entertainment and plot-wise wise, it was beautiful. the story may have been a little slow at times for some people, although i personally loved the pace as i was able to understand each character. this was one of the few dramas in which i actually loved all the side characters as well. i looked forward to what was happening to them too, because - as i said before - it felt like they were my friends. the osts fit the story perfectly and the cinematography was beyond gorgeous. some moments were captured so well that i had to keep rewinding them! the drama just made me feel really happy and warm. the acting in this drama really surprised me! i was a bit scared to see ong seong woo act as i didn’t know much about his acting abilities. i was hoping he wouldn’t be another cha eunwoo (no offence to eunwoo! he’s not horrible but he’s not quite the best yet). albeit ong acc did really well! he was able to bring a lot of emotion into his character, which was surprising and lovely to see.
kim hyang gi is of course a queen when it comes to acting , so her great acting was well-expected. she did a great job expressing her character and brought a lot of emotions into the show. my bby did such a good job , she made me so emotional in this show! she’s the cutest lil bean y’all :,)
shin seung-ho did a great job of making me want to best the crap out of ma hwi young. this man oml, he pISSed me off- especially at the start. ofc , there is a lot of character development , and change will come , but in the first few episodes...i was ready to jump into my laptop and teach him a lesson! it was really surprising to see seung-ho play such a different character after a-teen. in a-teen, he was like a lil cinnamon roll, whereas here he was just an ass. so to see this big change really made me realize what a great actor seung-ho is. i truly look forward to him growing and becoming successful bc he is hella talented!
all in all, this review has become into a whole essay, so i’m going to stop! i’m gonna end this with saying: regardless of your age, i think moment at eighteen is a lovely show that mirrors youth in a beautiful manner. if you are below 18, you can see the show and learn from the character’s mistakes. if you are 18 , you can relate to these characters and reflect on yourself. and if you are past 18 , you can reminisce your youth. at all ages, it will be able to provide insight to various situations in a very emotional and lovely manner. i would 100% recommend this show to anyone looking for a sweet, emotional and meaningful watch ((:
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This show's highlight is really the uniquely written characters.
Jun Woo has no interest in school life because of a traumatic past in his previous school. Just in his first week in the new school, he is falsely accused of stealing. Meanwhile, Soo Bin notices a different side of him besides what the others think and finds herself gravitating towards him. Through time, we'll see the innocent first love of these 18-year-olds.It’s one of the better school dramas that handles students’ issues well. Not only the romance is so adorable, This show's highlight is really the uniquely written and authentic characters.
Jun Woo is probably my favorite type of male lead – quiet, stoic, introspective, protective, with no toxic masculinity. He's smart and knows how to stand his ground even though he's introverted. His quirks and mannerism is so unique that you just have to see him to understand and appreciate him. Our female lead, Soo Bin, has a really wonderful stage presence; She’s bright and warm, which gives the energy that people around her are happy to see her. I love that. Their highs and lows are just truly endearing.
Although there are some episodes that I find boring and landing flat to me, the ending allows me to imagine them living on and I always find that very nice.
I recommend the show to anyone who love slice-of-life. It falls somewhere in between Sassy Go Go or Cheer Up, and the more serious elements probably comparable to Sky Castle. So, if you enjoyed those, I think Moments of 18 has a lot in common.
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The beginnig was especially strong and each episode was action packed and left the viewers craving for more. Naturally, as it progressed it also slowed down in the middle and focused more on the two main characters' relationship and the unfolding romance. Despite this, in the last episodes it picked up the inital speed and vibe and the ending was really nice.
Moment at Eighteen captured perfectly the feeling of growing up and I got attached to the charcters and their stories. The ending feels like saying goodbye to an old friend and somehow feels nostalgic.
There were various themes in this drama such as the portrayal of the different parent-child relationships (both good and bad), the feeling of first love, the pressure that students face to become studying machines just to get into universities and even lgbt topics!
The acting was amazing! Ong Seong Wu did a beautiful job with his character (knowing that this is his acting debut!) and I could feel sincerely connected to his character. Everyone else in the cast was amazing too and there were so many unique characters. I have to highlight Kang Ki Young, who is seriously one of the best actors right now, his character was probably my favourite.
I really loved the OST as well, it mirrored perfectly the feeling and gave a great ambiance to the drama.
Overall this drama made me very emotional at times and made me laugh too. It filled me with warmth and made me fall in love with the charcters. It's definetly a school drama that everyone can enjoy and relate to regardless of their age.
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Even though you try to hate some characters you can't hate them really. I did love the frend-enemies dynamic. And even though it is a teen drama about teens I did like that we got story about parents, but it wasn't too much, just enough. I think I would've liked it if it was longer. It just felt a bit empty at the end just because I wanted to experience more with the characters. I actually at first didn't like the ending, but the more I think about it, it was great.
