Blueming is Simple Yet Beautiful: K-Drama Review

Blueming is a Korean BL series which has a beautiful love story, but that is not all. It packs within itself lots of serious subjects which need to be discussed. The director of Blueming is Hwang Da Seu, who is famous for the previous popular dramas To My Star and Where Your Eyes Linger. Blueming also lies in the same canvas as far as the making is concerned. It is simple yet beautiful.

Cha Si won is the protagonist of Blueming. Even though this is a love story, this is essentially Cha Si won’s story. The series talks about years of insecurities and bullying and how these aspects shapes an individual. It is adapted from the webtoon Who Can Define Popularity?

Read about the cast and crew herehttps://mydramalist.com/702681-blueming/cast

The pacing is just perfect for a slice-of-life series like this. It is a bit slow in the beginning, but gradually gains momentum. The color grading changes as the mood of the story changes. Blueming is a visually beautiful. The music and the background score are beautiful.

Another praiseworthy aspect is that how the characters are non-judgmental. The entire series is non-judgmental because it does not speak out loud that this is a Boys’ Love story but presents the love story as it could be between any two individuals.

The actors have managed to do their parts well and they have great chemistry. Kang Eun Bin carries the entire series, as Blueming is essentially Cha Si won’s story. Cha Si won is headstrong and is more expressive than Hyeong Da Un played by Jo Hyuk Joon. We know he carries so much internally and we wait for the explosion to happen. But when it finally happens, we do not really feel it. The actor is outstanding but the viewers do not get a closure there.

The Writing

The culprit is the writing. It is not bad; it has brought in lots of elements but it lacks the depth to tell a story of this kind. Cha Si won has this inner turmoil which we hardly feel. We do not understand any of these characters or their pain. It is too shallow on paper.

Hyeong Da Un is also a lead but this character is so underwritten. He does not have much of a purpose in the story other than being a love interest and bring in a conflict (a cliched conflict) which is completely unwarranted. As Cha Si won himself says in a scene, we do not know him at all. We do not know him even after the series has ended. And the final resolution is too abrupt and lacks required intensity.

The series discusses society’s obsession over good looks and how this had made the protagonist a victim of bullying and made him insecure. It subtly criticizes this attitude of people. But that becomes the problem here. It makes us wonder, if the protagonist did not transform himself completely, would he even have a story to tell? Would he even exist? The problem is that the criticism is too subtle that it becomes non-existent and the message does not come out stronger.

Blueming has lots of flaws. But still is a good attempt and it has brilliant aesthetics. It is not a great series but is definitely good among the very few Korean BL series. It is enjoyable at its best.

The painful truth about Blueming…
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