Cette critique peut contenir des spoilers
Un bon BL qui sort des sentiers battus
Le scénario qui sort résolument des sentiers battus des BL aux synopsis rose bonbon, la réalisation de qualité et le jeu tout en finesse des acteurs ont permis à UWMA de devenir l'un des classiques du genre, même s'il n'est pas exempt de tout reproche.La série est basée sur la concept d'âme sœur et fait intervenir quatre couples, dont deux principaux, à deux époques différentes. Le scénario ne recule pas devant la difficulté, et traite de manière sérieuse et responsable (ce qu'on a rarement vu dans les dramas BL) de sujets difficiles, tels que l'homophobie, le suicide, la souffrance, la culpabilité, le pardon. Le drama alterne avec aisance les moments de vie quotidienne, avec ses joies et ses difficultés, et les moments plus tourmentés voire torturés. Certaines scènes sont dures et peuvent être difficiles à supporter.
Les acteurs sont formidables, particulièrement les deux "bottoms" principaux, joués par Fluke et Earth, d'une fraîcheur et d'un naturel désarmants, qui passent avec une facilité déconcertante du rire aux larmes. J'ai été moins réceptive aux personnages, sérieux et ténébreux, des "tops", mais cela permet d'opposer les deux moitiés des deux couples principaux et de comprendre les choix différents opérés par chacun.
La critique principale que je pourrais faire, et qui m'a fait baisser la note globale donnée au drama, se situe du côté du montage. Celui-ci n'est pas linéaire, on passe d'une époque à une autre, au lieu de suivre chaque histoire dans un sens chronologique, ce qui fait sens ; cela permet en effet de monter en puissance et de dévoiler les liens entre les deux couples au fur et à mesure, et cela permet, ce qui n'est vraiment pas négligeable, de mélanger scènes difficiles et scènes plus joyeuses. Le problème est que cela est fait de manière un peu brouillonne, ce qui provoque une certaine confusion, notamment concernant le fil narratif du couple initial. On a du mal à suivre l'évolution de leur histoire et les changements de leur état d'esprit et de leur comportement. Cela crée un trou que le spectateur doit remplir seul et, ce qui est plus problématique, cela nous éloigne des personnages, qui ont pourtant besoin de toute notre empathie.
Je pourrais également râler sur les placements de produits, vraiment trop flagrants, mais on a l'habitude, et sur le mauvais niveau des "nageurs" du club de natation (pas nécessaire de les montrer plonger si les acteurs ne savent pas plonger !), mais je rentre dans les détails.
Au final, les couples sont séduisants (j'ai parlé des deux couples principaux, mais WinTeam joué par BounPrem est à croquer, cf. leur spin-off Between Us), les acteurs incroyables et le traitement du sujet, casse-gueule, délicat et intelligent.
A voir.
PS : l'OST est fantastique.
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J'ai pleuré, souri et encore pleuré surtout pour l'épisode final, l'interprétation de Fluke est juste formidable, le seul reproche que je lui ferai et cela est certainement dû au scénario ou autre c'est sa gène face à Dean qui est tout de même l'amour de sa vie tout au long de la série...
Je le recommande vivement et espère voir une suite pour connaître l'évolution des autres couples formés durant l'histoire...
Je suis triste que cette aventure se termine mais également heureuse de ce dénouement....
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Cette critique peut contenir des spoilers
Une BL super mimi qui m'a tout de suite donné envie de regarder jusqu'au bout ; c'est très touchant, émouvant, j'ai beaucoup pleuré. Les acteurs jouent bien, même si la gêne de Pharm est parfois un peu lourde (mais adorable à la fois) ; l'histoire est poignante, ce drâme m'a vraiment émue. Je trouve que c'est bien réalisé, et les musiques sont très sympas à écouter. Je n'ai pas lu non plus de résumé, j'ai juste fait confiance à une recommandation, et je n'ai pas été déçue. Tous les personnages sont interressants, et la fin est chouette ^^ Je n'ai pas beaucoup regardé de BL, mais en tout cas, l'histoire de ce drama m'a passionnée car le thème fait partie de mes préférences et ça m'a vraiment fait plaisir de voir qu'il s'agissait justement de réincarnation ; de plus, ça me donne envie de m'interresser à la cuisine thaï ! Je vous le recommande, c'est vraiment bien. Cet avis était-il utile?
Un BL à l'histoire profonde et poignante.
Cette série ne peut aller ailleurs que dans mon top 5. Elle se détache tellement des BL traditionnels, en ne reprenant aucun clichés habituels du genre.Le scénario est profond, intense, perturbant et touchant à la fois.
