Sparkling Watermelon (2023)

Just want to air out my frustrations

(as the headline suggests this is subjective)

I initially liked the concepts of the show enough to overlook some problems with the execution but I can't pretend that I didn't feel a huge disconnect when it switched to the present in the last episode. The questionable aspects clouded my thoughts and took me out of the experience. Maybe I should've been more prepared for how much Eun-Gyeol's interference in the past would naturally affect the present, but I still feel like they could've done way better to make it less jarring and evidently divisive.

It's just so bizarre to think about how alone Eun-Gyeol is with his memories of what his whole life was like before he went back in time, and he's basically just now starting the life he's responsible for creating. Also the fact that everyone who knew him in 1995 has the worst memory ever and can't tell that he looks exactly like the guy they befriended and have pictures of and also has the same name. Idk I'm just disappointed and the emotional moments that really landed don't even feel like much anymore.

Eun-Yu as a character was very solid though I love her.

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Encantadora pero poco arriesgada.

Absolutamente encantadora, con personajes que te atrapan y se ganan el cariño del publico, pero la historia se queda a medias, no parece tomar ningún riesgo y todo lo que ocurre parece un simple tramite de lo que ya estaba establecido, de igual manera se disfruta muchisimo, aunque por momentos se siente que se puede explotar algunos personajes que parecen interesantes y solamente divagan en lo superficial.

El final me parece poco arriesgado, no hay consecuencias negativas, solo positivas, nadie sacrifica nada para obtener algo, y hay arcos que no se terminan por concluir. Pudo ser mejor pero se disfrutó muchisimo.

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Fun but NOT complete

A good way to waste time, without realizing your wasting time. Yes, it's that fun to watch. There are a lot of funny moments and the bromance is spot on and it makes you cheer for the family.

However, there could have been thinks that were done better. For example, it took way to long for both of the main characters to realize that they were both from the past (around episode 13 or 14). The ending also feel rushed and we didn't get to see a lot of time in the future. It would have been better to see how Yi Chan and Ah Chung went through and not just the main characters coming back to the future, and boom everything is fine and they are rich(?).

One thing that really bothered me is how they protrayed Yi Chan as deaf. Just because he is DEAF, does NOT MEAN he CAN'T SPEAK! Especially since he was not born deaf. I have a deaf friend, that can read lips and speak fine. So, it was annoying to see that being glossed over.

Reccommendated if you want to see something light-hearted with, just a bit of a plot and not just fluffyness. The acting was good. Ah Chung, really made an impact and how she expressed her self through her eyes!.

The female character (from the future) was annoying because she kept trying to mess things up for Eun Gyeol unintentionally. Also, the solution she had to solve her problem was so stupid. She cannot live her life for her mom, so how is finding her first love and setting her up going to do anything...?

Overally, recommend for something light-heart. It's NOT perfect, but it a good watch.

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Cute, fun, & interesting, but...

I definitely enjoyed this drama. It had me coming back for more all the way until the end. Unfortunately the ending itself felt rushed and incomplete. There was so much about the after that we didn't get to know about, and even the last moment was too quick imo.

I really wish there had been more expansion into after the return and how everything that was left behind unfolded to become how it was when they made it back.

I liked how their connection was consistent the whole time, but it still felt somewhat incomplete and rushed etc. I think he deserved his own explanation in the "after" - and more about their family relationships with him!

Very enjoyable, but not without it's many many plot holes.

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A fun youth story about family and responsibility but poor writing detracts from the experience.

Twinkling Watermelon is an enjoyable watch with an intriguing premise. While it had a warm, cheerful atmosphere, when emotional moments struck, it had me crying. The strength of this drama was the relationship between Eun Gyeol and his family, not the plot, nor romance, and most certainly not the logic. I also loved all their individual backstories; it was both relatable and emotional.

Eun Gyeol is a CODA (Child Of Deaf Adults) which shaped him into who he is. He puts his own happiness aside to ensure his family’s. He time travels back to when his parents were in high school and is on a mission to bring his parents together and protect them from what troubles them in the present. Time travel is a device, not the theme, for him to learn about his parents and how he isn't solely responsible for their happiness.

It started off strong, setting up the present perfectly to refer back to after time traveling, but then it devolved into one of those shows where I need to turn my brain off. Both Eun Yu and Eun Gyeol handled the time travel frustratingly. I would understand if this had something to do with their growth as characters, but it's dumb decisions that could have been written better.

Eun Gyeol states that he cannot find his mom and is breaking down because of it, but he never looked for her. He should have been asking schools if they've heard of the name Cheong Ah or literally anything.

