to.Jenny: reliving your first love
To.Jenny is a short music drama (only 2 episodes!) about a boy and the serendipitous pursuit of his first crush. It’s a sweet encapsulation of romance: boy has feelings for the cutest girl in school → many years later, ends up teaching her how to play guitar → friendship turns into something more.
The story itself isn’t what keeps you watching. What made this drama so enjoyable was the personality of the characters and the emotional energy expressed through the music. It was this expression of innocent young love that can’t help but fling you back to simpler times, when you liked someone just because.
My 3 favorite characters here:
- the cute, bratty, know-it-all little sister is such a delight to watch every time she comes on screen. As the voice of reason in the show, she adds a comedic twist that adds multiple cherries on top of an already enjoyable journey!
- The guy plays that innocent, sweet, and only-knows-music character to a T, initially only expressing his feelings through music that he never shares with the girl.
- The girl plays the lovable, beautiful girl…to a T 😍 as well 😆.
The music then adds to this story core, an emotional center that accentuates, showing the innocent and cute, but flirty, nature of their budding romance. Take a listen to this song titled, “Tiramisu Cake” and you’ll understand what I’m getting at!
Being a little older and consequently, of a time when dating (and marriage) can devolve into a spec list, this story was a breath of fresh air. That sometimes, we just want to enjoy someone’s company. That there was a time when I fell for someone not because they checked off this and that box, but just because…she made butterflies in my stomach.
If anything, this should be the foundation; if you lose the desire to pursue the other, the specs can’t hold up a relationship. When the only assurance we have in a relationship is that things change, that specs can come and go…at that point, we need that foundation.
Real talk: I have an inordinate love for music shows. As someone who loves to sing, these types of shows jive with me. So my scores for music shows are probably biased 0.5–1 points higher, hah.
I think that a big reason that this one gets a higher score than most other music dramas I’ve watched is due to its brevity. It’s difficult to make songs an integral part of a typical 16 episode mini-series without turning it into either a musical or just a normal drama.
I do feel like this story could’ve supported at least 4 episodes without ruining its charm, cause there were parts that felt a bit rushed. But I’d rather they rushed it into a quick 2-episoder instead of expanding it into a typical 12/16 or even 10 episode order!
OVERALL: 8.0/10
- STORY: 6.5/10
- DIRECTING: 8.0/10
- LEAD Actors: 8.0/10
- SUPPORTING Cast: 8.5/10
- CINEMATOGRAPHY: 7.0/10
- MUSIC: LOVE 😍 😍 😍
- WATCH again with future spouse? 8.0/10
The run down: A fun walk down memory lane to a simpler, sweeter, more innocent kind of love, using music as its guiding light!
