Our Blues (2022)

Our Blues explores the story of Jeju islanders navigating the ups and downs of their communities as well as their individual live struggles. Struggles like mental health, childhood abuse, teenage pregnancy, disability and discrimination... This series took all of these and delivered them in a genuinely raw manner that tugs at the heart and showed the nuances of human nature in a realistic way. It can be gut-wrenching, funny, uncomfortable, uplifting, and heartbreaking all at once.

Often an omnibus-style dramas like this can feel episodic and mundane to a point, but the way it portrayed community spirit was authentic and that makes it very much worth-watching. It’s not a plot-driven drama, it’s a drama that leaves you pondering about the relationships you hold in your own life. Personally, some stories weren't as engaging as some others because I couldn't relate with them, but each story delivered profound messages. It is one of those intricate emotional series with hidden depth characters that show friendship, romance, community and reconciliation.

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The Best Slice of Life K-drama I have ever seen

This is the 1st time I write a review about a K-drama, this series is not my type of drama as I love Rom-Com types the most, but to be honest this is the deepest K-drama I have ever seen, the writer really did a great Job, this series involves all kind of relationships that you can imagine, and they are really deep, connected and sincere and the script and the dialogue can't be better than this, the director and the actors really did an amazing job as all the main characters whose are so many shined brightly and made me feel a unique feeling I didn't experienced before, so even so this is not my type of drama, I was really touched by the story and it's development until the final episode, I didn't feel that I wasted anytime, and I would never regret watching this drama, whatever your drama preference when you see this gem, you won't be disappointed, I forgot to say that I cried a lot while watching many scenes without spoiling any of them but these scenes really touched my soul and made me feel better, finally about the rewatch value I would never watch this series again as I believe it's a one-time watch for the lifetime from my humble opinion

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Engaging from start to finish

I really appreciate this series that kept me interested from start to finish. He was able to draw into the lives of the individual characters, there was no shortage of tension as the plot will continue to develop, how the characters will deal with their problems, it offers many suggestions on how to cope with one's own life or understand the fate of others.
Thanks to him, I was transported to the island of Jeju, and I enjoyed it very much. The series shows the hard life of the islanders, fishing, the market, business, life's troubles, their solutions, and happy endings.. there is no shortage of romance, emotions, beautiful scenery.. The star cast was reflected in the quality.. I definitely recommend it.

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A drama past the happy endings

Our Blues is a nuanced drama that shows the nitty-gritty of humanity. The drama discusses various relationships, mother-son, friendships, siblings and lovers. The show does not make anyone the typical hero/heroine who is perfect but rather shows how good people can make bad decisions.
This show discusses themes I have not seen explored in previous dramas, such as teenage pregnancy, Down Syndrome, depression, suicide and domestic violence experienced by a husband. Our Blues is the best title for every character who experiences the blues of life. This isn't the drama to escape the dreariness of your life but the drama to watch to understand the complexity of humans. This is a drama filled with misunderstandings and conflict and love and joy. The contrast between the heavy storylines and the beauty of Jeju, which outwardly seems perfect and blissful, makes for enjoyable viewing.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that the casting for this drama is perfect, every character is brought to life, and I enjoy seeing Shin Min Ah play a role I have not seen her before.

Although this drama is not perfect, and it is nothing like Noh Hee Kyung's previous works, I encourage everyone to watch this drama in a way I feel like we can all learn something.

Music
10/10 - With you - Jimin & Ha Sung Woon

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(Manufactured) Story sadder than sadness…

So if the current state of the world isn’t enough to get you down, you found the right show. I was very much looking forward to this ever since it was announced. The possibilities seemed endless with such a stellar cast. Like, they put everybody in the show. But sadly, we were given sob stories after sob stories. I understand that Koreans are sickly obsessed with sad stories but, really? Just go watch the news. To make things worse, stories were so manufactured and phoned in, it was hard to have any empathy for anyone. Nothing seemed organic at all as if the writer wanted to one up the last scene and storyline. Let’s see how many different sad stories we can tell in one show! And all of that happen to just a handful of people who all know each other!

To be fair, not all plot lines were created equal. I liked the first story where Cha Seung Won played a desperate dad who wanted to vicariously achieve his lost dream through his daughter. It got frustrating watching him stubbornly hanging on but all in all, it was a nice start. The other standout was the high school kids’ story. Their storyline was a bit jarring and came out of nowhere but I really liked how Hyun didn’t give up on his unborn baby and ultimately convinced Young Joo to keep the baby. But her sudden change of mind happened a bit too fast in my opinion.

