Amanza (2020)

Say what? Ji Soo has a beautiful girlfriend in a show? HUZZAH!

Okay, all jokes aside, Ji Soo seems to be in a couple of kinds of boxes-tragic figure boxes and "the one who doesn't get the girl" boxes. This one is indeed a tragic figure, so whew, at least he has a drop dead gorgeous girlfriend truly deeply in love with him.

If you want something that is deeply heartwarming, this show is very much it, BUT only if you can spare some tears and snot for the box of tissues you'll want near you. This is a really unusual series in a lot of ways, the most obvious being that we enter the lead's dreams, dreams impacted by his brain being altered by both disease and painkillers mind you, through beautiful animations-they are straight out of someone's half-asleep stream of consciousness in design/flow, only the person having them is terminally ill, so the fluffy and swooping and cuddly characters and rock robots etc we see and go on an adventure with are spiked with some fear, bitterness, despair, and anxiety.

When not in the lead character's dreams, we see his real world suffering along with the pain his friends and family go through. A new character in the lead's life also comes to us in the form of a convenience store clerk who is transported into the same dreamscape as the lead-it is certainly unusual, but by the end, the least seen character (physically-we see his cartoon form, of course) ends up having one of the most poignant, important roles in the whole story.

Watching this when apart from family during a pandemic is certainly an unexpected situation (the pandemic in particular). With everyone (well, who is conscientious) living a bit more constantly aware of how easily illness and indeed death are taking hold of so many around us, with our lives a bit uprooted in most of the world and our day to day lives quite different from a year ago, the time of release of this could, if it were not so thoughtfully crafted, get a bitter reaction. Instead, though, the creators seemed very aware of how delicately they needed to handle it-the balance of the moments of adventure, the smiling moments, and the tears was important to get right, and by my estimation, they could not have gotten that much better. While not a perfect production (the camera/lighting work made me wish at times it had been a Whynot TV or even Playlist Global production-still, that is a minor detail-especially for a webseries), I was immersed in the story and acting so it only briefly made it a little less perfect than the slicker productions that don't have nearly as intriguing a set up to begin with.

I'd LOVE more animation to be integrated into dramas. I really enjoyed (crime thriller-ish drama) Sketch largely because of the namesake, the sketches, and the animations really made this special; if it had JUST been the humans, it probably would have felt like a Lifetime daytime tear jerker TV movie; instead, it has its own memorable place and the tears I did shed don't feel like someone manipulated me emotionally to make me shed them.

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Definitely the best of 2020 IMO

I know it's a mini series but for me this is the best series I watched in 2020. The series has got around 7-10 characters but how they are portrayed is really applaudable. Ji Soo is just the main lead for the record, it is actually like a multi lead series with talented artists. The integration of animation is something new for me and I was really struck by the direction. The music is one for the playlist. The parents portrayal was so realistic and was the better actors in the drama. Being a Ji Soo fan for a long time, I think series is the most memorable one considering him as an actor.

Jisoo is really flexing this year. One hand with the one of the most disappointing drama of 2020 and the other hand with the best. Anyway, fighting !!!

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An encompassment of so many complex emotions

Well the story isn't exactly a happy one but it left me feeling so warm, that inspite of having cried in each episode I remember smiling through the tears...the inner turmoils of a terminally ill patient was shown with such caution and care, with him going through various stages of acceptance, regret, anger, desperation...all done so delicately. The way the parents were trying to show constant consideration but were scared of having him gone before they even got to know his true self was heart wrenching...them feeling guilty of not having known what he truly liked, somehow led to them accepting the estranged younger brother in such a liberating manner...Then his dynamics with his girlfriend was so real and beautiful, with her realizing how precious the feeling was of not having to see the person you love leave first...her way of consoling him with simpler things was so hopeful yet devastating...The way his lost friendship with his college friends was rekindled with just a short exchange of words and how much they knew of each others' likes and dislikes was so intimate and heartwarming...The sequences of him dreaming the other world was unreal yet so connected to what was happening in his life...and that led to him accepting that he loved the life he had led and that their is no life without regrets because in a way that's how one finds meaning...
Overall it was a brilliant watch and kudos to Jisoo for having pulled off this role fantastically...This drama actually makes me want to satisfy my every whim and live to the fullest since I may not know if there will be a tomorrow...

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What a brilliant portrayal of terminal illness! Started to watch without expecting much but it brought so much warmth, positivity and life lessons along with it. Dealing with a terminally ill patient is not easy especially when a person is at the prime of his/her youth. Knowing that you are dying seems very unfair, the young person questioned himself – is it fair that his/her life is cut short so early? There are no words to term the parents who lose their children. How the parents would deal with this pain all through their lifetime?

Amanza depicted a character, who at the age of 27 diagnosed with stage-4 liver cancer where the survival rate is only 5%. He was frustrated, his family was devastated and his friends were remorseful but initially they did not express their dejection. Every single person related with the patient dealt the illness with perseverance except whining or bawling their eyes out. In fact the patient himself make terms with it though time to time he showed a little despair over this abrupt change happening to him.

