WISH YOU: Your Melody From My Heart the Movie (2021)

I prefer this over the "series" version

I watched the series version of this as it released but never left a review for it because I only recently added all the Asian shows/movies I've watched to MDL - and rated them - very recently. And when I say recently, I mean a week ago haha. However, the movie cut for WISH YOU was released onto viki and now all the English subs are loaded now, so I just watched it. I wasn't going to rewatch this until I heard there was an extra twenty minutes added that wasn't in the original series cut. That definitely interested me since I only scored the series a 7/10 due to the flow not being quite right and the story not making complete sense.

With that, I'll start my review.

Story: Honestly, a solid 8/10 from me. This type of story and the amount of development in it really fits a movie format more than a series. One of my biggest gripes with all of the Korean BLs is that they release them in 8-10 ten minute episodes instead of just releasing it as a film in the first place. But also, I'm not going to complain that much because at least South Korea are making BLs in the first place, ya know? (ones that aren't tragedies or sad haha.) Anyway, I only gave a 8 because I still feel as though the characters are a little under developed. In the end, we still don't know all that much about either of them except that Kang In Soo's dad is a CEO who doesn't want him pursuing a music career. The writing is great, the cinematography is great and so is the aesthetic. Great quality all around. What I'm really happy about is that the story MAKES MORE SENSE in the movie cut and it FLOWS NICELY (woo!) and it's all because of that extra 20 minutes. Even though the added scenes may not seem important, they are. For example, in the series I'm pretty sure they didn't show that Sang Yi was in a band early on like they did in the movie, so that scene where Kang In Soo sees him playing the keyboard makes way more sense lol. Plus, we got to see Kang In Soo hear the arrangement he doesn't like and them eating after he walks out while he avoids the topic with Sang Yi - which is why he says "Say it" to him when Sang Yi won't drop it after lunch/dinner. There argument makes more sense that way. Another example is when we see Kang In Soo after the kiss as he plays the guitar and thinks about Sang Yi, I think this was an important scene to include rather than the story skipping straight to the next day when everything happens like it does in the series. And even the scene later in the movie when we see Sang Yi go to Min Sung (In Soo's friend/manager). That whole searching scene adds a lot honestly. All of the added scenes that they originally cut out of the series are subtle moments, but they make the story flow way better and helps with the logic of the story as a whole. Thank God I wasn't left feeling confused by the end this time.

Acting/Cast: Not much to say but the cast did a great job and I think everyone was casted perfectly. I especially loved Sang Yi's acting. They had great chemistry too which is always important.

Music: The OST for this WISH YOU is amazing. I really love all the songs but Wish For You is definitely my favourite. I listen to it a lot. I even learned it on ukulele and learnt all the words despite being a native English speaker. Both Kang In Soo and Sang Yi are great musicians.

Rewatch Value: I feel like this is strictly personal preference so take my opinion with a grain of salt here. However, I only gave the rewatch value of this movie a 7/10 because I'm not a rewatcher in general. I only rewatch shows or movies that really stick with me or that I become obsessed over. This movie is super cute and maybe somethings others would love to rewatch, but it's not obsess-worthy for me. Again, that's just my personal opinion! Although, technically I did rewatch this since I watched the original series and then this movie cut of it.

Overall: I highly recommend this! It's cute, revolved around music, and it's only 1hr 42mins of your time! (:

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A Progressive Tale About The Melody of The Heart in Seoul ...

Going into this movie without a lot of prior knowledge of the series beforehand , left open a lot of ground to analyse and draw up where issues and strengths lay within the movie overall.

The biggest thing to say is that the series both portrayed our male leads , rising singer Kang In Soo ( playing himself ) and novice producer Yoo Sang yi ( Lee Sang) ‘s relationship in a refreshingly less cliche way than previous same-sex pairings in Korean productions - not through their sexuality, but through Sang Yi’s journey in making sense of his genuine feelings for Kang In Soo over the course of the movie.

It was an undeniably sweet and modern love story for our two male leads , yet nonetheless sugarcoated in favour of avoiding more difficult issues about Korean society. Whilst South-Korea is undeniably becoming a lot more progressive than other Asian countries and in comparison to its past towards homosexuality, some members of Korean society are still prejudice and homophobic towards homosexuality and gay relationships.

First of all it is important to say that whilst this wasn’t the main aim of the movie to home-in on a “ realistic” relationship and certain Korean beliefs towards this, it still felt a little odd in the particular plot’s centralisation of the music industry, not point or at least suggest this. The repression of sexual orientation amongst musicians and producers in K-pop has particularly come into light in recent years , something which although gradually getting better, is still something which should’ve have at least been raised or emphasised upon the other pressing issue of “ masculinity” as well.

Undeniably, Kang In Soo and Lee Sang were brilliant within their portrayals echoing a certain level of heartache and emotion behind their performances. Their characters were also evidently Kang In Soo was set out to be the “ mysterious” and “ handsome” musician, whilst Lee Sang acted as the “ awkward” and “ kind-hearted” producer. Yet apart from these roles and their evident relationship onscreen, their characters often felt lacking in greater depth.

What makes a character intriguing is getting to know them either through their pasts, friends, family or interactions. Sans from some interactions with In Soo’s best friend Choi Min Seong ( Baek So Bin) and Sang’s Lee Yoo Jin ( Su Bin), we were left a lot in the dark a lot in the movie about our characters as actual individuals- their journey to their respected career choices, if they have faced problems with their sexual orientation as well as problems or connections with their family.

Whilst these points may seem minor, it would have been probably made the relationship between In Soo and Sang Yi more “ fleshed-out” if we’d actually got to know more about them as “ realistic” individuals first, rather than just mere plot devices.

Overall WISH YOU: Your Melody From My Heart isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it was a surprisingly sweet and progressive love story in Seoul with a fairly intriguing premise and brilliant acting from our male leads. However, the show lacked a lot of character depth and realism within its portrayal and the issues around both the music industry and homosexuality in South-Korea, making the production feel sugarcoated and generic at times as well. Certainly worth a watch as a sweet romance movie , but certainly flawed within its deliverance of story and characters.

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