Melodia de Esperança (2020)

Light and Fun but Suddenly WTF

My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.

If I were to rate the 1st half of this drama and the 2nd half separately, the ratings would be very different. Let's just go through the categories and I'll explain:

Acting/Cast: Easily the best thing about this drama. In the beginning, I was iffy about some of the characters. However, well before the end of the drama, I liked every character and enjoyed all of their roles. 1st half - 6/10 ; 2nd half - 10/10

Writing: This category can be broken into 2 parts - character writing/dialogue and story writing. Throughout the drama, the character writing was well done. Everyone had very distinct personalities that felt real. I easily became attached to multiple characters. That being said, I felt the male lead was the weakest in this department, especially in the 2nd half. His character felt like he had the least development. I knew the other characters so well, but the male lead remained fairly mysterious. Although, I also realize this was intentional, but I still didn't like it. Now for story writing...great in the 1st half. I loved the light and fun vibe of the 1st half. It was very charming. My only gripe was the writer's overuse of red herrings to the point of slight annoyance. I also thought the cliché stalker plot point didn't fit in well with the feel of the drama. It was also quickly glazed over like it never even happened, which made it feel even more out-of-place. In the 2nd half, the overuse of red herrings became obnoxiously ridiculous and those cliché out-of-place plot points were, unfortunately, here to stay. How can I put this simply? The story became confusing, unrealistic, and I haven't been so pissed of about an ending since Black. The ending ruined the entire drama for me, just like what happened with Black (which, oddly enough, stars the same female lead). It's as though the writers didn't know how to end the drama and they were fighting with each other and changing their minds every episode. But, what makes it worse, the writers were foreshadowing the ending from much earlier in the drama. It makes me believe that this mess was completely intentional and I'm shocked. And what's even worse, I feel betrayed, emotionally manipulated, violated even -- similar to how the characters in the drama SHOULD have felt about the whole situation. 1st half - 9/10 ; 2nd half - 1/10

Direction/SFX/Music: Almost no complaints here. However, I am reminded of that one scene...the piano on the beach. I was so confused. Very out-of-place scene. Was it a dream, was it a fantasy? I hope so. Regarding the music/OST part, the OST is nothing special; not my cup of tea; it neither caught my attention nor annoyed me. However, the piano music was great. 8/10

Entertainment Value: I got through this drama fairly quick because it was fun and had likeable characters. In the 2nd half when crazy random things were happening, I'm not going to lie, I was entertained and the cliff hangers got me through the drama even faster in the 2nd half. I was extremely curious about how the writers were going to play out this ending. I was hoping the male lead's mom would get some kind of redemption arc. I was hoping everything would come together and make sense. It seemed like it was heading that was until suddenly -- the writers forgot how to write and my hopes were shattered. 1st half - 4/10 ; 2nd half - 6/10

Overall, this drama would get an unweighted score of 6.5/10, technically speaking. But since the ending was drama-ruining, my weighted score would be 3.5/10.

Leia Mais

Flawed characters, flawed families

It would have been nice if this was written as a straightforward love story with the occasional car accident but the characters dropped in from the beginning with traumatic childhoods, abusive parents and power crazy family businesses. Plus deaths, debt and unsuitable spouses. This does seem to be a trend in South Korean drama.
Jun descended like a tortured soul and just oozed past mistreatment. Both the main leads, Go Ara and Lee Jae-wook were exemplary in their roles and their roles were definitely written as two very flawed characters who mad bad decisions a lot of the time and were almost impossible to help. Jun's inability to open up about his past, his family and his illness were clear to see and his and Ra-Ra's relationship was filled with understandable potholes. How many people do we know where one suddenly says goodbye for no reason and disappears?
I know many families where cancer is hidden and treatment undertaken secretly. If people acted rationally, all people would get their cancer treated on time. If Jun was to get cancer we would all have wanted him to tell Ra-ra and for her to stay by his bedside until he was cured but real life is very far from cosy dramas.
The rest of the cast nobly kept humour going through all the difficult storylines. I've scored this quite high because I was upset by the last episode but I thought the screen writer was trying not to mollycoddle us. Odd ending though!

