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Review: You Make Me Dance (유메이크미댄스) (2021)
This was okay. The only other Korean BL mini-drama I've watched is Nobleman Ryu's Wedding and I preferred that over You Make Me Dance.
I found that the story and writing didn't make enough sense and they weren't able to convince me of the main characters' romance. Of course, it was full of tropes, but that's not an issue if they fit in interesting ways in the setting, which I felt this show did not accomplish.
So I would only recommend it if you're a BL fan. Otherwise, I don't think it'd be entertaining enough to someone who was not used to BL dramas.
Spoilers.
Story
The story was of Shi-on, a dancer, and Hong-seok, a loan shark who decided to take care of him so that he'd pass his audition and get a job and have the money to pay him back. Like all romance stories, you're going to need to suspend some disbelief, which I am able to do.
Like I said, I thought that the first episode was interesting. Shi-on and Hong-seok had a brief meet-cute on the bus, and the next time they met, Hong-seok was hunting Shi-on down to pay up on a debt.
I think the story wanted for the viewer to believe that there was alreay an inherent bond and attraction between Shi-on and Hong-seok. So they fell in love extremely quickly, without having experienced much together. We didn't come to see how Shi-on came to like Hong-seok so much, we were just suppoesd to accept it, and that made the show hard to believe.
The way the tropes were incorporated in the story also didn't make sense. Hong-seok did a lot to take care of Shi-on, but why? The surface reason is because he needs him to pass his audition, and the real reason is because he likes him, but those weren't really explored in a way that showed their attraction to us. Too much time was spent on living out the tropes, and not in using the tropes to show their love.
The writing was also just kind of not good at times. Hong-seok was supposed to be the cool guy but there were times in which he was not that kind of character and it just felt so hard to believe. There are ways to show him stepping out of his comfort zone while maintaining his personality, and I don't think the writers followed through with that.
Other examples of writing that bothered me was the inclusion of certain story lines that didn't go anywhere. What happened to Shi-on's rivalry with Jung-hoon? Why had Hong-seok wanted to leave his job? Why did Hong-seok's boss let him go when she found out he'd fallen in love with his client when she seemed like such a hardass before? Did Shi-on really borrow money to give to his mother? Maybe I'm just overthinking it.
So I guess I didn't like the story because like all premises, there is a potential to be very interesting, but they just took it in a way that didn't move me at all.
Production
The acting wasn't really the best, from both actors. It wasn't absolutely terrible, but there definitely were lulls. I will let them go on this though, because I think they did try their best given the writing. So I guess it's writing's fault too lol.
Just a side note, the actress who played Shi-on's mom was way too young. I don't know why they couldn't find another actress, since they were only going to be in the show for like, less than 20 seconds.
For a show about a dancer, the dance angles weren't particularly good. I think it was probably to disguise the fact that the actor for Shi-on wasn't a trained dancer, but that doesn't mean that, like, it wasn't distracting. The camera would only show part of his body which was kind of annoying because I would want to see the whole dance.
I was also iffy about the production set. In particular, Shi-on's apartment is one thousand times too nice for someone who is in debt with a loan shark of all people. The production people really should've spent money on a shabbier looking place, or at least dressed up the place to make it look messier or shabbier. You're telling me a man in debt lives in a place like that? Try harder.
Characters
Song Shi-on
Shi-on was supposed to be a naive guy, a dancer. He'd borrowed money from a loan shark. His back story was that he was inspired by his mother to be a dancer. After she'd remarried, she'd abandoned him and went to live abroad with her new husband.
One of the reasons why the writing didn't work for me was that I just couldn't understand why Shi-on like Hong-seok. Later on, Shi-on realized that Hong-seok was the guy he saw on the bus but before that, what reason did he have to like Shi-on? I just didn't feel that he was particularly endeared by any of Hong-seok's behaviour. Sure, he might've been thankful for it, but I couldn't see how'd fallen in love.
Shi-on was also focused on passing his audition, both for his pride as a dancer, and because of the money. I thought he'd get over his rivalry with Jung-hoon, but Jung-hoon just dropped out of the story after Hong-seok confronted him. I'm definitely overthinking this to the max, but I just didn't feel like I went through any big journey with Shi-on.
At the end, Shi-on was angry at Hong-seok for abandoning, when Hong-seok seemed to have acted in all sorts of behaviour that only encouraged Shi-on to grow attached to him. Of course, he was happy when Hong-seok returned. But I just didn't really care about Shi-on that much.
