#ymmd

Main Characters:

Song Shi On:

I think Shi-on, for me, is the shining point in this show. Actor Choo Young Woo really sells this role and helped to keep me invested when the plot, especially the pacing, couldn’t. He shifts from hopefully optimistic to tearfully accepting the reality of his situation in a way that makes him feel like a deeper character. You're also trying to understand how he got to where he is and the show does fill you in. Shi-on feels like someone who leads completely with his heart and tries for the best even in his dire situation, and I think it plays well with the scenario of the plot.

Jin Hong Seok:

While not as expressive emotionally as his counterpart, I thought that Hong-seok was a fairly decent character. I like that his more stoic personality works well with Shi-on and keeps his motivations a bit more of a mystery. While we don’t know as much about his past as Shi-on, he has these very good moments that help establish his character and add understanding to where he stands within the plot. My biggest issue with him is probably the ending and how he quickly turns back around to go to Shi-on. But that comes down to the writing and not necessarily him as a character.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Side Characters:

Lee Jung Hoon (Dance Competitor):

As Shi-on’s antagonist, I thought he was portrayed very well. You immediately understand that he’s threatened by Shi-on’s dance and does the typical things to try and sabotage Shi-on from moving forward with his audition. I think as added drama he works within the story, though I thought the photoshoot side plot was an episode that could have been replaced with more character/relationship building for our main couple.

Cha Soo Ryeon (Loan Agency CEO):

I honestly have a hard time figuring out this character and the ending doesn’t clear anything up. The whole time she’s deadset on keeping Hong-seok in the agency as an enforcer to the point where, once she realizes that he’s catching feelings for Shi-on has him transferred, and then at the very end she lets Hong-seok go back to Shi-on? I don’t believe it. To me, it didn’t make sense for her as a character and aside from the writers giving her general “lady antagonist” vibes I didn’t get the sense of what her actions really set out to accomplish.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Story/Plot:

Alright, here’s where I really had problems with You Make Me Dance. For the most part, I like the romance between Shi-on and Hong-seok, it even works in the middle portion of the show, where it’s clear that attraction and feelings are rising, but then the story really loses it for me in the last couple of episodes. This comes down to the fact that it’s a mini-show, there’s just not enough run time to build up a conflict in the relationship once it becomes more than just pining and then have it be resolved smoothly. Everything from the audition to the resolution feels rushed. I never got a good sense of time, how long had they been orbiting each other, in the show, and while I know, logically, that it’s only a month, it feels like a week tops. They don’t do a good enough job establishing the passage of time to help justify how the relationship between Shi-on and Hong-seok builds. Personally, I think if they’d taken out the plot of episode 5 and replaced Hong-seok doing something similar, in terms of taking on a struggle for Shi-on to protect him, that took up half the time, they could have maintained the sentiment it’s supposed to show as well as add more runtime for later where I think the show needs it most.

My biggest issue is in the last episode. It comes down to pacing and time passage again. It feels like both characters should be further along in their romantic relationship before Hong-seok breaks it off and more time before he comes back. I think this rushed feeling might have been avoided if we got to spend time with Hong-seok sitting with himself and actively making the choice to break things off with Shi-on. We know why he does it, but it never feels like we see him struggling with that choice until the end when Hong-seok decides to come back after hearing the radio show.

Even though I have a lot of problems with the plot, I think, overall, the show is cute and it’s watchable, but it’s not really saying anything outside of its initial premise.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Technical/Visual Execution:

Since I know nothing about dance, I can say I liked the dance scenes with Shi-on. I also thought, visually, with the mix of cuts and soft editing/lighting style, the moments shared between Shi-on and Hong-seok, particularly when the former is dancing, are nice to look at and help set the tone. Other than that, the production doesn’t feel too cheap and I like the winter setting. Nothing outside of that really sticks out to me cinematography-wise but it’s clear that during the romantic scenes, attention was paid to blocking and spacing and it pays off.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

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