2
LightHouse74
U.S.A.
This review may contain spoilers
It’s a Struggle to Watch
I placed a spoiler alert at the end of this review.
I have mixed feeling about this series. This is mostly due to the inconsistent marketing material for this series. The description, poster and opening credits make this seem it should be a fun and light show but it’s not. It was also a struggle for me to finish this series. It did not need to be 18 episodes.
The positive: It has a great cast. I give them credit for doing their best with the material they were given. The production value was also great. It’s obvious this series had a big budget because the sets and locations were great. It also had beautiful cinematography and great audio.
The negative: The main problem is the script. I don’t know how much it mirrors the Korean original story (Persevere, Goo Hae Ra), but this script is a complete mess. I think the main story line is the characters are trying to break into the music industry. However, this gets watered down by the numerous different storylines introduced throughout the series. Another problem is the series loses its light and whimsical feel in the middle of episode one. I love dramas with comedy elements, but this series does not do it well. There is no smooth transition between the comical and dramatical elements of the script.
The in-between: The music is great, but it should have been better considering this is a series about the music industry. You hear the same 4 songs over and over again which gets boring. There is a lot of misuse of screen time which I had to skip. The ending is ok, but at least it was a happy one.
Random notes: The house used as Piano’s childhood home is the same one used in Mama Gogo (Annie’s house) and in 21 Days Theory (Q’s house). This is the first time for me to see the same location in three series back-to-back. One thing that may help with watching this is trying to spot actors that stared in various BL series. This kept me entertained.
******Potential Spoiler Alert******
Why is Lay Talay Sanguandikul shown under the character Sun in the opening credit after this character dies. They should have changed the credit to reflect the character Ray after episode 5. The English dialog on the train in episode 6 was very awkward. It was basically two actors regurgitating lines from a script in the hope they don’t screw the lines up.
I have mixed feeling about this series. This is mostly due to the inconsistent marketing material for this series. The description, poster and opening credits make this seem it should be a fun and light show but it’s not. It was also a struggle for me to finish this series. It did not need to be 18 episodes.
The positive: It has a great cast. I give them credit for doing their best with the material they were given. The production value was also great. It’s obvious this series had a big budget because the sets and locations were great. It also had beautiful cinematography and great audio.
The negative: The main problem is the script. I don’t know how much it mirrors the Korean original story (Persevere, Goo Hae Ra), but this script is a complete mess. I think the main story line is the characters are trying to break into the music industry. However, this gets watered down by the numerous different storylines introduced throughout the series. Another problem is the series loses its light and whimsical feel in the middle of episode one. I love dramas with comedy elements, but this series does not do it well. There is no smooth transition between the comical and dramatical elements of the script.
The in-between: The music is great, but it should have been better considering this is a series about the music industry. You hear the same 4 songs over and over again which gets boring. There is a lot of misuse of screen time which I had to skip. The ending is ok, but at least it was a happy one.
Random notes: The house used as Piano’s childhood home is the same one used in Mama Gogo (Annie’s house) and in 21 Days Theory (Q’s house). This is the first time for me to see the same location in three series back-to-back. One thing that may help with watching this is trying to spot actors that stared in various BL series. This kept me entertained.
******Potential Spoiler Alert******
Why is Lay Talay Sanguandikul shown under the character Sun in the opening credit after this character dies. They should have changed the credit to reflect the character Ray after episode 5. The English dialog on the train in episode 6 was very awkward. It was basically two actors regurgitating lines from a script in the hope they don’t screw the lines up.
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