Jazz for Two Review – Beats for One-Time-Watch
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Yoon Se Heon is a classical pianist, strictly homeschooled by his father, who doesn’t allow the teen to play any other genre. So, when he’s permitted to transfer to a regular high school, Yoon Se Heon plays jazz for the first time in an abandoned music room on campus. It’s there that he meets the aggressive and moody Han Tae Yi. The two start off on an awful note and things get more complicated between the two when a senior called Song Joo Ha begins to target them in uncomfortable ways.
Based on Keul Ra Jyu’s webtoon, “Jazz for Two” (재즈처럼) is directed by Kang Hye Rim and Song Soo Lim, comprising eight episodes, each lasting 30 minutes. Kim Jin Kwon portrays the cheerful and optimistic pianist Yoon Se Heon. His sole passion is jazz, so when confronted by the imposing Han Tae Yi (Ji Ho Geun), who warns him against using the abandoned music room, Se Heon fails to grasp the issue at hand. As the story unfolds, we learn that Han Tae Yi is grappling with the loss of his older brother, a prodigious jazz pianist, and finds echoes of his sibling in the charismatic Se Heon.
The first episode sets up a mild “enemies to lovers” dynamic for the main couple, who coincidentally share the same class. In a coincidence, Yoon Se Heon’s seat partner happens to be Tae Yi’s closest friend, Seo Do Yoon (Song Han Gyeom). A significant subplot in “Jazz for Two” revolves around Seo Do Yoon’s crush on his senior, Song Joo Ha (Kim Jung Ha), who is a mean bully with a violent streak. Their romantic involvement feels both unnecessary and illogical, the creators should’ve instead dedicated more time to building up the primary couple’s relationship progression. Actor Kim Jung Ha however is convincingly intimidating, creepy and grey-shaded as Song Joo Ha. Kim Jae Han and Shin Ye Chan, who played romantic leads in the Korean drama “A Shoulder to Cry On” make a cute blink-and-miss cameo in the show.
In a series centered around music like “Jazz for Two,” one might expect an exceptional soundtrack, however, outside of the well-known classic tunes performed by the characters, the background music is pretty forgettable. Even the titular track, with its pleasant jazz tunes, is enjoyable, but it’s not the type of song you’d feel compelled to search for online and listen to repeatedly.
I anticipated “Jazz for Two” to be an enjoyable high school romance, akin to a blend of the Japanese musical “Given” (the animated version is great) and the Korean classroom romance “Blueming“; and although it fell short of my expectations, it proved to be worth watching once.
You can stream “Jazz for Two” on iQIYI or Wavve
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