Leia Mais

The ending that keeps on failing

An impossibly bad ending to a very good show . I started bracing myself ahead of time, but there’s no bracing for how bad they ruined it. Had any of the writers ever experienced loss or illness? It’s just hard to fathom how unrealistic this was on so very many levels. you guys really did the cast wrong. The more I think about it, the more upsetting it is to how many ways they made this unrealistic. spoliers below.

I get that because of his age, he might make some bad decisions, But acting like he is so Independent that the adults would do those things was absurd.

And why are you forcing me to give a rewatch value of one or higher?

Leia Mais

It was going nice UNTIL that sudden breakup!!!

This is an awfully long review but ffs someone read this cause it's my first review on MDL!
The story started out sad but went to being wholesome and cute quickly all the other episodes were going cheerful, but then the sudden break up was somewhat confusing and the last ep sucked out my soul! I'd have given it atleast 9 stars if they'd have changed the ending.

The character growth was absolutely satisfying to watch even though the plot felt very cliché it strangely wasn't boring at all, instead it was rather refreshing and the ambience of this drama was uniquely warm and comfy.

There was a lot of comedic relief when necessary and the plot twists!! OML I basically figure out most of them since I've watched more than enough of kdramas but I have to say some of them were really well planned but some were vain (bruh the last twist was just meh) However, the writing was kind of inconsistent, there were some blindingly bright and bubbly episodes and some of them made me depressed af it felt as if the writer was replaced or they were going through something very depressing. Some parts were utterly unexpected and I just wanted to go punch the writer for those ominous threats they gave in the episode previews.

The female lead here, tbh I had a bad impression of her I thought she was gonna be really needy and clingy crybaby but I was amazed, although she def was needy and annoying, she was a happy virus and made me laugh she was surprisingly strong and kind of childish in a good way? (skskss she was adorkable along with that lil fluffball Mimi)

The ML was mature af, a complete opposition of FL's character but he too had his missing spots which FL filled in with her lively demeanour.

Overall this drama felt more a melo than a romcom but I loved every second of this except some of the parts felt unnecessary, even tho the ending felt meh but you'll definitely need to invest some of your feelings here cause there are some beautiful moments when you need to bawl yo heart out (cause my overly emo ass did it too!) Go ahead, have fun watching this!

Leia Mais

Amazingly impressive

Impressive
This is my first time writing a review , I was not expecting to write one ever till I watched this drama .
-Plot: Interesting and very engaging . I have never watched anything alike .
-Acting: This is my first drama of every actor included in the casting . So my praises here go to the producer for doing a great job at choosing the right actors for the right characters . Every actor does his/her job brilliantly.
-OST: Each song goes well with the appropriate scene . Right choices(along with the acting) to add to the value ,the depth and direction of the scene .

Overall , exciting watch , I can't wait to see how the remaining of the story unfolds .
I recommend all of you to watch it .

Leia Mais

unexpected ending :")

DODOSOLSOLLALASOL the first drama I will review here ^0^//

before, I like this drama !!!
If you like dramas with smooth plots you can watch this drama because this drama is very light and also comedy and romantic genre. Everything looks fresh and sweet I really like the actors because they are all so cheerful and accompanied by piano backsounds that fit the atmosphere so well.

HMM ……. Even though GoAra's age difference is 8 years older than Kim Jae Wook but they have strong chemistry, both inside the drama and outside OMO ~~~ love it they are all so close

I think many people don't like this drama because of the boring theme / storyline. But the thing that makes me interesting is not the theme / storyline that the drama brings, but they are all very deep in their respective roles.

