A Shoulder to Cry On (2023)

A perfect BL drama worth the watch that has pacing issues at the end

A shoulder to cry on was a drama that I did not expect to enjoy, but I loved every moment of it. The two main leads had amazing chemistry and I honestly believe a lot of people pass/dislike this drama due to the lack of skinship which is a bit sad.

The first five and a half episodes of this drama was perfect to me in all respect. The pacing of the drama was just fast enough to keep you on the edge of your toes and eager to know what happens next. In terms of character growth and development, Tae Hyun has a much better fleshed out arc compared to Da Yeol. But in the end I really loved both characters as they both have an important life lesson attached to them.

But to me this drama represents something tangible rather than overly used tropes and fanservice. I think an important part of the drama that most people miss is the fact that Tae Hyun is not sure about his feelings. Besides this he also faces societal pressure in the form of his other fake friend who calls him weird just for being close to Da Yeol. This to me represents something that could happen in real life, where a person is not sure about their feelings and hence would rather push people away and avoid it.

Now comes the not so good part of the drama. I feel the pacing of the last 1.5 episodes where totally mismanaged. Episode 6 had a time skip which took away from the emotions rather than complimenting it. The resolution of the plot in this episode also felt weird and unsatisfying. Episode 7 on the other hand feels like a fanservice episode though sweet, was let down due to the lack of depth of episode 6. I honestly believe if they had extended episode 6 and done a second season before episode 7, this drama would be the literally perfect.

As someone who has watched other BL dramas, I believe this one of the better if not best one at the moment. And hence I would really recommend this drama.

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Another Hate to Love Trope

I almost could not watch the first two episodes of this series. I'm not okay with bullying and the fact that the writers had the audacity to have the victim of bullying fall in love with the person who bullied him and purposefully without even caring about the other person, attempted to ruin his life. I mean, later he was like, "I didn't know it was that important to you," but is that supposed to make it okay? That's the lamest excuse I've ever heard and still not an actual apology. In real life, hate to love does not exist because people don't fall in love with people who are cruel, thoughtless, and selfish from the very beginning. Yes, you might find out they are that way later, but if they treat you like crap from the get go, you don't value that relationship or that person. That just isn't reality. Someone will definitely say, "it's fiction" but the reason we write stories, read stories, make movies and view movies is because we want to relate to those characters. If you can't relate to the characters, you won't care what happens to them and won't care about their story. You can't believe in a love that is built on this kind of stupidity.

I was finally able to start watching it without skipping over half the scenes by episode 3. The actors were fairly believable and the music was okay. Korean BLs tend to be very hands off and that's okay, but despite their decent chemistry, I had a hard time finding many reasons to like the bully ML. From the beginning to the end, he wasn't someone I liked. I had sympathy for him for about 2 minutes, but he was such a jerk and often hateful, so my sympathy didn't extend far. The other ML was much more likable, but since I didn't like his romantic partner, it was kind of wasted. To be honest, he had just as much on screen chemistry with his rival archer as he did with the bully. That would have been a relationship I would prefer for them to develop. Two people who are supposed to be rivals but respect each other and fall in love while still having to compete against each other would be a much better story than the hate to love trope that is way too predicatible and unbelieveable. The story of them actually falling in love and getting together got kind of thrown in at the end. Like, two years later we meet again and decide to wait for each other to be ready, then two years later we're sort of in a relationship, but it's more like best friends. Why ask a bunch of questions about your boyfriend at the end? Haven't they been supposedly trying to work things out to be together for the past two years and just now they decide to ask what the other likes? Why not spend some time on those two years rather than just skipping it and leaving us wondering why they stayed around for two years when neither of them seems to have developed closer feelings to the other over all that time?

Despite all the negativity that I feel towards the actual couple, there were some good moments. Mostly the themes of coming to terms with your sexuality, learning how to love and forgive yourself, and finding your way in the world. I don't want to ruin the actualy good messages, because they are pretty much the only redeeming quality of this series. I wouldn't watch it again, but it wasn't a complete waste of time.

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A little above the curve of korean BLS

It's a little better than your regular korean BLs, what shocked me is that both of the protagonist are members of the SAME idol group? Wow, that explains a lot, but also really shocking, I might have to tune in into their idol releases. uwu
That's it, that's my review. I liked the more profound subjects that aren't present in regulars kbls, it plays well in their favor
waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

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I Really Loved It

First, let me say, that South Korea produces the best BLs with the most production value, best writing, directors, and actors. This series was no exception.

