Untangled a Broken Cassette
This story is like a cassette with tangled tape. If you want to rewrite the content, first you should open the case. Then you can start to untangled the messy part, connect the loop, ah, and don't forget make sure that it facing the right direction. Only after you do all of that, you can start to record a new story.To be honest, the first episode was hard to watch. After all praises and good review, 9.0 MDL score and the fact that it will get a Korean remake, make me come with high high expectation. But everything feels flat, from humor to acting, dialogue, attempt to build emotion. I even watch 1st ep in 2x speed. Some miss in detail keeps disturb me, yet the main plot still intrigued me.
But fortunately, it start to redeem itself since end of episode one. I forgot all miss that ever happened. Even step by step the details come and fill the holes. The character reveal their depth, the actors and characters become one, all the mess untangled themself slowly but sure. Some expectations, some tragedy, happy moments. Instead of twisting the story, I believe that this one try to unravel the story for all of us, clear up the fuzzy part for you.
This drama has two characters that are the hardest to make us understand them in healthy manner. They are the types that make us said, "They are just crazy, I don't know how to help them, I 'll just let them, my effort doesn't work." They both get a very different ending, but what I love the most of words from Yu Xuan, "The reason you wanted to disappear from this world is not because you're too disappointed in the world, but because you had too many expectation of this world." I believe this one sentence is core of all of this story.
It's a beautiful story, it start with a tangled messy tape. It ends with a fixed one, ready to record a hopeful sweet story.
*Play Last Dance, plug your headphone, then close your eyes ????
Was this review helpful to you?
An intriguing and complicated story of time travel
The characters crisscrossed time into the future and back to the past so many times that I lost track. However, it is an interesting drama. I followed it through continuously and completed watching it across three days while recovering from a flu.Two lovers from different time periods were star crossed and their shared memories were eventually erased. The drama cleverly kept its audience guessing the identity of two individuals- the missing boyfriend and the real killer, and wondering whether the killer could be stopped on time to save the lead lady.
The main actress Ko Chia Yen was excellent. She acted two completely different characters very convincingly - a timid depressed young teenager with an inferior complex and a confident university student who grew up very assertive.
The actors and actresses were good looking. The main cast acted their parts well. Some of the insignificant minor characters were not so convincing; however their less than a minute duration parts did not impact the overall drama. The backdrops were appropriate for the scenes.
The pace of the story was quite slow, so you have got to be patient. I nearly wanted to skip to the last episode.
As for the music, it's just that one piece 'Last Dance' and that's about all.
The main negative is the ending did not flow well. Suddenly, the main couple was on a bike appearing from nowhere - how they met again was not explained - if it was from the time when the female lead was a child, it would be very tacky.
If I were the writer, I would let them meet in the future with a role reversal - with Li Zi Wei returning from Canada, walking into a cafe and ordering his coffee. The waitress whose back was toward him, answered in affirmative, prepared his coffee and turned to hand him his coffee. Their eyes met, they found each other very familar, stared and asked each other simultaneously 'Have we met before?'
Overall I would highly recommend this drama.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
A really good Taiwan drama that gets you really confused, frustrated at what is going on and at the same time, keeping you wanting for more. The drama was very well paced and even towards the last episode, it did not feel like a rushed ending at all. Kudos to the writer and director who really thought through the whole process very thoroughly. Even from the first few episode, they actually already showed us the ending. Rather than most drama where they film from start to end, this drama can be seen where they filmed the ending and slowly move towards how it all started. A really interesting way and the ending kinda reminded me of how when we were in primary school, and our Chinese teacher always reminded us of how not to end our composition with, "It was all a dream." The ending of the drama felt like that to me!
STORY - An interesting concept and portrayal of 2 completely different personality and how they co-exist and how even though they look the same, the personality can be completely different. Thus attracting, different people. The way they portray Yuxuan/Yunru "trapped" in the house is also an interesting concept. The time travelling was however a little complicated as they transition from 1998 to 2003, 2010 without indicating the year. It kind of did not make sense at first, the time travelling. But I guess they did a good job with wrapping up the show and closing all our doubts.
