Early Access: Twinkling Watermelon E1-2 (Patreon)

E1-2. Ok you guys, I think I really, really like this one. 🤩

Honestly, I'd dragged my feet a little bit, to check this one out, only because I was low-key worried that I wouldn't take to it the way I was hoping, but really, I needn't have worried.

Show had me interested and invested, pretty much from the get-go, and overall, I am very pleased with this first two episodes, as I type this.

Mainly, I find myself feeling a lot of sympathy for our protagonist Eun Gyeol.

At first, I was thinking that he was so fortunate and blessed, to have both the ability to speak and to hear, in a family where every other family member is unable to do both.

But, Show demonstrates soon enough, that this blessing is also very much a burden to Eun Gyeol, and it just makes it all the more heartachey, that this burden makes itself felt so early in Eun Gyeol's life, from his childhood.

Even though Eun Gyeol is clearly grateful for his family, and even though the family is very sweet and loving, the burden on Eun Gyeol is very clear.

It's on him, to protect and look out for everyone; it's on him, to speak and hear for everyone; it's on him, to connect his family to the rest of the world.

What a huge burden, that's been laid on him, basically from the time he was able to speak.

It really gets to my heart, that Eun Gyeol is such an earnest, goodhearted, valiant little kid.

I mean, yes, he does eventually chafe at the responsibility that fences him in, but for literal years, he does his best to live up to the expectations that his parents have laid on him, and with a smile, at that.

Just this one thing, is enough to put me in Eun Gyeol's corner, rooting and cheering for him, to find the delicate balance that would allow him to live his best life and be true to himself, while still caring for and looking out for his family.

Y'know, I was grateful to Show for having our first scene be of Eun Gyeol and Eun Ho in the present, because this way, whatever happened in the flashback, I knew that they would both survive. 😅

Honestly, that extended flashback was not the easiest to watch, because it was quite saddening, to see how much the otherwise happy, loving family suffered, for being discriminated against, and how much Eun Gyeol had to deal with, being the spokesperson for the family.

At this point, he's just about 11 or so, based on my calculations, and that's just a lot for a kid of his age to bear.

He's the baby of the family, but he's functioning as the eldest of the family, for all intents and purposes.

And it makes my heart warm to Eun Gyeol, so much, that he takes on all of this without any sense of discontent.

I hate that when they move, Byung Ho targets Eun Gyeol in such a horrible way, threatening to have his family thrown out on the streets, if Eun Gyeol doesn't do his bidding and help him cheat on tests.

UGH. Byung Ho is an awful, awful kid, and I feel like I can't cut him any slack, just for being a kid. 😤

I'm glad that Eun Gyeol stands up for his rights, in his own way, even though this reaps limited results.

And I'm also glad that as a silver lining to all this, Eun Gyeol finds a friend in the music shop ahjusshi, and solace in learning to play the guitar.

What an unexpected dilemma though, to Eun Gyeol's newfound talent in music; that he feels that he has to keep this to himself, because his family doesn't have the same capacity to learn music the way he is. 😢

And then, how tragic, that because of his excitement over music, he ends up sneaking out of the house when he was supposed to be watching over his sick brother - which is exactly when that fire breaks out (thanks to Byung Ho's rash behavior, again).

It must have been so frightening to Eun Gyeol, that his choice to leave the house, had almost cost Dad his life, because Dad had rushed into the fire, to try to find Eun Gyeol.

Also, what a terrible extra punch to the gut, that music store ahjusshi ends up passing away, just as all this is happening.

It's like every bad thing that could happen to Eun Gyeol, is happening, all at once.

It's no wonder Eun Gyeol continues to carry that guilt with him for all the years that pass afterwards, and it's no wonder that Eun Gyeol actually feels that he has a duty to quit music, even though he enjoys it so much. 😢

Like I said, while all this was happening on my screen, it really helped me to know that no matter what, Eun Gyeol and Eun Ho do survive to attend high school. 😅

It not, I would've been freaking out that Eun Ho might die in the fire, leaving Eun Gyeol forever scarred.

And y'know, I'm actually glad to see that, even while preparing for medical school, Eun Gyeol still takes time out to perform on his guitar on the streets, where he's actually amassed a loyal following.

I don't like that he feels so guilty about it, but I like that he still does play, and that playing still brings him so much solace and joy.

I was also really glad that Eun Gyeol meets music store ahjusshi's daughter, and receives not only that special guitar that ahjusshi had once promised him, but even more importantly, ahjusshi's last message for him; that Eun Gyeol is the most gifted guitarist that ahjusshi's ever met.

Wow. That is so precious, truly. 🥲

I actually got legit excited for Eun Gyeol and his newfound band, when they get that potential big break, but of course, that all comes crashing down the minute Dad catches wind of Eun Gyeol hanging out in clubs and doing music and drugs.

Ugh. Thanks Byung Ho's mom. 😒 You and your son really make quite the pair, y'know?

While all this is going on, we also get acquainted with Ha Yi Chan, and this is where I wish that I hadn't known anything about Show, going in.

Because Show had already spelled out in its trailers that Yi Chan is Eun Gyeol's father, thanks to Eun Gyeol somehow time traveling, I knew, the minute Yi Chan appeared on my screen, that this was Dad in his youth.

HOWEVER. If I hadn't known anything about Show going in, then this would've been an excellent twist, that all the scenes that we saw Yi Chan in, were happening in a completely different timeline.

It feels like a huge waste, actually, that Show would go to all this trouble to set up this reveal, after having already given us the punchline, in its trailers.

(Honestly, this kinda feels like what A Time Called You did, with the ineffectual reveal in episode 1, thanks to its trailers containing way too much information.)

And so, I envy anyone who went into this show without actually watching the trailers, because, in execution, Show does a really great job of the reveal, when, at the end of episode 2, it finally becomes overtly clear, that Yi Chan exists in 1995, and not in the present.

I love how Show had it set up, that we'd know of the existence of the band First Love Memory Manipulators, and  how they'd met each other - and now, it's filling in the blanks, that not only was Yi Chan part of that band, but now, Eun Gyeol's going to be a part of the band too. 😁

Of course, the most poignant thing for me, is that, in this moment, all Eun Gyeol can register in his head, is that the young man standing before him, is Dad - and at this time, Dad can speak.

There's his heart, right there. 🥲

I am so very interested to see where this goes, and how Show develops this story and these characters, because I find that I care about it all, very very much. ❤️

* This show will be covered on the VIP Early Access (US$15) Tier *