I’m a huge Shin Min Ah fan but she was terrible here. She’s just not an emotional actress, sad to say. Maybe Seo Hyun Jin would’ve been great for this role. She needs to stick to happy roles where she smiles and laughs. She couldn’t give us a convincing crying scene even if her life depended on it.

I don’t think other storylines were even worth mentioning. Some side characters were better than others but nobody memorable.

I think I have 5 more episodes to go. We’ll see what happens.

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PUDO HABER SIDO MEJOR

Un drama en el que todo iba bien hasta que tocaron dos temas que no pude ignorar. Our Blues está en contra del aborto, normaliza completamente la violencia hacia menores, romantiza la familia como; “se les debe perdonar absolutamente todo aunque te haya arruinado toda tu mísera vida”. Incluso normaliza el bullying poniendo excusas de “éramos jóvenes y teníamos un vida dura”. Esto ha sido ya la gota que colmaba el vaso. Primero de todo SEA QUIÉN SEA SI TE HACE DAÑO DEBES ALEJARTE. Está bien no perdonar y está bien alejarte aunque sea parte de tu familia.

Amar no es ejercer violencia hacia tu hijo. Por muy bien que lo quieras, le ayudes, etcétera NO USES LA VIOLENCIA para “educarlo”, ESO NO ES AMOR. Esto no es así y en ningún momento he visto que esté en contra o se profundice el comportamiento de ciertos personajes y aunque tenga algo bueno este drama, tiene cosas tan malas que NO LO RECOMIENDO EN ABSOLUTO

(SPOILER) Obligaron a dos jóvenes que querían abortar a ver la ecografía cuando ellos en ningún momento se lo pidieron y lo peor de todo es que tuvieron que escuchar los latidos de su corazón. No me quiero imaginar si alguien que esté pasando por esta situación vea esta escena. Sinceramente sobraba. Si quisieran que tuvieran el hijo pudieron haberlo hecho de otra forma. Aún así me hubiera encantado que abortara porque sería un giro único en la historia. Es que tan solo imaginar todo el estrés sobre esta situación, a su temprana edad, el coste, el sacrificio de traer un bebé al mundo y muchísimas más cosas. Y este drama lo ha puesto como si fuera una situación que no puedes remediar, que es precioso tener hijos y debemos luchar como si no hubiera más opciones. No dan un mensaje adecuado al espectador.

El maltrato tanto físico como psicológico de una madre a su hijo se ha visto reflejado también en este drama y nuevamente no lo han tratado para nada bien. Me ha parecido horrible que un hijo después de haber aguantado tanto dolor en su infancia y, básicamente todas las etapas de su vida, se sienta presionado a perdonar a su madre por todo el daño simplemente porque está enferma. Obligándola a acompañarla a sitios que no lo incumben a él. Sentía que se estaba riendo de su hijo por cómo lo trataba. No le daba importancia realmente y parecía no sentir absolutamente nada. Ni siquiera he visto una sincera disculpa.

El único motivo por el que seguía viendo este drama fueron por otras historias más interesantes y por eso se lleva 1.5/10. Es una lástima que un drama que podía tocar bastantes temas muy vistos en nuestra sociedad los haya tratada tan mal.

En conclusión: Pudo ser un gran drama si esta idea la hubiera tenido otra guionista más ejemplar.

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Ratings of each story

Han-su & Eun-hui - 9.0/10
Good story introduction to what is to come. I personally think this story encapsulated the whole theme of the drama perfectly.

Yeong-Ok & Jeong-Jun ‐ 8.5/10
Poignant with a lot of love. Their love story started slow but in steady pace and I really the way it was shown. Confusion to confession to affection.

Yeong-Ju & Hyeon - 8.0/10
People think they act like brats but that is how teenagers are, they think they know the world before they turn 20. This story really shown the reality of 'some' teenagers

Dong-seok & Seon-a - 7.0/10
Needed more episodes to fully flesh out their story as individuals and couple

In-gwon & Ho-sik - 9.5/10
I didn't know this two grown men would made me cry. Love the bickering

Mi-ran & Eun-hui - 5.0/10
Felt like a filler and feels disconnected somehow

Yeong-ok & Jeong- jun & ... - 10/10
My personal fave, need I say more? go watch it!