Eun Gyeol and Eun Yu are terrible at keeping their time travel secret. He explains to Eun Yu that he wants to act as if they're from 1995 because he doesn't want to mess things up. Yet, he's been telling Yi Chan multiple times that he is his father and then taking it back over and over. When he should be hiding it, he's so bad at it as if he doesn't know how to come up with a better excuse. As for Eun Yu, sharing the same face, taking the same name, and acting absolutely nothing like Se Kyeong shouldn't have worked as well as it had. She's obviously not who she poses as when she's giving so little effort.

Eun Yu’s goal didn't make sense. She wants to romance her mother's first love to hook them up to avoid being born, but I don't see how she could date someone and then effectively pass that date. Se Kyeong would steer clear of someone who acts as if they know her, like how she was disturbed by Eun Gyeol who knew more than he should have about her. Not to mention, this first love would fall in love with Eun Yu’s personality and not Se Kyeong’s because she acts nothing like her.

The way that Eun Gyeol treated Eun Yu was unfair and overlooked. Eun Gyeol should have put more focus into finding and uplifting his mom into his dad's heart instead of focusing on destroying Yi Chan’s relationship with Se Kyeong and Eun Yu. It made him come across as unlikable and immature for me. Yes, he's acting as a caring friend and son since Se Kyeong had been lying and leading Yi Chan on, so Eun Yu picking up after Se Kyeong doesn't leave her with a good impression. But for all Eun Gyeol knows, Se Kyeong (Eun Yu) is an actively changed person apologizing and trying to make it up to Yi Chan by giving him a fair chance, and Eun Gyeol is trying to rid them of Se Kyeong (Eun Yu) when he has no right in policing Yi Chan’s relationships. Of course I know that Eun Yu has ulterior motives, so we as the audience overlook Eun Gyeol's actions, but that doesn't make it right.

Eun Gyeol was hypocritical when he got angry at Eun Yu who's now responsible for Se Kyeong’s action of leading Yi Chan on, but then he did the same by lying about his love for Se Kyeong (Eun Yu) to string her along and away from Yi Chan. I can understand why both Eun Gyeol and Se Kyeong did this. Yi Chan wouldn't take no for an answer and Eun Yu was disrupting Eun Gyeol's plans, but it does decrease their likability since they never suffer the consequences or apologize for it.

The romance between Eun Gyeol and Eun Yu was baseless at first. They had no reason to like each other. Eun Gyeol was constantly trying to get Eun Yu out of their lives yet he made her heart flutter? Eun Yu has been nothing but an obstacle with a bad impression for Eun Gyeol, but he is developing feelings for her? I only started to like their romance when they began to have a reason for liking each other. Like when Eun Gyeol began to show worry for her, and when Eun Yu would help Eun Gyeol out with his problem despite being ignorant of it.

I love Se Kyeong’s storyline, but it was disconnected and a waste of potential. I found it tragic that no one truly suspected that Se Kyeong was no longer Se Kyeong. All everyone knows about Se Kyeong is “I take cello seriously.” This should have been explored more to make her more connected to the plot. She's a main character that was cut off and comes back for one or two scenes at the end. To make her storyline less disconnected, she should have been more involved. It would have been more impactful if the catalyst for her to rebel from being her mother's jewel and to become her own person was if she got to know Eun Yu and found out that everyone wasn't able to distinguish who's the real Se Kyeong.

Se Kyeong, Eun Yu, and Cheong Ah’s relationship should've had more tension or at least acknowledgement. Se Kyeong is friends with Cheong Ah, knows her crush, told her that she did not like Yi Chan, and that he's all hers. Se Kyeong (Eun Yu) actively pursues Yi Chan, yet Cheong Ah doesn't show any acknowledgement or conflict toward Se Kyeong (Eun Yu) who went back on her word. There's also that time when Se Kyeong openly showed enjoyment about leading Yi Chan on, yet Cheong Ah only showed dislike toward Eun Gyeol when he wronged Yi Chan. I couldn't tell where the relationship stands a lot of the time.