J'ai eu l'impression d'incohérence à plusieurs moments, mais en réalité, l'histoire a été tellement bien travaillée qu'on se rend compte un peu plus tard que c'était volontaire, que tout avait été pensé. Certains voudront certainement le revisionner pour comprendre pleinement cette série.
Je ne suis pas tombé sous le charme de Dean que je trouve trop plat, trop inexpressif à mon goût, mais c'est largement compensé par la personnalité de Pharm qui est à croquer. Je découvre cet acteur avec grand plaisir, sa manière d'incarner le personnage m'a conquis.
Pour le couple secondaire, je ne peux pas dire grand chose car on n'en voit ou sait presque rien étant donné qu'ils seront au centre de la suite "Between Us", que je n'ai pas encore vu. Ici je les trouve mignon et j'ai hâte de découvrir ce qui leur arrive.
Seul vrai point négatif pour moi, les Longueurs à travers toute la série.
Un plan où le personnage frappe à la porte, on va le filmer à attendre plus d'une minute.
S'il se promène, on va le regarder marcher 3 à 4 minutes...
Et c'est comme ça un peu tout le temps et pour tout.
Sans parler des Flash Back du passé qui reviennent en boucle, si bien qu'à la fin, là où ils sont les plus importants, on les a trop vu et l'émotion s'est en partie envolée, ce qui est très dommage.
J'ai d'ailleurs, très souvent fait avance rapide, ce qui m'a un peu fatigué mais ne m'a pas empêché de savourer cette série que je ne voulais pas voir s'arrêter.
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Drama That Transcends Its Genre
Until We Meet Again is unique drama in its genre in many ways: it has unique story, exceptional acting and tackles some very hard, but important, subjects like homophobia, domestic violence and suicide, but also love, friendship and forgiveness. What this drama does not offer is instant gratification.The only reason I rated the story 7.5 and not higher is not actually the story itself but rather the execution in some parts. Some moments were stretched too long and that time could have been used on some other moments which were cut too short. I didn't mind the pacing which seems to be a major complaint about this show. I actually liked to feel live I was living with these characters.
In spite of major fantastical element (reincarnation), the biggest plus for this drama is that it depicts a healthy, positive, loving, realistic gay relationship (two if you include In and Korn, in spite of their ending, three if you include Win and Team). Nothing is sensationalized or fetishized, there are no toxic tendencies, . On the other hand, homophobia and, especially, suicide are treated seriously and respectfully . Their consequences are serious, horrifying and lasting, the entire families devastated.
The other strength of UWMA is its spectacular cast. From the main actors (Fluke especially) to the people with barely two lines, from novices to veterans, every role was filled by someone who cared, someone who did their best. And I don't think production team slouched either. Their efforts are visible on the screen.
I could write much more about this drama, but I know I would inevitably stray into spoiler territory and I don't want to do that to those who still haven't seen this gem. I just know that this show will be re-watched and re-watched and re-watched in the months and years to come. I am jealous of those who have yet to discover it.
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1Cette critique peut contenir des spoilers
BL that manages to be more than BL in some ways
In a nutshell:The story is interesting though some may bemoan the way the series doesn’t seem to have a major conflict or point of tension for quite a few episodes. However, the series never feels slow or boring to me. There is a lot to love about this series because it doesn’t always tell the story in an in-your-face manner. But this could well be its weakness too. For example, if it had emphasized how one of the main characters’ (Pharm) incomplete recollection of his previous life early could pose a problem to their relationship, the tension and suspense built could have maintained the interest of more viewers.
In a coconut shell:
The series starts with the tragic double suicide of Korn/In, certainly not the lighthearted schoolboys-fall-in-love stuff that is so common in BL (though the characters are students). The double suicide is the result of parental objections to their relationship because of their sexual orientation, a rather serious consequence compared to popular BL series that treat the topic of objecting parents less seriously (e.g. Together with Me: The Next Chapter in which the parents change their minds, and Dark Blue Kiss in which the parents are surprisingly open-minded). The seriousness in tone, though not all that persistent, makes it different from a lot of BL that focus on the couples’ relationship without such a strong regard for the society in which the story is set). Where the Dean/Pharm story is concerned, the use of common BL tropes (like a “straight” guy falling in love with another guy) is rather sparing. This may be a good thing, but the side couple (WinTeam) may appeal to BL fans more and may be more conventionally BL.
