The Eighth Sense (2023)

Sensing what's happening inside

The title of this K-drama sets the theme for the journey of these characters. Most of us think we have 5 senses, but in fact we have 8, and the final sense is the ability to feel what is happening inside ourselves. It's the ability to feel our heart beat, our breath come in and leave the body, and feel how our emotions are experienced within the body - the heaviness of our heart, a
droop in our shoulders, a tightness in our throats - all these sensations inform us of our emotional and mental states.

How do we work with our emotional states? How do we make sense of the unpleasant ones? Do we try to avoid them, ghost them, run away, or do we understand that fear and risk are a natural part of the human experience and learn to feel them, how to be with them? This is the crux of this intricately woven story.

All the senses are in sharp focus in this drama. Through some scenes which are shot with a handheld camera, we feel our sese of balance and gravity challenged. Close ups of food awaken our sense of taste, the sensuality of touch is explored in some of the more intimate scenes, and every scene contains shots of breathtaking cinematography, where colours shine in dull settings. We become aware of sound, as the soundtrack dips in and phases out, background noises can be filtered out or left in, there are long periods of silence too, where quiet becomes a sound of its own. There is innovative use of camera work and filters, sometimes light, sometimes dark, sometimes the focus is on the characters and the background blurred, it's daring and experimental and ever changing, just like the nature of how we sense our experiences, an ever changing kaleidoscope of awareness.

The plot moves with pace, but nothing is rushed, and sometimes the story line leaves us bereft and shocked, but the final episode pulls everything back into a slow unfolding, restoring and completing and then opening out again into this great mystery of human experience.

One of the major themes of this drama is liminal spaces and life transitions. We have one set of characters transitioning from adolescence to adult hood as they begin their university studies, the other set of characters prepare to leave and enter the workforce. Each requires a letting go of the old and stepping into a new phase of life. Working with loss and letting go, taking chances and risks with the new is explored by all the characters to some degree. It is no surprise then that many of the crucial scenes take place in a beach setting, which is a threshold place between the solid and known land, and the wild unknown sea. Across many cultures, water is a symbol of the unconscious mind. We cannot penetrate its depths but can only move with it. This is a story about working with the forces within us, both known and unknown.

This is a K-drama unlike any other and moved me like no other. It's left me with a sense of challenge to navigate my own life transitions, my own fears, with as much internal awareness as I can.

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I FEEL REALATED

For me, who is struggling with depression every day, I really feel very related to Jaewon and wish I had a Jihyun (unfortunately not :)))) the feeling that life has nothing nice, my family doesn't understand me, mental breakdown every day but still trying to pretend I'm fine, always wanting to help and comfort everyone. Laughing by day, crying at night. Day after day wearing a mask of happiness as if nothing happened, but also day by day emotions fell to death. Yesterday I watched the deleted scene of Jaewon's mental breakdown and I burst into tears. No matter how hard he tries, he still can't get rid of the regret, guilt from the past.

Someone asked, is avoiding Jaewon's way of protecting Jihyun? That's right! Falling in love with a depressed person is never easy for anyone, Jaewon is just trying not to let Jihyun fall into that hole. But I also like the way Jihyun always waits for him silently. Jihyun is a kid from a small town who went to seoul to go to college, he doesn't have the mischief of an 18-year-old kid, but he is more calm and deep. The boy started everything with Jaewon. Making new friends, join a surf club despite being afraid of water, eat ramyeon in the han river, love and be loved, travel without any preparation, sleep on the beach, kiss, and even make love, everything is with his hyung. Even though Jihyun was rejected by Jaewon, Jihyun still understood for him, understood his feelings. Jihyun didn't try to force Jaewon at all, just slowly waiting for his hyung to turn to look at him. No matter how hurt he is, he always looks at Jaewon.

The most regretful thing when I watch the movie is, there is no scene of Jaewon carrying Jihyun to the hospital, no scene of Jaewon breaking down when hearing the news that the patient lying next to Jihyun in the ICU room died, I really want to feel the pain of Jaewon at that time :((

All in all, this was a great experience, and I can't stop rewatching it. Looking forward to ss2 as good as this!!!!

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A Visceral Experience

There's power in telling a human story, especially one that explores an innate need for freedom.

The Eighth Sense searches for this freedom by offering a profoundly symbolic, emotional, raw, and heart-fluttering story about two boys facing separate fears while falling in love.

How it's told encompasses more than the society it takes place in. It speaks to an entire global community of viewers who feel trapped in their own circumstances and heads, no matter where they live.

And that's power.

The Eighth Sense is told aggressively, using abrupt editing that feels as raw as its characters and filled with colors that speak to the moments it captures. It also opens up a need to communicate. It opens up discussions about depression, trauma, grief, and asking for help in a world that often makes seeking help feel like a weakness.

All while falling in love.

The Eighth Sense doesn't box itself into a label. The love story it tells is as much about breaking out of the box the world keeps itself in as the rest of the story. Because, in the end, love should never be placed inside a box. Who we are and who we love shouldn't be restricted. Who we feel safe with shouldn't be barred from us. People aren't meant to be bound by the world's expectations of us. There are infinite possibilities beyond those restraints.