The ending was rushed and did give the bare minimum to infer. For some reason, the Watermelon Sugar members didn't realize that 2023 Eun Gyeol looks exactly like 1995 Eun Gyeol, but we know they should since Yi Chan was hinted to have connected they're the same person. It's only a matter of time before they discuss the past. Did things change between Se Kyeong and Eun Yu? Eun Yu’s hair length represents her freedom. In the ending, she had short hair that was slightly longer than in 1995. This signifies that things did change and that she didn't just keep her hair length after time traveling. Se Kyeong was always meant to go back to Korea and meet her real father, and might have always meant to break the furniture as a small act of rebellion before going back to how things were. I don't see how Se Kyeong could’ve changed when she was disconnected from all the changes in the past. That leads me to assume that when Se Kyeong came back to Korea, all the connections Eun Yu made transferred to her, giving her true friends that she didn't have previously which instigates positive change. Perhaps Eun Yu’s goal to transfer a romantic relationship to her mother wasn't so far-fetched after all.

Even though I had a lot of problems with Twinkling Watermelon, the characters, the relationships between them, the theme of responsibility, and the way the story made me feel for it made it worth it.

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Across the board, outstanding!

Time travel that works?
Amazing music?
Brilliant cast?
Amazing story?
Great Humour?
Life lessons?

Not all in one drama at the same time, right? Yep!

Bottom line, ya just need to watch it, brilliant.

OK, Mr/Miss/Mrs Sceptic who is still here, why...

First up - time travel stories are hard to do well and this one nails it. It doesn't go overboard, and its respectful of the timeline. Is it perfect? No, because it's never going to be - time travel doesn't exist right? - but it feels right and not over done.

There's some great humour here, a towards the start (and a little again at the end) there's these fun little riffs on the Back to the Future sound track and some familiar facial expressions and reactions from Eun Gyeol that you might recognise from it too. But - true to everything else, they don't overdo it. Get it out of the way, have a quiet chuckle with the audience, and move on. This isn't back to the future, it has its own story to tell (probably a more meaningful one, if we're honest here - and I'm a BTTF fan).

The cast are utterly brilliant in every respect, different characters portrayed really well. I loved the deaf angle on this one, it makes it stand out - who'd have thought to make a heavily musical story, about musicians, and then make key characters deaf? Takes a bold team, and Jin Soo Wan (writer) and Son Jung Hyun (director) pulled it off.

The music, throughout, is fantastic. I'll be getting some of these on my spotify play list as soon as possible. Fun, upbeat, something to sway to.

Broadly, the main character is the only hearing-able person in his household and this weighs on him constantly, his passion is music but he's afraid to share it because it's something the others can't do themselves so it feels selfish. After his dad discovers him performing in a band and careless heated words are spoken in both directions, the main character finds himself wandering into a music store to sell is beloved guitar and give up on his dreams. The owner of the store takes the guitar and after they talk for a while, the main character leaves - and finds himself back in 1995, where he soon meets up with his younger father - who can hear just fine.

OK back to the waffle / gushing...

I really enjoyed the storyline elements involving Cheong-ah (main characters mother) and the journey that, in particular, her father took. There's a moment where the main character says to him something like "I really want you to see your daughter smile, she has the most beautiful smile" and later when he does see it, it pays off big time, Kim Tae Woo who plays her father nails the scene perfectly.

Our two main characters learn and grow through this journey in different ways, they each get different things out of this but they get what they need to put themselves back on the right track.

Enjoy it, the title is wacky, the drama is a bit wacky, the characters are completely wacky, the music is fabulous and the end result is one of the most fun dramas of the year in my view.

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Overall, good but not great. Long live the bromance and friendship!^^

Eun Gyeol is the only one who is hearing among his deaf family, he loves his family and has a passion & talent for music. One day he goes back in time to 1995 where he met his young father who is still hearing, so he wants to change the future. Will Eun Gyeol succeed and can he get back to the present?

This drama was love at my first-sight until ep 6. The story within those episodes give me a lot of typical sweet kdrama moments that first got me like first-watching kdramas. I appreciate the heartwarming family, as they have been underrepresented in recent dramas. Each character is given a strong personality that make me root for them. All-round very very good acting! Their expressions seep off of the screen and pulled my heartstring instantly. The young cast, they are so cute and perfect together. Also the emotional moments are so heartbreaking, I could cry any moment thinking about them. Everyone so good in doing sign languages, but my favorite is Bong Jae Hyun who plays the brother, the way he’s doing sign language is so cute especially when he’s angry XD

The film-editing is on-point: the band, the musical world in Eun Gyeol perspective and such... all fit perfectly with the context. The music is nostalgic and few gives 80's vibes. Storyline is easy to follow but the plot is not-so-simple; different threads and relationships are going on without them being confusing. Honestly, I didn’t know this is a timeslip show until I reached ep 2. What can be either a con or a pro, depending on your own taste, is the drama constantly being very plot-driven, that a lot of things are happening around characters and they don't have enough chances to drive the plot through their decisions.