In the parts of the story that use common BL tropes, the series does become more like BL and somewhat less realistic. The inclusion of a BL fangirl of sorts (Manaow) and the way Dean’s swimming team do not seem to bat an eyelid when their captain brings his boyfriend with him on a team outing are where BL fans find themselves in familiar terrain, though we can guess how often that happens in real life in Thailand. Interestingly, these elements seem to be used to contrast past and present, making a point about how increased openness towards homosexuality in society makes a huge difference for same-sex couples and even the two fathers who live in regret after their sons’ deaths. The society in the Dean/Pharm parts of the story feels much less oppressive that the atmosphere in the Korn/In story. We can see this from the minor characters’ behaviours: whereas Pharm’s friends accept and encourage his relationship with Dean, In’s good friend only quietly feels happy for him when he sees In together with Korn. Such subtle touches make the story rather interesting and worth re-watching.
There doesn’t seem to be a rush to bring the plot to new heights of tension. There is neither an excessive preoccupation with kissing and sex scenes nor an aversion to them. Although a number of viewers seem to find UWMA to be rather slow-moving or that it’s not clear where the story is going, I have a different opinion. In fact, the story is fairly well-paced, with the flashbacks seldom being unnatural as they show the parallels between the previous lives and the present lives. I suppose one thing that frustrates some viewers is the way the Dean/Pharm storyline doesn’t seem to have any obvious conflict for a large part of the series, which may give the impression that it is going nowhere. However, I like the way events are foreshadowed and how the characters slowly recall and come to terms with their past lives. As I watched each episode on a YouTube playlist, I get to the last part before I know it (it’s quite a different experience when it comes to series like I Am Your King Season 2).
Another aspect of the series that I like is how Dean and Pharm have different personalities from their past lives. The differences are more subtle in Dean, who seems calmer but also more determined to make his relationship work out than Korn. As for Pharm, while he’s clearly attracted to and in love with Dean, he does not rush into the relationship. As a really good cook, Pharm is set apart from In who cannot cook to save his life. This difference isn’t merely superficial for the patience and skill with which he cooks indicates a different personality. Both Dean and Pharm seem to have “learnt” something from their previous lives. The dynamics of their relationship are somewhat different too. While we see more passion between Korn and In, we see more tenderness between Dean and Pharm. The interplay between the parallels and differences indirectly creates suspense: will the couple finally have a happy ending, or will history repeat itself? Most of the time, the story seems geared towards a happy ending but there is foreshadowing of a problem to come, especially in a scene where a monk reminds the couple of the importance of forgiveness. In the end, we see that Dean/Pharm must reconcile with the people in their past lives and settle their unfinished business before moving on as themselves in their present lives. It seems paradoxical in the end, but it makes sense: Dean and Pharm have acquired new identities and cannot be living in the shadows of Korn and In forever, so while accepting that they are reincarnations of Korn and In, they must still be able detach themselves from their past lives. (An interesting scene in the last episode with Dean and Pharm dreaming of Korn and In as third parties and not as themselves for once shows that they have finally managed to move on as Dean and Pharm, not reincarnations of Korn and In.)
I also love WinTeam in this series although it often looks like the WinTeam scenes are a teaser/test for a possible Season 2 which will focus on them. I would love to watch a Season 2 with WinTeam as the focus though even with the same production team, I believe a Season 2 with WinTeam will be enjoyable in a rather different way. If this series doesn’t appeal to you, you could still give Season 2 a chance if it is made.
Edit: After considering why I've been feeling that something is a little lacking in this series despite my love for it, I realize that there isn't that much on how the characters fall in love. For Dean and Pharm, each immediately feels like the other is the one on first sight because of their past lives, so we can only look to Korn and In. But while we can see the depth of Korn and In's love, we don't see enough of what makes their love so strong. Our involvement in their story would be stronger if there had been a bit more showing Korn and In's love for each other.
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I suggest all prospective audience to ignore negative reviews before watching it. Only audience with “taste”, “feeling” and “empathy” appreciate the story, beautiful soundtracks, excellent acting, superb chemistry, great casting and character development.
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Cette critique peut contenir des spoilers
The plot had so much potential with the reincarnation trope leading the story, but it was never really used. While I enjoyed the beginning episodes quite a lot, at some point I was questioning myself for watching it. It wanted to be deeper, more dramatic and moving, but used all wrong directing choices to achieve it, and in the end, it did not work for me.CHARACTERS/COUPLES
Truth to be told, I was far more interested in all side/past couples than the main one. I didn’t feel that much chemistry between them. Don’t get me wrong, there were moments when I found them as cute as possible, but I always thought it was more about good directing and not their acting. The romance scenes were simply well written and shot. I still believe Pharm and Dean’s first kiss was filmed in a fantastic way.
