Color Rush (2020)

A bit of a letdown

So I went headfirst into this series after watching beautiful edits, and obviously having pretty high expectations. Unfortunately, it did not end up as good as I had thought it would be.

The 8 episodes did not give it enough time to flesh out their 'Mono n Probe' relationship, and I felt like the love they claim to have, is not entirely clear whether it stems from obsession, or curiosity, or just because they believe it is their fate. There was no clear feelings of romance between the 2 leads, and I thought what came the closest to being romance would be when Probe was teaching Mono about colours, again is that really romantic?

I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt, thinking that it would develop more before the end, but it never really did.

I do give it that the settings of the story is quite interesting, and the actors are fitting for their parts. But it was very rushed, and many scene was choppy and lacking congruency.

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Would i watch it again? Not really. Don't get me wrong, i like it... I didn't expect to like it this much actually. It's a good drama... Not great, lacks some depth, but its good. Chose it to pass the time and because the synopsis sounded interesting but didn't had high expectations. In the end, it surprised me. This guys just feather kissed in the last episode and yet i felt the thrill all trough the show. They created breathless tension just with the looks and little touches and i was always holding my breath when it happened. It's a cute drama, worth the watch but in the end it's not that good to make me want to come back. And don't get me started on the 2nd season. Why ruin a good story by making a 2nd season when one of the main actors didn't return and trying to force another main character in?! Anyways... This one-good. 2nd one-at your own risk.

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Un goût d'inachevé

Je suis sortie un brin déprimée de cette première saison.
Le scénario est complexe et sombre, quasi-dystopique, ce qui change des séries BL habituelles. Il n'y a néanmoins que 8 épisodes de 15mn, ce qui est bien peu pour développer une histoire et a fortiori un monde aussi atypique. Les personnages, torturés et à l'histoire tourmentée, sont intéressants, mais la série s'arrête au moment où leur relation décolle. Beaucoup de problématiques sont ainsi laissées en suspens, à suivre dans la saison 2.
Les acteurs sont inégaux, si le jeu de Yoo Jun m'a séduite, il n'en a pas été de même pour celui de Hur Hyun Jun. Leur opposition, notamment physique, est néanmoins intéressante.
Le drama présente pourtant une cinématographie séduisante, à la photographie léchée, avec un jeu de couleurs assez fascinant, qui est bien entendu à lier au sujet et au titre de la série. L'OST accompagne par ailleurs parfaitement l'histoire.
Il serait passionnant de voir un film ou un long drama prendre à bras le corps un tel sujet, dommage, vraiment.

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Adorable and Interesting Korean BL

I thought the concept was interesting. It creates a great metaphor for homophobia and homosexuality for two young men who come across one another. Monos can see the world only in black and white. Probes are the kind of soulmates of Monos who give them the ability to see color. Monos are said to often become obsessive and violent. There is a subplot about the disappearance of the Monos mother that doesn't go anywhere. I don't know why that is part of the story.

The episodes are short, about 15 minutes for most of them. The last episode warmed my little heart. This is a very chaste BL drama. There are two kisses in the last episode. This is a BL that is more about subtlety of its subject matter than really being romantic.

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This is just not it

Where do I even start. The story was okay, but I don't really like the way it was executed. There was little to no chemistry between the characters, I was uncomfortable watching the kiss scene, the actors looked kinda stiff. I mean to be honest, they looked stiff through the whole show. I seriously don't see why it turned to love so suddenly, like there was no build up. I don't like the concept of obsessive love either. The pacing was hideous. It's either too fast or too slow. It was quite boring to watch. It was also painful to watch how the other guy was trying to get closer to him while he was clearly uncomfortable, especially at the parts where he just took off his mask without any warning. I wouldn't say this is a healthy relationship at all. I mean, it isn't catastrophic, it's still watchable. I just think there are so many better things out there to spend your time on. I have to say that this was a huge waste of my time while my 11 year old sister loved it. I don't mean to send any hate to this show, it was just not my cup of tea. I respect the actors and people who worked on this.

This was my first review and if you don't agree with my opinion, that's fine, I respect yours.

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Wasted potential

The plot is really interesting, but poorly executed.
The "color rush" and its effects are well done, don't get me wrong. The idea that the awe-inducing feeling of being able to see colors for the first time in your life can cause confusion and a phisical reaction is on point, as it is the idea that the fear and desperation of having to go back in a gray world when you lose sight of your Probe can bring Monos to extreme gestures.

