A Shoulder to Cry On (2023)

Je ne sais pas pourquoi j'ai regardé jusqu'au bout

Je n'attendais pas grand chose quand j'ai commencé le drama, mais il m'a déçu. Après dès le premier épisode j'ai su qu'il y avait de grands risques que ça me plaise pas : tourné autour du harcèlement, rien de très intéressant niveau perso... Mais très vite arrive une petite nuance, qui est le passé d'un des ado, qui rajoute du drame à ça, et qui dépeint un personnage profondément dépressif, ce à quoi je peux relate à un certain degré. Mais je trouve qu'il insiste beaucoup trop sur ça, et en font des tonnes. Je n'ai pas réussi à m'attacher aux personnages, et même l'intrigue sportive n'est pas palpitante, alors que pourtant, le tir à l'arc... Mais je voulais savoir si ça allait devenir plus profond, alors j'ai continué, ce n'est jamais arrivé. Ce qui sauve le drama pour moi ce sont les acteurs qui eux sont bon et interagisse bien ensemble.

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Rough path with some sweetness and the ending that lost focus…

A Shoulder to Cry On delivered quite a few good messages that would resonate with teens and young adults, and even a few lessons that can change the perspective of the adults, as long as they are willing to think about these topics after the episodes end. A nice step into a different direction in a well known high school set up.

That said, is this truly the deep and complex psychological story as some people claim it to be? Depends on what you compare it to. It’s not as sweet and silly as many high school and university BLs, and there is an attempt to add layers to the characters, especially on Tae Hyun’s side. So compared to other K-BLs, one could see it as something more. If you look at it in a broader manner, sadly it’s just another enemy to lovers trope with trauma as a cherry on top.

Yes, it does tackle some serious and important topics like childhood trauma, lack of emotional support, repressed feelings, guilt, resentment, forgiveness. Yet, all on surface level. It’s like a weather talk - just a starter for the conversation.

I think the biggest disappointment for me comes from how black and white they tried to present really complex situations and how fast they moved away from them without truly putting time and effort to give a proper resolution, which was especially obvious in the last two episodes. How to put it… it lacked nuance. It made me feel like the production team does not trust the audience to handle difficult topics so they made them as approachable and simple as possible. God forbid someone finishes an episode with conflicted feelings about the characters.

Personally, my favorite part of the plot was Da Yeol’s doubts about his path. It’s an issue most young people resonate with and many adults still struggle with. It was best written, paced and concluded part of the story and I wish the drama focused on it a little bit more.

Then we have the acting, which was fine during the teen daily life scenes, and questionable at best during the emotional scenes. There were a few moments I could see Shin Ye Chan tried to convey strong emotions, but it just did not translate on screen. Similar issues happened with more “heart wrenching” scenes from Kim Jae Han. Realistically speaking, for debut roles, these were quite challenging, so I’m; not exactly surprised by the end product.

Undoubtedly the production was a massive improvement compared to other short k-bls. Longer episodes allowed the story to have a more even pacing without too many things being painfully rushed (putting aside the final conclusions). While it still lacks in comparison to mainstream dramas, it’s on par with other web dramas, which is far better than what we’ve got until this point from Korean BLs.

Improvement from makeup artists needed though.

Overall, it’s great to see a longer format and I’m glad it was given to a story with an actual plot that at least attempted something more than “sweet teen romance”.

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