Twinkling Watermelon – REVIEW

Viki series 2023, directed by Son Jong-hyun. A coming of age, time travel, and romance series. 

Review by Jill Livingstone

Story

This is the sweetest story about an 18-year-old boy from 2023 – Eun-gyeol
(Ryeoun) – who’s transported back to 1995 and attempts to thwart the accident that
caused his father’s deafness.

Meeting his dad, Ha Yi-chan, in 1995, he discovers in him a fellow 18-year-old who is
passionate, reckless, and full of life. Eun-gyeol is desperate to direct his dad into
a relationship with his mother-to-be and to divert him from his crush on Se-kyung/
Eun-yoo, who Yi-chan is trying to impress by forming a band, Watermelon Sugar.
Along the way, another visitor from 2023 comes to 1995 on a mission of her own.

Should I watch?

A heartfelt storyline about changing the course of your family’s
history in an attempt to remodel your own circumstances. It unfolds so beautifully
and the quartet of leads is so vital and lively that the story is as bright, energetic, and
enthusiastic as its characters and its brilliant OST for the whole 16 episodes.

Eun-gyeol is the responsible CODA time traveller who’s haplessly trying to
orchestrate a different future for his father; Yi-chan is the hilariously typical naughty
boy, sailing through life with a dozen crazy plans on the go; Cheong-ah is the gentle
but abused daughter of Jinsung, who expresses so much just through her art, her
eyes and later through signing; Eun-yoo just wants to understand her mother’s past
and make sense of her own life. Individually and as the couples they become, this
awesome foursome owns the screen throughout with their amazing presence.

And to round it all off, there’s a slightly unexpected but enjoyable ending for one of
the year’s most endearing series.

Verdict:

A quirky and unique time-lapse story that will have you laughing and crying
with this foursome and their circle’s adventures for the whole 16 episodes.