Boyhood (2023)

a truly great and creativ premise that flows between very serious and very funny

First of all I was really into this story, it seemed like the premise was written in a way that felt very unique, complex and creative, but with a touch of comedy to lighten the mood and keep the audience more immerse.
One thing that caught my eye was the cinematography, the close up shots in the beginning is so effective to get to know the expressiveness of the characters, the visual effects looked really nice and refined, the stuns were filmed in a really interesting way and the shaky scenes during the fights were a nice shot, the music choices were amazing and set a nice atmospheric, as well as the makeup and styling.

Another interesting elements was how dynamic each episode felt, the story didn't let the audience sit for way too long in a story and kept it moving as they presented the characters and personalities, it seemed like the chemistry was really natural and they had fun on set.

The actors were so great, the use of satoori is always an interesting element to me, the delivery in terms of dialogue was so good, and I was, once again, impressed by Siwan, he was able to show a spectrum of different expressions as well as manage the physical comedy elements in a very subtle, balanced and seamless way, he adapted his posture and even tone and voice for this character, his attention and care for each role truly impresses me.

All the characters had something different to bring to the table, I do feel like some characters didn't quite hit in terms of the story and I wish they showcased more of the relationships in the family, the ending is a bit... well I don't feel as convinced, but I could be jumping to conclusions. I had fun watching it, and I recommend it.

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Boyhood: A unique story that is fully of comedy and serious moments as well

Loved the drama overall. The drama was just pure comedy up until episode 6, where it got dark when the SML became a super bully after he regained his memory and started to really bully the ML to the point where he beat up his own BF to just get money from him. The way he got his love interest taken from him and how he was treated like garbage was just depressing overall and showed the real effects of bullying and how it can make people so desperate and feel like they are worthless. The training arc and revenge arc that took place for the last 3 episodes was great and I loved the ending where he finally took his revenge. The only thing that I wish was maybe they could've expanded on the ML's first love interest as she just becomes a forgotten character after she becomes the SML's girlfriend. Also it would've been nice seeing the ML and FL have more romantic scenes together, but maybe that would of derailed from the focus of this story.

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A weird but at times endearing mix of comedy and the most blood boiling rage inflicted by bullies

To be fair after the first episode I almost dropped this show, but boy am I glad I carried on.

Boyhood made me genuinely laugh out loud at times with its silliness which is the reason I felt extremely blindsided when the violence unexpectedly got very much out of hand in the middle of the show.

I had a great time with episodes 2-5 and then partly due to my expectations and/or predictions of the story not being met I fell into despair.
The last two episodes pull together and the show manages to finish the narrative it was writing itself around - to have power it is not enough to physically dominate everyone, real respect must be earned by honest emotions. Still our main character achieves this by beating up a bunch of people.

Byung-Tae was a delightful and most times heart wrenching character, Im Shiwan was the perfect man to do this if we ignore the fact that he looks very much like the 30 yo man he is... a characteristic most characters share I think due to the subject matter and trying not to be too traumatising.
Unfortunately the other characters fell short as I learned very little information about them and some of their "storylines" just get dropped and never examined. That leaves us with a supporting (and sometimes main) cast whose motivations we barely understand. Main and most frustrating of these characters being Gyungtae, whose backstory was never explored and he just comes off as a cartoonish villain cackling In front of himself just to disappear into the?? what actually happened to him I don't understand, and Sunhwa (girl really was just an accessory ..) and to be honest even Jinyoung has little journey in our story (don't be mistaken I love this girl and I wish her the best).

All in all Boyhood was one of the most 'funny' dramas for me this year, it just feels weird saying it about a show where around 8 people get hospitalised because of school bullying.

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Full Package Experience of a Young Boy

Lemme just say If not for Kang Hyewon, I would've dropped this halfway, not because the drama was bad, but because the bullying really went even harder in the second half, and I couldn't stomach it.

The story was a hell of a ride. I'd say it's a full-package experience of what any boy would experience during his high school days. I was about to say minus the exaggerated bullying and gang shit, but if I were to compare it here in my country, I'd say it's pretty similar or even worse, cuz you've got some who actually bring icepicks or knives in school.

Anyway, unless you were an outcast or loner then you probably won't be able to relate with anything that was presented here.

My minor critique of the story is that although it's very relatable, as it was directed in a not-very serious & comedic way, it didn't really hit harder on me. I can kinda see why it was presented as it is because it could be something you could look back on and say "Ahh, yes!! I went through all these things back in high school"

The Characters, I think are all good. They have a lot of characters here because of the gang aspect, but no one is wasted. Everybody did their part. Seeing Siwan playing a High school boy character was kinda "???" like let's be honest here, he looks young, a great actor, a top-tier one at that, and very versatile as well, but he's not young-looking enough to play a high school boy. However, as you went on, you could tell he melded with his characters like as if you were actually looking at a high school boy. My opinion is also the same with FL. She and Siwan got a good chemistry going, and their relationship dynamic is so funny. Kang Hyewon is the sole reason why I watched this drama because I'm a wiz*one myself. She's great here, hearing her curse a lot felt so weird hahaha her acting, yet improved again. She's almost there, I think her sad acting just needs a little polishing, and then she's good to go. For 2nd ML, mind you he's almost absent for almost half of the show, but when he came back, he was like nerfed af, it kinda makes sense because he just had an accident. I thought with all the things going on with him, he would get the character development later on, but I think the writer went "Nope!" and just stuck with his villain character till the end. His actor is also so, so good at pulling the bad guy role, like my god!

OST, although I'm not the type who listens to songs from that generation, I can still appreciate it, especially if it's a good one.

Overall, a good drama. Even though I couldn't stomach the bullying, I would still recommend this. I think I see the appeal of dramas about gangs because of this one, it was kinda hype you know.

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