my favorite end of drama breakup “Because this is my first life” where the breakup makes sense. It forces two characters who cannot communicate and have baggage to take the breakup as a reset and reevaluate their needs and goals before coming back together as a stronger and more cohesive couple. That does not happen in SITR. They still cannot communicate, or say full sentences or express emotion.

She just takes the time she could use to communicate to whine about how she’s kept herself miserable for three years to atone for making the best friend/boyfriend sad. Like my girl, no one, not ONE person asked for that. If you choose to live your life that way, that’s strictly a you problem. This whole romance exist on *vibes*. Which I mean I love a long walk in the rain and some coffee but my god.

Anyways there was great skinship in this show so cheers to the director for giving me legit butterflies in the handholding scene. I will look back at drama edits on tiktok of that one scene fondly.

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The way this drama tells a story is delightful. I want this version of all my favorite dramas!

AFTER-TASTE
Rather than just walking through the plot, the scene lets us feel the after-taste of each scene. Every time the characters finish what they do, the scene doesn’t stop there. It shows how the characters deal with the previous things that happened. Some people might say that the OSTs are sickening but that’s this movie is all about. The repetitive music and mood portray a slice of life, the sequence of events in the characters’ daily life.

SLICE OF LIFE
It’s slow-paced to the point that many people don’t notice the character development but it’s what makes this movie realistic. The main characters had been influenced and will continue to adjust her and his circumstances in making certain actions. That’s what makes them hard to change. For that same reason, I’d rather say that their attitude and behavior are understandable than acceptable. They tried their best and we can feel the struggle they’ve been through to get there.

WARM BLANKET FOR THE COLD WEATHER
It’s raw yet aesthetically-pleasing though. What’s quite unusual is first, they don’t use any Korean song for their soundtrack and second, they visualize “rainy” feeling with a warm brownish color. This is my first time watching Korean drama using such a theme and it gets me super emotional. It wakes my senses up. I feel like I can hear, smell, taste touch and of course see whatever shown throughout the drama.

WHY IS IT WORTH A TRY
In the end, I know this isn’t everyone's cup of tea and it’s worth a try. Especially when you feel like giving up on your boring routine. This drama can be relatable for you but it gives you the hope of something better coming.

UNPOPULAR OPINION OF THE FL
I've seen a lot of complaints about the FL. I personally find that her character is very realistic considering all the things she went through. Some people might think that there is no character development but it's there. It's just that her character is complex and her circumstances don't give enough room for her, so it seems like she doesn't go anywhere. No need to spoil anything to say that from the beginning I've been so proud of her. To see how she does things she does, I want to give her a comforting hug.

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It's the kind of drama you will either love or hate, there is nothing in between.

I wanted to watch this drama for so long but was stopping myself because of some bad reviews i read. i have finally watched it and i don't regret!!

So first of all I'd like to draw the flaws in this drama, 1) Yoon jin ah being not too young has been showed quite immature 2) Lack of communication between the main characters, being a mature couple, they sometimes didn’t talk about some matters that were needed too. 3) The ending was quite abrupt. 4) OST, "Sometimes it’s hard to be a woman..." i swear if i hear this again

Getting back to the story, it was quite refreshing and interesting. They showed few important topics like harassment of female employees in companies, and how when you start to get old your family pressures you to get married and sets blind dates out of nowhere. It felt so fresh to watch this drama, the chemistry between the characters was so good, they matched each other quite well. I totally loved this drama, specially joon hee, i liked him more then jin ah..and those cuddly scenes made me smile so much

I have read many bad reviews, but i liked this because It’s a real story with real people, this is what happens in real life.

---> about the ending, i think they tried to show how everyone around you will not necessarily accept what you want to do even though they love you, but even after that; you should follow what you love and do what your heart says. And sometimes you just need to let loose your life and breathe.

I really recommend this drama. but
people who won’t like it are most probably: in their teens, early 20's or who don’t like slow detailed shows.
people who will love it are most probably: fond of details or are in late 20's or 30's

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I'm writing this bc at first this drama seemed like any other romance drama which made me hesitant to start watching it.

But 6 episodes in, I was left pleasantly surprised with its content.

It touches upon a lot of controversial topics like mistreatment/sexual abuse of women at their workplace and in general, romance between an older woman and a younger man, unhealthy/obsessive relationships, mother pressuring their children to only care about the background of people they hang out with and how they can benefit them, negative view on those without parents, on those who pursue an artistic career...

Main leads are absolutely adorable together, have amazing chemistry and make you die from happiness while watching them interact.

This is why for now, I recommend you to watch it. Just be ready to get extremely frustrated whenever her mother shows up. The actress portraying her did a great job.


*Update after ep 12

Unnecessary drama, conflicts around their love life are starting to get boring.
I did like how they brought up a topic on suicide.
Also, currently I'm curious the most about how will their movement against sexual harassment at work turn out.

*Update after finishing the drama
I would say this drama didn't fulfill my expectations. In the end they didn't resolve the problems they kept on dragging for over minimum of 8 episodes and just gave us a rushed, not so well thought-out ending.

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The Good:-
The 1st and the most important thing about this, is the chemistry between the leads. It's so real you can't help for but root for them. They fall for each other slowly but strongly. They laugh ,cry and stand strong with each other. There are scenes that made my heart warm and smile so hard. And there are scenes that put a lump in my throat. But it was so worth it. This feeling stayed for me for about 10 or 11 episodes.

The bad:-
After the 1st half, i was only enjoying the moments where they were together. That was the only good thing in the second half. Everything else, such a drag. They tried to put so many things in to the plot it just took the life out of the drama. I will be honest, i skipped more than a little towards the end even though i don't like to skip. It was ruining the good memory really. Things get to the point where i started wondering too what IS exactly there obstacle. Is it there age gap?or they are like "family"? Or family status problems ? Or something else? It just made me frustrated.

The ending:-
Disappointing for me. I wanted so much for the ending to change my mind. But it didn't. I will not give away much spoiler, but let's just say neither one of them was completely right. Jin ha learned to be independent, then in the end she came back to square one.( when she said her stuck up bf is a good catch. Like what?! Didn't you learn anything by dating that psychopath earlier!)
My last hope was a happy ending and they rushed it too. (I mean seriously?! It was like 5 mins before the end they get together and then what? After all the dragging i made myself go through just to see them happy, we atleast deserved a future look into their lives.) The plot just ruined the most romantic couple for me. They deserved better than this story. It could have been way better.

I gave 7.5 stars to this only because of the 1st half. The 1st 8 episodes is so worth it i am ignoring the rest of the mess. You will know it when you see it. It may make you feel frustrated towards the end, but then you will find yourself recommending it to others and not even give a low rating. I am just happy that i have seen it.
I will probably rewatch the 1st half when i want to feel happy, but not the whole drama.

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Misery vs Happiness

This drama is a love story of two people with an age difference. At times that can be problematic, but not to the extent the writers went in this drawn-out drama. At first, it captured me with the sweetness of two people falling in love. Then I realized that all they were going to do is throw 18 hours of misery at a couple struggling in a relationship. 18 hours of suffering matched with 3 minutes of happiness at the end doesn’t work. It leaves the person watching with the misery of the 18 hours, not the 3 minutes of joy.
However, I thought the acting was fantastic. Son Ye Jin was superb as always. So, I binge-watched the 18 hours and enjoyed the drama, but the story itself left me wanting more. The fact that I feel this way tells me that the foundation of the story was good. If only the writers understood the need of the viewer for a better ending. I loved the music.

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