STORY - the story is quite unique and intriguing. Good thing about this series is that it teaches good values and makes you realize to chase after your dreams with the help of your friends.
ACTING/CAST - the portrayal of ever actor was convincing though you might hate some of the actors for their deeds (like me), it was needed to show the message beneath the script. At first you'll see the main girl to have a very strong personality but in due time each and every one of them will change for the better.
MUSIC - well since it is a drama wherein the characters will try to become top notch entertainers, you'll expect a whole bunch of music that fits well with the story. Especially the OST, it was magnificent.
REWATCH VALUE - its entertaining so rewatching it will still give you the entertainment value you long for. (Again, in my case i don't repeat watching those i have watched so i won't rewatch it.)
OVERALL - two thumbs up! A series with moral lessons taught in a entertaining way.
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I'd totally rewatch this drama! But there /is/ better dramas out there. But this drama definitely isn't the worst!
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From the beginning, the story has you hooked and curious. It is also constantly moving forward, always presenting you with new situations and twists, as well as providing new ways to see the characters. It also makes you want to know about the characters, and why they are in the situations that they are in. The characters also have plenty of room for development, and do develop well, and are explored fully later.
One great point to note as well is the acting. Now in the western world, sometimes you see artists who can sing and write, but cant act for peanuts. In this its the complete opposite. Each actor from IU to Suzy to Park Jin-young, they all portray their characters well and make each scene memorable.
So overall, i would highly recommend this drama to anyone and would suggest a full marathon session of it, cause this is an amazing watch.
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First things first, I kept this drama on hold for a very very long time.. don't know why but i'm glad i picked it up when i did.
Story : The story stuck to the plot, about students trying to reach their own goals and the obstacles that stood in their way. I felt as if the story was a good one, the idea was carried out effectively and it stuck all the way to the end.
Acting/Cast : Im pretty sure everyone can agree that the cast was a good one. The cast were full of mostly people who were already on the radar of others, such as Jason or Suzy, it was just up to the cast to show the audience that they were more than just singers and dancers. Some of the characters though made me want to skip around their parts or made me not like them, but thats the good thing about actors, they can bring out feelings in you that you never expected.. However, they still kept me interested and wanting to watch more of the story until the very end.
Music : Amazing, i downloaded some of the songs on my i phone. Some songs are repetitive but they hold a lot of value to them. It makes you want to cry on how good the writers incorporated songs at the right moments and made sure they were good.
Rewatch Value: Although i loved the drama, It is not likely that i would re watch unless i was listening to the music. My reasoning would be the turn of events of the story, not that it wasn't good but it wasn't the way i saw it developing into. Also, the only cute moments were really between jason and kim pil sook rather than the main characters.
Overall: I recommend this drama, but if you're looking for romance more than an actual story, you shouldn't watch this drama. Yes it has cute moments, yes it has a touch of romance but this story is much more than that. It's like a slice of life or coming of age, the cast grows with each episode and learns to follow their dreams rather than their lover.
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The colors and cinematography all throughout was eye catching and the characters were as colorful in their own life story that it brought out the goodness of the series.
I have more thoughts about this drama and am definitely recommending this for those unbiased people who want to check out the pop-culture-industry of korea. Music wise, it was alright since I'm not much of a kpop fan BUT I love IU's rendition of Video Killed the Radio Star by the Buggles :)
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Some details those I spesially enjoyed - 1) Jin Guk/Sam Dong friendship - they supposed to be rivals, but in the hard moments and happy moments as well they've always supported each other! Liked their underwear war:) 2) The romance between two teachers - made me laugh so much! I think one of the cutest couples in drama! 3) Jason's charming English:) 4) Suprised me, but... I liked Noona's moments :) 5) Hyi Mi's little sister :)))
As I said, I liked all the main characters, but my favorite was definitely Hiu Mi! I even think she's my favorite female lead of all the dramas I've seen! She had so much power and charisma, you can't help but rooting for this girl.. And the most important - she was real! No too perfect, just real 17 years old girl who is growing up, having her doubts.. But no matter what - if her friend is in trouble, she's allways there, ready to do everything she can to help!
