talking topics such as the fear of letting yourself feel and not letting yourself love and be loved, as well as addressing homophobia (finally!, because i particularly don't remember a korean bl talking openly about this), i believe that the bls industry, not only in korea, but also in the rest of asia, will have to work hard to be able to make something good as what "love for love's sake" was able to provide.
SPOILER (?) AHEAD:
and we had a bisexual main character everybody cheer !!!
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Unique Plot with a Deeper meaning, but Execution could be better.
I applaud the writers of “Love for Love’s Sake” for thinking outside of the box and coming up with quite an interesting plot for a short high school BL drama. This drama is so much more than transmigration into a video game, which we’ve seen quite a lot of those from different countries. As we learn more and more about our male lead, Tae Myung Ha, we get to know more of him as a person, and not just a character in the game. The story goes from a cute rom-com, to a darker melodrama.Towards the middle of the drama, you can slowly see hints dropped about his relationship with Cha Yeo Woon, and a deeper meaning to their encounter and experiences. However, despite having a unique plot, I feel that the execution is not quite up to par. When the drama ended, I am still quite unsure if it’s all a dream? A prank? A real transmigration? The work of god? The work of death? What and why did it all happen? In this case, I wish the drama would be longer so that it can explore the backstory of the characters more, especially for Tae Myung Ha.
The acting of the cast is average at best. I would say Lee Tae Vin (who played ML Tae Myung Ha) delivered the best performance of the bunch. And Cha Joon Wan (who played 2ML Cha Yeo Woon) delivered the weakest performance. The rest of the cast is just OK.
Although you can tell this is a small budget production (wearing the same clothes, the same few sets, limited OST), I have to say the drama does not look cheap.
Overall, I had a decent time watching “Love for Love’s Sake”. I commend this drama (or the webtoon it’s adapted from) for an interesting plot, but just wish the execution, storytelling and acting could be better.
Completed: 2/20/2024 - Review #405
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Cathartic, yet equally as frustrating
I'm a bit of an inexperienced BL watcher. I do watch BL, most of the drama I consume is BL content, but I am definitely more unfamiliar with it than a lot of other people are as I am not always the type to watch dramas. That being said, I was compelled by this one. I have followed Woongki for a couple years and this left me with a lot of intrigue. Now that I've watched it, I have a LOT to say about this show.I'll start with the positives of this show - this show has some of the strongest chemistry and acting I've seen in a while. Every character is cast brilliantly and their portrayals of their respective characters allow me to understand each character to an amazing extent, an understanding that allowed me to feel a really close connection towards them. Lee Taevin's performance as Myungha is one of my favourite portrayals of a character in all the BLs I have watched and you can tell that he cared about this show and character, as in each and every scene you could easily make out his emotions, his intentions, his everything. Cha Joowan does an amazing job as Yeowoon as well and he is probably my favourite character to watch because I relate to him a lot, and he is a very enjoyable character. Heck, every main character in this show is great, but it is clear that the main couple really steals the show.
For me, this show is so, so close to getting it perfect. The core storyline of this show is not one I thought I would enjoy, but it navigates it brilliantly to the point I found myself engaged. I picked this up after the release of episode 1/2 and was drawn in immediately, then was further drawn in by episode 3/4. What this drama has as a shortcoming, however, is the plotholes it creates in its progression of the story after we see Yeowoon finally warm up to Myungha after episode 4.
Episode 5 is the beginning of the shit this show brings in to spice things up and give a bit of shock value, which I heavily disliked. This episode feels so, so rushed. The added storylines could've easily been added at an earlier date to give Yeowoon's character more depth as up until now he was a mystery. On top of this, the confession scene is unnatural - which ties into my first point. Why on earth would someone's first thought be to confess their love after going through something traumatic like that? I understand the release of emotion, the want to get rid of stress in your mind, but I feel like if they wanted to deliver that, they needed to sell into Yeowoon and his emotions as a character. Make him break down, make his emotions clear. In this scene he is stagnant and it happens out of nowhere. I feel the same way about the kiss scene, which feels forced and out of place. It did not need to happen here and feels added in purely to make the fans happy, which is honestly a horrible position to place it in especially given how PERFECT it would be if they held off on kisses until the final episode.