We are left knowing they are only 18 and that they won't give up. I like that this drama was really realistic about it but still gave hope. That they can do it, that people can change and that not everything goes right at first but we shouldn't give up.
So I really liked this drama and I I would recommend it.
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Poor!
When it comes to teenage/school dramas, bullying/hierarchy/classes and school pressure aren't doing it for me unless they take an interesting angle of which this drama failed to do. It fell into the endless pit of vexing mediocrity. On another note, sloppy writing that is sincerely flawed and only focuses on the shininess of teenage fluff and antics, further demoting its poor efforts in creating a story. On an unrelated note, I wonder when Kim Hyang Gi would graduate from playing student roles, it's getting stale. Also, it's a waste for the adult cast to be involved in such drama.Was this review helpful to you?
/.5/10
kinda cool, but the ending left something to be desired... But it was ok, they managed to develop the characters' story well, but the problems at school were not so well developed they left it aside, and the ending left very open how their lives would be , did they stay together? they broke up? did her mother accept him later?, we don't know, maybe someday a second season will come out... but until then i think a 7.5/10 is fair.Was this review helpful to you?
Fantastic cast, great acting
I have no idea why people are saying it was slow or boring. Have we lost the patience to let things unfold and let emotions flow at a certain pace...Does everything have to be fast and peppy,
I absolutely loved the storyline, the cast, direction is so realistic and good acting by everyone. You can feel the emotions and connection of the lead.. their acting was very natural.
I am sure audience will connect with the characters. It also teaches the right morals to younger audience. Consequences of wrong d oing and not everything be measured by money or power.
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You will remember your own Moment of 18
Storychoi jun woo, a teen who is forced to transfer to another school, meets classmates yoo soo bin and ma hwi young. And gets pulled into the journey of first love as well as the life experience. He is misunderstood in his new school yet he finds his way to the future. There are crazy rich parents who have high expectations from there kids.
Plot views
an excellent coming of age story. Each story was given a good closure at the end. My only concern was that it suddenly shift to the romantic plot actually shifted the storyline too. The death of the friend was left aside and as there were many supporting characters who had there own storyline and difficulties, it could have been dealt a little more. Specially oh je ju who had a secret and Ro-mi who had a knack of lying about her background. The friendship and love were well portrayed. Am happy to have watched this.
Acting- I will start with my fav.
▪︎The class teacher oh-han-kyul played by kang-ki-young. He was just perfect in the role taking care of the students while connecting with jun woo, remembering his old days. He always tried to show the right path to the students. His expressions were apt and body language was superb.
▪︎Shin seung ho as ma hwi young was good choice. As he had a big build, he seemed rich and with the expression he seemed to have a dark side too.
▪︎Ong SeongWu as Choi Joon Woo was awesome. His lean and thin body seemed as if he was bullied and thus looked as a teen. He appears as if he has no empathy and is cold-hearted but he has a side where he is soft,caring loving. It was nice to see his reactions during bad situations not just enduring everything. He won many awards for the role and I would like to see more of his works.
▪︎Kim HyangGi as Yoo SooBin was cute. Her smiles was lighting up the screens. Her mother daughter relationship was rough but beautiful. As we all know that age is critical and we all should be careful.
Music- christopher’s moment was excellent piece. Just loved it.
Other osts and bgm was also nice. I like the piano notes in the BGM.
Rewatch- yes but after sometime when I have forgot the story.
Appreciation- it dealt with the teenage life where they are sometimes considered grown ups and sometimes not. It conveys proper life lessons and I hope everyone who watches it is able to grasp it.
Criticism- Ending of ma hwi young was ok but what happened to his parents, wasn’t shown. He was also a victim, and his meeting with brother was like only one sided.
Fav scene
1when joon woo brings his co-worker to his school.
2when he does not write the apology letter.
Quotes
Ma hwi young-They always told me to try to beas good as you but I will stop being as good as you. I’ll be good as I can be.
Yoo soo bin- It must be so easy for you adults. Sometimes you tell us that we know nothing because we are too young and we should do nothing but study, but other times you say you are all grown up now you are old enough to understand everything. You change your words whenever you want to suit your needs
Recommendation
yes I would recommend this to everyone who loves a good story but with not much pressure to mind and heart.
Afterthought
I remembered my own moment of 18 and the bad decisions I made. I wished I had met my mentor at that age who changed my life. Needless it reminds of ones youth and first love
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The best part of our lives
I love this! It captured that moment when we were in High School (Grades 10, 11, 12 in South Korea; Grades 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 in the Philippines).It was a very good throwback to the best day of our lives. When we were so young, innocent, brave, that part of our life where we were trying to carve a name for ourselves, trying to be independent, yet reality is pushing us back. That point in our lives when we start to hate our parents/guardians because of this and that.
