A beautiful, Uncomfortable Series

So, like most of the review will tell you, don't start this show if you're expecting the typical BL where they have a push and pull for 4 episodes, get together in the 5th, drama in the 7th and then happy ending in the 8th. If you're expecting fun, sexy, cute BL. watch something else. This is nothing like that. This is the story of pushing boundaries that should not be crossed, and 3 people who are all right and wrong in their own way. I've divided my review into sections for easy reading. It's actually my first review so bear with me lol.

Cinematography
This part of the show is excellent. This show makes use of blues, greens, greys, and black, sometimes contrasting with the occasional white. This is seen down to the clothing. No one wears bright colors, and even the house itself is black, inside and out. It sets the tone for the show with each episode. Their use of greenery to transition their scenes is also good. Lastly the show makes use of objects in all their scenes as a way to add to the dialogue. Lines made by the furniture in the house that separates the two, that Wang attempts to walk around. Globes and maps in every area. Even the trophy. Lots of thought was put into this. Probably the best aspect of the show.

Acting

The acting in this show really was off the charts. Amazing these actors dont have more roles. I felt the sadness of each character, and Pond portrayed Wang in exactly how he was meant to be portrayed. There is a lot of dialogue and story telling, that does not include flashbacks, so its dependent on the actors to portray the feelings of the characters, so that it feels like they're opening up to you. very theatre and very risky on the director.


Music
Nothing to shout about. The music is soft and subtle, sad but not loud and overbearing. The focus is on the characters, and the music tries to keep that focus.

Story

Okay, this is where I begin my dislikes. The story is beautifully told, but as more is revealed, you find yourself wishing that the things that you think may be true didnt happen. And then they do. Its told in a way where you can see where each character is coming from, but also you don't support any of them, and don't support the relationship of the mains. Interestingly enough, I think that may have been the point of the story. It's not a romance. It's a story about healing and faults. The relationship between Wang and In I simply could not get behind. Something about In and his father being in ill fated love, In being there for his birth, calling himself uncle, and then being in love with the child 20 years later did not sit right with me. Wang may have felt feelings, but the addition of his father made it uncomfortable, and you feel the elephant in the room every time. "What's wrong with loving the man my father once loved?" is 100lb question, and the silence to that question was deafening. As for In he's a coward. and though he is intelligent and speaks well, in the end he will continue to run. But i'm glad he did, because there was realistically no hope for the relationship. Wang is not a replacement for Siam. For mom, loosen that leash on your child. you don't own him. But also, your child telling you he loves the man that your deceased ex husband also loved and divorced you for is a LOT to ask someone to understand.

Overall was a decent drama. I felt pain, annoyance, general discomfort but also enjoyed the way they told it. 100% wouldve gotten a lower review if it had a happy ending for the mains. This drama is definitely not for everyone, but again, I don't think it was meant to be.

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A masterpiece among BLs

I'm writing this review after watching this series several months ago and then rewatching it after watching a few more BLs. My view of it remains the same. This drama was a masterpiece. This drama was actually the second BL drama I ever watched, with the first one being a few years prior. I was actually thoroughly surprised at the depth that this story held, and the sad and tragic way this story was told. It's a melodrama among BLs. which I cant say is uncommon, however none have made me weep like this one has.

The writer's choice to make the reincarnated In and Korn into modern day characters that fall in love once after committing double suicide due to the homophobia of their parents by itself is just genius. The looks, the feelings that each of them had when they saw each other for the first time, the flashbacks of their past life, wow. It was a story that flowed so well to me. and one that manages to address most of the grey areas that one has. Opening the drama with the double suicide was absolutely wild but set the tone for the entire series. It was not going to only be cute and happy. It was grief, longing, desperation and ill fated love.

Some things I loved:

- Fluke was acting his behind off. He put his all into Pharm's character, and the trauma he got from In witnessing Korn kill himself stays true throughout the entire series. I felt his sadness, his fear. I was captivated by his character.
-traditional Thai desserts. This was a good little addition to the story, and the way each of the desserts he made was connected to his past life just made it even more enjoyable. a story with proper connections!
- Opposite personalities. Dean taking In's confidence and pursuing Pharm and Pharm taking Korn's reserved nature but opening up to Dean was also a refreshing take. Of course each person has their own personality, but this was just a little treat.
- storytelling, just overall the way the story was unveiled I was on the edge of my seat


Things I disliked

-Manaow. I'm sorry, fight me! I could not get behind her over acting and antics like girl please sit down!
- Family tree. Confused us all with the mixing of families in the reincarnation process, like are they distant cousins now? (i know theyre not related by blood technically but also hmm) They couldve just kept it in the same families lol.
- Reincarnation after 1 generation. I mean I get that theres no hard n fast rules to reincarnation but 1 generation seems real quick to me. But anyway

Overall
The things I disliked were ignorable and thats why I only took off half point for the story. Overall I really liked it and have been recommending to many people. worth the watch.

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Bittersweet Time travel

I must say I didnt expect much going in to this drama. It was an 8 ep korean Bl with 20 mins per episode, I mean what could they even say in this short runtime? I'll say though, it did exceed my expectations. They made great use of the short runtime to tell a pretty full story. The problem is however, most of the time goes into telling the story and not enough time spent on their relationship building. But to be honest, they did the best with what they were given

The actual premise of the show is good. It's fresh and new in the BL scene. Time travel, fight to save someone that saved you, and romance. My only problem is that, the line between jaewoo seeing him as an uncle and then seeing him as a lover seemed so thin it almost makes it hard to support. Like yea that's your savior from 15 years ago and you look up to him and obsessively blame yourself for what happened, but now (very early on) it's turned into love? hm. Then There's Ji hoon's side, we kinda dont really see a smooth progression from him finding Jaewoo really creepy to somehow taking an interest in this kinda creepy man to falling head over heels for him. It just happens, and then you're like oh okay i guess they like each other.

Once the romance is establish by magic and plot convenience though, the story flows well. The bittersweet sacrifice both of them were willing to make for the person that they loved was heart wrenchingly beautiful. It was a story that was meant to end in tragedy no matter what happened. Someone would always die. And so theres the loop they created. "come see me again" oh beautiful. Now my only thing is it's never explained how Jaewoo got into the past in the first place or how the magic phone worked but yknow what, we'll keep it under the rug. All in all, not a bad drama at all. The music, like many kdramas was great to me, and i did enjoy the acting of the characters.

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