ACTING - Excellent job to the 2 main leads who have to act 2 different character at once. However, they portrayed it really well and the chemistry between all the cast really was amazing.
SONG - I thought I will be really irritated with the Last Dance since it has been playing the same part constantly. To my surprise, I was super hooked onto that song and Xiang Jian Ni. It just kept replaying in my head even when I am not watching the drama! Now, its on my playlist!
Overall, a really good watch and worth the time! It makes you think about every little detail and when you look back at the show after you finish, you will realise that throughout the series, they actually dropped little hints here and there. Definitely going to rewatch it again someday or one day.
P.S. Don't forget to watch the additional scene on youtube! Just type, 想见你 彩蛋 ！
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
MASTERPIECE
it took me awhile before i finally on this drama and it's currently 2021. the first time i heard about this show was it's exceptional OST. truth to be told, i had stopped watching tw dramas for many reasons since many years ago. BUT THIS SHOW IS MAKING ME LOOK AT A NEW LIGHT.first the story proves to be different from conventional rich guy poor girl trope in tw dramas which sadly i dont enjoy as much now. so it was a very intriguing story for me. time travel, crime elements, no messy love triangles. COUNT ME IN
Story aside i think i do not have much more to say. The acting from the leads were awesome. Aside from Ko Chia Yen, i had not seen anyof Greg or Patrick's past works? but i would say they are doing awesome portraying their characters. needless to say for Chiayen's acting when she's so versatile in the duality she has to portray - depressed suicidal high school student and a successful modern lady mourning over her lost boyfriend.
i think more could have been explained:
- what happened to original wang quansheng then?
- so what happened to the murderer ? i was confused why YR was still hospitalized or in an accident after the timeslip stopped?
nevertheless, i felt the ending couldn't have been better. YR back up on her feet, no more suicide thoughts and with JJ by her side. it's an open ending for this couple. ZW and YX will be fated to meet, regardless of the time and age and the ending + special ending proved to be true. I just felt more sad for JJ having to dearly miss someone whom he doenst remember. But because he doesn't rmb, maybe it's not so painful after all?
Nevertheless, i am impressed with everything about this film. There are news for remakes in Korea or China and I am actually excited to see how the remakes will turn out. Til then :)
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Jan 2024 Recommendation Challenge
Watch this for Recommendation Challenge month of Jan 2024. Long time heard this one but finally watch this. Must say have mix feeling about this in the end.What I like first:
+ Ko Chia Yen played 2 character beautifully. We can feel the diff between 2 of her character. The depress Chen Yun Ru (YR) & the cheerful Huang Yu Xuan (YX). Even as simple as the way she walk is diff with 2 character.
+ The beautiful song. But yeah.. Like Kate wrote I think I also heard enough of this song. At least for a while for me. Haha...
+ The beautiful representation of our beautiful mind... Haha... This kinda like Miss Gu Who Is Silent concept but more complicated
+ I kinda like how the make the concept of room in our brain
What I don't like:
- They start to lose me when they introduce the part of Li Zi Wei (ZW) | Wang Quan Sheng (QS). Especially when he returned back to ZW. Gonna be better if we have time stamp. Really confused how & why must be like that & sometimes confuse what time we currently watching that time.
- How can ZW easily understand the time jump concept. Especially when he met himself at the airport. He never really go deep with the time jump concept, but he easily accepted when he see himself & not shock or confused a little bit
- At the end I kinda confuse which one is the real characteristic of YR. The sad & depress one or the cheerful one...
- And after read Kate's review I also just realize how the writer never really bothered to make the story of other characters outside YR. Like the relationship between ZW & their parents. It's like the character only exist to support YR.