Episode 6 introduces the social media star storyline which is easily my least favourite aspect of the show, because not only does it not really make any sense in context of the show (obviously the end point does, but even so I have my gripes with that), it feels forced. There is really no need for this episode at all, you could skip all the way up until the ending section and you're really not missing out on anything major. You might be confused for a second or two when they mention stuff about stalkers in future episodes, but there is really NO need for this story at all. In fact, it frustrates me why it was even included because it is such an uncomfortable watch. I was genuinely really on edge watching it and not in a way of anticipation, I was just constantly waiting for it to end. Which, for a show that had been mostly flawless up until the last two episodes, is NOT a good look. That being said, I understand the inclusion of these as storylines. In the drama they are portrayed as side quests, and it makes sense for them to be added, but they are just... uncomfortable watches.
Episode 8 is, however, probably my favourite episode of a BL in ages. The cinematography in this was AMAZING and I would love to see a BL shot in a similar way to Myungha's past life scenes for its entirety. Those scenes reminded me a lot of 'Saltburn' which was a movie I could just NOT stop looking at. They were shot absolutely beautifully and I could not keep my eyes off of the screen, I was peeled. Additionally, the story of it was brilliant. I loved how it was executed, and I think it was the perfect way to end this series. I am not a crier but I did shed a tear seeing them run down the beach together, and it was such a cathartic moment.
As frustrating as this series can be to watch, I am so happy to see that so many people are enjoying it. Do not take my review as the bible, as I think I do need to rewatch this to fully appreciate what it has to offer. However, do definitely give this one the time of day. This is an extremely enjoyable watch and definitely going to be a BL favourite for many, and for good reason. Just maybe not fully for me, but that's my personal gripes as I prefer a story that flows coherently.
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An Amazing series
First of all let me say life will not always be happy but it is the happy moments in it that should be reflected on when we are sad; it is the series, books or movies that make us happy that we should engage with because everyone deserves happiness. If you are struggling please talk to someone. With that said:Love for Love's Sake 9/10
Wow, what a watching experience. It has been a while since I just laid down and binged a series without interruption. I managed to navigate the game theme without much confusion. I love that when the game started to glitch and the server started to malfunction we the audience got to experience it. At first it seemed as if I was being thrown random fragmented scenes but then I realized I was experiencing the glitch with the characters; it was like being put into the series itself. For lack of a better term, it was the opposite of "dramatic irony"; with dramatic irony the audience is aware of truths that the characters are not but in this case both the audience and the characters were thrown for a loop and conscious of the what was happening. I appreciated how each scene fragment I was thrust into gave a different emotional impact, for example when all of a sudden it was grandma sick in the hospital and Cha Yeon Woon was dead on the floor, this sudden scene was emotionally jarring and thought provoking which kept me on the edge of my seat. The glitch provided a constant switch between happiness and sadness which I believe to be symbolic of the central message which is life won't always be happy there will be sad moments, sometimes when we least expect it, just as how we could not predict whether the next scene the glitch gave us would be sad or not. Whitney Houston once said, "The Greatest love of all is learning to love yourself", and I believe this series is testament to that. Tae Myung Ha knew how to love and care for others but he did not know to accept love and let others care for him because the one person who is supposed to love you unconditionally abandoned him, his mother. Due to this sense of rejection every struggle he and his grandma went through, every breakup, and every sad moment in his life felt like a rejection until it seemed to him that life itself was rejecting him; and to him if life did not want you and even took away the one person who kept him, his grandma, then why live, so he walked out into that sea thinking that maybe somewhere beyond this life there is a place where it does not hurt so much. However the power of love made him want to stay; because every sad moment and rejection could not amount to the feelings of happiness Cha Yeon Woon brought to him; it gave him a reason to live, and he made friends that supported him; so maybe he won't always be happy but now there were people to cheer him up and turn that frown upside down.