Liked Sam Dong's story as well, very touching! Jin guk - very strong and mature for his age..
A little disapointed by the ending - not the first korean drama with the same thing - it was too promissing during all episodes, making us expecting too much and getting... not so much in the ending:) I think you know what I mean - just needed more romance scenes!
But except this - it's a good made drama! Recomended for people who are searching for good story- not too heavy but emotional, with many sad and funny moments, and finaly - with good looking young actors and good music!
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To be honest this is my first ever kdrama :D
STORY
I think the story is unusual and it has lot of conflicts too. Also it's funny, romantic, and also a little sad so it's like perfect to me ! Unfortunately, I don't really like the ending and how all couple and but I still enjoy even the last episode
ACTING/CAST
I love all the cast and I think all of them are great and this is first drama for some cast so I think they are really great !
MUSIC
I love all the music and it's really nice. The OST is great and some music in some scene is also great !
REWATCH VALUE
I don't really like to rewatch and I never do before. But I rewatch some episode of this drama and still like it a lot. So I think it's really worth rewatch
Overall I should say I really LOVE this drama and enjoy watching this A LOT
I really recommend this to everyone ~ :D
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When I started its first episode, it was good but there wasn't anything great about it. The only reason I went on was for the main character of Hye Mi. She was highly entertaining as an arrogant, insensitive and obnoxious girl. Mostly, all females that I come across in dramas are nice girls but here is one badass girl who isn't afraid of anyone and can kick your ass too. I was very interested in watching her character develop and watch something break all cliches of Kdramas. Apart from that, all other side characters were also interesting to me so I continued watching. They are all young people trying to chase their dreams of becoming good dancers, singers and performers. The character development in this show was remarkable.
Not just that, I loved this show for its romance. It has the the first real love triangle out of all dramas that I have ever seen. We, as a viewer get to see enough of both sides of the triangle to think about who Hye Mi was compatible with. I liked both guys but Sam Dong was my favourite character so I inclined more towards him. His build up with Hye Mi was excellent. Even Jin Gook's romance with Hye Mi didn't feel rushed. It was a very touching story. While I liked the initial emotional scenes with Jin Gook, I was really pleased with the second half of the show because all the best scenes were ultimately between her and Sam Dong. It started out with Hye Mi's lowest point and went on to Sam Dong's lowest points and they were there for each other all the time. Most of all, they both helped each other grow in so many ways and change completely. Sam Dong's initial impression was that of a naive country boy who was so sacrificial for his mother and never thought about himself. But Hye Mi changes him to someone who starts thinking about his self and also gets competitive for her affections. He changes her into a patient person and to someone who learns to care deeply for others. Their pairing is going to remain as one of my favourites.
I should also mention the milky couple of Pil Sook and Jason. I was not fond of the fact that she had to lose weight to please him, but otherwise they were adorable to death. Even during the boring episodes, they didn't fail to entertain me. They were so cute together! This show is flawless on the romantic front.
This show is mainly about music so, the OST is great. All the songs they used in the show were catchy and had great melody. The singers were pretty good. Music was one of the strongest points of the show.
This show kept me fairly captivated until episode 10 but from then on, it kind of went downhill. A lot of sub plots like Jin Gook's daddy issues and Baek Hee's problems were the ones I didn't care about. Also, Sam Dong's illness was depressing to watch. I get that it gave a kick to his character and made him grow up but if it were up to me, I could have not included it in the story. But due to this, we get pretty good scenes between him and Hye Mi so I am not going to complain further.
