Semantic Error (2022)

Watch it

Semantic Error is a 2022 Korean bl drama starring two idol actors and it is really good. It's based on a manhwa with the same name but, since I have not read the manhwa, I won't be commenting on the accuracy and what they changed.
Story:
Semantic Error follows the classic enemies to lovers troupe and it's really well done. They don't hate each other for no reason and it's not too drawn out. I would also like to say, does anyone else get neuro divergent vibes from Sangwoo? As a neuro divergent person myself, I saw a lot of what I have in him. Maybe it's just me but I feel like he was autism coded.
Acting:
Jae Chan and Seo Ham do an excellent job portraying these charecters and they have such good chemistry with each other. The side actors were also good and played their roles well.
Music:
Good. It wasn't the most awesome soundtrack I've ever heard in a kdrama, Doom at your service will keep that crown, but it is good and it fits the show. I wonder if Jae Chan or Seo Ham did it.
Rewatch ability:
Yes, it's very rewatchable. I will probably rewatch it anytime I'm really hoping for a season 2 or need something to watch but nothing good is out.
Overall:
Please watch it. It's really good and deserves all the praise it is getting.

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Rushed storyline & cringe lines

The story seemed extremely rushed. I felt like the 2 main casts did not manage to spend enough time together to develop their feelings. It seemed like Jae Young suddenly fell in love with Sang Woo for no apparent reason. Jae Young seems to be bi (from his past relationships), but Sang Woo seemed to be straight before he met Jae Young, so to fall in love with Jae Young without having some sort of realisation or conflict seems unrealistic and strange. The two also weren't even dating, or had only realised their feelings for a week, before Jae Young had to leave for this seemingly important 'Dex'. (which was not explained at all throughout the film. Is it a job offer? And could Jae Young actually leave right now for the job if he had yet to graduate?) At that point, I dont think it is very logical to sacrifice your future for someone that is not even your boyfriend.

As a CS major in Uni, I think certain parts of the script were really cringe and difficult to listen to, as they had forcefully added some CS jargon that I had never heard in casual conversation before in all my years in Uni. Things like "I think you are an error". Things like the resolution of the last bug (in the last episode) were also very cringe -- Sang Woo mentioned that "It was because of the wrong return value" -- which is a really careless/stupid bug as it is a very simple fix, so he should have been frustrated at having been stuck at that bug for so long, instead of acting cool. (Also, where are all the laptops + chargers in the Software Engineering class??) I am also slightly disappointed that there weren't any scenes which showed them actually coding or creating the game. I think more research could have been done to make the scenes more natural.

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Phenomenal Show.

As someone who loves the BL genre this show excelled in so many different aspects and it just left me begging for more of them, at first I wasn’t much of a fan of the MCs but as time went on I slowly fell in love with them and soon realised the endless amounts of chemistry and talent they had, their acting was phenomenal and you could really sense the emotions and the chemistry between them, the overall story of the show was somewhat different but also somewhat very similar to quite a few BLs but regardless of that it excelled at being a BL, I would rewatch this show and most likely will in due time to get a new feel and perspective on it, and see how it is the second time round, whether I enjoyed it just as much, maybe more or maybe less, overall I can’t find many flaws with this story, the characters are mostly likeable once you get used to them, the chemistry is definitely there and the plot/story is quite good and unique in its own way, only problem is that I wish there was more and I wish it was longer.

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The impact of Semantic Error in my life can be seen on this long review.

Writing this review in the middle of crying because I just finished the most impactful show I’ve ever watched. I am so attached to them, I don’t even want this to end. Semantic Error beat up other shows from my favorite list and made its way to the top. I love this show with all my heart! It always took me 1-2 hours to finish a single episode with a 20+ minute duration. I keep pausing to take screenshots, replaying every single scene, screaming internally, and anything that makes me release my happiness. You know it’s a great drama if you always feel the urge to watch the next episode after finishing the current one. Waiting for days really tests my patience to its limit.

Everything about Semantic Error is a masterpiece; the excellent acting skills of the actors, visual element and cinematography, poetic filmmaking, well-suited lyrics of the songs along with its high quality of arrangements, fine storyline, the unbreakable chemistry, and more. There’s no dull moments and every single episode is worth it! Both Park Seoham and Park Jaechan are super duper handsome who can act naturally. Their height difference is extra adorable and their pointed nose when facing each other is so visual material.

