I think at this point, I can confidently say that Korean dramas have a way of portraying the emotions or rather passing the message they are trying to pass acutely and yes, sometimes I genuinely watch them so I can have something to write about here, but every now and then a show comes along that leaves me pondering long after the credits roll. That show for me recently was Tomorrow.
I was just scrolling on reddit and stumbled upon someone saying how it is the most emotionally intriguing series he had ever watched. Some called it emotional, some called it underrated, and others simply warned me to prepare tissues. Naturally, I assumed people were exaggerating. Surely it could not be that heartbreaking, suffice to say that they were not exaggerating.
From the very first few episodes, Tomorrow made it clear that this was not going to be an easy watch. The series follows a unique team of grim reapers whose job is not to guide the dead but to save people who are on the verge of giving up on life. It sounds like a fantasy drama on the surface, but underneath all of that is a deeply human story about pain and the struggles that people often carry in silence.
Each story in every episode introduces different characters facing different hardships, and somehow the show finds a way to make you care about every single one of them. Some episodes deal with loss, others with bullying, trauma, family conflicts, guilt, discrimination, and the emotional scars people hide from the world and yes, I cried, i cried at almost every episode i wathced, it was that emotional, it was really powerful.
There is one thing about Korean dramas that I am slowly beginning to appreciate. They are not afraid to sit with difficult emotions. They make some of their shows to highlight the problems in their society. Many shows rush through pain so they can get back to the action or the comedy, but Tomorrow forces you to look at people's suffering and understand where it comes from. What made the tears worse was how relatable some of the situations felt and it was not because I had experienced everything shown in the series, but because the emotions themselves are universal. The acting deserves a lot of credit as well. Every actor brought so much sincerity to their role that it never felt like people reading from a script. The emotions felt real.
I also loved how the show balanced all the sadness with moments of humor. If it had been depressing from beginning to end, it probably would have been exhausting to watch. Instead, it constantly reminds you that even in the darkest moments, there are still reasons to keep going.