My only criticism would be that I would have appreciated being let in, a little more, on the characters motivations and thoughts, and the other characters could have been fleshed out a bit more.

Like almost all of the Korean bl series, this one was too short, could have been longer to include more details about the characters.

But, I STILL loved it. I guess I’m lucky I don’t read the Manhwa versions before watching a series, because the readers always end up disappointed. But, hearing that there was more intimacy in the Manhwa, I may just see if an English version is available and read it, after the fact.

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Drama vs Manhwa

So I watched this before, and I really liked a lot of parts of it, but it did have some, where it was lacking a lot, especially the ending is pretty bad honestly. So I read the manhwa it was based on to see if it's any different.

First of all the manhwa does have a different vibe, a more edgy vibe I guess.

First thing I realized is the drama is missing a lot of internal dialogue which helped a lot to understand the characters more.

Especially with Tae Hyun, he is a very complex character in the manhwa, who is struggling with the aftermath of a horrible trauma that left him quite messed up mentally. He has a deep problem with self love and loving others, and he is seriously struggling with this emptiness especially after meeting Da Yeol who is very forgiving and kind to him.
In the drama I love the actor playing him (so much ahh), but the writing is lacking to show more of this very dark side of his.

Da Yeol feels like a different character in the live action one, a more mellow and naive guy, and honestly I like his portayal like this more. I think the manhwa creator was trying to go for something more like this, but their version ended up feeling more rough.

So even if the writing is lacking to build more character, still it's easier to overlook as I'm completely happy with the mains' casting and their acting, they go well together too. They do a great job drawing away your attention from the writing issues.

Most of the side characters were changed a lot, I'm neutral about it, they have about the same purpose in both, not much honestly.

Most of the plot points are also a bit mixed up, like confessing happens in a bit different way, and so on, but they are not that big changes or might actually work better for live action stuff, so I think it's acceptable.

One thing I do want to praise the writing for, it's how we see more of Da Yeol, like the change about his home life felt better and more personal, and how most of the show focuses on his struggles with archery, which was a nice decision I think.

Also Da Yeol doesn't change schools at the end in the original work. Which I liked better, it felt rushed and weird in the drama.

but OMG, so you know the title, A shoulder to cry on. Well, there is a part in the manhwa when Tae Hyun has sort of a breakdown and actually cries on Da Yeol's shoulder, which was a very close moment for them. And yes, it is NOT in the drama. Honestly big L for the drama.


So what about the ending?

Weeeell, so it turns out, the ending also sucks in the manhwa... so it's not exactly the drama's fault. It's pretty dumb I think considering Da Yeol's writing in the original work, it doesn't feel like him at all.
Though it's important to note that in the manhwa the time skip was 3 months, while in the drama it was 2 YEARS omg... (I hate time skips)

Also the drama's last episode I can't compare, as it has about nothing to do with the manhwa... I suppose they just wanted to put some fan service there, but it feels really out of place for me and not very honest.
In the manhwa there are some extra special chapters at the end showing the two living together which would have been I think a much better choice to film as the last episode... But maybe the special chapters were not out yet at the time? I don't know.

Would I recommend the drama? Yes (for the first half definitely). But I'm biased because I absolutely fell for the actor, Shin Ye Chan... ehehe.
Would I recommend the manhwa? Yes, I think it's a fun read, nicely drawn, you can finish it in an afternoon. It's not very satisfactiory though, when it comes to lovey dovey stuff.

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Enemies to friends to lovers… nothing new to see here

Countless series have been produced on the enemies to lovers genre and this one just adds to that ever growing list. Although there have been some BL series that have broken new ground with this genre like History 3: Trapped or the sheer chemistry between the main leads have stolen the show like Bad Buddy, but this one just sticks to the cliché. The only thing going for this series is that the 2 main leads have some depth in their character more so with Tae Hyun than Da Yeol.

The series wastes no time in introducing the characters. Da Yeol is a student who is a talented archer and that has gained him a scholarship. Not a popular student from any stretch of the imagination nor good with his studies, his only passion remains with archery. During one of the practise sessions he is sent to the nurse’s office for a shoulder pain and there he encounters Tae Hyun. Tae Hyun is a happy-go-lucky student who cares little about rules. Due to some shenanigans, Tae Hyun and Da Yeol are caught in a compromising position and Tae Hyun places all the blame on Da Yeol angering him. Tae Hyun now keeps pranking Da Yeol all to his anguish. But the more time they spend with each other Da Yeol learns more about Tae Hyun and can’t help but fall in love with him.

