I cannot wax lyrical enough about Do You Like Brahms? because this is seriously such an amazing drama. I was initially apprehensive considering the heavy music element here but in truth, that element only made it so much easier to understand the themes in this drama. Get ready for a seriously deep, meaningful and thought-provoking discussion of sorts as I delve into my series retrospect for this masterpiece.
SERIES RETROSPECT AND REVIEW (SPOILER ALERT)
This drama has firmly planted itself as my 2nd favourite drama of all time because it has everything I could ask for in an amazing drama. At it's core, Do You Like Brahms? was a wonderful love story, not just between people but also about music. It had engaging leads, interesting side characters, the exploration of beautiful themes and most importantly a super personal touch. It's almost a given for dramas to have touching moments but this was one of the few times that I was sincerely moved by everything in this drama. I absolutely loved it. Before I start, I will say I guessed wrongly in my initial thoughts post. Joon-young wasn't injured (a theory I formed after seeing him sort of holding his right hand in a way that would signify pain) and his father isn't ill (when his mother says he's "better" now, she was referring to how he isn't doing more things that would land their family in more debt).
Themes: The most central idea throughout was about dreams and the pursuit of happiness. Every character had dreams they were working towards, not just our leads but even some of the side characters, and the conflict between achieving their dreams and finding their own happiness was an important part of the drama. I could spend a long time talking about this theme but I'll focus on three characters, namely Song-ah, Joon-young and Jung-kyung. With our heroine Song-ah, her dream to be a professional violinist started out as part of her journey to discovering happiness but along the way, she gets hurt too many times. By the end of the drama, what was once something she loved (violin) has turned into something that has dealt too much emotional hurt to her and she makes the big decision to put down her violin for good and move on to a new future with the man she loves (Joon-young) right by her side. In her case, it was only when she gave up on her dream and focused on the other love of her life did she finally achieve her own happiness.
For our hero Joon-young, it's quite sad to say that he doesn't have a clear idea of what his dream is. His whole life, all he's known is playing the piano and even though his talent puts him at elite caliber, he has never been happy playing. All the way up till adulthood, participating in competitions was never about himself but always for others' personal gain, whether it was to pay back his father's debts or to get rid off the emotional weight on his heart from receiving help from Kyunghoo Cultural Foundation's director Na Moon-sook (who first introduced Joon-young to piano). Even in terms of his love life, he had yet to be successful because of his many years of unrequited love for Jung-kyung, with that love eventually taking a darker turn as he gets tired of waiting for his "unattainable love" to come to fruition. Seeing all this strife is why it makes it very heartwarming for us to see our male lead begin to find his happiness when he meets Song-ah. Joon-young finally knows where his heart is leading him to and while he doesn't quit piano like Song-ah did the violin, he no longer competes actively and just plays the pieces that he loves. He's finally made piece with himself and overcome any of his previous stigma against certain pieces, even incorporating Brahms pieces (which he had refused to play in the past) into his graduation recital, his confession of love to Song-ah brought across through music. At the end of the day, Joon-young's path to happiness was about finding joy in something that he had no passion for and ultimately, finding love along the way as well.
Our second lead Jung-kyung was probably the most conflicted character in the whole drama and in my opinion, the only lead whose dream was directly tied to her idea of happiness. Her dream of teaching music to a new generation (initially by wanting to become a professor at Seoryeong University's music department) was cultivated by her love for the violin but as we find out later, her talent for the violin was a byproduct of her fear of her mother, who practically forced her into becoming a prodigy. In her adulthood, Jung-kyung ends up spiraling into a dark abyss as she can neither fulfil her own dream or find her happiness. While she thinks her happiness is to be with Joon-young romantically, she doesn't realise that what she's feeling isn't love for him but rather a twisted end-product of her jealousy of his musical talent and success. This practically destroys her more than decade-long friendship with Joon-young and Hyun-ho, and she even breaks up with the latter after being in a relationship with him for 10 years. It's quite tragic to see that after this breakup she realises how much Hyun-ho meant to her and how much he actually loved her, with seeds of regret in her mind. By the end of the drama, she comes to terms with herself and even though she might not have really found her happiness, I think she's content with her current life, deciding to teach music to middle school students and helping to nurture their talent without fear, just like how she wished she had been taught.
