Rare Gem
First off I love melodrama! This made it onto my top 10 from story to production & cinematography to acting to ost. The actors did amazing portraying their characters, so much that I fell in love with both lead characters.Reasons you should watch this drama:
1. Story - Mature and refreshing
2. OST - Beautiful music that fits well
3. Characters - Great acting, great chemistry between leads. No overuse of side characters as story focuses mostly on the lead couple.
4. Cinematography- Beautiful scenes with snow, cherry blossoms etc
5. Short series - Short and easy, not too drawn out, don’t feel like you miss anything or it was rushed. It’s just right.
Go ahead and give it a try! You won’t regret it!
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MELODRAMATIC BUT BEAUTIFUL TO WATCH
The drama delves into themes of love, regret, and the passage of time. It portrays the emotional turmoil of rekindling a past romance and the impact of unresolved feelings on current relationships. The series also highlights the cultural differences between Korea and Japan, adding depth to the characters’ struggles1. I’ve never been a fan of melodramas, but Episode 1 had me hooked, and thankfully, every episode lived up to my expectations! The fact that she learned Japanese just for this drama already makes LSY one of my favorites.”Was this review helpful to you?
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Amazing photography and score music
This collab is just magic. Despite being just 6 episodes, it delivers a lot in the photography and perfect management of lights and shades. Every scene, specially those that have a lot of emotion, match the incredible score that was done for this one. Even the main song is beatiful. The acting of the main couple of course is on another level, they had good chemestry and were able to portray and carry us from joy to tears and then back to hope. Beautifully executed, this remains a big small gem of just 6 episodes. What's more, they gave us a happy ending full of forgiveness and hope.Was this review helpful to you?
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One episode more and it would’ve been perfect
Some dramas get way too many episode resulting in a watered down story.This one, on the contrary, should’ve had at least one episode to close the story as it would’ve deserved. I would’ve wanted to see Beni talking to her long time friend and almost husband one last time to definitely close their relationship and see his reaction. It’s clear he knew how distant she was but it would’ve been nice to see his reaction: composed, would’ve tried to win her back one last time, pissed as hell?
Also, it would’ve been nice to see what they decide to do: does he move to Seoul, are they back in Japan? He most likely moved to SK, still... Even a slideshow of moments after that last scene of them holding each other’s hands and walk together to see all the ends meet. It would’ve felt a bit more complete. Still, great drama, one of my favorite of the year!
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The bilingual story is a sadistic tale of masochistic romance
A slow love story starts when Korean student Choi Hong bumps into Aoki Jungho. They start living together at a very early stage, and every moment they spend together is full of oh-so-love. But one day, Hong asks for a breakup, and she leaves.One of the biggest perks of a slow-burning love is that it takes time to build. In the case of this love, the continuous travel between past and present sometimes made the audience wonder. Sometimes the past seemed too happy, thus confusing the audience about the demeanor of Hong in the present life.
The performance of Lee Se Young after donning the marvelous The Marriage Story of Park is quite gloomy and nonchalant. Maybe it's the character graph that drags her more down. Every time she came on the screen, I felt more sad than hers. Kentaro Sakaguchi in the role of sad Jungo is less expressive than he was needed. His calmness made everyone around him uncomfortable.
For the first time in my life, I really wanted a sad ending to make the love less bulletproof and more logical...
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Melancholy at its finest !!!!
If you're into melancholic dramas with too much angst, this one is for you. This story revolves around a Korean girl named Hong who travels to Japan and rebelliously starts to live and study alone there, even without notifying her parents. There, she meets Jungo, a Japanese boy around her age. Their encounter blossoms into a passionate love soon. The plot revolves around them after their breakup. The cinematography of this drama is top-notch. The acting is also good . This drama is the first drama I've watched with leads from two countries. I enjoyed it, was a good watch.Was this review helpful to you?
Separation means a small death..
One of a kind, one of the best .What a drama …acting, story line, actors, music, i don’t have enough words to say what i feel. T
Honestly, purity, disclosing feelings, going through a maturity process, being able to say what you really feel, insight, ability to admit “ mistakes” , knowing how to say or not say things. Life. Unfinished business, closing circles, everything is in it. I just didn’t want the drama to end..
Last part was so delicate, fragile, but so many emotions in it that it could burst into pieces, but wit of the leading heroes did it.
I saw a great end. Reconciliation, love wins and putting the past behind after closing it, understanding each other and each own feelings and giving a chance to continue- together!
Thank you .
