This review may contain spoilers
Light in the Dark
Light on Me is a relatively short, but sweet drama that I found engaging despite its faults. On the surface, it does come across as your typical high school drama complete with all the tropes you've come to expect from BLs. However, the more I watched, the more I saw that there is a depth to it, not so much with the story, but certainly with the characters. There's something about it that's almost relaxing and it made watching it very easy.
Light on Me does not break the mold of high school dramas. There's nothing new here, the same old tropes are used. However, aspects like learning to accept yourself and stand up for yourself are explored and add to the story. It took a couple of episodes for me to really get into the story. I struggled with Taekyung as the lead because he was so robotic. However, as other characters were introduced, I found myself becoming more invested. I will say that the robotics do extend to the other characters to an extent and it does make it harder to form attachments to them. It gets better as the drama progresses though. Some aspects like turning the sole female character into a villainess was frustrating. It's overused and the whole scenario of her spreading the picture was unrealistic and unnecessary. The passage of time was also not well documented and it would have been nice to have some idea of how much time had passed between events. The love triangle, which I am generally not a fan of, was actually really well done here. Both couples have their pros and cons and there's enough understanding that they really could go either way. I do wish a bit more time had been given to the build up of Taekyung and Shin Woo's relationship since it was endgame, but it was still done well enough that I can't complain too much. The pacing is slow and steady, which is part of why I found it kind of relaxing. There are no real extremes, it has a course to follow and it does so quite well with very little meandering. I appreciated that.
The characters are where it's at with this drama. There's an element with each of them that they are more than their appearance and outward actions and I really enjoyed that.
- Taekyung starts out as a loner who doesn't feel the need to have friends. However, despite his introversion, he's relatively confident in certain situations and honest to a fault. As he gets involved in the student council and starts to make friends, it becomes clear that he has a big heart and is actually a very selfless person. My biggest qualm was the fact that almost right up to the end, it seemed like he was still vacillating between Shin Woo and Daon. I would have liked to have a clearer picture as to when his feelings for Shin Woo started to manifest.
- Shin Woo comes across as cold and rude but in truth he's a sweetheart who just takes time to warm up to people. He's loyal to his friends and has great respect, both for Taekyung and Daon. The way he treats them both is a testament to his character. Despite his love for Taekyung, he's willing to step aside for Daon because at the time, that's who Taekyung loved. However, once things fall apart between the two of them, Shin Woo takes the initiative to step forward and pursue Taekyung. He's respectful of Taekyung and despite his own awkwardness, does his best to be there and support him.
- Daon was probably one of the most compelling characters for me. The evolution of my perception of his character as more of it was revealed was very interesting. He starts out very likable, a little too perfect, but a good guy. But as things progressed, I realized, he wasn't very genuine, he was very much a people pleaser and he lacked perspective and knowing how to prioritize. If anyone needed his help, he dropped everything to help them, meaning that Taekyung, if they'd entered into a relationship, would never be his priority. And eventually I just realized that he was selfish and really only cared about himself. But the great thing about him was that once he realized all that, once Taekyung pointed it out, he put out the effort to change and better himself. He stopped caring about what others thought and catering to their needs and that was so refreshing to see. Because despite those faults, Daon was not really a bad guy. The neglect and lack of love from his family obviously played into a lot of his mindset and actions. I think he had the most character growth out of any of the characters and I loved it.
- Namgoong was one of my favorite characters. I loved that beneath the goofy surface was someone who was far more mature, observant and wise than anyone gave him credit for. He truly cared for his friends and was fiercely loyal to them, helping them in any way that he could and sometimes that meant calling them out for their crap. He was just an all around good guy.
- While not a huge player, I really liked Mr. Seo for his wisdom and his investment in the students. He obviously cared about all of them and made an effort to connect with them. He's the kind of person you wish all teachers were like.
-Sohee is almost not worth mentioning. She's the token female character that it was decided should be the villain because she's loved Daon for three years and therefore, first come first served, regardless of how Daon feels. She somehow decides posting a picture of Daon and Taekyung together is a great idea to break them up and have Daon go running into her arms except that it blows up and Daon cuts her off. Predictably she apologizes to everyone, everything is forgiven, and they're all friends. Boring. She could have been so much more and I'm disappointed that this what they decided to do with her.
The acting certainly could have been better. Sae On in particular was far too doll like and it wasn't just the makeup. I understand the character was supposed to be introverted and awkward, but he was just wooden and lacking in almost any expression. Particularly comparing him to Yoo Seok whose character was also introverted and awkward, yet he's still so expressive and brings so much to the screen. Chan Yi's performance sometimes felt a bit empty, but for the most part he did quite well. And Woo Jin just brought Namgoong to life and was a pleasure to watch.
The makeup was a big issue. Particularly for Sae On, he had so much makeup packed on that he looked like a mannequin. The others weren't quite as dramatic, but all around it was excessive. That being said, I did like the fact that this was a longer drama. I wish more current BLs would keep with this because that made a big difference. The production value also felt higher and in general it was better quality all around. The music was great. I really enjoyed the closing song and several of the other songs worked in.