Of course, these aren't the only three characters who dealt with the dreams versus happiness theme but they're the ones who embodied it best. The whole time I felt myself becoming personally invested in their journeys of self-reflection as they navigated their way towards either realising their dreams or attaining their own happiness. Along the way, our leads were met with all kinds of struggles, both in terms of love and their friendships with one another but at the end of it all, they've found their way to the light.
Characters: I mentioned this in my previous post but in so many ways, I truly relate to Song-ah's character. No matter how many people put her down or how many didn't support her dream, even her own family, she never gave up and persevered because of her love for violin. Although she ultimately put down her instrument for good, Song-ah never gave up until the last moment and even achieved her goal of making it to grad school (albeit not enrolling). By nature, she had a lot of self-doubt, making her very uncertain of her own abilities and unconfident in her love life. Even when she got hurt by Joon-young multiple times, she would always give in and wait for him. This is why it was such a pivotal moment to see Song-ah take control of her own life and doing whatever she needed to do, whether it was finally giving up the violin or breaking up with Joon-young. After all these ordeals, she came back a stronger person, having matured after whatever happened and capable of loving with even more pure affection than before.
Having had his life defined by something that he has no passion for, it was very intriguing to see Joon-young move past all the pain he's experienced and also take control of his own life. From asking his mother to get a divorce so that they no longer have to live with his father's debt and the problems it has caused them, to finally finding joy in playing the piano, seeing Joon-young grow into a character at peace with himself was wonderful. His initial refusal to play Brahms pieces as he had strong negative emotions about the "unattainable love" concept transforming into being able to use Brahms as a way of relaying his love for Song-ah was necessary in his character arc, and showed him growing into someone who is finally capable of expressing his emotions properly, which allowed him to get back together with Song-ah in the end, their love stronger than before.
Despite the fact that I found Song-ah the most relatable, I actually think Jung-kyung was the most well-rounded. While it's easy to blame her for a lot of the misunderstandings that happened in Song-ah and Joon-young's relationship or push her into an antagonistic role, we have to look deeper into her character. On the surface she comes across as a very cold individual who hurts the people around her in her pursuit of personal gain but in truth, she's still the scared girl who was afraid of her mother forcefully nurturing her violin talent. That fear prevents her from finding happiness and even turns into jealousy of Joon-young's success. This ends up shattering the only friendships she has with Joon-young and Hyun-ho, and she even alienates Hyun-ho, her former lover. It's really quite sad to see that even when she was chasing Joon-young under her self-cast illusion of being madly in love, the only time we see her really smiling brightly was when she was with Hyun-ho, who truly loved and cared for her.
At the end of the drama, although she seems content with her life as a music teacher, it's a bittersweet feeling because even if the dust has settled, her relationships with the two male leads will never be the same again, even if they're back to performing as a piano trio. She's lost the chance to stay in a real loving relationship with Hyun-ho and we can see that sense of regret in her when he returns for another performance. I really felt for her throughout this entire drama and I can completely understand why she did the things she did. It was a huge relief to see her overcome the fear that she's lived with since childhood, and matured into a lady who knows what she wants and can actively achieve her goals.
The overarching Brahms/Clara/Schumann concept in the whole drama was played out very well, especially looking at the two separate trios in Song-ah, Dong-yoon and Min-sung, as well as Joon-young, Jung-kyung and Hyun-ho. While both trios went through their own mini breakups because of their love lives, they inevitably found their way back to one another, their friendship having been through tough waters and coming back stronger. While the question Song-ah posed to Joon-young at the end of the first episode was seemingly simple, merely asking if he liked a certain classical musician, we know that in truth, it was meant to be a reference to his journey of self-growth and "Brahms" was really referring to finding one's own happiness.
It is no wonder that this drama generated a lot of buzz during its airing and boosted Kim Min-jae's popularity through the roof, even unseating superstar Park Bo-gum (who we'll be seeing a lot more of on this blog soon, hint hint). It's a heartwarming love story with such wholesome character development, teaching us that we shouldn't hold in all our emotional turmoil and that it's okay to lean on others. Many of us are currently chasing our dreams, myself included, and somewhere along the way we hope to be able to find our own happiness. At the end of the day, we have to live for ourselves and not live the way society wants us to. Even if others put you down, it's important that we attain happiness, so that we can move on to a brighter future. I can confidently say that after finishing this series, I've gained a new perspective on my emotional journey into adulthood and hopefully, I can emerge as a better person.
So, to those who read to the end, Do You Like Brahms? That's a question that only you can answer for yourself.
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