Because It's the First Time

One good thing about the gym is it gives me time to watch some Kdramas wherein I don't feel guilty about wasting the time. Ahem. Anyway, started a new one called Because It's the First Time, partly because I'd seen this one clip a few times that struck me as very funny and because it looks like there's absolutely no way there's any chaebol ridiculousness.

It's one of those young love ensemble cast type of things. They're all 20. At university. 5 childhood friends + a new girl. The pixie-haired girl, Song Yi, has had a crush on the nice, humble dude Ji An for a long time. Tae Oh (the one that's from a moderately wealthy family--but not chaebol levels) considers her his first love but, at the same time, he's been trying to convince himself for ages that he doesn't have any particular feelings for her. Hoon is the goofy one that wants to be an actor and seems to think that the other girl, Ga Rin, likes him. He certainly spends all his time with her. She professes to like Tae Oh (and has been giving him presents on Valentine's for years, though no one else knew it was her) but is also a wee bit off her rocker, pretending that her deceased father is still alive.

So, yeah, a little convoluted pairing-wise. The new girl in the picture is 3 years older and her name is Se Hyun. Tae Oh thought that she was his blind date and is all puppy dog over her, though every time Song Yi needs him, he goes running.

For reasons, Tae Oh thinks that Song Yi likes him and confronts her -- saying basically could she please just act like a girl and not burp and he'll try and be crazy about her too? She tells him he's not the one, though she doesn't admit it's Ji An. And...that's about where I am.

Honestly, no real idea who's going to wind up where or even if any of them get together. Tae Oh and Song Yi seem to be more the main characters, but that could be deceiving. Ji An also likes Song Yi, but he seems to not want to admit it either because he's afraid he'll lose the friendship that they share OR he's feel inadequate (his dad had taken a credit card out in his name and he's saddled with debt that's not even his, which will also keep him from taking the civil service exam).

So far, I'd say it's kinda cute and typical. Some nice moments, but nothing earth shattering. The actors are cute. The Hoon actor is also in the Waikiki Kdrama that I want to finish at some point. And the Ga Rin actress was one of the best friends in Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Ju. It feels like she always plays the same type of character -- a bit innocent, a bit silly, but loyal and sweet.

I'm guessing that Ji An is "second lead" to Tae Oh (who is played by Minho, a Kpop guy from SHINee). And I suppose that's okay, even though Ji An is the outwardly sweeter guy--Tae Oh shows it more in actions than in words. And his chemistry with Song Yi somehow feels more of a muchness, if that makes sense. It doesn't. I know it doesn't. But I'll go with that. The dynamic between them all is a little weird though, the more I think about it. Song Yi kind of unfairly depends upon Tae Oh and expects him to come to her rescue but it doesn't feel like she really thinks about what that means to or for him. I doubt if the character would ever have thought about it because he's always been there for her, even if he is one of those characters that protests every step along the way. But he's the one that can't come to grip with what he wants or feels.

It's short. Just 8 episodes of varying lengths. Probably won't write any more on it until the end.

Edit: about to start episode 6. Just one comment...I don't see how there's any way they can resolve the various storylines in any reasonable way with the amount of time left. I fear I am about to be annoyed.

Edit: Finished it. It was really short. And, as I suspected, they didn't wrap up basically ANY of the storylines. Not a one. But that also seems to kind of be the point, so I suppose it's okay. It is, after all, a show about "firsts" for all of them...not "lasts." But, on the other hand, it feels incomplete and unresolved. Like life, yeah, yeah, I know.

It is the first show I've seen where the second lead character gets the girl. I didn't even think those existed in Kdrama land! Tae Oh was definitely the main protagonist/primary POV character but it's Ji An that winds up with Song Yi. At least, for now. That's the thing. It's the beginning, really, for all of them and not the end...it's just the end of the show. I suppose you could say that the only thing that is conclusive is that they'll all remain friends, no matter how they eventually settle down into their lives. In that sense, it was satisfying and I'm not exactly sad that Ji An got the girl -- both the guys were good guys. All the characters had their problems and strengths.

That was the best part of the show--the characters were all engaging and real. Am I glad I watched it? Yeah, I'll say yes to that. Would I watch it again? Hmmm, I dunno. I'm left at the end feeling more unsatisfied than not, but that's just because I tend to watch these things for some closure and maybe even sweeping romantic gestures. It feels like it needs a second season and it almost seemed like they were hoping for that with the "let's meet again when we're 23" thing at the end when Tae Oh goes off early for his military service (which, come on, really feels like running away and isn't any kind of good conclusion for the show). Not sure if it did well enough in the ratings when it first ran back in 2015 for it to have a follow up, though. The Viki rating is over 8 but not over 9. No idea what the real ratings were but you don't hear much about it, so I don't think I hold out any hope. It could have used a lot more time, though. Geez, even do the dreaded separation thing and expand it out to the normal 16 episodes and finish at least some of the threads properly!

Anyway, the actors were all lovely and did a good job. At least, the three main ones. The other two honestly didn't have enough to work with to do much to impress. I mean, they were fine as they were, but their characters stayed flat. There was no arc, no growth really. They were pretty much the same people going out as they came in. Not the fault of the actors, though. They were mostly there for comic relief and filler, it seems. I wouldn't mind seeing any of them again in something else, something with more meat on the bones.