A Shoulder to Cry On (2023)

Looking for serious turned to Fluff?

I'm right along with the reviews that say it started out great, went downhill, as well as those who complain about the lack of romance

The story and acting were very good until part of the way through, there was enough going on to keep my interest. But then came the fluff - and both the story and acting went downhill.

The time jumps towards the end were a huge disappointment.

One hug, No kisses. Don't put actors in series like this if they are opposed to kissing - we may watch it once, but the reviews will be low and the rewatch value is zero - we are not grade schoolers.

I should have known when this showed up on Viki - their bl's are always platonic. I cancelled my membership with them because of this.

These boys are cute - they should stick to singing with a group or try acting in something other than a bl.

A rating of seven that had the potential to be a 10

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Personal, emotionally intimate and SO RELATABE (+controversial ending talk)

At times humorous, but also diving into serious topics such as: emotional abandonment, parental absence, self-harm, depression, suicide, bullying, burnout (I also believe one of the characters has BPD). A story about growing up, teenagers finding themselves and each other, healing and slowly learning to love, express themselves and expose their vulnerabilities.

I started watching it after seeing tik tok edits, but first episode made me feel a bit sick and I didn't want to continue. Gladly, i did.

Episodes 2-5 are amazing and this is probably one of the most realistic storyline I have seen in a kbl. Or maybe it speaks to me because main characters deal with a lot of trauma/mental illness and are neurodivergent-coded and it feels a bit personal.

I had some stigma regarding the 2 final episodes due to reviews filled with disappointment (apparently pacing issues/time-skip), but tbh it absolutely didn't bother me. It was handled pretty well while keeping the mains in character (but the reason it didn't bother me might be also the fact that i knew about the time-skip before the watch XD). Tbh i don't think there were pacing issues, just the time-skip was unnecessary, though i think it gave them both time to grow emotionally into this relationship and WE GOT THEM IN ACTUAL OUTFITS!! THAT MATCH THEIR AGE!! AND NOT THE UNIFORMS!!

The last episode was ultimately touching (ocean sequence), romantic and hilarious! something these boys definitely deserved and definitely weren't ready for in high school. I saw people complaining about lack of kissing scene and... seriously? We're being served such amazing piece of queer romance and some people are upset because it didn't live up to their fantasies? Obviously, I understand it would've been much more meaningful if we'd seen main characters become so intimate, but the point is; did we really need to? Personally, this show was remarkably meaningful and the characters have become emotionally intimate to the point where it just felt SO right for it to end the way it did.

Final verdict:
soundtrack - 10/10
acting - 9/10 i particularly liked Yechan in his role, he was very good
cinematography and scenography - 10/10
story - 9/10 (-1 for that time skip i think they could have managed without it)

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Another bad korean BL...

I wanted to make this review because I am tired of seeing people say “people give low reviews because there’s no kiss/sex scene”. Maybe some did, but did you consider this : the drama isn’t good. I first want to clarify : while I do agree that it is annoying to have no kiss in a queer romance in 2023 (smells a little bit… homophobic), I can understand the decision to not include a kiss scene due to the actors being in the same kpop group. Which has an easy solution : do not cast idols/ group members in a TV show were they fall in love, maybe. Just a suggestion. I find it kinda icky. Mad respect to them though, still.

Now, the acting first : it was fine. They definitely had some chemistry, and the boys tried their best, I give them that. It’s an idol drama, so don’t expect groundbreaking acting, but don’t expect super bad acting either.

The editing : whoever edited that…. Fire them. Putting little music on dramatic scenes? Dramatic zoom out? Little drawing that you somehow only add once in the drama (= inconsistency)? No joke, it was almost impossible to take this drama seriously because of the goofy editing. I could’ve done a better job, and I don’t know shit about editing. Never has editing annoyed me THIS much in a drama, before. If you wanna be dramatic, commit to it. Funny? Commit to it. Otherwise it’s just goofy.

Okay, now the plot, or the worst thing that came out of this drama : the first 4 episodes are GOOD. Too good, because they gave me hope for the rest of the drama, as I am used to either drop/ or dislike KBLS. I don’t like the manhwa this is based on because I hated Taehyun’s character. My man bullies a schoolmate, accuses him falsely of SA, and he never has to say sorry? Is it okay because he has trauma? Then WTF is up with the three last episodes? This drama has one of the major problems MOST KBLS have : not enough length for the story they are trying to put out. Don’t add conflict you don’t know how to resolve in the remaining time. The last 3 episodes felt like I wasted my time. They could’ve used the epilogue to, idk, actually give us some closure. But no, instead we are left unsatisfied. Moral of the story : Dayeol deserved better. Another bad KBL to add to the never ending list.