And that's the beauty of The Eighth Sense. It's a liberating series that breaks free of restraint. It confronts itself and then frees itself.

The ambiguous symbolism is as nuanced as its characters, and no one will find the same truth in it. It's as colorfully meaningful as its color palette and emotionally deep as its viewers' personal experiences. How you understand it comes from within.

The acting is phenomenal, the cinematography and editing are emotional and raw, and the music buoys rather than overwhelms its plot. It left me satisfied.

For a raw, human story that forges its own coming-of-age path, I highly recommend The Eighth Sense.

You don't watch this series, you live it.

-overly-dramatic review blog.

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Especular.

Essa obra desde o primeiro episódio foi como um susto, eu não esperava que seria tão valiosa pra mim.
A fotografia impecável, sedutora aos meus olhos.
A história, totalmente surpreendente, me levou com as ondas do mar.
Os atores, a atuação de cada um foi como um cotidiano, com personagens preciosos, fizeram um ótimo trabalho.
A trilha sonora, como sou uma apaixonada por músicas, às usadas nessa obra me deixaram apaixonada, e a música de Conan Gray (um dos meus artistas favoritos) foi como um surto.
Toda a equipe fez um ótimo trabalho, essa obra definitivamente é uma das minha favoritas de todos os tempos. Obrigada, e parabéns. ??

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I’m in love with this masterpiece 

My first impression: it’s a cute love story between two university students. With every new episode the story develops well and especially the growing relationship between them both is beautiful.
Not only their unique chemistry towards each other but also their understanding for each other and personal growth is amazing. I rarely saw such a realistic and charming romantic relationship in other series. 
The Story covers every feeling well; from first love and growing into an adult, to the fear of losing an important person, the self-hate because of an incident and the forgiveness towards yourself and others as well as the missing and longing for each other. 
I don’t want to spoil something, but this series is not only pleasant and filled with happily light feelings. In my opinion, this is the interesting part of the series. Yes it’s more realistic than other shows and the way the producers show how individual and multifaceted a human relationship can be is amazing. 

The cinematography is beautiful and the music is well-chosen. 
The stunning visuals are an extra point. Even both main actors are newbies, they acted superior in their first project. I hope we’ll see them in other series soon. 

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Beautifully written plot paired with unique cinematography forms an inspiring youthful masterpiece.

This drama depicted mental health struggles, trauma, and the idea surrounding one's identity in a social atmosphere in the most immersive and thoughtful way possible.

The cinematography alone left me amazed, the indirect use of cinematography allows for the viewers to be immersed in the show, and the use of lighting and saturation as well as the contrast between different colors in different scenes allow to set the mood/tone of the scene allowing viewers to understand what emotion is being displayed without needing to directly display it. The soundtrack and the use of music alone were enough to provide a glimpse into each character's life. Each character within the show develops through the experiences they have gone through and the idea of character development through experiences was created flawlessly. This show felt casual despite the fact it touched upon countless important/serious topics and in the end it wraps itself up perfectly. The development of romance throughout paired with the plot left me attached to the show in a very empathetic light.

I love the way it touches upon the topic that everyone is going through something in their own way, but the way we see the characters develop from their trauma and work through it all together allowed me to realize the world is not as isolating as I always thought it was. Just because something within life happened it does not have to limit me from growing as a person. I believe mental health being depicted in shows is very important but many times I am afraid that it will be depicted incorrectly or stereotypically and would be glamorized/romanticized rather than showing the harsh reality of it BUT THIS WAS NOT THE CASE WITH THIS SHOW. The way mental health/mental struggles was depicted was perfect, it showed the raw reality of the isolating and lonely experience mental health struggles can leave individuals in but it also shows that struggling is not the end, and that it is always possible to overcome situations despite the fact it may difficult but- still possible. I applaud this show for being able to depict all this as well as produce a short cinematographical masterpiece.

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Good but with some drawbacks

I did enjoy this and I was invested for most of it. The acting was great and both the series and the actors did great in portraying heavier subjects.

However, as someone else mentioned the editing in this was just terrible. It was incredibly hard to tell what was happening when and for one of the scenes (which was an important scene) I wasn’t even sure what was happening at all. It felt a bit like it was trying very hard to be “art”, which it absolutely didn’t need to be.

I enjoyed watching and I do encourage you to watch too, it’s short anyways. But to me this was not as mind blowingly great as some are making it out to be.

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a masterpiece

This show has become one of my all time favourites! The cinematography, storyline, character chemistry and soundtrack - it was all so well done. The story is really well thought out and feels very different from others shows that I've watched before. "The Eight Sense" has definitely set up a new standard when it comes to kdramas for me. The actors never fail to show what their characters are feeling. Every moment feels very personal and honest. Though the mood changes a lot it doesn't stop you from enjoying the show to the fullest. Overall it's amazing and you should absolutely make sure to watch it! :)

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