The School Nurse Files (2020)

Something spooky and funny for Halloween

I'm not surprised of the medium-low rating because this drama is not for everyone. It's odd, a little twisted and leaves many things unsaid until the end. It's a drama that asks you to think and use your brain, to come up with explanations by connecting the dots instead of just giving you all the answers from the start.

That's not to say the story doesn't give answerS. In the end, more or less everything is explained. The story starts in the middle and lets you get accustomed to all the weirdness and the characters before it starts to give you explanations.

Overall, it's a fun, endearing and sometimes tearinducing watch. I enjoyed it very much even though it's a genre on its own that it's even hard to explain with words. Definitely a pleasant watch I would recommend to everyone who's looking for something spooky but not scary, and to everyone who wants to have a good laugh.

//SPOILERS AHEAD//

I gave 8.5 because the ending could probably benefit of a couple more minutes to see where the other characters, especially the professor, ended up. They also teased romance for the whole duration of the series, but it seems that in the end either they leave the ending to your imagination, or it was put aside completely (I'm more for the first option, since there is /that/ scene towards the very end between the two leads, so I can't believe they just didn't pursue a relationship after that.)

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For a different taste... lot of things unexplained...

Ok. first time writing a review , so forgive me if I write something wrong or hurtful...

This series does not give you much explanations at all. Lots of things happen, Things escalate rather quickly, but then the characters don't quite react to what's happening or what just happened in the appropriate manner. I don't know if it was intentional from the creators of this show, trying to be cheeky with the humor maybe.. Most of the characters are strange in this series. Strangest of them all , Ahn Eun Young, who is played well by Jung Yu Mi. I think the casting was perfect, and so was her wardrobe, and styling, and props. Nam Joo Hyuk played the role of Mr. Hong well, but it seemed weird, that both the leads would just become friends, after the strange happenings in episode 1. He just accepts without any questions that Miss. Ahn could see jellies and that they actually exist. There is no exposition scene where Miss. Ahn reveals her secret to Mr. Hong, we are asked to assume that it happened and Mr. Hong is completely OK with it, and actually plays along with tying the armpit hairs of two students... ? i cant explain that ... that's how weird this drama is...lol.... Suddenly the nurse and a student are freinds, and strangely that student is at her office almost all the time ! The Mite eater character was intriguing , but it wasn't explained , nor does it seem logical, how the character comes to be a school student in the first place. The story leaves a lot of loose plot threads never explaining it, (what's the deal with acupuncture lady ) , Mr. Mackenzie plot thread could have lead somewhere but he disappears towards the end episodes. At the end there is a major calamity, and it would have been interesting to see how it was resolved, but nothing is shown.
Most will find this weird, some people will like it, others won't. Personally, I was left wanting for more explanations and felt rather unsatisfied with the ending after investing time in watching this series (even though it's not long). I liked the characters, the setting; I liked the music, it is really unique and adds to the quirkiness of the show. The effects are also really great and also gross at some times. The creatures were well designed, some were very cute. All in all, an Okay show to pass time...

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I loved it

The best way to describe it is like Natsume Yuuchinjou; in all except characters and general plot line. The Premise, themes, and mood are really similar.


I'm surprised by the number of people who didn't like the story. A lot of it is very subtle and you have to guess what happened off screen — not like in a crime shows but like really episodic. It was really crackish in terms of tone, but it was the type of humor where the the show is laughing and finding everything ridiculous to hide how dark and depressing the actual storylines are. This is not a fully shown plot with a tied up ending; I still have plenty of questions and want to know more, but I actually enjoy that. It ends very open ended, but not without gratification. This is a slowburn, pre-relationship too, so expect no kisses or real declarations of love from the mains. People are right in saying it doesn't require brain power in terms of plot but in terms of emotions, omg.

I'm writing this right after seeing it so, I will edit as I reflect more.

It won't let me recommend a non-drama so here!
Natsume Yuuchinjou is an anime, and it doesn't have any hit of romance (just a boy bonding with a demonic cat kinda?) but the tone and topics are really similar!
• MC struggling with seeing spirits and "fighting" them off - less fighting in Natsume
• Depressed that they can't fit in (Natsume evolves happier tho)
• Bigger orgs trying to control things in the background
• Building a group of friends over time
• Dealing with loss, and other complex emotions for yourself and for spirits and people
• Tho the scenery in Natsume that is much more like nature and forrests while this has jellies and neon swords haha
people who didn't know how to process school nurse files might like natsume more

SPOILERS without specifics because for some people will want this warning
TW:
Magically forced mass attempted suicide; minor magically forced homophobia to a lesbian couple (tho what was said made me gasp)

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Jelly! Jelly! Jelly! Jelly!

