Bex

Came for the comedy, and stayed for the life lessons (and the zombie shark)

This movie was so funny in the most unexpected moments, but also surprisingly meaningful. I know it isn't that deep, and that I shouldn't take it so seriously, but I am truly fond. As someone who deeply hated my previous job (which I think a lot of people relate to), it is so relatable (and almost touching) for Akira to light up with pure joy after finding out he didn’t have to go to work, and even funnier for him to act so carefree in a zombie apocalypse as a result.

Despite every other aspect of this movie only getting an 8.0, something in my soul tells me to give it an overall 9.0. And I think it's because it hits so deeply with me in some aspects.

Even though the parallel between the zombies and Akira trudging through his job was pretty obvious from the get-go, it still hits very hard when the movie directly states and confronts it. Every adult on MDL who has ever worked a full-time job has likely struggled with work-life balance and has wished they could fall sick (or worse) so they could rest for just one day, but feel guilty and eager to be productive on days when they are actually ill. And, like in the movie, it’s often the people around us to remind us that we can’t be robots all the time and need to live life for ourselves.

The entire list Akira wrote was endearing, and I’m seriously considering making one of my own (I am also one of those few people who have never made a bucket list). I love a good montage, so seeing items on the list being crossed off was satisfying. I loved the cinematography and production. The zombies were great and looked realistic (as much as zombies can be). All of the acting was great as well. The OST surprised me a lot, and I have saved some songs to my playlist. This movie WILL make you smile and laugh.

Conclusion: zombie shark — you should watch it!

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Probably the cutest gory horror movie ever

I loved this! What a nice treat for those of us (me) who didn't have anyone to celebrate Valentine's Day with lol.

Now, I am someone who doesn't usually watch horror movies; I am a scaredy-cat on most levels. But I enjoyed this movie, even if I had to cover my eyes for some bits. It was pretty gory and had plenty of somethings à la jumpscares, but it was all bearable! It had a simple premise of a timeloop where the six main leads had to find body parts scattered around the school; I thought it was brilliant. As a very lovey-dovey type of person, my favorite part of the movie was the developing friendship between the six. Watching a horror movie is much easier when 1/4 of the time is spent with your heart fluttering from both platonic and romantic bonds!

Watching this movie, I realized how big an impact sound has. My heart would start pounding (both in fear and happiness) depending on the music and different noises. BIG kudos to the sound engineers! Overall, an enjoyable watch. I was very close to skipping, but I'm very glad I didn't. Stay tuned for the post-credit scene!

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I actually enjoyed this more than the drama!

I LOVED the drama and gave it an overall rating of 9/10, but this movie is a straight-up 10/10. Something in this movie just felt RIGHT! I very much enjoyed the removal of the inner dialogue, letting me feel my own feelings rather than hearing the characters' thoughts. The scenes just seemed so much more beautiful! The music was also changed and gave it such a more (for lack of a better word) "mature" feel.

This movie made me BUY a Viki Standard Pass so I could watch it (I have no regrets, now I can also watch so many more dramas). Please enjoy this movie, as it is the director's cut! They didn't just make a movie to make a movie.

If you're thinking of watching, please do! This show was wonderful in so many ways. Both Han Gi Chan and Jang Eui Soo did a fantastic job acting. Especially for Gi Chan, I can imagine it must've been hard to debut as an actor in a BL drama, not long after trying to debut as an idol. He was so good at expressing his emotions, I really couldn't tell that it was his first time acting. Every actor did a fantastic job portraying their characters! Without spoiling too much, the story is very sweet and had my emotions on a roller coaster, even though it was so short. The development between Tae Joo and Gook was amazing, and I am a sucker for romances like these.

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I really thought Idol Romance finally made a good show

After the first two episodes, I thought this show was going to be good. I thought "Wow, Idol Romance finally learned from their mistakes", but immediately after episodes 3 and 4, I realized that they hadn't. The only thing I liked about this show was Eun Gyu, but more on that later.

The story was just boring. Nothing happened. In the span of 8 episodes, not a single thing happened. The whole show can be boiled down to this: a new guy joins a restaurant and creates an overly dramatic love triangle that would never happen in real life. I don't understand who green-lit this script. It could've had the potential with a different storyline than just another love triangle. I do admit, Hae Won and Eun Gyu did have decent chemistry. The actors did their scenes nicely. But what was seriously lacking was some development in that relationship. And the fact that Ji Soo and Eun Gyu got into such a dramatic argument about a guy they'd known for a month, despite their 15 years of friendship, seriously annoyed me as a viewer. There was so much backstory between those two friends that never got unpacked, other than maybe 5 minutes across all episodes that just dropped bombshells of information on us.

