The Sand Flower (2023)

Such a simple, heartfelt and beautiful story

I love this! A perfect slice-of-life watch.

The story is perfect. The perfect amount of flashbacks, a good balance of romance, the mystery is not dragged unnecessarily, that small town vibe and family bonding, a unique friendship between the five cute leads and discovering yourself. It is such an easy, pleasurable and happy watch with the perfect amount of comedy and feelings within.

The acting is fantastic by all the people. I've seen other small town-based shows but none of them had an accent quite like this one where everyone was speaking so well that you could tell it's a different place. I did get a little cultural shock by just how loud the ML came across tbh, but it did not put me off. All of them have taken all their roles quite nicely and delivered them well. Lee Joo Seung never disappoints in any role he takes on tbh, and he was great here as well. I have not seen many of the main leads and was very satisfied with their roles as well!

The way this show has understood and depicted the meaning of one's dreams and how achieving them brings a sense of fulfilment is quite nice but my favourite part has been the kind of relationships they show throughout, whether it be between family, neighbours or friends. I like how there exists a support system of sorts and how it helps the individuals march forward. Equally nice is how they tackle the concept of rumours widely prevalent in such small towns. I really really liked it.

I think it is very underrated and the rating here should be above 9, for sure! Do not hesitate before giving this a chance, this is a beautiful piece of work that will not let you down.

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Korean wrestling in a township, spiced up with murder

ML is a docile likeable character who has been a born loser thus far in life. He simply can't win a championship, unlike his brothers and father. He resides in a closed-knit community with colourful characters. He lacks assertiveness and hates conflicts. We often get to see his almost naked body with flabs of fats. We will likely see his road to his 1st championship.
Romance is thrown in when FL Du Sik returns to investigate the murder of a money syndicate leader. The blondie cafe owner is also an enigma, running a quiet and likely money losing business. We see many over-weight wrestlers in numerous eating scenes.
This is a light-hearted family drama with elements of comedy, romance and murder.

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Um diamante bruto reluzente

Jang Dong Yoon como Kim Baek Doo, foi magnifico!
Apesar de Like Flowers In Sand esta na categoria comédia romântica , a assuntos muito sérios tratadas nela, e com tradicionalmente coreana a forma de tratar o mais profundos sentimentos passo a passo que envolve os ocidentais e nós amamos.
A essência mais profunda de um primeiro amor perdido no tempo, e amizades pura que voltam a se reencontrar da forma mais inesperada depois d anos de distanciamento e mal entendimento tendencioso agravado pelos moradores mexeriquemos da ilha.
Personagens maduros e bem executado. Cenas com famílias e seus costumes e a dissipação do esporte ssireum. Flores no Deserto embarca na pele de jovens lutando para ter sucesso na vida. A série é um drama esportivo sobre o Ssireum (pronuncia-se shirun) é uma luta tradicional. coreana com origem no século IV, um estilo tradicional de luta coreana que acontece em um ringue coberto de areia. O título da série vem do estilo de luta.

Fazia tempo que eu não me deparava com um enredo que não é cheio de bobeiras e que prende a tenção.
Da pra maratona tranquilamente em um final de semana e além de gargalhar , chorar um pouco com Kim Baek Doo, que não é bobo , apesar de parecer, e como fica logo nítido ele com sua teimosia e inquietação e o que fara os amigos de infância se juntar e ira realizar o sonho de reencontrar uma amiga e amor perdido.

Sob a direção de Kim Jin-Woo, a série é feita para proporcionar uma experiência visualmente incrível no mundo das lutas coreanas. Ambientado contra o cenário pitoresco de Geosan, na Coreia, a história gira em torno de Kim Baek-Doo.
Juntos, eles se unem para salvar a equipe, enfrentando desafios e trabalhando rumo a um objetivo comum.

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Heartwarming romantic sports drama with coming of age , mystery and small town elements

9.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2023 South Korean coming of age, romantic, sports drama with 12, ~60 minute episodes.

First I provide a unique synopsis then review.

Synopsis

Coming from a family of decorated ssireum players, Kim Baek doo (Jang Dong yoon) becomes disillusioned when he is unable to excel as was expected of him. Feeling the pressure of being viewed as a prodigy, and not living up to his name, Baek doo goes through the motions of retiring. When his “soul mate”/childhood friend, Oh Yoo kyung/Oh Doo sik (Lee Ju myoung) returns after dropping out of contact for years, Baek doo feels re-energized to try again to rise to the top in his sport. Problem is this woman who looks exactly like his childhood friend in form and manner insists she is not Oh Doo sik. She says she is Oh Yoo kyung and appears to be married. Still she will be managing the ssireum team which puts the two in the same circle and gives Naek doo more opportunities to determine if she is actually his friend in disguise. With the team on the verge of collapse, it will take the two of them, the team and supporters to keep the team together. But why is Oh Doo sik really back and why is she pretending to be married?

Note: Ssireum is Korean wrestling sport that began in the Goryeo and Joseon period. Each opponent wears a cloth called a satba (belt) that loops around the waste and thigh. The opponets grab each other’s satba and make whatever moves it takes to get the other’s body, above the knee, to touch the ground.

Review

I really like sports dramas. This one is enjoyable on just the slice of life level and having the opportunity to learn more about ssireum. But it has mystery, romance, family and ftiendships all wrapped into one lovely drama series. I will likely watch it again and highly recommend it to others. It ends well and happy.

Spoilers

The way Baek doo mumbles to himself about all manner of things is cute and makes the character incredibly likable.

Part of the charm of Doo sik was her boyish ruff and tumble nature but I would have liked to see her soften more particularly with Baek doo. The way she smacked him in the head bordered on abusive and I did not enjoy that aspect of her character. She could be a bit cold to him and I thought her reasons for missing both of his matches were ridiculous. When you really care about someone you find a way to show up. Still after all,of that they admitted their feelings and got together at the very end. We got so little time seeing them as a couple, I would have liked a little more.

The big reveal on who the killer was fell flat because we did not get to know him much. I watched with my daughter and we were both like “rice cake who?” So it was not a shocking plot twist like I think they were trying for.

While it ended well it would have been even better to know what they were going to do about her living in Seoul and him living in their hometown. Other than her coming back for a visit, there was no mention of how they planned to manage the distance factor. It was also unclear if Baek doo would continue wrestling.

#LikeFlowersinSand. #Ssireum #JangDongYoon #LeeJuMyoung

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