940920 (2022)

Time and memories

I just finished watching this drama. It's three in the morning and I don't know what to do with myself.
I liked it a lot.
I haven't watched Leap day (I might watch it in the future) because it didn't interest me as much as this drama, 940920 is good even without watching the prequel.
I pierced the story about Yeesa while watching, it was not complicated to figure out so I wasn't really confused about anything.

Story
I love time travel stories and this one was awesome. It has set rules and the way it works makes sense. It's not overly complicated and we as watchers find out information with the characters which is fun. I actually managed to figure out a lot of things that are going to happen or how time travel works.
This drama made me think a lot about the characters and the way the story is going.

I wanted to give this drama a ten but I can't because of the ending. It's not bad, it's actually satisfying but I wanted more.
The stories of two characters I liked the most were left unfinished. That made me sad and mad because I hoped some miracle would happen and they would have a happy ending.

Also, I don't like when we follow some characters, they suffer, we get emotionally invested and then they don't get the happy ending they deserve but some people who look like them or are them from another universe get a happy ending and we are supposed to feel happy.
I'm not happy. That's my pet peeve in dramas, I want original characters to get happiness, not another version of them. It's not the same.
Rant over.

Things I liked:
- The way time travel works and how everything is connected.
- The question of memories, the fact that we are made of our memories. We know we exist because of them. They make us who we are so what are we without them?
- All of the characters and their individual stories.
- Co Ying and Ka Chung are smart (not all the time but most of their decisions are smart, they never made me feel frustrated).
- The subtle romance between Ka Chung and Co Ying, the way their friendship was growing and how they trusted each other.
- The villain. That's what happens when a bad person gets access to time travel but I guess there would be no drama if he wasn't like that.
- Every episode is exciting (episodes mostly end on cliffhanger so you have to watch the next one).

Overall, it's an awesome story that will make you think a lot. I totally recommend it.

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More time-travel focused, but main message wasn't as strong as Leap Day

For me, this sequel was a little underwhelming compared to Leap Day. The message about memories being an important part of life was nice, but the message somehow felt rather weak compared to "sacrifice" in Leap Day. "940920" just felt like a continuation from Leap Day without having a solid theme of its own. At times, the message felt quite scattered and you had to keep being reminded. Otherwise, it just feels like a drama that's purely about time-travel, which I feel that it isn't what the drama is supposed to be about. Hence, with Leap Day carrying a strong message and reason behind the time-travel, 940920 lacked those. Or maybe due to time-constraints, they had to ax that, idk.

Though, I have to admit that the time-travel and parallel universe-crossing parts were brilliantly done. Minor plot holes here and there, but you probably won't notice it unless you really try to look for it. Not sure if this sequel/prequel was supposed to be time-travel/timeline-crossing packed, but after watching it, all I remember was how busy every episode felt and the plot moved in a fast pace. So it's best to binge watch it, otherwise you might forget what happened in the previous episode (coz A LOT is happening). The transitions between past and present were done quite well though, as it was easy to differentiate.

As there's a lot going on in the past and present, the sentimental moments felt rushed, hence, not as memorable. A lot of the emotional sequences just flew by quickly, moving on to the next scene. It lacked those quiet moments like in Leap Day that allowed viewers to take it in. But it's also nice that both seasons are kinda different, as the plot in 940920 moves very quickly compared to Leap Day.

Personally, I really enjoyed Leap Day because of its uniqueness and mysteriousness. But I didn't find these two traits in 940920. So if slow burn is your cup of tea, and you are expecting this to be like Leap Day just like I did, then keep in mind that this sequel/prequel feels different. But if you like more complicated storyline and fast-paced plot, then this is right up your alley. Also, I think the summary is kinda misleading coz it makes you think 940920 is still focused on Yeesa. It isn't. Yeesa is more like a 2nd female lead here and her scenes felt lesser than some of the other supporting characters like Ka Chung's mom, or the villain Yuet. I'd say 940920 revolves more around Ka Chung both in the past and present, and also Chor Ying in the distant past and more recent past. I was misled by the summary and got disappointed coz I was grown attached to Yeesa's character in Leap Day and was looking forward to see more of her. Sadly, Chor Ying and Ka Chung are more of the leads in this. Makes sense though, coz 940920 carries a special meaning to Ka Chung.

I read an article that mentioned how this plot wasn't what the director and writer initially planned. Part of the story was supposed to take place in Taiwan and it was supposed to be more focused on Yu Ka Chung's past (from his childhood to before he met Yeesa), and also him looking for Chor Ying. So the villain wasn't part of it at first. But due to the pandemic, they couldn't fly to Taiwan to film it, hence a huge part of the script was changed. Considering all that, I think the team still did a pretty good job in the end. Though I'd be lying if I said 940920 lived up to expectations after watching Leap Day. It's hard not to compare since both series are connected, and it's more satisfying watching Leap Day first before watching this. Coz then you get a better understanding of things and it makes more sense. You get to see the full picture as everything comes full circle, leading back to the beginning of Leap Day. 940920 would bring your closure to what happened in Leap Day, but I personally still enjoyed Leap Day more.

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Photos and memories

Once in a blue moon, a miracle happens and a second season of a series turns out to be better than the first one! This is an example!

The drama starts exactly where the previous one ended: Yeesa has woken up from a coma but is completely lost. People know her, she recognizes them but the things are not as she remembers them to have been, something is slightly off. So she goes to the esoteric club who helped her during time travel and finds out that the man who sacrificed himself to save her life was never in it, they have never heard about him. But when she bumps into him in a bookshop, he does not recognize her. A few days later they meet again: he is a writer and ever since they met, he'd been having dreams about another version of himself. They conclude that he'd been getting images from the parallel universe Yeesa is from. In that universe, he reconnects with his childhood friend and discovers that the photos they took with an instant camera let you travel to the moment those photos had benn taken for 15min (i.e. the time it takes for a instant photo to be developped).