Jin Hong-seok
Hong-seok was a stoic loan shark who had to take one last job for his boss before she would let him go.
I think that Hong-seok recognized Shi-on when he first saw his profile. There was a look of recognition that passed his face. That, or he thought Shi-on was cute and that's why he was taken aback.
Anyway, he took on the job of being Shi-on's live-in caretaker so that he would pass his audition and pay off the debt. This was the biggest part of the story that required suspension of disbelief, especially because Hong-seok was supposed to be extremely stoic. The scene when Shi-on found Hong-seok cooking in his kitchen with an apron on just didn't work, especially because this show did not present itself as a comedy at all. It would've worked if the script was supposed to be comedic but it wasn't, and therefore it just looked really out of place.
I didn't have as tough of a time believing that Hong-seok liked Shi-on. He did acknowledge that Shi-on was naive and innocent, and I can see how that would be attractive to someone like him who toes the line of law.
Hong-seok decided to leave Shi-on after he paid off his debt. This did come as a surprise, especially since they'd slept together. But also we didn't really see that much hesitation and deliberation from Hong-seok about whether he'd leave Shi-on.
The whole Vietnam expansion plan was kind of weird too. I don't really remember when it was first brought up, but it was kind of strange. I thought that Hong-seok had only wanted to leave his job, so how did his boss convince him to go to Vietnam?
Themes
There were a couple of narrative/visual themes, but they were used very superficially. The show started by explaining the red thread of fate, and so we saw several instances of red in the show, mostly in the first few episodes. One was when Hong-seok tied up Shi-on's feet with his red scarf, and another was when he fixed Shi-on's barre with a red string.
Stars were another theme. The podcast that they listened to was called Etoile, and I believe Shi-on's bedside light had a star theme too.
Overall
Maybe I just didn't enjoy this because I was thinking too hard about it. Out of all of the Kdramas I've watched, I've found that the ones set in contemporary shows tend to have really generic romantic story lines, even if the non-romantic plot is very interesting, and this show...kind of reaffirms that.
The idea of your loan shark trying to guide you to success so that you can pay back your loan is interesting, but the way that the falling in love was handled was just...nothing new or moving.
I found that the story and writing didn't make enough sense and they weren't able to convince me of the main characters' romance. Of course, it was full of tropes, but that's not an issue if they fit in interesting ways in the setting, which I felt this show did not accomplish.
So I would only recommend it if you're a BL fan. Otherwise, I don't think it'd be entertaining enough to someone who was not used to BL dramas.
Spoilers.
Story
The story was of Shi-on, a dancer, and Hong-seok, a loan shark who decided to take care of him so that he'd pass his audition and get a job and have the money to pay him back. Like all romance stories, you're going to need to suspend some disbelief, which I am able to do.
Like I said, I thought that the first episode was interesting. Shi-on and Hong-seok had a brief meet-cute on the bus, and the next time they met, Hong-seok was hunting Shi-on down to pay up on a debt.
I think the story wanted for the viewer to believe that there was alreay an inherent bond and attraction between Shi-on and Hong-seok. So they fell in love extremely quickly, without having experienced much together. We didn't come to see how Shi-on came to like Hong-seok so much, we were just suppoesd to accept it, and that made the show hard to believe.
The way the tropes were incorporated in the story also didn't make sense. Hong-seok did a lot to take care of Shi-on, but why? The surface reason is because he needs him to pass his audition, and the real reason is because he likes him, but those weren't really explored in a way that showed their attraction to us. Too much time was spent on living out the tropes, and not in using the tropes to show their love.
The writing was also just kind of not good at times. Hong-seok was supposed to be the cool guy but there were times in which he was not that kind of character and it just felt so hard to believe. There are ways to show him stepping out of his comfort zone while maintaining his personality, and I don't think the writers followed through with that.
Other examples of writing that bothered me was the inclusion of certain story lines that didn't go anywhere. What happened to Shi-on's rivalry with Jung-hoon? Why had Hong-seok wanted to leave his job? Why did Hong-seok's boss let him go when she found out he'd fallen in love with his client when she seemed like such a hardass before? Did Shi-on really borrow money to give to his mother? Maybe I'm just overthinking it.
