~ WISH YOU ~

~ 15/20 ~ 

Korean Title: WISH YOU: 나의 마음속 너의 멜로디

English Title: WISH YOU, your melody from my heart

Country: South Korea

Director: Seong Do Joon

Genres: Music, Romance, Drama

Episodes: 8

Aired: Dec 4, 2020 - Dec 25, 2020

Original Network: Viki

Duration: 10 minutes per episode

Content Rating: 13+

Where to watch: Netflix (movie format), Dramacool (drama format, lots of ads).

Main Cast:

• Kang In Soo as Kang In Soo
• Lee Sang (of IMFACT) as Yoon Sang Yi

Support Cast:

• Baek Seo Bin as Choi Min Seong
• Su Bin as Lee Yoo Jin
• Kang Ye Na as the Team Leader

Brief Resume:

Kang In Soo is a free-spirited man in his 20s wishing to live from the music he produces. With the help of his friend, Choi Min Seong (Baek Seo Bin), he uploads videos on YouTube to have some exposure, hoping an agency would cast him one day. However, up until now, he was approached only for his looks. Hard-working, he never gives up on his dream and works hard with a very specific goal in mind: proving his parents wrong.

Yoon Sang Yi is also a man in his 20s working in an entertainment agency and living in a small but cozy place. Passionate about music as well, he once comes across In Soo on the street. He was playing a song; a song Sang Yi couldn’t get out of his head for multiple days. One day, his agency was casting new talents, and his colleague, Lee Yoo Jin (Su Bin), asked him to show Kang In Soo’s video to the team leader. After watching it, they decide to give In Soo a chance to make an album.

This is how In Soo and Sang Yi start working together, moving from being completely strangers, to friends who understand each other, and to lovers who share the same feelings.

Diving deeper into the characters:

I’m going to focus only on the two main characters, since this is a very short Kdrama that doesn’t have much character development due to time constraints.

Kang In Soo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kang In Soo is the son of two influent people of the society. His parents don’t want him to pursue a musical career, and therefore he desperately wants to prove them wrong. He seems strong and carefree, but his insecurities start to appear later in the story. START OF SPOIL When Sang Yi kisses him spontaneously in the rooftop scene, his reaction is pretty insecure. He decides not to stay at Sang Yi’s and goes back home to think. I find this reaction pretty accurate and it adds to the realistic aspect of the drama. END OF SPOIL His chemistry with Sang Yi is really great from the start although Sang Yi’s a bit shyer than him. And despite the drama being really short, we can still witness a good evolution of his relationship with Sang Yi, it’s not rushed like any short Kdrama would rush it. The only thing that bothered me a little bit in In Soo’s character was that he was always smiling. His smile is gorgeous, don’t get me wrong, but he was smiling too often when there was no need to smile, it's like he was hiding behind his smile. 

Yoon Sang Yi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I related more to this character in two ways: First, he’s less spontaneous and shyer than In Soo, and second, he’s less outgoing and enjoys being on his own in his own bubble. For example, START OF SPOIL when he was in his room playing on his keyboard and singing along to the main song of the drama, I could totally picture myself doing that END OF SPOIL. I really liked how Sang Yi wasn’t judgmental towards In Soo and how he always did and said what he though was right. I also relate to his clumsiness, there were moments he was just clueless and that was adorable to watch. 

My Final Thoughts:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall, I’d say that the strength of this drama lies in two things: first, the chemistry between the characters. Even though the kisses are a bit awkward (I’ll let it pass because the Korean BL scene is not as developed as in other countries), the actors are comfortable around each other and they’re just so cute on screen. Second, the OSTs. The main song, “Wish for you” gives me chills. The duet between Kang In Soo and Lee Sang works perfectly well.

Some negative points can still be found like In Soo’s best friend. The character could’ve been more developed. We could definitely feel how much he cared for In Soo and I would’ve loved to know more about him. We also never see In Soo’s parents. At the very end they could’ve done like an epilogue, showing In Soo’s success and the parents admitting their son had talent, or something like that.

Just like Mr. Heart, this is a great BL to start with. Even though it’s short you have every component of a BL you need to have, and the intrigue is simple but not boring. It could’ve been better if they had more time and budget of course, but it’s still a decent BL, which is why I gave it a 15/20. 

That's it for "Wish You"! I definitely look forward to discovering more Korean BLs. Take care and I'll see you all soon!

Love, Swan

 

Sources: Mydramalist, Kprofiles, Wikipedia