Basically we have two stories developing at the same time. In the one, Yeesa is helping the writer with his novel in order to figure out how to go back to her original universe. The other story is the plot of the novel taking place in that other universe.

Fortunately, in this season, the FL is different and Yeesa is just a guest character having no more than a couple of scenes in every episode so the drama is so much better for it! The story focuses on Ka Chung and his childhood friend Cu Ning. The drama follows them as they slowly figure out how the time travel through photos work and we see them as they regretfully realize they cannot change the past no matter how hard they tried. There is a scene where FL goes through a big number of photos in order to try to save her grandfather and is miserable when she fails! But they eventually realize, just like in the first season, that changing destiny needs the ultimate sacrifice.

The running theme of this season are memories!Memories hidden in photos that both main characters are trying to find and keep the important photos in their life.The grandfather's memories he is slowly losing but not only. The story is much more complicated because it keeps going back and forth between past and present in both universes. The director found a good solution for us not to be lost: the ML looks completely different in different timelines, if I did not know better, I'd think they were two different actors! That was very helpful in order to follow the story!

There is even a bad guy: someone so steeped in grief and guilt after his wife's death that he manages to find a way to time travel and provoke as much pain in the lead's lives holding them responsible for his own unhappiness. This was so frustrating! The guy turns out to be practically a caricature of evil: why do bad guys hum and whistle while doing evil deeds? Always! Just look at any crime thriller out there, every serial killer moves around humming or whistling! This whole subplot brought nothing because the main leads did not manage to save anyone with their actions and the final solution came from literally wishing upon a star. So just like in the first season, time travel depends on the whims of Gods!

The writing is excellent, without obvious plotholes but without time travel explanation either. Why is this particular instant camera creating time travel photos? The reason some people can do it is explained but not the means of transportation! On the other hand, the connection between the two seasons is established perfectly as the story of this season circles back to the beginning of the first one: the events of this season happened before the event of the Leap day and the conclusion to both series is the last episode here! This is headache inducing but time travel always is so....

940920 is a top tier time travel drama. The characters are interesting, the plot is tightly woven and manages to retain some logic but it is not very optimistic even though there is a happy ending for everyone involved. The cinematography is just as beautiful

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"Stories…are where memories go when they’re forgotten.”

(Quote is from Doctor Who.)

It's hard not to compare this drama with Leap Day, because I loved the prequel so much and I was expecting this drama to continue with the same tone and the thoughtful emphasis on character development more than plot progression.

In Leap Day, characters are preoccupied with time and what their future holds for them - Yeesa slowly owning her life and her decisions as she grapples with the fact that she might die in a few years time, Ryan pursuing both Yeesa and his dreams. Even supporting characters like Fiona and Yeesa's father make hard decisions in the present, so that they can continue living for the people they love, despite grieving the loss of someone important in their lives.

In 940920, the focus shifts to memories and how the characters' lives are affected by them. The constant search for missing memories drive the plot in an interesting manner - the mystery behind the death of Ka-Chung's mother and Yeesa having to live in a parallel universe with people who don't share her memories. Even from the first episode, the audience is introduced to Chau-Sok (Chor-Ying's grandfather), who has dementia and who most visibly portrayed the way the loss of memories can affect one's life. His growing despair and helplessness is heartbreakingly stark behind his smiles and happy moments with Chor-Ying as his condition takes away more and more of his consciousness. The plot arc revolving around him, slowly building in the first three episodes and culminating in the devastating scene in Episode 5, was written really well with appropriate pacing and a brilliant performance from both Yu Chi Ming and Jo Koo.

The shift in focus might be a little jarring to fans of Leap Day but I find that it plays off quite nicely to the prequel and the theme of fate / destiny. At the end, Chor-Ying's sacrifice provided the basis of better understanding the Ka-Chung we know and love in Leap Day, while cleverly showing how important she was to him. Even though all memories of her were erased in parallel universe A, the love Ka-Chung had for her was strong enough to make the other Ka-Chung in parallel universe B "remember" and turn them into a written story, a permanent record that can never be erased.

The idea of time-travelling through the polaroids is original and refreshing, even down to the small details of how the person time-travelling only has 15 minutes - around the same time taken for the image to develop completely on the polaroid. The CGI effect involved in that movement is pretty neat too, with no unnecessary flourishes to make the whole thing look gaudy. The workings of the time-travel remain mysterious, even till the end of the drama, and there was never an explanation for them. Why can the time-travel only be done on the night of the full moon? Why can it only be used by people who had a near-death experience? I don't mind the mystery but it feels like they didn't know what else to add and merely pulled elements from different superstitions or spiritual beliefs to make the whole thing "fuller"? A contrast to the simple explanation in Leap Day of how it was the amulet left by Yeesa's mother (as a powerful symbol of her love and protection) that gave Yeesa the ability to time-travel.

Another thing I do wish that was done better was Yuet. As a pivotal character who pushed the plot into its climax, he didn't feel like he was crafted with much thought. His back-story with Kami and his character motivations were too unbelievable. Or rather, I wish his character development weren't as rushed. There should have been more scenes explaining his emotional outbursts so that the audience wouldn't be thrown off by the things he did later in the drama.

All things considered, the plot is a lot more dynamic than Leap Day and the stakes for the characters are much higher this time round. The last few episodes were thrilling to watch and also satisfying when the storyline gradually resolves itself without much complications.

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