Jazz for Two (2024)

Pretty empty...

Well, here goes another typical korean bl under the belt! Nice production value, warm and rather beautiful cinematography, zero chemistry and a lot of lipstick. A lot!

Jazz For Two was one of the first webtoons I ever read a couple of years ago and I remember liking it a lot. The art was pretty, the story gripping and I even found a playlist on Spotify featuring every song mentioned in the webtoon. What I do not remember is the plot just that it was about two boys in high school bonding over jazz!

The drama is another superficial bl romance koreans are known to produce. It touches upon serious issues but it never tackles them in depth. And issues here were many: homophobia, suicide, bullying, assault. The way to deal with these issues? Love, of course! Love, which magically cures mental problems, behavioural problems etc. etc.

Teens are still children, exploring the world and figuring themselves out, so their reactions towards anything outside the instilled norms may turn violent. Care and kindness are not necessarily the standard. They are scared of being different, to stand out and therefore, when faced with the unknown, they tend to reject it violently! This was shown relly clearly in this drama.

The main characters are four boys in an arts high school who eventually form two enemies-to-lovers couples. The actors were correct, the best being Song Han Gyom(3rd lead) who played DoYoon. The worst by far, Kim Jin Kwon(ML). I had trouble recognizing him even though I remember him from To My Star. The costume and make up designers created an unlikable image: oversized clothes and too much make up (nobody has such red shiny lips naturally: he looked really artificial). Moreover, he had no chemistry with his partner.

I would like to end just with one question: is there such a thing as korean drama taking place in high school but with absolutely no bullying?

Lire davantage

Это шедевр, С 1серий на 1 месте в мировых чартах

Впервые я не могу молчать и я в возмущении. Боже, какие критики собрались на многих сайтах. Не уже ли вы разучились смотреть на настоящие искусство и вам так не хватает, того что чаще показывает Таиланд? Людям стало не интересно смотреть историю, сюжет, рассматривать психологические моменты, видеть качественную актерскую игру и работу всей группы за кадром. Люди теперь идут только на жанр и ждут хот. Печальный факт. Я общаюсь на многих сайтах и многие комментаторы много давно знакомы и уважаемы были, но после последних двух работ Кореи, я пришла в разочарование этими людьми. О каких поцелуях вы пишете в отзывах? Разве это обязательное проявление чувств и любви? Серьезно? Постель тоже? Мне жаль этих людей. Ладно, вам с этим жить, а я пожалуй о дораме (которая на секундочку, всего лишь после двух серий без поцелуев ваших, занимала первое место во всех кино чартах и держит эту позицию до сих пор.) и о махве.
Я работала тайпером над махвой "Джаз для двоих" и знаю оригинал истории. Так же я кпопер и знаю много мг. И главное я поэк (ForX). Omega X для меня не просто группа - это часть моей жизни. Моя семья. Особенно Хангем. Этот парень очень харизматичен, его мимика просто выговаривает все эмоции и он безумно любит всех поэк. Было очень интересно посмотреть его актерский дебют и тем более, довольно сложного персонажа. Зная оригинал манхвы, было страшно ждать выход дорамы. Не было не одной главы, чтобы я не плакала. Это сильная и психологически тяжелая манхва. На сайте компании я смотрела состав и была в восторге, но было НО....ДжинКвон. ДжинКвон, который уже снимался в дорамах и был хорош, но он не был гг такого жанра. Было тревожно. Второй момент - это как передали сценарий и какие будут замены сюжета, чтобы не растянуть (как любит Таиланд например), в долгую нудную и не нужную картину. Как покажут все психологические и чувственные повороты? Первая серия и.... Беру корвалол, жду. С первых минут я вижу отличную игру ЛИЦОМ. Идеальная передача всех эмоций лицом, мимикой. Потрясающая химия между героями. Героиня, которую мы должны по манхве не любить, тут показана как думающая, мудрая, наблюдательная девушка. Благодаря ей, мы и понимаем все "плохое" поведение ее брата. Ведь даже в общении ему будет сказано, что он не такой на самом деле. У каждого героя здесь, в прошлом большая психологическая травма. И каждый хочет быть любимым и любить. Объединяет их любовь к музыке и не всех сразу к Джазу. Сценаристы правильно и грамотно проделали работу. Что очень для меня важно, что Корея любит "говорить" с зрителем, озвучивая мысли героев, рассказывая историю музыки и музыкантов. Потрясающая работа операторов. Игра камерой, локации. Вы понимаете, что я могу говорить об этой истории бесконечно долго))) Но как я поняла, не все поймут к сожалению. Я сейчас продолжаю стримить эту дораму на официальных платформах и уже знаю наизусть. Уже могу давать имена комарам появляющихся в кадре))) Для меня Корея всегда была Первой в подаче материала о жизнь, про жизнь и любовь.
а насчет "рыбьих поцелуев" - дамы и господа - вам на другие сайты или ... а ладно...
у меня уходит в любимые и на пересмотр. 10 из 10 и я бы поставила больше, если бы была такая возможность.
Смотрите сюжет, а не жанр.