The story begins when a junior student Cho Sangwoo, removes the names of his seniors who left all the tasks of their group project to himself. Then, the ERROR came to him as Jang Jaeyoung starts messing up his well-disciplined life. Their silly and childish pranks are so cute; wearing a full red outfit to irritate the other since it was his most hated color, taking his favorite seating spot in the room by entering the school early, and buying all his favorite black coffee in the vending machine. Jang Jaeyoung spends too much effort just to annoy Cho Sangwoo. The OST “Romantic Devil” by Coldin is well-suited for Jangyeon’s mannerism and action towards Sangwoo.

It is a clever implication of visuals when the amount of irritating red color on Jaeyoung’s clothes decreases as he gets to know Sangwoo more and more, until he wears nothing read in the fourth episode. The same with Sangwoo who stops wearing a hat when Jaeyoung told him that he is more handsome without it. The sophisticated fashion styles are worthy of praise, perfect for the role of the character! Another roller coaster of emotions that I was not prepared to see on the next episode. The way Jaeyoung ran off from school to go back to his apartment and visit Sangwoo who lives next door to him because he thought that the reason why he is absent is because he was sick. Worrying is a big sign of love. Then, a new set of walls was built once again within them because Sangwoo has now experienced an unusual kind of desire. In the manhwa and animated version, Sangwoo had an erection the moment Jaeyoung whispered and asked him if he wanted to watch a movie. Jaeyoung was confused and mad at the same time because he didn’t know the real reason behind Sangwoo’s sudden change of attitude. Funny that he remembers Sangwoo's nickname and heaps his anger onto his friend who is eating lettuce that time. But the way he fixes the bike even after saying that he will leave Sangwoo alone is so cute. Jaeyoung be like: “I am mad at you, but I still cared a lot for you.” One of my favorite parts from this episode is when our befuddled boy stalked Jaeyoung’s Instagram account and began to orally comment silly words to his post then took several screenshots from his feed. This made me crazy madly in love! Sangwoo began to realize that deleting Jaeyoung in his life is not the best thing to do since it affects him so much. Then, he decided to visit Jaeyoung part-time place and the last part left me hanging. Sangwoo called Jaeyoung “Hyung” and told him to hang up the phone since he had something important to say.

The scenes from Episode 6 are so fluffy and surely sent a huge amount of butterflies in my stomach. Such a bomb episode that heated the fire for the start of their flirting stage. From Sangwoo reconciling with Jaeyoung and asking him to work together in his game to Jaeyoung being whipped by Sangwoo’s sad facial expression when he saw the drawing he left in his proposal from their first meeting. He can’t help but to feel weak and admit his defeat hahaha cutie! Love can really make one smile as we saw several smiling moments from the both of them. Sangwoo’s once in a blue moon smile was reserved for Jaeyoung’s silly and romantic actions. With the additional new OST “Can You Stay” by Coldin, everything is perfect. The lyrics are so relatable to the characters’ bloom of romance. I laugh so hard at how they saved each other’s number as ‘Freeloader 3’ and ‘Worst Boss Ever,’ but feel lovely with their phone conversation. Little touch means a lot. The patting of their heads romantically executed. Never seen so many actors who perform a simple yet full of emotions rolling in their glares by just touching the toppest part of their partner’s body. The cute love triangle is also the best. There’s no big drama coming from the two rivals, both of them are playing fair to gets Sangwoo’s heart. Jaeyoung respects Sangwoo’s personal boundaries on touch by grabbing a part of Sangwoo’s bag instead of a part of his body. Then it comes to Jaeyoung’s studio when Sangwoo is being bossy to let Jaeyoung clean the trash in the room. He even made a comedic rude approach to Yuna hahaha. I lost control of myself when Sangwoo initiated to steal a kiss from Jaeyoung who was pretending to sleep or awaken by his kiss that time. That 4 seconds of their first kiss was being replayed by myself more than 20 times.

