If you were part of our recent Love Like The Galaxy group watch, or you’ve been staying up to date with my announcements on Patreon, you might know this already, but – we are having a group watch of The Red Sleeve! YAY!

Basically, Yaya mentioned on Patreon, how she was thinking of watching The Red Sleeve, and some other folks replied saying that they hadn’t watched it yet either, and I thought, “Well, I’ve always said that I wanted to rewatch that; maybe let’s make a group watch out of it?”

I asked everyone Patreon if this was a good idea, a good number of you said you were up for this, and so, here we are, and here are all the details that you all might want or need!

Why this Group Watch?

Those of us who’ve seen the show, love it a great deal, and I know I’m not alone when I say that when I finished it, I thought to myself that this was a show that I’d like to rewatch, sometime.

This is a chance for those of us who’ve wanted to rewatch this, to rewatch it together, in tandem.

This is also a chance for those of us who haven’t watched this before, but have been thinking about it, to watch it – and have a community experience alongside.

How a group watch works

Let me clarify upfront that this is not a live watch party, so you don’t have to worry about timezones, and whether you’d be available to join, when the episode notes go live.

This is more of what I like to call an aligned watch experience, where we agree to watch 4 2 eps (I made a mistake; it’s 2 eps a week, not 4!) a week, and then be ready to discuss the episodes, when my episode notes get published on the blog.

Some folks will be able to jump in right when the notes go live, coz their schedules and time zones align, but others will jump in whenever they are able, later in the day, or week, and the conversations can go on all week, until the next episodes get discussed.

You get to watch on your own time, and chime in on your own time, but it is still a shared community experience, where everyone watches in tandem.

Does that makes sense?

The notes for this group watch

I’ve actually already covered this show on an episode-by-episode basis on Patreon, back when Show first aired, in 2021.

Instead of writing new episode notes for this group watch, I thought I’d use the notes that I’ve already written for Patreon, here in this group watch.

Mainly, it’s because I’ve written more than 27,000 words, and I just don’t think I have many more words to write, for a whole new set of episode notes.

But this way, there’s something in place to anchor the group discussion, without my having to write new stuff – AND, it’ll give everyone a better idea of what you can expect, on Patreon!

Win AND win, yes? 😁

Why you should watch

Allow me to quote myself; this is what I wrote about Show, in The Short Verdict section of my review of this show:

The biggest compliment I can give Show, is that it knows what it wants to be, and accomplishes its core purpose with finesse and aplomb.

Sure, there are some narrative decisions I didn’t prefer, but Show demonstrates such a profound understanding of its key characters, and teases out the finer points of each of these characters so very well, that I’m more than willing to look past any dissatisfaction I might have with these other details.

Lee Junho and Lee Se Young are wonderful in this, both individually and together. It’s no exaggeration to say that these two had my heart, unequivocally.

Beautiful, poignant and completely worth it.

Trailers:

Lens adjustments

Here are a few things that I said in my review of this show, around lens adjustments.

I’m pasting them here, because I think it might be helpful for the new viewers among us.

1. Show might be a touch of a slow burn.

What I mean is, I personally found episode 1 more predictable and less engaging than I would have liked, but by episode 2, Show had started to grow on me nicely. So, don’t give up if you don’t take to episode 1, is what I’m trying to say.

2. The ending leans bittersweet.

I know that this might feel rather spoilery, but really it’s not that spoilery, since it’s based on history. Also, trust me, it’s better to know this upfront, than not. This will enable you to manage your expectations, and thereafter, really appreciate what Show is serving up, rather than mourn what Show doesn’t serve up.

3. Some parts can be uncomfortable to watch.

What I mean is, Show doesn’t shy away from the power differential between our leads. Instead of glossing over it in the name of romance, Show faces it unflinchingly, and I actually found this to be very thought-provoking and worthwhile.

4. Show is selective in how it spends its screen time.

What this means, is that certain portions of our story feel a bit like highlight reels, and certain otherwise-important sounding events even take place off-screen. This is Show’s way of making the most of the screen time it has, by skimming over the bits that are less relevant to our core story, and zooming in on the parts that are. I say it’s worthwhile to just roll with it.

Logistics and other details

Schedule: Saturdays, starting 6 July 2024. Posts will go live at 8:00am, my time (GMT+8).

Romance: Yes.

Commitment: 17 episodes. 2 eps a week (with 3 for the final week) = 8 weeks.

In other words: We will discuss E1-2 on Saturday, 6 July 2024.

Where to  watch:

Show is available on Viu, Viki, and AppleTV.

If you know of another platform that has it, please share in the comments!

Getting around geo-restrictions

If you’re geo-restricted, a VPN service would help you get around that. Not only does it provide online safety, it also gives you access to lots of great geo-restricted content.

I personally use NordVPN. You can find my review of NordVPN here.

You can use my affiliate link (here!) to enjoy up to 72% off, plus up to 20GB of Saily eSIM data, with prices starting as low as US$3.39 per month.

An article on why it’s not illegal to use a VPN to access legal streaming content can be found here.

In closing

..That’s about it, really! I really hope that you guys are excited for this group watch, and I hope you’ll have a great time, discussing the show!

Please go forth and enjoy your first set of episodes – and remember to tune in for the Open Thread posts, going live starting next Saturday! ❤️