Making of this drama was out of the ordinary as they incorporated some animation scenes reflecting the dream, the patient were having. Those are some interesting depiction of how a patient although living in a reality visualizes something indescribable in their mind. They fight in between the life and death situation where their mind becomes gradually foggy of their existence.

Apart from all these artistic depictions, it has some beautiful lessons: all lives are important, there are no lives without regret, living with passion and meaning makes you important, you are also a reason many people around you find their meaning in life and you brought joy to them, it is not only hard for the dying but also the people who would continue living with the dead person’s memories – he was someone’s son, brother, dear friend and lover. We all would meet our inevitable fate one day. Some people get to know in advance when they’re going to die others live like there’s no tomorrow. We are guests of this world, nevertheless, we live in such a manner as if we are going to stay in this earth eternally.

I loved the drama. It was well scripted, well directed, well acted with precision and wholesomeness. Most importantly, I liked the fact that without getting distressed or showing despair how the whole family and friends dealt with the illness is a new way to showcase somewhat a clichéd theme the story is based on. Lastly, life goes on for the living holding the precious memories of their loved ones they already lost.

The filter used for this drama is also impressive. Chrome yellow displays the gloom and melancholy mood while living with the guaranteed tragedy the characters were all living a normal day to day life was an amazing artistic approach.

Overall this short drama was quite impactful, emotional and full of life lessons which I love about in any stories.

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Good...but wasn't worth it

Sometimes the small things in life are the sweetest.

Amanza was not the case for me.

This is a completely personal perspective, so others are subject to disagreement, but I think there was a little bit too much positive feedback for this one. I would like to first state that I have so much respect for those who suffer through cancer and terminal illness among other illnesses. I also respect the creators and the work they all did in putting this together. And, of course, I respect those who appreciate this piece of art because it certainly should be appreciated. Opinions are bound to differ, however, so if anyone is like me, I hope this review comes in handy.

This show has some wonderful actors which was a real treat. Beautiful animation of course, and some fun music, but with something as small as Amanza was, it wasn't enough.

Does that make sense? Maybe not, but let me explain.

Without getting too detailed into the story, we have a pretty typical one of terminal cancer. It is depicted uniquely through animation, but to me it felt as though we were always going on a journey without ever really getting anywhere. Even the characters themselves seemed to be looking towards something--some destination--but it doesn't quite seem to be found or fulfilled by the end in a satisfying way.

I am the type of person who does not like watching suffering and sadness, so this show was not for me. I hoped for something more, and this show tries to offer that by diving into the characters' individual lives which is beautifully done, but the failure of the journey really hurts the ending of the show and left it to be a forgettable one for me.

Though mini-series should be character focused as this one is, they still need to remember that abstractness can lead to empty results. Once again, I truly do respect the creators of this series as well as those to whom it means something as all films and media should. However if anyone does relate to me, then I hope this is helpful!

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ji soo did amazing

As mentioned in the title Ji Soo did such a good job I cried so much in episode 9. I loved the way they showed dong myungs journey through the animation and seeing how hard he was trying but still you could see little by little how closer to death he was until he finally accepted it. this one felt different to other dramas not just because of the animation but because it did a great job of illustrating and also helping us feel what dong myung felt. it was a bit hard to watch because it definitely felt heavy as it went on but still I pushed through and enjoyed everything about this drama. also I will say I did enjoy the ost too that always adds onto making a better experience when watching something.

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Good Enough

" Amanza" is an emotional journey of what a terminally ill patient and his family and friends go through. The series is short and it manages to combine not only the various stories of the people around the main lead, his own story but also the animation parts that were a universe of its own. In the end, the drama didn't shy off from showing the hard truth of what happens at the end of a situation like this. No miracles, no fairytale endings, but a closure that somehow made the ending bittersweet.

The performances, in addition, were spot on, with the roller coaster of emotions handled masterfully.

So, overall, eight out of ten.

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Big Sadge

Cancer sucks. Kim Ji Soo did great. All episodes that focused on the main character were great but the other episodes that shifted the focus to other characters took away from the main character instead of building these memory blocks around him. It was a short 9 episodes, the last 1 didn't count, there was no room to explore around. It felt they wanted to build a much bigger story but there was no time, again, should've kept the focus on the main character and maybe give him more screen time. The addition of the store clerk not only was cringe but also redundant and could've been better spent somewhere else. Although the animated parts of each episode were alright but the voice over quality was less than subpar, sometime it came off as if the speakers were reading from a script. The last episode for some reason was just a collection of these animated parts stitched together.

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Bring your tissue boxes and hydrate

Fast-paced (in a good way) without taking away from the overline story and emotions.

**spoilers**
when the friends come to visit him in the hospital after quite some time, and their faces when they realize that he gotten 100 times worse from when he told them about his diagnosis. That 10-second camera pan to the friends faces was enough to see the regret and sadness they had inside of them when they saw theirfriend.

The Ex gf- did an amazing job conveying their relationship and regrets.

The main character-- you truly saw the stages of acceptance -- denial, anger, depression, bargaining, and acceptance. He was able to convey all of them in the real world and in his imagination.

Must watch, I know this movie will help you go through the stages of acceptance with the character, especially if you or anyone you love has dealt with a similar diagnosis. Be well all!

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