Something in the Rain (2018)

Pulls a strong emotional punch

This Kdrama absolutely pulls at the heartstrings all the way though. Initially we are drawn into the unfolding romance between the leads which is light , playful and a delight to watch. About half way though, the tone begins to change, as the characters encounter fierce opposition from all quarters and don't have the strategies or an ability to communicate with each other in a way that helps them to resolve it.

The acting is outstanding from all players, and the camera work is so loving that each scene feels beautifully shot and intimate.

Anyone watching this for a sure romance will be disappointed, because the real story in this drama is the strong commentary on traditional Korean society. This drama explores the devastating impacts of parental pressure on the choices children have. We are shown two parenting styles - one who is uninvolved and neglectful and the other overbearing and controlling. Both end up playing emotional havoc on their children rendering them incapable of taking full responsibility for their lives. The journey of Jin Ah, in the lead female role, is to free herself from the grip of family and work so that she can grow into an independent self-determining adult. This journey is hard won, and painful to watch.

Because this is a romance, we know there will be a happy ending. However, the happiness achieved is undercut by what the characters will have to leave in order to achieve it and for this reason their future lives together feels hopeful rather than assured. I loved this kdrama for this complexity, and for the questions that linger long after I finished watching it.

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If the second half was like the first I would have given it a 9.50, and I didn't give CLOY that. My favorite director, plus SYJ made the role so relatable and realistic. But then the writers did her dirty with the psycho mom taking over and destroying everything. I also didn't like the same song being played over and over again. But the end of episode 3 is probably the best thing I've ever watched on T.V. This is a deliciously angsty relationship, and we're talking about real angst (fooling around with your friend's sibling, without them knowing anything) here. Pity they later downgraded it to 'my mom doesn't approve and at my age I only do what she wants'.

However, it's the first kdrama I've ever watched, and, again, the first half was absolutely brilliant.

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Sunshine faded to dreary rain

My recommendation is enjoy the first 8 episodes and then skip to the last one to finalise.
Jung Hae plays, 24 yr old, Seo Joon Hee convincingly as the besotted younger lover. He shows cuteness and strength of character that is very appealing. His romance with Yoon Jin Ah (Son Ye Jin) is sweet and believable. As the older lover Jin Ah is lovely in the beginning, however, the writer/director input to her character fails to keep this drama on track. Filler issues are over the top and frustrating for the viewer - the ex boyfriend turned dangerous stalker, the bullying abusive mother and the toxic workplace environment leave a very bad taste in my mouth as the hapless Jin Ah remains passively observing or avoiding or deliberately lying to keep reality at bay.
There is a repeated OST that becomes as annoying as the situations depicted.
I felt that the watcher is pulled along and not invited to learn any of the backstory or what drives the decisions being made.

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It's nice seeing a drama where the female is the older in the couple. But this story is just not it.

It was a great start, it was cute seeing Seo Jun Hui (Jung Hae In) crushing and having a hard time saying his emotions to Yoo Jin-Ah (Son Ye Jin) and Yoo Jin Ah being confused to her feelings. But when they start being together, I found it boring and a lot of dragging scenes. I did find their relationship bit weird at the start especially that Jin Ah is the older sister of Jun Hui's friend. They look cute together but somehow the chemistry between them is lacking. Other than their wide age-gap relationship the other problems tackled in this drama was great, like how women are treated in the workplace, family problems, etc.

Overall I'll just rate this a 6/10. Out of all the characters, I only find Seo Jun Hui memorable. In my opinion Jung Hae In carried this show.

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I really wish I hadn’t watched this

Pros:

Jung Hae In - he made it worth every miserable minute I spent on this show.

In the beginning, the chemistry between the leads was off the charts. That is the type of relationship I have always wanted to have.

Cons:

The whole thing was filmed with some sort of drab filter. It was depressing. Most everything was in shades of black and brown.

If I hear “Stand by Your Man” one more time I think I’ll scream. It was played multiple times in a single episode. EVERY episode. Two different singers didn’t help.

Her mother was a HORRIBLE person. She is the most wicked of the wicked witches I have ever seen in a series. Once she found out about their relationship, the whole series turn a dark turn. Nothing about it was enjoyable. She just made everyone miserable including me.

The FL was great in the beginning and I like her as an actress. But, in this role, I ended up hating her. She was the most selfish person and treated the ML so badly when all he tried to do is protect her and love her with all his heart. But, she started sneaking around and lying to him. I was so heartbroken for him. Even though they got back together in the last TWO minutes of the series, I couldn’t be happy for them.

I just really wish I hadn’t watched this in the first place. It was depressing and made me nervous and upset just watching this stupid show. Why did the writers think this would be enjoyable to watch?