That intimate, blistering, passionate, and alluring exchange of kisses was the best! I am lost for words. I just keep rewatching the scene, silently screaming with a wormy-like action because my stomach is fully loaded with butterflies. The running and chasing moments were so cute. Sangwoo taking his feeling as an error is understandable since he is a man of logic and never felt that kind of emotion before. I adore the way Jaeyoung handled the situation by -initiating to have a deeper talk about their relationship carefully; suggesting a week/s of trial of dating; giving Sangwoo more time to think about his feelings; and the consent that has always been applied. I need time to breathe for every exchange of lines coming from them. It was so sexy and delightful to heared. The cinematic purple color was used by the Director to express the couple’s feelings, Sangwoo is blue and Jaeyoung is red, when they start falling for each other the color starts to mix and turn purple. From the healthy rivalry of Jaeyoung and Jihye, I almost collapsed the moment Jaeyoung told Jihye that he likes Sangwoo and threw several compliments to describe how likable Sangwoo is. He set a boundary because he knew that he had a greater chance to win Sangwoo’s heart better than anyone else. On the other hand, Sangwoo asking Yuna for love advice particularly Jaeyoung’s past relationships was so cute along with both of them agreeing to call each other by a particular nickname. The Veggie Man that Jaeyoung’s draws to Sangwoo’s arm was another cute moment. Then, outside of a romantic night sky view, they hold hands and embrace hugs. Every little physical touch in this show is caressing and heartwarming. Jaeyoung embracing Sangwoo like a baby in his broad body is tremendously comforting to watch. His sincere love is noticeable.

I therefore conclude that I am literally gay after watching the finale episode. I want someone as loving as Jaeyoung and as cute as Sangwoo. On the first day of October at 12:10am, a hot suitor personally greeted his lettuce baby and presented him a cute yet messy (blame the pen) little cake. Sangwoo humorously calling out that he is not one of those idiot main characters from a romance novel that let his partner prioritize love over dream is a good breakthrough of norms. I am also grateful that Jihye’s one-sided love has given a warm closure. She even followed Jaeyoung order to call Sangwoo as Mr. Cho hahaha salute to this girl. Also, the breaking point of Sangwoo’s realization is when he kept staring at the fading Veggie Man pen-tattoo. That leads him to cycling and running to find Jaeyoung's whereabouts. Our robot finally gained his confidence and told Jaeyoung three times that ‘he likes him’ and stole a kiss once again. The romantic scenery of them exchanging hugs and kisses outside and transitioning the lovey-dove act of love inside the workplace was another special moment to be remembered. The way they smiled after each kiss was so pure, that shy smile from Sangwoo when Jaeyoung referred to himself as his boyfriend was the cutest. Then Sangwoo proved that he has an ISTJ personality by having an organized file folders for Jaeyoung’s photos. This scene is so funny! I can feel Jaeyoung’s joyful heart. Cuteness overload! Sangwoo and I are both ISTJ and I felt the sudden connection hahaha and the best pair for an ISTJ person based on the MBTI match on the internet are people who are ENFP which also Jaeyoung’s MBTI characteristic. Sangwoo and Jaeyoung are indeed a perfect match! Their adorable sofa fight was too much to handle, my heart exploded from extreme happiness. The way they end the finale from the laptop indicating the text “Semantic Error” to “Clear” is the most satisfying ending knowing that Jang Jaeyoung and Cho Sangwoo finally fell in love with each other.

After watching each episode of Semantic Error, it affects my enjoyment from watching other shows. The standard set by this show is outstandingly great since I felt nothing except absolute boredness when watching other BL shows that aired at the same time. Semantic Error replaced Light On Me as my favorite all time K-BL series. Both are absolutely great dramas, the power of WATCHA! There’s no other K-BL that made me feel the same kind of addiction I have while watching these two masterpiece shows from Watcha.

It is so sad that we have to say goodbye to this show and at the same time send Park Seo Ham to the military. We will be waiting for Seoham’s return and possibly a second season of this show. To Park Seo Ham and Park Jae Chan, thank you for giving us the best Jang Jae Young and Chu Sang Woo. Your chemistry is a god-tier. The power couple of the year 2022. Gonna miss the sweet moments from the promotions, behind the scene moments, IG interactions, and on-screen scenes. To all of the other cast, director, crew, to Coldin who sang the two best OSTs from the show, and to everyone who’s been part of this amazing show, we are all so grateful for all of you! Thank you so much!

Semantic Error, you will always be my favorite show. I love you with all my heart.