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Bromance not romance

Having read this short webcomic twice, I was looking forward to the live action adaptation.

An unfortunate accident brings Tae Hyun and Da Yeol closer together. The first one is bullying the other one who tries to get the upper hand until he realizes there is a lot of darkness and sadness behind the cocky smile and harsh words of the first one. This is a classical enemies to lovers(?) story.

Tae Hyun suffers from survivor's guilt which he hides from others. Da Yeol is being forced by his father to train archery intensively, something he eventually realizes he hates. Their meeting is going to bring out in the open the frustrations and unhappiness they're feeling and therefore they are finally be able to move on.

What did not convince me is the love story both in manhua and here. They went the same way: Da Yeol falls for Tea Hyun and confesses but TH is not really sure of his feelings. Whatever he is feeling is more akin to gratitude and friendship than love. He had a change of heart when DY become the first person to tell him that the accident was just that, an accident and that it was not his fault. I am not convinced he fell in love but actually developed another form of dependancy in which he mistok gratitude for something more he was not really feeling!
There are a couple of time skips that only confirms even more the strong friendship between them. TH seems to be trying to convince himself that he is in love with DY when he is obviously just missing his best friend who once crossed the friendship line making TH uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable but not enough to convince himself he was in love.

That's where the real problem of this BL lies: the guys are cute together but there is a strong invisible though obvious barrier between them. It that was never more certain than in the fluffy last episode. This is more of a bromance than a romance!

The acting is pretty good for idols but did they really need to put so much lipstick on actor playing Tae Hyun: seeing those scarlet lips was really disconcerting.. Plotwise, they left us with some questions: TH's friend group, in particular Ye Beom, have not been used or even fleshed out properly. Why is Ye Beom so possessive of Tae Hyun? The girl was supposed to have a crush on Da Yeon: when? why? how come? What was the point of those time skips? Their relationship does not seem to have changed an iota during those years....

I was not bothered by the lack of skinship: it is not alway necessary! Sometimes the deepest feelings are expressed through glaces, attitudes etc. nothing such here. It turns out this is a bit of a wasted opportunity!

All in all this was a cute short watch. You'd be better off just reading the webcomic!

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Not bad, but not good either…

I don’t know why this was advertised as a BL, it’s more like a bromance. The ending seemed rushed, these two had no physical contact at all, and parts were confusing. Any kind of love story, straight or gay, has SOME physical contact. The acting was good, everything else could have been better. This had so much potential because the actual plot/story/idea was good, but not carried out good. Was it the writing, producing, directing, or all of the above, but it was just OK. I really don’t understand some of the good reviews. The only thing I can think of is maybe they have nothing else to compare it to?? To me, if you watch a lot of BL’S, this is very mediocre.

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Interesting Enemies To Lovers With Some Character Complexity.

Seven 30min episodes. My rating ignores Ep 7! Fantastic Ep 1-6; engaging and evoked a wide range of emotions. Ep 7 was an epilogue of awkward fluff that had a different feel from the rest, wasn't satisfying, and wasn't needed. I recommend treating Ep 6 as the end and avoiding the let down of Ep 7 (it detracts instead of adds to the story).

For Ep 1-6: Story 9 (was tightly woven & at a good pace, interesting, and had me mentally & emotionally invested in the characters quickly), Acting 9, Chemistry/Magnetism between leads 8. Moderate amount of skinship but no sexual intimacy beyond a couple of almost-kisses. High angst (mostly resolved or at least making positive progress).

The characters are more complex than many BLs of this length, as are the issues raised. I liked that both lead characters had things to work through individually as well as together. There isn't time to explore everything in-depth, or fully address past traumas, but the story is thoughtful and I didn't feel like anything was left hanging (except in Ep 7). The characters feel like actual high-schoolers and there were no weak links in acting. The effects of trauma were realistically portrayed.

GENERAL SPOILERS below.
Ep 7:
The words at the end of Ep 6 set up my hope and expectation to see that scenario play out in Ep 7. But it didn't really happen, and there was a weird push & pull dynamic around physical intimacy, which also didn't happen. I don’t always need sexual intimacy in a romance (queer or otherwise), but the script made such an awkward dance around it that it turned things UN-romantic; they regressed to bromance instead of continuing the romantic progression set up in the previous episodes. The epilogue has some aimless cute fluff and shows that they ultimately remain together over time, but it felt lackluster and wasn't a fulfilling resolution.

