BAWLING WTF

I have never, in my ENTIRE life, sobbed over a show or movie. I’m currently writing this after finishing the final episode and I am BAWLING my eyes out. Heart thumping, nose so congested I can’t breathe, tears endlessly falling … like wtf, this isn’t normal. The last few minutes just made me realize all of a sudden that this was the END end of this story and I couldn’t take it. I am so overwhelmed. I was so genuinely distraught for a few minutes that LWJ and WWX would go their separate ways and that would be that. That’s when I started crying. Like, that’s it? They’re gonna do this to us after LWJ basically devoted his entire life to WWX the last however many episodes??? After he came to terms with his own morality and beliefs to therefore take WWX’s side through and through? And why would WWX not just stay with him??? BRO I STARTED CRYINGGG. Then LWJ heard the bamboo flute and came back, saying, “Wei Ying,” and they don’t show his face but we see WWX’s smile and UGHHH I began BAWLINGGGG WTFFFFF. Can’t do this. This is the most beautifully written and showcased relationship I have ever seen be portrayed between two people in any medium. The fact that it’s all without any physicality, but so much heartfelt trust, support, care, etc. is what makes it work in that if they did show any physicality, it would seem cheap. I don’t need that. I don’t want it. Their looks at each other are enough. I know everyone says this but I didn’t get it until I saw it myself. I can’t even put this into words. The censorship of this show is why I never wanted to watch it because I never saw the point, but now I blame people who made me think this show was a BL. It’s not. It’s a love story about family, friends, and even more, but the love is so unadulterated and pure. It’s a story about right and wrong, class structure, family dynamics, turning a good person into a villain (except not really), and so many other deep, thoughtful themes. Calling it a BL is limiting. It’s a drama, a mystery, an action story, a love story, etc. And at the end of the day, it’s truly the relationship between WWX and LWJ that makes this show, and I have to give it up to the actors, because they breathe the life into these characters and their scenes together. No one else could have done it. Their understanding of these characters, their portrayal in every possible way—it’s outstanding. I am so utterly impressed and enchanted with their performances. Everything about these two leads makes me gloss over the entire Coffin Town episodes (lmao, it was bad, it was the first time I sped up the scenes for this entire show). I don’t know how I will ever recover from this. I didn’t think I’d like this show because I’ve tried wuxias before and it never worked out. But this is the exception. I’m kicking myself for not watching this when it originally aired, but I’m so glad I watched it now. I’m already reading the book and honestly? I’m very glad I watched the show first. I already love the changes the show chose to take. Again, I think the innocent yet intense beauty of the subliminal (though, not really) love between WWX and LWJ in the show is doubled in power because they rely on facial expressions, voice tones, character conversations and motives in order to display their relationship, which they do so so so beautifully. I never thought I’d prefer it, but here we are. Everything about this show is gorgeous, my goodness. Don’t even get me started on the music. Even the sound editing is flawless.

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Beautiful. That's it.

This is not a BL. It's a drama that includes a M/M romance, but the story is so much more than that.

Tian's journey of devoting his life to something bigger than himself after a near-death experience is the heart of this story. It's about love in every possible form, one of which happens to be a two-person romance. But it's Tian's love for teaching children. It's the love of friendship. It's the love of people and life and the little things.

The directing of this show was gorgeous. You can so clearly tell so much effort and devotion went into the production of this show, and that's proved by watching/reading about the behind the scenes. I mean, the crew built an entire village after the real one they were going to shoot at didn't work out. I heard how freezing it was, and that doesn't show at all in the scenes. I commend everyone involved. This show was clearly made with so much heart and love, which shows in the storytelling and the acting.

I'm so impressed with Mix's acting, as this was his first ever show, and he carried all of it. Everything was centered on his character, and he more than pulled through. Also, I think he's so youthfully beautiful. During the kite scene when he was smiling in the rain ... phew. Beautiful.

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Reply 1988 is, by far, the best K-Drama I have seen. I've watched it twice now, and I could watch it over and over again. A story of family and friends, spanning from the lives of teens to the lives of their parents, it's the beautiful story of the people who live on a street and the relationships they all have with each other. This makes the previous two Reply series seem like knock-off versions of 1988, even though 1988 is the latest addition.

The acting is absolutely phenomenal, particularly by the adults. The music is so nostalgic, even though I'm not someone who grew up in Korea in the late 80s. The storytelling is gripping and makes your heart heavy. Even though this series follows the trope of wondering who the lead will end up, the story is hardly focused on the romantic relationship of the leads more than the family/friend relationships. I really appreciate the family/friend aspects portrayed.

You really need to have a deeper mind to appreciate this show. If you get easily bored, would rather watch action or a rom-com, then I don't think you'll have the mental capacity to appreciate this show. Its subtlety and nuance makes it so beautiful.