This drama is peculiar. Very.
I had trouble understanding what the nurse Ahn sees are ghosts, or phantoms, or a different life form. In the beginning, I was tricked into thinking maybe it's just all an imagination of nurse Ahn. That she is suffering from 8 th grade syndrome. But it's not.

As I said the story is peculiar. But still fascinating! It is novel; something you won't see quite often.
The whole story revolves around the school, which was built over an infamously mysterious pound. There are jellies, there are people who can see them. Some people who protect other people from the malevolent jellies and some who use those jellies for their own selfish purposes. The main male lead has an unusual power which can recharge the powers of those who can see jellies.

After completing the drama, there were a lot of things left unanswered. There is still a list of mystery surrounding the school, the people who are trying to control the school's power. The male leads power. Etc.

So go ahead and watch the drama. It is a fun watch, of course. The acting is nicely performed. Unusual story, eerie setting, uncanny magic, and peculiar characters will surely make it a worth watch.
It is only 6 episodes. Plus there might be a second season coming.

Jelly out.

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Strange and intriguing.

Nurse Files is a drama that invites you in a world of fantasy that challenges the norms. Our lead is a young woman who sees things called “jellies” — left behind by people, or just creatures which are invisible to most. Along with her we have a Chinese teacher who’s ability is being a forcefield visible to only few and a disability visible to all. I would suggest you going into this drama with no expectations of wanting to understand the powers of our FL, or even the issues that are centric to the plot. In accordance to the FL’s life, we as viewers are expected to simply accept whatever comes our way. Strange creatures in the school built over a what was a pond with great aura? Okay. Connection between students causing them to start behaving hysterically? Okay. Mite infestation which cause a person to be born simply to eat the mites away? Okay. There are plenty such things that confuse you, but like the leads, we simply accept it and try to fix it.

Apart from the strangeness and fantastical elements, I simply loved the portrayal of characters. Loved the relationship between the FL and ML — starts of awkward and then just becomes comforting. The take away from this drama would be it’s okay to be weird as long as you are not a bad human.

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Quirky, Eerie, Weird in a Good Way, Unique, Has Depth and is Fun to Watch

Seriously one of the most different and weird Kdrama I have ever watched. The way the Kdrama is shot and presented reminds me of Animes. The characters are interesting, the story is a little confusing at first but by Ep 3 you will get it.
Ep 3 onwards it was a binge watch material for me and I wish there was a 2nd season to it.
I highly recommend this drama if you want a change of pace from the usual tropes of Kdramas and you will have ton of fun watching and surprisingly there are also many moments which were about Feels especially Ep 5(Best Ep)
Wish this Kdrama was longer or at least will have a season 2.
Also the Theme song is so catchy!

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A bit long-ish pilot episode

I liked the oddity of the story, and it seemed it would be a nice weird horror detective show. However the story ended abruptly and nothing was really explained as if there should have been another season, but there apparently isn't.

As for characters, Ms Ahn was interesting, but annoyed me terribly. Being oddball is ok, but being so self-centred to not see how hurtful you behave towards the only person who cares truly about you, no, it's not ok. Teasing romance is fine for a show like this, but those shenanigans are hard to swallow if there are no sparks between them. ML tried hard, but FL was too absorbed in her despair that there was no room for anybody else but herself. I lost interest eventually. If there was another season, maybe I would have watched, who knows? As it is, I am glad it was a short show, so I didn't waste too much time on it. I am not sorry I have watched it, but I do not feel any better for it.

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Short, strange, interesting, but left a lot of questions

I just want to start off. Acting by the ML and FL were great! Always a fan of ML. It was a nice interesting short series. Because of how short it was, I felt it left a lot of details and questions unanswered. I am still 100% confused by the ending and have no idea what happened.
Some questions I had:
Why did the mark appear? Why did it go away? What're the two groups?? How are there other people that can see jellies? Why can Mckenzie manipulate it and she didn't even try? Why did in Pyo automatically bond with her and followed along with her plans so fast? And the kids too? And what's the meaning on the ducks?? I understand that it's a short series and they can't be too detailed but it did feel too rushed on some of those details. There needs to be more episodes. Also why did they focus so much on an ex who died and came back just to die again?? Someone else reminded me of this but there are doctors capable of doing surgery on magical mite eating beings???? But then what was the role of the old fishmonger lady???? I do appreciate the lesbian couple and how ML defeded homosexuality.