SPECIFIC SPOILERS for Trigger Warnings:

Most prevalent: depression, PTSD, and a mentally abusive family member.
Less prominent (are briefly shown only once or twice): self-harm, miscarriage, and suicide.

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A lot of things don't make sense

It had a lot of potential that ended being wasteful. Going into this, I knew that the main actors are both members of a k-pop group, so I didn’t expect any intimate scenes and that is something that I am perfectly fine with.

Jo Tae Hyun & Lee Da Yeol: Jo Tae Hyun is an archer; he always had his focus on training and that was it. He was not interested in making new friends or getting involved with any drama. Jo Tae Hyun is a troublemaker, he’s popular and gets along with people, but he also has a different side. He is not really close to his “friends” and has past trauma that still haunts him. The two are similar in some sense but also incredibly different. I really liked their initial dynamics, they were fun, but I felt like them being enemies was not taken too far. Both actors did great in their roles. It showed that the two are close in real life as they appeared to be very comfortable with each other on screen. The chemistry was there, it wasn’t the best I have seen, but I am guessing this has more to do with the actors’ k-pop idol statuses than anything else.

I feel like there were so many plot holes though or things just being left unfinished, unsolved. First, Jang Won Kyung. He friends with Jo Tae Hyun, but it also appeared at times like he has a crush on him. His actions and dislike towards Lee Da Yeol make much more sense if he has an unrequited crush on his friend. Next is the whole family situation with Jo Tae Hyun – was it solved? Did things improve? What happened after the confortation (if it can be called that)? I wish Jo Tae Hyun’s trauma and actions would have been addressed more or at least in a better manner.

The time jumps in the last episode were just absurd. The pacing of the story was good until then, it made sense, there was progress. But then the last episode completely threw the pacing off with the time skips. The biggest problem is that we don’t really get to know anything that happened during the time that passed in those time skips. Some things are slightly hinted at, but we never really find out if that is something that actually happened or not. It would be better if the time skips would either be shorter or even avoided completely. Or if time skip is something that was a must, maybe a second season would be a better choice. Either that or a different pacing of the storyline in earlier episodes.

The OST is beautiful, not that I expected anything else. Their visuals are absolutely stunning, I really liked the styling as well. The locations and cinematography were beautiful too.

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Was great at the beginning but a few unnecessary add ons.

This was a great start, I’m very happy with the casting, they both did a great job especially Yechan, he just blew me way with his performance of the cruel but hurt Taehyun. They both had great chemistry as well and it followed the manhwa perfectly until ep 7 :/ i think that episode was unnecessary, it would’ve been just fine with ending it at ep 6 with that absolutely adorable final scene of them hugging and Da Yeol promising to wait for him, but ep 7 kind of ruined the characters for me who read the manhwa first long back. But I truly loved the cast and the addition of the girl character as well. She’s really sweet. ❤️

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starts with a bang, ends with a whimper

The first few episodes of this show are wonderful. I do consider them my "comfort episodes". The chemistry was believeable and the acting was fine (nothing truly outstanding or oscar-worthy especially during the more emotional and tough scenes). It's another enemies to lovers BL set in high school, though the dynamic between the two lead characters was super interesting.

It's like the first few episodes are a balloon slowly filling with air and you expect it to burst any moment, but instead someone pokes a tiny hole in it and the balloon is deflating very very slowly. I can't really say what I expected either, just that this show felt a little lost at the end. I don't remember watching episode 7, what does that say about my memory and this show? Probably that both is pretty weak. I only remember that for the past few days I thought to myself "I can't wait for the last episode to come out, hopefully it will be better than the last one", and then I opened up Viki today and I saw that I had already watched it. Whoops.

I gotta say though, that there are many cute scenes to make up for it. So that's why I gave it such a high rating. I do love me some fluff. I haven't seen the manhwa yet, so I can't really say if it did it justice (judging by the other reviews I'd assume the answer is no).

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Cute one-time watch

Characters
The two male leads are the main focus of the drama and they are seriously the star of the show. The chemistry they shared on screen was cute. The side characters didn't stick out much. I really liked the coach tho. No reason why but she was cool.

Story
I really liked the development from the first few episodes. Up until episode 5, the drama really shined. even after that the story went well but still kind of rushed. I saw people complaining about not even having a kiss, I honestly think that's fine. The characters are cute but they are teenagers and still exploring. The last two episodes seem different from the previous ones. Like I loved all the fluffy moments in the last episode but still felt like we rushed to that ending. and other than the romance standpoint, the psychological aspect was decently done. I have seen those tropes multiple times but still it was fine.