…this part has spoilers:
So after ep 6, it fell a little flat. Even though there's no slump, the concept of wanting to change the future feels out-of-the-blue, they don’t say anything convincing that take me to be on board with this mission. How much time pass in present day while being in the past is not clear as well. They spent many episodes on lovey-dovey moments, which was sweet, but not as impactful. However, I really like how they develop Chung Ah’s character, that part makes me want to learn sign language now...

Also, the foreshadowing incident that is discussed throughout the drama is teased to our faces with a typical high-school trope, which is serviceable, but doesn’t sit very well with me personally, especially due to what really happened to close this incident arc has nothing to do with this. Another thing I was hoping to see is the conflict resolution between Eun Gyeol and present-day father in the early episodes about schooling vs music… I was curious how they handled this and we get practically nothing, so I'm a bit salty on that. The ending is good but also not explainable, it sooths our souls with happy moments but it could have been a lot more interesting had it be a bit more consistent with the premise.

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Light and Shadow

“An artist should recognize a metaphor” a character tells the show’s protagonist towards the end. And like Jin Soo Wan’s earlier shows, this one uses metaphor (in this case the trope of time travel) to explore how pain can become the garden in which art and joy grow, how parents can fail and save their children, and how it is not luck or fame or fortune but love that keeps us rooted in this broken world.

Most shows hesitate to mix comedy with serious themes, as if by merging the two, they’ll either destroy the lightness of the former or dilute the gravitas of the latter. Twinkling Watermelon explores child abuse, neglect, suicidal ideation, and discrimination against the deaf community, but it does so amidst a candy-colored swirl of music and unbridled teen exuberance. Its characters face real trauma, but they also laugh and flirt and rock out with their friends and wear their hearts on their sleeves for all to see. There are few dramas as unapologetic in their delight as this one, and even when plot points get messy or a random gang of thugs appears, the show’s warmth never falters. And in the end, it suggests that’s what truly matters both in art and life.

So to judge it by this criteria, does this show spark joy? Yes. So, so much. And its happy moments shine all the brighter for being set against the darkness.

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WATERMELON SUGAR!!! ?✨

Ah, I’m sad I finished this show… The characters were so fun, to see the band practices and the friendship tighten throughout the show was just so ???. Eun Gyeol’s unconditional love for his parents and how he tried so hard to make their lives brighter?. Personally, I think they focused too long on Yi Chan’s crush on “Se Kyeong” (even though eventually they strangely made it seem like he knew for a while that “Se Kyeong” actually liked Eun Gyeol – I wished we would have gotten more of Yi Chan and Cheong Ah). I also think that Eun Yu and Eun Gyeol should have found out about each other’s identities a little earlier. But overall, this show made me cry, laugh and was a lot of fun?.

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Beautiful but Incomplete

Twinkling Watermelon has a lot to love about it. I love Time Travel tropes already and I am happy they chose to introduce deaf characters and depicting family bonds and friendships. Despite it having several heart touching moments there is still something missing.

Ha Eun Gyeol is the only hearing member of his family. He has seen a lot of struggles as well as had to put aside his own dreams for the sake of his family. He is carrying burdens and is scarred without realizing what he means to his family. Travelling back in time helps put a lot of things in perspective and he hopes it is also an opportunity to save his father. It is only when he goes back in time, he realizes that his father was also once a teenager who had dreams of his own as well as struggles of his own. The same with his mother and he still desires to carry his family's burdens. But in the process he also ends up sharing a strong bond with his father, Yi Chan. One that he never expected. His moments with Yi Chan are the highlight of the show so the ending does leave you with a little more to be desired.

With regards to his mother, Cheong Ah, again he forms a protective relationship and a lot of instances made me tear up. The depictions are beautiful. Yet again, the ending speed runs through their reintroduction.

Eun Gyeol also meets Eun Yu. I found the chemistry between them quite lacking unlike Yi Chan and Cheong Ah's. The former's relationship didn't really develop well and felt quite choatic. We also don't see Eun Yu overcoming her own trauma rather running away from it. The series also completely skips over Eun Yu's family reunion which was disappointing.

There were moments that felt like the series was dragging and if they had simply reduced those, they would have had the time to give us a more complete picture and then I could surely rate it a 10.

The OST is nice but other than the final song, nothing really blew me away which is disappointing since music is such an important aspect of the plot. The final song is catchy but not exceptional.

Overall, the series is good and heartwarming. The actors have done a fine job in their portrayals and make this series worth watching.

