This review may contain spoilers
Complex Characters but an Abrupt Ending
I gave High Society an 8.5 because, at first, I thought it deserved a higher rating. The ending is decent by melodrama standards, but honestly, I was left disappointed. It just ended so abruptly and felt kind of unresolved.The story is pretty much what you’d expect from the synopsis: two women navigating love in very different worlds. Yoon Ha, the first girl, is the youngest daughter of a super-rich chaebol family, but her relationship with her family is terrible except for her older brother, who goes missing. Her mom is/was awful and abusive. Her dad was constantly yelling and treating his kids like tools for his own benefit. Then there’s Ji Yi, the second girl, who’s not rich but she is bright, hardworking, and has no idea Yoon Ha’s rich. She’s a great friend to Yoon Ha, and their friendship is one of the best parts of the show.
We also meet Joon Ki, who’s from a similar background to Yoon Ha, and Chang Soo, who first sees her in dark makeup and ripped jeans. From there, their lives intertwine.
Story:
The pace was pretty natural, and I liked that it showed everyone’s lives without overdoing it. Yes, it’s a melodrama, but it wasn’t too cheesy or unrealistic. It actually felt like these could be real people, which kept me interested. But the ending.. it was too sudden. Either they couldn’t turn this into a longer drama to wrap things up better, or they just wanted it to be a slice of life about two women finding love with all the complications that come with it. I liked that they kept the focus tight, but it could’ve been balanced better.
Acting/Characters:
The acting was good, I don’t really have any complaints. But the character development is why I didn’t rate it higher. The writers know how to get you invested, making you like or hate characters depending on the moment. I really liked Ji Yi at first. She’s sweet, bright, and her friendship with Yoon Ha is so fun to watch, how they communicate with each other is refreshing to see in a drama. But after Yoon Ha finds out Chang Soo’s true intentions, Ji Yi’s character changes. She stays friendly with Chang Soo, even after knowing what he did. it felt out of character. Many other viewers felt the same. Even acting like Yoon Ha’s overreacting, which made me care less about her and her romance with Joon Ki.
Joon Ki, on the other hand, was great. He’s genuinely in love with Ji Yi, and that makes him likable. Chang Soo, though? Couldn’t stand him after his intentions were revealed, but the writers are good at making you hate a character, then pulling you back. The same goes for Yoon Ha’s mom. I despised her at first, but they gave her a redemption arc that explained her actions a bit more.
Conclusion:
In the end, everyone’s story wrapped up pretty well. Each character learned something, and we got a glimpse into why they behaved the way they did. This was the first drama I’ve finished in a while, and I binged it in one day. If you like complex characters and don’t mind a little unresolved tension, High Society is worth a watch.
Was this review helpful to you?
Why... just... why?
High Society is one of those dramas that is basically some hot garbage, that for some strange reason, keeps you wanting to watch until the end. I disliked most things (although the SML and SFL by far saved the entire drama). By the end of it all, I was only really interested when either the SML/SFL were shown. I hated the main couple, although their acting was at least better than their awful personality traits. I also disliked the over-philosophical dialogue and direction. I also liked the OST, although this too became way too repetitive by the end. I started to get bored by this drama from about episode 5 or episode 6. I decided to stick with it because I loved the SML and SFL. I started to enjoy it better, until about roughly episode 14, where it fell off dramatically and I was glad it ended. I could've easily dropped this drama but I just wanted to see how things ended.If you can easily drop dramas, I'm positive that you will drop this. If you are like me and you find it difficult to drop this, I would honestly suggest not even starting this. Or, if you are a watcher who doesn't mind skipping scenes (again something I can't do), I suggest that you only watch scenes that involve the SML and SFL.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
What does it means if you watch a drama more times ? Means that you like it? No! I love it! It’s my favorite 2015 drama. You can buy a lot of things using money ???? cute clothes ????, accessories, expensive gifts ???? but you will never ever be able to buy a person heart. And that’s what I love about this drama! I love this drama because parents wants their kids to marry with the same status girl just because to collaborate in business to expand their business.But they will fight against it and... Wait...! If you’re curious watch it! Find out if they will be able to marry the one they love!
The second lead couple I like the most but first one was also very good.
I highly recommend to watch it!
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
My 5th kdrama ever and it was kind of disappointing but not at the same time. The only reason I decided to watch this was because I had seen an edit of Park Hyungsik in this drama and wanted to give it a try. But looking at the year of the drama, I knew it wouldn't be at the same quality as the other 4 I had seen.The cast was a cast I didn't and still don't know and their acting was okay. Definitely think Park Hyungsik was the saviour of the show. His relationship with SFL was the reason I had continue to watch the show. The best scene was for sure the scene where Chang Soo had broke down in front of his mother and you could actually see that the mother felt bad for her son.
Overall, this show could've been done a lot better but I hadn't originally expected much from it.
Was this review helpful to you?
Good and bad at the same time
This is a drama that I find really difficult to rate, because it's at the same time very bad, and very good.The bad: the main couple and their acting. Boring, boring, boring! And bad acting! These two actors seemed bored to death with their own story and their own acting. They were totally unconvincing as a couple. There was no chemistry between them, either real or acted.
