Don't Stop Watching!

Depression, suicide mention TW

When I first started watching the show, I thought that it was slow and confusing. However, as I continued to watch it, I realized that this is the kind of show that gradually builds on itself. The writing and plot are simply perfection—rewatching it made me realize how much they set the scene for future events to come. What I like so much about this drama is that it was an extremely complicated storyline to tackle but they managed to pull it off. There are no loose strings, and by the time I finished the drama, I understood everything that had happened. The best way to describe this drama is one "ohhh" of realization after another. I'm a sucker for time travel dramas and am very pleased with how they executed it.

Someday or One Day chose to discuss disability, dysfunctional families, mental illness, and homosexuality in ways that you could feel the characters' pain. In my opinion, the show's representation of these issues was impressive. They were accurate and helped the audience to empathize with the character's experiences and emotions. The depiction I liked, in particular, was Chen Yun Ru's struggle with isolation, loneliness, and depression. Seeing her character made me emotional because her emotions and thoughts were far too similar to mine in the past. That's how accurate the depiction was. She had some very valuable lines that I think everyone can keep in mind after watching the show. One that hit me particularly hard was "I've already tried so hard... Why do all of you still have to tell me to try harder, to be better?" Something the show touches on is that it's important to try to understand and support people going through depression, rather than only caring about them when they're on the brink of suicide and telling them what they should think and do. I think this is why I love Someday or One Day so much—it chose to discuss taboo topics in an accurate and meaningful way. Keep in mind, however, that this show also has its lighthearted moments too.

The acting. Let's talk about the acting. Alice Ke is insane. The way she was able to pull off both Chen Yun Ru and Huang Yu Xuan within the same drama is amazing. Despite both characters being played by her, each one was so different and felt like their own person. Alice Ke went back and forth from being a lonely high schooler to a confident working-age class adult (and college student) effortlessly. Everything about her expressions and acting was amazing. I also have to give credit to Greg Hsu and Patrick Shih. Although Greg Hsu didn't get to switch between his own respective characters as much, you could still see his versatility. All in all, they did a great job fleshing out their character's personalities and emotions. The chemistry between Greg Hsu and Alice Ke was also amazing. Huang Yu Xuan and Li Zi Wei's romance was heart-wrenching and made me smile like an idiot at the same time.

One last thing I'd like to talk about—the production. Something Taiwanese cinema takes advantage of particularly well is the concept of nostalgia. They incorporate this into the setting, music, color correction, and wardrobe. That is exactly what Someday or One Day did. The soundtrack is amazing. I listen to it in my free time. It's the kind that makes you feel wistful. I'm also a sucker for aesthetics, which is why I fell in love with the overall vision of the drama. I could talk for hours about the color correction in particular. I'm Taiwanese, so maybe that's why this drama resonated so well with me.

Please watch this show. It's addicting and it'll change your life.

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