SPOILER
LAST EPISODE 2 IS REALLY SAVAGE: "" "This is very manipulating the audience in episode 15 and 16 I saw it really didn't think what the author was doing I thought this would be sad and on the other hand he just wanted to give the best for the audience LOL BUT BESTENDING !! hwaaa HAPPY ENDING: ”))))

Leia Mais

Very fun drama to watch

I highly recommend this drama when you're looking for something fun and intresting (I will comment spoilers below at end of review if anyone wants to see). To me they didn't have scenes that made me frustrated, (uk plots that make u anxious bcs ofwhat the ML/FL were going through. aka the world of the married episode 1). They had dramatic aspects and things that are mysterious to you but its sprinkled in and still had humor to them so you're not focused on it until it is further explained.

i like how they were able to make this light hearted but still intresting and still have some dramatic elements into it. Like some elements i can totally see in other dramas be made cliche and very dramatic, but here they made the plots more original, funny and light hearted. In that sense i feel this can be like a cross over between strong girl bong soon and record of youth, stylistic wise (it might be a strange comparison but i hope you'll understand what i mean after u watched it. The music was also great, any it matched the mood. I also dont know if the actors/actresses act knew how to play but the editing was seemless.

I knew the leads from other shows. I've always loved go ara (idk i always thought she was so cute and she is in this one too). i first saw her in Hwarang. and i liked the ML's acting in Extraordinary you, so i was excited to watch this but i grew less excited over time. The acting is great in my opinion. YES the last two episodes were #confusion and wished the writers did something else but even in those episodes the acting sold the story. (they still managed to act well despite confusing story)

things i wanted to point out
- i love how her name is so similar to the character
- the girl in the first episode that played in the recital is sooo cute n pretty i canttt
- the outfits she gives her dog senddsss meee (so cute n i saw a post where it relates to other actresses in other shows n i cantt)
- i love how everyone does steve jobs (strong girl bong soon, start up and now this)
- Okay but question why is the ML so perfect. and that house arrest escape scene reminds me of heirs.

SPOILERSS:
this is the first time i watched a drama without seeing the reviews after it ended. I really was not expecting that. THE FELT LIKE IT CAME OUT OF LEFT FEILD and i was not ready. still recommend tho. even though the ending is unexpected all the twists other than that made sense and did not seem like it came out of nowhere. (It's a happy ending tho btw). TBH i think the writers couldn't decide what to give us. they wanted uncontrolably fond but couldn't commit. (But i mean if they did uncontrollably fond it would not make sense.) for this reason i gave 9 instead of 10

Leia Mais

Ruined a drama with potential

I really enjoyed the drama at first, very funny and refreshing. I loved all the characters and i was basically binging it in a day. Until they revealed the male lead was actually still in high school (a senior) having a romantic relationship with a 24 year old woman. It added nothing to the plot, it could have been a healthy relationship between two fully grown adults but instead they wanted to ruin it with a “plot twist”. Glorified pedophilia at best. I’m sure more people would have a problem with this if it was a girl in high school dating a 24 year old man. Once she found out he was a high schooler she could’ve cut ties with him and set a boundary but nooo its okay since he’s so “mature for his age”. complete bs lmao

Leia Mais

Someone call the police and arrest the writer!!!!!

This drama was one of the most “what the shit” dramas i have watched in my life. My fan-love for go ara and lee jae wook was the ONLY thing keeping me watching.
The plot was absolute SHIT. It was cute in the first few episodes but as the show progressed, it started to act like me after drinking milk, it produced massive diarrhoea type of shit. 😊😊
WHY WOULD THE WRITER MAKE HIM A MINOR. SIR THE ROMANCE YOU HAVE WRITTEN IN IS NOW ILLEGAL AND DEFINITELY SHOULD NOT BE PROMOTED.
Not only that, the genius writer decided to make the ML reappear suddenly after disappearing for 5 years without any form of explanation or goodbye. Leaving the FL to assume he is dead during the time. 🤣🤣🤣what a bloody comedy🤣🤣🤣🤣
Oml like girlie was this a ploy to try and make them legal?????????? If someone you loved disappears for 5 MF YRS AND REAPPEARS WITHOUT EXPLANATION, YOU SLAP THE MF NOT MAKE OUT WITH HIM !!!!!! I WANTED TO SCREAM AT THE FL LIKE SIS YOU COULDVE GONE TO JAIL CAUSE OF HIS LYING ASS AND HE LEFT WITHOUT EXPLANATION OR GOODBYE. HOW LITTLE SELF RESPECT DO YOU HAVE ??????
Due to this drama, i have unfortunately gained a regret in life. 😔😔I seriously have never ever been so appalled by drama before. Dont watch the drama its rlly not worth it 👍🏼

