Do You Like Brahms? (2020)

Beautiful but can be little bit gloomy

This drama will be enjoyable for those who likes slow paced, calm, fluffy but little bit too gloomy and relatable conflict kind of story. I really enjoyed it myself.

Story: I love how this drama is about dreams, love and people who talk through musics. Both main characters are an introverts with their awkward first meeting, it was so cute and fresh. It is very rare to see main characters that are both introverts and not some talkative, reckless FL with cool, tsundere ML. This drama is free of some kdrama cliches like no annoying ex-gf/bf that suddenly appeared, no pitiful 2nd male lead who wants to snatched away the FL, no cinderella story.

In this drama we can see all four characters have their own struggle whether it's in career/music, life and love story. The characters also slowly grow along with progress of the story. I like Joon Young and Song Ah's awkward and cute relationship. Even though sometimes the conflicts can be little bit gloomy to watch but for me the story is very relatable. They conclude this drama with satisfying ending with beautiful classical music performance.

Acting: Park Eun Bin and Kim Min Jae's acting and passion to learn piano and violin are truly amazing. They deliver enough amount of introverted energy but sometimes a brave and determined character. Also props to other actor and actress.

Music: One of the BEST thing in this drama is of course the OST. Amazing line up and beautiful songs also classical musics that I really enjoyed while watching.

I consider to rewatch this drama just to rewatch JoonSung couple's fluffiness and the classical music performance.

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Beautiful and realistic tale of love, friendship and actualization

I first watched this beautiful drama back in 2020. I loved it. It recently appeared again in my YT feed. It reminded me how beautiful the drama was.

This is a story of two painfully introvert people falling in love. ML and FL are extreme introverts. They often struggle saying “No” to people, they struggle with expressing themselves and are sometimes taken advantage of. There is a huge gap between how gifted the ML vs how ordinary our FL is. This gap makes her second guess their relationship. But in spite of all of that, they find love.

Our ML is a naturally gifted, elite pianist. But he is exhausted by the constant pressures of people’s expectations. He has been so busy in meeting those, he has come to hate his skills. On the other hand our FL is very mediocre with her chosen instrument. She is painfully aware of it. People around her like to tell her that. Even her family, although loving, reminds her of that. She yearns to be better at it. She tries, but is unable to overcome her natural lack of talent. When she asks Park Joon Young, “do you know what it is to lack the talent”?, you can feel her pain. It gives him and us a pause. How painful it is to know that you have hit your limit and no matter how much you try, you are going to get better at something you love? PJY is so bloody talented that he takes it all for granted. Not his fault but he is so immersed in his own troubles that he’s forgotten to count his blessings. Her one remark reminds him of that. Just beautiful.

I love how the ML and FL’s characters are realistically flawed. They are not perfect but together they work wonderfully. It’s very easy to mistake CSA for a weak person. She is not weak. She is just an introvert. But she can assert herself when needed. She breaks it off with PJY when it becomes difficult for her and irrespective of possible repercussions says “No” to her catty professor.

PJY is also a very complex character. He is struggling with his family situation, exhausted by constant pressures; he values her friendship, asks her to wait for him but also loses his patience when she keeps bringing up the gap between their natural talents. During the span of the drama, he learns how to let go of his past, learns to love his gift again and comes to appreciate CSA for her perseverance and love.

The story is wonderful, music more so. The side characters are realistic, at times bratty but overall good people. This is not a lighthearted fluff. It’s a serious depiction of beautiful as well as painful sides of love.

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As much as I was genuinely curious for this drama, something about it feels oddly.... vacant. You'd expect for a drama that is based on classical music to be profound and passionately written but Do You Like Brahms? has the talent to make it feel empty and stale.

The two main leads are quite possibly the saddest people I've seen in dramas in a while. Sure, they aren't sad all the time. No one is if I'm being honest - but the tone in which the drama sets its plot is in one of tragedy and sadness: they are stuck in a dreadful web of romances: there's, if I got the memo right, 2 love triangles, one for each main lead, and possibly a 3rd one will blossom (I dropped the drama but a little bird tells me it will happen eventually). Apart from this, which is already 70% of the plot, a lot of the personalities are only built on their weaknesses and fears, there's little space for other stuff. The female lead is relatable because she tries her best yet fails, the male lead is relatable because people set expectations on him which he feels obligated to meet, sacrificing his own happiness in the process. And everything else is just a sad blabber of their career struggles or how they're in love with the wrong people - until they fall for each other, then it will most likely be a sad blabber about their relationship issues.