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Not your typical Korean Drama
I've finished watching all six episodes of What Comes After Love. I should say I enjoyed watching it as if you were reading the book. I love the cinematography, love the musical scoring, love the direction, love the story, the screenplay was well written, and leads insane chemistry. Lee Se Young proved once again her amazing acting skills. It was refreshing to see her in curly hair, her big eyes that speaks without uttering any words. Her face is too beautiful that radiates onscreen. I rarely recommend any Korean Drama but What Comes After Love is highly recommended. It may take a while before I can get over it or can I get over it? It's 10/10 for me. Congratulations to everyone involved in this masterpiece. Good job!Was this review helpful to you?
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trying to please people with happy ending isn't always a good thing
when i started watching this series, i thought that they would make their break up make sense, and they would properly solve their issues. it didn't happen. instead, we got two episodes of fluff, and three episodes of present. i feel like the writer was just pushing CH and AJ's differences aside until the final scene was taking place for the viewers. CH felt random quilt over the break up in last episode for some reason. AJ neglected her until she packed her bags and left. It makes you wonder if they're going to fall into the same rabbit hole.despite the writing flaws, this drama has definitely an excellent cast, and cinematography.
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masterclass performances
What Comes After Love is based on a 2005 novel co-written by Korean & Japanese authors, Gong Ji-young & Tsuji Hitonari. Likewise this short, 6 episode drama series is a K/J joint project, filmed in both countries with K/J leads & spoken in 2 languages as the settings alternate.I've seen Lee SeYoung in a few shows now & she is absolutely amazing. Lee has impressively mastered her character's fluency in Japanese, showing no sign of awkwardness in delivering her lines, & allowing the emotion of her character to fully flow through. I'm less familiar with J-dramas but Sakaguchi Kentaro easily matched intensity with his portrayal. These two basically gave a masterclass & their performances carried the entire show.
The drama weaves back & forth through time but never feels choppy. It very smoothly tells the very simple story of Hong & Jungo in a relaxed pace, revealing events as they lead to the main conflict which is their reunion, 5 years after a very difficult break up. Do they come to a reconciliation? I couldn't really guess what would happen, so I only hoped it would end satisfactorily either way, and it does so as Jungo learns to run by Hong's side, both figuratively and literally, & they each come to understand one another.
The show is also beautifully shot, with the spring blossoms & stark winter cold perfectly setting the stage of the characters' relationship at different times. Each scene is a work of art.
One final detail which I can't ignore because I'm a pet owner - I still find it disturbing that Asian dramas treat house pets as decorations & portray them in situations bordering on neglect. A dog confined to an outdoor courtyard, alone, & in near freezing temperatures is not humane. There are no scenes of anyone in the household providing any care for the animal or interacting with it in any meaningful way. As Hong is an avid runner, why not take the dog running with her?
Doggy aside, the show was otherwise a delight to watch because of the two powerful performances.
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Comforting in a painful way
I really loved the vibes of this drama. It's a cross between kdrama and jdrama, but I actually found it to feel more similar to the latter; it felt very raw and gritty, while kdramas typically are more polished and touched up. The show really lets the acting and chemistry shine.The theme of cultural differences between Japan and Korea is really interesting. We see the effects of it from an external source when Choi Hong faces discrimination at a ramen shop, but we also see its internal effects and how it shows up in the relationship between our leads. We see how the ML and FL are not able to speak their minds, and how this leads to CH's increasing loneliness in a foreign country. The way the language barrier is portrayed is so interesting and relatable, especially one scene where CH reverts to her native language when she's upset and overwhelmed.
It's such a good premise and it's why I wish this drama was more than six episodes, because I feel like the cultural differences was established well as a conflict, but not resolved quite as cleanly. The last episode feels a little rushed and it left me with more questions about how their relationship would work in the future in terms of where they would leave, what language they'd communicate in, how to deal with different customs and traditions, etc. It feels like the ending went for a "they both apologized so it's all okay" direction, whereas I would've preferred them have more conversations about the issues that arose in their relationship. We already knew they loved each other and that they would be okay in a vacuum, but I'm of the mind that love isn't always enough.
Overall, I still really enjoyed this and liked the melodrama vibes a lot. Despite how angsty it is, this drama actually felt very comforting to me. And I hope I see more K/J collaboration dramas in the future.
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What really comes after love
Angst and yearning throughout. The show captured the feeling of love and longing really well. Great acting makes you feel the emotions even better. Both the leads pulled off the roles with so much ease and chemistry is just oozing out naturally. It was quiet and beautiful in its own way. The story has you tugging towards both ends because their love was beautiful and their mistakes were human. Only con was the ending, could have been more detailed and settled well. A beloved drama with excellent takeoff but just the ending didn't pacify the angst that was present throughout the drama. A delightful melodrama watch and made me reminisce how much it emotes well when the leads can really really act !!Was this review helpful to you?
