To My Star's official Instagram
Since the airing of its final episode last week, many fans have taken to social media to leave amazing comments about the BL drama. Positive comments, appreciation, rankings, and popularity do breed a sense of competition as many also beg the question is "To My Star 2: Our Untold Stories" starring Kim KangMin as Han JiWoo and Son WooHyeon as Kang SeoJoon the best Korean BL drama ever released?
To many, this might be a tough one as there have been so many incredible dramas released in the span of 3 years. From "Where Your Eyes Linger" to "Light On Me", "Semantic Error", "You Make Me Dance" and "Blueming" to name a few, over the years, we have seen notable growth in the production of K-Dramas and this year, and as of the date of this article, we might have to agree that in terms of overall growth and delivery, "To My Star 2: Our Untold Stories" ranks as number 1 on our list.
Here are some of the things we have unpacked from the series that make it the standard in our opinion.
Note that this article contains scenarios that may be considered as spoilers from the series.
1. The continuation from season 1
The ending of "To My Star" saw our housemates turned lovers now a fully-fledged domesticated couple and in the first episode of the sequel, we get a glimpse of their lives as a couple. Even though at the get-go, we are told they had broken up for over a year now, we still get to see where we last saw them, this created a flow, the start of a new timeline, as even while we noted the breakup and like Kang SeoJoon, had many questions about it, the flashback sequences sort of telling us the stories that continue from where we left off at the end of season 1.
2. The depth of the series
This series explores a more mature side to BL in general that we might have not seen before. While we are used to the high teen, cute and loving relationships that make our heart sings, this BL gave us a more realistic relationship that fit its concept brilliantly. Knowing fully well that Kang Seo Joon is a famous actor, there will be a toll, a sort of pressure that would come with dating him, especially when he is not yet "out". Rather than ignore this real issue, the series uses it as one of its main arcs that led to their breakup. Another key note is the complexities of their characters that is somehow balanced out.
From the first season, we see how different they both are, one more bright and bubbly, while the other is more somber and moody, but in more ways, throughout the series, we see how they both blend amazingly well together. Perhaps one of the most interesting factors of their relationship is how they are not alike and how they are not necessarily forced to be. Yes, some concessions are allowed, where they try to change certain aspects of their personalities for each other, but ultimately we do not see a drastic change but rather see two humans, fully understanding that they are different and accept their love and affection for each other.
3. The dialogue
One of the biggest plus in this series is how smart and impressive the dialogue is amongst every character. The timeliness of the dialogue and response is always key. We have seen moments in various BL dramas where a scene is being dragged so long or just becomes boring (even if it is a key or pivotal moment) because of how slow the dialogue is. This series, however, plays to its audience very well, knowing that in many real-life situations, conversations and reactions are not as slow as a snail, especially ones that center on feelings and emotions. The conversations and reactions here feel very natural and fit the storyline of each character. Each climatic moment is felt even more because of how natural the dialogue is presented in the series.
4. The storyline itself
There was a lot to unpack from this series, but it was perfect as it gave us a full idea of who each character is and the story behind them. Through the use of the flashback sequence, we see various key moments in the series that make us somehow, understand the characters, especially the main ones. From Han JiWon's ex to the backstory of his family, Kang SeoJoon's struggle with the breakup and how it inevitably affects his work, as well as giving viewers a glimpse of his distant relationship with his family, which might also be one of the reasons why he doesn't want to lose Han JiWon either and his persistent fight (even against himself) to get back together with him. The storyline never fell flat or one-note, as each scene and each moment had a purpose, coming beautifully together to give viewers a wholesome story.
5. The happy ending
While we might have expected it, frankly, judging from how complex the storyline was there would have been two ways the story could've ended. 1. They reconcile their differences, accepting that despite their differences, what they had was truly special and maybe that is where their story should end. Or 2. They actually get back together. While we all rooted for the latter option, the former would've also been a good and realistic conclusion too. This speaks to how adept the storyline was to the realities of its characters. But seeing our domesticated couple back together truly served as the icing on the cake as we couldn't contain our excitement.
Han JiWon finally opening up about his true feelings and why he had been scared was the character development we craved from him. One of the pivotal points of this series is that all throughout this season, even season 1, we have seen Kang SeoJoon being the more active one, being the chaser if you will term it like that but in this ending, we see Han JiWon putting on his running shoes and going after Kang SeoJoon. In this scene, he takes the leap by walking toward Kang SeoJoon, a change that surprises both Kang SeoJoon and the viewers too. Holding his clothes softly, we already begin to feel his true emotions, he is scared, he is scared of losing him forever, and he is fighting his urges to run away and hide as he did before.
Kang SeoJoon also coming down to meet him was a key moment for Han JiWon, it showed that while he wants to see him put in the effort, he also is ready to come to him on both a literal and emotional level.
The brilliance of this series cannot be fully captured in plain words alone, as yes, while there have been many amazing BL series released so far, some even more popular than this one, in terms of its storyline, development, and the portrayal of its characters, "To My Star 2: Our Untold Stories" might just be the best BL series we have watched so far.
Did you enjoy the series? Let us know some of your favorite moments in the comments section below.
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