This review may contain spoilers
A New Standard for BLs!
The Eighth Sense just came out with their final episodes on Viki and I have to say that I really really enjoyed it. The story was incredibly interesting, with good understanding and portrayal of mental health issues, I was definitely captivated from the first few episodes.
Much like other Korean BLs the episodes are fairly long (around 30-40 mins each) which gave enough time for the story to progress without seeming like things were filler.
The performances of Im Ji Sub as Jae Won and Oh Jun Taek as Ji Hyun really stood out, with fantastic portrayal of mental health struggles by Ji Sub, I think this topic not covered enough, and this was handled well in the show. I really enjoyed the slow development of their relationship, from quite awkward but interested, to openly loving each other in public. I also enjoyed the transition that Ji Hyun had after the accident, as previously he was scared and timid, but afterwards he understood what he wanted and went for it.
The supporting cast were also fantastic — Lee Mi Ra as Yoon Won really gave off that big sister energy, and really cared for both Jae Won and Ji Hyun. Joon Pyo Gave off that main side-kick energy, and although I initially didn’t like his friendship with Ji Hyun, it came to be shown how much he cared for his childhood best friend.
The cinematography was also fantastic, making the scenes really beautiful and captures the feelings of the characters. There were one or two points were the cinematography was slightly weird in my opinion. One where the lighting seemed almost ‘dream-like’ in episode 7, when Ji Hyun and Jae Won stop at a rest station, even though this wasn‘t really a dream sequence — I assume this was just because it was overly bright on the day of filming. The second quirk was when Yoon Won was crying in Episode 9, which gave quite a long and intense close-up. Personally, I think this was a slightly odd choice since this close-up shot was not really used in the rest of the series (and might have been useful in some other scenes) and was used for a supporting character rather than a main character. For me, it felt a little out of place, but I understand why it was used. I would have preferred a slightly wider shot (with Jae Won cropped out), to show her loneliness. But again, this is more of a nitpick more than anything.
Lastly, I really really loved Episode 10. So many BLs that I’ve previously watched and enjoyed, made me feel like I just broke up with someone because a lot of these series just ends so abruptly. The main couple usually just kisses we assume they live a happy life, and then end of story. But I’m really glad we got to see the ‘aftermath’ of Ji Hyun and Jae Won reuniting again — it made for an incredibly satisfying close to the series. For that reason, I’m quite satisfied if this series doesn’t get a Season 2 as I think this was a neat closure. But it would be interesting to find out how Jae Won would navigate his mental health problems with Ji Hyun by his side and also his relationship with his parents. Although Jae Won did say he would never make Ji Hyun sad ever again…
Regardless, I really enjoyed the series, and would lone to have Ji Sub and Jun Taek back for future BLs (hopefully together again as an on-screen couple!) but I do wish them and the rest of the cast and crew, an amazing career! I will be watching both closely in the future!!
Much like other Korean BLs the episodes are fairly long (around 30-40 mins each) which gave enough time for the story to progress without seeming like things were filler.
The performances of Im Ji Sub as Jae Won and Oh Jun Taek as Ji Hyun really stood out, with fantastic portrayal of mental health struggles by Ji Sub, I think this topic not covered enough, and this was handled well in the show. I really enjoyed the slow development of their relationship, from quite awkward but interested, to openly loving each other in public. I also enjoyed the transition that Ji Hyun had after the accident, as previously he was scared and timid, but afterwards he understood what he wanted and went for it.
The supporting cast were also fantastic — Lee Mi Ra as Yoon Won really gave off that big sister energy, and really cared for both Jae Won and Ji Hyun. Joon Pyo Gave off that main side-kick energy, and although I initially didn’t like his friendship with Ji Hyun, it came to be shown how much he cared for his childhood best friend.
The cinematography was also fantastic, making the scenes really beautiful and captures the feelings of the characters. There were one or two points were the cinematography was slightly weird in my opinion. One where the lighting seemed almost ‘dream-like’ in episode 7, when Ji Hyun and Jae Won stop at a rest station, even though this wasn‘t really a dream sequence — I assume this was just because it was overly bright on the day of filming. The second quirk was when Yoon Won was crying in Episode 9, which gave quite a long and intense close-up. Personally, I think this was a slightly odd choice since this close-up shot was not really used in the rest of the series (and might have been useful in some other scenes) and was used for a supporting character rather than a main character. For me, it felt a little out of place, but I understand why it was used. I would have preferred a slightly wider shot (with Jae Won cropped out), to show her loneliness. But again, this is more of a nitpick more than anything.
Lastly, I really really loved Episode 10. So many BLs that I’ve previously watched and enjoyed, made me feel like I just broke up with someone because a lot of these series just ends so abruptly. The main couple usually just kisses we assume they live a happy life, and then end of story. But I’m really glad we got to see the ‘aftermath’ of Ji Hyun and Jae Won reuniting again — it made for an incredibly satisfying close to the series. For that reason, I’m quite satisfied if this series doesn’t get a Season 2 as I think this was a neat closure. But it would be interesting to find out how Jae Won would navigate his mental health problems with Ji Hyun by his side and also his relationship with his parents. Although Jae Won did say he would never make Ji Hyun sad ever again…
Regardless, I really enjoyed the series, and would lone to have Ji Sub and Jun Taek back for future BLs (hopefully together again as an on-screen couple!) but I do wish them and the rest of the cast and crew, an amazing career! I will be watching both closely in the future!!
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