The good: the second couple, and the second lead's relationship with his Mom. With the excellent work that Park Hyung-Sik does the couple was exciting, and managed well to capture the viewers' interest. I have actually rewatched this drama, skipping all related to the main couple, just focusing on the second leads :-)
This was a drama that made me develop a serious case of second lead syndrome, as well as made me a fan of Park Hyun-Sik. I recommend it to all fans of this actor (just skip the main lead plot).
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
The life lesson
whatever I thought of this story by listening to its name (HIGH SOCIETY) only was completely different. I thought it off as a mushy Romance, then I thought it of as revenge Romance, but then stopped thinking and just enjoyed itit kickstart nicely, all the characters were well portrayed and the story was intriguing.
The societal difference between the leads, the dreams, the hard work it was perfectly balanced in this drama with no overacting as in most of the other shows.
It was plain simple love story.
The character development of the rich kids and poor kids were well done. It had lots of positive vibe and less negativity. Each character grew with the episodes rather than crying on their fate. And each character had got what they wanted, giving a lesson YOU HAVE TO WORK HARD TO CHANGE YOUR DESTINY.
there where many other life lessons given by the elders to the main leads.
Every actor played their part nicely, I liked park hyung sik very much in this drama.
Was this review helpful to you?
The story is basically about our society right now. As you can see, every one want to become rich, powerful and some even will do anything wrong or right to get into the high position in our society. Money speak, power speak, the more money and power you have, the higher your position is.
Some are born rich, no matter if you are an idiot or a bad guy. The fact that you're from a rich family, people will never underestimate you. No matter what.
Some work so hard to raise his/her social status, even just a little bit in order to survive in this cruel society, or to protect their love one (or whatever the reason is). You need to be smarter, greater, and you need to do better than anyone in order to get this, and some turned into an evil without realizing it. But in this case, even one little mistake, you'll lose everything.
Some work so hard just to survive, but live is hard in this point people will look down on you. In this case, no matter you did or did not do anything wrong, you're still the one to blame.
Pathetic, that's what could be use to describe our society nowadays, but that's the fact.
The romance in this drama is just part of the story for me. But I love how Yoo Chang Soo (Park Hyun Sik) treat Lee Ji Yi (Im Ji Yeon) here. :))
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great either.
This is going to be kinda long & I'll start by saying it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't amazing either.The main couple was literally so boring, they really had no chemistry at all it was so painful to watch. I had to skip through most of their scenes to be honest. The "love" they had was not believable at all. Yoonha (Uee) was okay I did like her though she did get annoying at times, & Joongi (Sung Joon) I immediately hated him from the start I did not like him once throughout the whole thing. Kinda wished he would've just gone & died in a ditch somewhere, but you know.
Then we have the secondary couple Chang Soo (Park Hyung Sik) & Ji Yi (Im Ji Yeon) who had amazing chemistry & most of their scenes together were pretty adorable. They should've been the main couple 100%. I stuck with this drama for their sake.
Also alert for any of you who hate unnecessary break ups both couples do breakup. The main couple does have a better reason for a breakup though (& They really should've stayed broken up in all honesty) the second couple is just like... why? They get back together again but anyway.
I love Chang Soo one reason because of PHS (I mean he is the whole reason I started this kdrama in the first place) but another because the character he played was amazing. I loved literally all his outfits they looked fantastic on him. His hairstyle was so cool too.
Then there is also his personality which is cool, funny, very charming, at times very adorable & of course we can't forget hot. He could be a bit of a jerk & stuck up sometimes but that was just one thing I loved about his personality & it was funny. He definitely stole the limelight no questions asked.
I loved Ji Yi too she was funny, energetic & so adorable (no wonder my boy Chang Soo loves her) she did get slightly annoying at the end, but I got over that. Also, I loved Yoonha and Ji Yi's friendship they loved each other like sisters it was pretty sweet.
To be honest Ji Yi & Chang Soo were the only characters I genuinely liked (every once in a while, Yoonha) everyone else sucked. I also hated how much they focused on the side characters when they legit didn't even have anything interesting to say & most of the time it was just Yoonha's mother screeching like a banshee. Again, I skipped through most of those parts too.
Chang Soo's mother & Yoonha's mother were such cows. They did get better at the end, but I still hate them.
I don't usually drop things but if it hadn't been for Park Hyung Sik & Im Ji Yeon I would've definitely abandoned this. In my opinion they saved this kdrama.
I'll probably rewatch sometime but literally only for the secondary couple & PHS scenes. If you're a major fan of Park Hyung Sik (like me) you'll most likely like watching it for him if nothing else, I wouldn't recommend if you don't like him but if you do I would & you can just skip to the better parts of this.
So anywya I love the secondary couple hate everything else.
I'll stop now this became long. Thanks for reading <3
Was this review helpful to you?
Amazing stories ???
Love it love it love it love it. Absolutely freaking love it! First of all amazing storyline the plots are just sooo good and the screenplay's been done soo well.Love the friendship between each of them the four of them just go well together soo well especially loved the scenes were they four talk about their relationships together. All of those scenes were very well scripted. I liked how they showed the friendship between all four them separately like there was Bromance, Sismance, Friendship, Romance, Crush, Alliance so many emotions all together. The cast 👏👏🫡 absolutely fantastic work! Amazing work! The music wasn't too much to my liking but it was pretty good too. Overall one of the top 5 favourite dramas of mine. You should DEFINITELY watch it. 👭💘💔👬🚲🍻💰🆚💸
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
