BLISS RATING: ★★★★★
“Nothing’s meaningless when I’m with you.” – Quote from Color Rush
This is a stunning BL series that is near perfection. You must suspend your concept of what BL is supposed to be and simply allow yourself to be drawn into this amazing story of love and an intense connection. In some ways, this is a very difficult series to describe and categorize. It is deep yet we are never without understanding them. It is sad without being maudlin. It is fatalistic without being fatal. For me, it shows the truest form of love. They accept each other’s flaws, yet their flaws are what keeps them together and forms the deepest of loves.
Choi Yeon Woo (Yoo Jun) has a neurological blindness in which he cannot see colors (Mono). His world is a world of blacks, whites, and grays. The only way to resolve this is to find a Probe who can teach him to ‘see’ colors and have him deal with the color rush he will get. He ‘teaches’ him to see colors by looking into his eyes and face. Yeon Woo discovers his Probe is named Go Yoo Han (Hyun Jun Heo), while attending a new school. There is an instant connection between the two and Go Yoo Han knows he must be the Probe for Yen Woo.
However, there is a price to pay for this relationship. Monos become obsessed with their Probes and will try anything and everything to keep them close to them. Metaphorically, it is like an addiction and with any addiction, bad decisions can be made. This is their story of connection and a recognition of their need to be together.
But Go Yoo Han also has a neurological condition called Prosopagnosia which is an inability to recognize faces of familiar people. However, the ONLY face he can distinguish and recognize is Yeon Woo. So, this symbiotic relationship becomes one of love and a deep commitment to share and bond with each other. And this is their story.
It is not an easy story as in essence both have had incredibly sad lives and have had to cope with their conditions in different ways. Both have become isolated and never really see the world as it is until they are together. The story is indeed magical and the scenes in which Yeon Woo gets to see the multitude of colors is breathtaking and mystical. We get to see the world again through a new lens and a new perspective.
One can understand the ‘rush’ one would receive from seeing the various colors for the first time. (A poor but perhaps relatable example might be the first time I saw color on television. When I was a child, all the TVs were in black and white and when I saw color on television for the first time, I was truly amazed and entered a new world of wonderment).
Their journey to this discovery is artistic brilliance and filled with elation and sadness sometimes within seconds of each other. Their discussions of what it is like is nothing short of brilliance and the way the various colors are described by Go Yoo Han is awe-inspiring and made me feel as if I also had a new discovery of the beauty of the various hues of colors. The screenplay for this series is spectacular and intellectually profound.
The cinematography is first rate. It is not easy for us to feel/sense monographic hues one minute and full orgasmic colors the next. There is a subplot of Choi Yeon Woo’s mother that, while interesting, is nothing more than an asterisk to what could happen if things go bad for Yeon Woo. It is going to be a long and lingering question as to her disappearance that may never be resolved. In reality, there are situations which cannot resolve themselves neatly or quickly. Choi Yeon Woo’s aunt Yoo Yi Rang (Min Ji Lee), is a downcast individual who has been thrust into raising her nephew after her sister disappears. She is almost obsessed with trying to find out what happened to her sister to the point that her life is literally passing her by.
The acting of these two main characters is nothing short of stunning. They are not only blessed with breathtakingly good looks and handsomeness on top of that, but they also play their parts with a demure attitude that makes them endearing and relatable. Both are shy and withdrawn. Both are sad. Their screen chemistry is evident from the beginning. Go Yoo Han has such an effect on Choi Yeon Woo that simply draws him in like a mosquito to light. He is an intellectual force who describes how he feels with such open clarity and succinctness that you cannot help to fall in love with him too. He lists the different hues of colors in such a melodic sensuous voice that you become captivated, mesmerized, and visualize the world now in colors with picturesque names. Choi Yeon Woo is frightened by the connection, timid and fearful, and deeply introspective. He takes a long time to finally admit his connection to Go Yoo Han, even though he has felt it since the very beginning. He could not believe it was and is ‘love’.
There is such a beauty in their unity together. While it is one of need for each other, it goes beyond symbiosis. It is as if their souls were separate but now, they are one as if they were always meant to be together. When they kissed, you knew it was a kiss of such magnitude that they would feel this way for each other for the remainder of their lives. This story ends with a whimper and not a bang, but I would not have expected otherwise. They are just beginning, and it ends with young love skipping and running towards life. This is a must-see series. Just brilliant.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. the series? There is no question in my mind, who has the most powerful performance in this series. Hyun Jun Heo playing Go Yoo Han is near perfection for me. Besides what I described above about him, he has a ‘presence’ on screen that is almost hypnotic. Granted, his performance is underplayed and the softness to his style might not work for all (and there were plenty from reading other reviews), but I found it captivating. His intellect shines through. His connection to Yeon Woo is felt from the very beginning, done so without words. Most of the time, his face is covered and so he must express himself with is eyes which were so deep and piercing that I found myself believing in him as well. In addition to his voice being melodic and soft, it would mesmerize even the most detached person. In my opinion, those that did not ‘get’ this portrayal (of either character) did not understand the power of peering into the soul of others through their eyes and soft touch. For me, it was magical. He was magical.
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