- And yeah like Kate's wrote too. I also think in the end this kinda take the depression & mental issue too lightly. Depression it's not something easy to change/heal with the change of mind
Overall this a good drama with interesting concept how beautiful our mind is.... If u looking for romance, just stay away from this drama.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
"How do I get better when I've had the best?"
I honestly started watching this drama blind-sidedly. I did not know what the drama was about nor who were the actors. I was just intrigued by the title of this one.And honestly, I was literally crying from EP1. Not because the story was too sad to watch but it was more of because I was able to relate to the story. As someone who lost her SO in real life, this drama was able to put into words a lot of emotions I was not able to. I felt for the FL when it seemed like everyone else around her was able to move on with their own lives, and here she was still living in the past while trying to thrive for herself for her future.
People might think that the FL was a little bit obsessed and/or delusional but honestly, up until you've been thru the same thing, you cannot really tell. Like how the heck do you move on from something that did not even end? The sole thought of knowing that if he was still alive you know that you will be together still and you know that it is really hard to look for something even remotely close to what you had before
Sorry back to the drama... honestly the first half of this drama i really liked. The 2nd half was a bit meh for me. Especially the part where they killed the ML for the 2nd time again and made the FL lead go through that hell again just after a few days of reconnecting. And the way it was phased, I felt like it did not even give the death of the ML justice. It was like he was killed one second, the FL cried, then next scene was the FL was already out and about investigating. No grief no anything.
Lastly, I hope they were more clear about the ending. Like I would really want to know what happened to everyone? If everything was really brought to them by fate, would they still fall in love with each other but in a different way? IDK... these are the questions left in my mind after watching this drama. But overall it was cute, i really really like the OST of the drama <3 Love all the feels it gives me <3
Great premise!!! Ending was okay. but great actors also!!!
I sincerely hope that this kind of time travelling really exists <3
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
So an acquaintance kept asking me to watch this since I watched '18 Again' and I decided to give it a try. I have to say I really liked the story, it is quite different with other 'time travel' dramas and do not overly focus on the romance part despite the main female lead is a miserable woman who can't move on from her dead boyfriend. Viewers can become detectives together with Huang Yuxuan to solve the mystery and experience her growth along the journey. I appreciate the 1998 story also featured some aspect on teenagers issue, including some which are considered taboo. However, I docked some points from the story aspect since the pace is unbearably slow, especially nearing the end despite the ending is very nice and realistic (oh and also why Li Ziwei's hair is so 2019 when he was in 1998 lol).The casts are marvelous in my opinion, Ke Jiayan and Xu Guanghan obviously took most credit since both of them successfully delivered various characters. Patrick Shih also had a good chemistry with both, and I felt the balance in term of acting between this three main characters. In term of music, I loved the opening and closing songs but not the magic Wu Bai's song.
In conclusion if you love time travel/fantasy drama but also wanted a good storyline, this is for you. No excessive romance, no random subplots, and quite straightforward. Enjoy the story, think together with the characters, and then became touched with the story.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
episodic reactions documented
1st episode n its regret porn, like wow shawty thats a lot,in the second epidoe we witness constant sexual harassment against a poor schoolgirl。
3rd episode and wow this is getting BEEFY and FAST. two timelines interwoven together and so many possibilities so many mysteries between them!!! this has definitely peaked my curiosity now. seriously some next level inception shit.
4th and this is not disappointing, the murder mystery is really catching on。
5th is eh. its fine.
episode 6, hmmm the random deranged stalker thing is kind of lame but the mama didi thing was cute
7.... WOW JESUS WHAT HUANDGASGHDH AHWHAHHATTTTTT JASJJA HUHHHH H HAJSDKM JUST/..... HOLY FUCKKKK NOOOOOOO HAHAHAHH WHATTTTT NO FUICKING WAY.
8 - i personally like the version of them that are incels,, imagine youre you and the next day a disgusting raging neurotypical takes over your body. its really weird that the incel version of the dude kisses the guy he likes without his consent and that we're supposed to sympathize with him getting punched in the face after thhough... like u deserved it? sotrry you k*lld yoursekf thiough thats ass but also really generic.... anyway this plot is getting so thick,, there has to be some kind of infinite money glitch happening here somewhere.