This was just a very enjoyable journey and my only issue is how long it took me to discover it. I would certainly recommend it as one of the best Korean BLs I've seen and hopefully future ones will follow in its footsteps.
Light on Me does not break the mold of high school dramas. There's nothing new here, the same old tropes are used. However, aspects like learning to accept yourself and stand up for yourself are explored and add to the story. It took a couple of episodes for me to really get into the story. I struggled with Taekyung as the lead because he was so robotic. However, as other characters were introduced, I found myself becoming more invested. I will say that the robotics do extend to the other characters to an extent and it does make it harder to form attachments to them. It gets better as the drama progresses though. Some aspects like turning the sole female character into a villainess was frustrating. It's overused and the whole scenario of her spreading the picture was unrealistic and unnecessary. The passage of time was also not well documented and it would have been nice to have some idea of how much time had passed between events. The love triangle, which I am generally not a fan of, was actually really well done here. Both couples have their pros and cons and there's enough understanding that they really could go either way. I do wish a bit more time had been given to the build up of Taekyung and Shin Woo's relationship since it was endgame, but it was still done well enough that I can't complain too much. The pacing is slow and steady, which is part of why I found it kind of relaxing. There are no real extremes, it has a course to follow and it does so quite well with very little meandering. I appreciated that.
The characters are where it's at with this drama. There's an element with each of them that they are more than their appearance and outward actions and I really enjoyed that.
- Taekyung starts out as a loner who doesn't feel the need to have friends. However, despite his introversion, he's relatively confident in certain situations and honest to a fault. As he gets involved in the student council and starts to make friends, it becomes clear that he has a big heart and is actually a very selfless person. My biggest qualm was the fact that almost right up to the end, it seemed like he was still vacillating between Shin Woo and Daon. I would have liked to have a clearer picture as to when his feelings for Shin Woo started to manifest.
- Shin Woo comes across as cold and rude but in truth he's a sweetheart who just takes time to warm up to people. He's loyal to his friends and has great respect, both for Taekyung and Daon. The way he treats them both is a testament to his character. Despite his love for Taekyung, he's willing to step aside for Daon because at the time, that's who Taekyung loved. However, once things fall apart between the two of them, Shin Woo takes the initiative to step forward and pursue Taekyung. He's respectful of Taekyung and despite his own awkwardness, does his best to be there and support him.
- Daon was probably one of the most compelling characters for me. The evolution of my perception of his character as more of it was revealed was very interesting. He starts out very likable, a little too perfect, but a good guy. But as things progressed, I realized, he wasn't very genuine, he was very much a people pleaser and he lacked perspective and knowing how to prioritize. If anyone needed his help, he dropped everything to help them, meaning that Taekyung, if they'd entered into a relationship, would never be his priority. And eventually I just realized that he was selfish and really only cared about himself. But the great thing about him was that once he realized all that, once Taekyung pointed it out, he put out the effort to change and better himself. He stopped caring about what others thought and catering to their needs and that was so refreshing to see. Because despite those faults, Daon was not really a bad guy. The neglect and lack of love from his family obviously played into a lot of his mindset and actions. I think he had the most character growth out of any of the characters and I loved it.
- Namgoong was one of my favorite characters. I loved that beneath the goofy surface was someone who was far more mature, observant and wise than anyone gave him credit for. He truly cared for his friends and was fiercely loyal to them, helping them in any way that he could and sometimes that meant calling them out for their crap. He was just an all around good guy.
- While not a huge player, I really liked Mr. Seo for his wisdom and his investment in the students. He obviously cared about all of them and made an effort to connect with them. He's the kind of person you wish all teachers were like.
-Sohee is almost not worth mentioning. She's the token female character that it was decided should be the villain because she's loved Daon for three years and therefore, first come first served, regardless of how Daon feels. She somehow decides posting a picture of Daon and Taekyung together is a great idea to break them up and have Daon go running into her arms except that it blows up and Daon cuts her off. Predictably she apologizes to everyone, everything is forgiven, and they're all friends. Boring. She could have been so much more and I'm disappointed that this what they decided to do with her.
The acting certainly could have been better. Sae On in particular was far too doll like and it wasn't just the makeup. I understand the character was supposed to be introverted and awkward, but he was just wooden and lacking in almost any expression. Particularly comparing him to Yoo Seok whose character was also introverted and awkward, yet he's still so expressive and brings so much to the screen. Chan Yi's performance sometimes felt a bit empty, but for the most part he did quite well. And Woo Jin just brought Namgoong to life and was a pleasure to watch.
The makeup was a big issue. Particularly for Sae On, he had so much makeup packed on that he looked like a mannequin. The others weren't quite as dramatic, but all around it was excessive. That being said, I did like the fact that this was a longer drama. I wish more current BLs would keep with this because that made a big difference. The production value also felt higher and in general it was better quality all around. The music was great. I really enjoyed the closing song and several of the other songs worked in.
This was just a very enjoyable journey and my only issue is how long it took me to discover it. I would certainly recommend it as one of the best Korean BLs I've seen and hopefully future ones will follow in its footsteps.
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