Cheun-hui & Eun-gi - 7.5/10
Filler done right

Ok-dong & Dong-seok - 10/10
I cried like a baby, a perfect closer for the whole drama. The characters honesty is so raw, a reflection of people's real emotions

Overall - 8.5/10

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Just Great !!!!! Loved It

This drama to me was a, let your feelings out kind of a drama. I cry, laugh, was sad, angry, frustrated. All my emotion came out as we meet all the characters in this small town. As episodes went along I could relate to so many situations. As story of the characters are told so you get to know who they are and why they live the way they live. You start feeling like a member of the community. The life is hard but yet simple. They watch over each other and help each other. Even as you get to know some of the new characters that have not live long in the town, you see them taking them in and make them part of the community family. I fell in love with this drama. I hope you get to watch it. The acting is great, there performance brings you closer to each character. The ending was beautiful. I just love the stories and great direction.

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If you ignore the last 3 episodes then it's a solid 9.0 but otherwise 8.0

I won't write a proper review. I'll just say the things I liked and the things I didn't.

First of all Ep 16 and 17 were the best! The whole cast was great but the little girl who played Eun-Gi stole the show! I cried for like 3 hr continuously! I wish we would have gotten more of her and her parents at the end. Eun-Gi and Beyol-I (the mute girl) were my favourite characters!

The emotions and struggles of the characters were captured very well. The relationships and dynamic between the characters were really good and pretty realistic. Felt like an actual village. All of their stories were relatable. Some you could even see happening to you in future. I am glad that the makers didn't just cast pretty people (like most other kdramas) and called it a day.
Jeju was beautiful as always. Cinematography was very good.

All over a great drama except for the last 3 episodes! Dong Seok and his mom's story could have been done in one episode. The interesting parts of Dong Seok's story were already shown in Ep 9. His mom's story was really boring and I had no interest in her character. Actually I really hated her character! They just kept going on trips without any story progression for 3 episodes.

The actual ending felt really rushed! They gave Dong-Seok's mom whole 3 episodes and kept only the last couple of minutes for the ending. The ending needed a whole seperate episode. I would have liked to see more of the old characters, the reunions and everyone interacting with eachother. I wanted to see more of Byol-I. They under utilised her. also Eun-Gi and her parents. They didn't even show her parents in the finale. Instead we got 3hrs of Dong-Seok's mom.

I guess I'll just keep pretending that the show ended on Ep 17. Great drama ruined by the ending!

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It tries to educate as if it were a TVING drama, otherwise it's quite good.

How do I even get started? Okay, so this drama has a so called omnibus style storytelling, which means that there are a bunch of very loosely connected storylines. It's almost like a family drama without all the family relations, but darker & at times far more serious and raw. The other reviewers have made a lot of great points. Our Blues is incredibly heartwarming, borderline magical at times, has a decent dose of romance, while bringing up topics that you typically don't see on Korean TV. The setting is great, the fish market of Jeju & those diving women were rather novel. The acting is absolutely top notch, probably the best you can ever expect in a kdrama.

So why is it not 10/10?
Well, the problem is that some characters & storylines are just plain bad, there were quite a few episodes that had nothing I was interested in. Some of the controversial topics in the drama are presented in a very fake, inorganic way. I guess the educational intent is just too blatant.

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Blues in various shades

A stonkingly good, multi layered story about life in a close community where many characters were childhood friends.
Ups, downs, successes, failures, secrets, love, heartbreak, family, friends, regrets, dreams, forgiveness ~ it is all here.
I never got bored and loved how, whilst there were multiple stories connected to characters, there was a focus in each episode.
The tribulations of life that this series covered, were vast and highlighted issues rarely found in other dramas.
Depression, grudges, a husband beater, aging and pregnancy, to what really impressed me hugely, the challenges of living with and caring for someone with a disability.
The first actress / character I have ever seen in a K-drama, with Downs Syndrome. The prejudices and ignorance faced, in this day and age, which really exist, was shocking and heartbreaking to me. It both hurt me and made me so angry.
I sincerely hope that anyone with a warped attitude and stupidity towards this and other conditions, that watch it, will see how disgusting their behaviour is and educate themselves.
I laughed throughout and in the final episodes, cried. So moving.
Fabulous acting from the whole (GREAT) cast (the kids on it were SO good) and a soundtrack that fitted the style of the characters, their community and lives.
One I would highly recommend and would happily watch again.

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