To My Star 2 (2022)

To My Angst

Overall: season 1 was a romance so I was hoping in season 2 to learn more about the backgrounds of the two leads, have some character growth (specifically Ji Woo getting better at communicating), some fluff and some realistic drama (i.e. the public finding out about their romance and fallout from that). Instead we got...angst and character regression instead of growth. If someone wants to avoid 9 episodes of angst, then I'd suggest just watching episode 10. I really dislike when one character is a huge jerk to the other character for a long time because then I'm not happy if they are together at the end due to all the pain that was caused. Once you break a glass, even if you put it back together, it will never be the same. Watched on Viki (also Gagaoolala)

Content Warnings: gaslighting, grief

What I Liked
- the cute scenes
- episode 10 (except for the very last two lines), enjoyed the callbacks to the first season
- acting
- music (wish we had vocals for the intro though)
- the supporting characters from season 1 that returned in season 2 (and wish they had had more screen time/depth for their characters)
- talking about Ho Min's decision was funny (I looked up the actor)

Room For Improvement
- Ji Woo, I am so disappointed that instead of character growth we got character regression. Breaking up via a sticky note and ghosting someone (on their birthday no less) after a year of dating is inexcusable. Then Ji Woo has the gall to name his restaurant "I'm Waiting For You". Ji Woo lies to Seo Joon and is extra cruel by telling Seo Joon that it's Seo Joon's fault their relationship doesn't work before eventually admitting it was Ji Woo's fault/insecurities. No amount of grief or introvertedness excuses his actions (I know people who are extremely introverted and they all manage to communicate with their significant others)
- Seo Joon needs to learn about respecting boundaries - I realize this was supposed to be romantic but it felt like harassment to me
- non logical/realistic plot things/responses - is a celebrity having a fear of loud noises a huge scandal??? I don't understand this at all. Another is, what a terrible detective. It took 1 year to figure out that Ji Woo was in the town where he grew up/where his parents used to live, wouldn't that be the first place to look??? Also what was the motivation for who posted that story about Seo Joon?
- the cliche ex, this added nothing for me
- the kid, if they were shown babysitting a friend/relative's kid and talking about how they wanted their family to be in the future that would have been awesome, but this character seemed tossed in to add additional drama
- the frequent time jumps back and forth made it feel disjointed and confusing, wish they had told this in a linear fashion
- the explanation for Seo Joon's phobia was underwhelming
- I wish they had had a short recap of season 1 at the beginning of episode 1
- the intro with season 1 short scenes and instrumental music wasn't my favorite intro

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Best Series so far for 2022 for me

Startled for a series that got me hooked just on first two episodes.
Kangmin and Woohyun Did an awesome job portraying their roles. Their chemistry is solid. There’s no awkwardness even their BTS showed how comfortable they are with each other. This contributed to the sense of realness of the relationship portrayed on this series. The Director used tricks to make viewers feel hate, sadness then cry for the happy emotional ending. Great job Director. The writer must have suffered due to the way the story was written until episode 9. Writer did an awesome job. Don’t hate the haters 🙏🏻 It just means the work was done well to get that kind of reaction.
If this series wasn’t great, it wouldn’t produce fans who expressed hate towards Kangmin and emphatic towards Woo Hyun. To have that, the actors, writers, director and staff have done a really great job.
It is worth the time to watch but I suggest watch first season first before watching this one.
Congratulations Kangmin and Woohyun
Congratulation to all supporting casts!!!
Thank You to the production staff, producers and agency staff.
Hopefully there will be another season🙏🏻

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Wonderful storytelling and editing

Many don’t like where this headed but I have to say it’s epic. It’s a bit more real. Love isn’t complicated really, humans make it so. Just as love isn’t enough in certain aspects. It requires work, effort from all parties involved in the relationship. The writing has done a great job showcasing this and how lack of good communication can ruin something beautiful. Kudos to the writers, editors and actors. I’ve felt everything they’ve portrayed. My emotions have run the gamut. The reason JiWoo left was so out of left field and so relatable and understandable that I must applaud the writers once more. Instead of going the usual cliched route that many second seasons do, we are presented with something that is not so easily fixed or overlooked. Here’s to hoping we resolve this issue well for both Seo Joon and Ji Woo in a manner that is also realistic. Again, well done writers and actors. Seo Joon especially has twisted me up inside by his determination to keep Ji Woo and his utter devastation when he finally learned the truth of why Ji Woo left. Great acting. Also, bringing in more characters was a brilliant move. The secondary cast were all brilliantly portrayed. A true emotional journey. Can’t wait for the last ep. Hopefully there’s another season with these two as well