The character of Tae Hyun is interesting as he has a tragic past and layer by layer we are shown what that is all about. This makes Tae Hyun intriguing and you tend to sympathize with him as we learn more about him. But as the series inches closer to the finale, we feel that the creators have abandoned that plot point. His reactions though justified in the beginning seems rather rushed by the end and does a complete 180 degree during the final episode.

The final episode seems rushed and makes little to no sense due to multiple time jumps. Earlier Da Yeol is shown as confident in his feelings and Tae Hyun being the one who is aloof and questioning but in the final episode, they seemed to have exchanged their characters. Its Da Yeol now who acts aloof and makes you wonder is he no longer in love with Tae Hyun? All the great character development that took place in the first 5 episodes is flushed down the drain in the last 2 episodes and this was just so disappointing

In conclusion, the series has some handsome male leads with some good acting and character development in the initial episodes but disappoints you at the very end.

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I wish I could say the same thing about this series (like I said for ULS). I was really excited for the first 5 episodes. When this show almost ended, I was wondering why the rating declined abruptly. But now, I feel how dissatisfaction that they gave us on the last 2 episodes. Damn! I actually had pretty high expectations to this series. ?

Bahasa Indonesia:
Pengennya sih bisa bisa bilang hal yang sama tentang serial ini (seperti yang aku ulas pada serial Unintentionally Love Story). Aku bersemangat penuh dalam 5 episode pertama. Namun mendekati akhir-akhir episode, Kok ratingnya tiba2 turun ya perlahan-lahan? dari 8komaan hingga sekarang hampir menyentuh angka 7.5. Tapi sekarang, Saya tahu betapa kecewanya saya sama 2 episode terakhir. Kayaknya karena ekspektasi saya yang berlebihan kah?

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O BROMANCE MAIS DECEPCIONANTE DO MUNDO

Vamos começar pelo pontos positivos porque não são muitos.
Ambos os protagonistas são bonitos, no começo uma cena ou outra é bonitinha e é interessante o passado traumático Jo Tae Hyun.
Pronto, agora vamos falar de todo o resto.
Gente, não é possível uma coisa dessas, eu não sei como tiveram a cara de pau de vender isso como um romance, no começo até vemos intenções românticas mas depois foi só ladeira abaixo.
Acharam de bom tom colocar mil passagens de tempo (o que eu odeio), fazer o Lee Da Yeol abandonar o Jo Tae Hyun e negligenciar seu trauma, em nenhum momento acontece um beijo e no final parece que Lee Da Yeol deixou de amar o Jo Tae Hyun e agora só o Jo Tae Hyun ama (o que soa super unilateral).
Eu acho que a palavra certa para definir esse drama é "decepcionante".
Como lidaram com o trauma? De forma decepcionante
Como foi o romance? Decepcionante
As passagens de tempo? Frustrante de decepcionante.
O roteiro desse drama me fez sentir assistindo uma história de amigos e não de um casal, sem contar que o último episódio foi uma vergonha e totalmente desrespeitoso com o público, foi extremamente dissimulado esse final.
Que decepção.

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The BL Drama Was Alright

I thought the drama was alright. It wasn't a terrible, terrible, terrible drama. And it was boring. However, It's not the best Korean BL drama out there. It could have been better in certain aspects. By which I mean the acting and production value (audio) could have been better.
First-time actors Kim Jae Han and Shin Ye Chan's acting was decent. However, their acting was stiff at times, but other than that; their acting wasn't horrible. I think the main actors' chemistry was causal and pretty natural. The audio was inconsistent at times. As in, the audio was not at the same level.
With all that stuff said, the drama had a simple yet complex story.
The production value was naturalistic. The music was one of the best things about the drama. The music was great. One more thing, the last episode/season finale was fluffy. So anyone who watches the drama, you better prepare to die from fluff. Lol

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The sweetest and adorable series that you guys will need to watch!!

It has the best trope and the sweet cute interactions even though there is no kiss scene (i am a kiss scene addict) but it felt like there is no need of kiss scene here in every scene because they words and actions express everything and the chemistry is perfect they have spent over a year being together so of course the chemistry is good and the story is very good and unpredictable at some times and last ep was wholesome!!! The visuals of the actors are what we all need in our life i am not only talking about the main leads but even they friends look good. And it's ost is perfect ??. I tell every bl watcher to watch it, it's perfect.❤️

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