Always Meet Again – Series Review

Hyeseong is an artist who makes a living through drawing and selling his paintings. His childhood friend Taejun is an art teacher, and he has a favour to ask. He wants Hyeseong to come back to their old high school as a guest speaker. Hyeseong isn't thrilled about this. He hasn't set foot in that school since graduation. The place is full of painful memories he'd rather leave behind. Taejun won't take no for an answer, so Hyeseong caves and agrees to go.

After his talk with the students, Hyeseong wanders around the school for old times' sake. He stumbles into the art classroom and starts poking around the supplies. Feeling nostalgic, Hyeseong finds the inspiration to draw. He sits down and starts sketching. Right as he finishes, something bizarre happens. A blinding light comes out of nowhere. The next thing he knows, Hyeseong wakes up in 2008. He's suddenly a teenager again!

Naturally, Hyeseong is freaking out. He spots his sister working as the school nurse, except she looks way younger than she should. That's already a massive mindfuck. Hyeseong is also shocked to see Woojin, the handsome jock from his class. Hyeseong used to have feelings for Woojin, but their story ended in heartbreak. At this point, Hyeseong is convinced he must be dreaming. He tries everything to snap himself out of it. Nothing works. This is actually his reality now.

How does Hyeseong get back to the original timeline? His theory is that the art room contains his portal back to the present. There's just one problem. The room is locked for renovation. He doesn't have the key. His sister tells him to sit tight and wait for the renovation to finish. Until then, Hyeseong is stuck in 2008, with no escape plan and no timeline for when he'll get out.

Meanwhile, Woojin has no idea that Hyeseong is actually from the future. As far as Woojin is concerned, Hyeseong is just the new transfer student. Woojin finds Hyeseong funny and interesting. They start hanging out and spending time together. These two are a bit of an odd pair since Woojin is a sporty jock and Hyeseong is the artsy type. Despite their differences, they still get along really well. They even meet up to draw together.

As the two guys get closer, it feels like more than just friendship. There are obvious romantic sparks between them. Woojin definitely seems interested in pursuing something more. However, Hyeseong feels conflicted. He doesn't belong here. He's literally a grown man from the future, so getting romantically involved with Woojin wasn't part of the plan. The bigger issue is what Hyeseong already knows about the future. Woojin is going to have a tragic accident. Hyeseong has a chance to stop it. Is he able to change history and save the guy he loves?

Always Meet Again delivers gorgeous cinematography! We get breathtaking locations that look like oil paintings. We get intimate close-ups of the handsome leads and their expressive faces. Plus, we get rich colours, dreamy lighting, and pretty little details in every scene. Most of all, I'm swept away by the romantic atmosphere. The couple is frolicking in the water… Riding bikes along the coastline… Gazing into each other's eyes at sunset… Oh gosh, the visual storytelling does some impressive work to elevate this series!

Do you recognize the two leads? They starred in A Breeze of Love from a few years ago. Welcome back, boys! It's nice to see them again! Some Korean actors do one BL drama and then disappear from the genre forever. Can we please normalize bringing them back for another round? Woojin's actor (Shin Jeong You) is super charismatic. When he shows up on screen, your eyes just go straight to him. That smile alone is gonna melt hearts. His co-star (Woo Ji Han) brings a ton of energy to his role as Hyeseong. He's effortlessly charming and has good comedic chops, so he stands out during the lighthearted moments.

Episode 2 is my favourite of the series. It focuses on the two leads getting to know each other better. I adore these scenes because they're just so light and fluffy. The enjoyment comes from watching them smile, flirt, act goofy, and sneak tiny glances at each other. Episode 3 keeps that same energy going. More smiling! More flirting! I gotta admit, it's a winning formula. This couple is adorable together. I'm having a blast as they fall in love on screen. Between the playful moments and the gorgeous cinematography, Always Meet Again has found its sweet spot as a BL drama.

Unfortunately, my positivity stops here. Brace yourself, because the rest of this review is gonna be critical. Starting around Episode 4, the series goes downhill. What went wrong? I need to point fingers and blame the awful time-travel storyline. Once that plot starts getting too serious, I quickly lose interest in Always Meet Again. On paper, the premise sounds cool… A time traveller from the future goes back to change the tragic past. However, this interesting idea is executed so poorly. The writing is clunky. The logic is incoherent. Ugh, the story feels like a bunch of nonsense!

The time-travel crap takes over the whole series. Remember the playfulness we loved early on? Gone. Instead, we get boring mumbo-jumbo about timelines and whatnot. We gotta save Woojin! We gotta rewrite history! If the drama were well-written, the emotional stakes might be high. But it's not. Somewhere between the plot holes and the angsty melodrama, Always Meet Again lost me for good. I stopped caring about the characters. I barely paid attention to the story. Woojin and Hyeseong still flirt here and there, but there isn't enough BL content to interest me anymore.

In the later episodes, Always Meet Again focuses too much on the best friend. Why is this pointless character hogging the screentime? Like, can he go away!? The finale also drags out the suspense of Woojin's fate. I sat through the last half hour feeling numb from boredom. While there's technically a happy ending, I had mentally checked out long ago. Overall, I still have some positive opinions of Always Meet Again. Shoutout to the actors! Give the cinematographer a bonus! But everything I loved early in the series got overshadowed by everything I hated later on.