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Kissable Lips korean drama review
Completed
Kissable Lips
3 people found this review helpful
by DrKay
Feb 25, 2022
8 of 8 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 8.0
Story 6.5
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 7.0

Wonky and hot vampire romance

Kissable Lips lives up to its name in the sense that said lips are truly extremely kissable. But, for obvious reasons, the kiss doesn't actually take place until towards the end- and when it does happen, the twenty seconds kiss is totally worth the wait. A dying vampire, Jun Ho, finds a solution to save himself on a chance encounter with fellow college student, Min Hyun and falls for him in the process of making Min Hyun fall for him. The story is that simple and basic; surprising considering that it deals with a heavy subject-death. It derives its charm from the excellent acting, Chemistry (with a capital C- that eight in the rating is solely for that, and the sexual tension) and visuals of the leads, the lilting background score and the picturesque shots of cinematography. It is well paced and gives due weightage to its characters, without going overboard with any of them.

However, the story takes far too many creative liberties with the plot and leaves room for a lot of explanation. There is no prologue to how vampires came to exist, which wouldn't have been a problem if the plot's focus was not on the death of one. Alright, they exist, but how? Min Hyun's brother seems to know all about vampires but what is his source? Did something related happen to their parents? He also disappears after warning Min Hyun about Jun Ho and learning his brother likes a vampire, which is in contradiction to his paranoid actions until then. After knowing where Min Hyun was spending his after school time, was his brother suddenly okay with Min Hyun's decision? What do Hae Soo's red eyes signify? And is his ending justified or necessary? And the biggest question of all that is left hanging and forgotten- who exactly is Ok Mi Ran? If she's a vampire, why does she look old (seeing that other vampires are young), if she's not, what was she doing with that bag and how did she become friends with the vampires? Turning, which is usually a big thing in any vampire/werewolf/creature stories, is glaringly missing. It's not mentioned even once.

Realistically, it's probably impossible to address all the above issues, but a single line here and there, even in passing, about at least the most obvious of the problems, wouldn't have hurt the narrative. That said, I'm impressed with the ending, with the choices they make and the future both decide to face, with the ending the show decides to give the viewers and how. It's not often that the pain and beauty of love are so well portrayed. Kissable Lips has a melancholic air to it that is masked by the romantic effervescence between the leads, until the very last minute of the drama. It's maybe not everyone's cup of tea, but those who taste it, will definitely find it enjoyable.
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