This show dragged an awful lot and was even painful to watch. A lot of things could have been concentrated less or more upon. I wanted to see more of Hye Mi's cutesy and awkward side which we got for only last 2 episodes. Only because the first half is so good and the characters and romance so good, it makes up for the boring second half. There were moments it made me want to stop watching but when it came to my favourite characters, I could not stop. Also, in spite of this show being the first for some of the leads they did a brilliant job.
The direction of this show is good but the writing is not up to the mark. Too many unnecessary things got included into the show which made it seemed forced. But I was happy with the revealing of who 'K' was. The ending was alright but I have seen better and worse endings in kdramas.
So, if you enjoy good music and good characters, then definitely watch this show.
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Utterly satisfying and exceptionally delivers on its simple premise
This is made for 15- 21 year olds. However do not let these uniform clad dreamers deter one ,whatever age ,in watching this satisfying show.This drama is a lot of wholesome things similar to a warm chicken soup.Nostalgia is definitely one of them. Its also full of heart and music and one does go away pretty educated in Korean pop cultural phenomenons like how k pop groups come about and that sort of thing. However- fundamentally , its the story of Dream High that is its crowning glory even going as far as to overshadowing its actors and its music in my view.
The story at its core is based on a simple premise . Its pretty obvious what will become of our leads from the get go and so forth BUT there' s a certain X Factor to this premise. I applaud the writer for writing a show about chasing your dreams and overcoming obstacles that may come your way . I loved the emphasis on the importance of having a good character full of integrity, grit and kindness. I also found it so heartwarming that the story fundamentally centers on the importance of having a dream and daring to pursue it. And most importantly- that one must remain faithful to that dream. That in the end of it all there is no useless dream . Sure the title “Dream High “ may come across as cheesey but I found this' chase your dreams' business to be quite profound and wonderfully done.
The characters are not your typical archetypes and have surprisingly interesting layers . It was really refreshing to see a flawed heroine who made mistakes and was quite unlikeable. The heroine is sort of like the titular Emma by Jane Austen; vain and unattractively proud. The other protaganist is the tail much like Harriet is to Emma but with an interesting uprising to her . The others all embodied that integrity , grit and kindness. The parallels that characters had with other characters was also skilfully dimensional . The ancillary stories of the supporting cast were so engaging and sweet.The romance was quite subtle and yet this drama manages to boast some of the best love declaration scenes out there .The romance also ensured characters grew because of the vulnerability presented by love.
I’m not even going to analyse the acting because to be fair- this is geared to a younger audience that really want to see charm, good singing and good looking people . No Cannes Film Festival pathos driven acting here but the product of this cast is everything good and thoroughly commendable. No wonder after Dream High , superstardom was ready and waiting for its actors especially Suzy Bae, IU and Kim Soo Hyun.
The music, much like the romance ,show and tell the growth of the characters . The songs are stories of their own and its quite possibly the most heartwarming and integral score for a drama where the actors performed in my view. The tracks are tinky bops that become dated listens but the renditions of a Goose Dream ,Winter Child and Only Hope are gorgeous! The theme song is the best and the most catchy . I found myself singing it everywhere. However- The best song definitely goes to IU - Someday.
OVERALL- very good and worthy watch. Sometimes you just need a drama like this: one that you know will be utterly satisfying and deliver on its very simple premise.
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Dream High is a definite must see if you're looking for a drama that carries teenage angst, a little action, some romance, some cute and fluffy, and music. It also portrays some real problems that teens suffer with when it comes to debuting, but people very rarely think about. I loved it.
The cast was amazing and each portrayed their characters so well that I sympathized with even the 'bad' ones. I cried with Suzy and Kim Soo Hyun, with Eunjung. I admired how each character not only struggled through their issues, but came to really discover themselves as well.
The music was very inspiring and suited the drama very well. Most of it was simply sweet, almost to the extent of cavity-inducing in IU's case, but that's what is so lovable about IU in the first place.
Needless to say this drama is well worth the time to watch all sixteen episodes. Whether you choose to watch them straight through like I did or break them up over several days or even weeks is up to you, but you won't be disappointed.
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