As promised, here I am with my Reaction Post to Part 2 of the Radio Star special episode on The Red Sleeve. (Spoiler: I liked it as much as I liked Part 1. 😉)
If you haven’t checked out my Reaction Post to Part 1 of the special, you can find that here!
PS: Link to watch is at the end of the post!
PPS: I also have a Reaction Post to The Red Sleeve Talk Show Special, which you can check out here. And if you haven’t yet checked out my monster review of The Red Sleeve, you can find that here.
Thanks to everyone who enjoyed my inaugural Reaction Post, for The Red Sleeve Talk Show Special!
I’m back with my second Reaction Post, and yes, it’s still about The Red Sleeve, because, well, I really, really loved that show (monster review is here!), and I’m just really happy to finally be able to watch all the spoilery specials in the drama’s honor.
It really turned out to be a very special drama, and if you haven’t seen it yet, I do recommend it! 🤩
So I’m trying something new today, you guys (yay..?).
Now that I’ve finally finished watching The Red Sleeve, and have written an appropriately hearts-in-eyes monstrous review for it, I am finally in a position to watch the various spoilery specials that are out there, in its honor.
I mean, I’ve seen lots of snippets floating about, to be sure (you just can’t avoid them completely, can you?), but it just makes me happy that I’m now able to watch the special in full.
And I thought, why not make a post out of it – just because I can? 😁
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.
I’d be the first to admit that when it first became apparent that Robot Romance was going to be dramaland’s Next Big Trend, I was.. not terribly excited.
I don’t have a pre-existing love for robot stories, for one thing. On top of that, the thought of the potential problems arising from a human-robot romance made the genre feel even less promising. Happily for me, though, neither of these concerns applied in this show, woot!
Not only is the romance in this drama between two very real humans, the two humans are played by Yoo Seung Ho and Chae Soo Bin, who are – for lack of a better word – Super Stinkin’ Cute together.
I could watch these two just make googly heart-eyes at each other, all day long. <3
THE SHORT VERDICT:
Answer Me 1988 feels like a larger, bigger-hearted story than its predecessors, thanks to expanding its focus to its community of characters, rather than simply fixating on the leading lady’s husband and the lovelines that feed into it.
The adult characters get as much narrative care and attention as their kids, and that helps to make this drama world feel altogether pretty balanced and whole.
The entire cast is endearing and committed, and – despite a touch of green in spots with the delivery – exponentially add to Show’s generous earthy winsomeness.
It’s true that the handling of the ending is flawed, but overall, I still found this show to be charming, slice-of-life retro at its best.