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Woah, this was a hell of a ride! I literally went through an emotional roller coaster watching this. I really love how they didn't deviate from the manhua and finished it beautifully. The production was awesome. This drama is like a rare gem! The only problem is that this series was sooo short, but it didn't give that rushed feeling because each charector had their own time to understand how they really felt and they went straight for it! At the end of each episode I found myself not be able to wait for the episode, this was an exciting ride.
At first I was worried because this is a great story, and I didn't want them to ruin that in the drama but it turned out really well. The last episode was beautiful too. I liked everything from where they started and where they are now!
Acting: I would give their acting a 9.5, it was really good for beginners like Jaechan, they did well. The role suited them perfectly and they executed their feelings very well.
I'm giving this a 10/10 and it is a must watch if you're a BL fan ^^

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People might hate me, but it has to be said

For people who read Semantic Error webtoon might have a high expectation for this drama. I waited months for this drama to air. First thing I saw this drama in Mydramalist upcoming, the lead actors detail had not even come out yet. But once it airs, the story is just too different from the original and not in a good way. A lot of people said this is the best BL drama, but clearly there are other BL dramas that are far better than this, like - Light on Me, or other Thai, Taiwanese, Chinese BL dramas.

The acting in this drama is not too good too. Jang Jae Young expressions are awkward, and Chu Sang Woo is literally flat af. I know that Chu Sang Woo personality is supposed to be boring and blah, but even webtoon version can express Chu Sang Woo better than the drama.

No hate, just my opinion, probably one of the worst BL drama I've seen so far, and not even going to talk about Cherry Blossoms After Winter, because I read the webtoon too, and had high expectation, but left with a disappointment. so both of these dramas are just not it. If y'all enjoy and love this drama, I'd recommend reading the webtoon version of both Semantic Error and Cherry Blossoms After Winter, you'll be surprised of how good the webtoon version of them.

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Best Korean BL Drama to Date

Korea has had some catching up to do to compete with BL dramas from Thailand and the Philippines, but "Semantic Error" narrows the wide gap considerably. This one fires on all cylinders. The story is very realistic and captures the personality of a rational thinker (Sang Woo) perfectly. I really appreciated the fact we could focus on our main characters without the padding and distractions of multiple sub plots. It's also very cinematic, like a top flight feature film, without a constant stream of unnecessary dialogue. The photography sparkles and the music score is right on point. I found myself savoring each episode 2 or 3 times. The cast is amazing -- no doubt helped by the well-drawn script. So, it pains me not to give "Semantic Error" a full 10 but it falls a bit short of the gold standard set by Thai BL dramas like "Why R U?" that take us beyond a basic bromance of hugging, holding hands and a little kissing. The conclusion leaves open the possibility of a sequel, so maybe we'll get something a little more interesting, like a scene at a jjimjilbang?

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Cute But Typical BoyLove Show

I never read the manga, so this review is solely based on the show. As per most S.Korean BL dramas, there is hardly any physical contact and few kisses. The 2ML had decent chemistry, given that this series was extra short. The production was good and the directing okay. No real special effects or cinematography that stood out. It's easy to watch, very little drama. The changes for both ML, came on fast and would've felt more realistic and impactful had there been more episodes to build each character and their backstory. Sang Woo obviously had OCD, but maybe a little bit autistic too (hence why little emotion shown, always in his own bubble and didn't like to be touched). As for the other reviews saying that they were straight and suddenly were gay, that's a stereotype. I know a lot of gay men, that you wouldn't know were gay, until they got drunk.

This show was the usual formula for the BL/hate to love/university crush story in S.Korea. Still it's a gentle introduction to BL, if it's your first time watching such. It's annoying that the last episode was mostly used to recap what we've already seen and could've been used to show us what they were like 3 or 4 yrs into the future, to give us real character growth and perception of their relationship. All in all it is okay, the music wasn't outstanding but fitting and i would rewatch it, if I need something fast and cute.

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A simple story well told.

Well, the title of my review kinda says it all. Boy meets boy, boy - against all of boy's "better judgement" - falls for boy, boy's emotions take control of boy. And that's what happens to both boys. "Semantic Error" is just an old-fashioned love story without the unnecessary forced complications thrown in to create drama. Whatever drama unfolds is about as natural as you can get - and it's one of the most realistic portrayals of a budding romance that I've come across in a long time.