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Stand by your man.. and show the world you love him... for the first few episodes this drama reminded me of how my husband and I were when we were still dating (ooohh so this is how we looked like then - (wait until you get married!! Lols) anyway it inspires me to love my husband more considering how I know for a fact that no matter how drastic he changed and will change - his heart always belonged to me- (the rest is all upto me)

I loved the male lead and his chemistry with his noona-got fluttered in the first few episodes and i cried watching the final episode. But why 7.5 ? There are a lot of repetetive scenes- too slow directing and too much cheesiness! Glad I saved myself from wasting some hours by skipping several scenes and ended up appreciating the drama still. I didnt want to blame it all on the flaws and chose to just watch the scenes that interests me withiut compromising my understaning of the story. Maybe because the actors are too adorable that I wanted to enjoy this piece of work they worked hard for

The wrtiter had some strong points and showed several real life scenarios - it is simple and natural - but there could have been hundreds of other scenes/scripts that are natural but flavorfull. Should have digged even deeper - and should have come up with a more interesting twist.

.*spoiler
I appreciate those hide and seek parts which reminded me of dating secretly - the break up and the pain of letting go - and thrill of reconciliation .

On top of that found my new oppa to watch for- Jung Hae In! Overall a good watch !

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The Chemistry between the Leads is incredible, the first few Episodes are amazing... But the Drama with her Family forced be to abandon this Show after episode 6 or 7... It made the Rest of the Drama unwatchable for me and I only watched their Moments in the Rest of the Episodes on YouTube! It's a lot worse than in most newer Dramas and this Show actually gave a Friend of mine Flashbacks to her abusive Family so think about that before you watch this one!

Still - I would recommend you watch the first few Episodes because the Leads are incredibly cute together and their Chemistry is amazing as I said!

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If you can get over the repetitive OSTs this show keeps throwing at you (which trust me can be obnoxious at times haha, beautiful OSTs though nonetheless) this is a phenomenal production by Netflix, Son Ye Jin and Jung Hae In chemistry really worked well in this one.

Has your very common kdrama trope where one of the leads parents don't support their child's love interest (but with an interesting plot twist nonetheless) the entire cast in this show work so well with each other. I'd also say the pacing is just about right, they've given every character enough time to develop themselves into the story.

Definitely a good one to to add to your starter list, if you're just getting into Kdramas.

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Many Korean dramas that have been popular or not with audiences over the past few years share the same trait, but not this one. Still, jTBC's latest series is making it on top of all the charts. Why? Because that trait is: They're all TV shows, but "Something in the rain" is not.

If you look at the list of hundreds of Korean dramas that have surfaced over the past few years, you will find that most shows had at least one of these three main characters: wealthy people; characters have superpowers; character has no superpower, but has the morality, the idea of life at a higher level than normal people. This stimulates the curiosity of the audience about the rare classes in society, which makes the story becomes new, more attractive. And along with that, we've had all these Hollywood's blockbuster level of production qualities in order to match the stories, landslide battles, beautiful cinematography, harmonious music, those that I personally thought were imperative to make a good show.

But "Something in the Rain" has none of that. Not a single thing.
Characters: Yoon Jin Ah, main female character, is a 35 years old supervisor. Seo Joon Hee, main male character, is just a 31 years old game designer. They're just another 2 people you can meet everywhere on the street that are struggling with their life.
Story: They fall in love with each other. Yes, that's literally it. Nothing more.
Cinematography: Mostly still shots. Not even that good.
Music: Sometimes a soft pop song will come up during romantic scenes. But nothing during normal ones.

At this point, you probably think my post would be a criticism but surprisingly, for all that, I am ADDICTED to this show – it brings a smile to my face and I actually find myself thinking about it even after the episode ends.

First off, the couple is really natural and relatable. Their chemistry is on fire and their physical interactions are exactly how you would expect a normal couple to be. Sometimes I think Korean dramas try to ‘normalise’ their shows and show that Koreans are exactly the same as everyone else, but end up overdoing and spoiling the momentum. Here, their acting doesn't look like acting at all. It's like you're watching videos of a couple filmed by a multi-thousand dollar camera. What they say and what the do, I can't even tell a difference from the "Behind the scene" and the final product. Search for them and you'll see what I mean.
For example, the first time they slept together, the focus was on the TV and you only see them taking off clothes (Joon Hee to be exact) and fidgeting under the blankets. The next time, it’s them with their clothes on but taking turns to be on top, smiling lovingly and then kissing the partner. We know what’s going to come, but it’s these moments that matter more to me – those quiet moments where you don’t say anything but simply look at your other half, which is why some dramas lose me when they start having bed scenes. In a sense, I think this drama has no less kissing scenes than any other dramas I’ve watched, and yet this is more intimate and at the same time, conservative, and I admire this balance. Other dramas are mostly passionate making-out, but here, we are seeing really small kisses most of the time. I read comments noting that the actors must have had a serious relationship before to act this out, and I agree – they seem to bring some part of themselves into the show, which is why I think I feel so attracted to this couple. Watching them reminds me of something, whether in the past or now.