Along with the story, the characters just bothered me in so many ways. All of them. They were all poorly written. This is no hatred towards the actors, by the way. But I don't get why all the characters were so childish when they were all at least in their twenties. Why did they all start acting so fussy just because of some new handsome guy joining? Ji Soo was just a very uncomfortable character in the weird way he forced himself upon Hae Won, but Hae Won was also annoyingly naive. And I didn't understand what the real function of Ha Jin and Joo Seo Hyuk was. They were just kind of there.

I hate critiquing acting because I know I'll never be able to perform the same way, but the acting in this show was not that great. The only actor whom I genuinely thought was good was the actor playing Eun Gyu. The guy playing Ji Soo was also good at times, but it was Eun Gyu who carried the show acting-wise. I hope to see him act in other shows after this because he really has talent.

Overall, no, I did not like the show. And I honestly don't recommend it to anyone. I think you'll only like this show if you swallow *anything* related to BL. But this show was just not good. I would've dropped this show if it weren't for being so short.

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Despite the popular opinion, I thought this was great!

I am so glad that I decided to give this a chance despite all the negative reviews. I was so close to not watching it because everybody said it was bad. However, after binging it all, I thought that it was great! A point often brought up in reviews is that it's edited poorly and that the story has too many holes, but I don't necessarily agree (more on that later).

I liked the story a lot. One of my most hated traits in BLs is love triangles, but it was done very well in this show. Especially because Yeong-woo and Yi-bin also knew each other previously. Way too many K-BLs are too vague in describing how their characters fall for each other; however, in Behind Cut, the suddenness of their relationship made sense. It was a cute story about a model and a designer falling for each other and the hindrances they meet because of the fashion industry. Also, shout out to Yeong-woo's dad; we need more supportive parents in BLs.

The acting in this drama was SO GOOD compared to the limited acting experience of the cast. Especially Eom Se Ung and Choo Suk Young, god, were they amazing. You could tell occasionally that Bum Jun is a rookie, but the way he was able to handle the emotional scenes was awesome. And THE KISSES! This has to be the most natural-looking kiss that has ever been filmed in a Korean BL drama.

Production-wise, it didn't look cheap either. The filming was generally great, and the locations were varied. The only thing I occasionally disliked was the sound mixing, but it was only really when they filmed outdoor scenes (because of cars, the wind, etc.) I also really liked the OST, but the theme song was a little overplayed. The reason most people disliked this drama was because of the editing. I admit that it should have been edited better, but it wasn't that bad, and there weren't nearly as many plot holes as people made it seem like there were. Even though (very) few things you had to piece together yourself, it wasn't very hard to understand what was going on.

For the first time in a long while, I want to watch the Director's Cut of this drama. I enjoyed this show a lot, and I hope you won't get too scared by all the negative reviews.

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So goddamn fluffy it’ll make you puke rainbows

Cherry Blossoms After Winter is an incredibly fitting title for this show, yet not at all seemingly relevant. It was so colorful and so soft. I can’t describe this show as anything other than mind-numbingly gentle. Objectively, I see this show as incredibly mediocre, but subjectively, I was entranced.

Looking back, the story wasn’t jam-packed, but that’s okay. The first 5 episodes followed their life in high school and how they slowly transitioned into something more than friends. The last 3 followed their university life with some bigger (but not *that* big) problems. I think the 25-minute episodes were a great length, and it felt neither rushed nor dragged. However, one big thing about the story that I wish they had explored was the fact that the two of them grew up as brothers. It’s no secret that Tae-seong had liked Hae-bom ever since they were kids, but since they were raised as siblings, shouldn’t there have been a little more conflict regarding their feelings for each other? It's not often you end up falling in love with someone who was raised as a part of your family, you know?

As for acting, it was alright. I wouldn’t necessarily say that the acting was great as much as the leads’ chemistry was great. There were quite a few moments where the acting felt awkward when the characters were shy or flustered. But their CHEMISTRY!!! I loved that it didn’t just have one or two fish kisses and one deep kiss like most K-BLs do. They did what people in relationships do: hold hands, give small and quick pecks on the lips, and give random hugs. It was nice!

The production of this show was good compared to what they had. The budget was higher than the average K-BL, but it’s obvious we’re not so far in the game that we have big companies as sponsors. But it was nice that the sets were varied. There were the occasional very obvious ADR voice lines, but I'm glad with the overall production quality.