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Still Watching, But I Couldn't Wait

I'm still watching this show, but I couldn't wait to write a review.

I had never watched a traditional sageuk before this one, and by that I mean ones from before the 2010's with the amount of episodes this one has. I was always so intimidated by the episode count, and even though I love modern sageuks, I was worried that I would find the older ones boring.

Gosh, was I stupid! LOL.

I only started watching this one because it was during quarantine and my semester had ended, so I thought it was the perfect time to start one of the many famous sageuks with the amount of free time I had. I had many options to choose from, but I randomly chose this one. The synopsis didn't strike me as something I'd necessarily like, but I went with it anyway. I'm so glad I did. The first episode had me hooked instantly, even though the first episode is basically a prologue to the rest of the show. I was blown away by the music score, the nuanced beauty of the story telling, and the instant sensation of feeling like I've genuinely been transported to the time and setting being shown. One thing I've felt most strongly while watching this drama is that it's so well acted that I truly feel as though I'm watching a recording of true events—that I'm actually there and that this world exists beyond cameras and scripts and actors.

This show is not for those who get bored easily; who need constant action. This is a character based story—a dialogue based story. So much of it depends on the character relationships and interactions, of our lead Jang Geum just existing and living. There are definitely twists and turns, for I feel like something is always going wrong and our lead is barely escaping things, but it's at a slow pace. Because there are so many episodes, each minor aspect of Jang Geum's experience can be fleshed out to its full potential. It's really fascinating.

I think the best example of this is her interactions with Min Jong Ho, her love interest. It is the most natural and beautiful growth of two people I think I've seen in a drama. There is no confession needed. No physicality needed. There really are even not many moments where romance is even hinted, but rather just them being friends more than anything, and I LOVE that. I just think their dynamic is so beautifully done because of how simple yet not simple it is. This is NOT a romance drama. Their relationship is just another of the many she has with her friends, family, superiors, etc. Still, I just think their interactions are so beautiful and pure.

Though, I have to point out that Jang Geum and Yeon Saeng's friendship is equally as beautiful, and I don't think I realized that until the latter half of the show.

This drama really includes every possible theme, but I think compassion and selflessness is the biggest one. Jang Geum's entire being is compassion embodied. She sacrifices herself over and over for others, and because of her boldness in her compassion, it's what gets her through her life from position to position. She values goodness and honestly and care.

I voted ten for everything except rewatch value, and that's only because I think it would take a LOT for me to be able to sit through this show a second time alone. I could definitely watch it with someone, but not alone again. It takes so much from me emotionally (also, it's just LONG, LOL).

Yeah, this instantly is a top drama of mine. Absolutely phenomenal. ]

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Satisfying

With how the original series ended so poorly in my opinion with useless drama, even though everything before the final episodes had so much potential, this special five episode bonus absolutely fixed everything. It was really just fan service, but it was exactly what I needed to feel satisfied with this show. It was a ton of fluff, but that is exactly what I wanted!

A lot of people have issues with the lack of physical affection, which I really don't understand. Are all of you just so used to other BLs being extremely intimate and feel unsatisfied with this one? Do you just want your fantasy fulfilled? Because it sounds like that from a lot of what I've see. Because this story doesn't NEED to have that affection to get the love across—it shows affection with how the characters look at each other, the words they speak to each other, as well as the head-patting and other cute little things. Characters don't need to heavily make out to show that they care, of course I'd understand why some prefer that or wanted that from this show. I also like seeing such things, but I didn't need it from this show and the previous series. I think it's harder to showcase love if you have characters be less intimate, so if you can pull off showcasing it without it, then that just proves how well the characters feel for each other even more, in my opinion, and this show did that.

I don't think Bright and Win were awkward with each other at all. In fact, I really love how Tine is the shy one who still gets flustered and Sarawat just has heart eyes for him 24/7. Even though it's meant to be a year after dating, and some are like "Oh, no, a couple wouldn't be so shy after a year," I think you should take into consideration that both Tine and Sarawat are each boyfriends for the first time (to other guys), and that Tine is generally shy when it comes to him. A year really isn't that long. Not everyone rushes into a relationship and is suddenly super confident and comfortable with their significant other. Tine is so clearly in love with Sarawat and vice versa. I felt that. It's also alluded they are close to each other, except it's just not shown on screen due to the channel that the show is on. They live together, come on now.

Anyways, I actually didn't care at all for the side romantic relationships in the original series, but I absolutely adored Man and Type in this one. I think their dynamic is so beautiful, with Man being an absolute cinnamon roll and Type being more serious but clearly loving Man perhaps even more than Man does Type compared to the original series. Their shower scene was so beautifully domestic and it's one of my favorite scenes from the entire series. Personally, I think Toptap is the best actor on this show. His acting is really top notch compared to everyone else. He acts with his face and eyes, and I could really feel what his character was feeling with every expression. Props to him.

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