Then there's the other 30 minutes of the episode, where we'd get to see the inner lives of the second leads, whom i could not care less, and some other trouble related to the music scene the drama was set in, which I skipped out of simple boredom - why should i care about these characters, whom i feel no affection towards?

Maybe I'm being too neat picky, maybe I just had high expectations. The drama isn't bad, I did enjoy some parts I watched: I really do like the music, the filming and scenery. There were fun, adorable and intense moments between the main leads here and there. I absolutely adore Park Eun Bin, she's a genius, and Kim Min Jae's voice is something out of this world, with his performance being the exact opposite of what i saw in Tempted.... But, for now, I'll wait for their other works. This drama just feels like a lot of unnecessary stress, and I don't want to give in on the temptation of the pretty leads.

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Let music comfort you and set you free

I just watched Ep3 and Ep4 and I already rewatched the show from start to finish. What's so refreshing about this drama is that after seeing Kim Min Jae in Dr. Romantic I was rooting for him to have a major role and he never fails to impress, add to this is his very cool voice, I become a fan. On the other hand it's my first time to watch Park Eun Bin and the chemistry between these two shy introverted people is really something to behold.

I love the slow unfolding their friendship gets into from awkwardness, to stealing glances, to exchanges of sweet smiles and the connection they steadily gain while opening up to each others pains.

I can relate to how they seek to be consoled with their music as I also play an instrument that has been my companion specially on times when words fail and I rely on my music to soothe my soul.

This is one beautiful masterpiece to watch after I find myself soaking to too much hospital and legal settings. I can't resist their smiles so I had it as my wallpaper. A reminder that with music and love there is always a reason to smile.

A breathe of fresh air indeed.

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music but with no good music
SFL is evil, you can not excuse her because she did not attack FL
first she choose to date one friend then she feel greed for other one who got famous
so she meet famous one in NYC and give him hope with a kiss then both of them hide that meeting
she broke up with her boyfriend not because she love other man but its her greed to be with famous one
when she find he moved on she try to interfere in his relationship
SFL call her greed love she is fame digger just like a gold digger
i wanted to she Hyun Hoo moved on from her and date park eun bin friend Kang ming sung
and Jung Kyung realizing that she only loved Hyun ho and regretting her decisions.

FL is doormat she allow ML do anything he want when she wasn't feeling right about that she should have been more honest about how she feel and tell him not to have any contact with Jung Kyung but she said she understand but it is not something that can be understand,
she broke up with him and then she get together again but WHY she go back to him when she know it will just torture her, she struggle for violin in whole drama but end up give up on her dream to become a sidekick for ML
ML is worst friend he destroyed his friend's relationship and then says he did not even want girl now, to him both Jung Kyung and Hyun Ho doesn't mean anything, he was portrayed like he care for other more then himself but he always only care about himself, and pity himself most, play victim card every time..
SML is isn't proper Man, he remain friends with Joon young and Jung Kyung after he know everything between them how he is able to like a woman as disgusting as Jung Kyung, she should have moved on from her and cut all ties with both disgusting friends, because he was never there friend they never resected him, and looked down on him and his serious feeling,
Jung Kyung get swayed when she find Famous Joon Young likes her. if he was not famous handsome genius would she have broken up with her boyfriend and cling to him like a parasite ?

FL And ML have same situation they both are pathetic people who both deceived there best friends and have eyes for something that is not there's,
FL and her best friend Kang ming sung reunite with each other but how when they reconcile how she got forgiven for her hiding and liking her boyfriend when all that happen,, as Kang Ming sung is Side character director doesn't take her feeling in consideration, but its not that easy to Forgive someone who you love and care like sister deceiving you and has thoughts of stealing your boyfriend, Kang Ming sung would not have forgiven her this soon it take time and it might never happen, but in Dramas our lead always get forgiven no matter what......
I like the actor who player Kang Ming sung (Bae Da Bin) and i have been in same situation it took me few years to forgive that friend and still we are no longer best friends but just friend who might say hi to each other if we meet, trust one broken can not be same as before

over all this is watchable drama but those who give 10/10 are not real they are all simps so not believe them
and park Eun bin acting is lacking compare to her current drama Attorney Woo and her pervious drama age of youth i do not think she did her best in this

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The chemistry between the leads was off the charts compensating for other flaws in the series

This is a true romance, which is surprisingly difficult to find. Many dramas labeled as romances are really "slice of life" or "friendship with romantic undertones" stories. But this is a legit romance, with pining and yearning; affectionate, deep friendship; and mutual trust and support between the two leads.

