This review may contain spoilers
This isn't really a review but just my thoughts after finished watching this. Contains major spoilers so if you want read this with discretion please.First problem, the biggest plot came pretty late, after 27 out of 32 episodes, and it wasn’t even that momentous, it was basically 3 people recognizing each other, and it had no impact to the show’s crux.
Second, they focused too much on the romance. The main couple was a bit all over the place. Romance scenes popped up every 5 minutes, even inappropriate sometimes, and often really cheesy. And what makes me mad the most is, they literally killed my second favorite character to fortify the main couple’s relationship.
Like, the death just didn’t make any sense and absolutely wasn’t necessary and other than that it was to prevent something that could’ve been avoided easily long ago. Feels like they used that in order to cover up a massive amount of plot holes and most of all it was their last solution to save the show which is viewers tears.
Third, acting is not that good. All they did good were smirk and squint, and cry. LJS still can’t act panicking right. I love him from Doctor Stranger but somehow he got worse in this one. Especially when the show was climaxing. That kinda makes romance scenes feel cheesy to me.
On the other hand, the show looks nice, good cinematography and good soundtracks. Humor was alright. TBH the biggest plot twist for me is who was the bride at that last episode. Jesus it still giving me shiver while writing this.
I think the show could have done much more. Because the 'can tell the future, messing with the time' theme has been used in so many other works that been considered Masterpiece in different forms such as anime, games, movies,... I was super hyped when I found out this show contains that material. If you’ve came across an anime called ‘Steins Gate’ or a game called ‘Life is Strange’ you’ll know what I mean. You save this person, 10 more people die because of that. The more time you save that person the more you create a butterfly effect. You save this girl 4 times to prevent her inevitable death and somehow a typhoon with a size of the moon appears and wipes away the whole town clean. So you gotta choose between stuff, stuff that as same important to you and that person, you gotta sacrifice either one of them, but if you do it good you can still get a happy ending. Now I’m not comparing these to the show, but the way they handled it, and the way they built it up was so clever and engaging and immersing. You have these first 10 episodes full of sunflowers and silky roads, and after episode 10 it feel worse than standing on Normandy in WW2. That’s how you do a plot twist. That’s how you make a show good. I was preparing all my body and my mind for something like that. I was ready to give this show a 11/10. Now I can’t tell that I’m not a bit disappointed. I personally thought they would inherit and learn from those successful factors and develop them into a new story but no, they just didn't do it. They chose to remain a formal KDrama and insisted too much on the romance aspect. They made the name of the show less meaningful.
Well maybe it’s just me who set the bar too high. I’m totally new to this KDrama thing and after all, there are things you can draw and code but simply just can’t film it out.
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If you look at the list of hundreds of Korean dramas that have surfaced over the past few years, you will find that most shows had at least one of these three main characters: wealthy people; characters have superpowers; character has no superpower, but has the morality, the idea of life at a higher level than normal people. This stimulates the curiosity of the audience about the rare classes in society, which makes the story becomes new, more attractive. And along with that, we've had all these Hollywood's blockbuster level of production qualities in order to match the stories, landslide battles, beautiful cinematography, harmonious music, those that I personally thought were imperative to make a good show.
But "Something in the Rain" has none of that. Not a single thing.
Characters: Yoon Jin Ah, main female character, is a 35 years old supervisor. Seo Joon Hee, main male character, is just a 31 years old game designer. They're just another 2 people you can meet everywhere on the street that are struggling with their life.
Story: They fall in love with each other. Yes, that's literally it. Nothing more.
Cinematography: Mostly still shots. Not even that good.
Music: Sometimes a soft pop song will come up during romantic scenes. But nothing during normal ones.
At this point, you probably think my post would be a criticism but surprisingly, for all that, I am ADDICTED to this show – it brings a smile to my face and I actually find myself thinking about it even after the episode ends.
First off, the couple is really natural and relatable. Their chemistry is on fire and their physical interactions are exactly how you would expect a normal couple to be. Sometimes I think Korean dramas try to ‘normalise’ their shows and show that Koreans are exactly the same as everyone else, but end up overdoing and spoiling the momentum. Here, their acting doesn't look like acting at all. It's like you're watching videos of a couple filmed by a multi-thousand dollar camera. What they say and what the do, I can't even tell a difference from the "Behind the scene" and the final product. Search for them and you'll see what I mean.
For example, the first time they slept together, the focus was on the TV and you only see them taking off clothes (Joon Hee to be exact) and fidgeting under the blankets. The next time, it’s them with their clothes on but taking turns to be on top, smiling lovingly and then kissing the partner. We know what’s going to come, but it’s these moments that matter more to me – those quiet moments where you don’t say anything but simply look at your other half, which is why some dramas lose me when they start having bed scenes. In a sense, I think this drama has no less kissing scenes than any other dramas I’ve watched, and yet this is more intimate and at the same time, conservative, and I admire this balance. Other dramas are mostly passionate making-out, but here, we are seeing really small kisses most of the time. I read comments noting that the actors must have had a serious relationship before to act this out, and I agree – they seem to bring some part of themselves into the show, which is why I think I feel so attracted to this couple. Watching them reminds me of something, whether in the past or now.