Now the romance and affection captured me in every way. I love that we got to see them be a couple, they held hands like breathing and the kisses were not lewd or sexually just purely loving and affectionate and that made them special to me.
I truly enjoyed this series and I am glad I spent the time today and finished it; its not everyday I get to watch a series I think is over a 8 star rating so thank you to the producers, writers, directors and actors who made this beautifully deep series. The acting was amazing, every tear shed by the actors held true emotion and grief which made the scenes palpable. The cinematography was excellent every scene looked clean and aesthetically pleasing which only added to the feeling being poured out on screen because setting gives words and actions a place to live to truly evoke emotions from the audience.
I did not get my "special 10 scene", but this series is an amazing one.
Well done Love For Love's Sake
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Great plot, too little time.
I jumped into this show completely blind, and boy did they take a completely different route compared to your usual K-BL Drama! In terms of the core storyline, I wasn't quite sure I would enjoy it. But to my surrpise it sailed through it brilliantly and had me hooked from the start. From the the game inspired notifications and glitches that occured throughout the series, to the more realistic scenarios. It was very cool & fresh to see them try something new!! I also found the production and cinematography to be quite good overall. It was the plot holes that would later appear that I was most diappointed with.They may have gotten a little ahead of themselves with the plot.. There was so much they wanted to convey, but we're given too little time to properly execute most of it. Which led to a lot of unfinished storylines. Even though they had a longer run-time than most other KBLs, it seemed to me like they tried to cram a lot of stuff into a small timeframe.
On the positive side, Taevin's acting was really good! His acting really made the show worthwhile. His desire to try and make Yeowoon live a happy life and learn to love himself more was really sweet. But what about the side characters?? I feel like they became more & more forgotten as the story progressed. Kyunghoon for example, wasn't his whole purpose to become closer with them and form a bond? We got to know very little about his character. (Except the fact that he's in a long distance relationship with someone, somewhere...) As for Sangwon, his story was barely touched on as well. Initially, I assumed he would be a love rival! But he was also just shoved to the sidelines. They just existed, I guess.
I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy watching the show though! There were many aspects and things I liked, it just felt a little rushed towards the end and it's sad they couldn't reach their full potential. If it was a bit longer with more room for development in the side characters, I might have given a higher score. But it is still a show I would recommend others to watch ^^
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Game of life....
Apparently, I completely misunderstood this drama. To my defence, I never read the webtoon so I judged it upon watching. I don't know if the plot is clearer there but I was quite confused with the ending.First of all, I loved it: it was beautifully filmed and skilfully acted. The director loves original angles, ceilings and shadow contrast shots: excellent camera work! Actors are just as amazing: rarely have I seen such emotional, true acting in one of these web series. Music was nice and not intrusive, so we could really enjoy the plot and try to figure out what is what! LOL
Secondly, the plot was original, a device seldom used in k drama: transmigration. I said seldom, not never, and not as much as in c dramas. A 29 yr old sad and depressed man criticizes his friend's novel which is about to be turned into a game. After drinking too much, he wakes up inside the game as a 19yr old high school student, but with the life experiences of a 29yr old, and if he wants to live, he has to complete different tasks. When he leaves the game he is deleted from it but a couple of characters still vaguely remember him; How? Why? Then he kills himself (apparently he never learned anything!) and he is sent back into the game.
The biggest part of the series takes part inside the game. That's the problem I had with it: is the game real or is it an allegory for afterlife (since at one point, the ML comes out of the game and promptly kills himself! Or does he?) or is it that his friend based a character in the game on him....I don't know!