I truly loved the fun and entertaining chemistry going on between Team and Win and I wish we could have seen more of them and how they developed feelings for each other. We kind of knew they would end up together… and then they did. Not much of that development was really shown.
Earth and Kao were really good in their roles and I truly did feel the pain and desperation watching their scenes. Wish we could have a prequel telling just their story in greater detail.
Sadly, I felt like Ohm had the same facial expression 90% of the drama, with Fluke showing a bit more diversity: happy grin, shocked grin, massive crying (+ the quite well acted total meltdown in the last episode). While at the beginning I did not mind, at some point I was just bored by their scenes and performance.
Character wise, both Dean and Pharm were nothing special. I mean… Did Dean even have a personality? I did enjoy their relationship though, because, they played off of each other's characteristics well - Pharm being on a shy note and Dean leading the interactions, but as separate characters… they had close to nothing going on.
THAT SAID, I have to applaud the drama for one specific scene. We got some good representation of setting boundaries. When Dean gets a bit too touchy with Pharm, but Pharm quickly puts him back in place, clearly says it was unwanted and it must never happen again. We don’t see scenes like that a lot in BLs.
Also, justice for Manow. Poor girl was literally forgotten at some point of the drama.
DIRECTING
Oh boy. All the long, slow scenes of them doing literally nothing, like… looking at their phone, or cooking but without interacting with each other. The dialogues with way too many pauses. They literally took breaks every 2 or 3 words. There were many scenes that just felt like fillers. Few seconds here, few seconds there… but no content to be found. It made the drama look more aesthetically pleasing, but at the same time, I could not move my finger away from the right arrow on my keyboard, because I was sure there will be more than one occasion I will want to skip the next 5 seconds of them doing nothing.
As I was watching and the story progressed more and more, I could not wait for it to end. It dragged so badly and it was so amazingly slow. Everything was slow. They talked slowly, the shots were slow, the background music was slow, how they moved and walked was slow. I was honestly getting sleepy and tired after watching. The fact that, by an accident, I was able to watch 2 parts of an episode set on 1.5x speed and did not notice says a lot about the directing.
The violin soundtrack started to drive me nuts at some point. It made it seem like every scene was so profound and important and had deeper meaning… most of them did not. The overuse of it made it not an asset, but an annoyance in my eyes (ears?).
WRITING/STORY
I feel like the planning just failed. With the minimum of Team and Win scenes, they should just cut them out completely and make a sequel showing their relationship from the beginning. Focus only on Dean and Pharm and the past story of In and Korn. Show us in more detail how they slowly connected all the dots and accepted their past and current selves.
What’s most important, introduce a conflict AND NOT IN A LAST EPISODE. With the reincarnation trope, there are so many ways to go about it. Giving me Pharm questioning his love for Dean, not being sure if it's real or it's just reminiscence of the relationship In had with Korn, it’s awesome. What’s the point of shoving it in our faces in the last episode? It could have been gradually introduced. The more Pharm knew about the past, the more he would start questioning his feelings for Dean. This way you would have two driving forces for their relationship clashing in an interesting way - them being drawn to each other by the past connection, but also driven away by the fear it’s not real. I guess this isn’t the drama’s fault, since it is based on the novel, but it does not change the fact that there weren’t really any stakes presented. They tried to introduce some struggle by the end, but since the set up was not strong enough, it failed to move me and make me care.
The mental breakdown Pharm had at the end was so ridiculous too. He knew the story, he had flashbacks showing exactly what happened. It’s not like finding the box in the previous episode gave him some new information. He knew it all… And sure, we can argue that the reality of it hit him the moment he saw the photos and the gun, but it still makes no sense pacing wise. Make it happen at least two or three episodes earlier so we can actually feel the pain of then splitting/taking a break. Give me that emotional journey not some cheap emotional thirty second roller coaster with some bullshit “three months later”.
Overall, I guess I was simply not convinced by Fluke and Ohm’s acting so the scenes that might have been sweet, emotional, sad… were, for me, boring. I was not connecting to their feelings so I could not bring myself to care. The moment I started to care, the pace slowed down so painfully, I was getting distracted by the fact nothing was happening. Sad conclusion to the drama I was so excited to watch.
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Fluke's acting deserve an Oscar!!
I just finished watching UWMA and I must say, this serie is one of the best BL series I have ever seen.First of all, the plot is excellent. It's funny, it's beautiful, it's mature and more. But most importantly, it has a good message. The story takes place in both present and past. They have to handle problems like family issues, homophobia etc.
