Edit: I decided to lower the rating in retrospect because it would be unfair to better shows that I want to give the 7.5 rating to since they have overall better quality and execution.
ATTENTION: This show has triggering content in episode 7. I will put the trigger warning in a spoiler comment under my review for those who have triggers they have to avoid so they can check that out.
I think I will be the black sheep among the reviewers here but I don't think this show was good. Not by any fair standards anyway. But I will admit that despite being not-so-great, it was interesting enough and engaging enough for me to watch the whole thing so I still think it is worth one watch. It's very short anyway. It'll be over in a blink and it’s entertaining enough.
You should definitely give this a watch if you:
1. love BL stories
2.Looking for more BL shows to watch
3.Like watching boys look pretty and pretty much just that
4.Don't mind low-quality productions as long as it's gay
5.Love soulmate-au fanfictions
6.Have a thing for colors? BOI DO I HAVE THE SHOW FOR YOU!!!!!
7.Kind of about characters with disabilities? But not really?
8.Happy-ending

Summary: The show is set in an alternate universe where some people are colorblind and can only see color if they meet this one specific-to-them person. Then they will experience color rush and see colors. The colorblind people are called Monos and their color-filter halves are probes. The thing is, Monos are notorious for being dangerous because once they see colors, they get obsessive and might kidnap their probes or commit even bigger crimes. The main character Yeon Woo is a mono. He lives with his aunt after his mother who was also a mono, goes missing a few years before. He moves to a new school, meets his probe, drama ensues…

I get the feeling that a lot of this shows’ viewers are audiences who watch a lot of bl-web series? I'm not one. I've only seen one or two bl shows so I don't know if this show is somehow better than other available BL shows so I'm comparing it with all shows that I watch generally.
The premise for this show is so interesting and unique which is why I decided to watch it in the first place. I was a little disappointed to find out that the writing and production of this show is so weak. It's understandable, it's a low-budget show and you can really tell and they put most of the budget into creating these really beautiful and romantic color effects which pays off to an extent, because it makes the show unique and gives it a little something to set it apart.
But overall, it looks and feels like a student project. Like a typical “recently graduated film students got together and made something together” kind of short film you see on YouTube all the time. It's not the worst quality, it could definitely be worse, but the story was so interesting that with a better budget and better production it could have been much better.
The cinematography is very simple, they just...have the characters in the frame. They do some interesting things with color which I liked. The set design and the general worldbuilding is very sloppy, however. If they were being really smart about it, they could have used the costumes and set designs to reveal even more of the story and aesthetic but the look of the show is very careless so they clearly didn’t spend too long on it. Like they could have had the main character only dress in blacks and whites to show his lack of color sensitivity or have the set have really harmonious color palettes that would highlight the color rush experience. They could have even color graded the show to really capitalize on the sense of losing and gaining color but they only do that a little bit. Missed opportunity.
There’s a sense that everyone in the background besides the main characters, are just standing there like avatars in a video game from 15 years ago. They don’t act like humans and it makes the show look like a theatrical production rather than a TV show. I could nag about the production failures but a weak production can be overlooked if the writing is good. Unfortunately, this show actually suffers from weak writing:
Now that I have watched the whole thing, I know that a lot of subplots are left dangling. This is possibly for a second-season tease which they probably will get because everyone loved this show but to be honest, they made no effort to developed these subplots throughout this season. They are presented in the first episode and then remain in whatever state they were presented, all the way to the very end. It was sad. I wanted to know more about other monos. There’s a whole background situation about everyone hating monos and I think making that more visible in the show would have raised the stakes even more and made it more interesting.
The main issue was the voiceover. You can tell a writer has failed, if there is more voiceover in a show than dialogue. Each scene has the main character explain what we just watched, what everyone is feeling, and what it all means. You can tell this is a failed adaptation technique because that's one of the first things they teach writers about adapting stories: Avoid voiceovers as much as you can. It's a cheap trick. It's an obvious tell that the scene has failed to fulfill its reason to exist. The characters should not explain the emotions. The actors should act out the emotions and the script should provide them with good scene setups that help those emotions flow naturally. I honestly hated the voiceover for the most part. There were some funny, cute scenes where it made sense to hear the main character voice emotions that ever different from what he said or his actions but for the most part he just explained what we had just seen. And it was so unnecessary. To make it all worse, he poor actors actually did get the emotions through. The scenes were enough. Those voiceovers were just ruining the vibe!
Also, an issue: too many flashbacks to scenes we just saw. For such a short runtime, they could use that precious time for story-development.
Another minor complaint I have is the lack of levity in this show. I know it’s an angsty, serious show but all shows should have a little funny in them. It’s like the spice in a food. Even Greek tragedies have funny moments. There is an absurdity in tragedy and having that in your story humanizes the characters and situation. The show had a few of those scenes but I would vote for more! It could have more comedic moments.
Acting: Yoo Jun does a fine job but this is Heo Hyun Jun’s first acting gig I think and you can really tell. His annunciation, his facial expressions, his stance etc. they all expose him as a newbie and that’s okay, he can grow into a better actor but for this show it was kind of a bummer. Unfortunately, the supporting cast weren’t given much to do and they tried (well some of them did).
The music was very generic and worked with the creepy vibe of the show. Like almost every other show, they played the two romantic songs way too often and for way too long, it naturally became annoying. It’s like that “hmm watcha say” joke.
Overall, I would say this show is watchable. The story is so unique that it kind of pushes the viewer to want more. It’s a combination of high school drama, romance, mystery and suspense. All nice genres if you are into them. I didn’t love the show, mainly because I was so frustrated by the missed opportunities of it all but I did care enough to want to know what happens next. There is a lot of suspense and mystery and the dynamics of the characters are so inexplicable wacky and weird that you can’t help but be intrigued by it all.
It’s interesting because the show presents one dynamic for monos and probes then subverts this itself. There is a chase to the romance too. You don’t know if it’s going to end in a murder or a kiss and that’s usually a fun dynamic to watch! The main character is pretty likable despite being a very sad boi. I learned a lot about colors in this show too. I think that was a cute detail to put in. It felt like besides the destined nature of the romance, these characters were also really getting to know each other. They were also innovative with the situations that they put the characters in together as well. When watching too many romances, you start to see repeating patterns, this show avoided that for the most part. It was refreshing.
I hope if this gets a second season, they’ll be able to get a bigger budget and write it a little better. It has so much potential to be better.
I do think if you are looking for a super short, surrealistic bl romance that you should check this out. It’s not a very complex story. It’s just a simple thing to watch and pass the time