AMOGUS

High school students play the mafia game. Cool, we all played the game in high school. Except people really do get killed. The mafias killing them are among them and they have to vote out these mafias, who would ALSO actually die. Basically among us in real life - minus the tasks.
Now this is a plot which is bound to attract viewers. Fresh storyline, fresh actors, keeps people on the edge of their seat - it's pretty much set up to become a hit. The only problem that can possibly arise is poor execution. And that is exactly what happened here.

*ACTORS*:
The actors were mostly those I had never seen before (except the one who played Oh Jung Won, who I believe is that one girl from Penthouse). Assuming that it was one of their initial projects, they did a pretty good job. That bully guy tho - he did a really good job pissing me off. Great acting skills fr.

*STORY*:
Boy when I tell you that this drama is a huuuge missed opportunity. It had MASSIVE potential -it started out strong and would have easily become a huge success had it not crumbled in the latter half. It was as if the writer got a really great idea and started writing excitedly, then ran out of ideas on how to further develop the premise of the whys and hows and just.... finished it off. A few things I would like to point out, MAJOR SPOILERS ahead so continue reading only if you have seen the drama in its entirety:

1. The children got used to the game too quickly for my liking. I guess that was required to condense everything in 12 episodes, but they should have dwelled on their confusion, despair and thought processes, which they didn't. They could have made use of that main bully's acting skills when they showed him crying in one of the initial episodes, so that viewers could better understand the shock and distress everyone was going through.

2. What was the point of ML's backstory? To add a little conviction to his very anticlimactic "death"? If yes, then it unfortunately didn't serve the purpose very well.

3. The entire Se-eun situation - The last ep was pretty much dedicated to this and I believe it was supposed to act as an explanation as to whatever happened but it seems pretty half baked and only leaves us with further questions. For instance, how did Se-eun's parents manage to gather those children in the first place? Was it that game notification everyone received? What about those children's parents then? What on earth are they doing? Why are Se-eun's parents also targeting those who weren't even aware about the whole Se-eun scandal? How blinded by revenge were they that they dragged in innocent children to suffer their wrath too? I'm sorry but the whole 'those-who-do-nothing-while-others-are-bullied-and-stay-silent' argument isn't very convincing tbh. What kind of an investigation took place that they could not track down who made that scandalous video? If Se-eun's parents have enough money and resources (so much so that they got into every one of their daughter's classmate's brain to make them suffer), how did they allow it to be swept under the rugs?

4. "Make the bullies suffer as she did" was the whole premise and yet it wasn't carried out satisfactorily. Not once do the bullies connect their wrongdoings to their circumstances, not once do they feel bad about their actions, not once do they regret doing what they did. Instead, innocent children got PTSD from witnessing their friends die, as if having one friend suicide wasn't enough.

All in all, it was a good watch but the ending was SO unsatisfying that it became yet another average drama.

P.S: What's with all those Kyung Jun and Yoon-Seo edits on youtube lmaoo?! Where on earth do people even get such ideas +_+

Read More

To have a place to return to is an incredible relief

Ending on a positive and lovely note, the drama's run was sure a rollercoaster of emotions. While at times I felt extreme amounts of hate towards the writer for not having the female lead take very obvious logical decisions, she managed to calm me down by the second half of the drama. The journey of finding herself was beautifully portrayed. Shoutout to Shin Hye Sun, what an actress she is! The sheer amount of emotions she can convey with just her eyes is *chef's kiss*. The cast did an amazing work, especially Jo Yoon Seo, god did I hate her character's guts. Overall a good slice of life drama with great side character arcs, wouldn't go through the pain of watching the first half of the drama again tho.

The Man-Su arc was the best in my opinion XD

Read More