But, today, as adults, we are saying the exact same thing to the kids of today. Go study. GO STUDY! It is not the time to be in a relationship. Or, us adults find it hard to trust kids because WE KNOW EXACTLY what is going on in their minds and what they are and will do. Why? Because we've been there ourselves.
To some, relationship became the reason their grades fell. While for some, it became the reason they became the top of the class. Some got distracted because of it, some it was a source of inspiration.
That is what this show is about, High School life, and how we were poking into the world of adulthood, yet too afraid to face make a stand. Where we thought we knew better, only to realise, often the hard way, what we know about ourselves and about life is nothing.
EVEN SO, it is that point in our lives that many of us wants to go back to. The fun. The feeling of being sooooo muuuuch in love. Laughing with our friends. With absolutely no care about the world.
To kids out there, enjoy your school life. Play hard. Live it. Laugh all you want, cry all you want. Be in love. Feel all the pain of break-ups. Because, trust us, once you are an adult, you will never have time to play, you will never experience that kind of life ever again. You will never have time to laugh, NOT EVEN to cry. And all the pain you will experience as an adult, you will lock it away. And all the love in the world, you will learn to ignore it.
It sucks to be an adult. So, enjoy your High School life. Make the best of it. Make a lot of good memories, and learn from all the bad memories. It will shape you. It will be the source of your strength and success one day.
You may hate your teachers, those subjects, but they will become useful in your adult life.
At that age, you think you know what you want to become and what job you will apply to, but no, more than half the time, things doesn't go according to your plan.
You hate math? Who doesn't? You are thinking you don't need to learn history, or English because it has nothing to do with the job you want? We all assumed that, too.
But, you know what, kids? We were wrong. Even in the type of jobs where it's 99% not needed, there is always that 1%, and you will wish to paid attention to your teachers.
Enjoy your life at eighteen, or you will regret it later.
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Jun Woo protection squad
Like the other reviews, I have to agree that the story and plot had an amazing potential that wasn't properly used. There are lots of loose strings plot wise by the end of the drama; However, I would like to say that it's worth watching just because of the characterization of the main lead as well as the depiction of teen life, social statuses, family abuse, bullying and the pacing of time. I was truly invested and moved by this drama throughout each episode. They tackled many themes through the drama and might have been overambitious with the romantic side of the drama. I believe, "Moments at Eighteen" would have been more successful if they had removed the rather mediocre but still true teen romance out of the equation and dealt with the other more serious thematic at hand, that is, unless they had made more episodes to discuss the other themes.Overall, I love the main lead and went through this journey with him.
The acting was amazing, and the episode titles were also spectacular!!
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KIND OF A LONG REVIEW BC I LOVE CHOI JUNWU
First off, I am not an avid fan of kdrama or any series in particular because I don't have enough attention and time to invest in any series. Surprisingly, I loved this one!!! Also note this review focuses solely on how I felt about it, and not on its technicalities.Choi Junwu, I thought was difficult to read. He is quiet, shy, observant. It was later on when I realized, he was simply just being 18. And being 18 means having to deal with the budding sense of responsibility of becoming an adult, trying to understand the raw, novel emotions of love, grief, isolation, and discovering one's individuality. In many cases, these were manifested and it was written well. Junwu's depth was portrayed well by Ong Seongwu. For a rookie actor, this was such a heavy role!!! (I admit I'm biased but trust me, he did REALLY GOOD he got a Baeksang nomination for it.)
Some characters were a bit too comical and stereotypical, like Soobin's circle and Pilsang, and some were just plain repulsive, like Hwiyeong's parents. But I especially liked their teacher. Like us viewers, he was the "outsider". He was the one observing these kids and understanding where they're coming from. He was rooting for them and as a viewer, I too, was wishing these students could get a break. The mothers were also great. Overall, the dynamic between characters was good.
I do not know much since this is only my 2nd deliberate kdrama watch, and my first for this genre. Maybe I loved this one because it reminded me too much of my own moments at 18 (*cough* that last episode...something very similar happened to me, also on an exam day HAHAHA
I recommend this drama. It was not perfect, but it is one to FEEL and not to think about. Those moments--of shifting back and forth between being and existing, falling in and out of love, rebelling against parents and feeling guilty about it, thinking you're not enough--captured the essence of youth. It's both so simple and so complicated, but you will get through it anyway.
**The rewatch value is low because I already felt a lot from watching it once, and I'm afraid it will lose its magic when I overwhelm myself too much.
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