9 - uhhhhhh uhhhh hnnnggg uhuhhhh.
10 - uhhhhh um uhhh.
11 - hmm i didnt really feel anything when i found out he died... again. the acting is really demanding throughout the sshow and im getting increasingly numb to all the deaths happening, and its getting pretty frustrating lol.
12. oh.
13. uhhhhhh lolol femcel moment, by the end i felt i had witnessed something incredible, but the end where he meets the kid version of her and then she grows up and theyre together again kind of confused me............... like what r u saying mate.. anyway yeah this was outstanding even though at times it felt very overbearing
extra scene: its just a scene that confirms what was suggested in the ending of the original series - kind of pedo-y but at this point who am i kidding lmfao it makes more sense than a time loop where trauma and killings have to go on over and over again to be maintained lol - it was like a toxic relationship we're sad to see go but know deep down that it was never good for us
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
regretted watching this so late
this is like the best taiwanese dramas i've watched so far (although i haven't tried that many). I was addicted to the OST and finally had the chance to try this drama a few days ago. I finished this series in 3 days. The complications got me thrilled and the romance between huang yuxuan and li ziwei got me screaming! it was kinda sad to see mo junjie disappointed in the middle, but he finally got to be with chen ruyun. they deserved each other! plus li ziwei and huang yuxuan find their way to each other even without the tapes. I guess the wait to meet each other again is worth it. I will definitely rewatch this someday or one day :)Was this review helpful to you?
You may get confused at the beginning of the drama : two stories are crossed and don't follow any chronological time. The two stories main characters are also played on purpose by the same actors. You do need clues in order to follow the plot. As soon as you think you understand the 2 stories connections, next episode events may change it all and you really have to put all the different pieces you've been given at the right place to get the puzzle completed ! You willl finally really understand this extraordinary love story only on last episode.
Mistery and suspense give a big value to this drama and the storyline is rather very well handled. The director does a real great job making us hanging to the plot and getting involved with the characters and thrilling events. Traveling through time has to do with both an evil music tape player and Wu Bai's song "Last dance".
To me, the story key point is Chen Yun Ru, a 17 years old student whose life is not what she is expecting to be. She is lonely and depressed because nobody seems to care about her, nor even her family. She thinks that her existence is unnoticed. She has no friends and hates the whole world but hide her real feelings. Only Wu Bai's song Last dance makes her feel less uneasy in her life and can comfort her. She doesn't take any chance in getting to know her classroom mates and wears earphones whenever she can. Actually, a senior student, Mo Jun Jie, has noticed her and is interested in her. Mo Jun Jie is shy and his friend Li Zi Wei helps him to meet the girl. Those 3 become friends. One day, Chen Yun Ru wakes up in hospital because of a car accident. From that moment, things will definitely change for her and her two friends. She pretends now to her friends to be Huang Yu Xuan a 27 years old, mature, self-confident and communicative girl. The important point is that Huang Yu Xuan does exist and lives in 2019 while Chen Yun Ru lives in 1998. Here begins traveling through times loops that will eventually end when things turn back to what they were originally supposed to be.
If you don't like watching love stories this drama is not for you. If you like mystery, solving enigma through space and time you may find this drama quite thrilling and addictive. Actors are cute and good performers, a very good drama indeed.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Mixed feelings
I decided to give a chance to this drama at 2 AM because of a well-written comment on tik tok and thank god I did that.The story was so interesting, unique, captivating and above all passionate. To be honest, if the cause was because I was tired or because of the fantastic work of the actors as well as the emotional plot line I don´t know but I do know that by the time I finished the first episode I was shedding tears as I did in other more eps.
Although, this emotional side of the drama can yes make you fall in love with their love story but can also make you feel frustrated because things aren´t going the way you want or sad because you feel like the characters deserve so much more or even confused since the time-lines sometimes are a little blurry and you can´t really tell what´s happening.