So I guess I didn't like the story because like all premises, there is a potential to be very interesting, but they just took it in a way that didn't move me at all.
Production
The acting wasn't really the best, from both actors. It wasn't absolutely terrible, but there definitely were lulls. I will let them go on this though, because I think they did try their best given the writing. So I guess it's writing's fault too lol.
Just a side note, the actress who played Shi-on's mom was way too young. I don't know why they couldn't find another actress, since they were only going to be in the show for like, less than 20 seconds.
For a show about a dancer, the dance angles weren't particularly good. I think it was probably to disguise the fact that the actor for Shi-on wasn't a trained dancer, but that doesn't mean that, like, it wasn't distracting. The camera would only show part of his body which was kind of annoying because I would want to see the whole dance.
I was also iffy about the production set. In particular, Shi-on's apartment is one thousand times too nice for someone who is in debt with a loan shark of all people. The production people really should've spent money on a shabbier looking place, or at least dressed up the place to make it look messier or shabbier. You're telling me a man in debt lives in a place like that? Try harder.
Characters
Song Shi-on
Shi-on was supposed to be a naive guy, a dancer. He'd borrowed money from a loan shark. His back story was that he was inspired by his mother to be a dancer. After she'd remarried, she'd abandoned him and went to live abroad with her new husband.
One of the reasons why the writing didn't work for me was that I just couldn't understand why Shi-on like Hong-seok. Later on, Shi-on realized that Hong-seok was the guy he saw on the bus but before that, what reason did he have to like Shi-on? I just didn't feel that he was particularly endeared by any of Hong-seok's behaviour. Sure, he might've been thankful for it, but I couldn't see how'd fallen in love.
Shi-on was also focused on passing his audition, both for his pride as a dancer, and because of the money. I thought he'd get over his rivalry with Jung-hoon, but Jung-hoon just dropped out of the story after Hong-seok confronted him. I'm definitely overthinking this to the max, but I just didn't feel like I went through any big journey with Shi-on.
At the end, Shi-on was angry at Hong-seok for abandoning, when Hong-seok seemed to have acted in all sorts of behaviour that only encouraged Shi-on to grow attached to him. Of course, he was happy when Hong-seok returned. But I just didn't really care about Shi-on that much.
Jin Hong-seok
Hong-seok was a stoic loan shark who had to take one last job for his boss before she would let him go.
I think that Hong-seok recognized Shi-on when he first saw his profile. There was a look of recognition that passed his face. That, or he thought Shi-on was cute and that's why he was taken aback.
Anyway, he took on the job of being Shi-on's live-in caretaker so that he would pass his audition and pay off the debt. This was the biggest part of the story that required suspension of disbelief, especially because Hong-seok was supposed to be extremely stoic. The scene when Shi-on found Hong-seok cooking in his kitchen with an apron on just didn't work, especially because this show did not present itself as a comedy at all. It would've worked if the script was supposed to be comedic but it wasn't, and therefore it just looked really out of place.
I didn't have as tough of a time believing that Hong-seok liked Shi-on. He did acknowledge that Shi-on was naive and innocent, and I can see how that would be attractive to someone like him who toes the line of law.
Hong-seok decided to leave Shi-on after he paid off his debt. This did come as a surprise, especially since they'd slept together. But also we didn't really see that much hesitation and deliberation from Hong-seok about whether he'd leave Shi-on.
The whole Vietnam expansion plan was kind of weird too. I don't really remember when it was first brought up, but it was kind of strange. I thought that Hong-seok had only wanted to leave his job, so how did his boss convince him to go to Vietnam?
Themes
There were a couple of narrative/visual themes, but they were used very superficially. The show started by explaining the red thread of fate, and so we saw several instances of red in the show, mostly in the first few episodes. One was when Hong-seok tied up Shi-on's feet with his red scarf, and another was when he fixed Shi-on's barre with a red string.
Stars were another theme. The podcast that they listened to was called Etoile, and I believe Shi-on's bedside light had a star theme too.
Overall
Maybe I just didn't enjoy this because I was thinking too hard about it. Out of all of the Kdramas I've watched, I've found that the ones set in contemporary shows tend to have really generic romantic story lines, even if the non-romantic plot is very interesting, and this show...kind of reaffirms that.
The idea of your loan shark trying to guide you to success so that you can pay back your loan is interesting, but the way that the falling in love was handled was just...nothing new or moving.