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A Fascinating Premise with Something Crucial Missing

I had very high hopes for this drama as a show that could be quirky and strange in an interesting and unique way. In truth, I guess it did follow through on those fronts, but still I couldn't find myself enjoying the vast majority of it. It didn't dawn on me until the end of the story, when every mystery was revealed (or at least supposed to be revealed), that I discovered what was missing. Execution. An incredible premise with an honestly very good story was completely ruined by flat acting, unclear information, and a basic lack of chemistry between the characters. It was a confusing and in the end, very disappointing experience.

The vibe of this show is not at all what I expected, or what I hoped, for it to be. A cover poster and trailer filled with outlandish colorful creatures and a school nurse wielding a light up plastic sword gave me the impression of an off-the wall, lighthearted, and occasionally funny tone, but what we got instead was an unexpectedly dark feel only made worse by bad acting. Although I don't despise a show with a darker tone, it's hard to take it seriously with all the aforementioned oddities. What's most confusing is when a plot point seems entirely meant to be played off as a joke or over emphasized in it's own absurdity, but then is portrayed as another normal development by our perpetually depressed characters.

The chemistry, in my opinion, is one of the most egregious failings off the show. There is none. And I mean NONE. It's romance without the love. Friendship without the friendliness. Banter without the jokes. Our two main leads are- as revealed by dialogue- supposedly falling in love, but you'd never guess that without them telling you. They never seem happy to be together (I think I saw the female lead smile a total of three times in the whole six hour runtime), the female lead is perpetually pushing away the male lead, and there is no sexual tension whatsoever. From a big picture plot standpoint, I can see all the elements which would lead to a romance (with maybe a few missing, but still doable), and yet the love just isn't there. And this doesn't just go for the romance, as bonds between friends is known only by who isn't outright bullying each other. Acts of kindness happen seemingly out of nowhere when you suspect there should've been something leading there. It's payoff without the setup, and frankly, the setup would've been the most interesting part.

Oh boy, was the story confusing. I felt like I had to run my brain on full power to try and puzzle out what the heck was going on. I'm pretty sure there was a twist at the end but I can't for the life of me figure out what it was. It's always unclear who knows/believes the female lead can see jellies (they're basically ghost creatures no one else can see, and I love the name and design of them). Relationships between characters is often unknown, and this isn't helped by the complete lack of chemistry between them. I really can't explain too much else for fear of spoilers, but if you end up watching this just... good luck.

I'll mention real quick that I liked episode five. It was the first time I really understood the lead's emotions (and was able to tell she had them), and it dealt with some really powerful topics and what to do about them. You could almost watch that episode alone, but it isn't really it's own self-contained story so some things won't make sense or will feel unfinished. In the scope of an ideal production of the show, I imagine episode five to be the one where our typically upbeat and wacky main character is shown dealing with tougher issues and making difficult choices. Instead she just finds a better reason to be depressed.

This drama is like if someone made a really great mold for some metal sculpture or something and then poured sad, lame, lumpy metal into it. It looks great from afar and on the outside, but get a little closer or take a look within and you'll find a sloppy mishmash that isn't quite cohesive enough to be considered good. I'm actually really disappointed with how it turned out, especially with how much potential the premise had. I'm going to have to recommend against watching this, as it's probably not what you were expecting or looking for.

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Confusing

I started watching this drama because I really enjoyed the trailer.

The acting, and editing were all done very well . The lead actor nailed it.
The CGI is wonderful : the jellies looked so real and also the special effects and other graphics are excellent.

At first the weirdness of the sceanrio did attract me. I tought it was something out of the ordinary. But at some point i didn't get the quirky show that i was looking for. In stead, it felt like i was watching some an independent movie which lost its plot half way. In fact somethings aren't explained properly. There were so many loose ends and so many dropped plots .
I won't be watching the second but maybe the book can give me closure.

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Weirdly Charming

This the strangest kdrama I've watched and I loved every bit of it.The show might be the closest thing to a fever dream and it is understandable why this would not be everyone's cup of tea.

I was hesitant to get into it too but decided to give it a go since it was only 6 episodes and the cast looked really good but I'm glad I did it.I don't usually like watching series that are ongoing with multiple seasons because waiting for the next moepisodes/seasons seemed like a pain,and that is the only part that the I didn't really like about this mostly because even the finale doesn't really give much of a closure or explanation. Hopefully the next seasons cover all that.

In kdramaland full of cliches I would say this show is a breath of fresh air.

It's is visually stunning and the ost is particularly good,maybe even the best part.

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