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life changed (again)

i have so much to say but ill try and keep this short and sweet

i really didn't think s1 could be topped but damn they did it. the chemistry, the story, the ost, the writing this show had me LOOSING my mind every sunday. i have not seen a drama stir up this much of a conversation and had people having such a range of emotions to each of the characters. there were some people that didn't like the realisticness of this season, saying that there should be more cute shows however personally i loved it. this season explores trauma, human emotions and mental illness in a very matter-of-fact, sometimes so relatable its somewhat startling to the viewer.

though i won't give any spoilers the story telling was so good and the thing uncovered near the end was somehwat surprising but very welcome. the cinematography was gorgeous, some of the shots of the town and the camera placement in scenes told a lot about what was going on & characters emotions. there was also so many references to s1 both big and small they made me go crazy. the ost was SO pretty and the fact that woohyeon composed multiple songs and he even sang one completely melts my heart.

just by the first episode i was once again completely and utterly invested in seojoon and jiwoos story. kangmin and woohyeons chemistry and acting this season is JAW DROPPING they genuninely have the best chemistry i have ever seen in a drama let alone a bl. there were definitely points i hated both their characters but after an episode or two the thoughts behind their actions come to light and it becomes very clear they are both just somewhat scared kids who were treated too harshly by the world. and those kids found eachother and found comfort in eachother. sure they went through a lot but in the end they realised being apart was never going to work. they are eachothers 'one'.

this show really gave me so much energy to get through the month and just got through life in general lmao it may sound dumb but it really did . i do not think ive ever been this invested in a show and i watch a lot of shows and get very easily invested. they made me feel so many emotions, put me through stages of grief but also made me the happiest ive been in a long time (it may sound sad but its true). my notes app is filled with analysis, and this is the type of show that is meant to be analysed. to be able to understand the characters and their action you need to really think about it, and theyre such complex characters its interesting and fun to do so. ill never stop rewatching it nor loving it. i could talk about it for hours and hours and no matter what it will always have a very special place in my heart.

i can now die happily knowing kang seojoon and han jiwoo are living happily in their silly litte seoul apartment being soulmates.

i could say so much more but i think thats enough for just a review. please please if you have not watch this beautiful show.

(btw if you dislike tms or this season more specifically you are just simply wrong idc)

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Not for the faint hearted.

I’ve been holding off disclosing my true feelings regarding To My Star 2. This is probably because majority of the fandom are set on one opinion I don’t entirely agree with,. This is, that people are satisfied with both the ending and pace of the series.

I want to start off by saying that I enjoyed a lot of the aspects of season 2. However, I’ll remain firm on my belief that we can still enjoy things that are open for critique. Even though I’m happy with certain things about the ending, especially the level of softness/fluff we got in the last two episodes - their reconciliation seemed rushed considering we were put through unnecessary amount of heartache (watching only through Seojoon POV in the first 6 episodes). Therefore, my opinion on the pace of the series, as a whole, is nuanced.

At the beginning, some part of me was sure that the reason why Jiwoo behaved the way he did around Seojoon, and that his POV was purposely held off for so long, was because there was a huge secret he’d been keeping - that there was a solid reason behind his harsh words and actions. But revealing it too early would’ve disclosed too much.

However, after more clarity in episodes 7 & 8, we understood that there was a different reason for his sudden departure. Number one being the fact that both of them had conflicting personalities and different perspectives. And number two, Jiwoo left because he felt an enormous amount of loneliness around Seojoon during their relationship. It sent him on a self-imposed guilt trip, having put his ex-girlfriend through the same unpleasant feeling, and going down a destructive spiral of self-loathing and depression.

Now, disregarding my previous theory of “there must be an ulterior motive behind Jiwoo’s actions,” I was somewhat happy that the central focus for Jiwoo’s reasons, was simply (not so simply), the deterioration of his mental health instead. It was refreshing to see something like this be addressed in a BL series, having gone through my own mental health struggles in previous and recent years.

I understand that people struggling through poor mental health, sometimes have a compulsion to hurt and push away those who are the closest to them for illogical, and sometimes no particular reasons. I get this, having imposed some of that hurt on other people, myself. However, we shouldn’t stir too close to the idea that just because someone’s fighting a battle with their inner demons, their actions/words should be excused. There’s no excuse for cruelty. And, given the fact that there was no ulterior motive behind Jiwoo’s disappearance, I would’ve preferred the introduction of his POV a lot earlier for the sake of not building too much negativity around him.