The actors work beautifully together - it's like watching an evenly matched tennis game. There are so many moments of "I know that guy/girl", that at times I felt like I was watching my own friends fall in love. Couldn't ask for more. Well written and well directed, I gave its "Rewatch Value" a straight up 10 because I'm planning to re-watch the whole thing this weekend.

One last thing I'll add - I loved the lighting. I know it's an odd thing to say, but I work in film and television and I was so happy to see that neither the art director nor the lighting director just randomly throw up a million twinkling lights in every other scene. That alone managed to pull me even further into the story without them distracting me for a second and taking away from the story. Well done.

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One of the Best Korean BLs yet.

Listen. I knew it was coming but damn I didn't want this show to end.

First, I saw someone say this in another review and I can't agree more: Korean BLs have so much potential. This show is just one example. I'm so excited to see what will be adapted and created next.

Links 'n info.
This was adapted from the ongoing Korean Manhwa Semantic Error that was written by Jeosuri and illustrated by Angy.
- You can read the official English translations of the webtoon here, https://manta.net/episodes/4778 on Manta Comics. This is the only official site for English translations.
- I think you can read the original Korean manhwa on Ridibooks.
- English translations of the novel are available on the Sleepy Translations site here, https://sleepytranslations.com/series/semantic-error/.
- Ridibooks, the publisher of this novel, has set up an IG (https://www.instagram.com/jaeyoung_j_/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/jaeyoung_j_) account for Jaeyoung, the ML.
- There's also an anime somewhere online.

Characters ‘n relationships.
I will say it a million times: Park SeoHam and Park JaeChan are PERFECT for their roles. Seriously. I could not have asked for a better Sangwoo and Jaeyoung. Their chemistry, their dynamics, and their character development was great. All of the little moments between them and the actions they did make sense. Everything had reasoning behind it and you could tell the two leads understood their character.

I have emotional feelings for Yuna. The bisexual (or pan, they didn't specify) representation had me crying. That women made my day and was the highlight of the episode. Also, Jihye- she's so cool. Her character was never that annoying side girl in a BL, she was like a side love interest but became a total bro.

Plot 'n pacing.
The pacing of this was so good. KBLs are notoriously short and that can sometimes make the plot and romance feel rushed but this show was completely different. Everything made sense. The pacing of the relationship between the two leads never felt rushed or uncomfortable, it was gradual and worked great with the 20-30min episodes. There was a good balance of plot, cute romance, and platonic friends hanging out scenes.

Dislikes + Why 9/10 rating?
I don't have very many dislikes for this show. This is up there on my top Korean BLs list now. They gave me everything I wanted and more. However, there are two things I felt was not so great:
1. I can see the comparison of the manhwa to the tv show being a problem for people. I don't have any issues with it but this has already been talked about a bit so it's understandable.
2. The beginning was a little sketch tbh. The stalking and insane amount of shit Jaeyoung did to annoy Sangwoo was honestly creepy. It never felt malicious, like he would actually hurt him but still. This only lasted 1-2 episodes so it wasn't that bad but It was not my favorite.
Other than that, certain moments felt repetitive and cliché at times but not to bad.

TL;DR: Watch it!! It's a great Korean BL! Definitely recommend watching if you're looking for a college, arts-y, and funny BL. Also, worth it to rewatch!!

CONTENT WARNINGS: Some stalking and light violence. On screen kisses but no sexual content.

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Unexpectedly good!

This drama really surprised me. The story is simple but quite interesting and manages to hold us sufficiently to keep watching and the characters are very charismatic. The “error” idea with Sangwoo was really clever. The chemistry between the actors is good and in general I thought the story was developed satisfactory within the limits of the drama. The main actors were really good and cute together, and they fit their characters. I didn’t feel a awkward performance at all between them.

Of course, the fact that it's only 20 minutes in 8 episodes means that the characters won’t be exactly super well-developed and we won’t get deep into their story and their emotions, but for me the amount they showed here was fine enough for me to buy their story and their romance. Unfortunately, I think Korean dramas will always have this kind of problem because the duration of each episode is too small for having a good development but among all Korean bls I've watched, this was one was definitely one of my favs and even though it wasn't perfect, it came pretty close. I thought the ending was satisfying and it was a good conclusion.

Overall I really liked it!

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