Leia Mais

A wholesome drama

So I know y’all must’ve seen very different reviews and must be really confused about this drama so I’ll have a little detailed review so that it can help you clear your mind!

Story — The reason I put the title as wholesome is that this drama not only gives us normal rom-com feels (which is in-fact its main genre) but also touches other genres too. It’s packed with everything— romance, comedy, music, suspense, angst, melodrama!
With the course of 16eps it takes us on an emotional roller coaster and once you start watching it you really end up wanting more.
The drama has a very pleasant and interesting start showing the bitter-sweet friendship between Rara and Jun and around ep 5-6 we have the first plot twist! So tbh, I didn’t feel it was that big of a deal. Yes, morally, lying was wrong but as long as he was mature and didn’t do anything beyond his boundaries I was completely fine with it. Also it was quite understandable that as Jun had a 'love on first sight' thing for Rara, he didn’t want her to treat him like a kid and have zero chances with her so out of innocence he lied. And also he was determined to tell her the truth. Moving on, in the mid episodes of the drama the suspense about the the stalker and who the actual Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol was, things got interesting. Like nothing till episode 12-13 was any normal cliche stuff. No one actually expected a rom-com to get that intense! Towards the end of the drama, the few last episodes, things did get cliche but still it worked fine.

Yes the ending could’ve been better just like how all the previous episodes were but only because of the ending of a few minutes I can’t deny the fact that the rest 15eps were extremely good and can’t rate it low. Basically the ending was actually what all of us wanted, happy, but just that the writer took a lot wrong path to express it. I’m glad it didn’t have unnecessary time skips. Just the one time skip in the end was a little too much I think. Instead of 5 years it could’ve been only 1 year then I guess most of y’all would’ve agreed more with it. Believing someone is dead and that person suddenly comes in front of you is very shocking but if we see this from the perspective of Rara and why she reacted very softly was all because of her positive and bubbly personality. We never saw her crying excessively in the entire drama and how she was always optimistic and didn’t get too sad also explains why she accepted Jun after all those years.

Characters , Acting — I loved each and every character of this drama! Not just the leads, the entire supporting cast was doing wonders. For Rara, I loved how adorable she was, always positive, dealing problems with a smile! Even if she was all cute and aegyo type everything time, it didn’t make me cringe even a bit! Seriously only Go Ara could pull this off! I think if it was for some other actress,
I might have cringed. For Jun, I liked how mature he was for his age, calm and caring everytime, doing everything for Rara even on denying at first. He’s was a total boyfriend material with a little tint of tsundere. And yes Lee Jae Wook was the best for Jun! Dr Cha was a very nice and supportive senior figure guiding Jun and Rara both, whenever needed. I liked how he accepted the rejection and didn’t pursue Rara anymore after that. Other than that Ha yeong, Sukyeong, Seungi, Mr Man Bok, the ladies, and all other characters made the drama so much fun and their acting was wonderful! The entire cast literally felt like a real family which gave so much good vibes!

Music— Every OST of this drama was so nice! Like after Angel’s last mission love, I found this drama in which every single ost is so good! Definitely playlist material!

Rewatch— As this drama had some secrets and suspense in the plot so having it already spoiled, rewatching might not be considered by some but apart from that, I know for sure that this will be great to rewatch to have all those good feels and all those butterflies back! So yeah can definitely be rewatched.

Overall I liked this drama. Just because of the ending I won’t rate it low because I really liked all the episodes before the end and how happy and good it made me feel. I’d recommend this if you want something FEEL GOOD or something fresh in rom-com . Do watch :)

Leia Mais