Lire davantage

Slow and smooth

March 31, 2024

Jazz for Two is a decent Korean BL drama. It has some homophobic and violent content so, if you are looking for fluffy and cute plots, then I suggest that this might not be the show for you.

I feel like the manhwa will give you a better understanding of the characters given how short the series is. So there are instances where the plot feels jagged in terms of the storyline of our leads. I do love their dynamic and the chemistry is definitely there. It isn't as strong as what I expected from them, but I guess this is my bias in comparison to the manhwa.

Nevertheless, it was still a fun ride watching Jazz for Two and I hope you guys can give this KBL a shot !

Lire davantage

Made me feel whole bunch of emotions

I went blind into this K-BL drama. Didn't watch trailer either when I decided to see it.

First of all, the actors were eye candy (as usual). The chemistry between the first couple was very very sweet.

The second couple chemistry was a bit abrupt imo. We needed to see more build up. Also, Juhee should have gotten her own partner as well.

The OST was good, but not mind blowingly memorable. However, the Jazz tunes they played were AMAZING.

Idk if Jee HoGeun played the trumpet himself or it was someone else, but it was AMAZING !!!

I also wanted to see what's with the father. Why did he change his attitude so much overnight?

Is it too much to ask for a s2 cause I wanted to see more of the second couple ???

Waiting to see more of Jee HoGeun in future, cause he stole the show for me.

Overall a good watch. Go for it.

Lire davantage

I loved this series, despite the many imperfections. There are some violent and homophobic moments, but this is what school is like for some people. We always claim we want realism, and the bullying was pretty real. I owe it to the children subjected to this on a daily basis to watch to gain an understanding as to how they live.

The series should have been longer so they could resolve some of the plot holes, and explained why Jazz of all genres was the forbidden fruit. It also would have been nice if they had paid homage to some African American jazz legends such as Coltrane, Bird, Armstrong, Davis, Nat King Cole, etc. Jazz, Blues, Ragtime are all genres started by African-Americans in the early 20th century so why would Korean kids in the 21st century feel so connected? There must be a reason, but they didn't explore it. I'm not even that into music, and I think this should have been a 12 episode series to be more expository. Too many loose ends and we didn't even get to see the conversation between big bro Yoon and Taeyi.

Lire davantage

decent

the drama itself started out very strong and really captivates the audience. Even the little cameo is very cute!! sadly by the end of the show it sort of just feels very repetitive and boring almost. the last episode also felt so rushed like they fit an entire arch in that last ep. they definitely could have taken out some more pointless stuff to help put the overall arch in different eps too. I do think if you're gonna do more than one relationship at least don't give them all such similar situations / troupes. it felt like all 3 bl relationships had very similar troupes

Lire davantage

Not bad but not good too

it's just my opinion, I feel that the acting of the cast is enough and the plot is also good enough. But at the end I feel a little unsatisfied ((maybe because of the duration too)).

I'm quite satisfied with the acting of the actors. They didn't feel awkward and lived up to their respective roles. However, I feel that there are still some mistakes that I think the audience can tolerate. Like sometimes the actors have scenes that are a bit stiff and some are too fast. As I said before.

Maybe it's because the duration is not too long. But I'm quite satisfied because it's K-BL. I rarely find K-BL that is satisfying for me to watch. Some make me amused and some make me uncomfortable while watching the acting of the actors.

I hope in the future there will be more K-BLs that are good and the plot is also beautiful. Honestly I really like high school love stories like this. Innocent and full of curiosity. I hope the production house and actors will continue to develop in the future.

Lire davantage

A simple series that still somehow manages to break the mold

yk what? i really liked this!
i know the ratings really high but a lot of the comments kinda diss this but i think it had some great points and broke out of the mold a bit more than a lot of korean bls i've seen.

the points that i liked:

- Tae ti was a quiet, pessimistic and stubborn trope and he held it out. he really stuck to it and made a lot of plot points more difficult than it needed to be, but all in all it made it more realistic which a lot of types in that realm does not - they usually kinda go from hating and being pessimistic to a sun beam in one ep (like New Employee).

- i liked the back and forth of the couple. See heon didn't just lay flat down - well kinda but 'll come back to that.

- i liked that we got to see the couple together and acc in love.

- THE KISSING being an actual kiss at the end. a problem i've had with a lot of korean bls. i kinda thought after the first kiss that it would be the same but no! v nice surprise .