The acting in this serie is really good. We deal with both well known actors and new actors. Fluke (one of the main actors) is such a good actor it is almost inhuman. He handles the more dramatic scenes like a true pro and it is hard not to believe that he is going through exactly what the character is. Though, he's way of acting embarrassed becomes a bit too much when he says "P'Dean" all the time. Other than that, I loved and enjoyed every single actor in this serie (which is honestly uncommon) and their chemistry in real life is also amazing and cute.
I really hope we get a season 2 which focuses on the relationship between Win and Team.
Two things I dislike about this serie: Firstly, when they show scenes from the past, it is sometimes hard to understand what time it is set in. An important part of the serie is to know that the past is set in a time which being gay was not acceptable. But you can't really understand that it is set a long time ago, it looks like present. Secondly, some scenes are really slow. I am a very impatient person, it was also hard not to skip forward since it was kind of easy to understand what was coming next. Though, I think the slow tempo is important to the plot.
I would re-watch this serie anytime.
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A PLEASANT SURPRISE
Until We Meet Again is the best BL series created till date. In this 10-page essay I shall...Just kidding, I'm not going to write 10 pages even though my mind is clouded with an overbearing number of emotions right now. This review isn't even going to be coherent but it's going to act as an archive for my thoughts for when I want to convince friends to watch this.
Story - 10/10 for a great plot, amazing writing and for connecting loose ends perfectly. Every character had a part to play and helped the story progress in their own way. What started out (to me) as a cute little fluffy show with cooking interludes turned into a full fledged character development journey showcasing the healthiest relationship in BL I've ever seen.
Their relationship impressed me so much. P'Dean is not your typical "top" BL lead. He respected the boundaries set by Pharm, is communicative and shows how much he cares for Pharm through his words and actions. He respected him when he said he needed a break. Same goes for Pharm. After nearly a decade of being plagued by nightmares, they became each others' safe place. I pray that I have a relationship that's as healthy as DeanPharm.
I would like to thank the writers for acknowledging the existence of homophobia and the effect it has on teenagers. All the other shows either don't focus on it at all or brush it aside after talking about it for a few minutes. But the way it was portrayed in this show was relatable to be in so many ways and as a queer person, it made me happy to see a BL drama which was more than fanservice-filled moments catering to a fujoshi/fudanshi audience. A gay relationship isn't going to be sunshine and rainbows. Thank you for showing that.
I would also like to thank the writers for not portraying female characters as a tool for making the MCs jealous or as their crazy exes or merely people who fetishise gay couples and so on. Positive light on all female characters? Who would have thought this day would come?
Pacing - 9.5/10. When I first heard that this series had flashbacks and present time scenes shown back to back, I didn't want to watch it and this is the only reason I postponed watching this for so long. I expected it to be messy and confusing but it wasn't. The time skips were shown in a very clear manner and didn't leave me bored.
Acting - 9/10. I'm not sure why I'm rating this as 9/10 instead of 10/10. Perhaps it's because Dean had three expressions most of the time - anger, shocked grief and whipped (Honestly same.) Not saying his acting was bad or anything though. Most of the scenes required him to act whipped anyway. Pharm's acting was great too. The sub cast's acting was so-so but Dean's grandma stole the show even though she didn't have that much screen time. Her acting skills were phenomenal. The emotions, the pain, the longing; it was all evident in her eyes. I cried with her every second she was on screen.
Music- 10/10. I don't have much to say expect they did a good job. Loved the OST :'0
I usually don't give high rewatch values because I'm the type of person who prefers to binge a lot of shows and never touch a series for a second time. But this one, I will make an exception for this show. I would definitely rewatch it and like the experience the emotions all over again. Forgive me for repeating myself, but this show really kept the fanservice to the minimum possible (almost negligible) level. I was seeing a gay real relationship and it's progress here.
(SPOILERS START)
A complaint most people had against this was that they didn't understand why Pharm said they needed to stay apart in the last episode. In my opinion, that was a very crucial part of the show. Until then, Pharm had trouble seeing Intouch and himself as two separate people. He wondered if the love he felt for P'Dean was only because In and Korn were in love in their past life. The nightmare he had about P'Dean cutting off the red thread of fate and moving on was a very valid and understandable fear on his part. After suggesting time apart, Pharm dreamt about In and Korn again. But this time, it was not from the perspective of In; he was watching it from the side because he was Pharm. He was a different person, not the Intouch from the past. That realisation was important for him to put aside the insecurities he had about his relationship with P'Dean and confess his feelings once again.
(SPOILERS END)
That's all I have to say. Of course, our tastes might not be similar but please give this series a chance. The chances of you regretting it are very less. And towards the beginning you might feel like dropping it but please stick till the end.
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