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It's good, but overrated!

I started this show about a week ago, but long after the show has ended, so I have seen & read many glowing reviews & saw how folks proclaimed this drama being the best one they have ever seen.
I not for one moment have felt that way, but it took me quite a bit of introspection to -I think- figure out why.
I mean at the very least we’ve seen amazingly well acted emotional scenes, that are up there with the best of the best in Kdramaland. There is a lot of good music, romances & one amazing bromance thing, so at the very least I can understand why someone would rate this at 10/10 amazing..

Let me explain, why to me this is far worse than 10/10 & why I felt something is really wrong with this drama throughout most of the episodes. Disclaimer, I’m a rather nitpicky person. I can find logical flaws in almost anything, but that has not prevented me to give 10/10 ratings to flawed shows before.
Let’s start with a TLDR to not waste anyone’s time with my long rambling: Many and perhaps most of the minor details in this drama are either wrong or off. This pile of immersion breaking lack of attention to detail is just too tall for me.

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So here I go:

I could go on and on about -tiny or large- time travel related plotholes, but I have begrudgingly accepted them, because time travel shows always have a ton of these. (Though the level of disregard for consistency is on another level in this drama.)

Music is an important part of this drama, but the sound is completely unrealistic in most scenes. Not only does everything sound like an overly perfect studio recording, but also every guitar in the show sounds like $20000. These kids are not millionaires, yo! Sure the guitar point is very nitpicky, but I have never at any point felt like I’m listening to music made by a very talented up and coming band, or anything remotely live-like. (as in live music sounding like a live performance)

Sol Ina is just too old for this role. Yes, she acted amazingly well here & I’m happy for her success. I’m sure no one could’ve done better in her place, but I would love to see a big budget kdrama where the teens are played by at most 22 year olds. Just to reiterate again, yes she is stunningly beautiful and everything, but she's not a teen & can never pass as one. If this only happened in a couple of flashbacks it would’ve been fine, but she is a teen the entire time.
This point applies to Ryeoun as well. He is not a believable Korean teenager at any point in time. He is 25, what could he have possibly done, right?

The portrayal of disabilities in Korean media always have been very annoying to me. Here it’s probably the best I’ve seen so far from them, but there were still quite a few weird moments. Being deaf is very difficult to portray well to begin with, I don’t know. Largely because you want to keep the audience entertained, but if you as an actor do over the top emotional faces in every single scene, then the end result cannot possibly be something believable. Though of course the actors followed well what was asked of them. I can somewhat understand why they choose to do it like this. Imagine if the story was almost the same in every way, but Cheong Ah had not been deaf just an introvert, if Eun Gyeol's parents were able to hear, but lived a very hard, tumultuous life. To me it seems like most of the plot would have worked just the same. I strongly suspect that the writer added decided to go with the CODA thing, because there were a couple really big hit shows that featured disabilities. Deafness is not completely an important, integral part of the show.

Romance is only so so, I did not really feel the chemistry, nor are the romantic plots very engaging. Then again this is probably the most realistic part of the drama, because teenagers falling in love is the easiest thing in the world, no elaborate plots are needed.

The main villain is very sterotypical and boring, her actions were very silly & her end is anticlimactic. The family situation at that house makes no sense. They could have made Cheong Ah's backstroy much more interesting without opting for this whole "her father ignores her suffering" plot.

The late nineties Korea in the show is -you guessed it- highly unrealistic.

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My fellow MDL user, I’m sure you’ve noticed by now how most of my criticisms are about realism. It would be a logical conclusion that this is a me problem, since kdrama as a genre tends to be very lacking in realism & anyone who wants realism should not watch kdramas.
I agree with this of course, but if a show’s end goal is not just to entertain with comedy & sugar, but maybe to educate about disabilities, to present gut wrenching moments and to make the audience empathize with the characters, then realism becomes rather important, or at the very least a fantasy setting should respect its own established rules & just in general the writer should not insult our intelligence.
Just look at the various Reply dramas, every single one of them has a similar blend of teen romance, bromance and to a lesser extent family tragedies to Twinkling Watermelon, but they are far more reasonable in every way, the emotional scenes in those are really really great, while the comedy and romance still get to shine.

The overall presentation is a bit childish. So perhaps we should just judge this as a teen programme. That’s fair, I’ve given it some thought & perhaps watching this at the age of 14 my mind could have been completely blown, I don’t know. Most of us on MDL are adults though & with that in mind I decided to settle for a rating of 7.5, because despite everything I've said, here and there there were moments of real brilliance in the show.

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