This show doesn’t have a villain but I see it in the mother every time she talks. The script really feels so natural! I don’t need superpower mums who throw money at female leads to keep them away from their sons; I didn’t know until this show that a naggy mom who simply focuses on the background and pities Joon Hee and his sister behind closed doors could be just as infuriating. I know she also comes from a place of love, but I truly wish that by the end of the drama, she will be changed as well – her words are really oppressing the entire family in different ways and it’s no wonder that every time she speaks, I feel so grumpy.

I’m just a bit afraid of what the title Something In The Rain entails – is it going to be fleeting? I have this fear that the couple will separate and it’s because this relationship makes them a better person but they are not meant to be together (something like 500 days of Summer). It’s a tragic concept which I’m not against per se, but I hope it doesn’t happen here because the only thing that’s stopping them really isn’t the age but family and I’d think that it’s pretty uninspiring if they broke up just because of that. On being inspiring, I like the portrayal of gender issues in the workplace and I really hope they develop it well.

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Desabafo sobre a sobra

Bom, não levem muito em em consideração minha opinião para decidir, assistir ou não a obra, no final, isso é mais um desabafo meu.
A obra começa bem, eé bem fofo, e continua num ritmo agradável, a principio, o único ponto negativo dela, seria as longas pausas silenciosas dos personagens pensando ou quando algo acontece, no fundo, isso pode não ser u mdefeito para muitas pessoas, mas para mim é.
A parti daqui, contem alguns spoilers.
O problema começa lá pelo ep 11 ou 12, o casal começa a se autodestruir com suas escolhas, em vez de tentarem se entender, eles ficam se retraindo, e tomando decisões meio idiotas, o que me deixava cada vez mais frustrado, o ponto alto foi o termino , eles não se comunicavam de verdade, um tentando não magoar o outro e se magoando no processo, isso na verdade era irritante e chegou ao ponto deles terminarem , eu me forcei a ver o ultimo ep, e mesmo com o final dele aquilo não me agradou, o decorrer do dorama foi bem melhor que o final.

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The SLOWEST , MOST FRUSTRATING and PAINSTAKING drama I've ever watched. Total waste of time.

I wish somebody had warned me before I wasted more than 16 hours to that drama. THERE ARE SO MANY FLAWS THAT I DON'T REAALY KNOW WHERE TO GET STARTED. There is NO EVOLUTION whatsoever IN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THE END IS PATHETIC, just going back to the situation in episoe 5 or 6. NO CONFLICT RESOLUTION. No reward for good guys' suffering and punishment for the bad ones. NO MORAL VICTORY of the good ones. On the contrary, it seems like all the persistence and struggling to fight their battles was in vain. I am ESPECIALLY DISAPPOINTED ON HOW such a serious issue as SEXUAL HARASSMENT IS TREATED. You can't treat sth so delicate so lightly on screen! I knew that South Korean society is a bit male chauvinist, but this goes beyond my imagination! And what example does it set!? Just keep quiet and accept inappropriate attitude from your superiors, cause if you stand up for yourself, you will get the blame for the situation, people will treat you as if you were contagious, you will ruin your career, but the ones who actually wronged you would keep on as if nothing happened! So morally wrong! And what's with the fast outcome? It's been going soo slowly, only to get fast forward in the end and ignore resolving conflicts. It's almost like you overhear that she actually won the sexual harassment case and her boss says she should be happy with her victory, but then why does it feel like punishment!? She was forced to change her job within the company and eventually quit because she is burnt out by the whole situation. Even if I find this part of the story so unfair towards the main female character, I still can't help but hate her so much. She is a compulsive liar, her compliance goes beyond stupidity. And the only person who treats her right, respects and appreciates her, she treats as a douchebag. He must be a total saint to put up with all this and even ask her forgiveness (once again) in the end when he did nothing wrong. Both their characters are not credible. I can forgive him only because he is so cute. And don't get me started with the mother! Once again, absolutely surreal character. One usually has good and bad features, they are not blackand white. But this mother is only hateful. She is selfish, superficial and even mean to her kids. Conclusion, the worst story ever.

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Asian cultures have this strong parental control exerting over their adult children. The adult children have to juggle the balance to lead their lives while making sure they make their parents proud and saving face. Once you understand the Asian cultures then you will understand the pain and the dilemna the female lead character must endure. I applaud the acting and the chemistry between the actors. It is cute but not annoying or over the top as other K-drama. The characters throughly adapt and become stronger as the episodes continue on. It also raised awareness 'Me, Too' movement in addressing sexual harassment at work. A must watch for us women in the quest of finding true love and be courageous.

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