I decided to give this drama 8.5 stars because on a 10-point scale, the chemistry and scenes between the ML and FL was a 100. That's right, out of a possible 10, their chemistry/story/scenes/dialogue/direction was 100. LOL! Plus, I loved the classical music element. Thus, even though the story wasn't perfect, the ML and FL were so beyond perfect that their believable scenes more than made up for the drama's other failings.

Here's the thing: if you want butterflies, this show is going to give you ALL THE BUTTERFLIES. But you will have to FastForward through filler and weird / unnecessary scenes to get to the butterfly scenes.

If this had been 2 episodes shorter and the side stories with his / her friends had been reduced, it would've been perfect.

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Great healing drama, just a bit too slow

After reading reviews on DYLB?, I thought I would really hate this drama. Quite on the contrary; I do believe that there are some shortfalls in the plot, but the depth of the characters and the music make up for it.

What I liked:
As a violinist and pianist myself, it is always disappointing when dramas don't make an effort to accurately display musicians playing (e.g. the bowing doesn't line up, the pianist is just hitting random keys, BOF I'm looking at you!). I therefore would like to praise DYLB? and the characters for attempting (quite successfully, I might add) to actually play the pieces. Although some might consider it a small detail, it just shows the dedication of both the characters and the director as well as contributes to the immersion into the story.
Second of all, the music was top-notch. I think DYLB? did a great job at selecting pieces that pertained to the Brahms/Schumann story, and while these served as plot devices, I enjoyed the traditional departure from traditional OSTs for dramas. The classical music was well performed, and I sometimes go back just to listen to the OST just because how good it was (which I rarely do for any drama!). It is also a great drama to introduce the world of classical music. I think a lot of people believe that classical music is boring, but this is definitely not the case.
The characters were also very well written. Each character had its own complexity. When I was watching this drama, it felt like I was watching real humans. I could really sympathize with each character.
Then, let's get to the acting. I think Park Eun Bin and Kim Min Jae did a superb job at acting as a musician. Their acting was excellent and sensible. PEB did a great job at portraying the struggles of a music student, and KMJ did a great job of portraying a pianist, and I felt their performances were very believable and enjoyable.

What I didn't like:
As with most of the critical reviews, most of my issues stem from the plot. I felt that the plot was a bit too slow, and I would've liked to see more plot development in regards to PEB in music school and KMJ as a pianist. I know that the main purpose of this drama is romance, but it felt like the characters were stagnant in a plot that almost didn't exist. I didn't really see any improvement or plot movement in regards to PEB in music school, or how KMJ became a more mature pianist/dealt with his relationships with professors, etc.
Another problem is the ending, and this is why I have marked spoilers. I felt that the ending, contrary to the whole story, was quite rushed, and they left a lot of open holes. The ending left me unsatisfied, as there wasn't sufficient closure for some of the characters. The ending was also very rushed, which didn't allow me to appreciate the ending.

Overall, a very great drama which is a bit underrated on MDL. I think the reason behind this is its slow pace might be a bit off-putting for some people. If you are intrigued, please watch it, I don't think you'll regret it!

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feels like one of those shows with complicated relationships

Story:
(ep1)
I am pretty satisfied with the first episode, it showed enough to make me want to watch on and see how the relationships will unfold. I love the awkwardness between the two leads, it makes the show so much more realistic and relatable (its really cute actually). chae song ah feels like a really accurate representation of the introverts (like myself)., shy, unable to open up to people quickly and share her own opinions. i feel her struggle of wanting to pursue her dream, although it seems like everyone else is against it. She doesn't receive the support from her family, classmates and conductor which is really painful to watch because its not easy to gather the courage to go against the status quo and do what you love. I'm excited to see how the story and characters will develop!
(ep3)
the last scene of this episode just stole my heart away! i just love the chemistry between song ah and joon young, they're exactly what each other needs. although it seems like the story might progress a little slower than I'd like it to, hopefully the plot becomes more interesting

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