I was expecting a different ending. Something along these lines: ML learning to know himself through the game and finally realize that his novelist friend was in love with him (the vibe was of stratospheric proportion in the first episode, the chemistry hot and therefore I suffered from second lead syndrome!LOL That never turns out well in K dramas!).
Finally, in spite of the lack of straight explanation, as I see it, and after being told off, I am just going to take it literally, in the sequence and do not think about it logically! I was told that the game is the afterlife and that the ML was dead from the beginning. That's not what I saw. I'd like to say it is open to interpretation but...forget it!
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Not what I expected at all. Its an understatement to say that I was just surprised
I have never written before any review for any drama or movie. Its my first time doing so, and I couldn't resist, because of how pleasantly surprised I was of this mini series.In my opinion it can' be compared to any other k bl I have seen, because its not just a bl, it had horror, comedy and many life messages. While watching I couldn't really guess what would happen or take my eyes from the screen.
I was really lucky to watch this after it was finished so I didn't have to wait for the next episodes and unlucky at the same time because I discovered it one day before the deadline of an assignment. But I dont regret it. This series made me feel so many things I can't describe. It made me tear up from laughing and then it made me literally cry from emotions.
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I loved the main leads, whose portrayal of love was nothing short of mesmerizing. Their on-screen chemistry was electric, drawing me into their journey and making every moment feel authentic and heartfelt
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Romance, Fluff and thrill done right! ✨
After rejecting a lot of BLs I was torn between whether to watch another teenage lovestory or just pass, cause I was not mentally ready for another "brainless fluff". But people kept recommending me this. So one fine day, which was yesterday, I saw a ray of leisure time for myself and I decided to check this out FINALLY!As I was quite hesitant to watch I kinda felt lost at first. Everything was happening and I kept feeling clueless like Yeo-woon. Gradually the story hold its grip tight and pulled me in like a suction cup. Without knowing I was emerged in the story and emotionally attached to the characters.
Myung Ha is that drive of force which lets you accomplish any impossible action. And Yeo Woon is the result of that action. The conditions/situations between these two are same but one is simply clueless and other is brainstorming his life away for the sake of happiness.
"What's crucial to a happy life?"
The gaming interface creates a thrilling aura all over the storyline and is kept till the end of story which was really suspenseful! With the help of Romance, suspense, trauma and fluff this story created its own standard. If I say it was flawless then I would be lying. Last 3-4 episodes were quite different from my expectations and the plot suddenly escalated quickly towards the thrill part. But it turned out pretty good I must admit. Overall I would definitely recommend.
My rating: 8.5/10 ☘️
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Absolutely loved it but only in parts
I nearly missed out on this BL - I had watched the first couple of minutes and didn't like the vibe so switched off. Only after hearing it was one of the top BL's of 2024 I gave it another go and luckily the rest of it wasnt anything like the rest of it.Certainly for the first 4 or 5 episodes I would give it 10/10 for being a school based BL with a difference with touching moments and fantastic humour that is just well written without being silly and some great one liners.
However as the secoond half went on the writers were trying to be too clever with the story making it messy and at times difficult to follow,
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Watch it for my sake
Absolutely love this drama! Yes there were times where I was like “what is actually happening” lol but it’s was not in vain! The acting is great, the story was good and the camera work was beautiful. I laughed, I cried and overall was left with fulfillment. There’s really nothing better than a good story line, good acting, some great kisses*insert smirking emoji* and a happy ending! One of my favorite BLs and will surely be even years to come!Was this review helpful to you?
want to watch them in a different story too
story writer is really something,I mean for Lee Tae Vin didn't reacted that much to his boyfriend's cuteness.It was seriously needed for making the drama main couple more cuter.Still the couple is seriously very cute ??.******Want to watch them in any different story********
Time difference+Virtual reality type Argument Reality what an system. Thanks to Dramanice watched the full without much interruption.The last part 10~20 min is just amazing.The sea side fun with friends.
***Hope they release another BL of them***
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