Random small things that I enjoyed:
- I love it when BLs use the word gay. I feel like most of them shy away from the actual topic of homosexuality.
- The blatant product placement in episode 6 was so funny to me, like the three scenes in a row where the characters used that weird jumbo lipstick. I usually dislike obvious product placement, but it was just SO apparent that I enjoyed it.
- HAE-BOM AND TAE-SEONG HAVE A LITTLE RAINBOW IN THEIR APARTMENT!!
- Their friends were realistically surprised but supportive of their relationship.
- I laughed every single time they were like "Ugh, I can't sleep," and all of the lights around them were turned on.

Overall, this show was great. More than great. Even though it was so average. This is what I call a simple watch, not because of the length but because of the content. A lot of K-BLs try to pack in way too much story into 120 minutes of TV. Cherry Blossoms After Winter nailed the story-duration ratio. If you’re interested, give it a try!

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People are way too pessimistic compared to how lighthearted this show was

I LOVED this show. In all honesty, I tried to stay away from the School series as I thought it would be too repetitive with high school romance storylines. The main reason I saw this was that I’m a fan of Kim Yohan (also the surprise replacement with Choo Young-woo was pleasant for me since I’d seen him in You Make Me Dance). So keep in mind I’ve only seen this School installment when I say that this drama was extremely good.

The plot in this show was great in my opinion. Sure, they might’ve used some overused tropes, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. One of my absolute favorite things is that the SFL (Seo-young) had no interest in ML (Ki-joon), which is very rare in high school romances. I also liked some of the more “non-high school” topics, like the lawsuit. But even the very typical “high school first love” and the “two best friends from the past who hate each other now” traits I enjoyed, because they were done WELL.

Despite the popular opinion, I loved the acting. It’s such a bummer that people are criticizing Jo Yi-hyun’s acting when she was the one I feel performed the best. She perfectly pulled off the “bubbly” main character trope without being annoying, something a lot of female leads fail to do. Kim Yohan’s acting was also extraordinary compared to his previous drama. It’s incredible how much he improved! Despite the limited filmography of our young leads, they all performed wonderfully.

The music was very decent, possibly a tad repetitive for a bit, but nothing that made the show worse for me. None of the songs were so memorable that I listened to them outside the show, though.

Overall, I *loved* this show. I tend to judge shows on how entertained they kept me, and I was never bored with this. If you like high school romances, I would argue that this is one of the best. I probably wouldn’t rewatch it, but I doubt I’ll ever forget it.

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This is not for you if you don't like Jo Yi-seo

I did like the concept of the drama. I was absolutely in love with the story of Saeroyi vs. Jangga. I was wholly involved in the story about Saeroyi's path for revenge. And I especially loved Soo-ah! You got to see a lot of character depth in her, and her inner conflicts about right and wrong.

Here's the thing though. I did not like Jo Yi-seo in the slightest. It was such a pity because I like Kim Da Mi! But I did not enjoy her character one bit. She was rude toward everyone. She was the type that would use people as long as they could do something that would benefit her. She was the "cool" girl that everyone adored with her huge social media following and extravagant lifestyle.

I think this show appeals to people who strive to be like Yi-seo. A lot of people liked her because she was hardworking and "badass". But honestly, she was not a nice person at all. Badass Female Lead doesn't need to mean Mean Female Lead. In the end, she didn't care about anyone except Saeroyi. I don't wanna spoil too much, but she had been largely offensive towards almost ALL of the characters. She willingly belittled most of the show's characters, just to get closer to Saeroyi. Her apologies were so lousy, yet all the characters ended up loving her anyway, which I didn't understand. Everyone I have talked to about this issue says that I just don't properly understand her character, but I really cannot see what I am missing. I wanted to like her but, sadly, I just couldn't. And it ruined the show for me.

The show had some good themes, even though I might have found the ending incredibly unsatisfying. I would not rewatch it though. At all. It was the kind of drama that once I was watching it I would enjoy, yet when I wasn't watching it, it would be hard for me to even press play. It took me a very long to finish it because I had to force myself to watch it. I honestly wouldn't recommend it, but if you like Yi-seo, this is for you.