I can say that aside from the good things and the bad things that are part of a good drama, this one had some aspects that I have doubts about the execution that is more based on a personal opinion such as the ending. I have a lot of bad things to say about open endings, I dislike them with a passion because they have been used more especially in good movies which leads to me getting heartbroken, as usual.
I don´t want to imagine what happened I want to see, to testimony their ending, to their deserved happiness after so much trouble and chaos along the episodes. I can accept in some dramas or movies and even admit that it matches but in this one personally it was very well made but it hurt much more and maybe that was the point, could have predicted the drama was doomed to have this ending they never catch a break from tears, STILL one more reason to at least give us and shows us how after all of that both could have a good ending living together and jun jie happy too and all the others.
Moreover, don´t make this a reason to not watch Someday or One Day because it´s really worth your time, you won´t be bored nor regret watching it, because at the end of the day it´s such a beautiful story with a lot of learnings but also action, mystery and of course love.
Was this review helpful to you?
Good confusion!
OVERALLThis drama is probably one of the best mystery dramas, in my opinion. Watch it if 1) you're looking for a well-written plot, with little to no loopholes, 2) you like fantasy/time-travel dramas, 3) you want a emotional and touching love story. Think twice if 1) you don't like getting confused by a drama plot, 2) age gaps between the OTP bother you, 3) you want to see lots of smexy scenes. But then still give it a shot. This drama is really something!
THE STORY
There's mystery like the whodunits, in which you're still kind of in control of what you're seeing. The puzzle is basically over and you're just missing a piece or two to have the full picture. And then there's Some Day or One Day, where you basically only have one or two pieces and you have no clue what the full picture is going to look like. I was lost and confused for most of this drama, and I LOVED every second of it!
The Good: The best thing about Some Day or One Day is obviously the writing. Time travel plots are easy to mess up, but the writing was tight. Every detail went full circle and made complete sense down the line. I also loved the female characters of this drama. Male lead and second male lead were fine, but common. Female lead was a no-nonsense, straightforward kind of girl and I loved her attitude. And second female lead was so real, making every scene about her feel extremely significant, even though we aren't meant to care about her until quite late in the series. Oh, and the interactions between all characters, and especially the OTP, are absolutely awesome. Male lead is an example that other dramas should follow, instead of constantly repeating the cold, mean, narcissistic lead. There's a lot to like about Some Day or One Day.
The Bad: There isn't a lot I didn't like about this drama. I wish there'd been more cute, sweet or smexy couple scenes, but I understand why there isn't. I can also mention the fact that one mystery in the series isn't that much of a mystery - it's pretty obvious from the start, or the fact that the ending of second female lead is unrealistic and not very coherent - I didn't feel super comfortable with what the drama implies about people like her. But overall, these are small weaknesses compared to all the strengths of this drama. NOTE: For the best experience of Some Day or One Day, make sure you watch the supplemental ending sequence they made and uploaded on Youtube, and don't end the drama with the last episode.
THE ACTING
Very good. I'd seen the actress before in at least two dramas and I think she's one of the best in Taiwanese television. Here her skills are more apparent since she plays two different people and you can tell, in her mannerisms, that they're entirely different. Male lead was also very good. There's one scene (opening sequence of episode 8) that particularly shocked me and made me realize he's not so far behind. He's pretty good too. I don't know what to say in terms of chemistry, but the OTP is still pleasant to watch and you totally root for them. It was all good!
THE MUSIC
Perf. This drama is one of those in which the music almost steals the show. So many of the songs ended up in my playlist, it's crazy!
REWATCH VALUE
Because the best part of this drama is the mystery and that feeling of being confused, I don't think it's a drama you can rewatch many times, regularly. But it's definitely a drama you can rewatch after some time, when you've forgotten the details of the drama and you can rediscover them and get surprised again. I did. This is my second time watching!
Was this review helpful to you?