Don’t get me wrong, I have liked both Seojoon and Jiwoo equally - even before they got together in season one, where we understood them as individuals first e.g. their personalities and quirks. TMS and TMS2 hits differently compared to other series, because it’s the first one where I’ve found a lot in common and empathise with both protagonists.

But in my opinion, we were in Seojoon’s POV for too long. So naturally: the hurt, frustration and overwhelming sadness he felt, wasn’t easy for some of us to let go, even after Jiwoo’s POV was revealed in small flashbacks and episodes 7 & 8. It wasn’t easy to let go of the fact that in every episode leading up to no. 7, Seojoon’s heart crushed a little on itself - especially after the ‘friends with benefits’ scenario was put forward and, more sadly, the point where he hit rock bottom and was willing to change everything about himself that bothered Jiwoo - in order to still be with him.

That’s not to say Jiwoo’s heart wasn’t breaking either. Up until episode 7, and ‘reading between the lines,’ his struggles were shown more subtly through his body language and exchanged looks, when he tried to deny his true feelings. His lack of communication/inability to express himself properly at the beginning of the series, was only a true and raw reflection of what most of us struggle with in real/daily life. So I applaud the director for addressing it. But he also had a whole year away from Seojoon to take a breather and figure things out (yeah, I know some people spend a lifetime doing this). However, with two weeks after the finale was released, I’ve yet to come across a complete and satisfactory explanation as to why Jiwoo was so horrible to Seojoon.

There were also some concerning things that I’m not happy with leaving hanging in the air i.e. the fact that Seojoon wasn’t able to eat and sleep properly when he was separated from Jiwoo, only for his eating and sleeping habits to get better after their reunion. I know this can be common in some people who find difficulty handling break ups (especially one like theirs). But it’s still alarming the extent of dependence he had on Jiwoo. And no, this shouldn’t be played off as something romantic like, “they can’t live without each other,” because this statement can be equally worrying as well. Couples should have a modicum of independence in their relationship as well. And of course this wasn’t addressed properly as well.

Some people in the fandom are completely satisfied with how things ended, and that’s ok. We’re all going to have subjective opinions regarding this, just as with fictional books. I’ve acknowledged that after their reconciliation in episode 9, it was evident that they both put more effort into making things better. Jiwoo was apologetic and concluded that there was no perfect person and, therefore, no perfect kind of love while striving to be more open about his true feelings. They both learned each other’s love language. He became more vocal about his affections towards Seojoon, while Seojoon became more frequent in his physical affections towards him. Where one made effort to visit their apartment in Seoul more often, the other visited the village more often. The little montage of them taking turns being the other’s ‘pillow,’ was a reflection of how they’d become capable of compromising with each other.

However, the way I would’ve had it if there was money in the budget, is to include everything above - but to extend the series by at least 14-16 episodes so it wasn’t crammed into two episodes. If the reconciliation was half way through (ep. 7/8), they could’ve had more time to heal before, or even after they got back together - considering how severely they were both effected by their first break up. In my opinion, this would’ve been a better way to address their mental health struggles and open discussions about it in real life as well.

Circling back to the fact that, in order to pull off a satisfactory ending, I believe Jiwoo’s POV should’ve been revealed early on, for the sake of more character development in himself and Seojoon. In saying all this, I know we all fuck up some times, especially in relationships. Life isn’t perfect, so the imperfectness of the way things are handled i.e. messy break ups, potential reconciliations and mental health struggles, should be reflected in the shows we watch as well. But it all comes down to how it’s done.

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Sequel topping S1. Superb!

I re-watched S1 before watching S2, just to see if my original rating (7,5) would stand. It did. I liked the cuteness and sweet interactions. I was expecting something similar for S2 (I try to avoid spoilers as much as I can). But I was in for a surprise. The bittersweet heartache starts in the first minute and hardly lets up until the forelast episode. Where I loved Ji Woo and loathed Seo Joon's railroading him in S1, it was the reversed in S2. Ji Woo is being a closed up a**hole and Seo Joon is trying with all his might to save their relationship and show his love. His honesty and candor are heartmelting and I could not understand how Ji Woo could resist. The slow meltingf of the ice wall Ji Woo has around his heart is shown with great subtlety and the hardening of Seo Joons heart made very clear. In the end I could not see how they would ever get back together and feared for a BL-style weird plot-twist, but I'm happy to say that the way they ultimately find each other is so raw and emotional, it simultaneously broke and healed my heart. I loved it.