Music
Didn't stand out much

Overall
Very fun drama. For me, this is honestly a one time watch. I probably wouldn't try to watch this again. But it does have it's moments.

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A love story of two people who find their other half which they can call home.

After months of waiting, I was finally able to complete this show. Been waiting since its announcement day as the fact that both actors playing the main characters are members of an established Korean boy group, plus the poster is indeed captivating. All I can say is that the wait is all worth it. High-quality production with beautiful transitioning and story setups.

The pilot episode isn’t as impactful due to the mixed emotions that I felt. The beginning of their love story is somehow annoying, as the way the class president and his mini-gang bully the poor archer athlete. I am a fan of the enemy-turn-to-lovers trope but not as much of letting the other party at a disadvantage to the point that he was being misunderstood by the teachers. Anyways, the good looks of the cast tend to lighten up my emotion. The great thing is that I enjoyed watching the remaining episodes after this one.

EP2 is when the butterflies in my stomach started to grow. I love that they are getting involved with each other. The execution of every romantic scene was gorgeous. One of my favorite parts of the drama is when Lee Da Yeol was fascinated by the good smell of Jo Tae Hyun’s body scent; that was alluring.

Jo Tae Hyun’s post-traumatic experience during his childhood is something understandable in the way the past keeps eating him alive. The title “A Shoulder to Cry On” is Lee Da Yeol’s POV of Tae Hyun. As we can see during the EP4 bus scene; after comfortably opening his past to Da Yeol, Tae Hyun peacefully sleep on Da Yeol’s shoulder. I am loving that moment when Da Yeol told Tae Hyun that it wasn’t his fault and that all the things that happened in the past are just an accident. Words that Tae Hyun wanted to hear for almost a decade. This also helps him to release his emotions and speaks up against her aunt, who solely blames him for everything.

A youthful love story that has several memorable scenes that are relatable and charming to the viewers who also had their high school crush during their teenage years. Some of these are: changing seats to be seatmates and spending time with one another, becoming too comfortable with each other that it is okay to share the same drinking cup, etc.

Lee Da Yeol’s bravery in confessing his feelings to Tae Hyun is deserving of applause. He was scared and even hate himself for having such emotions toward his first friend, yet, he was able to deliver his feeling to the person despite knowing the consequences it may have. I was hurt by Jo Tae Hyun’s killing words of rejection of Da Yeol’s confession. But I understand that the boy has his past and he was afraid that he might lose Da Yeol too. Their breakup scene teared me up and made me cry. Thankful that the show inserted a flashback memory during this episode in which Tae Hyun pinch Da Yeol out of jealousy.

Two years of time skip is painful for both but I am happy that they still reconcile with already being mature and considerate so that they will not hurt each other again in the future. That couple's lock screen wallpaper shocked me, they’re so in love with each other. They manage to retrieve all of the butterflies and the romantic excitement inside me is kicking too much after they confirmed that they’re already dating. Jo Tae Hyun’s preparation for their sea getaway was so cute. His making up all of the wasted time from the past and knowing that his first relationship is Da Yeol, I can assure you that his love never really faded away.

They didn’t give us an on-screen kissing scene but that exchange of used lollipops surprised me. It is not as gross as I think it was haha I love that scene! And Tae Hyun’s like Yu-Gi-Oh too, likewise!

I love that the OSTs have both Korean and English versions which are all sung by the couple’s boy group, OMEGA X. All songs sounded cool and emotional which fits the whole vibes of the show.

A Shoulder to Cry On is a drama that tells that someone can be our version of HOME. A person where we can be at peace, calm, and have some fun. I love that they took the story in a childish yet mature sense of storytelling since the characters are still in their adolescent period of life. Ending the review by quoting what Jo Tae Hyun says to Lee Da Yeol, ”It is not hard if you like it.” This is a statement that brings too much motivation in my life to keep on pursuing the things I liked, and so do you too.

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worth watching once but uneven

each aspect of the series had good and bad moments. The actress who played Shin Ye Chan's aunt certainly won't be winning a drama award anytime soon. Shin Ye Chan's performance had a lot nuance and depth, and in my opinion is one of the better performances in a Korean BL series thus far. I'm looking forward to his future performances on screen. The overall vibe created by the screenplay, directing, and performances naturally moves toward the lead characters inevitably kissing at some point, and that moment would be a pivotal part of the story. The end result felt like reading a book with a handful of pages torn out -- its omission broke the fourth wall and completely ruined any suspension of disbelief. If a kissing scene needed to be cut, then the screenplay either needed to be rewritten, or produced by a team comfortable including it.

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