This show doesn’t have a villain but I see it in the mother every time she talks. The script really feels so natural! I don’t need superpower mums who throw money at female leads to keep them away from their sons; I didn’t know until this show that a naggy mom who simply focuses on the background and pities Joon Hee and his sister behind closed doors could be just as infuriating. I know she also comes from a place of love, but I truly wish that by the end of the drama, she will be changed as well – her words are really oppressing the entire family in different ways and it’s no wonder that every time she speaks, I feel so grumpy.
I’m just a bit afraid of what the title Something In The Rain entails – is it going to be fleeting? I have this fear that the couple will separate and it’s because this relationship makes them a better person but they are not meant to be together (something like 500 days of Summer). It’s a tragic concept which I’m not against per se, but I hope it doesn’t happen here because the only thing that’s stopping them really isn’t the age but family and I’d think that it’s pretty uninspiring if they broke up just because of that. On being inspiring, I like the portrayal of gender issues in the workplace and I really hope they develop it well.
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This review may contain spoilers
"All Of Us Died The Most Unnecessarily And Pointless Death In The History Of Cinema" - I-Want-My-15-Hours-Binge-Watching-This-Back EditionThe show just deliberately and continuously creates problems that didn't need solving in the first place then they themselves didn't know how to solve them so they just be like: "Let's kill 3/4 of the cast then bring down the curtain, the end." I will try my best not to spoil anything but god damn it's hard because everything in this show just "happens" and in the most illogical way possible.
The characters. Boy, they show absolutely no development in any aspect whatsoever throughout the entire show. You would see them spending 3/4 the time of an episode rambling about the philosophy of life, friendship and knowledge about zombies then the rest 1/4 pulling a complete 180° when they were facing the actual situations, stopping halfway because of friendship and dumb teen romance. They also behave in a very weird way, they would be bawling out for the people they met just 5 minutes earlier, but be like :frown face: for the people they knew their whole life.
The plots. To sum it up you can leave out the first 2 episodes, compress the rest down to 30 minutes, slap it in any section of any other zombie show and the whole thing still would still make sense. It had a good start I admit. But then it got so tiresome and inconsistence and this is the first Kdrama show in my 20 years of watching Kdrama that got me this tiresome of inconsistencies. They introduced too many characters and social topics like teen pregnancy, bullying, internet points addiction, half-assed political stuff, injustice, adult's heartlessness,... and they all contributed this 🤏much to the actual plots development, if it had any. If there's someone who's trying to develop something that seemed to be an actual good set up for the advancement of the plot, that person would be dead, and the set up would meet a dead end, everytime, for some reason, like why? Some of the characters were actually forgotten, gone, into oblivion, like they didn't exist, or having as least screen time as possible even when they've fully shown potential to contribute something to the cause. Some of the scenes felt like the scripter crossed them out but the director kept filming anyway (like the rats scene). Characters deaths or sacrifices didn't make any senses, unnecessarily and pointless, making the plot getting nowhere due to our extremely one-dimensional group of friends, despite having fought and ran through hordes of zombies for nearly 4 days in movie time, referencing themselves every possible motif of a zombie movie, making sharp pointy weapons while watching their archer shooting the brains out of the zombies, still didn't know how to effectively kill or outrun them. And it the end everything was just for them to return to the literal hell they just escaped by sacrificing god knows how many people, because friendship.
The acting. I like the big dude and the pink sweater girl, not because their acting was stellar, but because they're the only ones who put efforts into it. Everyone else acts like a robot in this show. I get that the majority of the cast are young age, but you can't use the "it's how their characters are" as an excuse in this era anymore. Some of the voice I've noticed to be added later on, tears had to be made using eye drops, so much that it created straight lines on the bloodstains sticking to their face.
The music. You would see people's body being split in half on a funky summer vibe OST in the show that's trying desperately to be serious while shooting in their own foot and fail miserably. It's just all over the place.
The cinematography. If not for this the show would've gotten a 1/10 from me.
Overall, imagine that scene where Rick Grimes was fighting his best bud Shane over his wife Lori and the leader position in the middle of the farm. But instead of taking advantage while Shane's distracted and lowered his gun and kill him himself, Shane got hit by a car instead. That's what this show feels like.
And don't even get me started on the cliché of tripping and locked doors. It's like they kept forgetting they used that last episode.
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This review may contain spoilers
HOLYexcuse me
FUCKING
SHIT.
Words cannot describe this show.
You want a review? Here's my review: Watch it. Please, just watch it for the love of God. This is coming from an once Kdrama hater.
It has everything you'll need: Best story of the millennium CHECK, best music CHECK, best acting CHECK, that fucking plot twist CHECK, good looking characters CHECK, good cinematography CHECK
Just watch the god damn show.
Spoiler alert: It will pull you in and make you forget about life for almost two months.
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