The 2020 Korean series or 2021 film depending on which version you watched, has most of the things I like in films:
- It revolves around people who make music.
- It’s romance!!!
- And it’s Korean.
However, despite these, I ended up with an audible “Huh???” while I watch the end credits. Let me walk through the story first.
I watched Wish You as a film, so here, I’ll refer to it as such.
Summary:
Wish You is about a musician, Kang In Soo, who wants to make it big in the music industry. The aspiring producer, Yoon Sang Yi saw him busking in the streets of Seoul one night, and he wasn’t able to forget him since then. He even showed his colleague, Lee Yoo Jin, In Soo’s video while singing. He just can’t stop talking about him.
One day at work, Yoon Sang Yi’s big boss curses at them for a rather generic and unimpactful pitch. Yoo Jin shows In Soo’s video to the big boss and the team. Everyone was amazed, and they decided to push through with this project – they’ll make In Soo debut!
After years of trying and trying, this is great news for In Soo!
On the night of contract signing, Yoo Jin, who is the project head now, discusses the terms and conditions In Soo should follow before his debut. These are the following:
- The agency provides the artist a place to stay and exercises control over them;
- The artists must delete their social media accounts such as Facebook or Instagram or entrust the agency with full powers over them;
- The agency takes 70% of the profits;
- Lastly, the artist follows the agency’s directions when producing music.
Personally, four of them seem to be happening in real life. Especially the first one, the idols that I know are staying in one place with their members, mostly before they debut.
I’m not sure about the third one however. It sounds rather unfair…
Back to the film ? In Soo agrees with the terms except for the first one. He said he’d rather stay in his own place. Yoo Jin agrees but he has to take Sang Yi with him for observation and for support as well (she knows Sang Yi has a thing for In Soo hehe).
While staying together, In Soo and Sang Yi develop a special kind of friendship. They also started working together on In Soo’s music after the producers murdered it to challenge In Soo’s artistry.
During the times they were together, Sang Yi has shown his affection towards In Soo. It startled In Soo, hence, he decided to take some time away from our lover boy.
Another day comes, the music has been produced and recorded, and the team is now ready to evaluate and see if he’s ready to debut.
The team listened to the song and jaws dropped but “Not so fast” says plot twists. The big boss was called in by a bigger boss to tell her the debut can’t happen because the biggest boss does not approve it. The reason being the biggest boss is In Soo’s father and he does not approve of his dream.
In Soo was heartbroken. After hearing the bad news from the big boss, he ran out.
Our lover boy, Sang Yi is worried sick! After a few hours, In Soo shows up at Sang Yi’s door. He tells him the story behind his strong desire to be a singer despite his father’s strong aversion to the idea. In this moment as well, In Soo realised that Sang Yi made music happier, and he finally reciprocates our lover boy’s feelings.
The film ended with the entire team handling the Kang In Soo project sitting on a bench at the rooftop. All freshly jobless and swore to dedicate their career in making the two lovebirds be heard by many! The end.
The Likes:
I live for Sang Yi’s drunk in love personality.
I strongly identify with this side of Sang Yi. The way he blushes easily, the way he gets tongue-tied when he tries to talk to In Soo, I find those really cute and Lee Sang portrayed the lover boy character effectively!
I like the scene where Sang Yi was singing out loudly to In Soo’s song, forgetting that it’s almost morning. A sleep-deprived annoyed neighbour almost knocked his door down just to beg him to keep it down.
The selection of songs is absolutely delightful.
The song that landed Kang In Soo this opportunity of a lifetime, Wish For You, is well-written. I love the melody. I liked the acoustic version more. It fits perfectly as a Valentine song.
Lee Yoo Jin: Subtle Wingwoman
I like characters who support the main character’s love interest. It just feels like kind of a selfless act, if that makes sense. In this film however, it’s not selfless at all as Yoo Jin obviously does this to make the project a success, but would it hurt to ship these two love birds while they do their jobs? Hitting two birds with one stone.
The Huh’s:
Choi Min Seong, what’s up?
Throughout the film, I get the feeling that In Soo’s best friend, Choi Min Seong, has unrequited feelings for him.
He is the one who’s with him since the start, filming him while singing, uploading the video etc.
There’s a scene where the three of them were drinking, and Min Seong was staring at the two of them being “close bros” with a straight-face (close to frowning) expression.
I feel like since the film was too short to include everything, they left out this angle of the story. I hoped they gave Min Seong more parts.
So Sang Yi made music better? Since when?
The night before In Soo received the bad news about his debut, Sang Yi kissed him, and he decided to avoid Sang Yi for the night.
After hearing the bad news, he took his time to reflect by the beach. Hours later, he went to Sang Yi’s to prove he’s okay. He held his hand and told him he now doesn’t care about debuting now because he realised it was Sang Yi who made music better.
This was so cheesy and unrealistic. I mean yes, doing music with a special someone does feel good, but why avoid him last night when he kissed you? Do you only need a few hours on a beach to change your mind? It feels too sudden for me, but I guess there are people like that?
You didn’t know this is a part of your dad’s business?
The reason In Soo didn’t get to debut is because his father was the chairman of the agency’s parent company…
I find it hard to believe that In Soo didn’t have a clue that his dad was one of the key persons of the agency he was working for. If In Soo would have known, he immediately would’ve pulled out. He mentioned he didn’t want his parents’ help, right?
This part could’ve been different.
Final thoughts:
If you’re into music and you like cute and fluffy romance, you might like this film. It doesn’t have many dramas like the K-dramas we’re used to, but we certainly deserve a lighthearted story about dreams and happiness once in a while.
I watched the film on Netflix, but WeTV has the series and film version as well. If you ever decide to watch it, enjoy!
Leave a Reply