Too bad that's where the good work ends.
This same aspect is not further explored if not just enough for the story to go ahead, and the rest of the sub-plots elements are barely aknowledged: Yeon Woo's flashes of (possibly?) someone drownig are too on the nose and yet never addressed; the spirit possessing Min Jae has no purpose; the disappearence of the mother is not really explored either, let alone resolved.

I suppose they were sure to be granted a second season, but even if that's the case, this is NOT how you build a first season. If you don't have the time to resolve all the sub-plots (which I completely understand ) pick only one or two and focus on them, maybe leaving small hints for the ones you will focus on in the second season.

For example let's say in the first season we focus on the color rush and the way Monos become obsessive. Maybe making them seen as a threat to society, as if they're all psychopaths because of their genes. In 120 mins we would have enough time to explore these two things enough. They're linked by what we are experiencing together with Yeon Woo, so it's easy to expand both concepts.

At the same time, in preparation for the second season make Min Jae say weird things every now and then but without explaining why, so that we are left wondering wtf was that about, and the second season can expand on that, giving the pg an interesting backstory.
Same goes for the mistery of the mother. We can watch the aunt go for long travels and have little hints suggesting it's not just work-related but she's up to something, and that all the attacts perpetrated by Monos may be linked to what happened to Yeon Woo's mother. Nothing too on the nose, just little things here and there. Let the viewers put the pieces together. I swear they are smart enough to do that, and it would make them appreciate the whole drama a lot more.

(Also the main couple has zero chemistry, I'm sorry. They feel very awkward whenever there's a more "touchy" scene. Let the poor boys spend some time together or something, I'm begging you!)

The love story between the two main also feels very rushed. This trope is very common in fanfictions, but it works there for two reasons:
1. Usually these fanfictions are not featuring original characters, so even if they are "AUs" in which the pgs don't know each other, the reader already knows and likes the couple and doesn't feel anything missing.
2. It is well known that this trope is under the "soulmates au" umbrella, meaning that the two main characters, being soulmates, immediately feel a strong connection and their feelings develop faster than normal. This is undersood and accepted by the readers.
This drama does not have these 2 points on its side. It could work with the second one, but if that's what it was going for it does a terrible job explaining it to us.

Lastly, but this is just a personal preference, I would have liked to see the world more through Yeon Woo's eyes. He sees everything in scales of gray until he meets Yoo Han, so why not make the bold choice of letting the viewer also see everything gray up until he has the first color rush? and again every time we see something in the pov of Yeon Woo? I think it would have made it all the more impactful. But as I said, personal preference.

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A good drama but it needed more

I can say that this drama was quite good for one of the first BLs I ever watched. The storyline was captivating and I fell for the actor's chemistry. The plot was quite interesting and the concept of 'monos' and 'probes' was executed well throughout the drama, with monos avoiding probes with fear of having a dangerous obsession. This drama could have been quite dark but it was made so that it had possibilities of being light hearted. They did the plot justice and it's a great watch if you want something short but sweet.

Let me say that I know different viewers love different tropes, and I know toxic or forced relationships are not for everyone. The relationship between Yeon Woo and Yoo Han...I wouldn't call it toxic but I also wouldn't call it perfect. Yoo Han seems to captivate Yeon Woo, maybe because of his personality, but I would say their relationship is built upon the 'mono and probe' aspect. It could be considered love but the concept is something I've never seen before in a drama, let alone a BL. Although their type of relationship was not really for me, their acting and chemistry was great and they made the romance look seemingly natural, although it did feel a bit rushed at the end.

Yoo Jun's acting was amazing and his character was well written. Though I feel that the plot to his missing mother needed more storyline to it. He acted exactly like I imagined his character would- reserved but also unsure, and possibly scared of his relationship with Yoo Han. Heo Hyun Jun was a bit robotic at times, but he still did his character justice and served the character 'hot idol' well.

The music was amazing and overall, I believe what this drama needed to truly be 10/10 is more time. In such a short time span (8x15) this story was not able to flow as well as it should have. If the episodes were longer, we could have had so many more possibilites to the characters and the side plots, as well as the 'mono probe' aspect.

Overall, this drama is a great one time watch and a good opener to BL dramas.

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