Shall We Kiss First or Should We Kiss First is a 2018 Korean drama that was directed by Son Jung Hyun and written by Bae Yoon Mi. Top actress Kim Sun A(My Lovely Samsoon) stars along side actor Kam Woo Sung(Alone in Love, R-point, The Outlaw) play characters who met on a blind date without knows that they have deep connections from the past. Both have lost all faith in love as a result. The drama also stars a number of costars including Oh Ji Ho, Park Si Yeon, Kim Sung Su, and Ye Ji Won. Their performances granted them awards at the SBS Awards in 2018.
This drama centers around mostly middle aged characters which isn't common at all when talking about Korean drama. I wanted to watch is drama do to this fact alone. The first couple of episodes have a lighter fair in the atmosphere considering the foreshadowing was sort of bleak. Shall We Kiss First continues to have mood swings every other episode. Even the opening instrumental would make one think that the drama is a comedic sitcom about middle aged women who sit around sipping coffee all day. One episode the content tries to make you laugh, while in another episode the events are sad enough to make you question why life isn't always fair. Storylines create a great method to allow the characters to grow with the viewers. The writer does this by taking the viewer back to the past at the end of each episode, using dialogue that relates to the couple. I loved every time this was done during the series because each memory holds sentimental value to the characters as well as the viewer. A lot of dark stuff transpires in the middle to the conclusion of Shall We Kiss First as outside forces try to pull the couple apart. Can I just say that characters being diagnosed with incurable diseases needs to be left in 2018. It's an overused concept that lost emotional depth after being used for over decades. Thankfully, this drama is the kind that doesn't require you to see every little detail to understand where the story is trying to go. The background scenes for the main couple are the most important. After that you have a ton of scenes that involve over the top acting but I'll get to that next....
There's a younger couple in this drama that has no chemistry as all. Their storyline doesn't develop so the writer forces sentimental emotions on the female character because she's related to the main couple but the end result feels so empty. It was like their relationship was a situationship to fill up scenes. Ki Do Hoon does an alright performances as a deaf guy. If only his character had been written in more detail so he could have out acted some of the overacting by the actress. I like Kim Sung Su as an actor, however, he never received the love from South Korea that I believe he deserved. His character in this drama comes off as very aloof till it comes to his wife and friend. I got to see ex husband and his side chick that he married doing too much. Lee Mi Ra's portrayal as the hyperactive friend was too much comedic relief that viewers never knew they needed... We didn't actually. My amusement couldn't tire out cause I had none to give watching that mess. Kim Su A paired together with Kam Sung Woo was like the heaven verse hell part of everyone's performances. Both characters as so layered in many problems that there's a lot to unpack when you watch their interactions. Questions such as why he is like that? Why is she like that? These questions kept me watching their acting. You see them come to a breaking point many times but they always find their way back to each other. Such a sense of maturity is what I like to see in Korean drama land where some leading couples act like they never graduated high school.....
Shall We Kiss First isn't a drama I would watch again alone. I would show it to someone else though. While I was satisfied, this drama was more "good performance by the leads" than an overall good production in my opinion. Mature Kdrama is hard to come by so check this out if you want something different.
No comments:
Post a Comment