- LOVED the second couple so much and i wished we had more time with them. And i liked that they didn't just get together immediately but they kinda was just dating at the end - would've liked to see their 5 years later tho. im kinda a sucker for bully/ bullied couples (toxic traid from my side sry:/)

what i didn't like:

- the way that Tae He reacted after See heon kissed him.... they should've tackled that bc wtf was that? and the fact that See accepted it was kinda crazy:/

- The brothers story was not really my cup of tea but i see that it tied it all together nicely i just don't like love stories with a bad ending...:/

- what's up with Tae seeing so so so much of his brother in See but still wanting to be with him romantically?!!? kinda weird imo i feel like they could've made a crucial distinction at some point to make it less odd.

- The central plot line in the beginning was that See couldn't play jazz bc his dad didn't want him to, but it loses its form a lot and they just don't address it later really. it just seems odd that his whole life was planned from him but then he runs away when his dad finds out, and when he comes back he gets the most whatever "go to your room" from his dad and we never see the dad again? like what?


But overall a very good series and even though it's quite repetitive they still change it up to not make it boring - simple but good series

Lire davantage

tinha um potencial para ser algo maior

antes de assitir jazz for two eu não tinha exatamente grandes expectativas, o plot me pareceu interessante e achei que seria algo bacana de ser ver. realmente é, mas poderia ter sido mais.

vendo o oitavo episódio e como as coisas se desenvolveram nele, eu sinto que se a série tivesse seguido a mesma pegada nos outros 7 ela teria sido muito mais impactante. de um modo geral a série tem uma trama muito interessante, mas me parece que as camadas que envolvem essa trama foram feitas as pressas ou sem muito cuidado. o luto do taeyi assim como a relação do seheon com o pai são coisas que influenciam muito em quem eles são mas a impressão que eu tenho é que a série só quis mostrar que aqueles dilemas estavam ali e nada mais (o luto do taeyi em uma menor escala pois eu sinto que eles ainda se esforçaram para desenvolver), eu me peguei muito mais interessado no plot dos irmãos do que no romance dos protagonistas pois realmente senti falta de um desenvolvimento melhor. talvez isso tenha sido resultado do fator de que a série tinha muita coisa para se abordar e pouco tempo para desenvolver. eu sei que existe uma obra literária, mas como não li não consigo fazer o comparativo, mas talvez, com 10 minutos a mais nos 07 episódios anteriores ao 8° eles teriam conseguido criar algo mais marcante.

p.s. uma rápida menção aos personagens secundários que também tiveram um rápido desenvolvimento e depois desapareceram mas foram uns queridos nesse meio tempo!

Lire davantage

Has flaws, but overall a good watch

Unlike all the reviews hailing and praising the source material, I'm going to HEAVILY disagree with that.

If you have not read the webtoon and plan to, maybe come back to this after you've read that.

Anyway, despite some shocking scenes in this series, the way the story progresses is very in-tune to the life stages that the characters are in. They're all teenagers, in a highly homophobic world, and they're all in highly emotional situations. I prefer the story in the series, as the source material involves not only a very concerning power imbalance between an older man/married professor and a student, but also how extensively abusive Juha is originally meant to be.

The common complaint is that Taeyi was out of line in one scene the most, but his development and the rage he felt means he was going to explode and Seheon happened to be the one not only making his way into Taeyi's life, but the one that Taeyi felt was making him have to process his grief. Unless if you've lost someone extremely close to you, you won't understand the rage that takes over you and your rationality. Grief is never a clear and straight path, and you don't always move forward. Plus, he's an actual child in this and I think people are going in a bit too hard on him after having such a traumatic and tragic loss then having to process how someone has come into his life and makes him happy (something he tries to convince himself he doesn't want).

Then there comes the whole mess between Juha and Doyoon... I do not think Juha deserves any kind of sympathy if we want to use the source material. In the series there is at least room for some different type of conflict, but the webtoon only highlighted how bad of a person Juha was.

Because of this and the gross the situation between Taeyi's brother and Seheon's father, I don't agree that the source material is better. Even the progress of the relationships is lackluster in the webtoon but I think we had a good thing starting with the series adaptation and the changes/omissions that it had.

Still, until LGBTQ+ productions are taken seriously, given proper funding, and are seen as actual necessary media in South Korea (which they are), we are going to have to take things as they are able to be presented sometimes. I only say this lightly, because even productions like Love for Love's Sake managed to pull of most of the original source material or adjusted it to create a more condensed but still relatively loyal to the story series without sacrificing the queerness it is based on.

Jazz for Two had so much more potential, and it saddens me we could've had more, but I personally enjoyed it and most specifically the complexity of grief that this series gives an insight to. The only real flaws are that it needed a lot more time and better dialogue between characters. And although others want to see more from Juha and Doyoon, I'm okay with never seeing that come full-circle.

Lire davantage