Review: See You In My 19th Life

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Show is extremely pretty to look at, scored with a pretty fantastic soundtrack, and has an interesting central premise as well as a capable cast.

The tricky thing, I think, is that your mileage is likely to vary, with this one. Some folks love it all the way through, some can’t get into it, and there are so many permutations in between, as well.

I personally felt that Show started strong, but slowly became more uneven as it went. I’m also in the camp that felt that Show could have done better, with its ending.

A reasonably solid watch on balance, but on hindsight, I do feel like Show didn’t live up to its full potential.

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Review: Our Beloved Summer

THE SHORT VERDICT:

A slice-of-life second-chance sort of romance that manages to pack a good amount of emotional heft, despite its rather unassuming trappings.

I don’t love all of Show’s decisions, but by and large, I found this story and its characters to be thoughtfully written, and excellently delivered, such that everything comes across as raw, honest, relatable and so, so heartfelt.

The standouts are undoubtedly Choi Woo Sik and Kim Da Mi, who both inhabit their characters with so much detail and nuance, that I can’t actually picture other actors playing these characters.

Add on a very lovely, very immersive OST, and this was pretty much drama catnip, for me.

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