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A beautiful drama that both entertained and disappointed me

I have NEVER anticipated a drama more than this one. I still remember being in my first year of high school in 2019, when I saw the first Soompi article about the production of this show and freaking out. In the nearly five years that have passed since then, I have pined for this drama in an unhealthy manner; I've had dreams about the show and woken up believing a release date was finally announced. Even being a BTS fan, I was more obsessed with the HYYH universe during the later part of my teens than I was with the actual members. I bought every chapter of the Webtoon so I could reread it whenever I wanted, I own both of the "The Notes" novels, and I read and watched every single thing about the BU. However, if you were like me, who knew about this show since it was announced in pre-production, the countless postponements eventually made me grow numb. Now I'm in my twenties, in a completely different stage of my life, and barely a K-pop listener anymore. Still, I had so many expectations for this show. After 5 years, surely it must've been polished to perfection, right? Well, let me say, although I liked this show, it was not.

The first big mistake was the release method. The whole weird crypto NFT-based streaming definitely ruined much of this show's potential for growth. I know it costs a lot of money to make a show, and I agree that today's streaming services aren't always the best, but expecting people to pay $90 at the cheapest for RENTAL is insane. Wouldn't the show make more money being released on a conventional streaming platform and with proper K-drama promotion? I can't help but feel so bad for the cast and crew who worked hard on this, just for the show to barely get any recognition beyond BTS fans who already knew of the drama. Most of us are going to resort to 🏴‍☠️, which I am usually adamantly against.

On to the story. Seeing the moments from the BTS music videos and all the chapters in the novels come to life on screen was beautiful. Did they change a lot from the MVs, novels, and the Webtoon, respectively? Yes. The core was still there, of course. But many important plot points, especially from the novels, were completely watered down, if not scrapped completely. My biggest peeve with the storytelling was that they introduced WAY too many problems and storylines, where barely any of them got resolved or even acknowledged after a couple of episodes. 7 are many main characters, of course, but not seeing any of their stories truly end is SO unsatisfying to watch. It would be different if they all got sad endings, but it just seemed like none of them had any endings at all. Cein vs the principal, Hwan vs his father, any of the boys vs their problems, literally nothing got solved. Which, spoiler, is not what happened in the books. Part of the fault lies in the screenwriting, some in the editing. I truly believe this show needed 16 episodes. The first 10 episodes were too long, diving too much into vague backstories and new conflicts, and the final two were too short, barely explaining any of them. I love the story, obviously, even to a somewhat unhealthy degree. But the execution was very messy.

All of this is somewhat saved by the acting. Holy moly, those boys can act. I laughed, I teared up, and I shrieked at what these actors could portray. The casting directors did an AMAZING job. I was also so surprised at how much some of them look like their BTS counterparts (Jeha, Haru, and Cein in particular). Their acting was so true to the HYYH characters, it was insane. And a special kudos to Jung Woo-jin (Kim Jooan) and Jeon Jin-seo (Jeon Jeha), the two of them made me FEEL things. The friendships between the boys also seemed so genuine, especially Hwan and Dogeon. The extreme admiration Jeha had for Cein also felt so real that it hurt me lol.

On a shorter note, the music in this show was not remarkable. I was surprised by how few BTS songs were used, and each time, I felt like it was in the wrong moments (except Euphoria, that song is HYYH to its core). The OSTs were all right, but I wasn't impressed.

Back on a more story-related note, I did not like the ending (which I must've already talked about, but this is more a rant than a review at this point). I was not expecting a happy one, as the Webtoon also had an open ending. The novels, however, did have a happy-ish ending that at least explained what the hell was going on. This show somehow had neither. It felt as if they gave up on how to finish the story. This is so frustrating to me, because the BU is more or less over, now that BTS has moved onto chapter two of their careers (and are too old now to continuously portray teenagers lmao). But for this show to vaguely imply that Hwan is in a time loop, not explain why he was manipulating the boys into setting the piano studio on fire, not explain what happened between Hwan's father, Cein's mother, and the principal, not explain ANYTHING is such an unsatisfying way to end what is supposed to be the BUs biggest (and probably final) project.

Still, despite everything, the HYYH universe has such a big part of my heart that I could never possibly dislike anything related to it. The story WAS good, it was the execution that was lacking. That's also why my rating is an 8.5, because no matter what, this show satisfied the teenager who waited five years for this show. Sadly, it did not 100% satisfy the adult I am now, LMAO, but I truly did enjoy it. If anything, it made me listen to BTS again, feeding my nostalgia. Not to mention, the show truly was beautiful. The cinematography met my expectations, and the acting was amazing. I do recommend it, but if you're a diehard HYYH fan, you might have many of the same critiques I did.

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