Cha Mi Kyung

Review: Our Beloved Summer

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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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Review: The Red Sleeve

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THE SHORT VERDICT:

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.

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Review: Racket Boys

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Essentially, Show is a diamond in the rough; emphasis on diamond, and emphasis on rough, heh.

Show is rough around the edges, with one of those rough edges being a pretty scattered sort of approach to storytelling, but the warmth and community feels that it delivers are so good, and so strong, that you end up being more than willing to look past Show’s shortcomings.

The young cast really shines in this, and the adult characters are mostly there as sources of guidance and support, and that’s one of the things that I enjoy most about this show.

Our young crew is earnest and competent, and all-around believable, not only as their individual characters, but as the team that they form.

The stand-out for me, though, is Tang Joon Sang, whose character kinda functions as our protagonist. He really brings a lot of dimension to the role.

Wholesome and quite excellent, in spite of its flaws.

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