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Surprisingly better than season 1

Trust me. I am totally unexpected that the season 2 of this drama is much better than the previous season. I was initially confused by the scenes and the plot in the start of this season in which the two leads broke up. After the episode 1, I thought this season would fail. But, but, to my surprise, the following episodes makes me feel the characters, their emotions and the reason why they break up more deeply. I smiled and cried with them. This reflects real life situations. The plot is beautifully written, the acting is marvelous as usual, and the casts and crew did their job really great. Although this season is deeper and darker than the first season, I have to say this is one of my favourite BL dramas of this year.

P.S. Yoo Ha (the little girl) is so so cute. She is the heart of the series. :D

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perfect sequel to To My Star (and probably the best sequel to ever exist)

When I first heard about the synopsis I was already making up my mind and lowering my expectations that this season would be just as awful as all the other sequels. There would be some stupid cheating plot and miscommunication, and it would be frustrating to watch and could've been resolved easily if the characters would just talk for two minutes. I was worried that this sequel (like so many other sequels before) would butcher the characters for easy drama and make me hate them. But what I actually got was... so much more profound and better than I expected.

Story: At first it may sound out of nowhere and odd that Jiwoo just up and left to go to some tiny village to open up a restaurant. But it makes sense when you think about it. In season one you can already see that Jiwoo is more the type to suffer in silence and run away and isolate himself once things get too much for him, which is exactly what happened here. This season stays beautifully in character and doesn't once feel overly dramatic or forced. Jiwoo sure did cause me a lot of frustration because of how he treated Seojoon. And I know that many expected a big declaration of love and Jiwoo on his knees begging for forgiveness, but that wouldn't be in character, since Jiwoo has trouble expressing his feelings and that's why I find that scene perfect. The show took its time without it seeming too lengthy. While the make-up scene is handled rather quickly, it doesn't feel rushed at all.
At first it seems very unreasonable for Jiwoo to just cut Seojoon off and throw away everything they've built for each other, but the more time passes the more you find out what led Jiwoo to do such a thing. And you slowly learn to understand his character more and more. And the way they resolve their issues was beautiful. The show didn't end with them making up and everything being fine. Jiwoo voices his concerns about their future almost immediately and they talk it out. They make compromises and communicate and that's how they make it work. Neither of them has to give up their life or their profession and that's actually a perfect ending. They can both still pursue their jobs and keep their homes. And the show manages to convince you within just a few minutes that they will make it work. I'm also glad that we get to see the story of the side characters (some of which we already know from season 1). They go on their own little journey and find their way in this world, making new plans for the future and finding love and friendship.
This ending leaves you both happy and sad. Happy, because it ends perfectly, and sad because that means we have to say goodbye to our beloved characters.

Acting/Cast: As always, the acting was superb. The cast is perfect, and I wouldn't change a thing. There are a few new faces this season and they make you like them almost instantly. They manage to make you interested in their stories. It's amazing.

Music: I think that music and soundtracks are actually one of KBLs strengths. I have yet to watch a BL where the soundtrack wasn't at least decent. And the music in To My Star season 1 was great and season 2 surely didn't disappoint.

Rewatch Value: I know that since this season isn't Jiwoo and Seojoon being happy 24/7 isn't going to make people rewatch it a lot, but I think that you should at least watch this season twice. This season has a lot of rewatch potential since it completes the story of the characters and now you know how things will play out you will see a lot of the scenes in a new light and you will be able to understand the motivations behind the character's actions more. Also, when you rewatch season one now you can already see the little foreshadowing and the little hints that lead to everything that happens in season two, which I think is always a great thing.

Overall: I think Hwang Da Seul and the rest of the cast and crew did an amazing job once again. And I am so grateful for this season and how things played out. This sequel is proof that there can be a sequel that deals with issues that are realistic, not out of nowhere, and don't involve cheating. And for that alone, I am glad.
I definitely recommend it to anyone who has watched season one.

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I wish I didn't watch this

Don't get me wrong, I still love this couple and the first season will always put a smile on my face. However this season did the exact opposite. I don't think I was happy for a single scene in this season and I truly wished I could forget this season happened and go back to my happy couple days. I actually hated what they did to HJW character and I hated him for everything he did to KSJ. I also hated how KSJ still loved him and forgave him despite everything. I couldn't justify their decisions and I still can't accept it. Despite this, I actually learned about love. I genuinely sympathized with KSJ and his love for HJW. You could love someone with your whole being and they still might not be your soulmate or the one you're meant to be with, and when KSJ thought that about HJW I felt so extremely sad for him.

I learned about love but at the cost of my happy couple.

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